Hoping I can get some good advice from the group. I’m a later-in-career PhD researcher who landed in a position where I’ve been asked to do some computer things- managing websites, etc. don’t ask how this happened because I don’t know. I’m strong at using SPSS, R, and SQL but for actual analysis, I don’t know anything about programming or coding. Since the duties were forced upon me (I realize website development is not coding, but it’s still “scary computer stuff” to me), I decided I might as well go all in and try to learn something totally new that could be interesting and financially beneficial. I did order a basic coding for beginners book for Python and have been working through that. I thought about cyber security and also AI. The problem is I don’t really know where to start as far as education goes. There’s an associate degree program at the local community college for cyber security, and another community college has a programming boot camp. Would it be better to do a general programming boot camp or a cyber security associates? Which one will more naturally lead to learning and working with AI? Am I even smart enough to handle any of that? Literally the only coding I’ve ever done was in middle school in the 80s on DOS. It was a required course in the gifted track I was in and it was horrid. Typing out pages only to hit run and nothing happened. Then going back through all the typing to find my errors. I was turned off forever- until now. Thanks for any info you can offer!

It occurred to me that my previous post Changing Gears left people hanging. So, I felt compelled to follow up and give an answer.
Part 2.
So, I would say we have hit upon a link of sorts that exists between Merck and CytoDyn that cannot be denied.
As I alluded to in that post, there must have been a massive conflict of interest in CytoDyn's management BOD and Cyrus' intentions when it came time to making the decision to proceed or not to proceed with a fully funded MD Anderson combination Keytruda Clinical Trial for mCRC. While it would have been greatly in favor of CytoDyn to pursue this trial, the BOD incredulously made the unbelievable decision to walk away from it, completely against Cyrus' wishes. As we know, "Any government divided cannot stand. It will fall... eventually."
Was there an argument between Cyrus and Tanya? I'd say more than likely yes. He was still VP and remains as such. I believe the reason why the BOD decided the way they did was due to their 1st allegiance to the FDA and not doing anything that would risk the hold getting lifted. After all, they came too far to blow it at the last mile. However, it remains possible, that Merck did not want the MD Anderson Phase II Combination trial for mCRC to happen. After all, Merck just completed their own trial of Keytruda with their own CCR5 blockade Vicriviroc and the trial just finished last week. It failed. Maybe they needed time to see if their own CCR5 blockade would work before experimenting with ours at MD Anderson?
Could Merck have influenced the BOD in one way or another and push to cancel the free trial? The trial that Cyrus arranged which would provide CytoDyn with a vast amount of FREE unequivocal Research Data so valuable to CytoDyn. That would have provided that pot of gold, free of charge to CytoDyn. The unassailable and unequivocal data set which Cyrus absolutely required in order to properly present the Company to Big Pharma so as to receive proper bids and valuation. Merck could have been against proceeding in this trial because they had their own to try first and that might have influenced our BOD to pull the plug. Maybe Merck said, "wait, we want to try out our drug first. If it fails, we will be knocking on your door." And that was all which was necessary to get the BOD to comply.
Now, with Dr. Lalezari as CEO, CytoDyn is back on board in the pursuit of mCRC and his decision is supreme. Why wouldn't that fully funded MD Anderson trial still be an option? Maybe it still is available, but it would have to be a combination trial ONLY. The two drugs cannot be pitted one against the other. You cannot have leronlimab beating Keytruda. No absolutely not. Given that Keytruda is on the ticket, the FDA accepts the trial.
From this BioSpace Article March, 2023, Cyrus confidently asserted:

"These are both areas where checkpoint inhibitors have failed to show efficacy when added to a standard-of-care backbone, Arman said, adding that leronlimab has shown positive signals in both.
“From a mechanistic standpoint, we believe we could get a synergistic effect with a checkpoint inhibitor,” he said.
Leronlimab is currently being trialed in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in a breast cancer xenograft model in partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Arman said CytoDyn expects to observe an enhanced anti-tumor effect from the combination and identify immunological biomarkers."

From the May 2024 Letter to Shareholders, Dr. Lalezari stated:

"It is imperative that the Company generate unassailable results in the clinic and I believe the above trials can accomplish this. Starting the oncology study and related fundraising is the top priority of the Company at this time"

Both of them boldly claim the effectiveness of leronlimab in mCRC. Cyrus says it could generate a synergistic effect with Keytruda resulting from the combination of the two drugs, while Lalezari points to the unassailable results both must have appreciated. Certainly, both men have also seen the unassailable results that shall be described in the coming (2) journal articles in mTNBC. When Amarex was forced to hand over the raw data of these trials, it had to be decoded and put into FDA Good Clinical Practice format which took hours and hours of painstaking work, but it got done thanks to Bernie Cunningham, Joseph Miedling and the auditors Cyrus put into place for such work. What they found must have been truly amazing so as to compel them to put those results into a peer reviewed journal articles.
In my prior thesis which u/psasoffice had also helped me determine, The Timeline and The Connections as to why CytoDyn pulled out, I discussed Kivlighn's role in the matter. Remember, I put forth that Kivlighn had pulled it away from Merck. That he took the free trial opportunity away from them so they could just buy us to perform the trial themselves. I said that Kivlighn caused CytoDyn's BOD to pull out of the trial in hopes of forcing Merck to swoop in and buy CytoDyn outright. I wrote:

"Kivlighn needed to determine CytoDyn's best path to partner. Kivlighn began changing the direction of the company while Cyrus Arman was sick. Cyrus was headed down the "do it alone" path. His main goal was MASH, but he also wanted to partner in Oncology and he wanted HIV, cure, long acting and was eyeing the resubmission of HIV-MDR. When Cyrus was out on MLOA, Kivlighn had the opportunity to modify or change Cyrus' original heading. Kivlighn wanted the company sold. He wanted the company partnered or bought out.
At some point, because of the results of the MD Anderson study, I believe Cyrus Arman had negotiated with MD Anderson on a CRC trial where CytoDyn would supply all the leronlimab, while MD Anderson did everything else. MD Anderson offered this to Cyrus and Cyrus was all in. Just waiting for the hold to lift. But, while Cyrus was sick and out on MLOA, and because Kivlighn had Merck experience and because Kivlighn "knew" how to make the company obtain a partnership, he recommended that CytoDyn turn down the MD Anderson offer to perform the CRC trial and to take that away from Merck. Almost like a "bait and switch". Kivlighn was thinking that if Merck really wanted CytoDyn, that they would come on in, swoop down and buy it outright, completely before anything was proven by trial, that might raise the asking price as they knew its capacity already given the study was with Keytruda, MD Anderson and leronlimab. They could do the trial themselves if they bought CytoDyn. Maybe, Kivlighn wanted to prevent Merck from thinking that they can wait to see how well leronlimab does in the MD Anderson sponsored trial which would give Merck some time before making the offer to buy CytoDyn. He wanted to take that away from Merck and force them to buy now. Because if the MD Anderson trial were to proceed in CRC, the good results would make CytoDyn even more valuable. I'm really not sure what Kivlighn was thinking, but whatever it was, it sure did piss off many people, especially Cyrus Arman."

If this conjectured hypothesis is right, then Kivlighn must also have believed, that the data in both the mCRC murine study and the mTNBC trial which he had also seen, in his opinion, was powerful enough such that a Phase II trial was not even necessary and a pull out of the trial would surely induce Merck, (who was also privy to the same murine data), to purchase the Company. What Kivlighn failed to consider though, (if this whole scenario is true), is that CytoDyn never owned the MD Anderson data and CytoDyn now has no way to prove that the MD Anderson results in fact do amaze unless they decide to purchase that data from MD Anderson. In addition, he also failed to recognize that Merck was running their own combination Keytruda + CCR5 Blockade Vicriviroc against mCRC simultaneously. So, then the BOD, Kivlighn and possibly Merck could be all to blame for the cancellation of this otherwise windfall and gratis trial that CytoDyn could have immensely benefited from.
As to the pursuit of what the FDA intended for CytoDyn to proceed once coming off hold, which is the Inflammation and Immune Activation trial, it initially did not draw sufficient support from the public and therefore did not result in an increasing share price to the point to raise funds without completely depleting available shares. Therefore, CytoDyn now has its CEO and VP in concert back on the mCRC train again. But a partner is necessary and fund raising has become #1 priority.
Look, all of the companies are out to find the best weapon against these MSS tumors. Right now, there is no solution. Leronlimab is the solution and the data that proves it is in the hands of MD Anderson. Soon, data for it is forthcoming in the (2) peer reviewed journal articles in mTNBC. But regarding mCRC, that data resides with MD Anderson and it is only in a murine study, but apparently good enough to have been offered a fully funded Phase II combination trial with Keytruda. So, Dr. Lalezari made the decision to shift gears to this new mCRC indication but he needs money. He also needs a partner. But he has Cyrus there at his side and Cyrus somehow got MD Anderson to create this Phase II trial.. How did he do that? He must have spoken to some Merck people, wouldn't you think? to see if they also wanted to take the profound murine mTNBC results and apply them towards mCRC in a fully funded human, phase II combo trial? Maybe he can do it again and if need be, without Keytruda?
But this time around, the only way the trial could be run is as a combination only trial. The two drugs could not be pitted against each other. If they were synergistic before, then they are kept that way. Regardless of which PD-1 blockade is used, it should remain a combination trial because of the partnership. The partnership is more important than which drug is doing the work. But, Why would we want to experiment with another PD-1 blocker when we already have seen the results as synergistic? We wouldn't unless we were forced to. Meaning, Merck fails to enter while another PD-1 comes in and partners. Would that induce a Merck counter bid? Assuming they have found no solution to their expiring patent problem, it probably would.
After all, why is every drug out there failing to extend their patent? Is Keytruda simply unable to treat MSS type tumors despite all means of assistance? But we have evidence of their synergism. Given that the only known substance on Earth that is capable of treating these MSS tumors is leronlimab, why have we not been the #1 choice to combine with? Until now, with the hold said and done with and given the new change in priority to mCRC, and with Merck's Keytruda with their own CCR5 blockade Vicriviroc Trial which failed, will Merck now be interested to take a second look at CytoDyn? How long will this search go on for? How many patients?
The provocative data is coming in peer reviewed journal articles that prove leronlimab treats the very difficult mTNBC. Merck already knows from the murine study that it treats the MSS mCRC tumors. What matters is that they know the data and that the data is unassailable as per Lalezari and Arman. They know that by combining with leronlimab, they would have a successful result. The only problem is that they cannot show that leronlimab is better at it than Keytruda. Therefore, they cannot have a standalone leronlimab arm and a standalone Keytruda arm. The two cannot be pitted against each other. And I thank Respert24 for this ingenious answer.

"Notice they didn't create a Dud-Only arm versus a Keytruda-Only arm. A surefire way to inadvertently show that a different drug is better than your own. Keytruda is already "proven" and is going to want to run a trial that shows they can extend their patent. Similar to this trial, if we ended up in a trial with them it would, in my humble opinion, be Keytruda + LL all day. Maybe both of the doses we've had in studies (350/700).

What I don't expect is a trial that Cytodyn would run if there was no partnership, which is to compare and contrast LL to Keytruda. If Merck is running it they're just trying to show that together you see a better result, and boom! They've got new life and we've got the exciting new darling of the oncology world."
CytoDyn have seen the data on mCRC, but it is not in their pocket. However, they do have the mTNBC data, but no priority to target that right now. Is that because, Merck or MD Anderson might have an interest in treating mCRC MSS type tumors? So, it seems like this won't be solved until Merck finds a solution to their problem before their patent expires. Patent expiration is the end all to all of this and they have 4 more years of trying to find something that will extend it. Something that allows it to be used on all MSS tumors, not just mCRC or mTNBC, but 85% of all cancers.
Given that Keytruda is the Darling of the Oncology World and given leronlimab is the only drug that can treat 85% of the oncologic tumors out there while Keytruda can only help less than 15%, doesn't it make sense for them to come together in combination therapy to treat the entirety of cancers across the board? In this way, so many of the world's problems could be wiped out in one solid partnership. Isn't the name of the game to have a therapeutic solution to the entirety of this disease? And who can't work with Lalezari? That is no excuse.

Hi everyone (sorry for the incoming long post)
I am trying to help a friend recover a list of books that we read in HS. They have a goal of re-reading them all again, but lost track of a good number of them at their former house and can’t find them. They went to school in Fort Bend ISD (Elkins HS) from around 2012-2016 and were in primarily Pre-AP/AP English classes so some of the books came from summer reading as well.
I am a former student of FBISD, but I also was only able to come up with a few books. I’m hoping someone can assist me in this search or if you still have your syllabi from your English classes at a FBISD school that you can share that is even better! Even if you weren’t in AP and have an idea of some books that were read during that time that would still be helpful.
Some books that we were able to remembebooks that they still have that might help jog your memory are: The Scarlet Letter; Lord of the Flies; Speak; Bless me, Ultima; All the Pretty Horses; A Farewell to Arms; 1984; A Brave New World; Of Mice and Men; As I lay Dying; and Fahrenheit 451.
If you happen to work at Fort Bend ISD school and have a current list of readings that match some of my list I would appreciate if you could share, however, I do know a lot of books are banned so it’s unlikely they are still reading the same books now.
Thank you!

= = = =
Voting for Phase 5 has concluded! Check the Tickets Scoreboard HERE to see both the public and judge voting results.
= = = =
Hello, patient designers of customhearthstone! Thank you for waiting this long on the results, let's wrap this up so that we can all engage in other comps and summer (winter) endeavors!
To address what everyone's been waiting for -- the last Secret Ticket was PYROBLAST. The 'questions' in the "Discussion & questions go here" comment was encoded with Pyroblast. The letters' positions in the alphabet were added together (and reduced by 26 if it overflows) to produce the code word 'gtwhvupgm'.
Now, for what's left of the comp: the judges choosing their favorite set of the 20 sets that submitted for each phase. All of these submissions are compiled in these slides. Please take a moment to see if your own submission is pasted properly (use the second slide which should link to it).
The raffle winners will be drawn soon, alongside the results post.

Hi everyone,
I'm a first-time college student navigating the financial aid process, and I could really use some advice from those of you who have been through this before.
I've received a financial aid award letter from my college, but I'm not entirely sure if this means I've fully received my financial aid package. What should I be looking for to confirm that everything is in place? Are there additional steps I need to take after receiving the award letter? How can I ensure that all the funds will be disbursed to cover my tuition and other expenses? And I also don't see anything on the FASA website it just shows me that my from have been processed and everything, so I'm not entirely sure that I got the financial aid from my college or not?
Any personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

If MSAR says that a school requires a science professor letter of rec, does it really mean that? I'm a nontrad that has been out of school for a few years and I doubt that I would be able to get a good letter, if one at all. Should I even bother applying to schools that require a letter of rec like this? Thanks in advance
Edit: this would be for both IS and OOS schools if it matters

General

This subreddit is North American focused. If you would like to provide information from other countries, please leave it in a comment below or contact the moderators.
 
What is a perfusionist and what do they do?
A perfusionist’s central role is to operate a heart-lung machine during open heart surgeries or other surgeries where blood flow may be impaired or interrupted. Examples of surgeries or devices that may require perfusionists most commonly include:

• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)
• Heart Valve Repair or Replacement
• Congenital Heart Defect Repairs
• Organ Transplants
• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)
• Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD)
• Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABP)
• Chemoperfusion

 
What is the salary and job outlook?
Salaries for perfusionists are generally higher than $150,000 per year. There are a wide variety of pay structures that will affect total compensation packages.
The future of perfusion is unclear, mostly due to concerns of market saturation. A search through /Perfusion will reveal a wide variety of opinions on the matter. The American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP) publishes an annual report listing the number of certifications gained and lost. Included in the most current report (2023) is a historical list going back to 2000. Included in the 2022 report is the number of students admitted and graduated in 2021 and 2022.
 
Professional Organizations and Resources:  

• American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology  
  
• The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion  
  
• The Canadian Society of Clinical Perfusion  
  
• The Tiny Perfusion Letter
  

 

Education and Credentialing

 
How do I become a perfusionist?
To become a practicing perfusionist in the United States, you must become a Certified Clinical Perfusionist (CCP). This credential is governed by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP) and is awarded after passing two board examinations: the Perfusion Basic Science Examination (PBSE) and the Clinical Applications in Perfusion Examination (CAPE).
Qualification to sit for the board exams is achieved by completing a certified program. The accrediting body for programs is the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and a current list of programs may be found by going to this page, selecting “Profession” and choosing “Perfusion.” Unfortunately, this does not include programs that are defunct or programs that are undergoing the preliminary accreditation process. All schools require an undergraduate degree before entry regardless of outcome: degree or certificate.
The list of schools maintained at Perfusion.com and at SpecialtyCare are not current.
Programs currently undergoing preliminary certification include (alphabetical):

• Emory School of Nursing
• Lawrence Technological University
• Northern Kentucky University
• University of Southern California

Program lengths vary from 18 to 21 months and cost varies from approximately $30,000 to $140,000.
 

Common Questions About the Application Process

 
Is it competitive?
The application process is extremely competitive. Schools are typically receiving several hundred applications and most take 20 or fewer students.
When does the application cycle begin?
The application cycle is different for each school, but typically start as early as June 1 for start dates the following year.
That means that for the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year, applications will begin opening on June 1, 2024.
When do applications close?
Again, each program will be different. Some programs close earlier than others. Some programs have processes that take awhile to complete, so it is advisable to complete your application before the process closes.
Which school should I apply to?
You should apply to every school you're qualified for.
What prerequisites are required for perfusion school?
Each of the programs have different requirements. Contacting each of the programs with program specific questions is going to result in much more accurate answers than asking here. Programs can and do change requirements on an ongoing basis.
Nearly all programs require at least a documented conversation with a perfusionist or shadowing a case as part of the application process.
How do I find a perfusionist to shadow?
LinkedIn is your best resource. You may also post a request for a specific geographical area using the flair “Shadow Request.” You can also try contacting hospitals that do open heart surgery and arranging to shadow a perfusionist.
What kind of work experience is useful when applying to perfusion school?
Perfusion assistant jobs are sometimes referred to as a “golden ticket” for admission to a school. Many schools seem to value healthcare experience, through what type varies from school to school. Traditionally, RNs with critical care or operating room experience and respiratory techs seem to have a high degree of success. Other perfusion / OR adjacent jobs like anesthesia techs also seem to correlate with higher acceptance rates. As the application process becomes more competitive, it may be worth reaching out to current students to see what class make ups look like or Program Directors to see what advice they may give. Unfortunately, the application process is a “black box” and each institution has different qualities, traits, and experience they seem to value.
What are my chances of getting into School X? / Should I apply this year or wait until I have more experience?
No one knows. Your chances of getting into a school that you haven't applied to are zero. Contact the program for specific questions and guidance about your situation. The application process is a "black box" process with only the Program Directors and Admissions Council Members knowing how they work and what they are looking for in the current cohort. If you have specific questions about feedback you have received, feel free to ask them. Generic "what if" questions have a low likelihood of being approved in this subreddit.
Social Media
Look over all your social media accounts. Clean them up. Present yourself well online.
Additional Resources
/prospective_perfusion - subreddit dedicated to the application process and questions
/perfusion_accepted - subreddit dedicated to accepted students
 
 
Thanks to ghansie10 for the original thread - if you see this, please DM me!
Please report broken links or incorrect information to the moderators.
Feel free to post questions or information below.

I am in the USA, soon to finish up my trade school with a certificate of automotive technology and an Associates in General Technology. I am interested in traveling before I continue my career, and looking at the jobs available for work visas the hospitality work does not interest me (I have lived in a tourist town my entire life, and done plenty of hospitality). Are there ways to see if trade jobs would be an option? I am very new to this so any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Hey,
I´ve been using Notesnook for a while, and I absolutely love it! Definitely enjoy the customization of the apps look and everything, definitely not using other apps ever!!...But...
Lately I´ve been noticing that as I type, the letters are "too slow" or not synced with the speed I type with (sorry, I don´t know the professional terms for this), and it´s both annoying and sometimes the words are missing letters because of this.
My laptop is not laggy, the typing is smooth in apps like Word or even as I type here in this post.
Any ideas what to do?
Thank you!

Also posted on lgbt but I'm not sure if this is the more appropriate sub.
English isn't my first language, on mobile, excuse the errors please.
(I'm unlabeled but non-cis)
I want to start off by saying I fully support normalizing pronouns. I'm all for people putting their preferred ones in their bios/signatures and I will fully respect them whenever I'm aware of them. I understand that sharing your pronouns even if you're cis makes it easier for non-cisgender to share theirs.
I have not come to terms with gender identity yet, so I don't even fully know my preferred pronouns honestly. However, I present majority of the time as cis, even though that is something I know I'm not. The problem comes when people ask my preferred pronouns.
The most accurate answer I can give is "any" because sometimes I am fine with that, however not completely true since I sometimes do prefer one particular pronoun. The thing is, in my mind, saying that feels like revealing to the person asking that I do not identify in the binary. It feels like outing myself. That's definitely a whole different discussion in itself but I'm just not comfortable sharing that part of me with some people, specially in, say, a business setting (where sharing pronouns have sort of became mandatory).
I know that not all people would necessarily think that just because I say "any pronouns", I'm something other than cis, but gender is just a sensitive topic for me personally and something I definitely tend to overthink, so that's how it FEELS like to me, even though logically I understand that might not be the case. And it might give some people an inkling, so I'd like to avoid that altogether.
So in reality I've been putting the pronouns that are associated with my assigned gender, however even that feels like intentionally misgendering myself sometimes, specially at the height of my dysphoria. I'm aware that asking pronouns are supposed to avoid misgendering someone, but I'd much rather people unintentionally misgender me than me deliberately misgendering myself.
I've been avoiding pronouns for myself due to these reasons as much as possible, but like I said, they're mandatory in the workplace. There are also some spaces, specially in social media, where it can feel a bit ostracizing when you don't share your pronouns. I've personally been snubbed once from a circle I wanted to join because I said "no" when asked if I can share my pronouns (it felt like the most appropriate answer at the time and sadly I didn't get the chance to expound). For the same reasons, I also tend not to proactively ask other people's pronouns, and would generally just use "they" until I know the correct one to use, but have been told multiple times that this practice is rude and that I should just ask :(
This is just my own personal dilemma. I know that popularizing pronouns have helped a lot of people feel accepted so I'm not gonna dictate anyone not to use them/to stop asking them. But I would appreciate some advice on how to approach this. Thank you so much.

I going to make this as brief and to the point as I can. I paid for a Nexus letter and DBQ linking my Migraines as secondary to PTSD. My PTSD got in the way. I could not deal with the application and contracted with a Law firm and sent the letter and DBQ to the Law firm with all the usual information. The law firm has not been transparent so other than that they filed an HLR I do not know what is going on. I have requested my full case file. I received a letter from the VA stating that there was disagreement about Migraine as secondary to PTSD and I had a C&P review. VES Dr called, and the total call length was 7 minutes and 26 seconds. During which time she asked a few questions and cut me off If I tried to explain. Didn't ask for and did not check all of the symptoms. Her report denied a connection and cited “researches”, no specifics, in support of her decision. The nexus letter and DBQ I supplied cites facts and symptoms from my records, treatments received, time frames for migraines, and specific studies are named and referenced to support the link between migraines and PTSD in my case. Since the law firm is involved can I upload the positive information to ensure it is in my records? If so, how can I do it?
Thanks

Please let me know if this post isn't allowed (suggestions for more appropriate subs welcome!) English isn't my first language, on mobile, excuse the errors please.
I want to start off by saying I fully support normalizing pronouns. I'm all for people putting their preferred ones in their bios/signatures and I will fully respect them whenever I'm aware of them. I understand that sharing your pronouns even if you're cis makes it easier for non-cisgender to share theirs.
I have not come to terms with gender identity yet, so I don't even fully know my preferred pronouns honestly. However, I present majority of the time as cis, even though that is something I know I'm not. The problem comes when people ask my preferred pronouns.
The most accurate answer I can give is "any" because sometimes I am fine with that, however not completely true since I sometimes do prefer one particular pronoun. The thing is, in my mind, saying that feels like revealing to the person asking that I do not identify in the binary. It feels like outing myself. That's definitely a whole different discussion in itself but I'm just not comfortable sharing that part of me with some people, specially in, say, a business setting (where sharing pronouns have sort of became mandatory).
I know that not all people would necessarily think that just because I say "any pronouns", I'm something other than cis, but gender is just a sensitive topic for me personally and something I definitely tend to overthink, so that's how it FEELS like to me, even though logically I understand that might not be the case. And it might give some people an inkling, so I'd like to avoid that altogether.
So in reality I've been putting the pronouns that are associated with my assigned gender, however even that feels like intentionally misgendering myself sometimes, specially at the height of my dysphoria. I'm aware that asking pronouns are supposed to avoid misgendering someone, but I'd much rather people unintentionally misgender me than me deliberately misgendering myself.
I've been avoiding pronouns for myself due to these reasons as much as possible, but like I said, they're mandatory in the workplace. There are also some spaces, specially in social media, where it can feel a bit ostracizing when you don't share your pronouns. I've personally been snubbed once from a circle I wanted to join because I said "no" when asked if I can share my pronouns (it felt like the most appropriate answer at the time and sadly I didn't get the chance to expound). For the same reasons, I also tend not to proactively ask other people's pronouns, and would generally just use "they" until I know the correct one to use, but have been told multiple times that this practice is rude and that I should just ask :(
This is just my own personal dilemma. I know that popularizing pronouns have helped a lot of people feel accepted so I'm not gonna dictate anyone not to use them/to stop asking them. But I would appreciate some advice on how to approach this. Thank you so much.

Hi everyone (sorry for the incoming long post)
I am trying to help a friend recover a list of books that we read in HS. They have a goal of re-reading them all again, but lost track of a good number of them at their former house and can’t find them. They went to school in Fort Bend ISD (Elkins HS) from around 2012-2016 and were in primarily Pre-AP/AP English classes so some of the books came from summer reading as well.
I am a former student of FBISD, but I also was only able to come up with a few books. I’m hoping someone can assist me in this search or if you still have your syllabi from your English classes at a FBISD school that you can share that is even better! Even if you weren’t in AP and have an idea of some books that were read during that time that would still be helpful.
Some books that we were able to remembebooks that they still have that might help jog your memory are: The Scarlet Letter; Lord of the Flies; Speak; Bless me, Ultima; All the Pretty Horses; A Farewell to Arms; 1984; A Brave New World; Of Mice and Men; As I lay Dying; and Fahrenheit 451.
If you happen to work at Fort Bend ISD school and have a current list of readings that match some of my list I would appreciate if you could share, however, I do know a lot of books are banned so it’s unlikely they are still reading the same books now.
Thank you!

Hi there,
I got a TN Visa last month and am flying down tomorrow. My friend has graciously offered to drive my vehicle down to my location 8 days from now, and then he will be flying back home. I'm not driving myself down due to some work scheduling for next week that can't be moved. I don't plan to legally import the vehicle at this time. Since he'll be crossing the border driving a vehicle that is not his, I want to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible for him. He'll have some possessions of mine but mainly just some clothes and my golf clubs.
What would you recommend I do to make it as painless as possible for him in case he gets questioned by the border officers?
I was thinking a letter with my name and information on it explaining the scenario would be sufficient, but was curious to get any advice from frequent border-crossers here. Thanks in advance!

Tl;Dr: Muni passes locked in app, no customer service available on weekends, I've lost $52, hope this helps other travelers.
Fun fact: If you happen to purchase your Muni passes, and then something tragic happens to your phone, and you have to get a new phone and therefore reinstall/move all your apps... you can't access your stored Muni passes from your account anymore.
I purchased 4 passes last week. Thought nothing more of it. I did not download them to my device, and I did not download them to my cloud. I did not even open or look at them. I have only just arrived in town last night. When I opened the app (on my new phone) to use them last night, they had a lock symbol over them. The message said "these tickets are associated with a previous app installation". It said I had to call customer service to unlock them.
So as me and my family stood on the corner, with no way to go anywhere, I called the phone number, which routed me through the city's generic 311 prompts, and I got to a customer service agent with no knowledge or experience with Muni, who was reading an instruction manual and prompts. The person did not really understand the issue and could not in fact unlock my tickets. She said she thinks she could have, if I had downloaded them to either my device or my cloud.
I was told I had to email the main SFMTA or whatever email address. But that takes a few business days for them to respond.
So now I'm out the $52 I spent for my family's public transportation all weekend. If they contact me next week, I suppose they can unlock my tickets, but... so what? I won't be here anymore, and I already had to spend another $52 from my exact same Muni account, to get us on our way.
For a world class city with a heavily-used public transportation system, I would expect a) a better, more intelligent app experience - specifically their ability to tell if I've actually used/activated the tickets in my account or not; and b) the ability to use any app without needing to download tickets out of the app to store separately (like I can't imagine Ticketmaster having this issue); and c) a dedicated and knowledgeable in-house customer service phone department with the ability to respond quickly and access a user's information for scenarios just like this.
This was an unnecessary, frustrating and expensive experience. Thanks for letting me rant - I'm just hoping this saves someone else an expensive headache in the future.

A couple of months ago, I got a letter from my association, stating that they would be having the annual meeting and that they would also be announcing the new board at the meeting.
There were two spots available on the board and they said that they didn't receive more applications than spots available so they didn't need to have an election and they would announce new board members at meeting.
However, I went to the meeting (no quorum) and they said they got three applications, but they didn't announce them as new board members. There were only two spots available and I know they had a deadline for people to submit applications to be on the board. No annual meeting bc no quorum.
So now we are stuck with the same board members and none of these people actually want to be on the board. So I'm confused what happened when they said they didn't need to have an election and now we don't have new board members. Can anyone shed light on this?

Hi everyone (sorry for the incoming long post)
I am trying to help a friend recover a list of books that we read in HS. They have a goal of re-reading them all again, but lost track of a good number of them at their former house and can’t find them. They went to school in Fort Bend ISD (Elkins HS) from around 2012-2016 and were in primarily Pre-AP/AP English classes so some of the books came from summer reading as well.
I am a former student of FBISD, but I also was only able to come up with a few books. I’m hoping someone can assist me in this search or if you still have your syllabi from your English classes at a FBISD school that you can share that is even better! Even if you weren’t in AP and have an idea of some books that were read during that time that would still be helpful. Additionally, I’m sure other schools in other districts in the houston area may have similar readings as well so I would love your input as well!
Some books that we were able to remembebooks that they still have that might help jog your memory are: The Scarlet Letter; Lord of the Flies; Speak; Bless me, Ultima; All the Pretty Horses; A Farewell to Arms; 1984; A Brave New World; Of Mice and Men; As I lay Dying; and Fahrenheit 451.
If you happen to work at Fort Bend ISD school and have a current list of readings that match some of my list I would appreciate if you could share, however, I do know a lot of books are banned so it’s unlikely they are still reading the same books now.
Thank you!

My gf is a huge Harry Potter fan. I want to write a hand written letter to her for a surprise birthday gift that is Harry Potter themed. I will provide all the supplies needed and pay for your time. Has to be in person.
I will have the words to the letter laid out in advance and would only need your skill of putting ink to paper as I can only write similar to our 11 year old son lol. The style of writing would be similar to that of the Harry Potter acceptance to Hogwarts letter. Thanks for any help in this huge plan🙏✨️🤞📜

Hello there you fantastic human beings. I got a few questions for you about gender identity.
So I (20M) have been not questioning my gender identity for a long time even though I was really exposed to it, thanks to the really queer environment I grew up in (i'm very comfortable with my aro/ace identity thanks to that). And when I eventually did a long time ago, I was like "well no everything feels right to me", because I didn't really dealt with the question and didn't really "felt" what gender really is.
Then a few years ago, people have started misgendering me and calling me by she/her pronouns more and more often, probably because of my hair changes and clothes choices, I felt like going for more gender neutral clothes. Anyway, it never bothered me, and that's what made me question myself, as I was aknowledging that people usually dislikes being misgendered. Of course they do, but I couldn't care less for myself, and I started questioning if I would prefer being perceived as a more feminine person, more neutral person, more masculine, and in the end, I think I don't really care. I could go with any pronouns, or perceptions. Only little thing I could say is that I sometimes dislike what people assume about men and women, but that's not something I deal with everyday or smth. And it makes me want to be perceived as something slightly more neutral.
So now I'm here and trying to figure out what label would fit my experience the best. I don't feel like enby really clicks with me. I don't feel on any type of spectrum, because like I said, I don't know or feel what is gender. I'm not feeling neutral in my gender identity. I don't click with anything.
And so I did more researches about labels and I think what I feel the most comfortable with is agender, even though I think there's something called cassgender that probably describes me really good, where you just don't care about what gender you're associated with, but because I have a slight feeling about me wanting to be perceived as a little more neutral individual than now, I just ... click more with agender I guess. Even though i'm pretty sure I could be both, but i'd never explain what cassgender is to anyone.
I know that in the end I can just go with whatever feels right to me, but I want to ask the community and people who knows if my experience fits the label - because I wouldn't want to describe myself as something I'm not, y'know what I mean ?
Thank you for reading that wall of text if you did, and either way, may you all have a great day 🖤🩶🤍💚 !

After long wait, I already got email and text confirmation on 05/06 saying Thank you for your patience. We have determined that your unemployment insurance (UI) claim can now be paid. Shortly after you applied for UI benefits, we mailed you a determination letter with information about your weekly benefit rate. Same day a line item of saying $0 Type : Waiting week for week ending 04/07 appeared on the online portal. Claim start date is 04/01/2024. Release date is 05/06 for the Waiting Week ending 04/07. Since then not even a peep. I had also got determination letter via mail saying the amount I will be getting. Also, the online portal is showing the Release date. The UI seems to have been approved. Only problem is nothing seems to be happening since the Waiting Week Period.
After this message of approval I was hopeful of getting payments. But since then I did not get any more lines in the Payment History page in the online portal besides Waiting Week. I'm trying to call them but it has been impossible to get through. 'When did you guys receive first payment after getting that kind of message? Is there any way to see my certification history? Maybe because I did not certify for some week in the past by mistake because I did the filing via phone. Getting restless here. Also, not sure how backpay works. My claim start day is 04/01/2024.

Hi everyone (sorry for the incoming long post)
I am trying to help a friend recover a list of books that we read in HS. They have a goal of re-reading them all again, but lost track of a good number of them at their former house and can’t find them. They went to school in Fort Bend ISD (Elkins HS) from around 2012-2016 and were in primarily Pre-AP/AP English classes so some of the books came from summer reading as well.
I am a former student of FBISD, but I also was only able to come up with a few books. I’m hoping someone can assist me in this search or if you still have your syllabi from your English classes at a FBISD school that you can share that is even better! Even if you weren’t in AP and have an idea of some books that were read during that time that would still be helpful. Additionally, I’m sure other schools in other districts in the houston area may have similar readings as well so I would love your input as well!
Some books that we were able to remembebooks that they still have that might help jog your memory are: The Scarlet Letter; Lord of the Flies; Speak; Bless me, Ultima; All the Pretty Horses; A Farewell to Arms; 1984; A Brave New World; Of Mice and Men; As I lay Dying; and Fahrenheit 451.
If you happen to work at Fort Bend ISD school and have a current list of readings that match some of my list I would appreciate if you could share, however, I do know a lot of books are banned so it’s unlikely they are still reading the same books now.
Thank you!