Choosing the right signage should be a top priority for any business, whether you are just starting out or you are a well-established company. Your signage works for you 24/7, telling customers who you are, where you are, and what you do.
Effective business signage should be key components to your marketing strategy to help you promote your products and services. Here are some steps to follow when choosing your signage.
STEP 1: DETERMINE YOUR BUDGET
Your budget will help you determine a number of things when you are choosing signage such as:

• The size of signs you can get
• The quality of materials used in your signs
• The number of signs you can purchase
• The complexity of the design you can choose

When you are setting your budget, keep in mind how cost-effective signage is. It is one of the few types of advertising that, once it is paid for and installed, it keeps working for you without any additional costs except the occasional maintenance tasks.
Also remember that if you invest a little more in a higher quality sign, it will last longer and will not have to be replaced as quickly which will save you money in the long run.
If your budget is tight, then you can invest in a good quality storefront sign first and then add extra signage as the funds become available.
^{STEP 2: CHOOSE THE RIGHT SIGNAGE COMPANY TO WORK WITH}
There are many companies that do custom business signs, so how can you know which one is the best choice for you. Here are some tips to follow:
Choose a full-service company: It's better to work with a company that can design, manufacture, install, and maintain your signage for you. A full-service company will work with you form the start to the completion of your signage.
They will know what you want because they helped you design it, they will make it to your exact specifications, and they will know how to best install and maintain it, because they made it.
Choose a local company: Working with a local company has great benefits as well. They will be familiar with any signage bylaws in your area so you can be sure that your signs will be built according to those guidelines and they will know what permits or other paperwork is required and will help you obtain those.
If anything goes wrong, it's easier to contact a local company than one that is located far away.
Choose a company with experience and a good reputation: You want to find a company that has lots of experience in the signage industry and that has made the type of signage that you want for your business.
Check out the past projects that they have done and check out their online reviews to see what their customers think about their work.
^{STEP 3: CHOOSE THE RIGHT DESIGN FOR YOUR SIGNAGE}
Now that you know how much you can spend and what company you want to work with, it's time to design your signage. Here are some things to consider when choosing your design.
Think about your demographic: If you are targeting a certain type of customer, then you will want to have signage that will appeal to them.
For example, if your demographic is a younger audience, then choose fun and lively colours, fonts, images, and a message that will appeal to that generation. If your demographic is a more traditional then you probably want to choose more traditional colours, images, fonts and messages.
Tell your signage company what demographic you are targeting and they can help you design the right type of signage for that market.
Make sure your signage is visible: Your signage can be an effective advertising tool, but only if it can be seen. Make sure that your sign is large enough to be seen from the distance that you want and that the fonts are easy to read with lettering big enough and properly spaced apart.
If you are in a dark corner or if you want customers to see your signage at night, then you should choose backlit or another type of illumination for your sign.
The colours that you choose also play an important part in making your signage more visible. You want to choose colours with high contrast in both hue and value. If you use high contrasting colours then then can be seen from greater distances than low contrasting colours.
According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, "research demonstrates that high colour contrast can improve outdoor advertising recall by 38 percent." Black on yellow and black on white are two very high contrasting colour combinations whereas red on yellow and white on red have a very low contrast.
Choose the right materials: Your signage company can help you choose the right types of materials to use in your sign. Let them know how long you want your sign to last and where it will be put up as this will help determine the best type of materials to use. Some options include:

• Acrylic, plastic, and PVC
• Aluminum and other metals
• Wood
• Fabric such as mesh or vinyl for banners
• Neon or LED Neon

Keep it simple: When it comes to signage, less is usually more. You want to avoid too much clutter in your design and make sure that you include lots of white space. White space simply refers to the empty space around your text and graphics. this empty space can be a colour, it doesn't have to be white.
If your text is too crowded and too long, it will be more difficult to read especially by passing motorists. It is a good idea to leave about 30 to 40 percent of your signage space blank.
The above content is powered by LITASIGN
As a seasoned supplier of illuminated signs, LITASIGN boasts over 20 years of manufacturing expertise. Our professional team combines fine workmanship with innovative design, using only high-quality materials to craft exceptional signs that exceed expectations. With a focus on precision and attention to detail, we deliver stunning, long-lasting products that elevate your brand’s visibility and appeal.
🔜Contact us:
Phone:0086 13632869006
WhatsApp:0086 13632869006
E-mail:[info@litasign.com](mailto:infor@litasign.com)
Web:https://www.litasign.com

It was a typical Wednesday night, and I was lounging on the couch with my three cats—Mittens, Shadow, and Ginger—when the emergency alert blasted through my phone, startling all of us.
“THIS IS A CDC EMERGENCY ALERT. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. REPEAT, DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. AN UNKNOWN PATHOGEN HAS BEEN RELEASED.”
The message repeated in a loop, sending chills down my spine. My cats, sensing my unease, huddled closer. I bolted downstairs to the basement, where I had a small stockpile of supplies. We’d be safe here, I thought. We’d ride this out.
Days turned into a week, and the supplies dwindled. The eerie silence outside was unnerving. No sounds of traffic, no neighbors, not even birds. The world had gone quiet. My cats and I were growing hungrier by the day, and I knew I had to venture out to find food.
Covering my mouth with a makeshift mask, I cautiously opened the front door. The streets were deserted, an apocalyptic wasteland. Abandoned cars lined the roads, and trash was strewn about, but there was no sign of life. I moved quickly, staying alert for any signs of danger.
As I rounded the corner near the local grocery store, I froze. In the distance, a group of people in hazmat suits with CDC and unrecognizable insignia on their uniforms were gathered around a body. The figure on the ground had charred skin, a sight that turned my stomach. I tried to back away silently, but one of them spotted me.
“Hey! Get inside!” one of the soldiers shouted, his voice muffled through the suit. “Now!”
Panic surged through me as they began to run towards me, their weapons raised. My legs moved before my mind could catch up, and I sprinted back the way I came. Bullets whizzed past, the sound of gunfire echoing through the empty streets.
I darted into an alley, heart pounding, and ducked behind a dumpster. My breaths were ragged, and I clutched my chest, trying to calm down. Peeking out, I saw the soldiers sweeping the area, their movements methodical and precise. They were searching for me.
After what felt like an eternity, they moved on, their shouts and footsteps fading into the distance. I waited, paralyzed by fear, until I was sure they were gone. I needed to get back home, to my cats, and figure out what the hell was happening.
I made it back without further incident, collapsing inside and bolting the door behind me. My cats mewed softly, sensing my distress. I sank to the floor, trying to make sense of the chaos.
Days passed, and the hunger gnawed at us relentlessly. The hazmat soldiers were a constant presence, patrolling the neighborhood. Each time they passed, I held my breath, praying they wouldn’t discover us.
One night, as I lay in the darkness with my cats, I heard something outside. A soft scratching at the door. My heart leaped into my throat. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and approached cautiously.
“Help… please…” a weak voice whispered.
I cracked the door open and found a woman, her skin marred by burns similar to the body I’d seen. She collapsed into my arms, barely conscious. I dragged her inside and locked the door again.
She looked up at me, her eyes filled with terror. “They did this… the soldiers. They’re not CDC. They’re covering up something… something worse than the pathogen…”
Before she could say more, she slipped into unconsciousness. I stared at her, my mind racing. The real threat wasn’t the pathogen—it was something far more sinister.
The soldiers returned that night, searching more aggressively. I knew we couldn’t stay here much longer. Gathering my cats and what little we had left, I prepared to leave. We had to find a safe place, a place where we could uncover the truth.
As I stepped into the night with my cats in tow, I knew there was no turning back. The world outside had become a nightmare, and the only way to survive was to uncover the secrets that the soldiers were so desperately trying to hide.As I stepped into the night with my cats in tow, I knew there was no turning back. The world outside had become a nightmare, and the only way to survive was to uncover the secrets that the soldiers were so desperately trying to hide.
We moved swiftly through the deserted streets, keeping to the shadows. Every rustle of leaves or distant sound of movement set my nerves on edge. The weight of the knife in my pocket was the only comfort I had.
I needed a plan, but first, we needed a safe place to rest. I remembered an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town, a relic from a bygone era. It wasn’t ideal, but it was our best shot. We reached the warehouse without incident, and I carefully pried open a side door that had seen better days. Inside, the air was stale, and the darkness was absolute, but it would do.
Setting up a makeshift camp, I turned my attention to the woman who had found us. She was still unconscious, her breathing shallow but steady. I cleaned her wounds as best as I could with the limited supplies I had. My mind raced with questions. Who was she? What did she know about the soldiers and their cover-up?
Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at me, her gaze intense. "You have to leave," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "They're looking for you. They know you're here."
"Who are they?" I asked, desperation creeping into my voice. "What's really going on?"
She tried to sit up, wincing in pain. "They released something—something they can't control. The pathogen was just the beginning. They're trying to contain it, but it's spreading faster than they anticipated. The burns… they're from the inside out. It's like the body is burning itself."
My heart pounded as her words sank in. "What do we do?"
"We need to get to the CDC headquarters," she said, her voice gaining strength. "There's evidence there. Proof of what they did. If we can get it out to the world, we might have a chance to stop this."
It was a long shot, but it was a plan. I gathered what little supplies we had left and prepared for the journey. The CDC headquarters was on the other side of town, a perilous trek through an urban wasteland patrolled by hostile forces.
As we set out, I kept a vigilant eye on our surroundings, my cats close by. The streets seemed even more desolate, an eerie silence hanging in the air. We moved quickly, avoiding the main roads and sticking to the back alleys.
Halfway to our destination, we heard the distant hum of engines. We ducked into an abandoned building, peering out from the shattered windows. A convoy of military vehicles rolled by, soldiers scanning the area with flashlights. I held my breath, praying they wouldn't notice us.
Once they passed, we resumed our journey. The closer we got to the CDC headquarters, the more signs of destruction we saw. Burnt-out vehicles, collapsed buildings, and the occasional body lying in the street. It was as if the world had ended while we were hiding in our basement.
Finally, we reached the perimeter of the CDC compound. The building was heavily guarded, soldiers in hazmat suits patrolling every entrance. We needed a distraction. I spotted a gas station nearby and formulated a risky plan.
"Stay here," I whispered to the woman, handing her the knife. "If anything happens, run."
She nodded, her eyes filled with determination. I crept towards the gas station, my heart pounding. Breaking a window, I managed to find a few fuel canisters. I rigged a crude explosive with some rags and matches, praying it would be enough.
With a deep breath, I lit the makeshift fuse and tossed it towards the gas pumps. The explosion was deafening, a massive fireball lighting up the night sky. The soldiers scrambled towards the blaze, giving us the opening we needed.
We slipped through the perimeter and made our way into the CDC building. Inside, it was chaos. Alarms blared, and people in lab coats rushed about. We found a terminal and the woman began to download files, her fingers flying over the keyboard.
"Hurry," I urged, my eyes on the entrance. "They'll be here any second."
The download finished just as the first soldiers burst into the room. We grabbed the USB drive and ran, bullets whizzing past us. We burst through a side exit and into the night, the precious evidence clutched tightly in my hand.
Now we had the proof, but getting it out to the world would be another challenge. As we disappeared into the darkness, I knew this was just the beginning. The fight for survival had only just begun, and the truth was our only weapon against the horrors that had been unleashed.We ran through the night, the USB drive clutched tightly in my hand. The CDC soldiers' shouts and gunfire faded into the distance as we made our way through the abandoned streets. We couldn’t stop now. The evidence we carried was the only hope of exposing the truth and stopping this nightmare.
"We need to get to the old radio tower on Pine Hill," the woman said, her voice strained but determined. "It's heavily guarded, but it's our best chance to broadcast the evidence to the survivors."
The radio tower was a relic from the pre-internet era, now repurposed by the government for emergency broadcasts. It was located on a hill just outside town, a place that would be swarming with soldiers. We had no choice.
The journey to Pine Hill was treacherous. We stayed off the main roads, navigating through back alleys and abandoned buildings. Every sound made us jump, every shadow felt like a threat. My three cats, Mitten, Shadow, and Ginger, stayed close, sensing the tension.
As we approached the hill, the reality of our mission set in. The radio tower loomed ahead, surrounded by a high fence and a contingent of soldiers. Their hazmat suits and the strange insignia on their uniforms made them look more alien than human.
"We need a plan," I whispered, crouching behind a crumbling wall with the woman. "We can’t just charge in."
She nodded, her eyes scanning the area. "We need to create a distraction, something to draw them away from the main gate."
I thought about the explosion at the gas station. "If we can set off another explosion, it might draw enough of them away for us to sneak in."
We scavenged the nearby buildings, finding a few old fuel canisters and some rags. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. We set up the makeshift bombs at a safe distance from the gate, rigging them to go off with a delay.
"Ready?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
She nodded, her face set in grim determination. We lit the fuses and ran back to our hiding spot. Moments later, the night was torn apart by a series of explosions. Flames shot into the sky, and the soldiers at the gate scrambled towards the inferno.
"Now!" she shouted, and we sprinted towards the fence. The distraction had worked; most of the guards had left their posts. We cut through the fence with a pair of wire cutters and slipped inside, making our way towards the tower.
Inside the compound, we moved swiftly but cautiously. We encountered a few straggling soldiers, and a quick, silent takedown ensured they wouldn’t raise the alarm. The main control room was on the top floor, and we had to move fast.
As we ascended the stairs, the sound of footsteps echoed from below. More soldiers were coming. We reached the control room and barricaded the door behind us. The equipment was outdated but functional, and the woman immediately began setting up the broadcast.
"Keep them off me," she said, her fingers flying over the controls. "I need a few minutes."
I nodded, gripping the knife tightly as I stood guard. The door shook as the soldiers pounded on it, shouting orders. I knew it wouldn’t hold for long. My heart raced as I prepared for the inevitable confrontation.
The door burst open, and soldiers poured in. I fought with everything I had, slashing and dodging, trying to buy her enough time. The room was filled with chaos, the sound of gunfire and shouts echoing off the walls.
"Got it!" she yelled, just as a soldier lunged at me. I managed to dodge, and she hit the broadcast button, sending the evidence out over the airwaves.
The soldier caught me off guard, his gun aimed directly at my head. But before he could pull the trigger, the woman tackled him, knocking the gun from his hand. Together, we fought off the remaining soldiers, adrenaline fueling our every move.
The broadcast was live, transmitting to any survivors who might be listening. The truth was out there now, and there was no turning back. We had exposed the government's dark secret, revealing the horrors they had unleashed.
As the last soldier fell, we took a moment to catch our breath. The room was a mess, but we were alive. The woman looked at me, her eyes fierce.
"We did it," she said, her voice trembling with a mix of exhaustion and relief.
"What's your name?" I asked, realizing I never knew the name of the woman who had saved us all.
"Emily," she replied. "And you?"
"David," I said, offering her a weary smile. "What's next?"
"We find more survivors," Emily said. "We need to band together, stay safe, and figure out how to stop this once and for all."
As we left the radio tower, my cats trailing behind us, I knew the road ahead would be long and dangerous. But for the first time since the outbreak, I felt a glimmer of hope. We had taken the first step in fighting back, and we wouldn’t stop until we reclaimed our world.As we descended Pine Hill, the adrenaline from our successful broadcast still coursed throughour veins, we encountered a lone CDC soldier. He was younger than the others, his hazmat suit splattered with dirt and blood. He raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide with fear.
"Please, don’t shoot," he begged, his voice trembling.
Emily and I exchanged glances. We needed answers, and he might be our best shot.
“Drop your weapon and get on your knees,” I commanded, keeping the knife at the ready. He complied, dropping his rifle and kneeling on the ground.
“Who are you?” Emily demanded. “And what the hell is going on?”
“My name is Sergeant Walker,” he stammered. “I’m just following orders. Please, you have to understand, it’s not what you think.”
Emily stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. “Then explain it to us. What have you released? What’s really happening?”
He swallowed hard, glancing around nervously. “They didn’t tell us everything at first. The pathogen was supposed to be a bioweapon, something to give us an edge in warfare. But it mutated… it’s out of control.”
“We already know it’s bad,” I said, tightening my grip on the knife. “Tell us something we don’t know, or I swear we won’t be as kind as we’ve been.”
His eyes darted between us, and he took a deep breath. “There’s a new variant,” he admitted, his voice shaking. “It’s worse than the first one. The mortality rate is 98 percent, and it’s incredibly transmissive. It turns the infected’s brain to jello, makes them mindless, driven by a desperate urge to consume others.”
I felt a cold dread settle in my stomach. “What do you mean, ‘consume others’?”
“They eat other infected,” Walker said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s like they’re trying to regain parts of their humanity, but it’s futile. They’re just spreading the infection further.”
Emily’s face paled. “How did this happen? How could you let this happen?”
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he said, tears forming in his eyes. “We were just following orders. We didn’t know. By the time we realized, it was too late. The higher-ups tried to contain it, but it spread too fast. Now they’re just trying to cover it up, to hide their mistake.”
I looked at Emily, the horror of his words sinking in. “What do we do now?”
“We have to find more survivors, warn them,” she said, her voice resolute. “We need to band together and fight back, somehow.”
I turned back to Walker. “Thank you for telling us. Get out of here, go somewhere safe. But know this: if we ever see you again, and you’re still working for them, we won’t be as merciful.”
He nodded, tears streaming down his face. “Thank you. I… I’m sorry.”
We watched as he ran off into the night, his figure quickly swallowed by the darkness. The information he’d given us weighed heavily on our minds. The situation was far worse than we’d imagined, but we couldn’t let despair take hold. We had a mission, a purpose.
As we continued our journey through the desolate streets, my cats trailing close behind, I felt a renewed sense of determination. The world had become a living nightmare, but we had taken the first steps toward fighting back. We would find more survivors, we would uncover more truths, and we would stop this horror, no matter what it took.
The road ahead was fraught with danger, but for the first time, we had hope—and that was something they couldn’t take away from us.
As we watched Sergeant Walker disappear into the darkness, a sinking feeling settled in my chest. The weight of his revelations hung heavy in the air, and I couldn’t shake the sense of despair that threatened to overwhelm me. But before we could fully process what had just transpired, footsteps echoed behind us, and Walker’s voice called out.
“Wait! Please, don’t leave me!” he cried, his voice frantic.
Emily and I turned, startled by his sudden return. His hazmat suit was torn, his face streaked with dirt and tears.
“What do you want?” Emily demanded, her voice sharp with suspicion.
Walker stumbled forward, his hands trembling. “I can’t go back to the CDC,” he gasped, desperation evident in his eyes. “Not after what they’ve done. You said you need survivors… well, I’m one of them. Please, I’ll do anything. Just let me stay with you.”
I exchanged a hesitant glance with Emily. Could we trust him? After everything he’d been a part of?
“We can’t stay here,” I said, my voice low. “If you’re coming with us, you need to keep up.”
Walker nodded eagerly, his relief palpable. “Thank you. I won’t let you down, I swear.”
With that, we continued on our journey, Walker falling into step beside us. The night stretched on, the silence broken only by the occasional sound of our footsteps and the distant howl of the wind. We didn’t speak, each lost in our own thoughts, haunted by the horrors we’d witnessed.
As the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, we found ourselves on the outskirts of a small town. It was quiet, eerily so, but there was a sense of life here that we hadn’t felt in days.
“This is where we’ll start,” Emily said, her voice firm. “We’ll find survivors, gather supplies, and figure out our next move.”Walker nodded, determination shining in his eyes. “I’m with you,” he said, his voice steady. “Whatever it takes.”And so, with the dawn of a new day, our unlikely group set out into the unknown, united by a common goal:
survival. The road ahead would be long and fraught with danger, but together, we had hope—and that was something worth fighting for.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, casting its golden light over the desolate town, we knew our first order of business was finding hazmat suits. With the threat of infection looming over us, protection was paramount if we were to continue our mission.
Scouring the abandoned streets, we moved with caution, alert for any sign of danger. Emily led the way, her eyes scanning every building for a potential source of supplies. After what felt like hours of searching, we finally stumbled upon an old hardware store.
The door creaked open, revealing shelves lined with dusty boxes and debris-covered floors. We moved quickly, gathering whatever supplies we could find—flashlights, batteries, duct tape—anything that might be useful in our fight for survival.
But the real prize was the hazmat suits tucked away in a corner, their bright yellow material standing out against the gloom. We wasted no time in suiting up, grateful for the added layer of protection they provided.
Once we were fully geared up, we stood in the dim light of the store, our spirits lifted by the newfound sense of security. But our moment of respite was short-lived, as a noise from outside drew our attention.
Footsteps echoed in the distance, growing louder with each passing moment. We exchanged tense glances, our hands instinctively reaching for our weapons. Whoever—or whatever—was approaching, we were ready to defend ourselves.
The door swung open, and a figure stumbled inside, panting heavily. It was a young woman, her hazmat suit torn and bloodied, her face streaked with dirt and sweat.
“Please,” she gasped, collapsing to the ground. “Help me.”
Emily rushed to her side, pulling off her helmet to reveal a shock of red hair and wide, terrified eyes.
“What happened?” Emily asked, her voice gentle but urgent.
The woman took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “I was part of a group trying to escape the city,” she said, her voice trembling. “But we were ambushed by infected. They came out of nowhere, tearing through us like animals. I’m the only one left.”
A chill ran down my spine as I listened to her story. The infected were becoming more aggressive, more organized. If we didn’t act fast, we could be next.
“We need to get out of here,” I said, my voice tense. “Now.”
With a sense of urgency, we helped the woman to her feet and gathered our supplies. The hardware store was no longer safe, its walls offering little protection against the growing threat outside.
As we slipped back into the sunlight, our hazmat suits offering a false sense of security, I couldn’t shake the feeling that our journey was far from over. The road ahead would be treacherous, filled with danger at every turn. But together, we would face whatever challenges came our way, united in our determination to survive.

Hey guys, long story short, just cut off all my family members and moving out of my moms house.
Growing up I got abused by them, they always apologize and say sorry, but than my sister sends the most toxic invalidating letter to my therapist. After reading that I knew my stance. They were supportive in some aspects, like money, financial support for school, and they use that and think thats why I should talk to them.
Morever my Indian mom always says "its a family so you have to talk to us" which is crazy bs. I cut all ties, argued with my brother, he ended up insulting me, i insulted him back and he cried, than they point fingers at me and ask "how can you be so cruel". They do this after barging into my room and forcing me to talk to them when I was minding my own business and not bothering them, they try to make you the victim. They are so mad that they even say my therapist is a horrible therapist since I dont talk to them, meanwhile my therapist helped me so much.
I decided to work a minimum wage job, move out into a cheaper apartment with roomates, and grind and support myself until I get my dream job, and after that will just build the life I want with my own career and hobbies. Im super happy im 25 and have this realization fo their toxic nature.
Let me know what you think or if you have any support/tips, thanks!

For context, I am a member of a happy family of 4. I have an older sister, my mom (50F) and my dad (47M). I admire both my parents imensely, my mother being a wonderfull woman and my dad being an awesome guy with cool taste in a lot of shit. Most of the income of our family coming from my father, a successful doctor with a secondary income coming from my mother, wich works with our farm and is trying to make it work.
A while ago, i was playing iracing, and i got home late at night while my parents slept. Hopped on iracing to play some races and i realized my subscription expired, so i entered in my bank account and realized that to pay i would need a security code to do so, that would go to my dad's phone, so i went in their room and got his phone, entered in whatsapp and got the code, but i remember seing a freshly spoken-to contact that belonged to an apparently young woman, and it said underneagh domething between the lines of "you are smart, rich and hot" coming from my dad, but i let that slide and went to play iracing.
2 months later, I find myself in the same situation, got to renew my subscription and ask for his phone, but i remember slightly that old message exchange that my dad had with that woman (who from now on i will call michelle, not her name but whatever) so I end up not just getting my code but looking over my dads phone, and lo and behold, I find old texts of my dad asking for nudes (I do not know michelle, nor her status of relationship with my father, so idk if they were joking) in a jokingly tone, but also coming with complements and flerting, but it was all in the same day of chatting, which means if it happened it was problably a fling or my dad hid it all very well. Later on he asks for the phone and i give it to him. I ended up searching michelle's name in instagram and i find out she has a son, (that wierdly looks like me but i belive that to be a coencidence) and I also found a groupchat of michelle, my dad and some friends of his where they talked about similar shit.
I am planning on doing the same with my mom and trying to find out more about this woman to see if my dad is realling having an affair, or if my mom is having an affair, as i cant trust anyone anymore. So i came here seeking refuge, as I dont know how i confront my parents about this or if i should talk to my sister first, but i dont want my family to fall apart, as my mom cant handle herself all on her own and it would break my dad's heart, and my sister's too. I need advice, all I want is to forget this shit. But what worries me the most is the fact my father's social circle is smaller than my mother's, considering people who have more friends, tend to party more and are more exposed to such enviornments are more susceptible to cheating. I dont know what to do and need advice. Any stem i take is a risk and i must do everything with caution, as my familie's faith is problably in my hands.

Hi sorry this is my first time ever posting and don’t know how to and how much info to give. My dog got let out of my apartment by my twins back in December. He met my upstairs neighbor and her dog outside my door and her dog started to attack my dog. Of course my dog got kicked out of my apartment and labeled as aggressive because he was the one off leash and in Tennessee there is a leash law. We temporarily moved out of our apartment to be with my dog with some family. My dog is the sweetest dog and he has never been or showed an aggression towards anyone or other animals. My neighbors dog on the other hand never leaves their apartment to be socialized, barks and growls at everyone and unfortunately is the stereotypical pitbull(I have nothing against this breed at all I’ve seen and pet several pits and all have been so sweet). They got to keep their dog even though it shows aggression because it is a fake service dog. The neighbors admitted they went online and paid $59 on a fake ESA letter from a doctor without being diagnosed. They were trying to rub it in my face that they got to keep their dog and mine got kicked out. I have been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression and I can get a service animal legally. Basically my question is can I legally turn my dog into a ESA and they have to let him back in my apartment or would they tell me no he’s still not allowed back. I have been back in my apartment without my dog for a few weeks now. I’ve had several anxiety/panic attacks and him not being here has really affected me. I also have PTSD due to being harassed by my old neighbors and another situation that happen when I was younger so any little noise or just being home alone terrifies me and him being here made me feel safe. Is there anything I can do to get him back?

My parents were very hard workers and worked alot just to be able to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. My grandparents lived right around the corner and I was basically raised by them. I never noticed until looking back years later that my grandmother was a control freak. As years passed alot has happened that I won't get into and I was 18 and just graduated high school. I stopped being at my grandparents house 24/7 like I used to and was no longer answering their 20 phone calls a day. After a few weeks of distancing myself I was talking with my parents and they were floating around the idea of moving like they had for years. All through out highschool I was bullied alot and dealt with alot of mental health issues. I had in the past attempted to end everything but when I failed my cousins and kids at school would bully me for it. So this move would be a really great way to start all over again and try to pull myself back together and find myself again. Once my grandparents and cousins had found out shit hit the fan. I would receive calls from my grandmother constantly harassing me for leaving her and she would do slow drive bys of our house and would even try to break into our house to manipulate us into staying. She said I was the reason the family was falling apart and everyone turned of me and my parents. Then my cousins and aunt started leaving nasty comments on all my social media posts. One day my parents found a house put in an offer and put our house up on the market and it all happened so fast. The next day I receive a letter in the mail of a father's day cars I gave to my grandpa when I was like 10 along with a broken Christmas ornament I made when I was like 5 and gave to my grandmother. Inside the card was my grandmother's writing, "we don't want your lies anymore" referring to the card that I had made telling them how much I loved them. This sent me into a spiral of anger. I finally called the cops on her and showed them all the harassment I had received from her. They said that they would talk to her but aside from that their was nothing they could do unless I took everything to family court. They talked to her and she then proceeded to call me and say how she was untouchable and how she can do anything she wants to me because of free speech. So I went to family court and told them everything. I ended up taking her to court based on an incident where she had put her hands on me and got that sweet precious restraining order. We finally moved out. Time has passed and today I got a message from an old friend of mine. My aunt had messaged her telling her how I was a "crazy bitch". What really makes me upset is this is my dad's parents and his brothers wife who is doing all of this and every once in a while I will see my dad cry because he lost everyone he ever had when all this went down. I just really need to know, am I the asshole or crazy bitch as they like to say for trying to better my life?

Bought a new house and moved in. Ordered new washer and dryer from Costco and got them installed. I was a member earlier but had not renewed it. Renewed it just because im moving to a new house.
The person installs the set. Everything looks good. I wake up the next day and enter the garage. I hear some hissing and dripping sound. I trace it and lo and behold, the washer inlet was not tight enough and leaking. It was leaking for a LONG time. The water went straight down to the basement and flooded it. It also seeped in the garage under my gym mats.
I literally was able to just tighten the valve with bare hands to stop the leak m, that’s how badly it was done.
I spend 3 hrs taking the water out from the basement. I contact Costco and they gave me some BS that claims department will reach out. Meanwhile I got a plumber to check everything out as an emergency. He said everything is fine, good that i took the water out. He added plumbing tapes and told me this installation was a rookie job. Recommended i leave a fan on for 3 days to dry everything out.
Then I spend another 3 hrs taking my gym and the mats apart to seep out the water and let everything dry and to put it all back.
Needless to say the worst experience ever. Absolute worst. I literally just moved in 2 DAYS AGO. Ive had contractors come over a lot and they did great jobs. So i trusted this person when they said installation is good. I should have checked.
I dont know what will happen next . Hopefully no mold/mildew/permanent damage.
Highly recommend NOT BUYING appliances from costco. Buy it from HD, Lowes and pay for a solid installation guy. Totally worth it.
TL;DR 1. Got new washer installed from costco. 2. They botched the setup and flooded my basement. 3. Spent 6 hrs fixing it 4. No help from Costco yet.

I don't even know how to begin with this, it's a very complicated situation I've been involved out of pure love for the past few months.
I am a lesbian fully out of the closet for a few years now and I no longer have problems with everyone knowing my sexual orientation, in fact, the years have taught me this is a privilege even though it shouldn't be but this is the freedom we all wish for our community.
My gf, on the opposite side, is lesbian as well but she is in the closet mostly because she has been afraid of the consequences of coming out, which is what she's going through right now.
She only lives with her mother and their relationship is very unstable. This year, her mom left the city in February without a previous notice and at the moment she is only an interim in her job and isn't receiving any payments until this upcoming October. Her mom told her that "she can figure this out herself", leaving without any coverage of the bills of the house, groceries, nothing.
We have been dating since December of last year and made it official until March, we stablished how private the relationship had to be and I am completely aware of her situation. It's worth mention that we didn't decide to start a relationship to saver her, but decided to date despite that. I offered to help her with the bills, gas and groceries, she didn't ask for it, but at some point I feel it is my duty to protect her. I am fortunate enough to have a well-paid job that can cover me and her separately.
These past few months have been difficult but we've been through them. I try to keep the romanticism going by giving her gifts and letters to let her know how crazy I am for her.
Now that you have the context, to the problem. About 9 days ago, her mother came back home extremely upset. She has been nothing but rude and aggresive towards my gf. My gf says the psychological abuse has been extreme and out of nowhere, she really doesn't understand this behavior and it's hurtful for her and it is for myself as well.
In the middle of the week, her mom entered her room while she was at work and found all the letters I wrote her ever since we were dating, she tore them apart and threw most of them to the garbage. She wanted to confront my gf mostly to insult her and say every type of name in the book.
The problem is that, ever since her mother came back, the only help she allows me to give her is the financial one. I've been telling her to stay in my home even for a couple of days, to pick her up, to supply any other emotional need but she refuses to do so. She tells me that paying for her stuff is enough help but I don't feel that way. She has been drinking so much even when she doesn't have to and I don't want to pay for her alcohol, but she has friends that invites her to party and drink and that's her way to distract herself from the situation (her friends don't know about her being a lesbian either, so they're oblivious about this).
The obvious solution to this is to let her know my feelings, but she is in such a vulnerable state right now that if I mention this, she will reject even my financial help and will keep a further distance from me, then I am scared she will be completely alone and don't know how she will face the day. This is already causing an impact on my physical and mental health, just for the fact that I wish to do more but she doesn't allow it, what should I do?

TW for sexual, physical, medical, emotional, and religious abuse, childhood sa, suicidal ideation, and self harm
This past week has been incredibly difficult so I decided it would be good for me to write a letter to my mom to keep for myself during my healing process to get everything out and it's been very cathartic (all fake names used). Part of my healing journey has been sharing my (extremely personal) experience with others who understand, hence why I'm sharing this here, and maybe it'll give someone some strength knowing that I made it out. I hope everyone is kind to themselves this week and was able to treat this holiday as a holiday for themselves for surviving their abusive moms!
Dear mom, Happy belated Mother’s Day. My Mother’s Day was spent being upset and anxious so I decided to write this letter. This letter is so incredibly difficult to write and even more difficult to read back to myself. Moving away from my university and back home during COVID was genuinely one of the most difficult things I have done in my life simply because of all of the repressed memories that flooded back into my brain every single day I was in that house. I used to resent the pandemic for forcing me to live in an environment that made me want to harm myself every single day and die every other day, but I am now thankful for the clarity that it brought me as I don’t think I’d have the foresight that I have now.
There is a lot that I want to say. I am angry, bitter, resentful, and traumatized from things that you have done to me as a child and also as an adult. Growing up, you’re never able to fully recognize what is healthy because whatever you experience will be your barometer for normalcy. I thought for a very long time that thing were normal but thank God I now know just how truly fucked up so many of my childhood experiences were. Not a single day goes by where I don’t think about the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that I went through. I am haunted every single day by things that you did (and some things that you didn’t do) and hope that one day I will be able to heal from what I experienced.
I grew up being close to my cousin Chloe (a year younger than me) who was obviously very bitchy, mean, and abusive. This fact isn’t something you weren’t aware of as I know a fully grown adult would be able to see how she treated and talked to me when around you and come to the obvious conclusion that I should not have been allowed to be around her. She bullied me, called me names, physically assaulted me by pushing me, pulling my hair, and sitting on me with my hands held behind my back until I couldn’t breathe, forced me to bathe in scolding hot bath water that would burn my skin, making me undress and make fun of parts of my body, and forced me to watch things that she knew would scare me. This is the same time that I started having insomnia and struggled in school due to anxiety. It’s also the same time I remember my sound sensitivity starting. Do you remember my childhood friend’s mom Amelia and how protective she was over my friend, Diana? Diana met Chloe at my 9th birthday party and Diana went over to her house for a playdate and Chloe did something to her. She physically reached over and groped Diana on the privates. I knew Amelia IMMEDIATELY prevented her daughter from ever being around Chloe again. I also knew that it's possible she mentioned this to my aunt, but I'm not positive. I know that Amelia is the type of mom to prevent Diana from reading Harry Potter because she thought it was a bad influence on her due to being “demonic”, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she made you aware of what Chloe did to Diana as she knew that I spent a lot of time around her. I doubt that what Chloe did to Diana was ever kept a secret from you. Chloe also forced me to do sexual things I didn’t want to do from roughly the ages of 8-11. One time, we were in her kitchen and she pulled out a knife and said that she was going to stab me. By then, I knew she just wanted to scare me so when I had no reaction, she put the knife away. I was terrified of what would happen if I said no to her so I went along with whatever she wanted. She would go into the bathroom and tell me to follow, would lock the door, and make me take off my clothes and let her do things to me and forced me to do the same things to her. I used to think that you had NO IDEA about this until I remember you saying the words- “you were an amazing kid and never had any problems until you got a little older. I always wondered if something happened.” Who the fuck says that to their kid? Yeah, something did happen and it wouldn’t have happened if you protected me!!!! You fucking idiot!!!! I remember being in our new house and taking a shower with you when I was about 8 (which was VERY inappropriate and should NEVER have happened at all) and saying something that clearly made you uncomfortable. I remember the exact face you made and know that any normal, healthy adult would have done something about it and made sure nothing was happening. They would have made sure I was SAFE, and talked to me about safety, but nothing was said or done. You have failed me many times, but this one is the most painful. Not only will you need to live with the fact that you knew about my abuse and did nothing, but I will have to live with the fact that my mom knew "something happened” and didn’t care about me enough to protect me. I look at my beautiful niece Hallie, and imagine not protecting her like that and want to vomit. I cannot fathom how a mother would have the thought “I wonder if something happened to my daughter to case a massive behavioral change” and NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! You didn’t talk to me, never asked me if Chloe was doing anything, or anything at all. If I even had a minor suspicion that something was happening to Hallie, I would IMMEDIATELY do something about it because THAT IS MY JOB as an adult in her life. You failed me and deserve to know that this traumatized me and gave me PTSD. I am NOT autistic, no matter how much you WANT me to be so you can go around and gain sympathy for “having an autistic daughter” rather than owning up to the fact that you caused what “went wrong” with me.
Not only did you not help prevent me from being molested by my cousin, you also added to my sexual trauma by forcing me to use the giant egg monistat insert to treat a yeast infection when I was 11. I was ELEVEN and you had a bright idea to force a HUGE foreign object into my prepubescent body even though you were fully aware I could have easily gotten a prescription for a pill to swallow from a doctor. I was scared. I had so much pain and itching and needed a mother to hug me, tell me it’s going to be okay, or at the very least, EXPLAIN what I had and how we were going to fix it. You didn’t do any of that. You told me to lay down and proceeded to try and administer medication that is NOT meant for children 12 and under due to the physical damage it could cause. I was clearly in pain and scared, but you kept trying anyways. At any point, you could have stopped and taken me to the fucking doctor, but nope. You then got frustrated that “you couldn’t get it in” and told your 11 year old daughter to shove it inside herself. Then you left the room. I hadn’t even had a period yet, let alone know where my vagina was but you sure felt the need to yet again abandon your parental responsibilities and place them onto your kid! Miraculously, I put it in and wobbled out to lay on the couch because I was in physical pain from BOTH the infection and YOU, but because a child’s body isn’t able to properly fully insert the medication used (which once again I’ll remind you is meant for girls 13 and up), it came out and got on the couch because you didn’t give me a pad. And rather than prioritize your own daughter’s health, safety, wellbeing, and comfort, you were more upset about the stain on the couch and yelled at me. I will never forget in all of the years that I am alive how ashamed and disgusted I felt standing behind you watching you furiously scrub at the stain that I caused (actually, that YOU caused since this never should have happened in the first place!) and feeling a huge flood of guilt every time I saw that couch stain. One of the best days of my life was when we got a new couch and I never had to see that stain again.
All of this caused me to develop anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and ideation, self harming behaviors, having out of body experiences where I dissociate, and panic attacks amongst other things. YOU caused ALL of this and you fought tooth and nail to convince me that it was MY fault for being broken. “There’s something going on with you,” and you made it your mission to never take any responsibility for any of the trauma that you caused. Not only did you ignore all signs of abuse and sexually assault me yourself, you bullied and helped a family friend Sharon bully me when I was “being mean” to (her daughter) Faith. I was treated like I was a mentally ill monster who couldn’t be trusted and always got in trouble whenever Faith shed a single tear because I was “mean to her”. Faith cried at LEAST 15x a day, and I was blamed every time she decided to say I was the reason. You allowed a monster (Sharon) to ABUSE me and had the incredibly wise idea to start passing along what shit talking you two would say about me TO ME, a 13 year old girl. I was THIRTEEN. I was A CHILD. And yet, you came crying and complaining to me about how tired you were of hearing Sharon say I was being mean to her daughter when you could have TOLD THE OTHER ADULT IN THE SITUATION TO STOP. It never was my responsibility as a child to try and make another adult stop abusing me by “behaving better.” There was nothing wrong with how I was behaving. You never once tried to help me, you always blamed anybody and everybody else for your failures. I would come and ask you for help when I was struggling and if you didn’t care, you would pawn it off to somebody else- “go talk to your older sister” “talk to your therapist about that” “I don’t know what to say except to tell you to pray about it” and when I came back saying praying didn’t magically fix my depression, you told me to pray harder. I guess you really thought it was a skill issue rather than a diagnosable health condition! No wonder I wanted to die! Hahaha! I’ll never forget the look of disgust on your face when I was sobbing hysterically and struggling to get out the words when I told you just how badly I was affected by Sharon and said how you played a role in helping her harm and abuse me. “WELL. I’m SORRY if you think I didn’t protect you enough. I know what that feels like because my parent’s took my sister’s side a few weeks ago when we were having an argument” (as FULLY GROWN 50+ YEAR OLDS arguing and bitching LIKE CHILDREN!) No, mom, it’s not the same. I was a child and not only did you not stop an abuser from harming me, you joined in. You allowed her access to me and you passed along what horrible things she said was wrong with me. “SHARON said she thinks YOU’RE BIPOLAR. Do you think you are?” “Sharon told me that you’re having AN EPISODE and are being mean to Faith! Show me your phone!” “Well, I just don’t understand why you keep bringing this up when it happened so long ago. I just hope you can forgive her and move on.” You’re fucking disgusting. Should I go into detail about how many times I asked you to not interact with Sharon more than you needed to and you proceeded to try and force her into my life more? You KNEW how uncomfortable I was with you attending Faith’s wedding and yet, you cared more about how you looked and not only attended, but hosted both her wedding and wedding showers. I have always wondered why you never cared how I feel until I realized that you prioritize yourself and how you look to other people above anything and everyone. There is a clear pattern of behavior-

• When I was 17 and you were painting my fingernails and berating me for wanting to visit my friend up in Boston to see a concert together because “you just didn’t understand why I’d want to do that” and I started crying. You rolled your eyes and said “you better leave now if you don’t want my next client to see you crying because her appointment is in a few minutes.” You cared more about having your random client seeing me cry and potentially thinking you’re a bad mom than comforting me.
• When I was 13 and we were saying our nightly prayer the night that I had my “therapy appointment” (aka, you and my “therapist” chastising me for writing in my diary that I was having suicidal thoughts), when you were praying you said “Dear God, please help (my name)… and… pLEASE HELP ME!!!!” Clearly, YOU were affected more than I was even though I was the one wanting to die because of you. Wow. Your life is so hard!
• Telling everyone around you that I “have problems” and am “really struggling” so you can gain an ounce of sympathy. The way that your friends come up and talk to me is baffling. They treat me like I just got home from the psychiatric hospital.
• Laughing about me with my friends in high school when I was out of the room- “hahaha my daughter is sooooo weird hahaha”
• When I was 18 and you called my “therapist” (who did NOT get my consent before doing this and violated her ethical guidelines) after I moved out and stopped talking to you, you got her to help you write a list of “rules” to force me to stay in contact with you. They consisted of requiring me to “talk to you, dad, or my sister at least 1x/day” so you “knew that I was safe” aka, you wanted to control me even though I was an adult and not living in your house. I was perfectly safe, and yet you made me sound like I was doing drug deals in the morning, prostituting myself after lunch, and had plans to commit felonies later that night. I went to school, ate, and went back to my apartment. You had no right manipulating me into talking to you by using my therapist, dad, and sister against me. Pathetic.
• Telling me to go do my runs on a strange man’s property instead of the road because it’s “safer.” Dad said that this man who I’VE NEVER MET told him that “there are bad people out there who will kidnap her and do horrible things to her, SO INSTEAD she should run on MY property!” Not sketchy or rapey at all, right? And completely dismissing me when I said that made me uncomfortable by saying “my dad knows him”? Lady, do you know any rape statistics? Clearly not, because you’d then know that only 7% of assaults are strangers while 93% are family members or acquaintances. NINETY THREE PERCENT. The amount of times that I’ve mentioned someone made me uncomfortable or had a massive affect on me as a child and you’ve replied with “Oh, well did they touch you?” People don’t have to touch me to traumatize me. You’re pathetic for thinking that.

I’m not mad at Chloe. I don’t feel any anger or ill will towards her at all. She was a child just like I was a child. She was failed more than I was failed. No child acts that way and assaults other children without learning that from somewhere. I blame her parents for what happened to her. I blame YOU for what happened to me. I vividly remember things that my aunt would say the same time this was happening about little girls and their bodies and I want to smash my head against the wall. Children are to be protected above anything and everything else, by you didn’t. Do I hate Faith and think that she’s a bad person because of what happened when we were 13? No. I fully blame you and Sharon. The amount of adults that have failed me in my life keep me up at night. I think about how different my life would be had dad been more involved and seen what was going on and taken me away from you. I am angry with him for that. I dream one day I will be able to sit down with him and tell him everything I have written about and he will hug me, support me, cry with me, and apologize for not being there more to protect me. But who knows, he might defend his child abusing, mentally ill wife and say I’m making up everything. Who knows.
Do you want to know what my sister said when I told her all of this? She apologized to me for not being 15 years older than I am so she could have raised me instead. I want you to sit here and think about how fucked up that is. My own sister wishes she could have taken me away from you so you couldn’t have abused me. I imagine the pressure she must have felt having to grow up while also raising her mother and sister and I sob for her. I’ve sobbed for me for the mental anguish and torture I experienced at your hands. I’ve even sobbed for you because I can’t imagine being even a fraction of how fucked up you are to resort to abusing and neglecting your child- a child you begged to have. A child you had trouble having and prayed for. Embarrassing.
I’m never going to have a relationship with you again. If God is willing, I will never have to interact with you ever again. Saying that phrase “if God is willing” is ironic because you forcing me to pray my problems away rather than helping me led me to not believe in him. How can I believe in something that also neglected me? I’d sit in my dark bedroom night after night praying and sobbing for him to help me. I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I felt broken and alone. I now know that I was a child praying for God to take away my PTSD, and that is not possible. My heart breaks for that child.
You’re a pathetic excuse for a mother and human being. I’m truly shocked that I survived you and your abuse. I’m surprised that I didn’t ever try to kill myself to try and get away from you because you’re a vulture that prays on innocent people. The only important people in your life are people you think will give you something or will make you look good. That’s why you refused to ever cut ties with Sharon, you knew she was sexually abused as a child and you couldn’t POSSIBLY NOT be her friend because you need her to be your “friend,” or rather, your token sexually abused as a child friend. I genuinely hope that you get better and become a normal healthy person but I won’t ever be around to see it. I hope you feel even a fraction of the pain and abandonment that I have felt my entire life. Happy Mother’s Day, but today isn’t Mother’s Day for me, it’s Daughter’s Day. Moving far away from you one month ago has truly saved my life. Instead of trying to survive, I am enjoying my life. I would have died in that house. I get to finally celebrate being away from you and celebrate myself for staying strong and fighting when I could have easily given up. You once told me “you feel like I HATE you!” to guilt me into fawning over you and telling you how much I loved you, but now you get the opposite. I DO hate you and hate how you have permanently changed me and I wish to never see you again. Instead of praying for the “God forsaken, atheist, lost, evil, liar, miserable, spiteful, hateful, disgusting, mentally ill, “autistic” daughter, pray for yourself. Pray for God’s forgiveness for emotionally, medically, physically, sexually, and religiously abusing and neglecting me. You deserve to remain in your "clueless" state of "having NO IDEA what you did wrong to make her stop talking to me!" for the rest of your life.Happy Daughter’s Day.

Context 1, Early June
I was put on a medical leave of abscence from school (selective, large university) in September of 2022. It started, in early June of that year, with me having my first cold when I travelled for a weekend event, in three or four years, and the cold was so bad, I was so confused and tired I almost boarded the wrong flight home (like I walked down the bridge and almost entered the wrong plane to God knows where, until I turned around and a flight attended had to give me like a very kind pep talk).
It started with a strep throat during that weekend, then I began to cough so hard I felt dizzy, and I didn't stop coughing until December of that year. It was the worst cold I've had in my life, and I think it was made worse by the additional focus on hygiene during COVID (face masks etc.), which might have weakened my imune system. It was my first time going out without wearing a mask, and I happened to catch a cold.
Context 2, Late June/July
When I returned, I was alone in my off campus apartment, my body would itch (and this didn't make sense because there aren't any visible or surfaced, insects like mosquitos or I guess even ants in this area since it's so arid), I would sweat when I slept in my air conditioned room, I would have to walk a mile from my off campus apartment in the Arizona like heat and climate of July and August while having a cold. When I entered my over-cooled central AC apartment (I would have to leave windows and doors open to make it warmer) from the 95+ degree weather (I'm from a cold area of the country, but I grew up in several continents, and I'd never experienced this much heat), my stomach would begin to hurt from the instant change in temperature. I had to do really important work stuff that I couldn't miss, so I took different medications which caused my chest to hurt. I didn't want to go to the hospital because I was on the opposite side of the country, and I didn't know what would happen since I'm completely unfamiliar with how medical things are handled, and I had never stayed overnight in a hospital before, and I knew what I'm experiencing would probably warrant an extended stay.
Context 3, July/August
I then stopped eating, sleeping, and drinking water. Someone began spam texting me implicitly illicit texts (I would block the number, but another one would appear from another number, so like a dozen different numbers, and the texts weren't like a bot or automated, it would include photos and mention things I did recently e.g. go to the bar, it didn't ask for money or to download an app, it felt like someone I could have met or known irl was harassing me, perhaps as just a joke), and I barely give my number out and change it around once a year, so I was just so upset someone I knew gave my number to someone, or is doing this. Because of the delirium from the cold, I the began to send like weird (but not in any way, threatening or harassing, texts to mostly my friends who also attended the school) to figure out who gave my number or was behind the harassing texts. I had also experienced another issue with on campus, irl, harassment from a previous roommate that I had to report to campus safety multiple times, and I guess perhaps just because of the delirium, considering the digital harassment, I had become super persistent about my physical harassment that occurred just the semester before, and then an academic dean seriously offered to help, but then this led to a meeting with several deans. A day after this meeting, I emailed one of the deans to say that I am crying, and I was emailed at 8am to do a pysch evaluation at 11am in the morning. Because I hadn't slept the night before, and I had a feeling this would be a consequential meeting, in addition to having to walk 1 mile in the afternoon heat to this meeting, I asked to reschedule and then I was told no. Then I was sent a Maxient involuntary medical withdrawal letter.
Context 4, Now
I've been to about half a dozen pysch doctors (even one that's a lecturer at a leading medical research university), and about four therapists, since, and I haven't been diagnosed with anything definitively. My current therapist, who is a former (or current) professor in psychology, and I've met with since late November of 2023, still doesn't have a diagnoses. I present extremely well, and I'm usually more social and normal than most people (as in, whenever I do any internship or research program, I'm usually assigned management mentors, or tracked towards management as opposed to the actual job, since I just seem so social/"normal"), so I guess you would have to look really deep to find something. I know that I probably have a sleep issue, so after meeting with a sleep doctor, I'm trying to setup a sleep study. In the meantime, I've been prescribed medication to combat day time sleepiness. Other related medical issues include the fact that my dad has Cushing syndrome, and I'm pretty confident I have it, or at least a cortisol issue (I have the visible/physical signs, as well as persistent high blood pressure, and other symptoms). Then, I also have several skin issues, that I'm also treating as well. I'm also getting ready to get evaluated for an anxiety issue which multiple non-psychiatric doctors think I have.
To be extremely honest, I'm kind of grateful I experienced this because I understand my body more, and how to seek help when my body is overwhelmed. Also, I kind of knew there would be an job crisis issue in April of 2022 since interest rates were rising and it would lead to less investments, therefore less jobs, so I've kind of enjoyed using this time to relax, travel, and learn new things. However, I'm starting to become anxious that I won't be able to return at all.
Question
Which leads to the question and title of my post, do time limits on withdrawals or leaves of absence apply to medical withdrawals or leaves of absence? My grades are pretty good, and I have no disciplinary issues, so I can still transfer, but I would still like to get back in, to be extremely frank, I would like to get back in first before transferring (just to tie up some loose ends to make a stronger transfer application). The way the communication (emails) from the schools non academic deans are worded, it's being made to seem as if I can't return at all (unless I reapply through admissions/the common app) regardless of if a doctor clears me. The way the letter is worded, it seems like I need to be cleared by a medical professional. My advisor, whose a non-educational lawyer, and spoke to the non academic deans for I guess an hour, has said I would only be approved to return if I take medication for 6-12 months. An email with a non-academic dean said this as well.
Side note
The most upsetting thing about this whole experience has been attempting to communicate this to people early on, who I usually wouldn't go to with issues, but my close advisors aren't familiar with academia and medical issues, so I've been forced to, and getting told I should leave the school or just college entirely because I have some severe psychiatric issue, that no doctor or therapist I've met thinks I have. It's I think part of what caused me to take so long, until I began speaking with my current therapist whose helped me kind of recount what happened. I feel like, it's very easy in similar situations to mine, to be directed towards potentially a wrong and inapt direction and I think the stem of this is the stigma around mental health.

My dad's been a lamdlord/property manager for almost 30 years and I always had to help him with maintenance growing up so I could learn different skills. Seeing how he treats his tenants versus how other landlords treat theirs is ridiculous. I moved out for school on April 1st and my new landlords were the typically really great sounding company online and on paper, then the longer I stay here the more issues I have. A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail saying my gas would be shut off in 14 days because the bill hasn't been paid in like 6 months. I was immediately frustrated and called the guy I assumed was the property manager because he's the only person from the company that I had ever met. He then asked me to forward my message to the property manager so she could look at it. So after a month and a half living here I finally got the phone number of the manager. She then tells me that they will take care of the problem. Fast forward 2 weeks, I get home from school to find the gas company van outside my house ready to shut off the gas. He explained that the bill still hadn't been paid. So I called the manager and she told me that I actually needed to transfer the gas into my name in order for it to get paid. So rather than telling me this on the day I moved in, they waited until the gas was shut off to tell me. Now for like 4 days I haven't had heat or hot water. The best part is that she told me I'm actually responsible for the gas bill and the water bill as well when it charges quarterly. When I signed the lease and moved in I was told I'm only responsible for my rent and electric while everything else was included. So they lied in the lease and straight to my face about it. Since my dad's a landlord though and he's apparently miles smarter than them, we're gonna probably take the company to court over the million other issues from the apartment including this.

Hi all! I am currently a junior in high school and I attend a public school in Michigan ranked about 30th-ish in high school rankings in Michigan. This fall, I begin my college application process and I am so eager and excited, yet worried and stressed that I wont get in and my life will be over.
I wanted to share my high school stats and extra curriculars etc. with you all with the hopes that you guys could tell me what you think my chances of getting into the colleges that I am looking at are and to just lay out my current status.
(DISCLAIMER) My stats/description may come off as cocky or ignorant at some points, please don't take it the wrong way.
Background:
-White Male
-Low-Mid Middle Class Family
-Dad attended Michigan State University - he is a high school teacher
-Mom did not go to college -she works as basically a college counselor
-I will need financial aid for college, parents are not contributing
My highest ambitions in life/out of college:

• I hope to one day have a job in a high finance position in New York City or Chicago (Investment Banking, PE, Consulting, Quants etc) - therefore I am applying to top prestigious target schools for recruitment, internships, and networking opportunities
• I hope to one day be one of the greatest musicians of all time

Stats:
Grades, EC's, Leadership, Sports, Work, Businesses, Volunteer, Music, etc.

1. 4.0 GPA
2. 1390 SAT Score-the one thing that will hold me back? 😭 - I am going to take in probably 6 times. 1390 was my first try, 690 Reading and Writing, 700 Math
3. AP Classes: (I wish I would've done more)

Sophomore Year: AP US History (4)
Junior Year: AP World History, Most likely will get a 5; AP Precalculus, Most likely will get a 5 too.
Senior Year: AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics

1. Musical Prodigy - Piano at least

Instruments: Piano, Guitar, Drums
Piano:

• 12 Years
• Completely Self Taught
• Rock n Roll, Boogie Woogie, Blues, Jazz, Country Western, and Gospel Pianist (not your average 17 year old piano player lol)
• Play By Ear (Play me a song on the radio, I'll play it back for you)

Guitar (Electric):

• 7 Years
• Completely Self Taught
• Same Music Styles as above
• Play By Ear
• My Room's walls are filled with guitar diagrams and sheets, it looks like I am going crazy lol-may use this in my college essays, idk haha.

Drums:

• 1 Year
• Completely Self Taught
• Same Music Styles as above
• Play by Ear

Five: Sports
Tennis:
-Freshman, Sophomore, Junior year Varsity Team
-2023 (Fall) Division 3 MHSAA #1 Doubles Individual State Champion
-#1 Ranked Doubles Player in the State of Michigan
-2023 First Team All State
-Never Lost a Conference Match/3-Time Team and Individual Back to Back to Back Conference Individual and Team Titles (2021, 2022, 2023)
-2 Time Individual Regional Champion, 2 Time Individual Regional Team Champions (2021, 2022)
-Apart of the 2021, 2022, 2023 all academic teams
-Finished 6th Place as a team in 2022, Finished 5th Place as a team in 2023
-I will play my senior year
Golf:
-Freshman, Sophomore: JV Golf Team
-Junior: Varsity Golf Team, Ranked 4th as a team in the state
-I will play my senior year (on the varsity team)
-Most Likely will win the Conference Championship and Regional Championship in the next two weeks 😬
Basketball:
-Freshman Year: Freshman Team
-Sophomore Year: JV Team
-Did not play junior year, and will not play senior year
Pickleball Club Member at my Highschool

1. Work/Businesses:

-Created a Piano Teaching Business the summer of 7th grade, have done that since. (Self Employed)
-Joined a friend on the summer before junior year to co-own a car detailing company (may rejoin, not sure) (Self Employed)
-Worked as an Usher at a movie theater, winter of junior year (Hourly Pay) - will return for winter of my senior year
-Will work as a tennis camp/lesson instructor with my tennis coach at a training facility this summer (Hourly Pay)

1. Volunteering

-A member of the National Honor Society
-Volunteered at Kids Food Basket, local libraries, tennis camp volunteering, and various school sponsored events

1. Leadership (Lacking-ish?)

-Business Owner with piano teaching in that I personally teach kids piano
-Varsity Tennis Captain
-Tennis Lesson Teaching this summer

1. Demonstrated Interest, to an extent lol

-Job Shadowing a CFO this summer at a company
-Visiting each college this summer as well
-Currently learning how to trade financial markets (Duration=1 year)
-Spend hours each day learning music and finance/math stuff
-Performed Piano (boogie woogie/rock n roll improvisations at high school talents shows, played piano in a wedding when I was 11, played piano at churches for graduation baccalaureates.

1. Essay Topics:

Few things I am considering including or basing my college essays off of:
-My determination and dedication to math, finance, music, and life in general
-Metaphorical topics about navigating the struggles of the social and academic aspects of high school
-My obsession with music from the 50s-90s
-My obsessions with gaining knowledge and learning as much as possible and why or how things happen or work.
-My obsessions with improving each day and getting stuff done
-How I am a winner in life and that I excel in the things I pursue and that I do everything I can to improve and win
*I am in the way early stage of brainstorming btw*

1. Letters of Recommendation:

-My Precalculus teacher: He told me he is going to write my letter of rec and I hadn't even asked him yet lol so I assume it's going to be a good one
-My AP World History teacher: Another teacher that loves me just as my math teacher does
-My High School Counselor: Also loves me and has connections to my family, so we are closer than other highschool students are with her.

1. COLLEGES I AM APPLYING TO:

*Main majointerest is Finance; want to do music as well so that it can stay apart of my life
*Want to do a double major: Finance, and Music (Maybe Minor or Triple Major with mathematics)
*Schools that don't offer a undergraduate business school I will most likely do some sort of combination of economics, mathematics, and music
Schools 😬:
Safety: Michigan State University (Broad School of Business) (Honors)
Reaches (All IB target schools are reaches 😭, except maybe Indiana):
-University of Michigan (Ross)
-Pennsylvania University (Wharton)
-New York University (Stern)
-Indiana University (Kelley)
-Columbia University - no undergraduate business school
-Northwestern University - no undergraduate business school
-Duke University - no undergraduate business school
-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
-Vanderbilt University - no undergraduate business school
-University of Tennessee (Haslem)
-Penn State University (Smeal)
-Cornell University (SC Johnson)
Schools I might just apply to at the last minute for the heck of it:
-Princeton
-Miami (Florida)
-Illinois University
-Virginia University
THIS POST IS LONG AND I AM SORRY.
Please give me feedback on whether I'd have a strong chance or not of getting into these top schools. It would mean the world to me as I don't know where else I can go to get someone to help rate my stats and tell me if I am out of my mind or not about applying to these schools, or my goals in life in general.
Thank you for letting me rant, and please be honest

Hello everyone,
I am confused about filling out the questionnaire to extend my student visa.
Scenario: I came to canada in 2022 with a study permit then in 2024 I renewed my study permit which is valid till Nov 2024. I am currently enrolled as a full time student and I want to extend my visa (inside canada).
These are the questions I'm confused about. Even though I answered them, I need a suggestion from you guys.
Q1 : Do you have a provincial attestation letter? A:No
Q2: Do you qualify for an exception? A: Yes
Q3: Which exception do you qualify for? A: I am an applicant applying within Canada as described under section on Regulations (IRPR)
Note: according to the IRCC website “if you meet an exception,you must provide any evidence in the client information field”
What should I upload there as an evidence?
Thank you in advance.

Hi,
My ex and I had a relationship that was quite out of the ordinary. She is a Muslim who wears a hijab. When we first met, I enjoyed talking to her, and she asked for my Instagram and wanted to hang out. One thing led to another, and we ended up in a romantic relationship. However, her religion strictly forbids any physical contact between the sexes, and we did quite a lot of that. It was confusing because she reached out to me despite feeling she was sinning. We had to constantly go out in secret, which put a lot of pressure on her. She was a significant part of my life at the time, and I'm embarrassed to say that I even "converted" for her just so I could meet her parents and so that we wouldn't have to sneak around all the time.
Unfortunately, that changed nothing. Slowly, things fell apart. I had to go on a trip, and we broke up. When I came back, we texted a lot less, and I could feel she was cold towards me. She even asked me to delete all the photos I had of her without her hijab. I ended up telling her how I felt and how much I missed her, the whole spiel. All of this was through text, and then she told me she had been texting some guy in Europe and that he wanted her to tell me so I wouldn't get my hopes up. They were planning to be together or something like that.
That really hurt, so I ended up blocking her and asking her to give back some of my stuff. She gave me a letter saying she cared about me and other things. I got frustrated and didn't want to hear from her again; I just wanted to focus on school, which I did. I sent her a last text telling her to never contact me again, that I didn't want to hear from her, and that I hated her. But that was a lie. I don't hate her; I still care about her and think about her a lot. Some part of me thinks I want to text her because I want to get back together with her, but I know that will never, ever happen. Even if it did, we would just break up again. Then again, I feel like I want some sort of closure. I still care about her, and I don't want to. I don't want to think about that whole story again.
Should I text her?

Hi,
My ex and I had a relationship that was quite out of the ordinary. She is a Muslim who wears a hijab. When we first met, I enjoyed talking to her, and she asked for my Instagram and wanted to hang out. One thing led to another, and we ended up in a romantic relationship. However, her religion strictly forbids any physical contact between the sexes, and we did quite a lot of that. It was confusing because she reached out to me despite feeling she was sinning. We had to constantly go out in secret, which put a lot of pressure on her. She was a significant part of my life at the time, and I'm embarrassed to say that I even "converted" for her just so I could meet her parents and so that we wouldn't have to sneak around all the time.
Unfortunately, that changed nothing. Slowly, things fell apart. I had to go on a trip, and we broke up. When I came back, we texted a lot less, and I could feel she was cold towards me. She even asked me to delete all the photos I had of her without her hijab. I ended up telling her how I felt and how much I missed her, the whole spiel. All of this was through text, and then she told me she had been texting some guy in Europe and that he wanted her to tell me so I wouldn't get my hopes up. They were planning to be together or something like that.
That really hurt, so I ended up blocking her and asking her to give back some of my stuff. She gave me a letter saying she cared about me and other things. I got frustrated and didn't want to hear from her again; I just wanted to focus on school, which I did. I sent her a last text telling her to never contact me again, that I didn't want to hear from her, and that I hated her. But that was a lie. I don't hate her; I still care about her and think about her a lot. Some part of me thinks I want to text her because I want to get back together with her, but I know that will never, ever happen. Even if it did, we would just break up again. Then again, I feel like I want some sort of closure. I still care about her, and I don't want to. I don't want to think about that whole story again.
Should I text her?

The short and abbreviated version is that before my divorce was even finalized, my ex wife moved to North Carolina with another man. We agreed I’d get 80% custody of the kids, I’d have them over the school year and she’d get them for the summer, and that she’d pay $350 a month in child support (I know that’s a very low number, she wanted me to pay her for the house and after some arguing back and forth I decided to quit while I was ahead) starting March 1st. To date she has yet to make a single child support payment, she has a court date for contempt next month, and I got a letter from the local Department of Human Services that they’re now garnishing her wages. I also asked her if she had a plan to take the kids over the summer and she does not. Apparently she doesn’t get PTO and can’t afford daycare, never minding the fact that the way everything worked out she has no bills apart from the child support.
I am to the point where I don’t believe she even cares about the kids and I want to file for full custody, but I’ve read that is very hard to make happen in the state of Colorado. Do I have a case for it?

Hi reddit, this is my first post here.
Some background about me. I'm a Taiwanese who was born in Taiwan, so I have a Taiwanese passport. However, I've been living in America for most of my life. I'm 34, so I'm nearing the end of my age where I'm eligible to serve in the military. I would like to complete my military draft, so I'm running out of time soon. My family obviously don't support my decision to go back, so I'll have to do everything on my own. Here's my background and what I need:
I have a Taiwanese passport, and it's not one of those overseas passport either. It has an ID number in it, and yes, it's valid. I renewed at the Taiwan Consulate in Los Angeles a year or two ago.

• While I do have an ID number in my passport, I do not actually have the ID card (身分證). Does anyone know how to get it, or how difficult it would be given my situation?
• I do have family in Taiwan, but I doubt they would support me. I'll need someplace to register my 戶籍. Would it be easy to rent an apartment in my situation, and register my 戶籍?
• Any general tips on how to serve my military draft? I hope it won't be too hard on my body when I'm in my 30's.

I know I have a lot of questions, so any feedback would be great!

Hi, I am currently on H1B in the US and I have applied for a Canadian tourist visa. My biometric appointment is this week. I am going to my nearest ASC centre in the US. Could someone help me understand what to expect from their experience? Assuming it’s pretty straightforward but I’d like to be mentally prepared. I’m carrying all the docs I’ve used to apply for the visa apart from my passport and the biometric instruction letter which are deemed mandatory. Is there anything else I should be mindful of?
Any insight on this would be appreciated.
TIA!

Hi, I am currently on H1B in the US and I have applied for a Canadian tourist visa. My biometric appointment is this week. I am going to my nearest ASC centre in the US. Could someone help me understand what to expect from their experience? Assuming it’s pretty straightforward but I’d like to be mentally prepared. I’m carrying all the docs I’ve used to apply for the visa apart from my passport and the biometric instruction letter which are deemed mandatory. Is there anything else I should be mindful of?
Any insight on this would be appreciated.
TIA!

Priority 0-0-0 Distress call
Flee! And keep fleeing!

End off message

I'm a domain breaker. Every civilization that develops FTL eventually runs into them: domain walls. A leftover from the earliest moments of the universe. With catastrophic consequences when traveling faster than light. Such craft would suddenly seem to crash into an invisible wall. Nothing identifiable remains in the atomized remnants. You might think I have a dangerous occupation.
It is not. Sensors show where the domain walls are. With almost [1 light year equivalent] margin of error. my job is to map out where exactly those domain walls are. Flying sub-lightspeed on my thrusters. Most would find it a boring and lonely job. I love it. Breaking a domain wall was sometimes exploring new things. The thrill of discovering something new. I could spend all day dreaming about it.
Like when the Ranbar, a race of wingless creatures, discovered a rectangular domain. It's origin could only be artificial. Inside they found a giant mass accelerator. A doomsday weapon. Those filthy [roaches] repurposed it and patented it for cargo transport. Now they monopolize the interstellar trade AND make flying spaceships between habited systems dangerous.
That all happened a few [hundred years ago]. Hell, even the Newest-Sight-To-Behold price had been awarded [about 80 years] ago. Long before the few other precursor domains had been located. Some had wonderful technology. Many were empty. A few had warning buoys and active defenses. No one got past those.
Zero-point energy. Not understood by anyone, the precursor tech was powering my thrusters. I went to maximum acceleration, A lot to do. The domains around this large spiral galaxy. Scans around a few small ones and then a somewhat smaller spiral galaxy. I was planning to go up to 0.9c. My shields would struggle at anything faster. My regular front cameras showed the fireworks of impacting particles already. I was not even at 0.6c yet.
Time dilation and all, I still had a long journey ahead of me. I set the computer to alarm me when we crossed a domain and went off to sleep. I put on the comfortable buzz of a hive and fell asleep. Only after what was to my feeling a short time be awakened. The alarm indicates a domain wall. "That soon"? I buzzed. I must be getting old: I slept over [6 hours].
I ordered the computer to prepare the jump drive. Natural domains are big. Unless they collapsed to a black hole, but that's another story. I could jump a few thousand lightyears now and scan again. Repeat until I find the next wall. I both hoped and did not hope to find an artificial domain. My job is -mostly- not dangerous.
I kept mapping out the safe places to travel beyond light speed. Not that much special to report about those galaxies. I hardly scanned them. That's a job for explorers and maybe diplomats. I had an Explorer license too, but it expired. Maybe I should renew it and fly a bit around that big spiral galaxy. It had close to a trillion stars. No doubt there were new friends to meet.
The last galaxy had so many domain walls I nearly missed it. A perfect spherical domain centered around a big star. I got lucky! Payday! I already imagined myself lavished with unfathomable wealth. I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was death. As explorer's tradition, I send my diary together with my official report of the anomaly.
Priority 5-5-5 Anomaly report
Spherical Domain located in galaxy y965b67 Radius estimated at [about 2] light years. Centered on star y965b67n98374957.

attached

My speed was still high compared to the motion of stars in this galaxy. I had chosen my FTL jumps in a way I did not need to slow down. I could just make a dip into that bubble. I would be in and out in no time. Relative speaking. I could read a few books while getting through that domain.
I shouldn't. I might get fined. I did it anyway. It was too tantalizing. Who knows what secrets were hidden in this domain? I set course for that big star. This was what I lived for.
As soon as I passed the domain wall I started to receive a message. It took the computer only a few seconds to translate: "WARNING BIOHAZARD. WEAPONS TEST AREA. DO NOT APPROACH". A buoy. A buoy that was a warning. Not a threat. I could ignore it. Should I ignore it? I'll tell them I did it for the hive. Of course, I ignore it. I'm an explorer.
Scans of the system quickly revealed something was going on around the third planet from the star. Life! The atmosphere there is mostly compatible with my biology. Throughout the whole universe, only a few templates of species reached the stars. While their chemistry or details might differ, many are very similar. Something with congruent evolution I'm told. I wonder what template was favored on this planet.
Even though the atmosphere was breathable, I stayed in orbit and launched the recon probes. The probes. The horror when they returned their data.
This world did not favor a single template. It favored all of them. That's not the horror. I've seen the biohazard. Seen it! It is a giant! Hundreds of times larger than the largest Xzusian. The giants were mercilessly slaughtering all the Ranbar-like, Xzusian-like, and even creatures like me. Every sapient template got stamped on, pulled apart, and swatted by those giants. That was not the worst. In some places, they had inescapable traps with light to confuse. Ten-thousands were drawn into the traps and killed. Those giants must be merciless brutes to come up with such a contraption.
Desperately I transferred blueprints for interstellar drives to the poor suppressed creatures. To mock me the giants sent a message that translated as "thank you". Those giants were not mere brutes. They managed to translate my broadcasts. It won't be long before they manage to break out of their domain. I was so angry my stinger came out. Angry at those giants. Angry at myself. I send a warning message with the highest priority, add my diary part 2, and hope I get away. That anyone get away.