Liqour stores open near me

I have been processing my abuse in therapy for nearly a year and a half and my biggest stumbling block is still shame and blaming myself for what happened to me. My therapist thinks it’s a way for me to maintain an illusion of control - if I am bad/dirty/disgusting and it’s my fault, that is far more acceptable than believing that all of these horrible things happened to me and the world is completely chaotic. This feels like an accurate assessment, and we discussed a kind of script to tell myself when those thoughts pop up, but I feel like I need more. What helps or helped you get over the self-blame? EMDR? Meditation? Psilocybin? Something else? I’m open to literally anything.

Hello,
Tl;dr: I cannot change the situation right now, but I am incredibly stressed because of travelling and don't know how to deal with it. I am so so overwhelmed.
I (29f) have been dating my partner (37m) for close to 10 months now and we "only" live an hour of flight from each other (two different countries though). When I travel over, it will take be an average of 6h though from when I leave my house until I open the door to his home.
Since I live with my parents and have more disposable income (lower rent) and we are planning to stay in his country together indefinitely. I do most of the travelling. He offers constantly, but it makes more sense for me. He is very supportive and makes sure to pick me up from the airport and have everything as his place that I do not have to bring much luggage. I travel about every other weekend. Luckily, so far this year, travelling for work has been rather low.
I am insanely stressed. My work is very demanding and I have already used up all the days I am allowed to work from his country, so I will only be able to stay shorter period. He will start travelling to my place ever 3rd or 4th time we see each other to even it out more. But we'll be staying at my parents basement, so I don't want to do that more often. Getting my own apartment does not make sense because I wanna move over asap.
Both of us will have to do more travelling for work in our respective countries. I am very much crying at the perspective of the stress.
I wanted to already move over to another position at my company in the beginning of the year that would have allowed me to work from his country, but that position was cancelled and it doesn't look like a similar position will open up any time soon.
I am applying for other jobs, but I do not have a work permit in that country and therefore get rejected a lot, even though I have 5+ years of experience and a Master's degree. I do not know when I will be able to find a position. We are thinking about having me move over without a job and him supporting .e till we decide to get married, but I need to wait until at least September to save money for the move.
I don't know how to handle the stress of travelling, of not seeing each other so much, of the big work load and responsibilities at my job... My routines are constantly interrupted and there is an hour of time difference (I know very minimal, but it makes me go crazy). Every time I am in my home country, I feel like I need to make an effort to see everyone (especially grand parents) because when I move, I won't have the opportunity. It just feels extremely overwhelming.
Maybe someone has some kind words...

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Wanted to give my take on how to make WZ2/future WZ games as balanced as possible. I don't think any studio or developer can make the perfect game because everyone likes different things. However, I do think it's easier to make it fairly balanced and allow different playstyles to find enjoyment when online. This is what I would do, feel free to disagree. I don't this game is beyond saving, some 'fixes' seem like they can be implemented this weekend if they really wanted to.
​
Guns
Every gun category should have at least 2 'meta' weapons, one for 'casuals' and the other for 'sweats'. It should give people variety, the meta is about 10 guns deep and doesn't force people to use the same guns. Also, every weapon should be viable. It may not be THE best but you can get kills and compete. Perhaps some have more recoil than others, some down quicker, others are demons but very small mag size. Also, if anything is OP then fix it within a week. An overpowering meta that lasts a month is not acceptable, even if people are buying the blueprint. Maybe for the first few weeks sure, give people time to level up that gun but 6 months into it, when everyone has most guns to a decent level, let's refine things quicker.
EG
ARs
One should have very little to no recoil but downs in say 12 shots if you get upper body & head.
The other has more recoil but can down in say 7-9 shots.
So like the Amax and Kilo, if that makes sense.
​
SMGs
Same as ARs essentially, perhaps have one that is easier to hip fire and one that you need to ADS.
​
Shotguns
If you head into a close encounter with a shotgun they should win the majority of the time. I would balance them by having the 2 bullet ones have an increased time between shots. So you need to hit both shots, one to crack plates and the other to get the down. If you miss one shot you are punished. Shotguns with more bullets in the barrel essentially need all 8 bullets to hit to get a down. The time between shots could be shorter but the point remains, miss one shot and you don't get the finish.
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Snipers
I'm not a fan of snipers but respect that they have a place in BR. Snipers should be able to down with one headshot but there has to be a penalty, so bullet drop, flinch, limited mag size etc.
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LMGs
Hard to balance due to the weight and mag size. A laser LMG would have everyone using it so I would suggest giving them a slow ADS and a long reload time on top of it taking at least half the clip to get a down. Also players move slower. If people want to mount then not much you can do about it.
​
Pistols
Similar to shotguns, miss 1 of your 6 shots and you can't get a down or something along those lines.
​
TTK/base health
A sensitive subject. With increased recoil etc then the TTK should increase but by changing the base health to say 250 or 300 should make gun fights last longer to allow people to react, be it get to cover or challenge back.
​
Map
I thought everyone agreed Al Mazrah looked the best, Verdansk played the best (nostalgia) and Caldera was awful but Iron said recently that Caldera was the best - just had awful POIs. I don't think you can create the perfect map but it should cater to the majority of people with a few things. All buildings should have multiple entry points, be it zip lines, doors, windows, ladders. The areas/distance between POIs should have cover so no one is an easy target but not so much cover that you can't punish people for making bad rotations. Add trees, bushes, boxes, cars, small huts. I would also add dynamic weather and as the game progresses, it gets darker so that the game starts during the day and finishes evening/night or vice versa. It will be important to not have the lighting and weather impact visibility but other games can add rain to their game and still see perfectly so COD should be able to. Centre of the map should be flat, peaks etc should be more on the outside but if the centre is going to be the highest point, the surrounding areas should have high points as well. Add balloons or a train to allow people to get from one side of the map to the other quicker.
​
Vehicles
Not an issue until it gets to late game. If there's 10 circles, there should be an EMP at say circle 6 which disables all vehicles and 'forces' people to actually fight and make better rotations. Alternatively, have their health decrease as the circles close so if they are in the final circle it takes 2 bullets or something to destroy.
​
Buy stations
Add more. Double them. Spread them out. It should stop people camping them. Personally, I like the limited UAVs etc at buy stations but what could be a happy medium is limit them to one per team or one per player per buy. So if you are in quads, all four can leave a buy station with one uav, one redeploy etc. It's dumb that you can be in a quad, one person buys a redeploy and that's it for the squad. Alternatively, have a separate buy for guns. The menu takes too long to switch from one to the other. I'm used to it now but can be streamlined.
​
Movement
If they increased the base speed the game would feel faster. If they allowed people to slide/dive while shooting it would allow people to 'make plays'. Don't see many people clamouring for the return of slide cancelling but again, there's a happy medium somewhere. Also increase the ease when hopping over walls, climbing through windows etc.
​
Gas mask
There's enough buttons on a controller and PC that the gas mask animation should be something which a player does when they want. So if you are in the gas, a button puts on the gas mask. If you don't press it, it doesn't come. It could be a feature which you can turn off so for newer players, they don't have to worry about it but the downside is that it can get in the way of shooting. If that is too harsh, my thinking is that it creates a 'skill gap' so better players can choose whether to take gas damage while in a gun fight or put on the mask while in cover.
​
Bomb drone/killstreaks
Was never an issue for me and I do think if balanced has a place in BR. If fully plated, full health, leaves you with say 1 or 50 health. Should take a few bullets to down. As for mortars/precision, I like where they are atm and not sure how they can be further balanced or made better.
​
AI
Again, I think there can be a place for them in BR during the early game and come the middle of the game they are all killed by something. Or take them out, I have no real issue with them as they can be avoided. Perhaps give them outlandish skins so it is easier to tell them apart from real players.
​
Loadouts
If they went back to the free loadout system in WZ1 then sure. I don't think you can ever stop people camping them because if you see a free loadout drop from the sky, people will always want to wait for unsuspected players to rock up and then kill them. Fine with current system, also got used to WZ1 ways.
​
Playlist/LTMs
Solo, duos, trios and quads for both BR and Resurgance. Not that hard.
Once a month, from Friday to Monday there should be something. Anything. Completion should give players 'good' blueprints, character skins and tokens. Have it so that for playing a certain amount of hours you get something. For those good enough to rack up wins, kills etc then the rewards should be better and give people something to aim for. This is also where you can add buyback solos etc, iron trials, 3rd person and other stuff. But there should ALWAYS be the solo, duo etc in rotation. Could also add old maps here, so maybe every few months an older map comes into rotation to mix things up.
​
There's so much more I could have added, stuff like battle pass, store but I feel what I have so far should be enough to create an enjoyable balanced game. But I also understand that everyone else could disagree as it's my opinion. Just wanted to create a starting off point for a discussion.

Just spent some time having a think about the multitudes of different crypto currencies I have owned in my brief time (late '21) and why I held each for as long as I did.
I held some because of belief in the tech, some for the hope of financial gain (okay I did hope for gain from all of them I guess ha) and some purely for utility.
The first utility case I liked was cheap/nearly free movement of money across country boundaries. I still use the same currency (XLM) when moving funds, even though there might be easier alternatives now. But being able to move sums with ease and for free was a huge win.
I've always thought of Bitcoin as just sort of "the one to buy if you crypto" because of the longevity and store of value. Never been quite sure of it as an inflation hedge given its dramatic ups and downs, but it always performs over long time periods.
Eth and smart contracts are a whole new world to me and much of the usecase mostly apply to serving other crypto needs, I think. L2s have added a whole new depth to that and zk even more again. So there is a lot of cool stuff happening. Anyways, I've rambled enough.
Tldr: I like fast money ha.
What use cases have strong appeal for you guys?
Ps: sorry if this isn't a super original question, but I'd love to know what people are exploring.

We finally leave ultra league behind, and mountain cup with it. I know many have mixed feelings on limited metas, bit mountain, in my book, was firmly a good one. Tons of off meta got time to shine, the typical beasts of GBL were cast into the pits of hell (try to run gfisk or Regi with all those mudbois, I dares ya), and the meta had variety. There were, of course, dominating forces, but even those had checks. I won't be unhappy to see mountain cup again, certainly.
But on to the new! To the exciting! To...yawn the next great cup! Open Master and open Little!
Yay.
Master doesn't need much hashing, I think. Bit of a known, as it were. The same threats are everywhere. I am seeing a lot more Groudon, as people take their new XL farming chances for a spin. And every melmetal I encountered was double iron bash. Might have to get me one, maybe.
I'm running the BBML line because thats what I ground for when I could - Mewtwo, Zacian, Dialga. OML is my weak league so success is improving as I learn. I'll never get over the rocket tag nature of Master. Nothing can really take more then a charge move, especially if they have fast pressure, so it's a constant game of chicken. Stressful, but man the games are quick.
One look at PVPoke for little was all I needed to sit it out. I don't think I need to say why. I do want to point out the hilarity of little being touted as an 'accessible' league, when most of the best mons are either full level 50 investments or require high investment to sit under 500. For pokemon that can serve literally no other function, it's...something.
So, what's working and what isn't?

Dr. Shizumura struck me as a no nonsense sort of woman, walking with a long and confident stride, I had to make many hasty steps, in fact it would be fair to say that I practically scurried to keep up with her. She looked straight ahead and if it weren’t for the fact that she was talking to me I’d have thought I was forgotten completely.
“You’re on the planet of Manami, and the city of Johatsu, situated in the country of Kaminaru. We’re ruled by the Tomaru royal family, and situated on the southeastern coast of the continent. Your slate, which we’re going to get you, is how you’ll do all of your transactions, track your progress, skills, identify yourself, and so on.”
“This is a lot to take in.” I interrupted her ‘lecture’ and she finally at least looked in my direction.
“You’re in another world. That’s to be expected, isn’t it?” She looked me up and down again as if she were questioning an appraisal of her own. It was a polite way of asking, ‘are you stupid?’
I also got the feeling that the only reason she was being this polite was because she owed me a life debt.
“Maybe so, but it’s still a lot. One minute I’m going back to my home, now I don’t even have one.” I insisted, and she sighed, pushing up the glasses against her face again.
“Right. Right. Maybe it is. Okay, so then, the good news is, we have a way to help you with that.” She said, and I cocked my head.
“Yes. I’ll show you how to use your slate, and load a program on here that will help you understand how this world works. Just ignore the part about being the special chosen hero.” She said, and I frowned.
“Right, because I’m not. I’m just the guy… girl who saved your collective tails.” I answered. It was hard not to be a little bit snippy. But I also made a mental note to get used to being a girl now.
That seemed to have an effect on her. “A poor choice of words on my part.” She replied, and was at least chastened enough to fall mute for just a little while.
When she spoke again we’d gone down two flights of stairs in a lone sterile hall, already the differences between my world and this one were becoming apparent in little things. Back home, offices had silly motivational posters hanging in even intervals on the walls. Here, the doors had the space between them broken up only by more wall. No posters, not even any potted plants.
It was all very sterile. So drab was it that I was glad when she started talking again. And when she spoke, she started as if she’d never stopped. “Since we don’t have a spot for you, you’ll sort of have to make your own way, but we may be able to give you some token jobs to help you get by until the machine is fixed. Then, if you like we can try to send you back home. Although-” She stopped in her tracks right outside of a thick metal door and I stopped one pace behind her.
“If you don’t mind my saying, you don’t seem to have a reason to go home, not much going on from what you said, so why not stay here? It’s not a bad world, mostly. You might like it more.” She suggested, and I mentally winced at her blunt assessment.
“I’d still like to have the choice.” I said, and she shrugged, her tail swishing a little.
“Have it your way. Come on in, this is the office where the occasional summoned ‘person’ can get registered for citizenship, get their slate, and file all their paperwork. You’re lucky, this didn’t exist until a few years ago, before that, new people would have to go all over the city, now we have a single office for everything in the same building. It’s more efficient this way.” Dr. Shizumura said and after she put her hand on a flat panel on the door, five long vertical lines formed in the door, and then the various divisions rose up into the ceiling like a portcullis.
The door opened to reveal a perfectly ordinary looking wooden desk that went from one wall to the next, each space divided by head high walls, and a dogman with graying fur sitting down in front of me. His desk was clean except for a large feather quill, an inkwell, some papers, and a set of flat stones a little larger than my hand with fingers spread open.
“A new hero? Do I need to up my insurance?” The dogman asked, he looked more than a little bit worried, if wide eyes were any indication. His graying fur and floppy long ears were actually kind of cute, in the way old dogs typically work, but he had very human arms and hands.
‘This is going to take some getting used to.’ I realized.
“No. No, nothing like that.” She clarified to him, and the dogman exhaled with relief.
‘This person is absurdly blunt.’ I thought, but went along with her.
“But this is a special exception, still a summon, so you can take care of them like you usually do.” She said and then stepped out of my way and said to me…
“You just give them the information they ask for, and I’ll brief you along the way.” She said, and the dogman took what appeared to be a chalk white piece of stone off of a stack beside his right hand and laid it out in front of me.
“Place your hand on this and answer the questions as I ask them.” He said, and when my hand was flat on the surface he asked for my information.
“Name? Purpose of summon? Special skills? Race? Sex? Age? Ambition?”
As he asked these questions, they began to appear in list form above my hand, the letters shaped in a dim purple light.
“Aiko Tsuniki. Janitor and tinker. Tinkering and creative builds. Kitsune. Female. Twenty-three.” Those were easy enough to answer, but I was stumped at the last one.
I cocked my head. “You have to pick ‘something’ otherwise it can’t provide any guidance or support.”
“I don’t know… launch a ship into space!” I plucked the idea out of the air, and they looked at me dumbfounded, both of them.
“That’s… dangerous. That’s absurd. You can’t do that…” The dogman shook his head.
“Oh, can I change it?” I asked, and Dr. Shizumura quickly agreed.
“Absolutely.”
“Um, to build awesome things!” I answered, and one by one the answers I gave appeared in place of the questions.
The letters then ‘retracted’ through my palm and embedded themselves on the slate, then faded away.
“Now go from your palm to your thumb.” The dogman instructed me, and I placed my thumb on the slate.
“Create Universal account.” He said and placed his thumb on the top center of the slate.
“All money is accounted for on that.” The Dr. said, pointing down at my slate. “Transfers between individuals and groups are instant, and done in the universal currency called ‘Creds’. If you do need to see someone for a ‘special use’ transaction, you can find something called a ‘Credxchange’ for a third party certification. But you’ll probably never need that.”
I realized that their ‘credxchange’ was a sort of a blend between a bank and an escrow service.
“Guild halls also offer this service, but only to members.” She was probably going to say more, but the familiar phrase had me yank my head up from where I was looking, directly to her.
“Like, adventurer’s guilds?!” I piped up and all my tails began to go wild behind me, creating quite a breeze, as the air came back and blew the feather quill out of the inkwell and scattered the papers behind him.
“Watch it!” The dogman shouted and bent down to pick up the quill and grumbling, snatched up the papers as they drifted toward the floor.
“Sorry!” I exclaimed and stopped the spontaneous wagging.
“Yes. Like an adventurer’s guild.” She said, “Guilds are how we handle almost everything. There are guilds for finance and construction, mining and metalworking, everything. If you want to work, you must join a guild at least as a novice entry. After that?” She shrugged, “They all have their own ranking systems.”
“I see.” I said, and for once, I did. This much made sense to me, it was a real relief to find that much.
“If that’s what you’d like to do-” she said and looked at the still grumbling dogman, who nodded at her.
“She’s done here.” He said, then looked at me, “If you lose that slate, there’s a considerable fine, and if you can’t pay it, you’ll have to spend a lot of time in public works teams to cover the fine.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But what if it breaks?” I asked.
He let out a barking laugh as he straightened up with the last of his papers in hand. “If you find something that can break it, we’ll replace it at no charge as long as it wasn’t done on purpose. You’d pretty much have to blow it up with a boomshell to risk destroying it.”
“A boomshell?” I asked.
“A special shell fired from the heavy magisteamechs.” She explained, and I had to think that one over.
“Mechsuits?!” I exclaimed and my tails started going nuts again. “You have mechsuits here?!” I shouted with glee, and a bunch of heads popped up over the dividers to see the commotion.
The papers and quills flew off the desk again. “Damn it! Get her out of here before she causes a tornado!” The dogman shouted and got back up from his seat to pick things up again.
Dr. Shizumura tapped the panel on the door and said, “Yes, we do.”
As soon as the door closed behind us she drew a slate out of her pocket and began to tap on it. “If you need to know where something is, just tap on it and ask. If they’re registered with the local government, you’ll find it. It can also direct you to ‘ambition points’ if your magic skill is high enough, but that is not something you can use every hour. You’ll only be able to use it once a day because ‘that’ will draw on the mana of your own body. If you need to pay somebody, input the total like this,” she turned the slate around so I could see it, then tapped a few numbers, “then touch your slate to the person’s own. The money comes out of your account, and goes into theirs.” She then touched her slate to mine, and both our screens briefly flashed white.
“There. That’s one hundred and fifty thousand creds.” She said, and I looked at the total on the screen.
“Is that a lot?” I asked and scratched my head. It sounded like a lot, but for all I knew, that was lunch.
“If you were to stay at a middle quality inn, you would spend roughly one thousand creds in roughly fifteen days. One meal would be perhaps ten creds if you ate something cheap and filling. To buy a small house, you would spend about a third of that if you lived in a lower class or country area. Does that help?” She asked. It did. Her explanation was pretty damn good, I had to admit that.
“It does, so this is enough for me to live for what, a few years without working?” I asked.
“If you’re careful.” She acknowledged as her tail swished behind her, I gathered she didn’t like the way I asked that.
“So, is that everything?” I asked.
“For now. My contact information was included in that as evidence of the transaction, and now I also have yours. You can message people through your slate as long as you are willing to spend a little of your mana to do it. Reach out to me if you need anything. If I can find some work for you, or my colleagues can, I will notify you. If you have specific questions, ask your slate, chances are it can answer. If it can’t, seek a government information office in any city, great or small.”
“Then, thank you.” I said, and she blinked in surprise when I said it.
“Slate. Show me the way to the Adventurer’s Guild.” I said, and a little map began to form.
“Really?” She asked.
“Yes. I may not be the chosen one, but I’ve already made my choice!” And with that, I walked away.

Hi, I’ve been in therapy for the last 2 months - I’ve been very open with my therapist, and she’s great - I’ve been discussing my childhood - in short: my dad is abusive but was mostly absent form my life (has a new family with an severe alcoholic), and my mom is a perfectionist, who wouldn’t allow or display emotions. They had a nasty 7-year old divorce, so of course they would both played me in it in most cruel ways. I know all that now… I’ve been no contact with my dad for 2 years and I’m not sure wether I want to change that - he does’t care but does reciprocate when I show interest. I have a proper relation with my mom - she still has her flaws, but does not interfere with my life at all, and has accepted the fact that I am independent. Plus I believe she was the best mother she could for all the circumstances. I do love her. And she lives with my grandmother whom I absolutely love and admire and who is still alive and well. I really don’t know what to do next. I’m unraveling different and difficult parts of myself, and it mostly makes me just sad. I let myself cry, hug my cat, and life goes on. Will I have to confront my mother? Should I ask my therapist to see her twice a week? I don’t know what’s next.

Mistress Jenn and Master Frank called it my weekly review and neither was happy with me.
A few of the meals I prepared were subpar according to Master who said the chicken was particularly dry despite him eating his portion and my much smaller portion, leaving me with nothing.
Mistress Jenn had been upset too by the poor job I did vacuuming the living room carpet following the party they had with friends to celebrate her birthday.
One of her presents had some sparkly materiel that got all over everything. I worked on cleaning the mess up for hours but still, it wasn’t good enough.
Master was also bothered that I accidentally left a dirty rag on the hood of his car after changing his oil.
“It’s the little things that get you in trouble, Slave.” Mistress reminded me.
For those transgressions, I would be forced to fast for 48 hours but not before receiving 25 strokes from the horrible bullwhip.
“You’re in luck slave.” Mistress said, “I’m in the mood to whip so you won’t have to worry about Master slicing you open for a change.”
I was relieved. Mistress was vicious too with the whip but Master could kill me if he wanted and a few times he nearly did.
Still, I felt like I was in hell.
One years earlier:
After I had my first ever orgasm with a woman, Jenn told me to go down on her.
“Taste us, Greg.”
I hesitated. It seemed unclean to do something like that but still lying on top of me, Jenn forced my head down.
“Lick me until I cum.” She moaned. “Deeper, deeper, get in there!”
I tried everything I could to provide for her. Licking and sucking while straining to go deeper. The more I tried, the more she cried out.
It took some 20 minutes to get Jenn off but when I finally did, she drenched my face with her juices. She was so happy.
“Let’s eat!” She shouted climbing off of me.
I started to dress but she told me to hold up for a second. She went to her closet and returned with a men’s bathrobe.
“Here, try this on.”
As I did, she put a robe on herself, covering her beautifully tanned and athletic body.
“Look at that, it fits you like a glove!” She said smiling.
I shouldn’t have asked because it wasn’t my business but I did anyway.
“Whose bathrobe am I wearing?”
Jenn’s smile suddenly disappeared.
“It was Justin’s, my ex.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok, I’ll tell you about him while we’re eating.”
Jenn had some chicken and rice ready to go. I was famished and started chewing it down quickly before making a mental note to slow down. Meanwhile, Jenn filled me in on Justin.
“We only dated for three months but I was in love with him. I thought things were going great until he just left and never returned. Totally ghosted me.”
Jenn wiped her eyes before continuing.
“He was so handsome, movie star looks. I guess he was too good for me.”
I could not believe such a beautiful woman might think she wasn’t good enough and I told her.
“This Justin must have rocks in his head. You’re amazing and so pretty and such a nice person.” I said.
“You’re sweet.” She said, taking my hand and kissing it.
She studied my face for a moment.
“I’m tired, let’s fuck one more time and go to bed.”
I could not believe what was happening. I was no longer a virgin, no longer starving and about to have sex again with the woman of my dreams.
I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

Back in those days I’d got a license to sell gunpowder. One day an old Irish farmer we called Jesse stumbled into my store and asked for a pound of gunpowder. I said - hey, wait a minute. Did I not sell you a pound just last week? He looked nervously around the store, then leaned over the counter and said: I will jist tell’ya how it was. It was this way, ya see. He leaned in a little closer. The wife and I went to bed, and we had not slept long before I hears a groan. Then I hears another. I ses Maggie, what’s going on? - Well get up, will ya, she ses, - Go see what’s the matter.
With that I get up, and find my way to the fireplace in the dark. I could see a few coals still glowing. I had no matches, so I reached for the gunpowder. I had a candle in one hand and the powder in the other. Then I sprinkled a little powder on the coals as I held the candle above. I was intendin’ to catch the flame with my candle as it went up the chimney. But by God of war, the whole of the powder caught light and went off like a great big gun, throwing me backwards into the cabin wall. Maggie screamed - What’ya done Jesse? Ses I, you’d better be getting’ up and bring a candle, I ses. She found me lying against the wall, the front of my shirt burned away and all my hair too.
That’s why I'll be needing’ another pound of powder, ya see? I gave old Jesse a new packet of gunpowder and that’s the last I ever saw of him.

Hello :) I’m just currently really bored and looking for any type of conversations/friendships.
A little about me: I’m 32 and live in Arizona. I work in a casino/hotel, on the hotel side. I like the NHL, MLB (Happy Opening Day!), and NFL. (All my teams suck) I like to read random things on the internet when I get bored. I like going to concerts, sporting events, and museums/aquariums. I tend to be sarcastic at times but can be serious when needed.
I look forward to speaking to y’all. I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Literally gave me a 8 second window. From me putting clothes on to running to the door. The driver was back into the truck driving away. Leaving my front gate open. Incredible.
Pickup notes did not mention package was outside or on porch. Specifically said to knock or ring.

Save for a singular text message, I haven’t spoken to her despite her sending lavish gifts (a very expensive watch and purse), pictures of me as a baby and child that were near ruined in a flood (shows how much she cared), and a letter from a passed family friend from 2004 with $5 and a phrase stating “how can xxxx be bored with such great parents?” (Wonder what she said about me to warrant that response). Of course, she tries to stir things up right before holidays, birthdays, and the like. I’m sure she’s bored because neither of her children entertain her games anymore.
I stopped talking to her because she told me not call her mom anymore. If she’s not my mother, then she’s just another old woman and I don’t see the need to have a relationship with her.
I’m trying to find a nice way to commemorate the day since I’m sure she’ll pull another stunt. Any ideas?

Looking to join a group, in person preferred but down to play online. No previous experience but I typically pick up games quick and I’m dedicated to learning. Having a hard time finding a group as my weekly schedule can be hard due to working nights. Would prefer the weekend if possible but can do weekdays in the evening if needed. Let me know if you have any questions or are open to beginners!

I'm a barber. It's a great gig. In fact, I've never been happier working any job... but it does have a few downsides. The biggest one is vacations and holidays. There are very few barbering jobs that offer paid vacation days, holidays or even sick days. Whenever you are not working, regardless of why, you're not getting paid, because, unless you own the shop, you're a contract employee.
A few years ago, I was working with an owner at his shop, which was in a small Texas town (even though he was the owner, I'll be referring to him as "partner" from here on out, because that's the way he made me feel, he was a great guy to work with). He and I had gone to barber school together and he's just an all around good guy and a good friend. But he's also a no-nonsense kind of a guy... we both like to have a good laugh, but he's not putting up with anything he doesn't feel like putting up with (nobody is going to push him around, customer or not).
It was a few days before Thanksgiving, and he was planning on closing the shop Wednesday night and then not reopening until the following Monday. I was personally very happy with this arrangement, as every shop I've ever worked at takes off for Thanksgiving day, but reopens for the Friday and Saturday immediately after. My partner likes his days off, however (especially holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas... they're meant to be family time, and he's a big believer in that premise). He totally would have allowed me to work those days if it was something I wanted to do, since he understood that not everybody is like he is and he would never want anyone working with him to lose out on money just because of something he wanted to do... but I was very glad he was closing down those days because I love those holidays too.
(super long set up... I know. So let's get to the actual story here):
It's Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving. My partner and I are both working on a customer, when in walks "Eye-Patch Guy" (you'll never guess why we called him that...) Eye Patch Guy had "a serious problem," he told us - as he leaned against the pool table in front of our chairs - that the barber in his area (a small town north of us) was going to be closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (same as us), and he absolutely had to have a haircut and a shave on Saturday. As it turns out, EPG's barber is also a good friend of ours and also went to the same barber school with us... which is why his barber sent him down to talk to us in order to check if maybe we could help him. We politely explain to EPG that we were also going to be closed those very same days and, unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to help him either. But Eye-Patch Guy simply wasn't havin' none of that. "Surely", he tells us... "surely one of you could come in and fix me up for the right price."
It's at this point that my partner pointed out to him that, besides being closed those days, both of us live 45 minutes from the shop. Coming in isn't exactly easy... well, I mean, it's not super hard but it's definitely a pain in the ass. He then goes on to ask him, "What's the big deal about Saturday? We're going to be open tomorrow, and a haircut and shave on Wednesday would probably look almost as fresh as one done on Saturday; so why does it have to be Saturday?"
EPG then tells us, "I love to go to the casinos in Shreveport" (Louisiana). "But... before I go, I always like to get a fresh haircut and a shave that same morning... it makes me feel extra fresh and relaxed for when I get there. It's a tradition thing... for a little bit of luck. Plus, it may only be a couple days difference but, when I go, I want to look as clean and bright as a new penny." (<< he actually said that shit).
My partner looks over at me to see if perhaps I might be interested in coming in, but I'm already shaking my head "no".
"I'm sorry," my partner tells him, "but we've both been looking forward to spending time with our respective families on those days, and we won't be able to help you."
"WELL YOU MUST NOT LIKE MONEY THEN!" Eye-Patch Guy angrily shouts at us.
"Everywhere else I go, barbers have done this for me. I get this kind of thing all the time."
Now... this is obviously not true since, as you may remember, his personal barber had already turned him down for this same request. But, out of courtesy, neither of us mention that to him (no sense making him angrier than he already is). Instead my partner switches off his clippers... now, I should mention (and this is something I learned after many months working with my partner)... whenever he switched those clippers off, while he was still in the middle of a cut... some serious shit was about to go down, meaning: he was about to say something pretty bad-ass... or hilarious... or both.
"You know what," he started. "you've talked me into it. For the right price, I'd be glad to get up during my holiday with my family, drive an hour and a half round-trip, just so I can give one single person a haircut and a shave; and I'll even go the extra mile to ensure that it's the best haircut and shave you've ever had."
"Now that's what I like to hear," Eye-patch guy said, brightening in anticipation, "How much we talkin'?"
"THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!" shouted my partner, in all sincerity.
Eye-Patch Guy just sat there, leaning up against our pool table in stunned silence. Both of us kept waiting to see what he would say (even the five or six other customers in the shop were eagerly waiting to hear his response). After about 60 arduous seconds in complete silence, EPG finally straightened up and -- without so much as a peep -- made for the door.
"BECAUSE I REALLY LIKE MONEY!" My partner shouted at him just as the door started to close behind him.
UPDATE: Eye Patch Guy came into our shop about a year and a half later (there was no way we couldn't recognize him - my partner and I shared a look as he sat down to wait his turn). After about a 30 minute wait, he was next, and I got him. Immediately, before he even sat down, he sheepishly began apologizing to both of us for his previous behavior. "Okay," I said, "so, why are you here?"
Turns out, his barber was off on vacation with his family, EPG needed a haircut and a shave and was here to get one at OUR convenience. All was forgiven, and he got his request.

Hello! I was wondering if you could recommend a store that sells jewelry for ears to make it look like I have gauges but I don’t. I apologize, English is not my first language, I hope it makes sense. I love weights and the beautiful intricate mandala looking earrings, but they’re always either only for gauges ears or too heavy for me

Me and My friend (both 29) are planing to visit Italy in mid April. It is our first time to travel this long period of time in a country. We wish to explore the nation fully, thus we were concerned we have scheduled our itinerary a bit tightly.
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Here are the itinerary we scheduled,
Day#01- direct flight from Taiwan to Rome.Day#02-Rome: (Arrive in Rome at 7:50 am) Piazza di Spagna, noon- Pantheon, Piazza Navona (Stay in Rome)
Day#03-Rome-: Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, noon- Musei del Vaticano, Castel Sant'Angelo, Colosseum (booked), Tiber River(night view) (Stay in Rome)
Day#04:Rome- Capuchin Crypt, Piazza Barberini, noon- Palatine Hill, The Roman Forum, (Rent a car in Rome) drive to Orvieto (Stay in Orvieto)
Day#05-Orvieto: Orvieto Underground, Pozzo di San Patrizio, noon- Civita (Bagnoregio) (Stay in San Quirico d'Orcia)
Day#06- Tuscany: Take some photos near San Quirico d'Orcia, Pienza (Stay in San Quirico d'Orcia)
Day#07-Florence: (Return the car in FLR airport, Florence), noon- Mercato Centrale Firenze, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza di Michelangelo (Stay in Florence)
Day#08: We booked a guided tour, which including Siena, Pisa and a local winery tour (Stay in Florence)
Day#09-Cinque Terre: Noon- Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Manarola) (Stay in Riomaggiore)
Day#10-Cinque Terre : Cinque Terre (Monterosso), walk to Vernazza, leave at 2 pm to Milan (Stay in Milan)
Day#11-Lake Come: Day trip to Lake Como. We skipped the Como city and chose to visit Lecco by train, and then leaving all the remaining time for Varenna and Bellagio. Return to Milan at 5pm to explore the downtown, Duomo di Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II ...etc. (Stay in Milan)
Day#12-Verona: Arrive in Verona at around 10:30 am, visit Arena di Verona, Castle Vecchio, noon- Juliet’s Balcony, Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza dei Signori, Castel San Pietro(night view) (Stay in Verona)
Day#13-Venice: Arrive in Venice at around 10:30 am, Murano, noon- Burano, head back to Piazza San Marco. Take a boat to Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore at around 6pm, staying there until it closes(7pm) (Stay in Venice)
Day#14-Venice: Got up early to capture the dawn view in Venice. St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace/Florian café, Teatro La Fenice, Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Chiesa di San Barnaba (Stay in Venice)
Day#15-Bologna: Arrive in Bologna at around 10:30 am, Le Due Torri, noon- Piazza Nettuno, Biblioteca Salaborsa, Basilica di San Petronio/Piazza Maggiore (Stay in Bologna)
Day#16-Bologna: We plan to visit some small museums in the city center, including Collezione delle Cere Anatomiche, Museo Civico Archeologico, Museo di Palazzo Poggi and Teatro Anatomico, depending the time we have left. Heading for Rome at 4 pm (Stay in Rome)
Day#17-Rome: Santa Maria della Vittoria, Altare della Patria, Museo Nazionale Romano. We head back to Rome so that we can catch our flight home the following morning.
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We skip a lot of museum and gallery in order to saved more time just to Roam in the city. By the way, my friend is a photography enthusiast, and we both enjoy natural landscapes, night view and nightscape.
Any advise and suggestion? Or any place you recommend us to take time to visit. Thanks!

I’m 46 now, I got back into cycling in the past year after about 8 years off. About 18 months ago I decided I needed to get back in shape. I began with weight lifting and dieting. The in January of last year I got a mountain bike and started riding that as well as my old road bike pretty regularly. I am down nearly 40lbs, still riding and lift and feeling great despite being constantly sore in an okay way. In December when it started to get could in my area I got an indoor trainer. I didn’t want to loose the speed and fitness I had built up. I did my first FTP test in January and got 168w. Just tested again this weekend and I’m up to 186w. Not impressive but feels like a good improvement. My question is as I age can I expect to improve much more? I train hard but I am also cognizant of resting as to avoid injury. For the most part I feel like I’m pretty average, I might pass a few younger guys on the trail every once in a while but some time get passed by someone older than me like I’m standing still. I try to remind myself for me it’s not a competition but it’s difficult not to over analyze my Strava after every ride.

Ok so I regularly play against my dad and I'm looking for ideas to punish a move he does every game we play.
Say I'm white and I bring out my knight to F3 he will always, and I mean always play his bishop to G4 to sac his bishop for my knight. Always. he hates me using knights, like absolutely abhors it and will do anything to take. I don't particularly care about the knight to be frank and I've even suggested to him that he loses development doing this every game but I'd really like to show him that there's better moves he should be doing. I'm not saying it's a bad move either btw, it's just every game.
My latest game as white, I opened with the Kings Indian as I'm practicing this opening, so I move Knight to F3, He moved Pawn to D6, I continued with Pawn to G3 and out came the bishop to G4. So what's the best counter for me here? I just let him take the knight and recaptured with my bishop but is there something better I could have done? I'm assuming by having more developed pieces I'm better off but is that it or is there a better line I could be focusing on?