I feel like I need to make amends. For the past 6 months or better, I've been dragging on spending the extra money for a powerstack battery, as I didn't see the benefit when the amp-hours were the same as batteries we already had, and assumed any difference in power would be negligible to the average homeowner.
A few months ago, Bomgaars had a battery sale, and I was able to pick up a 5ah Powerstack and 4 amp charger for like $100, give or take. Put it on the leaf blower, didn't notice a huge difference, and didn't use it continuously enough to really compare runtime. Wife used it on our string trimmer last weekend, and got the entire yard done on a single battery (where she usually has to swap them out about 3/4 of the way done). Wife gave me a hard time for spending the money on it when I already have 12 standard 5ah batteries, but....
And then, we get to today. We were building a raised bed garden to put strawberries in, using the 3.5" rounded landscape timbers - screwing them together with 4.5" screws (T25 heads). We had both of my impacts going (couldn't tell you model numbers), and 2ah batteries on both (that were both on 2 bars to start with - hadn't charged them after another project two weeks ago). Mine was getting to the point that I could tell it was about to die, so I walked back to the garage, and on a whim, grabbed the powerstack. Hit the trigger while walking back out to the garden and thought "Huh. That sounded different." Grabbed a screw, slipped it onto the bit, pressed it down to the wood, pulled the trigger and HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!? Wife looked at me like I was crazy, and I just handed her my impact and said "Try this." She had been struggling to drive the screws....but the first one she lined up on, she sank it like a pro. After the third or fourth one, she remarked "Yeah, you can go ahead and buy more of these...."
I repent of my previous comments, and I'm a believer now! (Now..... do I invest in any of the 1.7 powerstacks, or just jump right into the 5ah....)

Welcome back once more, for our final discussion of Armadale. I apologize again for the discussion being late. Last week, my excuse was that I had to spend time with my sister's family, including a labradoodle. This week, I am dog-sitting my mother's beagle, who has separation anxiety and gas. I am horribly sleep-deprived because this dog insists on sleeping next to my bed every night, snoring loudly and farting. Speaking of people breathing in poison in their sleep, let's get to the recap:
Allan has just set off for the Adriatic, with his cash converted to gold, obviously the result of Manuel's suggestions. Lydia and Ozias have been transferred to Turin by Ozias's employer, and Lydia pretends to have gotten a letter from her mother, asking her to come home, so she has an excuse to go back to London. Once there, she checks the newspaper for any articles or obituaries indicating that Allan has died. She also finds Mother Oldershaw's new address, but decides not to visit her.
After a few days, she finally gets the news she's been hoping for. Allan's yacht sunk off the southern coast of Italy, and everyone on board perished. Her next step is to write to Bashwood:
My dearest Bashwood,
I desire you... I mean, I desire to *meet with you... to apologize for my previous behavior towards you. I have foolishly made the mistake of marrying an immature child. If only I had married a real man (realness not necessarily extending to his teeth and hair)!*
Please, do not show this letter to anyone. Let us meet clandestinely.
Sincerely,
Lydia Armadale (note the last name)
Lydia then considers the marriage certificate, and realizes a glaring flaw in her plan: Ozias's handwriting looks nothing like Allan's. In a panic, she decides that her only option is to get advice from Mother Oldershaw. Unfortunately, Mother Oldershaw appears to have found God, and no longer wants anything to do with Lydia's plans. (Of course, she refuses to give Lydia the signed paper that she was going to use to extort money from Lydia if her plans succeeded.)
While leaving Oldershaw's, Lydia runs into Dr. Downward... excuse me, Dr. Le Doux, totally legitimate sanitarium owner. She realizes that he may be able to advise her, and asks to meet him later at the sanitarium. The sanitarium is basically what you'd expect a 19th-century sanitarium to be: creepy old house with shelves containing jars of preserved "creatures," a "galvanic apparatus" for providing electric shocks, etc. No patients yet, though.
Lydia tells the doctor her story, leaving out the worst details (he doesn't know that she's the reason the yacht sunk, or that her husband goes by the fake name "Ozias Midwinter"). Downward agrees to assist her by claiming to be a witness to the marriage... for a fee of six hundred pounds. Lydia agrees, and he assists her in sending a letter to Thorpe Ambrose, claiming to be Allan's widow.
The next day, Lydia gets a visit from Bashwood, who delivers the news that Neelie is beside herself with grief, and Mr. Darch is handling the matter of the inheritance, which was going to go to Allan's cousin, before Lydia announced her claim.
Bashwood returns a few days later with a shocking letter from Yugoslavia: Allan is alive! This is where I'd normally try to write a funny version of the letter, but nothing I could possibly write would be funnier than the actual letter's opening line: "I have been the victim of a rascally attempt at robbery and murder." Yes, "rascally." Oh, Allan, never change. One of the would-be murderers took pity on Allan and didn't securely board up his cabin, so he was able to escape instead of sinking with the yacht.
Lydia turns to Downward for help.
Downward: What if we trap Allan in the sanitarium?
Lydia: And murder him?
Downward: WTF, no. We get him to agree to not press legal charges against us.
Lydia: And then we murder him?
Downward: I have so many regrets about teaming up with you
Lydia: How do we catch him?
Downward: You could get Bashwood to lurk around the train station and intercept him before anyone else sees him. Have him tell Allan that Miss Milroy was sent here because she was driven insane by her grief for him.
Lydia: Can we murder Allan and Miss Milroy?
Downward: I am running an unlicensed sanitarium under a false name, and even I think you're unhinged.
Lydia: Gwilty as charged
Downward: But wait, what if he doesn't agree immediately, and we have to keep him here for months? What if I have actual patients at the time, and they report us?
Lydia: What if...
Downward: ...please don't say "murder"
Lydia: ...what if he had an accident?
Downward: Oh. Well, if it was an "accident," that would be okay. I don't know how an accident could happen, though, if you aren't an inmate here.
Lydia: I'll think about it
Meanwhile, Bashwood keeps vigil at the train station, until one day he sees... Ozias, who is searching for Lydia because she's stopped writing to him. While they talk to each other, Bashwood can't contain his shock at hearing that Lydia is Ozias's wife, and accidentally calls her "Mrs. Armadale," which understandably makes Ozias suspicious, so he follows Bashwood to see where he goes, which of course leads him straight to Lydia. Lydia pretends she was never married to Ozias, and Ozias faints from the shock.
Lydia heads straight to the sanitarium, tells Downward she's going to be an inmate, and asks for a sleeping draught. Downward prepares the draught, but first places yellow liquid in a purple flask. He then informs Lydia of what he thinks they should say at the inquest after Allan dies: The two of them knew he hadn't drowned, but when he arrived in England, they decided to trap him in the sanitarium because, shortly after his marriage to Lydia, Allan had starting having a delusion that he was engaged to Neelie. Once in the sanitarium, Downward diagnosed Allan with an incurable and fatal brain ailment, and that's what killed him.
Downward has scheduled a "Visitors' Day" so that people will witness Lydia as an inmate in the asylum. The visitors are mostly women, because life as a woman in Victorian England was so boring, they had nothing better to do than go to sanitariums to gawk at the mentally ill people and see where they will eventually live when the hysteria finally drives them mad. (I am only barely paraphrasing. The actual quote is "In the miserable monotony of the lives led by a large section of the middle classes of England, anything is welcome to the women which offers them any sort of harmless refuge from the established tyranny of the principle that all human happiness begins and ends at home.")
Downward shows them around the sanitarium and explains how it will be run, including only allowing novels that make people feel comfortable. (I assumed this was an intentional satire of Wilkie's critics, and the notes in the Oxford World's Classics edition confirmed this.)
But then Downward gave a sales pitch that damn near sold me on his sanitarium. "I throw up impregnable moral intrenchments between Worry and You. ... Will ten minutes’ irritation from a barking dog or a screeching child undo every atom of good done to a nervous sufferer by a month’s medical treatment? There isn’t a competent doctor in England who will venture to deny it!" Considering I almost couldn't post last week's discussion because of a few hours' exposure to two loud children and a labradoodle, I'm about ready to self-diagnose with hysteria and deranged lunacy.
He also explains that while the bedrooms lack fireplaces, they're heated with hot water. This impressed me because I've read about Victorian insane asylums not having fireplaces in the bedrooms (since the inmates might burn themselves), but I always assumed this meant that the inmates were cold in the winter. But wait... the bedroom also has secret controls that let him open, close, and lock the window and door from the outside, and a vent that lets him pump gas into the room. Whaaat? I rescind my diagnosis of hysteria and deranged lunacy. I want nothing to do with this.
After the tour is finished, Downward demonstrates to Lydia how to prepare the poison, and then breaks the bottle so that his assistant (who doesn't know about the purple flask) will think there's no more of that chemical in the house.
Meanwhile, Ozias is stalking Bashwood at the train station. He thinks Lydia is cheating on him, and Bashwood is waiting for Lydia's lover. But then he sees Bashwood with Allan. After confronting the two of them, he learns Bashwood's story about having to take Allan to Neelie in the sanitarium. Realizing that Lydia is probably still behind Bashwood's actions, Ozias insists on going with the two of them. On arriving at the sanitarium, Allan is informed that Neelie cannot see him until the morning, but he and Ozias are welcome to spend the night: Allan in Room Four, and Ozias in Room Three.
Lydia sets Bashwood up to spy on Allan's door from a room with a grate in its door. She tells him to make sure Allan stays in his room all night. Later, watching from the grate, Bashwood observes Ozias leave his room and examine the fumigating apparatus connected to Allan's room. Then Ozias stuffs his handkerchief in the grate, blocking Bashwood's view, before going into Allan's room and convincing Allan to switch rooms with him.
Later that night, Lydia returns and asks Bashwood if anything happened. Too afraid to tell her about the handkerchief, he tells her nothing happened, and she dismisses him to bed. After almost convincing herself to not go through with it, she then starts the process of pouring the poison at five minute intervals. While waiting for one of the intervals to pass, she notices Ozias's handkerchief and realizes that Bashwood lied to her. She checks in Room Three, and finds Allan asleep where Ozias should be.
In a panic, Lydia rushes into Room Four and drags the unconscious Ozias out. She then continues to pour the poison, writes a last letter to Ozias, and locks herself in the room.
We end with an epilogue that rapidly ties up all the random loose ends. Lydia has been buried in a nearly unmarked grave. The doctor is apparently still running his sanitarium. Allan and Neelie will be married in the spring. Mrs. Milroy doesn't have much longer to live, but she's undergone a personality change for some reason and she and the Major are happy for once. Ozias is recovering and living with Allan. Mother Oldershaw is a religious speaker, apparently. Bashwood has gone insane. Manuel drowned.
But wait, one last thing: Wilkie has something to say to us. He wants us to know that he intended the dream to be left up to interpretation. Thanks for handing me a discussion question like that, Wilkie. He also shares a weird-ass story about how, after he'd finished the rough draft and while the story was in the middle of serialization, several people were poisoned in their sleep on a boat called The Armadale. Okay, Wilkie. Thank you for that incredibly weird anecdote.

I’m a paraplegic from a spinal cord injury 35 years ago. I’m 5’10” and weigh about 200 lbs. Like a lot of paraplegic wheelchair users, I’m very thin and bony from the waist down, muscular and heavy up top. I don’t have issues with skin breakdowns, but I am dealing with arthritis in my shoulders. I’m a side sleeper to relieve pressure on my backside and use a CPAP for sleep apnea.
My old mattress was a DynastyMattress New Cool Breeze 12-Inch GEL Memory Foam I bought from Amazon for $329. Along with a Leggett and Platt adjustable base and a bamboo topper, it served me well for 11 years.
After researching online, I decided to buy the Boring mattress in Twin XL. Just before I hit the purchase button, I remembered a Reddit post where the founder of Boring was offering a discount to offset the price rise on their products. I was still within the two week limit, so I messaged u/daehee on Reddit. It was a Saturday evening but he replied with a discount code 7 minutes after I messaged him. After I ordered the mattress, there was an online issue with sales tax that daehee explained to me. He also let me know when the mattress would ship.
The mattress arrived on time. It was packed very well and set up quite easily. My initial impression is that the mattress is well constructed and without any offensive odor. The top is very soft while the rest of the mattress is firmer. The springy feeling adds some bounce that is different from the more dense feeling of my old mattress. After reading some reviews about the firmness of this mattress, I put my old topper and a mattress protector on beneath some new sheets. I checked how the mattress worked with the adjustable base and found it accommodated all positions
Night 1: The mattress is a combination of soft top and bouncy firmness beneath. It made turning and positioning myself a bit more difficult compared to my old foam bed. There was also a squeak from one of the springs, not too bad but I did notice it when I turned over on my side. The initial firmness of the mattress made it harder to find a comfortable position on my side and it was a while before I fell asleep. I usually wake several times a night to reposition myself, but with the Boring mattress I only woke twice. Fitbit told me that I got almost 8 hours of sleep as compared to my usual 6.
In the morning, I felt some general stiffness I don’t usually have. I also had an ache in the shoulder I slept on. The FAQ says it takes time for a mattress to break in so perhaps it will get softer after 30 days or so. If not, a thicker topper is always an option.
Overall, I’m quite pleased after my first night on the Boring mattress. It's a welcome change from my old mattress. I’ll set reminders to update this post at 50 days, 100 days, and 1 year.

https://twitter.com/JapanTank/status/1789491214968144105
 
[Japan in 2024]
 
It's the year 2024 in Japan, and people are so outbid even for orange juice that they have resorted to desperately making "orange-tangerine mixed juice." Women are traveling abroad to prostitute themselves so much that they are being refused entry into the United States, and even to the point where they are going to South Korea, which was far poorer even just a short time ago, to work as prostitutes. What was once a major trading and exporting nation has long since rested on its laurels, and now with a trade deficit of trillions of yen and nothing to export, it is desperately bowing down to people not only from Europe and the United States, but also from Southeast Asia, India, and even countries whose names we have yet to discover in the tourism industry in order to earn foreign currency.
 
Even though it is a country with extremely low wages, it provides subsidies of hundreds of billions of yen to foreign companies to build factories in the country, and yet young people still go abroad to work. The top tier of universities has been completely snatched up by foreign capital, and graduates from prestigious schools such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, the former imperial universities, Waseda, and Keio are pursuing empty careers in consulting and the like rather than manufacturing, with no prospect of earning foreign currency. The top echelons of the working world are fleeing to America one after another, and once they do, they never come back. In urban areas, Japanese people pay rent for apartments to the Chinese owners every month, and while the Japanese lament that they cannot afford the high prices, the Chinese buy the apartments in cash, calling them cheap. The price of imported building materials has soared and it's difficult to even buy a house, but the company president keeps saying "Don't worry, don't worry!" and people are grateful for the good value for money house, and the company makes the highest profit ever, and the sales of the small house real estate agency that calls out to people in their 30s in street sales in front of the station and has the slogan "Let's go, one trillion" have finally exceeded one trillion.
 
Even though the price of an iPhone in the US dollar has not increased, there is uproar in Japan saying, "It's gotten expensive again!", and almost all mobile communication means, such as smartphones and LINE, are controlled by foreign companies. By preaching some vague, mysterious fantasy and delusion called Society 5.0, they are desperately trying to hide the fact that they have not achieved Industry 4.0, let alone the Third Industrial Revolution, and since neither the government nor the private sector has any IT technology to sell anymore, they are desperately promoting something that is hard to understand, saying how amazing IOWN is, and making it look like they are doing business.
 
This country, which once engaged in empty discussions such as "If there is a labor shortage, we can just bring in immigrants" and "It's better not to bring in immigrants," is now being told, "People go to Korea or Taiwan because the wages are low," and "Wages are higher in urban China," and so it has no choice but to deceive Vietnamese people and create a slave system to secure a labor force. The medical infrastructure, which was once one of the best in the world, has been eaten up by the elderly, and the working generation has been exploited to the point where they have finally reached the limit of what they can pay. As a result, drug prices have been forcibly lowered, and there are now countless foreign-made drugs that Japan is unable to procure, with people saying, "We won't sell to Japan at that low a price." Young people who could be saved with new medicines are not saved, and today, old people still gather happily at the hospital to get compresses, and are given medicine that only slows down dementia by 20-30% at a cost of 3 million yen per person. Elderly people in their 80s and 90s lie in bed, simply prolonging their lives by being bedridden, and their single sons in their 60s come to visit them occasionally, hoping to get their pensions. All of this is being borne by the young working generation, who are short of money and have hit an all-time low in marriage rates and a post-war low in birth rates.
 
The yen, once a currency coveted by people around the world, has become known as the "yen in times of emergency" and is now being sold off at bargain prices almost every day. Now one of the emerging currencies of the Far East, it is experiencing wild fluctuations in value and is managing to hang on by selling off the foreign exchange it had accumulated during its glory days, but it is unclear for how long it will be able to hold on. The country and its people have mistakenly believed that monetary and fiscal policies would solve the problem, put off structural reform, neglected technological development, and simply put everything off. Forgetting the bloody efforts of wise men of the past and the history of the dramatic changes that came with modernization, the old men of companies and organizations that flourished during the Showa era, steeped in old vested interests, are wielding their power, crushing new technologies and ideas, only for the people in question to be dead by the time they get away with it.
 
These young people, like those in the bellies of boiled frogs, are carrying a time bomb, and they vaguely foresee a future in which they will no longer be able to buy beef, flour, soybeans, oil, gas, uranium, or anything else, when foreign currency runs out, leaving society in ruins. But they simply turn a blind eye to this reality, and today, they are sipping mandarin orange juice while a girl looking for a sugar daddy is asked by an older man what color her underwear is.

A flicker of light started to drain away the darkness I was so used to. The darkness where I felt most comfortable and at peace. The flicker slowly enveloped the entire pitch black room within minutes. I could do nothing but sigh in disappointment and open my eyes.
My adjusting eyes were being harassed by the tiny beam of light that made it through my curtain. Where it's at the precise angle that you swear some higher power is just messing with you.
My groggy eyes focused on the clock, it was 7:00 a. M.
Time for work.
The day was April 14th, 2014. A Monday. I knew I only had about an hour to get up, get ready for work, shower, make breakfast and make sure I get to work a few minutes early so I didn't clock in late.
I was only 28 years old and I hated my sales job. I had gone to college and got my marketing degree but I never thought I'd end up here.. selling bullshit products at incredibly hiked prices to unsuspecting or oblivious customers.
I had been doing this job for 3 years and it felt like everyday was just going to be worse. Just a buildup of hatred for your job overtime is natural I guess. Typically people find ways to cope with the constant 9-5 grind. Like going out with friends or clubbing or whatever...but I had none of those.
When my days ended I would go home and watch Netflix and drink then do it all again. I wish it was different, I wish I had the motivation to change myself. But it's difficult when you have no one to support you in your efforts. My mom died from breast cancer when I was 12. Seeing her on hospice for several months suffering from stage 4 cancer was...something you shouldn't see as a 12 year old. To see your once lovely, athletic, hilarious, loving and caring mother degrade into an 85 pound, drug-induced, horrifyingly thin creature that in no way resembled her from my memories of when she was cancer free.
I remember one morning my dad woke me up and said "come to the living room...your mother is taking her last breathes". As soon as he finished that sentence, my memories flooded back...memories of her taking care of me when I was sick, being at my soccer games cheering me on, asking how my day was when I got back from school, leaning on her shoulder as we sat in church. The memories came and went in an instant and the reality set in. My heart at first skipped a few beats but then accelerated to an unhealthy pace. My head started to spin, tears slowly started swelling up on my eyes.
I had jumped off the bed and sprinted to the living room. She was facing away from me and the first thing I noticed are how purple/ blue her feet are. I walk around the hospice nurse and look at my mother's face. She was place, her breathing was almost non-existent for almost 2 minutes but still there...until it wasn't...she was gone.
I was lost, my dad was bawling. I was crying too but at 12 years old I didn't know how hard the reality would hit as time goes on.
In my lost state, I turned on the TV show "MONK" on the laptop. It was a show my mom and I used to watch, and I figured watching it would make me feel like I'm with her again.
Time went on and I realized how losing a mother truly impacts your younger years. But time still, moved on yet.
I got in my car and left for work. The drive to the office was only about half an hour. I put my sunglasses on as I'm travelling east for almost the entire drive, something I was used to by this point. The drive to work was uneventful other than the usual jackass that cuts you off or is speeding down the road.
I made it to work and stepped out of my car. For some reason, grabbed my backpack and shut the door. For some reason the thought of my mother came across my mind. The sighed, looked down at the ground and stared at the concrete for the few seconds while only thinking of how I missed her. Then the thought vanished and I got on with my life.
The day was incredibly boring, only sold a couple of products, I dealt with people in the east coast of the U.S. and customers there are always so nasty and rude with their comments. It's impossible to build rapport with them. I'm jealous of the employees that have West coast as their territory.
The day ended with my last call but no sales for the day. Hopped in my car and drove back home.
Now I've already told you what I do when I get home. Just drink and watch Netflix. And that's exactly what I did. I can't remember the name of the show( probably because I was already tipsy) but it had to do with strange phenomenons.
I don't even remember passing out but I do remember being there in that dark room again; it was so comfortable and cozy. I sat in the corner of the room with eyes wide closed ...no people, nothing to disturb me, just... nothingness of warmth.
For hours this went on until I heard a woman's voice saying "I'm glad you're here". suddenly realizing that I had overslept my body jolted awake, completely forgetting about that eerie voice. Drinking on a Monday night is not a good idea. Blurry and in a haze trying to concentrate my focus I made out the clock saying 7:00 a.m. April 15th, 2014.
I thought how odd that was. I've been doing the same job with the same schedule for 3 years now and I know when I oversleep. Yet knowing this brought a mental smile to my mind, as my supervisor won't get on my ass for showing up late, again.
I got up lazily and stretched and got on with my morning routine. Finally got dressed and hopped in my car to leave for work. I was only about 5 minutes in when I realized something was off...why was I wearing sunglasses? The sun was behind me, not in front. I took my glasses off and read my car dashboard compass; "EAST".
I have taken this drive for 3 years now every Monday through Friday and I had always worn sunglasses for the drive to the office. I looked behind me and saw the sun rising from the west.
I was still calm, but subconsciously I could tell my panic and anxiety were building with what I was experiencing. I decided to pull over at a gas station, took my phone out and opened my GPS. 'I was still facing east.
I quietly stated "what the fuck". I looked up and asked the person next to me pumping gas " look! The sun! It's rising from the west" with an ecstatic and speedy tone. He looked at me with a smile on his face and said "yeah? Don't ya know it's always rose from the west".
The reality of this was starting to set on, anxiety building, I got back in my car and just sat there... Running my hands through my hair, pulling and stretching my face wondering what the hell was happening? My eyes were staring wide at the brake and gas pedal...trying to find some kind of logical explanation for this while still running my hands over my face and hair.
I decided to take my phone out again and click on trending news hoping to see something explaining or even acknowledging this phenomenon. Nothing. I opened Google search and looked up "sun rising in west" the first thing that popped up said Earth is rotating about its own axis from East to West".
This wasn't right.
I figured I would try to get to work and maybe one of my coworkers would have some answer. My entire body was shaking for the entire drive but I made it".
I got out of the car and the strangest thing came across my mind. A memory. A very unique memory of back when I was 12, in the back yard playing capture the flag with my neighbor that lived behind me. A time which I could go back when.
The memory came and vanished in an instant, but left the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and sadness.
I walked into the office and started asking around about the sun. Again, none of them knew what I was talking about, but before they answered my question, they would say "oh hey, it's nice to have you here" or "we're glad to have you here" all with a smile on their faces.
Not super weird as my coworkers are typically super energetic happy people. But it did become weird when my east coast clients started answering their phones saying "hey, you're always welcome here"
I couldn't see their faces but I could tell by their tone and attitude that they were smiling. This was not normal. I rushed to the bathroom, opened a stall and sat on the toilet. I started having a panic attack. Nothing was right, the people, the sun, the specific memories... I started to run my hands over my face, stretching and contorting it, trying to calm myself down with feeling my heart bursting out of my chest. I started to whimper, I didn't want anyone outside of the stalls to hear me. None of my coworkers were right, the guy at the gas station wasn't right...nothing. years swelled up in my eyes and a brief memory of my mom came back.
It was me, coming home from school, I walked inside and could smell the pizza she was making. I see and her and asks me hey, how was your day?".
This memory helped calm me down from the wreck I was turning into. I took several deep breaths, tried my very best to compose myself, and stepped out of the stall. I ended up taking some paper towels and wiped away the tears that were caught in my eyes.
I decided that I will just try to finish this day because tomorrow everything would be back to normal...I have to reassure myself that I would be, I just knew it would be....it had to be.
I sat down back at my desk and my phone rang, picked it up and a voice came through. The voice of my mother asking " I am so glad you are here, Luke".
I was frozen, shocking, tingly sensations ran through my entire body. My demeaner instantly changed into fight or flight mode...but I chose the 3rd... freeze.
Phone still up to my ear, I heard her speak again. "Oh honey, Luke my sweet boy, don't you remember?".
I didn't reply verbally, but mentally I was thinking "remember...what the hell is...remember what?"
Then she spoke one last time, "last night, you saw the sun".
Then the memory of the night before races back into my mind. I was on my drive home from work, watching the beautiful sunset over the horizon. With all it's beautiful mixtures of orange, red, purple. I was so just staring at it...in a trance, thinking of how I wanted to go back and just be a kid again, play with my back door neighbor, come home to my mom. Why couldn't I just go back?
I suddenly hear a blaring car horn and then blackness.
I believe I died on April 15th, 2014. And I don't mind it. I like being in this black empty room just sitting in the corner..with nothing but warm emptiness to fill my cold shell. I like feeling the embraces of it's comfort over the tiring lifestyle I was living. My only dream was that I could dream forever...and now it's finally been achieved.
I miss my mother, and I know she misses me, the memories I have of her will keep me warm in this blackened wasteland forever.

I want to sell my RV but it needs repairs and I made significant modifications. Everyone feel free to throw a theoretical $ value you think I might be able to get either via trade in or cash sale. Don't hold any punches. Here's the description:
2020 Forest River Wildwood X Lite 241QBXL
I purchased this RV new for $20,000, and it was in perfect condition until 2021.
Here's a detailed breakdown of its current condition:
Roof and Water Damage: After being exposed to heavy snow for several weekends in 2021, the RV developed a roof leak. Water damage is visible inside the wall where the queen bed used to be.
Interior Modifications:I removed the queen bed to create more open space. The pass-through storage underneath the bed is also removed.This led me to discovering the aforementioned water damage inside the front wall. I replaced the rotted studs in the front wall and closed it back up with tongue and groove paneling. The repair job was not professionally done and needs redoing, including the use of proper insulation.The wall is mostly closed up but not aesthetically finished.
Jackknife Sofa: I removed the uncomfortable jackknife sofa for more room, exposing the propane cabin heater, which has since stopped working. I think it's just a problem with the thermostat though.
Exterior Damage: The front external wall is dented.
Sewage System: The sewage output was broken and repaired by me, but the job was poorly executed.
Bathroom Leak: There appears to be a very slow water leak under the sink in the bathroom, under the floo4, but it's likely an easy fix.
Positive Aspects:Despite these issues, the RV's interior remains modern and attractive.
I replaced the built in furnishing with a fold out sofa and added an armchair as well.
I've also got a large lithium batter, inverter, and charger that is in perfect working order.
I've got an aftermarket back up camera.
There's a haulmaster storage platform on the back bumper.
I've got a hitch with sway bars which make towing a breeze...I pull it not problem with a 2015 v6 jeep grand cherokee.
I've got a brand new awning fabric ready to be installed.
This RV has potential but requires some attention and repairs to restore it to optimal condition.

A flicker of light started to drain away the darkness I was so used to. The darkness where I felt most comfortable and at peace. The flicker slowly enveloped the entire pitch black room within minutes. I could do nothing but sigh in disappointment and open my eyes.
My adjusting eyes were being harassed by the tiny beam of light that made it through my curtain. Where it's at the precise angle that you swear some higher power is just messing with you.
My groggy eyes focused on the clock, it was 7:00 a. M.
Time for work.
The day was April 14th, 2014. A Monday. I knew I only had about an hour to get up, get ready for work, shower, make breakfast and make sure I get to work a few minutes early so I didn't clock in late.
I was only 28 years old and I hated my sales job. I had gone to college and got my marketing degree but I never thought I'd end up here.. selling bullshit products at incredibly hiked prices to unsuspecting or oblivious customers.
I had been doing this job for 3 years and it felt like everyday was just going to be worse. Just a buildup of hatred for your job overtime is natural I guess. Typically people find ways to cope with the constant 9-5 grind. Like going out with friends or clubbing or whatever...but I had none of those.
When my days ended I would go home and watch Netflix and drink then do it all again. I wish it was different, I wish I had the motivation to change myself. But it's difficult when you have no one to support you in your efforts. My mom died from breast cancer when I was 12. Seeing her on hospice for several months suffering from stage 4 cancer was...something you shouldn't see as a 12 year old. To see your once lovely, athletic, hilarious, loving and caring mother degrade into an 85 pound, drug-induced, horrifyingly thin creature that in no way resembled her from my memories of when she was cancer free.
I remember one morning my dad woke me up and said "come to the living room...your mother is taking her last breathes". As soon as he finished that sentence, my memories flooded back...memories of her taking care of me when I was sick, being at my soccer games cheering me on, asking how my day was when I got back from school, leaning on her shoulder as we sat in church. The memories came and went in an instant and the reality set in. My heart at first skipped a few beats but then accelerated to an unhealthy pace. My head started to spin, tears slowly started swelling up on my eyes.
I had jumped off the bed and sprinted to the living room. She was facing away from me and the first thing I noticed are how purple/ blue her feet are. I walk around the hospice nurse and look at my mother's face. She was place, her breathing was almost non-existent for almost 2 minutes but still there...until it wasn't...she was gone.
I was lost, my dad was bawling. I was crying too but at 12 years old I didn't know how hard the reality would hit as time goes on.
In my lost state, I turned on the TV show "MONK" on the laptop. It was a show my mom and I used to watch, and I figured watching it would make me feel like I'm with her again.
Time went on and I realized how losing a mother truly impacts your younger years. But time still, moved on yet.
I got in my car and left for work. The drive to the office was only about half an hour. I put my sunglasses on as I'm travelling east for almost the entire drive, something I was used to by this point. The drive to work was uneventful other than the usual jackass that cuts you off or is speeding down the road.
I made it to work and stepped out of my car. For some reason, grabbed my backpack and shut the door. For some reason the thought of my mother came across my mind. The sighed, looked down at the ground and stared at the concrete for the few seconds while only thinking of how I missed her. Then the thought vanished and I got on with my life.
The day was incredibly boring, only sold a couple of products, I dealt with people in the east coast of the U.S. and customers there are always so nasty and rude with their comments. It's impossible to build rapport with them. I'm jealous of the employees that have West coast as their territory.
The day ended with my last call but no sales for the day. Hopped in my car and drove back home.
Now I've already told you what I do when I get home. Just drink and watch Netflix. And that's exactly what I did. I can't remember the name of the show( probably because I was already tipsy) but it had to do with strange phenomenons.
I don't even remember passing out but I do remember being there in that dark room again; it was so comfortable and cozy. I sat in the corner of the room with eyes wide closed ...no people, nothing to disturb me, just... nothingness of warmth.
For hours this went on until I heard a woman's voice saying "I'm glad you're here". suddenly realizing that I had overslept my body jolted awake, completely forgetting about that eerie voice. Drinking on a Monday night is not a good idea. Blurry and in a haze trying to concentrate my focus I made out the clock saying 7:00 a.m. April 15th, 2014.
I thought how odd that was. I've been doing the same job with the same schedule for 3 years now and I know when I oversleep. Yet knowing this brought a mental smile to my mind, as my supervisor won't get on my ass for showing up late, again.
I got up lazily and stretched and got on with my morning routine. Finally got dressed and hopped in my car to leave for work. I was only about 5 minutes in when I realized something was off...why was I wearing sunglasses? The sun was behind me, not in front. I took my glasses off and read my car dashboard compass; "EAST".
I have taken this drive for 3 years now every Monday through Friday and I had always worn sunglasses for the drive to the office. I looked behind me and saw the sun rising from the west.
I was still calm, but subconsciously I could tell my panic and anxiety were building with what I was experiencing. I decided to pull over at a gas station, took my phone out and opened my GPS. 'I was still facing east.
I quietly stated "what the fuck". I looked up and asked the person next to me pumping gas " look! The sun! It's rising from the west" with an ecstatic and speedy tone. He looked at me with a smile on his face and said "yeah? Don't ya know it's always rose from the west".
The reality of this was starting to set on, anxiety building, I got back in my car and just sat there... Running my hands through my hair, pulling and stretching my face wondering what the hell was happening? My eyes were staring wide at the brake and gas pedal...trying to find some kind of logical explanation for this while still running my hands over my face and hair.
I decided to take my phone out again and click on trending news hoping to see something explaining or even acknowledging this phenomenon. Nothing. I opened Google search and looked up "sun rising in west" the first thing that popped up said Earth is rotating about its own axis from East to West".
This wasn't right.
I figured I would try to get to work and maybe one of my coworkers would have some answer. My entire body was shaking for the entire drive but I made it".
I got out of the car and the strangest thing came across my mind. A memory. A very unique memory of back when I was 12, in the back yard playing capture the flag with my neighbor that lived behind me. A time which I could go back when.
The memory came and vanished in an instant, but left the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and sadness.
I walked into the office and started asking around about the sun. Again, none of them knew what I was talking about, but before they answered my question, they would say "oh hey, it's nice to have you here" or "we're glad to have you here" all with a smile on their faces.
Not super weird as my coworkers are typically super energetic happy people. But it did become weird when my east coast clients started answering their phones saying "hey, you're always welcome here"
I couldn't see their faces but I could tell by their tone and attitude that they were smiling. This was not normal. I rushed to the bathroom, opened a stall and sat on the toilet. I started having a panic attack. Nothing was right, the people, the sun, the specific memories... I started to run my hands over my face, stretching and contorting it, trying to calm myself down with feeling my heart bursting out of my chest. I started to whimper, I didn't want anyone outside of the stalls to hear me. None of my coworkers were right, the guy at the gas station wasn't right...nothing. years swelled up in my eyes and a brief memory of my mom came back.
It was me, coming home from school, I walked inside and could smell the pizza she was making. I see and her and asks me hey, how was your day?".
This memory helped calm me down from the wreck I was turning into. I took several deep breaths, tried my very best to compose myself, and stepped out of the stall. I ended up taking some paper towels and wiped away the tears that were caught in my eyes.
I decided that I will just try to finish this day because tomorrow everything would be back to normal...I have to reassure myself that I would be, I just knew it would be....it had to be.
I sat down back at my desk and my phone rang, picked it up and a voice came through. The voice of my mother asking " I am so glad you are here, Luke".
I was frozen, shocking, tingly sensations ran through my entire body. My demeaner instantly changed into fight or flight mode...but I chose the 3rd... freeze.
Phone still up to my ear, I heard her speak again. "Oh honey, Luke my sweet boy, don't you remember?".
I didn't reply verbally, but mentally I was thinking "remember...what the hell is...remember what?"
Then she spoke one last time, "last night, you saw the sun".
Then the memory of the night before races back into my mind. I was on my drive home from work, watching the beautiful sunset over the horizon. With all it's beautiful mixtures of orange, red, purple. I was so just staring at it...in a trance, thinking of how I wanted to go back and just be a kid again, play with my back door neighbor, come home to my mom. Why couldn't I just go back?
I suddenly hear a blaring car horn and then blackness.
I believe I died on April 15th, 2014. And I don't mind it. I like being in this black empty room just sitting in the corner..with nothing but warm emptiness to fill my cold shell. I like feeling the embraces of it's comfort over the tiring lifestyle I was living. My only dream was that I could dream forever...and now it's finally been achieved.
I miss my mother, and I know she misses me, the memories I have of her will keep me warm in this blackened wasteland forever.

Look ma! I'm on top of the world! This West Virginia country home for sale on six acres has a barn abd views. Sit on the front porch – views. Wash dishes – views. Lay in bed and stare out at the window at the star – more views.
https://oldhousesunder50k.com/c-1940-west-virginia-country-home-for-sale-with-barn-and-6-acres/

OHU50K Notes $74,000
Look ma! I'm on top of the world! This West Virginia country home for sale on six acres has a barn abd views. Sit on the front porch – views. Wash dishes – views. Lay in bed and stare out at the window at the star – more views.
https://oldhousesunder50k.com/?p=199326

So the title looks bad but let me explain, my mother was a woman who never wanted me but her Catholic parents forced her to have me, she made it clear she never wanted me and I was dumped on any family that would take me then my grandparents took me in mostly. As a child I was made to cook, clean, wash and garden for my grandparents, even wiping my grans backside as she got more disabled, I was used for family enjoyment, ie r, baby sitting, cleaning and only went to school when the council and police got involved. So to keep me quiet they got me a dog, I LOVED this dog, he was the only thing pleased to see me, loved me, gave me the only joy I ever felt.... but this was nothing more than a tool, I was told if I said anything to anyone I would lose the dog and be put in a home where I would be abused more. When I ran away from school one time as I was bullied mercilessly because I wore my female relatives second hand clothes even underwear and it was obvious, I was found returned to my grandparents and told my dog had gotten sick and was dying.... they had poisioned him he passed and it broke me, for years after I silently obeyed. Decades later in my thirties I started getting cocky again, my grandfather lost his drivers licence and we had to get grouceries home delivered, which meant the computer and the internet, I started talking to people online and planned my escape.... so they got me another dog... and like a idiot I fell hard for him, so hard he was absued like me in his old home, he only trusted me, he slept in my bed in my arms, his head on my pillow, I watched him like a hawk and never let him be away from me. My gran a monster of a woman was getting dementia, she was sick alot, didnt ever want to get up was a whale of a woman and was growing violent to me, hitting me with a walking stick, screaming abuse, calling me worthless, a mistake, that she would make sure I died before her ETC. My grandad was worn out, thin and just tried to stay out of everything, I hated him for his neutrality and felt he could have saved me and didnt and was a coward. My family had all used and abused me for years, I was made to work nights so they could leach money, pay off loans and never saw a penny, I lost that job cause I never got to sleep and passed out at work to often. My gran went into hospital babling about men in the room in the corner three of them, grandad got scared and admitted her, then he doubled over the next morning in pain and we found out he was bleeding inside and was dying, they also told us my gran was dying to and asked us if we should tell her, my family decided not to tell her not me.... He died and she recovered and came home and BLAMED ME, she beat me, humilitated me, pissed on me, shit where she wanted, refused her pills, denide me sleep then she killed my dog..... my Shnauzer cross... my boy my love of my life. I wept and screamed and held his cold body in my arms and for the first time in my life my monster of a mother did me a kindness, she took him to her vets to be cremated, it is him I had paper work and such, he is with me still in a box I made him with his dog tag on top. After that I no longer fought with my gran to make her take her pills, she didnt want to wash I didnt wash her, she didnt want to eat fine I didnt care, I was a ghost, numb, I didnt feel like a living thing, nothing bothered me, nothing tasted, didnt sleep, didnt need to I dont even think I was alive. She threw herself out of bed knowing I couldnt life her, she did this multiple times in one night and it was so bad the ambulance crews refused to come out again leaving her moaning on the floor, I didnt know they refused to come out so had sat up now two nights on the trot for this and was done, my mother came round called the ambulance crews out, they got her into bed and I refused to look after her any more. They said they would only take her in if they could say I was abusing her, I said fine I am done, they took her in and said I could take a few days. I took those days and got rid of every single one of her mobility aids, rails everything so they couldnt release her as the house wasnt safe, I knew this hospital had a reputation for getting rid of bed blockers, they died weirdly.... and I refused to take care of her any more, within six months she was dead and I finally thought I was free. It took me another two years to get the estate as it was clear from the finances I was owed it for decades of them taking money from me I had more than paid for it and moved the hell away form everyone with the money from its sale, not without multiple death threats from my family first tho and please to move in with them and be their slave.... cause that was enticing. TLDR=Anyway I killed my gran by refusing to take care of her any more after she murdered my dogs and abused and enslaved me.

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This past week I stopped by a place called Tex-Art Stone, in Keller TX to pick up a bed full of mulch for my flower beds. I saw their sign, which included the name of ‘JS Got Rocks.’ I asked what that was, at the counter when paying for the mulch. The older woman said it was her son’s rock shop downstairs. I’d never been down there before, so I went down. They have their tool selection there too, but I went to the left and WOW, was I amazed! As an amateur mineralogist, I hit the mother lode! I mean, specimen pieces everywhere!
The gentleman has for sale just about every mineral you could think of! I didn’t get to spend much time at that moment, but I do plan on returning. Pyrite, an in situ Herkimer diamond, quartz a plenty & Amethyst geodes, some of the biggest I’ve seen.
Anyway, there’s a secret crystal and mineral store, that’s easy to find, if you know where to look. It’s on Davis Blvd, in Keller. Worth a trip!

I started selling at the beginning of this month after 5 weeks of classroom training (160+ hours of training for this role.) I am currently seeing 15-18 potential customers a week, and I have a closing rate near 40%, hoping to get it up to 50%, then to 60%, and then to 70+%, hopefully. We are only allowed close on the first appointment.
I have been a General Manager to several businesses that required more working hours, more physical engagement, stronger mental game, as well as much more of emotional understanding for individuals. But this is different. I woken up 6 hours ago, and I haven’t moved out of bed or gotten dressed.
My 1 day off a week, before a sales rep (since I was 17, I’ve worked and only taken 1 day off a week,) I could actually accomplish and do stuff, chores, cooking, exercising, ect, without an issue. But after weeks of seeing 18 appointments a week, working Monday - Saturday, I am exhausted. I love sales and this has been fun for me, I don’t intend to stop -
But this is different than anything I’ve done before ~ Amateur boxing/MMA, Top Company Employee, Managing, General Managing.
The tired I feel now, feels like my soul and mind has also left my body on my day off and said “you’re on your own, body.”
Can anyone relate and give advice?
Thank you.

Game(s) I am considering: Cyberpunk 2077 I'm not sure if the DLC is necessary up front or if it would be better just to buy the base game, see if it holds my interest and I play through it; then buy the DLC. But, if the DLC would require another entire playthrough I don't know I'f I;d do that. I haven't played through many single player games these past few decades
The game(s) interest me because: * It is currently on sale * is often recommended * The graphics look okay
My concerns about purchasing the game(s): - unsure if it will hold my interest
Games I've liked and why: ( list will update over time if I continue to post here) I am mainly working on this list now because it was the prompts for creating a thread. Arcade: * pac man * spy hunter * centipede * donkey kong * many more I don't recall at the moment, but have spent many days and quarters in the arcades of times past
Atari 2600 (My First console in the later 70's) * space invaders is the first(of many) game I pulled an allnighter playing in my pre-teens * many other games, frogger, pitfall, pong, defender, and many others I don't recall this minute
Other consoles in my teens and twenties. * metal gear solid * various Mario games * I'm sure there are many more, but I don't recall at the moment
PC * I think Wolfenstein was the first game I got on PC where I was like... Okay gameplay and graphics are getting good now. Even though games of the past were good when they were new - Star Wars Galaxies (RIP) I've played WoW for many years. I haven't played much these past few years, but I play a little when each expansion comes out. - rainbow six siege - SMITE - I haven't played lately, but I may get Ark 2 when and if it ever comes out. (base builders and survival craft are fun) not linear worlds, though
Recent purchases for playing/trying during the summer months, when I am just working and not taking any classes, as opposed to the fall and winter semesters, when I am taking a couple of classes each semester and working towards a degree. * Helldivers2 is okay, I like the short matches, and PvE with a group of randoms. But its already getting very repetitive and pointless at about 20 hours of play f * Elden Ring - just started playing * Baulders Gate 3 - played for a couple hours. this seems like a good one to play after work for an hour or so before going to bed. graphics are nice, gameplay is a tad slower than Im used to. But it reminds me of a visual version of playing D&D a few times back in the (probably)early 80's with a coupe of friends that lived nearby whos older brother was always the DM because he played frequently with better people than us * Sons of the Forest: This game is pretty fun. I enjoy the base building and crafting, and the occasional cannibal attacks are nice. But I kind of lost interest when I realized it was a story with an end. It would be nice to have something like this that may have expansions,DLC, etc. in the future to build on. * Chants of Sennaar: fun and relaxing to play for 20min while having coffee and breakfast before work. * Talos Principle II: bought this after realizing that puzzle games were a nice break to fill in gaps, study breaks, etc... maybe these types of games will be good when I am taking both classes and working. * Disco Elysium: recently bought on sale. I kind of like it, but the clicking movement and stuff to click on in each screen seem like it may get boring because there is no action other than that andstory options for the narrative. I'll give this one a little more time and will probably not refund it, but I don't see why its been hyped up so much. YET.... * Nightengale: I love the theme and graphics, but its empty and got boring after a couple hours. I'll keep this and hope the future will develop into something much better, but for now I don't really feel like playing. * Enshrouded: refunded for now. it seems kind of fun, base building and crafting. But I gave up after starting to build my first house/base. It just didn't have the staying power to playing continue * Planet Crafter DEMO: seems pretty fun to craft and build, but am unsure if I want to buy. May wait until its on sale for a big discount. * Dark Souls III: Havent played it yet, but have thought about trying one of these souls games for a long time and this was on sale for a huge discount recently.
Games I've disliked and why( I should have kept track of my steam refunds ): but here is a recent list * Deep Rock Galactic - I do not like it at all, crappy graphics and boring gameplay * Manor Loards - was developed by one person with some outsourcing. I'm not looking to play any modern games that are this low-budget. I refunded before I got past the 2-hour deadline because it seemed like it would lack any depth for continuous play. * Animal Well- just no, some of the graphics remind me of older games I have played, but it just seems boring after 20 minutes of play.

Frank could have slept in the trailer, but he preferred being in the van under current circumstances. He could scare off anyone who got a bright idea to try and steal the vehicle, for one thing. And if something happened in the motel room, if Jenna and Mike needed help, he was closer.
Not that any of that seemed likely; this place seemed dead as hell.
The motel was a not-too-busted-down place. The town it sat at the edge of was a wide-spot-in-the-road type. An out-of-the-way hamlet, some might call it. To Frank's parents, the town would have seemed ideal. Small enough to seem homey and friendly — and Christian, of course — but large enough to have the basic amenities: a pool of suckers for Mama's MLM sales and other schemes, people looking for someone like Papa who could at least seem to fix anything for cheap, and an attitude that led people to mind their own business, even with new folks and strangers, leaving no one too inclined to call in Youth Services or the equivalent at every sign of a bruise or a scrape or bleeding backs or broken limbs.
They'd done a lot of midnight runners out of places where people showed some level of neighborly concern. Left a lot of things behind in rented houses and apartments.
The best time had been when Frank was between the ages of five and seven. They lived with Grampa and Gramma Schnedeker then, and all the kids who were old enough got to go to proper school for a while, like school-school. Grampa Schnedeker needed a lot of looking after, and Gramma wanted the kids out of the house at least a few hours a day so as not to disturb him too much.
Since they got to go to school, Frank and his siblings right on either side actually learned to properly read and do the beginnings of math and such. Mama said all they needed to read was the Bible, and Papa said math was only important as far as helping him measure and cut lumber and pipe for projects, but still, the kids learned. And when Grampa Schnedeker died and the family moved on, the kids who had got school for a while tried to keep up and to teach things to the little ones.
That got stopped pretty quick, and Mama took over the "lessons," which really just meant she handed the kids their little workbooks every morning after breakfast and left them to work — QUIETLY as she always demanded — while she went and schmoozed sales or whatever. All the boys stopped having any "lessons" after 10 years old. That was when they would start going to work with Papa.
All the boys besides Frank, anyway. But that was before anyone besides Frank even knew that Frank was a boy.
And boy, had that been Hell on Earth when he finally outright told them he was a boy. Mama went to scream-praying like she tended to, and Papa tried to beat Frank to death, and then he did other things that really almost did kill Frank, but luckily Susie called 911.
It was Hell after, too. All that time in the hospital, and the stuff was on the news, and then Frank was sent to foster parents practically across the country. Those first ones were okay, except they also didn't believe Frank was a boy. They just tried to send him to a conversion therapist, who somehow luckily realized that there was no converting Frank and tipped off the social workers. Frank got new foster parents who accepted him, helped him get a name change, and even let him stay with them after he aged out of the foster system, until he could get his GED and see about college.
And then there was college, with his new name and his new clothes and finally being himself, and then the year of college, he met Jenna, and everything since then had been almost golden.
He could not sleep, crunched up in the driver's seat of the van with his head full of memories, so instead he just let it all play, the good and the bad, until it was almost sunrise and he needed to piss like a racehorse.
Then he got out of the van and went to knock at the door of the motel room. After he peed, he would ask Jenna if she minded taking the first shift driving today.
Gotta be up early and get everything together. Danna hated cooking, so Derick made breakfast, got the kids settled, and carried a plate back to his wife, still ensconced in the big bed in the back of the RV.
God had said that the wife should be the one to tend to the home and children, had he not? And yet, if the wife was unable to do some part of that, surely the man, in his free moments, should try and help. Thus, Derick would cook and would see that the children had breakfast, since Danna had such trouble sleeping, and then had trouble waking in the morning, especially when she was pregnant.
And if Danna's mother had never taught her to cook, well, that was the sin of Peggy Lynn Sooks, not her daughter. God would punish Peggy for her failures as a wife and mother.
Other than the sleeping trouble and the aversion to some of the arts of housewifery, Danna was excellent. She was really smart, figuring out how to put together all the social media stuff. And she was always ready to go whenever God told Derick they needed to pick up and move on. She greeted each trip, long or short, with joy, and she treated her other wifely obligations with equal joy.
Perhaps too much joy, sometimes. Danna, for example, took great joy in the act of procreation. That was good, of course, for they were to be fruitful and multiply and spread their family over the Earth to carry the Truth of God's message.
But the act of procreation, sacred and holy as it might be, was never something Derick greatly enjoyed. He did not, as he knew some husbands did, press his wife to fulfill her duties every night. In fact, their marriage had not been conssumated for nearly two months after the wedding, simply because Derick was disinclined. It took Danna reminding him that God's holy word also said a husband should satisfy his wife, and then they finally joined fully in their union.
Still, they did not do it often, unless Danna pressed Derick. As the years went on, she did so more and more, and so he let her have her desire. It was his duty as a husband.
Today, they would stay here. God had said they would be here about a week. Danna seemed happy with that, and the children seemed pleased as well.
They always seemed happiest when the family stopped wandering a while.
Derick had tried to explain to the children why they moved around so much, and why they must keep doing so. He thought perhaps the oldest two boys were beginning to understand. The little ones were still far from such wisdom, but there was time yet.
There was time.
3 Table of Contents 5

Have just had my first day of viewings and really keen on this 2 bedroom property in London SE9 area. Asking is £450,000. Sold in 2017 for £375,000. Roughly 800sqft. Seems to have not had any renovations since the 2017 sale as per previous pictures. Garden is smaller than other properties in same area but it's close to the station which is what is driving us to make the purchase. We also love that it looks like it needs no renovation, it's in great condition and despite 2 bedrooms they aren't small. We've looked at 3 beds in similar area for more sqft but the bedrooms were more cramped.
Only worry is - it's a 2 bedroom with limited garden space. This is a limiting factor for a lot of new buyers. We worry that if we expand our family, this will severely limit our time here and we will have to move sooner. We also worry that it means that the house's limited potential will limit appreciation, especially as £450,000 from £375,000 is already a big jump over 7 years with no renovation and if we have to move sooner i.e. in 6-7 years, we might not be expecting much appreciation or even a loss as a 2 bed with no room for development is probably got a low ceiling of appreciation.
Any thoughts I would appreciate as we have to make an offer tomorrow and as FTB on our first day of viewings we are very nervous about a misstep!
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147562373#/?channel=RES_BUY