I’m planning on building à Spore druid with a bit of abjuration wizard to maintain the bonus spore HP and fight in melee. How do you think I could generate enough Arcane Ward stacks with 2 lvl in abjuration ? Is there a trick for stacking ward without throwing all my spells slots?

For context I 23F have 2 sisters 21F and 19F, we’ve been very close my whole life. I stayed living with them at my parents house through college because of covid and honestly I’m from la and it was just too expensive to move out at the time. I decided to move to NY for a couple of years to try something new and my relationship with my family is pretty much nonexistent
I try and check in with them and call just to chat. I’m by no means bombarding them, I know they have their own lives. But they rarely answer and when they do it feels like I’m boring them. I try so hard to stay updated on their lives but they have no desire to talk to me. I’ve used all my vacation time and money on going to visit and spend holidays with them, but often when I do I find out they’ve made other plans with people even knowing I was coming for weeks and we have limited days together. The one time my sister 21F visited me (with 2 of her friends) I dropped everything to plan their visit and spend time with them.
It hurts me so much, I cry often because I miss them and at the same time I feel like if I were to move back our relationship wouldn’t be any different. Not being in the same house seems to shift their priorities a lot, and I know this is part of growing older but none of us have our own families yet or even serious relationships. I wasn’t expecting this shift to happen so soon. And most of all it does not seem to bother them one bit, which makes me feel desperate and pathetic.
Has anyone experienced this? I feel like I lost my best friends and they don’t even care, and the more I reach out to get no response or an unenthusiastic one, the worse I feel. I’m likely moving back this year regardless, but I worry about giving up my life here and returning home to have nothing.

My parents were always selfish. I quickly determined that my sibling was what they wanted and I was alternately the mistake or someone to be used. My friends went to camp. I had a maintenance and cleaning schedule. My summer vacations never existed. I was routinely robbed of cash and brutalized (til I got too big and one time punched back-I was threatened with jail). I met my now wife. As I was leaving on a date, he ran up to me and told me not to get involved. I owed him. I asked what and he told me that I was going to support the two of them. He wanted me to be his version of one of his friend’s sons. This guy squandered his retirement, and made his son dutifully turn over his pay, and once a month dad would allow him to go out. I laughed. He began a campaign to ruin my relationship. He told my FIL that I was a theif. I would rape and murder his family. My FIL physically removed my father from his home. They attempted to disrupt the wedding and lost most of their family, who were finally made aware of their actions. First day of the honeymoon my mother was calling to demand I clear their names. Returned from the honeymoon to a wrecked car and a trashed apartment. Old man really screwed himself. I had him on the building’s security tapes. Showed at his house with my buddy who happened to be a cop. Laid down that either I am compensated or he goes to jail. He laughed. My buddy cuffed him. Mom gave me the keys to his secret stash of cash. He really sat up and took notice: I took enough to re furnish our apartment, hotel stay for a week til the apartment is cleaned, and enough for a car to replace my baby who I lovingly had restored. In total $35K. Told him that if he makes a lot of noise I will turn him into the tax department. Tell them where and why he stashes cash. That finally put them in their place. Did not stop her from bad mouthing us for years.

Long story as short as possible! Wife (37f) and I (30f) have a 20 month old. My BIL has three kids (8m, 6f, and 4f). My MIL helps us and watches our LO one day every two weeks so we can get business things taken care of. My MIL and FIL babysit my nieces and nephew three nights a week, and overnight frequently on weekends. We often all get together for dinner on weekends at my in laws.
Our nieces and nephew are very active, loud; and quite demanding. BIL and SIL check out completely when they get to my in laws, and essentially we and my in laws end up watching their kids all night while they swim, drink, whatever. Essentially; they and their kids take over every get together we have. It’s an exhausting experience for everyone, including our LO who gets overwhelmed by them at times. The 4yo also is not a fan of LO, and has been baby talking, stealing her toys, etc for months now. We constantly are redirecting her while her parents do not say anything. She has also been pinching neighborhood kids and these concerns have been brought to my SIL. My in laws are always focused on them, because they demand their attention. They will yell, scream; etc if my in laws are not paying attention to them; and my in laws cave every single time.
Our LO had a rough start the life with a NICU stay, allergies, colic, you name it. Things did not really calm down until the past six months.
We tried to plan a one night getaway this time last year, with the understanding that LO would be the only one my in laws were watching. Last minute (day before our trip), my in laws dropped on us that they will be also watching nieces and nephew for the day. We reiterated our concerns, and they said they did not agree. We took LO on our trip with us; and moved on from it.
MIL had been encouraging us to take a trip away together as we haven’t been away since our LO was born. We planned three months in advance to go away for the weekend. Confirmed multiple times they had no plans and would be able to babysit, to which they let us know just last week that SIL was actually planning a pool party at their home on Sunday. We were a little frustrated but we understand we don’t own their house or their time.
We said no worries and that we would just leave early Sunday morning to make sure we were back before guests arrived and the pool was opened as we weren’t comfortable with LO at their house with people especially multiple kids coming in and out through the back door. They do not have a pool fence, and the pool is in-ground located through their sliding door. LO is able to open these doors on her own. Our LO is not a sit down kind of kid. She is always moving, incredibly nosy, and loves the pool. They said no problem and closed the safety pool cover before we left to reassure us we had nothing to worry about.
Flash forward to Saturday on our trip. I’m scrolling on Facebook before heading to dinner. My SIL had posted a picture of her three kids, and some other kids we did not know, and SIL at our in laws pool. My wife called her parents and asked them if the pool party was moved and if so why they didn’t tell us? MIL and FIL were instantly defensive saying LO didn’t even know people were swimming and they kept her inside. MIL said she did not know they needed permission for people to swim at their house and that they just had friends over and it wasn’t the pool party that is tomorrow. I did not see this photo until 6 hours after it was posted, so when I did everyone was gone.
Are we wrong to be pissed at this? I’m so frustrated. I feel like they just genuinely don’t care what we have to say; and that my nieces and nephew will always take priority of our LO. Why couldn’t my MIL just say that Saturday didn’t work and to come tomorrow to my SIL?
We came home first thing Sunday morning and picked up LO in a brief exchange. Nothing was talked about as we still are not sure how to feel. MIL has sent a passive aggressive text since but we have not replied.
If you read that whole thing please tell me your thoughts, I appreciate it more than you know. I do not have any family outside of my in laws so no one to really go to for advice or insight.

Noob here starting a journey to first DIY NAS server with a HP EliteDesk 800 G4 SFF. Plan is to have two (2) 8TB HDDs in mirror setup in ZFS.
I was thinking of getting used WD Red 8TB HDD but then went down the rabbit hole of SMR vs CMR discussion. What I understood is that I need CMR HDDs, regardless of brand.
Which CMR HDD is the best bang for bucks currently?

I'm 29 years old and recently moved cities due to job opportunities. I moved from living independently to living with my cousins in the new city I'm in and paying almost close to no rent. I make 100k a year and saved up alot of money already. Now the thing that's bothering me is if I should purchase a property to live in and be on my own again or purchase my dream car which is affordable for me. Cars is my passion and I enjoy building them. They keep me happy in life but on the other hand buying a house first is the "right way" to go about life and make mortage payments after mortgage payments. I am also happy living with my cousins because I am not alone and bonding with them is great. I wanted to ask reddit what I should do at this point in time. I realize that buying a house is the right option but I don't think I will be happy with it right now. So any advice reddit?

I started using unreal in UE 4.25 and now I am using 4.27. Is there any reason to switch 5.3-5.3? I am planning to use unreal for my FPS projects so TPS not "so much" important for me. (The parantheses are the priority)
I generally make stylized art so looks like the "realism" difference in versions will not be a huge difference and actually, I like the ue4 style. (Negative)
The UI is better (Low)
From the performance tests i saw, looks like UE5 beat it. But I dont know. UE4 is far more stable. (Mid - High, they say 5.3 is stable so it can be high)
I started learning cpp and looks like working both cpp and blueprints is better in UE5 (Mid - High, maybe because I didnt try it in ue4, please share your thoughts)
Enchanced input system (???, looks great but is there really a big difference?)
Engine size ~60 >> ~30 (Negative, I only installed Linux builds and I dont think I need 30 gb feaures or what are they)
I have a mid-high range laptop and these are my thoughts. Please comment what you think.

I am the aforementioned “professor” in a BORU post about me related to posts in subreddit. I decided to post a response after this event was brought up again with a mutual, Maria. We’re both hanging out as I type this. She and I have both hung out with “boyfriend” (Bob) in group settings and think there are definitely two sides to this story. My main gripe is being portrayed as a drunk and a man-stealer. Below is the original BORU post that I found while browsing one day. Also, someone did find me after reading this post due to how specific it is. I am responding pararaph by paragraph so you do not need to read the original post, feel free to.
The title in BORU is below as I cannot link other subreddits. (Was able to link, after the fact)

Do I (28F) need to worry about my boyfriend's (24M) friendship with his professor (25F)?

https://www.reddit.com/BestofRedditorUpdates/s/7mIcJp6t7n

My bf (24M) became friends with his former professor (25F), sometime last year - I don't know what to make of it. They seem to be friendly and talk consistently every week, and from what he tells me, it's usually very surface level. Sometime last year after the course ended, my bf, his professor, and some of his male classmates went somewhere to eat together. My bf brought up that he was going to be attending an event (plastic modeling show), and his professsor showed interest and invited herself to the event and asked if she could stay at his airbnb with his friends. My bf and his friends were all OK with it.

I was an instructor for one class/semester that BF (Bob) attended. I have no say or sway at the school and have not taught since then. I taught a class related to my profession. I did not get to know Bob personally until after the class was over. On the last day, he expressed that I was a great instructor and gave me a miniature he built as a show of gratitude. I also made miniatures (a different type though) and was intrigued that someone else was into this hobby. We stayed in touch. Later, I invited a few students for a meal (girls and guys) and the boy students were the only ones who RSVP’d yes. Bob did mention an event. I did not invite myself, I said me and my friend Linda were interested and may go too. Later on, Bob invited me to join their group’s airbnb because I was looking at hotels. A previous event trip fell through for my and Linda’s friend group and I felt bad she couldn’t go on a trip in the USA before she had to go back to her home country. This trip was to replace that experience. Bob invited us to the airbnb and Linda and I shared a room with 2 beds, Maria ended up coming on this trip as well, which the group was also okay with, and stayed in the same room with me and Linda

I unfortunately couldn't attend the event, but from what my bf told me, he and a few of his friends met up at their airbnb. That same day, his professor comes to my bf's airbnb and tagged a few of her girl friends along (I believe they all stayed in the same place). The next day, they go to the event, went to a bar afterwards and got drinks. A lot of them (except my bf) got pretty drunk and my bf took the liberty of being the designated driver for his professor and her friends. His professor won some model kit from the event, and even in her drunken state, asked my bf if he could stay up with her to work on the kit together. From what my bf tells me, nothing else happened that night.

Respectfully, I had one cocktail and then his friend bought everyone a shot. That was the extent of my drinking. I wasn’t drunk, Linda wasn’t drunk, and no one else in the group ended up being drunk., Maria was though. Maria underestimated how strong the drinks were and she was the DD and we did not have enough time to sober up once she felt the alcohol hit her. She couldn’t drive, I didn’t want to drive her dad’s car, and Linda doesn’t have a US driver's license. Bob offered to drive the car with me, Linda, and Maria back to the airbnb. The other car was driven back by his friend who was not drunk and drove sober. At the airbnb, Bob asked what i would do with the model kit I won, I said i am not familiar with this type of miniature and so I would sell it on facebook marketplace. He said it was actually easy to build, he had built that one before, and he could help me build it right then as all their tools for building were still out on the table. I said he didn’t have to but he insisted and I accepted his help. I was also still not drunk. Next to us in the living room, Maria and 2 of the guys were watching Ouran High Scool Host Club and Cowboy bebop. We all stayed up until 2AM building or watching anime. For half of the trip, me and the girls split off and did our own thing. We did not stay with the group the entire tip because our intent was to piggy back a small girls weekend while also seeing the event.

After the event, everyone from that group created a group chat and they continue to plan and talk about future events together. Since then, my bf and his friends had met up with his professor and got to meet his professor's fiance at an anime convention and it sounded like they all got along well. His professor continues to express interest in other events and it sounds like she may be attending another event with my bf and his friends in the near future.
I trust my boyfriend and don't think he is hiding anything from me. Honestly speaking, I think it's hard for me to understand their friendship as it is his professor. I've had a conversation with him on this, and he's let me know that I have nothing to worry about. I would like to hear other's opinions and see what ya'll think of this friendship? Is this something I need to be concerned about or is it really nothing?
Thank you all!
\Edit: the professor was my bf's former professor. She is classified as an adjunct faculty and works as an accountant as her full time job (which explains why she is a young professor).*
\My bf has not graduated college yet and is still a student at his university.*

Bob and his group went to an anime convention. I and my friend group also went because I was not aware there was one near me until Bob mentioned it. My friend group, I thought, got along well with his friends and it was a great first con experience. I and a few of my friends expressed interest in future events. I think she is hung up on this professor titleship but I was an instructor whom students called professor but I was very clear this was a side gig and I was had a career. I was never in any position of power at the school, I was a contract employee used to fill an open course section at an undesirable time. For the majority of the time I knew Bob, we were equals who were only 1 year apart in age and shared a similar hobby.

Relevant Comments:
You should go to one of the events with him:
"I do struggle with social anxiety so it makes me uncomfortable to be sharing a space with a lot of unknown people. I am hoping to go to the next event though since it's local."
Her relationship with students is grossly unprofessional:
"I'm totally with you - I am also quite confused of her choice of "friends". I am not sure why of all places, does she choose to share an airbnb with her former student and to be drunk with them. She is classified as an adjunct faculty, so she is a professor but is part time (she works full time as an accountant). The whole situation feels weird to me."
Clarification:
Commenter: You say “his professor” what is their specific academic connection? She taught him once years ago and now they’re roughly equals and friends? Or she’s his primary support for a PhD? Or what?
OOP: The first option - she taught him last year and now are now friends. He is no longer in a course with her. I totally understand how it's possible for students and their professors to be friendly, but i've never heard or seen of a friendship where you consistently talk and hang out together so casually.
So she's no longer his professor- they are two adults of the same age and power level:
"It kind of gives me the same vibes like if a student graduated HS and is friends with their young teacher (obv not the same thing, but a student-teacher relationship is there). I think as a teacher, you should still uphold that level of professionalism and mentorship, even if you are no longer the student's teacher.
I also want to note that they are technically not "equals" since they're both in relationships. She can't be acting however she wants with former students."

I respect that they view my actions unprofessionally. I did not view it as such since I was no longer an instructor and have not been since. I taught a 4 month course one day a week. I would not be friends with an 18-22 year old I had nothing in common with.

Update: my boyfriend and I had a more heart-to-heart talk regarding his teacher and he recognizes that it crossed some of my boundaries. He believes that she may be behaving the way she does because when she hangs out with her fiance's friends, she gets bored with them (and may possibly be seeking attention from other people?). Several weeks later, my boyfriend had a conversation with his college instructor regarding their friendship and told her how I didn't feel comfortable of their friendship and how he thinks they should keep communication at a minimum. She brought up how she understands because her fiance also had an issue with how she chose to share an airbnb with my bf. She mentions to my boyfriend that she sees him as a brother and that's why she feels really comfortable with him, but that she will try to respect my boyfriend's wishes of keeping conversations at a minimum.

I did not know it had crossed any of their boundaries at the time until the phone call. I treated Bob the same way I treated all of my friends but I do understand and respect that not everyone has the same view of friendship. My friend group went through a period where we would talk about going to stuff and then no one does any work to follow through. The event Linda and our friends were going to attend that never happened is a good example. I didn’t want lazy friends being the reason why I did not experience things. Bob did follow through on going to things. My husband’s concern was that it was a group of guys we had not met yet in person and we were all girls. I told him that if I thought any one of them was giving off weird vibes, we would immediately leave and get a hotel. As for the phone call, he did call to tell me basically the same and my understanding was that we should talk less because she does not like the closeness. At the time, we were messaging every day and I did make an attempt to reduce the frequency to once a week.

Well, even after that talk, she continues to still message my boyfriend weekly on random life updates. And because she is also part of my bf's chat in discord, one of his friends invited her to attend another plastic modeling show (it occurred recently) and dinner. Since she accepted the invitations, I chose to attend as well so that I could personally meet her. The dinner occurred first and it was very uncomfortable because she practically ignored me the entire night. When she joined us at the table, she greeted my bf but didn't say anything to me (even my bf noticed and got annoyed, but then introduced us). She got increasingly drunk throughout the night and was saying random stuff about my bf to his friends like "he could've been the best student in my class but it's cause he missed some assignments" and "[bf's name] gave me a 5 star review on rate my professor!". She ended up not going to the show, but my bf had a chat with his guys and they told him that they want to respect my feelings too and make it a guys' night next time.
I would like to hear other's opinions and see if you also think she is acting suspicious?

One thing left out is that during the phone call between Bob and I, I asked Bob if his GF would want to ever talk to or get to know me, or all 3 of us hang out, and he said he asked her and she said she did not want to do that and she was uncomfortable at the thought of meeting me. I did stop messaging him frequently and only did so once a week to ask how his job search was going and to let him know the status of a big event in my life. I thought that was what was requested, less interaction, not no interaction. Maria and I went to this dinner because everyone from the airbnb trip was going to be there (Linda did not go). What is not mentioned is that Bob and the GF arrived 40 minutes into eating. I nodded in their direction when they came and said hey in their general direction, not specifically at Bob or her. I did not talk to either specifically because (1) GF does not like me and him talking and I was not about to directly talk to Bob in front of her (2) she said she did not want to talk to me or get to know me and never retracted that statement. I learned Bob and GF thought it was a slight against them that I only said hey to Bob but I didn’t direct it to anyone and I was trying to play it safe. Had I known she came to personally meet me, I would have tried to talk to her. After learning why she came, I was surprised she did not talk to me even though she came to meet me. As for the alcohol, except for them, since they arrived late, everyone had 2-3 drinks already because it was happy hour. Me and Maria made friends with the bartender who gave us discounted cocktails. I even bought a drink for GF so she could get the discount and then pay me back. It is true I said those jokes but I said them in jest and these were jokes already made previously. To be fair, she did not try to talk to me at all, nor did she try to talk to Maria. Later that week, Maria called me to catch up and mentioned the dinner. She commented that GF made no effort to get to know us and thought GF went to monitor him and me. In essence, she ignored me and Maria and Maria and I ignored her. I did not go to the show because I had a prior commitment.

Relevant Comment:
She wants to have sex with your boyfriend. She's crossing major boundaries. Has he stopped conversation with her?
"I wouldn't be surprised if that is her intention cause there's def some shady people out there. I agree, she is crossing some professional and personal boundaries, and I think it's quite unusual behavior for any teacher to act like that. Yes, he has stopped communicating with her. She was consistently messaging him until last week...so hopefully she got the memo.

As mentioned in her post, I did view Bob as a brother. He lived similar experiences to me but I felt like he was where I would have been had I not moved out from my parents when I did. I wanted to see him professionally thrive and accomplish his goals of getting a car and moving out as those were things I strived for but had already attained. As for the 5-6 times we met up, it was in group settings and he met all of my friends and my husband as well. This post, to me, makes it seem like I was always hanging on to Bob but there were many instances of me and my friends breaking off to do our own thing. My husband and Linda’s husband were both okay with us going to the airbnb at the time and later on met and got to know Bob too. Each time we met, if I drank, I had 2 drinks and one time I had 3. I am not sure how Bob told these events to his GF so it may just be lost in translation but the only person who ever got drunk at a meet up was Maria and it was once. I do not agree with her stating that I was constantly drunk for each meet up or always asking/inviting myself to things. He invited me to join his airbnb group (i asked if Linda and Maria could join me), I did ask to join his group for another event until my friend group arrived (which included my husband, Linda, and Maria), and his friend invited me to the group dinner (Maria attended). To this day, his GF has never said a word to me or Maria (she did not say hi, only waved to us), nor us her. When I offered to order and bring her cocktail from the bar, I believe Bob was the one who responded to my offer. I only found out about what she was thinking via this BORU post. Linda, Maria, and I haven’t talked to Bob since, this was a cathartic write with Maria as it is very jarring to randomly find a post about yourself and then also have someone find you from that post.

Hello! I'm seeking advice on what's the best move I should take? I have been offered a personal loan from a bank and I'm 50/50 if I should avail it and make it as my capital for a business. I'm planning to build a small laundry shop in my area (provincial) but the thing is there's a lot of laundry shops already in the city area. Although madaming apts, room rentals, condos and students in the area naman, my only cncern is would it still be profitable despite the competition? Also, the capital is from a loan kaya need talaga profitable on a monthly basis. Should I get the loan as my capital? Do you have other business ideas in mind that is suitable? I was also planning a massage/spa. By the way, the approved loan amount is around 600-700k. Monthly is around 26k for 3 yrs. Really appreciate and open to all your comments/suggestions on this. Please enlighten me.

Hi everyone I wanted advice on my imagine UNN connection. My plan is imagine dream broadband 200mbps 700gb. So I recently moved house and the tech guys re installed my wifi router (unn provided). When the tech guys tested it with their laptop and lan cable it showed 200mbps but when I tested it with my laptop (with lab cable) and speed test with my mobile it only showed 100mbps. I asked the unn guys why this is and they said my laptop is old and need to upgrade SSD because it can't detect speed more than 100mbps (😒??). This is actually the second time I've moved house and the previous house had the same issue only 100mbps. Do I need to change the unn wifi router? Any settings to change? Help please.

Assalamu Alaikum,
I am a Muslim man who is looking for a traditional, Islamic wife who can respect me as a man, support me emotionally, take care of the house and kids (in the future), but also enjoy life with me intimately. I believe in the importance of balance in all aspects of life, and I am looking for a partner who shares this same belief.
As a man, I understand my responsibilities towards my family, and I want a wife who can help me fulfill these duties. At the same time, I believe that intimacy is an important part of a healthy and happy marriage. I want a wife who is open to experiencing life and exploring the world with me while adhering to Islamic values.
I am looking for someone who is kind, compassionate, and has a positive outlook on life. A woman who is supportive, understanding, and has strong Islamic values is also important to me. Ideally, she would be well-educated, well-mannered, and respectful towards others especially elders.
Some shared interest such as history, politics, travel, food, fitness, animals (horses)
If you are a Muslim woman who shares these values and is looking for a husband, please reach out to me. Let's get to know each other and see if we can build a life together that is fulfilling, happy, and pleasing to Allah (SWT).

The house has been at the end of Thompson Road as long as anyone could remember yet there’s no one still alive who remembers anyone ever living in it. It was a remnant of an era, when the Victorian style architecture was still prevalent, yet it had been left in disrepair. Windows boarded over, paint fallen off, shingles missing here and there. Most people in the town declared there was something not quite right with the old building. Some rumors stated that of the few people who tried to move in left promptly afterwards seeking other residence.
I remember when I was a young boy there was an older gentleman who would care to the grounds, cutting the grass and making small mending’s to the surrounding fence. He was a kindly old man who wore a corduroy jacket and a flat cap. He almost had the appearance of a man from a different time and place. Most children avoided walking by Thompson road on their way home from school, yet the old house had a curious draw to me back then and I often liked to stare at it in the dying light of the autumn days. It was in these days I became acquainted with the old caretaker who told me his name happened to be, Mr. Thompson, just like the road.
Most of the town children had seen Mr. Thompson tending to the old house and naturally as is the past time of children, created stories and rumors about him. Many said he lived in the house waiting to trap any poor soul foolish to wander on the property by locking them in the cellar. Others said he was an escaped prisoner using the old place as a hideaway from the police. I didn’t believe the rumors going around about him for a second but the house drew my curiosity nonetheless.
My acquaintance with Mr. Thompson began with my troublesome self, committing the act of trespassing. My act of mischief had been inspired by one of the playground stories I had heard earlier that day from one of my classmates. He said that he had skulked about the property peering into cracks along the boarded-up windows. He told me and several other kids how it looked as if someone was still living there, and the peculiar fact that no pictures hung in the place save for one wall in the living room. Given I had taken an interest to the old place, I naturally decided that day to see for myself.
I climbed the fence that afternoon in October and had skulked ever so closely to the first window I saw. As I peered inside, I was shocked to notice that the interior looked very much like someone had been in fact living there. Furniture and décor, the Victorian style still so present, was set like the previous residents had just left and would return any minute. I decided that the room I was peering in to be the living room due to the fact when I looked across to the far edge, I found the wall mentioned on the playground. It was filled top to bottom with what appeared to be every picture in the house, the wall behind barely visible due to the number of picture frames. From where I was standing, I could not make out what was in any of the pictures.
It was at this time I was discovered upon by Mr. Thompson. No doubt he took me for some trouble making youth looking for a place to plant graffiti. Yet when I answered his initial question to what I was doing there, he began to soften realizing I was merely a curious wanderer exploring what appeared to be the forbidden. This begun my friendship with the old gentleman who I could tell was not a criminal or madman seeking to lock people in his cellar. He let me go and promised not to tell anyone I was trespassing on private property, if I promised him to continue to visit and talk to him as he worked. We struck a deal and I made it a purpose to continue my visiting’s to the old house after school to talk with Mr. Thompson.
I never saw anyone else spend much time around the place other than him and asked him if he lived in or in fact owned the old Victorian house, which I never saw him enter or come out of. He told me no and laughed dryly. His family he said had always taken care of the old place as long as he could remember. He told me stories of people trying to enter seeking something they could not find and of seeing strange things within the house though, things he would not or could not describe to me. He told me on one night of the year weird things would happen within the old building, things not natural was how he put it. I tried to pry out of him what exactly he meant. “I have to show you,” he said, “It cannot be described.” He told me in exactly one week he would find me and show me exactly what possessed the old house.
Exactly one week to the day was November 1^st. I was shocked that a day where the unexplained could happen would be a day after Halloween. Nevertheless, Mr. Thompson found my house, how I am still unsure and awoke me with a soft knock on my window.
“Hurry! We’ll be late!” he said in a hushed tone.
“For what?” was my reply.
“The answer to your question,” was all he answered as I dressed quickly.
We walked along the dark streets of the town from one light post to the next, which dimly illuminated the street. We came to Thompson Road and turned down it. It was dark, no street lamps traveled down the lonely lane. As we approached the old house it cast a dark shadow upon us in the low moonlight. Mr. Thompson easily glided past the rusted iron gate and up the rickety steps like a wraith. I followed him as fast as my short legs could follow him in the darkness.
From his coat pocket he removed a small ring with two rusted keys. One of these he inserted into the door lock, I could hear the old tumblers moving and click as he twisted the lock open. As I followed him into the entryway, I was met by a strong musty smell due to many years of no ventilation. We walked further into the house, I was surprised that Mr. Thompson hadn’t brought a flashlight with us though he moved through the hallways and rooms as if he knew his way from pure memory. I took keen notice as we walked that there remained no pictures or even fade marks of pictures once hanging on any of the walls.
We walked down a long hallway, the floorboards creaking beneath us. As we came closer to the door at the end, I perceived that a soft glow was emanating from around the doorframe. Mr. Thompson stopped at this point and spoke his first words to me since we entered the house. “What we are about to see might cause you to startle, the important thing is that you just observe and disturb nothing.”
I took his warning to heart and made a promise that no matter what I saw I would be as quiet as a church mouse. He reached out his hand and quietly opened the door. What lay behind I would never have imagined. It was the living room, or a parlor as it would have been referred to over a century ago. The one I no doubt had seen from my peering through the windowpanes. Within to my surprise however were people. I saw what appeared to be a party of twenty people or more dressed as if in a masquerade party straight out of Victorian England. I almost opened my mouth to speak had it not been for Mr. Thompson’s calloused hand stifling my mouth from uttering a peep. I stared at the scene in front of me and noticed that the people here didn’t seem right for some reason they all had a blank look in their eyes like they were sleep walking or drugged. They walked about not making a noise, several couples were dancing a silent waltz with no expression on their faces. In everything they did they took no notice of us. My attention was immediately caught by the wall of pictures on the opposite side of the room. I made my way quietly over to it being careful to not disturb anything in my path.
As I approached the wall, I anticipated seeing pictures of everyone who had either lived in the house and possibly relations to the past residents. What I did not expect to see in fact was empty pictures. Most of the pictures were of either empty rooms or nature. I scanned the wall more closely and to my horror found pictures with people in them, what I was not expecting to see was the people in these pictures to turn and look at me.
It took all my control to not cry out or faint at what I saw. I rubbed my eyes thinking they still had sleep in them, when I reopened them the people in the pictures were still moving and looking at me. They were not dressed in Victorian garb. Many wore the dress of more recent decades. The looks in their faces were as they were haunted with fear; it was as if they were trapped in the picture frames, the frames their prison cells.
I didn’t notice Mr. Thompson walk up behind me. I saw him begin to stare at a particular picture. There was a young lady in it, when she saw him, she began to peer at him intently pressing her hands against the glass as if trying to get out, looking at him longingly. It was in this brief moment that he forgot his own rule and touched the picture frame pressing his hand against her tiny one. The moment he did so everyone in the parlor stopped in his or her tracks looking at him, looking at us it felt. I had never felt my blood go cold as it did that night or ever since. How long they stared at us I do not know, only that eventually they began to slowly walk their way toward us.
“Run,” was all he could whisper to me as we tried to escape. We ran to the other end of the room yet the people in the room managed to pass through the furniture like ghosts to get to us. They left me alone, as I had made no disturbance yet they grabbed Mr. Thompson and dragged him to the wall. With his loose hand he dug in his pocket and threw me his rusty keys. “Look in the shed.” Was all he could get out as the now ghost like beings dragged him toward his end. The first ones to reach the wall turned almost into a vapor and dissipated before reforming into a frame unmoving, looking as if they belonged. I turned and ran down the hallway as I began to see Mr. Thompson to dissipate at the hands of his captors. What remained of his scream I heard as I fled the house running for what I believed to be my life.
The following day I awoke in my bed, the memory of the night before feeling like a nightmare. But was it true? I had to know. I ate a quick breakfast and walked down Thompson Road towards the house. When I reached it, it was quiet. The wind stirred blowing leaves all over the lawn, but Mr. Thompson was nowhere in sight. I stuck my hands in my pockets discovering the rusty key from my memory. Realizing I had not dreamed it entirely I made my way to the shed As I vaguely remembered his final words telling me to look before I fled. Inside the shed were tools and garden supplies typical of a gardener’s shed. On top of one of the barrels was a small leather book. Engraved on the cover was J.T., No doubt his initials. This was no doubt what he asked me to find.
I dared not enter the house again and instead grabbed a prybar and small flashlight from the shed. Ripping off the boards from the parlor window I managed to open the window a bit and stuck my flashlight in and look around. Everything looked the same, as if nothing had happened the night before with the exception of when my flashlight hit the wall of pictures, I saw Mr. Thompson looking back at me hauntingly. I ran back home and threw the book and keys in my dresser. To this day I still haven’t looked at them. I’m not sure I do.

I'm 29 years old and recently moved cities due to job opportunities. I moved from living independently to living with my cousins in the new city I'm in and paying almost close to no rent. I make 100k a year and saved up alot of money already. Now the thing that's bothering me is if I should purchase a property to live in and be on my own again or purchase my dream car which is affordable for me. Cars is my passion and I enjoy building them. They keep me happy in life but on the other hand buying a house first is the "right way" to go about life and make mortage payments after mortgage payments. I am also happy living with my cousins because I am not alone and bonding with them is great. I wanted to ask reddit what I should do at this point in time. I realize that buying a house is the right option but I don't think I will be happy with it right now. So any advice reddit?

I just realized I’ve been working for people who wants to build their dream and using my expertise to solve their problem and scale.
I thought of why not help myself?
I am creating a tech start up since I’ve explored tools online mostly in SAAS business.
Lot of tools that can be helpful. I’m building a live and automated chat system comprises of 3 service plan.
$199 / $250 / $900
I am a software developer by heart, pmp by profession. I found a local market gap that I wanted to fill.
My CbR outrun my cost of operation. Should I continue my plan? Or focus on my agency?
All are in paper.
I have founded an outsourcing agency which has become stagnant for now.

I had this dream after waking up in the morning and just wanting to sleep some more today, therefore I forgot my night's dream, but I remember this one.
The dream started around the middle of its plot, I was walking with family and friends, it was very focused on making plans and stuff. I almost got hit by a large vehicle (I think it was a truck, but it could be a bus) because the light was green. The crosswalk where this happened exists in real life in my city, but later we went through streets and alleys that didn't.
It was during the evening and I had to go study for some exam, but I offered to go to my brother's eyes' condition check with the doctor for him. My aunt and my family went separate ways, and my friends had already left.
After walking through an alley I entered, through a door, a corridor, which had the style of a modern, 20th century hospital/school, white with benches, air conditioners, and some railing. I walked down through some stairs, and I had a wall in front of me, with a horizontal grid of translucent, square windows, which showed some blurry people and furniture. Under said wall there was a corridor which was very dark. Now, this is where the "uncomfortable" part happened.
The ceiling in that corridor was very low (due to the previously explained wall), so I felt pretty claustrophobic. I had to crawl through it until I saw the line for the doctor's office, and everyone was short. I asked them if I could jump to the beginning of the line, because I was much taller than them and I was feeling uncomfortable with the height. Luckily, they let me in.
I entered the office and the ceiling was slightly taller. There were some papers about my brother, pretty much incomprehensible, but they had some black circles. The doctor had a computer and a table, the office had a dim light (it's kinda hard to explain it exactly how I saw it, since dreams are often hard to describe visually, but you get the idea).
And the dream ended not much longer after that. The last part was really bad like I said, at least I didn't argue with anyone, because arguing in such difficult places would be horrible.
I already dreamt of this place in the past, but I came from a different place, instead of reaching this building from an alley in the street.