TL;DR: Citadel doesn't just have a major outsized influence in the US stock market via its market making firm/hedge fund, but also a major indirect influence via Headlands (biggest municipal bond trading firm made of 3 ex-Citadel employees), and direct influence on sovereign debt (can decide when sovereign credit default swaps pay out) with its seat on the CDDC (Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee).
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Hi y’all. Been some while since have been able to post regularly here, so I’m returning alongside my recent post on FHLB with a bit of a “DD". Partial rush job, so all errors are mine and mine alone (obviously)
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0. Sphere of Influence

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Over the past 84 years (/s), you lovely apes at Superstonk have been able to fish out many of the finer points of corruption crystallized into pure, unadulterated financial terrorism and financial terrorist-level crime undertaken by Steve Cohen (Point 72), Jeff Yass (Susquehanna), Doug Cifu & Vincent Viola (Virtu), as well as Wolverine Trading, Jane Street, TwoSigma, and more. But, of course, much of it has centered on our Mayo-artist-in-residence and his firm, that of none other but Ken Griffin and Citadel.
One of the biggest finds that has come to light has been the complete and utter bullshit of having (1) a hedge fund and (2) owning a market making firm that most DEFINITELY does not use that non-public information to its benefit? I mean, it would be easy for us to check except that we need 5 swipes to even access that level of inner sanctum at Citadel, which–per DLauer’s words–is more than the fucking Pentagon.
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But despite Ken Griffin’s reach into every aspect of the most influential stock market in the world, that is not his ONLY level of influence. For we, dear apes, can step back and revisit this idea that Citadel’s power duo (its market making firm and hedge fund) is more like a single part of a Big 3.

1. Meet the Big 3

Citadel’s sphere of influence includes not JUST (1) the stock market business, but directly or indirectly, the (2) U.S. municipal and bond markets, plus (3) the sovereign debt/sovereign debt credit default swap markets.
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Yes, you heard that right. Citadel not only has some sufficient level of influence to tank your favorite stock–and, in turn–retirement fund, but can also effectively drive your city into the fucking ground, or even your country.
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I’ve written about each of these at length, and wanted to revisit some pieces in the wake of our recent dick twitchings of the coming financial crash.
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2. Meet the Municipal Bond Market

Citadel has an indirect grip tickling the taint of the municipal bond market, believe it or not. I first wrote about the municipal bond market here (“Headlands: How ex-Mayo mercenaries copy pasted Citadel’s model in the muni bond market”): https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/sy6ubj/headlands_how_exmayo_mercenaries_copy_pasted/. For those unfamiliar with municipal bonds, I’ll reiterate what they are and why many push them as a safe investment:
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“Municipal bonds (or "munis" for short) help towns/cities raise money for projects like building schools, parks, and fixing highways. Many retail investors--admittedly, on the wealthier side--invest in munis for tax incentives like not paying federal tax on bond returns. In certain cases, certain muni buys also mean no state taxes are paid…Just like what had happened to stocks, the old-school market for buying and selling muni bonds is going electronic. This is mainly done through an ATS, or "alternative trading system" known also as a dark pool. This speeds up the process of buying and selling munis, making it closer to a "house auction".

In the wake of the SVB (Silicon Valley Bank), there have already been rumblings of its effect on the municipal bond market (Bloomberg “Bank Woes Create Bond Bargain in Obscure Corner of Muni Market”):
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“Investor concerns over the crises within the financial industry are bleeding into a corner of the $4 trillion municipal-bond market where major investment banks guarantee energy for public utilities….
Spreads have widened on so-called prepaid gas bonds, which government agencies use to purchase long-term supplies of natural gas. Large institutional banks act as facilitators of the transactions, guaranteeing the supply and providing investors tax-exempt exposure to bank credit….

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3. San Jose, Revisited

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That part about “large institutional banks” acting as facilitators of the transactions is what we saw in part in this post by [redacted].
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A commenter spoke about this, and how it wasn’t Wells Fargo in doo doo but the city of San Jose.
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“I believe in theses cases it’s not Wells Fargo that has a problem but the city of San José.

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„Because presentments are currently processed automatically at DTC, IPAs have the option to refuse to pay (“RTP”) for maturing MMI Obligations to protect against the possibility that an IPA may not be able to fund settlement because it has not received funds from the relevant issuer. „ -> Wells Fargo didn’t receive the money from San José city.
Wells Fargo acts as an issuing agent for the city - the city transfers assets to the trustee and the trustee securitizes the assets and offers the money market securities to investors. The assets generate money (for example a sports arena that was build) and that money goes through the city of San José to the trustee who is managed by Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo has no liability or influence on the money that comes from the city and is distributed to the investors. If the money doesn’t come or isn’t sufficient, the assets are sold or liquidated and used to pay investors.
Anyway: Wells Fargo acts on behalf of the city and is not responsible they just handle securitization but don’t have any influence on payments or failure/default.”

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In this case, we might be seeing one of the first of MANY issues of cities up shit’s creek over this.
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4. The Municipal Bond Market Time Bomb

The size of the municipal market is A SHIT TON BIGGER than the corporate bond market, which will already show even more signs of being turbo fucked due to borrowing at low interest rates for years. Here’s the size of the municipal bond market for scale, sans banana:
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Unfortunately, just like retirement funds, many muni investors are “buy and hold”: they buy a muni expecting a safe, long-term return with no federal income tax and then, welp, shit hits the fan. The market is heavily illiquid too, meaning if shit needs to move, then you might be fucked. Only about 1% of municipal securities trade any given day, in auctions that often take HOURS:
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“Now, the primary method of trading on this doesn't look like the New York Stock Exchange or like Nasdaq. It looks like an auction. It takes about 4 hours. An auction is initiated. Participants who come in can bid on this, and it is a competitive auction that yields a very good price.”

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Now to my understanding you can’t short these bonds, but the long time frame means its hard to sell these illiquid assets. Not only that, THERE IS NO NATIONAL NBBO (National Best Bid Offer)...you’re flying blind while this shit happens.
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Now if you’re wondering what magnanimous souls are helping municipal bonds be sold or fixed in a timely manner for cities like San Jose, well have I got news for you.
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5. Meet Headlands, U.S. Municipal/Bond Market Making Firm…Run by 3 Ex-Citadel Employees

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Two months after the sneeze (March 2021), TD Ameritrade bought municipal bond market maker Headlands. Yes, that’s right…an electronic market maker just like Citadel, this time for bonds for cities and towns vs. stocks. Now let’s check the fine fellows that run this:
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• Jason Lehman: Citadel Investment Group, began/ran their global options market making, dipped his dick in Japanese convertible bonds, and managed “Private Investments”
• Neil Fitzpatrick: Citadel Execution Services COO (Citadel Investment affiliate), ran equities/options. Ex-Knight Capital Group, did Citadel’s OTC and equity shit. Direct Edge board of directors.
• Matthew Andresen, co-CEO Citadel Derivatives (Citadel Investment affiliate). Previously served on board of directors/committees in the past from International Securities Exchange, Direct Edge, CFTC, Lava Trading (Citi’s electronic trading unit that made LavaFlow)

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Of note, Matthew Andresen founded Island, one of the 1st dark pools EVER and 2nd only to “Instinet” (who also got an even bigger wave of funds during the sneeze, info courtesy of Ringing Bells) and was featured heavily in the Scott Patterson book “Dark Pools”.
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Ol Matty told us that Headlands is completely automated, and where some muni traders make 75-100 muni bond sales a day (sometimes over the phone), Headlands currently bids on 10,000+ bond auctions a day with its algo. Matty Boi even said if that number ever 10x’d “we wouldn’t notice.” Even more sus, Headlands has been growing its own “holdings” of muni bonds on its books.
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6. In Bros We Trust

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So remember, this branch of 3 ex-Citadel bros is front and center to the issues already rearing their head. In my previous post, these were just SOME of the already teetering municipal bond issues:
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• Some might have history befall them again: last time the market crashed, Michael Burry’s California went spiraling down to BBB rated for many municipal bonds. California is a special muni case where it generally does well when times are good; much of their revenue is tied to personal income taxes. But when shit goes tits up, it goes tits up.
• Major projects have tons of debt piling up due to the [March 2020 crash] New Jersey built a giant ass mall–I kid you not--called “The American Dream” over 10+ years that has no sales receipts to cover it in part due to the dropoff in retail buying. As of 2 weeks ago, the mall only had like less than $1000 in the bank to pay off muni debt (“Developer Triple Five Group also sold US$800 million of muni-debt backed by payments they agreed to make to bondholders instead of paying property taxes”)...
• NYC’s MTA has been getting reamed by both ends. One of the biggest shitstains on its books is that it took out a shit ton of municipal debt and opted to sell $3 billion in bonds to the Fed’s muni lending program to stay afloat

And this issues extends way beyond the U.S.' 50 states...it even affects our territories too.
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7. Hurricane

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What began this rabbit hole was the one and only welp 0 0 7, who caught wind of some fuckery in the municipal bond market:
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In the post, he mentioned how "American Thinker" 's Joseph Lawler mentioned the SEC has been giving fucking STIFF Heismans nonstop (or per [redacted] the ol' Dustin Martin "don't argues" for you Aussie apes!) on FOIA requests (Freedom of Information Act) related to the municipal bond default in Puerto Rico, the BIGGEST bond default in America's history EVER.
It went all the way the way up to a federal court in California where the SEC said "we don't know what you're talking about" when others found they have fucking 2800 pages of documents on it and nearly 270,000(!) emails referencing it referencing a billion dollar Ponzi scheme on the level of fucking Bernie Madoff.
Big banks (Citi, Wells Fargo, BoFa) had their scheme collapse in 2016, potentially bribed senators to kill investigations into it by the DOJ and now the SEC is caught in yet ANOTHER 2 lawsuits saying they fucking aided and abetted this shit.

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You see, because this level of municipal bond includes fuckery includes not just cities and towns, but U.S. TERRITORIES. In my post about Hurricane Maria’s effect on Puerto Rico, I talked about how UBS and others loaded up Puerto Rico with debt because of what’s called a “Treasury Put” guarantee that was even called “an exit strategy” for banks (“They describe the "treasury put" as "...the implicit guarantee -- as perceived by investors -- from a government agency to provide support in the event of financial distress by the issuer of Puerto Rican bonds."”).
Puerto Rico’s default was the largest in US history, EVER. And all this the same while guess who was holding the bag? Let’s see what W S O P tells us:
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“The reality is that a large percentage of Puerto Rico’s debt is held in tax-free municipal bonds and municipal bond mutual funds, owned not by Wall Street banks or tycoons, but by mom and pop investors seeking tax-free income.”
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So once again, whether its retirement funds or municipal bonds, its retail caught holding the bag. And this hasn't changed for years. We’ve seen similar fuckery with bonds for NYC in the 70s, and more recently in the 00s for Detroit.
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One astute wrinkle by the name of [redacted] posted this on that original post trying to dig into how it could all be related:
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…how the MMLF fund that expanded money/credit to towns/cities started including commercial paper…but also leveraged near the 15 to 1 ratio perhaps under the Net Capital Requirement limit:
[redacted said]: "$500B at 14:1 Leverage? If I'm making the right connection between the flavor of asset, that's just under the 15x Net Capital Requirement limit. Is this all the Fed had/could afford? Or is this all they needed at the time?

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8. Don't Bet Against America...Says the Banks and Hedge Funds That Already Did

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Commercial Paper? Municipals related? Now where does that sound familiar? Ah, yes…the city of San Jose got its call-out by Wells Fargo over COMMERCIAL PAPER. This comes as the push for ppl into municipal bond markets continues, trying to sell it as a “safe haven” to retail investors. Vanguard just recently launched its first ETF–surprise, its first US-listed ETF in 2 years– for municipal bonds (selling point: “hey everyone it’s tax-exempt! Give us money plz!”) for example:
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Many of us can see all of it for what it is. Bullshit. In the wake of the SVB collapse, there is stil a strong push that these regional banks–many of which lend to municipalities–will be fine. This “safe haven” theory continues, even as articles try to have them appeal abroad (such as a few days ago, “ ESG Factors of Munis May Attract Non-US Investors” “https://www.marketsmedia.com/esg-factors-of-munis-may-attract-non-us-investors/”)
Even further, one last find is that . I mean it’s not like credit default swaps can be taken on cities and towns in theory right?
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FWIW also I found an interesting research paper talking about hedge funds buying up credit default swaps, and how they could potentially bankrupt towns/municipalities through some of these moves if they wanted: https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/8264/MingJieWangCreditDefaultS.pdf?sequence=2
Another potential concern is that even in a market that is generally liquid, the market for individual single-name [Credit default swap]s may be quite small, which could allow a single bad actor (a hedge fund, for example) to force a municipality into default

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This is all while we have 3 ex-Citadel heads in charge of just how the municipal bond market moves, like that of San Jose.
So is this where Citadel’s reach stops? Clearly, no. It doesn’t stop at the US border, just like how Mayo Force One doesn’t.

10. ELI5: What’s a Soverign Credit Default Swap?

That’s right, mofos. You read that sub-header right. In case you’re wondering, not only can you take out credit default swaps on a failing Swiss bank like CS, but you can do so ON ENTIRE FUCKING COUNTRIES.
In one of my old posts “Sovereign Debts & Ransom Notes: Pt. 1 The Importance of Being Non-Linearly Destabilized through Sovereign Credit Default Swaps”
(“https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/t35rdi/sovereign_debts_ransom_notes_pt_1_the_importance/”), I talked a little more about the insanity of these things even existing.
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Sovereign credit default swaps exist. Long story short: sovereign credit default swaps are insurance policies that if a country defaults (usually on its debt)then you get paid! Like many other shit that we’ve seen in the GME saga, they are a form of financial derivative (a bet that something goes up, a bet that something goes down) on an underlying (the thing you’re betting on)....They can be used to insure government debt for a country in case that country is unable to pay its debt, for example. However, just like other instruments, naked sovereign credit default swaps also exist.

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Naked sovereign credit default swaps are used to bet that a country or a country's debt will fail without you owning that country's debt. In part, they were destabilising during the Euro-crisis immediately after the 2008 financial crash. Greece was one of the countries that got naked shorted in 2008. In fact, the country got shorted so bad they were worried about fucking SHORT SQUEEZES on Greek debt and the sovereign CDSs! In 2012, the EU put a ban on naked sovereign credit default swaps. However, workarounds include the fact that a country can effectively change its mind on it within 24 hours and all the regulatory agency can do is offer an opinion.

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There were a tons of perhaps “we will see soon” if relevant additional points in that old research, including:
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–The VIX affects sovereign credit default swaps A LOT
–The Big Bang Protocol: ISDA helped formulate a set of rules that decides when a country “defaults”
–You can “short” a sovereign bond if you find a locate (sound familiar?: “Short sales of shares and short sales of sovereign debt will be permitted only where the seller has “located” the share or debt instrument prior to entering into the agreement and has a “reasonable expectation” of being able to borrow the shares.”)
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Crazy shit. So you might say, now this post is meant to be about Citadel’s sphere of influence you might say? “Where does Citadel fit into all this? ”

11. Meet the CDDC (Credit Derivatives Determination Committee)...Where Citadel Sit and Helps Decide Which Countries Default on their Debt

One of the biggest GFC 2008 scenarios of sovereign credit default swaps being misused was against Greece. Afterwards, one of its biggest cases of misuse was by Elliot Management (ran by Paul Singer) who was using their position on the Credit Derivatives Determination Committee, or CDDC, to help decide when their sovereign credit default swaps against Argentina would pay out.
Wait, Eliot Management doesn’t sound big enough. Who else is on this committee? 📷
Oh wait, so Citadel is ALSO on this committee? Alongside our favorite fucksticks like Chase, Goldman, Deutsche, and BNP?
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It’s not lost on me with seeing now that Credit Suisse has been sucked up into UBS, maybe its position on the CDDC has been absorbed further by UBS. Back then, I wrote about the fact is we know next to nothing about the sovereign credit default swaps that might be opened up against countries (be it Russia, Sri Lanka, or otherwise):
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Here's one such example of a swap dealer: Swiss financial terrorist aficionados UBS AG, who registered to be a swaps dealer with the US at the end of 2012. (UBS had also been a member of the CDDC through the Greek crisis in early 2012, alongside Citadel. In Mar. 2012, they were also one of the members pressing to ask whether Greece had defaulted already.)
UBS AG registered as a swap dealer in the US at the end of 2012 enabling the continuation of swaps business with US persons. Regulations issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) impose substantial new requirements on registered swap dealers for clearing, trade execution, transaction reporting, recordkeeping, risk management and business conduct.
If UBS AG decides to make a market on sovereign credit default swaps like Russia, then we might also have no idea who is on the other side of the trade. This also goes for many of the other swap dealers who (surprise surprise) also sit on the CDDC board and can determine just when these sovereign credit default swaps pay out.

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Not only that, but the CDDC even can say when CORPORATE BONDS even shit the bed: late last year, they were the ones who were deciding to let everyone know whether Sunac (an Evergrande-relate company) went tits up.

12. We Say When

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For months, there has been talk of a looming debt crisis (alongside all the other ones) in the sovereign debt world.
And shit continues to hit the proverbial fan. Apart from Russia, Sri Lanka and others, emerging markets like Ghana and Zambia are beginning to feel the hits from their sovereign debt (oftentimes, trying to restructure it with creditors like China).
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Even further, now that Credit Suisse has gone under. We may have another thing to worry about: what banks and prime brokers are housing these opaque sovereign debt structures, loans, and swaps? Even worse, what happens when they go under? Roll that less than beautiful bean footage:
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https://www.livemint.com/news/world/before-collapse-credit-suisse-quietly-conquered-an-obscure-debt-market-11679395660932.html
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“Before collapse, Credit Suisse quietly conquered an obscure debt market
Before its rescue by Swiss rival UBS, Credit Suisse had quietly become a major player in an obscure market that purports to help developing countries ease their debt burdens in exchange for protecting nature. Known as debt-for-nature swaps, the complex financial instruments help governments restructure their debt to raise money that can be used to fund conservation efforts.
Credit Suisse was the sole structurer and arranger of the world’s largest debt-for-nature swap, a $364 million deal that it orchestrated in 2021 along with The Nature Conservancy, a charity, for Belize. Last year, it sealed another $150 million deal for Barbados. Credit Suisse has in recent years helped revive interest in the instruments and for the first time opened them up to institutional capital. The bank raised money for Belize and Barbados from pension funds including Sweden’s Alecta and Nuveen LLC, a unit of the US’s TIAA, by issuing so-called blue bonds tied to the deals.
he convoluted setup has drawn criticism from sovereign debt experts for its high cost and lack of transparency. And the opaque terms of the Belize and Barbados deals — the first of their kind — mean outside analysts will struggle to assess precisely what comes next.

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A lot of poorer, especially emerging market countries were already in dire straits. Now as opaque deals meant to help these countries might not come to light (are these some of the Level 3 assets that UBS was talking about?), we can ask ourselves wtf will happen when the same banks looking to save their own ass while holding these sovereign, are the same fuckers that sit on the same board that can decide when they are worthless (while I’m sure being positioned net short).
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All in all, these banks and holders of sovereign debt credit default swaps, who decide when a country goes boom, are sitting arm in arm alongside Citadel, who themselves potentially hover their greasy mayo-covered finger over the button that decides just when and how the US stock market will eventually implode.
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13. Everything Everywhere All at Once

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To recap, we then have Citadel with (1) the biggest market maker and arguably one of the most influential hedge fund able to decide which stocks rise and which fall as the US stock market teeters on the brink of collapse…
…with having (2) three of its ex-employees in charge of (not even counting other Citadel employees working there) operating at Headlands ready to help position themselves when the municipal bond market gets nuked, whether as a continued result of regional bank failure or in spite of it…
…while (3) sitting on the board that determines when ENTIRE COUNTRIES FAIL, in such a way that their hedge fund and associated pals can be ready to short and profit off failing nations that they and their fuckstick friends help cause.
Did I miss anything? Because remember, Citadel is not just Citadel, the market-maker that we all love to hate; Citadel’s sphere of influence via the Big 3 means the grip that it holds over the US and world economy is even greater than we think…and as such, far far more dangerous.

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https://www.buzzsprout.com/371360/8844528
Transcript: https://www.johannadraconis.com/episode-81-100

Intro [0:00]

Hello my dears! My name is Johanna, and I welcome you to the Johanna Draconis - The Deconstruction Of C-PTSD podcast.
In this episode we do things a little bit different. With this being the 100th episode, I thought it would be a good time to redo the introduction, as quite a bit has changed since then.
We will go chronically from my earliest years to the most recent perspective. I will summarize a lot to keep the size manageable and try to avoid being graphic or anything the like. This should help not to overwhelm people.
I have more information in episode 1 and there will be more on the website or in doubt just ask me. That being said - lets get started.
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Early years [0:47]

We start… with me being a baby. Even that early the abuse started, not that I have any memories of that, but there are family videos with strong indication of what is happening off screen, but not off sound. The body remembers and it causes a unique trauma.
I suffered through every version of trauma at least once, except being penetrated - before I even entered primary school around age 6. This also includes the torture. I also lived in constant fear of dying through the whole time. Non stop. 24/7.
I had a main abuser, no not my parents, but also a wide array of lesser abusers in my family. I was able to identify some now on the narcissism spectrum - which is rather hard given the subject matter.
So one can say I have an extensive knowledge about trauma - to put it mildly. Despite being the perfect little girl they told me to be, so the bad things wouldn’t happen. And did I try to be that good girl. But it was set out to fail from the start.
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It gets worse [2:12]

And it only gotten worse from there - as in starting around age 6. Besides the daily beating - the other behaviors became more and more escalating. All while the daily beating just got worse and will end up causing nerve damage in my arms.
Which was a trade in for my brain, that I desperately tried to protect and succeeded to do so. But as bad as the beating were, they were on a schedule. The surprise attacks during the day were worse and more dangerous.
While in the evening it was just to let out all the anger - during the day he exploded and had no limits how far things could go. This was when he went the farthest and was the most unhinged. Where he liked to experiment. Where my suffering was the focus.
Around age 12 it started getting more towards psychological torment. Despite that, one of the consequences was that my body started to deteriorate slowly, but steadily. Something I still feel the consequences of to this day… and likely will stronger in the future.
At age 16+ it came to a showdown which ended with the whole ordeal ending… the physical side mostly at least. But my mental state nonetheless kept getting worse - slowly, but inevitably.
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Breakout and the time after [3:48]

Until it completely broke out during my psychology study. It is truly never a good sign to see your symptoms on the screen during class… I remember just thinking “Fuck me”. I also knew I had to move fast and get help ASAP.
Despite my attempts to get help as soon as possible - no one accepted me. I was an old case. Hopeless. The chances of treatment were low and no spots available or none at least for an old case.
I ended shortly in a spot with an unfinished psychology student, but had to give that up, when my state worsened and I had to move back with my mother. There I got no help. Which meant I was doomed to die.
It gotten worse and worse. I was in a state of intense pain, it felt like my body was torn apart, but slowly and without me dying. I slept… when I could… in short patches. Hours of sleep became more and more a rarity.
Even if I slept I had horrific nightmares and kept waking up. I couldn’t eat. When I was able to eat I just stuffed my face to not starve. I couldn’t focus - I could barely do anything at all. This was PTSD in end stage for me. Agony - without any chance of distraction.
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The End of the line [5:24]

Which lead inevitably to the end of the line for me. My body told me, that I was a few months at best away from dying. Whatever I was doing needed to change. That was the point, where I decided I couldn’t make things worse - as if I am an optimist.
But there was literally no other choice besides lying down to die and that was never my way. So - not an option. I had no hope of healing, I just tried to apply my knowledge to reduce my suffering and make my remaining time less painful.
I was actually shocked how easy and successful I was - despite it taking weeks to do so. I had no help, the support of my surrounding could be boiled down to “Are you healed yet?”, despite knowing C-PTSD was incurable. At least to our knowledge back then.
Suffering less and getting more time sounded like a pretty good deal to me, so I tried again. And kept going and going and going… until after years I had bitten enough down and had conquered my first C-PTSD. I was healed, but not cured.
Which meant now I had the choice, do I return back to normal life or continue what I started? And… after that absolute agonizing experience I decided I want to NEVER EVER deal with this nightmare again.
So I went underground to deal with it once and for all. In the end with great success. Better than anything I had dared to dream for.
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Survivors guilt and this podcast [7:17]

Now that I was fully cured I tried to get to the club meeting of C-PTSD cured people, and as I had taken so long with all those wrong paths I had chosen and with no help - I lost track of many of my fellow sufferer on the way. I thought I was dead last.
The club house was empty. And it dawned on me what happened to those I lost track along the way. I knew the state of others. That was the moment I developed survivor’s guilt and got my PTSD symptoms back. Which slowly started to escalate again.
I will stick to my comparison of a burning building. You get out, completely blinded still by the smoke that made seeing inside almost impossible. Only to discover you are the only one who made it out of the building - while you can still hear the screams.
Or sometimes only the body that is left from their attempt. What do you do in such a situation? Going back in isn’t going to do any good. So you try to shout instructions. Which is how the idea of this podcast was born.
The plan was to give the instructions on how I left the building and help so others to leave the building.
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Changing the theme and therapy [8:48]

While preparing and doing the podcast I began to cure myself from more and more C-PTSD s and PTSD s, that I had to change my position on either you have it or you don’t - and started making a list. I also kept learning about PTSD and everything around it.
During the podcast I realized, that I hadn’t gotten any help not only because I was an autist and it was harder, but also because how horribly bad the situation was for everyone. How lacking resources and information and available treatment was.
Which made me change my podcast to cover more and me starting to offer therapy. But then - once again - tragedy hit at the second half of last year and I was confronted with a horrendous situation that would last for months and cause a cluster trauma.
This lead me to cancel and stall my plans. But the worst was that at the end of the last year - I had to deal with 3 cluster traumas at the same time. That was a lot - even for me. While my success wasn’t in question - that did block and slow down me quite a bit.
Which lead to a noticeable chaos and change in podcast - which I am sorry for, but it was outside of my control. The aftermath of it sadly still causes for stumbling in my everyday now and then. Nothing serious, but enough to cause trouble occasionally.

The silver lining [10:46]

I want to end this episode on a silver lining after all this rather dark content. I gained intense and deep knowledge of trauma and how it is structured and works. This knowledge I believe can be used to help so many people who have little hope right now.
My trouble with putting that knowledge into words that people understand is sadly the biggest slowdown and something I can’t just change, because the reason is my autism. Which also makes it possible for me to visualize PTSD.
And this helped me to be able to say, that I can cure a base C-PTSD within a few months. It of course depends on how strong the patient is going and if life doesn’t sabotage. Which it realistically does most of the time. That is just how it is.
This is what makes me hopeful - that my experiences will help eradicate or at least constrain this illness as much as possible. And rid humanity of this bane as much as possible.
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Outro [11:56]

That was it for todays episode, I hope you found it insightful. Hope you are safe and well. And as always, if you have any questions or feedback and the like, please let me know at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
More information and transcript you can find as usually under johannadraconis.com/Podcast, information regarding therapy you can find under johannadraconis.com/therapy/ and links are in the description.
I hope to see you next time. Watch yourselves and have a wonderful time.

Summary: Defending the city doesn’t come without its cons. Constantly exhausted, new injuries on the weekly and having to lie to your partner. Turn out you aren’t the only one who has been keeping secrets. Your partner is your arch enemy’s side kick! Who will they choose? You or your enemy? Will you be able to still love them after all they’ve done?
Note: This script is completely ok to monetize as long as you credit me as Teri audio and link back to the original script.
Also please send me the link. I’d love to check it out!
You may edit details but you may not change the overall storyline. If you’re unsure feel free to DM me.
If you would like to request a script from me just DM me and I’ll see if I can make that happen!
SCRIPT LINK HERE
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PART 5
PART 4
PART 3
PART 2
PART 1

I am learning programming and I am currently on Chapter 6 of Automate The Boring Stuff and pyperclip isn't working. When I try to run this code:

#! python3 # mclip.py - A multi-clipboard program. TEXT = {'agree': """Yes, I agree. That sounds fine to me.""", 'busy': """Sorry, can we do this later this week or next week?""", 'upsell': """Would you consider making this a monthly donation?"""} import sys, pyperclip if len(sys.argv) < 2: print('Usage: py mclip.py [keyphrase] - copy phrase text') sys.exit() keyphrase = sys.argv[1] # first command line arg is the keyphrase if keyphrase in TEXT: pyperclip.copy(TEXT[keyphrase]) print('Text for ' + keyphrase + ' copied to clipboard.') else: print('There is no text for ' + keyphrase) 

It returns with this error

PS C:\Users\Brian\Downloads\VSCode\Python> python3 "c:\Users\Brian\Downloads\VSCode\Python\Automate\Manipulating_Strings\tempCodeRunnerFile.py" Traceback (most recent call last): File "c:\Users\Brian\Downloads\VSCode\Python\Automate\Manipulating_Strings\tempCodeRunnerFile.py", line 8, in  import sys, pyperclip ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyperclip' 

​
I have downloaded pyperclip using "python -m pip install pyperclip" and if I try to do it again it says this. i am assuming I already have this installed.

Requirement already satisfied: pyperclip in c:\users\brian\appdata\local\programs\python\python36-32\lib\site-packages (1.8.2) 

This is a quite frustrating and I've already spent an hour trying to solve this issue but I just can't. This is my first post on this sub so I don't know if I am breaking any rules or if I am formating this question correctly, hopefully I'm am not breaking any rules.

Feel free to rag on me if it sounds like I'm being a whiny bitch. We work in a trade, we dont have feelings BUT with that being said:
I'm on my 6th week as a first year apprentice, haven't yet started school. Commercial/industrial work is new to me. I'm not a complete green hand, I've had 6 years of experience building RV electrical work. (Romex, 12v, connecting devices, breaker boxes, lighting, switches, simple devices etc.)
2nd week into my apprenticeship I can bend offsets, 3 point saddles, 90s, I can figure out rolling offsets. I can run 3/4, 1", 1 1/14". Basically my boss gives me a diagram and asks me to do it. And I have been doing it. No complaints from me.
Recently I've noticed that he gives the 3rd years simple work like gathering materials, taking out trash etc and they obviously get paid more than I do. Good for them they deserve it, they theoretically know more.
My boss has often given me other apprentices as my ground men and has me take lead point when running conduit, pulling wire etc.
I got paid starting wage, which I understand I'm just starting a real trade apprenticeship, my questions is should I try and negotiate a raise or shut up and keep on keeping on?

I remained the RA of my dorm for the rest of my undergrad career. Then, after I graduated, there were some problems lining up a job. Apparently Stewart Newman's father was a biochemist, and little Stewart was destined to fend off extradimensional invaders (and yes, I know there is one reader who is now furiously typing up a letter explaining that the Chchshiuuni are NOT from another dimension, but I've read the Wikipedia article three times and I don't understand the distinction. You're reading my memoir, not my scientific explanation of extranormal invaders). His father, Victor Newman, was killed when the laboratory he worked at was hit by a meteorite, which, according to the investigative report, passed through 6 cylinders of various compressed gasses, ricocheted off a 7th, broke through a water line, shattered 9 containers of various other chemicals, then cracked the isolation unit on some kind of algae they were breeding for research on biofuels. This happened at 4:41 AM. Apparently this created something of a perfect storm as the chemicals reacted with the water and a very specific molecule produced by the algae acted as a catalyst which worked together to form pentanitroethyltoluenic acid, which is, according to the laws of chemistry, a chemical which desperately does not want to exist. For those not versed in chemistry, this stuff makes TNT look like HBO. That was supposed to say "H2O" but the I actually like it better this way. Anyway, the molecule was being synthesized in the laboratory for over four hours, until Victor arrived at a little before 9:00. His foot crossed the threshold and the laboratory detonated.
Prior to this event the company that ran the lab had just spent a bundle on a new security system with off site recording. This was the only evidence that could be used to put together the events, as according to the official report it "was as if God pressed the delete key".
So now that that story is floating around on Google there weren't a lot of labs that wanted to hire me. So I said fuck it. My ride is being paid for, let's go for a master's degree. Not like I had anything better to do. So I stayed in my dorm, working on my masters, and continued to be the RA.
A lot of the other RAs had horror stories about their dorms. About the nightmares they put up with. For me, for the most part, it was a breeze. If you want to become an RA and have an easy time with it, I have a few simple steps to insure you have it good.
Step 1: inherit the position from someone who's widely respected (thank you Helga)
Step 2: that person who is highly respected should make it known that you're carrying on their torch. (Thank you Helga)
Step 3: have really great women in your dorm. (Thank you Mr Pols)
Step 4: do your very best to fill the size 19 clogs that have been left for you to fill (wait, are clogs German? Oh who cares, I just said the Chchshiuuni were from another dimension)
That's not to say it was easy. I just didn't get the horror stories that others got. I never had to deal with Shane the Showerless or the Roach Incident. What I did have, however, were a lot of young women to look out for. And a lot of young women who came to me with their problems.
By the 2nd week I'd learned everyone's names, knew their majors, had a general idea about their schedules, home lives, and study habits. I knew who was a hard worker, who could keep a secret, who could hotwire a car, who could safely and reliably distill liquor and extract THC (It was me for those last 2 things. Hooray for biochemistry!) Not that I admit to having done any of those things, at least until the statute of limitations has passed. I also knew who needed help in their classes, who was too naive to go to a party alone, and who I could send them with to be sure they had a good time and made it home safe and sound.
In my third week as RA I called Helga because I missed her (I LOVE YOU HELGA) and we talked for like four hours and I gave her the rundown on everyone there and my assessments of such. Helga is many things, but a braggart is not one of them. It came as a surprise when Helga gloated for a full ten minutes about how she was right in her assessment of me. And yes, I guess it was pretty clever of me to "throw together five Amy's and a Rachel for frat party safety patrol." Rachel and Amy 3 were eye candy to serve as a diversion, Amy 2 and Amy 5 were recon to search for overly intoxicated girls, and Amy 1 and Amy 4 could either extract said girls like a SEAL team or steal booze like a… uh… SEAL team, as the situation dictated. By the end of the year they all had radios they used to stay in communication. I don't know where they got them, but they said they didn't buy them and were really evasive when asked about their origins.
Having taken over for Helga, I also grew something of a reputation. I kept her open door policy, any time, any problem, come talk to Shannon. You didn't need to be in my dorm. You didn't even need to be a woman. Hell, you didn't even need to be a student at our school. If you had a problem, I was available.
No one has problems at 2:00 on a sleepy afternoon when you've got a lot of energy and not enough to do. So this policy did make things a fair bit harder for me. Don't get me wrong, I've never regretted my policy, but problems did happen at almost comically inconvenient times.
For example, when I was having a really, really bad period and throwing up every six seconds, Amy (which Amy? I'll never tell. Just kidding, it was Amy 4) came to me because she'd just found out her childhood dog had died. What did I do? Chug half a bottle of pepto and force down half a pint of butter pecan. I kept it down, too, until she was back in her room asleep.
Little innocent Hannah got invited to a party the day of her last midterm, and really wanted to go. I had 4 mid terms left, and AMY team 6 was out or commission studying along with all my other go tos. So I went with her.
I don't think I'll ever forget that night. Hannah, sweet little innocent Hannah. Gorgeous, doe eyed Hannah. Naive, sheltered, quiet Hannah. Hannah is stunningly beautiful, and anyone who has met Hannah will know she has a very sharp wit and a way with words. What I didn't know is that she had a tongue sharp enough to kill a man at five paces. Hannah got rip roaring drunk (she did five shots in the 30 seconds it took me to pee) and then proceeded to massacre the entire fraternity.
Gary Fogelbaum was a senior, and a total dude bro. He was alright in a crisis and I do appreciate what he did when Pepper broke her leg, but at this point his respect for women left a bit to be desired. He could talk shit with the best of them, and he could take it better than he could dish it out. Five words. Five fucking words, and she left Gary Fogelbaum crying. He earned it. To be clear, she hadn't met Gary before. He sauntered up to her and hit on her, right in front of me. After her second no, he grabbed her hand and put it on his stomach and said "how can you say no to those abs."
Before I could knock his teeth out, Hannah, kind, caring, compassionate, saintly, Hannah disemboweled him. Right there in front of everybody. "Abs won't make daddy proud."
After that it was like something out of a Tarantino movie as I tried to steer her towards the door. Guys got in her way to try to avenge Gary and were verbally slaughtered without mercy. Heads were rolling, viscera was flying, blood was gushing. Nearly to the front door, someone grabbed her wrist.
Hannah spun with a gaze that could vaporize lead and her eyes landed on a short, skinny guy with glasses, who said "you almost forgot your purse" before handing it to her. She snatched her purse, shoved him against a wall and kissed him so hard I think his soul briefly left his body. And then we left. He's engaged to Hannah now, and I've got to say I'm a little jealous.

So if anyone is interested, an update:
Sunday I contacted Boost Mobile and told them I was on the way to the store to start the protest. I was then presented (for the first time after more than 25 hours of customer service chat) with a simple temporary solution - buy a new boost mobile sim card and activate it on my current locked phone with a new number until Boost gets their internal issues resolved so they can unlock the phone -
Simple, right- well, just coming up with the $6 to buy the SIM card at Target took until mid-day yesterday. Once I inserted it, you can guess the outcome- I can't activate it on my current plan- a plan that I once again paid for a week ago just to get them to release my port out pin, a plan that they have since added a credit to for Next months bill. They can't add it to that account or activate this sim card. To activate this sim card, I would have to pay for a whole new plan.
This is insanity, I get that- I haven't responded angrily to the people here attacking me- most everyone is ignorant to the reality of being homeless, and I can't get angry at them for that nor do I hope they will ever have the personal experience to understand -
I am trying here. I am a healthcare worker. I finally got an interview at WakeMed for a position I hope I get - trying to follow up with that is a big part of why I'm so desperate to have active phone service. I had to walk for two days to make that interview as my dog can't walk very far. I had to tie my dog out with a note while I did the interview - the first and last time (I hope) I have ever done that
I get it, my life, practically, would be so much easier without my dog, but she is all I have to live for. To people saying I am putting her in a horrible situation and dont care for her, I angrily object. I recently spent the last of my money on food for her rather than eat myself. 15 years ago I was homeless for 5 years. I tried repeatedly to get out of it, and it only 'stuck' when I got my puppy Arya 10 years ago. For 10 years I provided her with a home. Four years ago I got a job as a Patient Transporter which led to the rent to own situation on the trailer which turned out to be a scam. It is so easy to go back to homelessness once you've been in it, and I would have multiple times over the last ten years if not for her. Now I've been forced back into it.
So I can't give her up. I know I'm close to having to and it kills me everyday- she saved my life, she is my life. She never leaves my side. When I worked at the hospital I arranged a split shift schedule (10-2 and 4-10, 4 days a week) just so I could go home and walk her every day. I keep her warm and safe even when I can't do that for myself. She turns 10 next month.
I had an acquaintance that was letting me use his basement for her while I worked at a theater recently. My dad became deathly ill, I had to step away from that job and when I returned the acquaintance revoked the basement. There is no dog care or any solution that allows me to manage a theater and have a random schedule that bounces between opening and closing at 2am. I know for some people reading this they are screaming in their head to just get rid of the dog- I can't and won't unless I become incapable of caring for her.
The hospital position will be a set schedule that I can get dog care for her and will afford me the ability to get a place to live.
To everyone saying I should cut my losses and move on - in a normal world I would. Right up until I lost my home, I had a Pixel and Google Fi service. That phone was broken when I was hit by a car shortly after leaving the hospital - I was doing Uber eats on a scooter. I had to go to Boost Mobile as I was approved for an ACP plan.
Boost sent emails saying they had accepted the plan but they never sent me a phone and have charged me every month for 8 months for it. I had tried for months to get my ACP ported over to qlink and now that I have and thought I was finally out of Boosts clutches this whole thing started again.
I know, believe me, about the internal issues- these issues predate that by months- still, I was as patient as possible through the hack issues and would have never tried the port out if I hadn't been told last week that my phone was unlocked and finally given the port out pin- well, not given it, they made me pay them for another month of service before they would give it to me. I am not expecting them to ever resolve the hack issues at this point- this is not the issue. The issue is they told me my phone was unlocked.
And now, I've spent even more money - I know $6 is nothing to most, but I have nothing - only to realize once again I'd been offered another solution just to get me out of chat.
And to those telling me about wifi and such, believe me, I know- I had a tablet that I loaned to another homeless person when his phone broke and then he disappeared. I currently can only do any of this in wifi, but that presents one of the unknown issues of being homeless with a dog - to be on wifi I need to be in a public place and every hour I'm sitting outside Panera or Starbucks is another hour where someone may act on misplaced concern about a homeless dudes dog. As of now, when I leave this place and walk 40 minutes back to my tent, I will then spend the night staring at the ceiling, wondering if I'm not hearing about an emergency with my father and just going over the Cruelty that is the Boost Mobile situation over and over again until I finally fall asleep in the early morning
And I know a Hunger Strike is crazy. I know this is insane- I do have mental health issues- depression and serious difficulty sometimes with social interaction, and lately every day has been a bad mental health day- I took that into consideration when putting off the Strike.
I did get the meeting with the Housing guy moved to tomorrow, so my plan now is to return to the Store Thursday for the strike. To the people saying I shouldn't be protesting at a store that can't do anything - I completely agree! Constantly phone and chat customer service at Boost will push this idea that you can just go to a Boost Mobile store and they can help. This is a lie and they know it. I point this out. I point out that it will be a four mile walk to that store. I point out that the nice but frustrated gentleman that owns that store only has the option of calling Boost support - he just sells phones. Yesterday still, I was told multiple times to go to a store for this new issue with the SIM card.
I am desperate. I have no options. I can't protest Boost Mobile by 'sitting' online. The Boost store is the only physical location where I can stage a protest. And I know a protest makes little sense since no one will care. My only thought is that an attack on the PR front is particularly undesirable to them currently since they are trying so desperately to keep the DISH hack under wraps
I never once panhandled in all the time I was homeless years ago- I'm capable of work and hate the idea of strangers helping me when I can correct things myself, so I can't beg now. But, if there is anyone in the Raleigh area (or someone willing to ship one to my mom's or friends address) that could loan or give me an no longer needed, unlocked phone, I could activate my qlink service and be done with this until I get the stability again to sue the crap out of Boost Mobile. I would in theory only need the phone until they resolve the internal issues at boost and can unlock my current phone.
I do encourage everyone here that may be having similar issues with Boost to go to the Better Business Bureau and report them or post to a thread discussing Class Action lawsuits even though our contracts prohibit us from participating in one - they seem responsive in those arenas.
So hopefully, good news about temporary housing tomorrow - I've been reluctant to even pursue that as there are people with children who need it more and despite the stress of it, I'm actually capable of getting out of this. Then Thursday, I go to the Boost store with a tent and signs and start my protest.

In January I started getting a whole host of weird symptoms after a sinus infection right after Christmas- so anyway, saw ENT late February and they said to come back in 4-6 weeks if everything hasn’t resolved (inner ear fluid causing vertigo, daily life has been difficult). I can call back in another week. Also have a neurologist appointment but can’t be seen until mid April (had a vasovagal syncope episode in the first week of February that might have actually been a seizure- almost lost bowel control).
But my clearest most confusing symptom is my ears. It started about once or twice a week, with one ear, the same ear every time- it would get red and feel like it’s burning and just a little swollen for a few hours. The attacks also seems like they are getting darker red over time (I’ve started documenting pictures when they happen) The frequency slowly increased and it is now daily (once happened twice in one day), and after an episode in the other ear, it is now both ears every time. There is no rhyme or reason I can pin down.
They don’t itch, just burn. It happens at different hours of the day, doing different activities or nothing at all, with or without eating, whether or not I have taken my medication (thought it might be adderall induced at first, but after taking several days off the attacks persisted.) The only two options the internet seems to offer are “red ear syndrome” which doesn’t feel right due to the increase in frequency and severity, and “relapsing polychondritis” which also doesn’t seem right because the attacks only last a few hours a day, but my earlobes are unaffected. Not sure I can or should wait until April to be seen.

Hi, I've been reading tons of these threads and you guys have been super helpful when thinking about what breeds would be right for us. We are probably about 6 months to a year away from seriously looking at the available dogs in the area, so I've been doing breed research - figured I would post my exact answers to confirm or deny the breeds I had in mind. SO and I are in our mid-20s and will be in apartments for the forseeable future (thanks housing markets!). Here are my answers to the questionnaire:
Introduction

1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

I have had dogs growing up, and am generally pretty good with handling them and understanding their cues - but my SO has not, so I am mostly considering breeds that are better for first-time owners.

2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder?

I am somewhat mixed on this. Both have unique challenges. I like the idea of a rescue, but will need to keep reading about this.

3) Describe your ideal dog.

Good companion dog, medium energy, super friendly, basically the temperament Goldens have, but maybe in a medium sized dog. Emotionally supportive would be great especially, as my SO is a very emotional person. Something with soft fur would be great for the same reason!

4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

Personally, I just love the look of Spitz breeds. Samoyeds, Shibas, Schipperkes, Keeshonds - just adorable dogs. But I understand that there are various reasons certain spitzes are either not great for new owners or are fairly rare dogs to come across that would require traveling or going through a breeder with a waitlist. Hence my research has shown me a lot of dogs that are more accessible and suited for first time owners, namely goldens, labs, and greyhounds.

5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

Nothing showy, just enough to behave on walks/at the park.

6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

No, just a companion dog.
Care Commitments

7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

We both work full time, thankfully I am remote so I can pretty much hang out with the dog all day.

8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?

I am remote and flexible, so I can do a 30m-1h walk in the morning and another after work or even during the day. I have heard that dog parks can mess with a dog's socialization so I'll need to keep reading about this. I understand that high energy working dogs, while adorable, are not suitable for new owners so I've been ruling out Aussies, Huskies, and Border Collies.

9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?

I don't mind regularly brushing a dog to control shedding. I would prefer to do trimming at home, but I'm not fully against paying for a groomer if the breed is better in the hands of a professional.
Personal Preferences

10) What size dog are you looking for?

So, I have only had large dogs and am looking at something more on the medium-smaller size. I've never had a small dog, so I can't rule them out, but to me a dog around the size of an Aussie is good. My SO is pretty light, so a dog that couldn't drag them but is large enough for them to walk alone and feel safe would be perfect.

11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

I don't mind regularly brushing a dog to control shedding. Excessive barking in the breed would be a problem since we are in apartments, so we'd need to train this away if it's an issue. Same with slobber, "reasonable" is fine.
12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?
Not important. If I'm on a hike I'd rather keep a dog on a leash to be considerate of other hikers.
Dog Personality and Behavior

13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

Snuggly dog! Velcro OK. Part of the reason a medium-sized dog would be great would be to allow it to sit on our laps when we watch movies. A teddy bear dog.

14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

Leaning eager to please?

15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?

We are new to our city and live in apartments for the foreseeable future and plan to meet new people here. Ideally the dog would be friendly to strangers, but "guarded" is okay - just not outright aggressive or nonstop barking around strangers.

16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

Willing to try and train this away and finally keep it away from other dogs if need be, yes.
17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?
Really just aggressive behavior that can't be trained away. This accounts for some hesitancy when we look at rescues.
Lifestyle

18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

While SO and I are remote at the moment, that could obviously change. I would prefer a breed that could be left alone during the workday without tearing up the apartment, if needed.

19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?

SO is new to dogs, but they will be involved. It's just the two of us.

20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?

No other pets. I suppose years down the line when we're in more suitable housing we'd want a second dog.

21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

Nope.

22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?

Yes, we rent. Apartments here have various rules against pits, dobermans, rotties, GSDs, Malinois. My last dog was a lovely pit/GSD mix that never bit anybody but I'm fully conscious of why apartments often don't allow them. I'm unaware of weight restrictions but am mostly looking at medium breeds anyway.

23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?

Seattle, Washington. Not aware of laws, but will hold to the above apartment banned breeds.

24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

It rains a lot here and spans 35-80 degrees throughout the year with a week or two of snow in the winter. A dog that doesn't mind the rain would be ideal. I understand that short-coat breeds would need winter gear.
Additional Information and Questions

25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

Thanks for reading!

26) Feel free to ask any questions below.

N/A

When an au pair wants to travel to Hawaii for a week to complete their educational requirement, would you categorize that time as work or vacation?
Here's a snippet from Cultural Care's website:

• Au pairs must take 6 credits during their term, and families are responsible for paying up to $500 towards their education requirement as well as ensuring they have time to attend the classes and transportation back and forth.

Hi all. I'm having issues with my doctor, (and another doctor at the same clinic that I sometimes see when I can't see my regular GP), who doesn't believe me/says they can't do anything more. Since about DecembeJanuary I've been having some symptoms that have been steadily getting worse. The biggest one has been the fatigue. It started out slow-I would maybe have a day where I was just so exhausted I could barely make it through the day. But I was working out 5x/week, plus my sport, and overhauling my diet, so I just put it up to that. Then I started getting nauseated and not feeling like eating. That lead to headaches, and general muscle weakness. I started noticing tremors in my hands. Then I started seeing petechiae all over my body-not a lot, but definitely new, obvious spots. Then two weeks ago I woke up with a very itchy rash all over my body, especially on my shins. I noticed that underneath the rash there were more petechiae. Now I'm just bone-numbingly exhausted. My lymph nodes in my neck and armpits are swollen, and I'm finding my extremities are constantly cold and go numb really easily, (toes and fingers). I tried to bring this up to my doctor, and a walk-in doctor, but I was told there was nothing more they could do until the specialists call me. One specialist said, after I called to confirm they got the referral, that it would take at least 6-8 months before they could see me. I cannot go on like this for another 6 weeks, let alone 6 months. What do I do? My mother has been telling me I shouldn't go see my doctor anymore because they'll think I'm attention seeking, and now I'm worried I'll be labeled a hypochondriac. Has anybody else had issues being taken seriously about their symptoms?

When he first told me that he liked me, I told him I had some commitment issues but wanted to try to take things slow, he said he had them too and that we could take things as slow as I want. I read up on how to deal with commitment issues so I could put mine behind me and learn how to handle his, which he said he got from moving locations so much as a kid, but it never really added up.
When we first started dating in November, he bought tickets to a rave for us to go in February. He’s even said before that if you say you’re gonna do something you have to follow through with it. He hasn’t had a relationship last longer than 6 months, and now that it’s around that mark he’s been bringing up living together a lot, while not forgetting to thank me for being the miracle cure to his commitment issues, but I just don’t believe it. He says it’s not too soon because and I quote “I’m the one with commitment issues not you” giving me the impression that if he has them and he’s not scared I shouldn’t be either. Even though I said I had them first, I just don’t know if maybe he doesn’t remember? Is he trying to make mine small by making his huge?
He also told me one time that he specifically does not have abandonment issues, and that he would be fine if someone left him. But a couple weeks later I told him that I do have abandonment issues and he said he does too. I feel like he’s copying me and I have a hard time believing anything he tells me about himself now. Any insight/advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
TLDR: My bf of 5 months with “commitment issues” insists I fixed them and is pushing for us to move in together. Did he have them in the first place?

Throwaway.
So, context: my wife and I have been together since we were 14 and 15. It has been a long journey since we were those young kids. I have always been the more immature, easygoing, and dare I say frivolous of the two of us. We lived together for most of college, and 7 years after we graduated before we got married in 2019.
This entire time, she has been a saver. Relentless. Doesn't spend gift cards unless she has to. And guess what? We had an incredible wedding, amazing honeymoon, and we built a 5-bedroom home shortly after we got married. We bought a brand-new car with cash last year. While we both contribute to the family expenses, she makes more money than me (6 figures vs. my 5), and made the majority of the contributions to these large purchases.
That being said, I am the one that spends money on entertainment. I have multiple hobbies like guitar and video games that I choose to spend money on. She doesn't have any hobbies; no makeup, no clothes or shoes, she doesn't go out with girlfriends, she doesn't go to the movies, etc. We will buy the occasional board game, which is an investment with good replayability. But, overall, I am often looking to spend money on myself.
Here's the problem: we don't have a budget. We haven't created a joint bank account for reasons that aren't really relevant here, but we've always considered our individual bank accounts a collective pool that we pull from when needed. I have proposed creating some sort of budget in the past, but it has been shot down. If I recall correctly (we haven't had this discussion in a while), her logic is we shouldn't put any sort of cap on our individual discretionary spending and should instead talk about those big purchases in the interest of transparency.
This comes to a head every few years because, frankly, it feels like she is holding my portion of the funds hostage. This sounds a bit like exaggeration as I type it out, but, ok bear with me:
I recently received my annual bonus. Due to the crap economy this past year, it only worked out to be $1,000 before withholding, which is roughly 1 week of my pay. I see this as next to nothing; I could throw that money away and we wouldn't even notice. I make enough that I can lose 1 week of pay without batting an eye (not that I want to, of course). We aren't living paycheck-to-paycheck, we are able to pay our bills and buy groceries and dog food and gas, we have enough for a rainy day or an emergency, etc. I said I wanted to buy a new guitar for $1200. Like I said, this would make nearly 0 impact on our finances. I'll make nearly twice that money on my next paycheck, this amount is - and I realize this isn't a healthy way of thinking of it, but whatever - nothing to me. But she shot it down.
She was nice about it, but she thinks that's a lot of money to just throw away on what she thinks - correctly - is a toy; I don't make any money playing guitar. And this is how the conversation usually goes. I make a proposal and she's the gatekeeper. This is frustrating for both of us, but 1) she never asks me for permission to spend money because she *only spends money on necessities*, and 2) I would always say yes because I'm roughly aware of our financial situation and that we are able to pay our bills and everything I've already mentioned. I don't care how she spends money because I trust her.
I just can't help but feel so much anger for not being trusted enough to spend money on whatever I want *within reason*. I am frustrated that I don't have the discretion to spend my hard-earned money the way I want to. I am annoyed because her logic is sound: if we hadn't saved as much as we have over the years, we wouldn't have the nice things we have now. If we don't rein in spending a little, the various small - and not-so-small - purchases will add up. How do you convince someone with that mindset that dropping $1k+ on a toy is worth it?
We are very happy together, and have been for literally half our lives. I don't want to have this fight again, but every time something like this happens, I can't help but feel trapped and not trusted. What can I do?

For the last 4 years I've been experiencing intermittant episodes of acute pain...feels like a knife stabbing just below sternum through to my back. Episodes last about 6-8 hours and i am tender for several days following. I finally had a scope done and the pathology report came back as the above. I had the scope done during a period of feeling good so I suspect that's why it was "inactive", but I am no expert. No evidence of h.pylori and I have no history of using nsaids and I am a complete non-drinker. I'm looking to try to figure out what is causing the chronic gastritis. My reading points to bile reflux or autoimmune as alternative uncommon causes. Anyone in this boat? I see my GI in follow up next week, what should I be asking? Any follow up investigations I should request? I just want to know why this is happening. I'm tired of treating a symptom and seeking to understand the underlying cause.

So, CW, insanely triggering post ahead. Will mention all aspects of female body and list off why I hate them. I need to put this somewhere and co-misserate and just vent.
I hate my fucking body. Even on T, I fucking hate it. I hate the memes of the thighs "doing the thing" and how my thighs spread out like a fat pancake when I sit down and I just look so... weird and unnatural. Even after years on T, even after my beard growth and my muscle-building regime. This shit happens to me and it clocks me and I fucking hate it.
I hate it. I hate the fact that I still menstruate and it controls everything about my digestion. I don't start getting regular until PMS, and then I basically have IBS symptoms for 2 weeks and I fucking despise it. I hate it. I hate how that organ in my body controls me. Like I'm in an abusive relationship with someone who hacks down my house every month when I don't want to have a baby, then builds it back up in hopes I will actually have one.
I went over to my gay cis bf and felt where his foot left the floor. It was a warm spot. It blew my fucking mind that cis guys have this ability to warm up where they sit, and not need heaters at their feet lest they turn to total ice. My feet are always cold. I just want to have a functioning human adult body. I hate how inadequate my hormones are. I am happy I'm getting more T. I am hoping I can have a body that doesn't fucking "cycle" and fuck me up with back pain... and make me fill up with fluid and pain and make me irregular, and make me want to shove cake into my face, and make my appendages so fucking cold I can't sleep at night. I want a body that fucking FUNCTIONS, not one that works against me because I'm not having children. I'm so fucking sick of it. I'm sick of it. End of rant.