Park point water temp

I’m the child but she’s the one slamming doors when she can’t get her way and thinking she can bully someone into getting what she wants even when it pertains to what someone else is wearing on there own body because she doesn’t like it. Has literally stolen at least $30 dollars from her daughter and much more from her other daughter. Has “borrowed” over $2000 from your youngest daughter (me) and upwards of $10,000 from your older daughter that you swore you’d pay back but never did because your financial skills are horrible. (Some of that being birthday and Christmas money I would get from my dads side of the family as a literal child, and a lot being money I gave to her as a struggling student in college living off the scholarship money I got from my full ride that I was supposed to put towards books and paying my rent in my campus apartment.) And much more from other family and friends. Jumps to threatening her 26 year old daughter with violence after simply being asked to please stop yelling at her. (She threatened to smack me in the face then held her hands up to my face and clapped right in front of it to scare me.) Has no emotional intelligence and is constantly embarrassing anyone around her by cussing out strangers to their face that make her mad. (She called my ex boyfriend’s mom the B word on the phone with her in highschool because the mom accused her of being racist towards Arabic people (which she is and is also against latino people and African people and has called them monkeys and apes.) She is deeply colorist and said to my beautiful dark skin sister AS A CHILD that she “wished she was more lightskin like me.” and while I’m on a role let’s talk about how when I was 17 she pushed me into a wall and started attacking me then when I was able to escape to the bathroom and lock the door she threatened to throw my laptop into water (that my dad had bought me and they’re divorced) unless I came out and let her abuse me some more. She would constantly hit me in the face if I would “talk back” to the point that as an 18 year old I actually sat in the back seat of the car at times just so I wouldn’t be in reaching distance if she was in one of her moods. She also the same year sold me guitar without me knowing (that again my divorced dad bought for me, not her) to the pawn shop because she needed the money. I opened the guitar case one day wanting to practice a song and to my shock found it filled with some stuffed animals instead of my guitar only then did she tell me she sold it. I didn’t know this until years later but apparently my older sister had actually given her money to buy the guitar back from the pawn shop and apparently she spent it on whatever else and I never saw my guitar again. All this while she was getting child support from my dad so I’m not sure where all the money was going. And y’all may ask why I never bring this up with her or try to fix things. When I have she has one of two responses. Recently if I ever bring up why I don’t want to talk to her or how she’s caused me trauma she’ll mock me and say “oh boo hoo you were abused cry me a river” and will say that I’m lying and that she never did those things when I literally have trauma nightmares of her abusing me. Not from anyone else in this world, just her. That can’t be a coincidence. The other response I used to get when I was in college and refused to visit her for long periods of time is that she’ll start crying and say that I’m gonna regret all of this and feel real guilty when she passes away and realize that I’ve been treating her wrong. These are just the highlights there’s been many more physical and verbal abuse by her but I’d be here all day. I’m by no means the perfect child I have several mental illnesses that can be tiring for me and everyone around me and I have my faults like not keeping my room clean and now that I live with her again I don’t have a room so I keep the living room messy. But the way I feel is none of that is harming anyone physically or mentally the way she has. I try to be better but it’s never enough for her. If I try to surprise her by doing all the dishes and putting them away or cleaning the bathroom we both use it’s “wow you’ve done this one time big deal you should be doing this all the time I’m not impressed” and the second I’ve not done something she wants me to it’s “you NEVER clean up you NEVER do anything” nevermind anything I’ve ever done to try and be better at cleaning etc. I pay $400 for rent and light bill every month and give her extra money whenever she claims to need it for meds she somehow can’t afford or for when she claims they’re threatening to cut off her phone nearly every month because she hasn’t paid her bill on time. Yet she treats me like I’m a second class citizen and like she can talk to me/treat me however she wants as long as I’m living under “her roof” that everyone in this family seems to be paying for except herself.

I’m ten years sober today.
Not technically today; I’m writing this a couple days in advance. But one thing I’ve noticed about sobriety is that in the beginning, the timing of it feels very precise. You’re not two weeks sober, you’re a week and six days sober. You’re not a year sober, you’re eleven months and three weeks sober. Every individual hour of it that you live through in real time feels earned. But the more time goes by, the less disingenuous it feels to spot yourself some spare change in the name of convenience.
So, fine. I’m nine years and three hundred sixty-three days sober.
And after all this time, I still just want to drink.
That’s not even the addict voice talking. I don’t miss the days of being too drunk to function. I don’t miss the jump cut from the bar to waking up on a friend’s couch with a sense of guilt and dread that I have some apologies to make. I don’t miss being the guy that my friends had to stop having fun in order to take care of. I don’t need a sixth trip to the ER for alcohol poisoning under my belt.
Before my sister left for college, my cousin and I convinced her to get drunk with us at his apartment so that her first drinking experience would be in a safe, controlled environment. She got about three, maybe four drinks in, and when we offered her another, she said something like, “Nah, I think I’m good for the night.”
I was probably 6–7 drinks in at that point. And that was the first time I remember thinking to myself, Wait, people can just decide to stop drinking?
Or maybe a better place to start is: I started drinking my freshman year of college. And over that first semester, I realized that as soon as I had a buzz going, the only thing my brain could focus on was the next drink. And then the next one. And then the next one. And as a college student at a party school who’d fallen in with a particularly hard-drinking crowd, all I thought about it was, “Wow, all those commercials saying to ‘drink responsibly’ weren’t kidding.”
I have no urge to start drinking. But I wish every day that I was one of those people who could drink responsibly. Who could have a beer after work without physically craving another. Who could have asked a girl out for a drink. Who could partake in an open bar at work events or office happy hours or weddings (or at my niece’s baptism, for some reason).
The thing that you really don’t notice until not just quitting drinking, but having to build a sober life and live it, is that the whole damn world revolves around alcohol. And for someone as socially awkward as I am, I really resent that I don’t get that “lube,” that shortcut to camaraderie and chemistry. I just get to sip my water and watch everyone else get shitfaced and sit there smelling the whiskey and wine on their breaths and wonder when I get to go home and not have to wish that I could just be like everyone else.

Hello, I’ve dug through tons of resources and I’m at a loss. Hoping someone here can help.
I bought a home with an Electrolux EI23BC30KS3 model refrigerator. The ice maker was not working when we moved in and I have been trying to fix it. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

• Engage bar in ice maker
• Run “fast ice” setting
• Replace water filter (no water dispenser just ice)
• Check water flow into fridge (good flow, pressure)
• Blow lines to check for blockage (good flow through filter lines and line to ice maker)
• Reset fridge to factory settings
• Replaced solenoid valve assembly (let fridge run overnight, still no water to ice maker)
• Verified freezer door switch was working (lights turn on and off when pushed)
• Manually filled ice maker (cubes froze, not dispensed)

At this point I’m thinking it has to be an electrical issue as the solenoids do not appear to be engaging, nor does the ice maker ejector. Any other thoughts? Last ditch effort before I call someone… any and all help appreciated!
Edit: The fridge holds temperature in the fridge and freezers just fine!

We are going to Cedar Point for a few days in July. I already know about the parent swap passes - so cool. We are also taking my in-laws with us so we’ll have plenty of time to ride the adult rides.
What are some activities my little ones will enjoy? Not necessarily just in the park but out of the park too? We will be staying in a cabin at Lighthouse Point.
Also - are fast passes worth it? We are thinking of splurging on some fast passes for the grown ups for the days we’ll be going to the park.

Hello all,
I have been going through a very rough phase over the past few months and it looks like now the focus my health issues is heart anxiety, stomach issues and sleep anxiety. I'm still unsure if I can call it anxiety or legit issues because of lack of diagnosis.
I'm someone who has had higher resting heart rate throughout life, mostly around 80s and above.
But since the past few weeks, every night after 8 or 9PM, my heart rate starts to go down from 70s-80s to 60s and then 50s as soon as I sit down or lie down, sometimes even while I may be standing it can start dipping low. This has reduced my mobility at night and affected my work as well as I have to sometimes work around those hours. Sometimes its also happening during day hours but mostly it's a night occurance.
It's a daily occurrence now where after this time, my heart rate starts to go down aggressively into the 50s and sometimes along with it the blood pressure also goes down. During sleep, the heart rate remains in 40s and early 50s but even if I wake up from sleep at night to go to toilet or drink water, the heart rate seems to stay at those low numbers, i.e. 40s and 50s unless I get up and start walking. Point to note is that heart rate starts to go down many hours before sleep, not just at time of sleep or during sleep.
It sometimes feels like the natural sleep mode or clock of my body and heart is set at 8 or 9 pm and it goes just down after that. Due to this my sleep is severely affected as well as it sometimes causes chest pains, sometimes my hands or feet get numb, sometimes it feels like the whole body is under a lot of pressure and lacks oxygen or blood. I also often wake up with pressure on head or light headaches.
I wake up every day with high heart rate and palpitations and spend the entire day worrying about the night and my heart and keep monitoring my heart rate and blood pressure.
I had an appointment and a follow up with cardiologist and he did the ECG and echo and said it looked fine and I'm just stressing over it for no reason, my worry is that those were done during day time and these issues come up at night every day and the results or his opinion may not be taking entire situation or all symptoms into account,. I also had other routine bloodwork and tests done within the last quarter with normal results.
Shall I get more testing done which the doctor didn't recommend or should I just try to forget about it and see how it goes? I'm extremely anxious about heart and sleep related issues, so it's very difficult for me to overcome this.
Can it be just anxiety and stress causing this lowering of heart rate for some reason? Can it be daily panic attacks? Can it be issues with the vagus nerve Or nervous system or my natural body clock? Or can it be some other underlying condition like heart issue or sleep disorder that remained undiagnosed?
Aside from these issues, I also suffer from weakness in body and dizziness every other day and have a very upset stomach that's making things worse.
Anyone else has gone through similar issues? Any recommendations on dealing with it? The doctors are brushing it off and I'm extremely scared that it may be some critical disease that remains undiagnosed. I'm unable to sleep almost every day and waking up tired or confused for weeks with dry mouth. I understand that it may well be anxiety but I have never seen such physical symptoms of anxiety and thus am I bit worried.
Really in need of some suggestions and support.
Some necessary data below:
Age is 27 M 68kg No medical conditions, taking Vitamin D, Magnesium and B complex supplements

So, I've been ruminating on the colors and their philosophies, and I decided to post the heuristics I use here on the chance some of you might find it useful.
First of all, I think it's best to start with a clean slate by begining with how the colors were defined in 2014. This is because the Revisited articles Mark Rosewater started to publish during that time--as well as the Khans of Tarkir color interviews and the two color podcasts he also released during said year--directly imply a fresh start to the color pie. It's worth noting that later adjustments (such as those made to Green) are included.
Based off of the formula he uses in the 2014-15 articles (and has continued to use since then) we know that each color can be seperated into an end (the goal of one's life) and a mean (the way people should live). Color combinations are created by putting various ends & means together (you can have any combination of one or the other, by the way).
What are the colors' means & ends?:
White cares about "Peace" (the greater good) through "Structure" (rigid rules) (See here here, and here).
Blue cares about "Perfection" (the ability for people to improve themselves) through "Knowledge" (seeking information) (See here, here, and here).
Black believes in "Power" (control over the things in one's life) through "Opportunity" (whatever it takes) (See here and here).
Red believes in "Freedom" (following one's heart) through "Action" (acting on one's emotions) (See here).
And Green believes in "Growth" (the continuing of nature's process) through "Acceptance" (embracing the natural order and one's place in it) (See here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
In contrast, the colors also have lesser traits in their philosophies. These are tendencies assigned to the colors that (in my opinion) are reflective of their means & ends, but which the colors are not that strongly commited to. For example: Blue has a tendency to prefer geniocracy (it believes only the smartest should rule), however it can turn that aside for some forms of democracy Why? Because these are both lesser traits of Blue and they're really Blue pursuing its interest in "Knowledge."

"There's nothing more Perfect than nature. And there's nothing that has more to learn from it than nature ... Nature has endless Opportunities. And the ultimate source of Power is nature ... What's more Free than nature? What's more Peaceful than nature?"
Green, Drive to Work 574 at 30:29

Don't treat color identity as something where 'having some colors mean you have zero traits of the other colors' (aka, like the Shards of Alara). Everyone has bits of all the colors, but listing them all, all the time, isn't useful information--the labels just serve to point out when someone's means/ends align with particular colors'. Even characters in-universe can lean towards colors they don't have, but it's not part of their identity, it's simply an acknowledgement.
One should also avoid basing one's views of the color philosophies on the cards. Yes, that statement seems unusual, but consider this: by the time they're printed the cards have gone through many different hands, including those that aren't factoring in color philosophy. That's why you may find characters that have been given colors that don't actually match their ideals. I'm not saying 'never look at the cards' by the way, you just need to take them with a grain of salt.
So, when you combine various colors' main traits together, there's some interesting things worth noting.
Sometimes color combinations have center colors, like the factions from Alara or Tarkir. What constitutes center colors, I believe, is a preference for the ideals of said color(s) over the others in the combination.
It's also for the best to make sure that interpretations of color combinations aren't watered-down to be applicable to everyone--it's not much of a stance if everyone agrees with it.
In contrast to the color combinations, there's colorless. Remember, colorless is not a color. That's not me saying you can't have colorless philosophies, it's just that colorless is mutually exclusive to any color's means/ends (you can't have colors and not have colors at the same time) and one should treat it as such.
Finally, I want to note that I'm primarily talking about values, not personality. Coloring one's philosophy is fine, but attempting to align one's personality to a nonscientific system is problematic. In addition, while it's a useful tool for categorizing things, I personally don't like using the colors as a roadmap for people, characters, or factions (you do you).
That's my take on the colors. If you liked reading this I also discussed the special way to combine White & Black and its relation to four color combinations as well as the philosophy of the "color" Grue. And if you have any ideas or objections, please leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading!

47, no kids, no medications and possibly in perimenopause.
I went to a Urogyno / Physio this week for urinary incontinence issues I’ve had for the last year and my urine sample came back with blood in it. She didn't specify if it was visible or trace but I did notice on that particular day, my urine was darker than other days (usually happens when I drink too much coffee, not enough water).
Since the onset of incontinence (about a year ago) I’ve had bloods, a UTI test, urine test and kidney & bladder scan over and all came back normal so this was unexpected. My period ended 4 days before the consult so unlikely that had anything to do with it. B/c all other tests were fine, signs of incontinence were pointing to hormones / vaginal atrophy and I was going to start pelvic floor PT (e.g. kegels).
But now waiting to speak to my GP about the lab results of the urine sample and trying not to panic in the meantime (Urogyno said it’s likely an infection) but naturally I’m concerned.
Anyone else here with urinary incontinence experience blood in urine and it end up not being a big deal? (I already know all the worst case scenarios / diseases that can cause it, so please don't remind me about those! lol!).

FRIDAY

• First Friday, Downtown, Raleigh
• Durham Bulls vs. Jacksonville, DBAP, Durham
• UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH, Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh
• Smooth Nights, KBA, Cary
• BANDS, BITES, AND BOATS, Bond Park, Cary
• PLAYlist Concert Series: Raíces, Rutas, y Ritmos, Durham Central Park, Durham
• TLC, Shaggy, En Vogue, Sean Kingston, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Raleigh
• 1776, DPAC, Durham
• Leslie Jones: Live, Carolina Theatre, Durham
• DeRay Davis: Too Much?!, Raleigh Improv, Cary
• Pride Plaza Party, Exchange/Market Plazas, Raleigh
• Tacarra Williams, ROOM 861 AT GOODNIGHTS, Raleigh
• The Soccer Tournament, WakeMed Soccer Park, Raleigh
• Music in the Park Celebrates Pride, Healthy Food Hub, Morrisville
• BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (PG13), The Cary, Cary
• Spider-man Movie Premiere with Dell Technologies and Presidio, Cinemark Raleigh Grande, Raleigh
• Durham Pride Silent Disco, Hi-Wire, Durham
• Techstars Startup Weekend: Health & Wellness, Duke University, Durham
• Halocene, Motorco Music Hall, Durham
• Mamis & The Papis and Party Illegal Present: Moodboard, Rubies on Five Points, Durham
• An Evening with North Mississippi Allstars, Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
• Apex Peakway 155, Wake County Speedway, Raleigh
• Freight Farms Pop Up Event, Nanue's Farm, Raleigh
• Hands on a Hardbody, Raleigh Little Theatre, Raleigh
• Jessica Kirson, Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh
• Oak City Gliders vs Reidsville Luckies, Optimist Park, Raleigh
• Our Prism, The Raleigh Night Market, Raleigh
• Pride First Friday: Sip + Shop, Curate Raleigh, Raleigh
• Urban Soil, The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop, Raleigh
• BUTNER SUMMER FESTIVAL, Butner Gazebo Park, Butner

​
SATURDAY

• Durham Bulls vs. Jacksonville, DBAP, Durham
• Family Fun Fest, North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh
• Raleigh's International Food Festival, City Plaza, Raleigh
• Bubbles & Brisket, Smoky Hollow, Raleigh
• Ever After: Fairytales, Food, and Flowers, Fred Fletcher Park, Raleigh
• UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH, Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh Summerfest: The Music of Whitney Houston, North Carolina Symphony, Cary
• Mid-Town Square Spring Festival 2023, Bond Brothers Beer Company, Cary
• NC Summertime Beer Fest, Clouds Brewing Taproom, Raleigh
• NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, USA Baseball National Training Complex, Cary
• North State Bank’s Summer Salute for Transitions LifeCare, North Ridge Country Club, Raleigh
• Run For Love 5k, Dorothea Dix Park, Raleigh
• Dermot Kennedy The Sonder Tour, Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh
• Hands on History: Butter-making, Natural Dyes, and Flower Pressing, Borden Building, Raleigh
• International Children’s Day, City of Raleigh Museum (COR Museum), Raleigh
• Jessica Kirson, Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh
• Jubilant! A Juneteenth Experience, CAM Raleigh, Raleigh
• Matt Maeson, The Ritz, Raleigh
• Tacarra Williams, ROOM 861 AT GOODNIGHTS, Raleigh
• DeRay Davis: Too Much?!, Raleigh Improv, Cary
• Summer Sol - Vinyasa Flow, Raleigh Municipal Rose Garden, Raleigh
• The Soccer Tournament, WakeMed Soccer Park, Raleigh
• UNC Children's For The Kids Concert Featuring: Cooper Alan, Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
• Hands on a Hardbody, Raleigh Little Theatre, Raleigh
• MAKRS, Durham Central Park, Durham
• Gimme Gimme Disco, Motorco Music Hall, Durham
• Paradox: A 90s Rave Experience, The Fruit, Durham
• Cygnus X-2, The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop, Raleigh
• Techstars Startup Weekend: Health & Wellness, Duke University, Durham
• Running of the Bulls 8K, Historic Durham Athletic Park, Durham
• Boxyard Turns 2 Celebration, Boxyard RTP, Durham
• Nasher Community Celebration, Nasher Museum of Art, Durham
• Record Show, Durty Bull, Durham
• Bimbé Celebration, Rock Quarry Park, Durham
• Beaver Queen Pageant — Once Upon a Wetland..., Duke Park, Durham
• Mother Tongues: Louise Toppin, soprano, with Stephen Jaffe & John O’Brien, pianists, Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building, Duke University, Durham
• Old North State Antique Gun & Military Show, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh
• Propagation Workshop: Advanced Softwood Cuttings, JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, Raleigh

​
SUNDAY

• UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH, Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh
• Durham Bulls vs. Jacksonville, DBAP, Durham
• NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, USA Baseball National Training Complex, Cary
• Esther Povitsky, Goodnights Comedy Club, Raleigh
• Parlor Pride Party, Heights House Hotel, Raleigh
• Satisfaction, Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
• DeRay Davis: Too Much?!, Raleigh Improv, Cary
• Bringing it Home: Chamber Music with the Durham Symphony and Friends, Hayti Heritage Center, Durham
• Al Strong Presents Jazz Brunch at Alley Twenty Six, Alley Twenty Six, Durham
• Mike’s Dead, Motorco Music Hall, Durham
• A Celebration of African American Art with Song, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
• LGBTQ+ Pride Ride with the Historic Raleigh Trolley, Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh
• Old North State Antique Gun & Military Show, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh
• Techstars Startup Weekend: Health & Wellness, Duke University, Durham

​
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I’m not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, but I don’t know where else to go for help. I know that after I describe the events that just happened, the ones involved may come looking for me. I have decided it’s worth the risk though. I’m still pretty shaken up, but I’m going to do my best to recall everything exactly as it happened. If something similar has happened to you or anyone you know, and you could advise me what to do next, I would really appreciate it. It might actually save my life.
Last night wasn’t the first time I had been woken up by a sound coming from the wall behind my bed. It sounded like something LARGE and HEAVY sliding along the other side of the wall. It was especially odd, because I didn’t think there was anything on the other side of that wall. I thought I had heard it several nights before this one, but was never certain if I had dreamt it or not. This time though, I knew I was awake. I was lying in bed next to my husband, Jason. I had my eyes closed, while trying to fall asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fight Jason and I had a couple hours before. He told me in the five years we had been married, he had never seen me like this— a complete shell of the person I once was. He told me that I had let my paranoia completely consume me. I could tell he was deeply concerned, but also frustrated with my lack of effort to dispel it. I knew that even if I was honest about what I was worrying about though, he would not understand.
I slowly sat up in bed, straining to listen for another sound. Maybe it was some kind of animal? It sounded much too large to be a raccoon though, and bears are not common in our area. As I slowly leaned in closer to the wall, my heart jolted as I heard a very loud, THUMP THUMP. It sounded like a deliberate pounding on the other side of the wall, almost as if it was trying to get my attention.
In a low whisper, I immediately called out to Jason as he slept next to me. How could he have slept through that? He didn’t even stir, so I called his name again and tried touching his shoulder. He continued to sleep like a baby. I was about to call his name one more time when I remembered that my paranoia was the main reason for our fight earlier. Would he even believe me? I sat in the dark for a few more minutes before deciding to get up and investigate myself.
As I made my way downstairs, I caught a glimpse of a photo of the two of us from our honeymoon. Although it was from only five years ago, Jason and I looked so much younger. It was probably due to the fact that we were smiling so big. I have been trying so hard to be that happy girl in the photo for him and for me, but recently, I haven’t even come close.
I decided to start my investigation of the mysterious sound with the garage, since it is located directly under our bedroom. I flipped the light on and scanned the room from wall to wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked the way it was supposed to. Our car was parked out on the street that night, so the garage was just a large, echoey room. Gardening tools, storage containers, cleaning supples and various pieces of sporting equipment packed the shelves along the far wall. There was also a small stockpile of food and water Jason liked to keep just in case of a disaster. Remember, being paranoid is my thing though…
I made my way over to the shelves to see if anything could have made a noise like the one I heard. As I was halfway across the garage, I heard a loud SLAM come from above me. My eyes darted up to the attic door in the ceiling and the pull string that dangled from it. The string was slowly swaying from left to right.
Great. That’s normal, right? I never realized that our bedroom shared a wall with the attic until now. I thought hard about running upstairs to get Jason’s help. That would be the most logical thing to do, but just as I was about to do that, I had this feeling. I had a very faint idea of what could be the source of the disturbance, but knew that it would defy logic. I also knew that based on the five weeks we had been together, if there was even the slightest chance that my suspicion was correct about the source of the noise, Jason would not understand— nor would he even be willing to help me deal with it. If I was going to be able to protect the both of us, I knew I had to deal with this myself.
I walked over to the attic door and grabbed the pull string. With a loud CREEEAAAAK the door slowly swung down. I grabbed the ladder attached to the door and unfolded it down to the ground. I directed my attention back up to the ceiling, and stared into the black hole that was the attic entrance.
My eyes strained to make out anything inside, while I waited for something— anything to come out of the darkness. I turned to the shelf next to me and grabbed a flashlight. After pointing it toward the black hole in the ceiling, I still couldn’t make out anything, so I contemplated my options. Less thinking, just do, Mel. I knew that if I waited any longer, my thoughts would scare me into complete paralysis, so I began to climb. With each step, the ladder let out a painful creak. This ladder was as old as the house, and I have no idea if it was ever inspected. The way it would bend under my very minimal bodyweight made me realize the very real possibility that it could give out at any time. We really need to have this thing inspected…
The black hole grew bigger and bigger with each step. I held my breath the whole time, ready for either the ladder to crumble beneath me or something to emerge from the darkness. Thankfully, neither of those things happened. Once my head breached the attic opening, I remembered to breathe, and drew in a large breath of stale, musty air.
I scanned the attic with my flashlight. It wasn’t really a room— more just a storage space between the ceiling of the garage and the roof of the house. The ceiling formed a triangle with the highest point being only five feet tall. As I slowly panned my flashlight across the space, its beam revealed various objects in storage— an old dollhouse, a large shop vacuum, a full-sized scarecrow, a snow shovel, a vintage suitcase, a pair of kayak paddles, several boxes, and lots of Christmas and Halloween decorations. The holiday decorations appeared pretty unsettling in the beam of the flashlight…probably because a lot of them had faces that were looking back at me. The witch especially gave me the creeps with her pale, green skin, hands covered in warts, and open mouth full of yellow teeth. Oh and don’t forget the random Christmas elf’s detached head just resting on top of a box with its single, beady eye reflecting back at me! Why does it only have one eye?? Why is its head not with its body?? Why do we even have this thing??
After doing a full scan of the space with my flashlight, I reached behind me to turn on the attic light. The second the light turned on, I jumped as I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk in front of me. I held my breath and stared long and hard, while looking for any sign of movement. THAT WITCH BETTER NOT MOVE, I SWEAR. After a long minute of waiting, nothing had moved in the slightest.
Just as I was letting out my long awaited exhale, a loud, “BWAK BWAK BWAK,” erupted from my right side. I whipped my head around to reveal a plush toy of a chicken lying on the floor on its side.
“BWAK BWAK BWAK,” its electronic voice box cried out again. I looked around, wondering what could have caused it to go off. The floorboards beneath me creaked as I crawled my way over to the plush chicken and picked it up. I stared into its black, soulless eyes. There was something about this chicken. It felt too personal for some reason— almost like it was a taunt. Then, I heard the sound of movement coming from the pile of junk again. I looked back and could have sworn one of the objects had moved. Was it the witch? The scarecrow? I couldn’t tell for sure.
I waited several seconds before directing my attention back to the chicken. That’s when I noticed something behind it. About 4 feet up from the floor, there was a very small hole in the wall about the size of a pea. I put my eye up to it, and my stomach lurched. Through the hole, I could see right into my bedroom. I couldn’t see the bed so well, but I could make out pretty much anything at eye level. Whoever or WHATEVER was in the attic could have been watching us this whole time. From inside the bedroom, the hole was positioned just under one of the framed pictures hanging on the wall. The shadow from the frame must have concealed it all this time. I could feel my heart rate begin to drastically accelerate. I turned back to the pile of junk, since whoever or whatever was in the attic with me must be hiding somewhere in that pile.
That’s when I noticed what had changed. Earlier, the scarecrow was sitting upright with its back against a box, but now it was slumped over with one hand extended out toward me. And was it closer?? I stared at its still, faceless head hidden in shadow beneath the brim of a wide, black farmer’s hat. I looked for any sign of life in its body, which wore a red flannel shirt covered in hay and stained khaki pants with patches on the knees. I began to hyperventilate. Come on, Mel! If you have a panic attack now, you are done for!
I slowly backed away from the scarecrow until I heard a loud CRUNCH under my feet. I looked down and saw that I had stepped on an empty plastic water bottle. I gasped in horror as I noticed several other empty water bottles along with empty food cans and a pile of blankets resembling a makeshift bed. SOMEONE WAS LIVING IN OUR ATTIC.
Before I could react, I heard fast stomping coming right toward me. I looked up and saw the scarecrow LUNGING for me. I fell onto my back with my eyes closed, and braced for the inevitable. I heard the sound of movement, the creaking of the ladder, and then all was silent. My eyes slowly opened. The scarecrow had vanished.
I crawled over to the attic entrance in the floor. The garage light below had now been switched off, so the way down was nothing but a black void. I grabbed the flashlight and pointed it down into the garage. I let out a gasp as I saw the scarecrow standing directly at the bottom of the ladder facing up at me. I wanted to scream, but nothing was coming out. It stood there perfectly still…almost too still for a person to be inside of it. Was this a person?? I waited and waited until…it CHARGED at the ladder, making its way toward me.
I frantically dove toward the pile of junk and grabbed a paddle to defend myself. When I turned back to the ladder, the scarecrow was gone. There was only the rickety ladder and the black void below me. I gave myself a few seconds to catch my breath. If I was in fact dealing with what I suspected I was dealing with, I had a right to be scared out of my mind. I also knew that I couldn’t let it get to Jason first. Whatever this thing was, I had to stop it.
After taking a deep breath, I made my way down the ladder. I held my flashlight in one hand and the paddle in the other. I made sure to alternate the flashlight between the steps below me and the rest of the garage. If the scarecrow was able to knock me off the ladder, I would be done for. When my feet finally touched the concrete floor, I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but I knew the fight was still ahead of me….or maybe behind me. It was so dark, the scarecrow really could have been anywhere.
If I could just make it to the door to the house, I knew I could flip on the light, spot the scarecrow, and charge it with everything I had. I walked as fast as I could toward the door, whipping my flashlight in all directions. I only got halfway through the garage when I heard a loud squeaking noise to my left. I knew I wasn’t getting the chance to make it to the light switch. I slowly turned my flashlight to reveal the scarecrow slumped over and sitting on an old, red Radio Flyer wagon.
This was it. I knew that the element of surprise was all I had.
I charged at it with everything inside of me. I swung the paddle again and again with all of my strength. I wouldn’t let this thing ruin the life I had worked so hard to obtain. I didn’t stop swinging until the scarecrow was completely facedown on the ground. My rage turned to fear as I slowly sensed something was off. I realized the scarecrow’s torso had become completely separated from its legs during the beating. My heart nearly stopped when I finally realized that there was nothing inside of the scarecrow but hay.
I poked its body a few times before I noticed a trail of straw leading away from it. Wherever this trail led to, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. As I followed the trail of hay with my flashlight in one hand, I shakily held my paddle in the other, ready to strike again. The trail curled away from me until it ended at A PAIR OF BARE HUMAN FEET. I let out a quiet scream as I tilted my flashlight up as fast as I could and—WHAM! I could barely make out the image of a metal baseball bat whirling toward my head before everything went black.
I woke up only a few seconds later on the garage floor with my head throbbing in pain. My vision was fuzzy, but I could see there was a shape standing in front of me. It was backlit by the light of my flashlight, which had rolled away from me. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus on the pair of bare, dirty feet in front of me, covered in hay. As I slowly tilted my head up, I could see those feet were attached to a pair of legs wearing tattered pants. Those legs were attached to a body with two arms— one holding a metal baseball bat. The body was attached to a head, and on that head, was a face. It was exactly the face I feared I would see. It was the face of a woman with the exact same face as me— the face of Melody Bennett.
“No,” I gasped. “How did—“
Melody stared at me with rage in her eyes. Pieces of hay covered her hair.
I turned my head to the side and looked at the scarecrow’s lifeless, empty body next to me. Then, I turned and looked at Melody’s hay-covered feet.
I have to admit it now. Wearing the scarecrow as a disguise was a brilliant strategy. She really took a page from my book of deception and used it against me.
“Your life was mine,” I began to cry with eyes full of fear. “I took it from you.”
“I’m taking it back,” she declared and raised her bat high.
I tried to let out a scream, but it was too late. She was already on top of me. Whaling on me with the speed and aggression of a wild animal. She struck my head with the baseball bat again and again. With each blow, I could feel my face start to change out of the face of Melody and back into its natural form. First, my mouth morphed away, followed by my nose, and then my ears. Just as she was about to swing what would have been the killing blow, I threw my hand up and grabbed the bat. Both of us were now struggling for control of the bat. That’s when I could see my true face reflected in Melody’s eyes. My two eyes were wide and bulging, completely filled with terror. My other features were completely gone. Smooth skin was now in their place. I looked into Melody’s eyes as we struggled with the bat. This was a woman that would stop at nothing to take back her life and be rid of me. I wasn’t going to win this fight. I had to escape.
My fear somehow gave me enough adrenaline to throw her off of me. I knew I only had a second before she would be on top of me again, so I booked it out of the house as fast as I could.
I didn’t stop running until I was across the street hidden in the shadows of a neighbor’s tree. I turned back to see Melody standing in front of her house blocking any hope I had of going back there to her beautiful, lovely life— a life, which she had taken for granted until now. She had the last five weeks to think about it as she was living in the attic. All that time, she watched helplessly behind the wall of her own bedroom as I, an imposter wearing her face, tried my best to pass as her. She had all that time to watch me, study my weaknesses, and devise a plan to take her life back.
From across the street, I watched as she took in one last big breath, smelling the fresh air and appreciating the world she had once taken for granted. She slowly exhaled before walking confidently back into her house and locking me out for good.
I can’t tell you how frustrated I am that this one didn’t work out for me. I thought for sure that I had killed Melody before I had replaced her. I thought for sure that I was going to get to live in her place forever. I won’t make the same mistake again. Next time, I will make sure the person I am replacing is actually dead.
I know most of you reading this will probably think I’m just a normal person making this story up to scare you. I was counting on that. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that there are many like me living among you.
To those of you that are like me, please let me know if you have had a similarly frustrating experience. Besides the very obvious mistake I already mentioned, what can I do differently next time? If you have any advice or know anything else I did wrong, please tell me.
I just want to find a nice life and be happy like everyone else. Why does it have to be this difficult?

Sorry for yet another “do I have chs” post, but I’ve been scouring this sub and various online resources for the past couple days trying to determine what is going on with me, and I’ve finally just decided to see if I can get some input from others. For context, I’m 21/m and have been smoking for about 3 years now, pretty much every day, but only at night and at pretty small amounts (mostly just a bowl thru a dry herb vape, sometimes a hit or two off a pen).
3 days ago, I woke up to an awful pain in my guts, something that felt like bad gas. Thinking I just had to go to the bathroom, I walked downstairs, but by the time I reached the toilet I was gagging. Nothing really came up, I was mostly just dry heaving. I felt immediately better afterwards, and decided to go about my day. I got in the shower, and after about 15-20 mins after my first time puking I started feeling crummy again, eventually dry heaving again right after my shower. Felt better, and was able to eat a banana and drink some water before throwing up one last time a couple hours later, this time with a few small chunks. Felt terrible for the rest of the day, and went #2 a couple times during the day as well (very soft, also worth noting it smelled so so bad). During the day I had some minor muscle aches, and ran about 100°F when I took my temp. Went to bed real early, and woke up part way through the night and felt immensely better.
Next day I felt better, had a bit more of an appetite but still felt a little bit off (fever gone luckily). At this point I thought it was a bug, but later that night I took a couple hits off my pen and woke up the next morning feeling kinda gross again. Didn’t puke, but just had hardly any appetite during the day. Didn’t smoke last night and now today I’m feeling a bit better, but still feeling not very hungry and my guts are still a little bubbly.
Obviously hoping it’s not CHS, but after doing research my symptoms seem to align very closely with other people’s experiences. My only doubts are: this appeared suddenly and unexpectedly (I’ve had no prior reactions like this to cannabis), hot showers didn’t help my nausea, and I felt better after throwing up.
Thanks!

Hi, I’ve always had horrible bags under my eyes but for years I suffered from insomnia. After graduating from college and getting to a less stressful point in life where I have stress and anxiety and sleep issues mostly under control I’ve started trying to reduce the bags under my eyes. They have reduced over the past month just by getting better sleep but they are still there, what are some ways I should go about reducing or removing them that won’t break the bank?
Info on me: 24, M, get plenty of sleep, go to gym regularly, get plenty of sun, drink plenty of water, and eat healthy. I use a face wash every morning that has green tea in it.

I have a been in my home almost two years and am recently noticing the indoor humidity is high (60-70%). I'm not sure if this is new or I'm just now noticing it. The house was built in 2016, the HVAC unit is a Carrier 59TN6A that appears to be functionally perfectly (to my untrained eye) other than the humidity level. The AC easily cools the house from 75 to 72 when I get home and goes down to 69 at night. I have a two-story house with one thermostat on the lower level and one on the upper level. I used to keep the upper level set point at 77 but read having big differences between levels could create issues so now I have the upper level set at 74 during the day and 72 at night. I also have a ventilation system built into the HVAC and I recently set that to OFF to see if that helped with humidity at all.
I'm close to calling a local company to come check the system out but wanted to see if there is anything obvious I'm missing before I have someone come out and tell me I'm a dummy. I checked that the fan is set to auto, the filter is new, and I gave the system a once over but didn't see any leaks, dust build up etc. I checked around the house and the attic for signs of any water leaks but didn't find anything and haven't noticed any change in my water usage that would indicate a persistent unseen leak.
I bought a small de-humidifier and have run that which helps a bit but then it seems the AC is just adding the humidity back in? Is there a setting somewhere I'm missing? What should I know or check before calling for service?

I’ve daily used a Breville Barista Touch since 2018 with good results, but slowly grown tired of being a barista every morning. I love coffee, but I’m ready to push the button and have my drink. Yesterday I picked up a Jura E6 and excitedly made my first few drinks. I have to say the drinks were very underwhelming. I noticed right off the bat the espresso to water ratio by default is completely wrong and also the grind was set too coarse. After a little tinkering, it’s better but not great. The Americano setting produces a scalding hot, weak drink. The regular double espresso seems very one dimensional and somewhat bitter. I’m using Illy medium roast beans that I opened today. Is it my current settings? Are illy beans a bad fit for this machine? Hoping someone with more experience could maybe point me in the right direction. I guess I was hoping for hassle free good coffee at the E6 price point.
Thanks I’m advance!

There are of course things in my life that I would love to change, that aren't my ideal. I wish I'd done some major things differently. And I don't know exactly what the future will bring. Financially I'm not set, but I'm also not in any kind of desperate situation. And of course no one can predict what will happen with AI, natural disasters, wars, etc. So there is always a chance and something devistating happening that will change my outlook on life.
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That being said, though, I see so many accounts both here and in other spaces dedicated to non-duality of people who are really quite unhappy, anxious, depressed, etc. Many of the "teachings" or just suggestions seem to come with almost an assumption that you have some deep unhappiness. As I mentioned, there are certainly things that I would have done differently, wish turned out differently, as well as things around uncertainty that I wished were different, but I wouldn't call myself anxious or depressed. I feel like I've more or less accepted the fact that I don't get to craft my life exactly the way I want, or at least at this point (I'm 54), it's way too late to just start over from scratch, and that I just have to be greatful for the many good things that have happened in my life, especially compared to some, and that I can't control how other people feel or act, neither can I control my fate when it comes to health (outside of rudimentary things I'm already doing - nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, sleep, etc.), or wellbeing, given how unpredictable the world is. At least conceptually that's where I am.
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That doesn't mean if something terrible happens I'm suddenly going to be totally equanimous and let it roll off of me like water on a duck's back, I'm sure I'll be quite upset. Part of this quest for me is the idea that I could GET to that place of equanimity, but then I realize that that could just be an escape from things - spiritual bypassing. But I also think understanding my true nature before I die would be pretty damn cool. It certainly apparently can come with some hardships in the process, but seeing reality clearly and not having this background sense of insufficiency, worry, yearning, etc., well, that seems like an attractive thing!
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But sometimes I wonder whether my relatively "priveleged" vantage point means that I'm not the right audience for this type of thing. I'm not desperate. I almost liken this to an avid "hobby" for me, that I could theoretically just drop if I needed to. I am not caught up in negative self-talk all the time, I am a relatively positive person. I do find myself desiring things that I don't want to desire, and I do find myself judging others from time to time in way that I do not like. I catch myself doing both, and have an immediate negative reaction, followed by some "corrective" thoughts - such as "this desire is just a conditioning from being human, it doesn't mean anything more than that." Or, "yes, but this person is doing X because of Y, and so for them it totally makes sense as the right thing to do" (even if initially to me it seems stupid/mean/etc.). But other than those occasional "negative" thoughts, I'm generally pretty ok. I can't complain too much.
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So bringing this back my initial question, is the idea of awakening "appropriate" for someone like me? Is it something that is not going to happen as long as it's not the most important thing? And are my relatively banal reasons for being interested enough for me to pursue and/or acquire it? Or is simply the idea that I'm already doing this just a sign that it is a process that is happening and will continue to unfold regardless of my own doubts?
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It would be nice to hear some perspectives. Thanks!

We just had a plumber come out and do a repair to our sewer line, which had cracked at the foundation. We caught the problem before it caused any damage, thankfully.
Before they got started, the plumber mentioned that the main water line to our house is made of polybutylene (our house was built in 1993). He recommended that we should get it replaced at some point as it is likely to fail. He didn’t mention it beyond that and never pressured us about it. The pipes inside the house are not polybutylene, just the main water line outside from the house to the street.
His crew finished up the sewer line repair this morning. We think they did good work and were very professional. I asked them to give me an estimate for the water line replacement and was quoted $3600.
This estimate seems somewhat high to me. Am I way off base? Should I get a second opinion? Should I just let it ride with the polybutylene pipe? FWIW, our yard is flat with no obstructions between the house and the street (especially now since they had to rip out three large bushes to access the sewer line!) and I’d guess the pipe is 30-40 feet long.
Thanks!

40 moments for Jelle’s 40th

1. The MVP (500m race): Comet’s original race in the 500m that put JMR on the map
2. Dawn of a new era (ML16 Balancing): The one that started it all, Marble League 2016 kicks off with 16 teams making their debut in the very first event, Balancing. The Rojo Rollers would claim the first gold.
3. The Final Four (ML16 Hurdles): In an unbelievable twist of fate, the top 4 teams were the final four teams in Hurdles to decide the title. In perhaps the greatest finish in Marble history, Speedy from the Savage Speeders defeated Yellup from Mellow Yellow to win the inaugural Marble League
4. Momo Oh no (ML17 Collision): Perhaps one of the best known moments, Momomomo collides with a spinner and get sent straight to Wispy losing a chip in the process. Momomomo would sit out the remainder of the ML while Mimo would sub in getting a bronze at High Jump.
5. Foreshadowing? (ML17 Underwater Race): Wospy & Kinnowin having back to back battles in the underwater race, the first having Kinnowin setting a record, the second having Wospy steal the gold for the Midnight Wisps.
6. OOOOOO (ML17 Sand Rally): A two team battle between the fan favorite O’rangers and the defending champs Savage Speeders. With the Speeders knocked out in their heat, the O’rangers needed a podium finish in the final to win the title. They would get it with a silver after a late charge from Starry clinched their second gold.
7. As close as possible (SMR17 R5): The closest finish in a sand race saw Quicksilver defeat Nemo by 0.01 second in a photo for the ages.
8. A controversial finale (SMR17 Final): The last race saw double points amongst a longer track. Season leader Quicksilver DNF’d and Dragon’s Egg runner up finish to H2 Blue with the double points gives them the title.
9. Ice Cold (ML18 E1 Ice Dash): The 2018 ML was a winter edition and the ice Dash kicked it off. Sea from the Oceanics secured the gold in a tight final.
10. For Momomo & Momomomo (ML18 E7 Snow Rally): A late push from Momo in the Snow Rally gives them one of the most memorable golds in Marble history after injuries to two members resulted in Team Momo merging with Team Primary, this medal was the first following the merger.
11. How? (ML18 E8 Snowboard Cross): Sublime from the Limers of all teams makes a rally to secure gold. To date, it remains the Limers only gold medal, a team most commonly associated with trash.
12. An event for the ages (ML18 Ice Hockey): A personal favorite, Ice Hockey was a bloodbath that saw all marbles in action with all the atmosphere of real hockey. Midnight Wisps would defeat the Minty Maniacs in the final.
13. The Midnight Miracle (ML18 Sand Mogul): Ten teams had a chance to win the title coming in. Wispy from the Midnight Wisps would prove to be the Killing Moon and complete the comeback started from the prior event to defeat Whizzy from the Savage Speeders in the final and win the title by one point, the smallest margin to win the title in Marble history.
14. A Marble First (ML19 Funnels): The Speeders won the prior event in the Underwater Race, but combining that with Rapidly winning the funnels made the Savage Speeders the first team to win two golds to start a ML.
15. Records Falling (ML19 Balancing): A Marble League record was broken three different time in this event, first by the Crazy Cat’s Eyes, then the Thunderbolts, and then once again by the Hazers. These three would be the podium.
16. Summer Showdown (ML19 Biathlon): Hop defeats Bonbon in one of the closest finishes in Marble League history.
17. A Dirty Comeback (ML19 Dirt Race): Pinky Toe comes out of nowhere in the final race to win the Dirt Race for the Pinkies first ever gold, the event was also notable for the insane number of DNFs.
18. A Robust Coronation (ML19 Sand Rally): Razzy from the Raspberry Racers did enough to secure the record breaking Marble League season with 216 points and 8 medals, both which stand to this day, by getting bronze to win ML19. The event also saw the Oceanics fans riot with signs saying Noceanics after their dreadful host campaign.
19. A blowout to remember (SMR19 R5): Red Number 3 being the defending champion would take the lead and never look back, winning by a record 8.07 seconds for the sand rally.
20. A New Direction (M1S1 Savage Speedway): Marbula One launches and begins with a photo finish between Starry from Team Galactic defeating Hazy from the Hazers.
21. Rivalry Renewed (M1S1 Momotorway): Balls of Chaos and Team Primary rivalry hits a new high after Clutter holds off Prim at the very end to secure the first wire to wire win.
22. Savage Star (M1S1 Midnight Bay): Needing a win, and some help, Speedy from the Savage Speeders would come back in the race to secure gold and with a poor showing from Hazy, made the Savage Speeders M1 Champions. Speedy would be named MVM.
23. John Oliver sponsors ML20: During the Covid lockdown, sports all over the world shut down. John Oliver saw the opportunity to give fans something to watch and sponsors all of ML20 and donates winnings to food banks. The sponsorship saw an influx of fans.
24. A Minty Comeback (ML20 Funnels): Minty Drizzel was the first marble to enter the final funnel, they would also be the last marble to leave it giving the Minty Maniacs a stunning victory and their second gold in three events.
25. The Reserve (ML20 Hurdles): Razzy sets a record twice (which later got broken by Yellow Eye) but proceeds to get injured at the end of the semis. The Raspberry Racers sub in Ruzzy to go in the final and pulls a massive upset to get gold.
26. Out of the Fog (ML20 Triathlon): The event was one of the best, starting with Momo rallying on Pulsar to advance to the final. That was topped by Foggy’s massive rally in the water for gold.
27. Redemption (ML20 Sand Moguls): The Oceanics end a 27 event drought by getting gold in the Sand Moguls, winning every round.
28. The Miracle in the Waves (ML20 Aquathlon): Although the Midnjght Wisps defeating the Savage Speeders in a photo final was fun, it was nothing compared to the Oceanics rallying on the O’rangers to stun them. It was the start of a massive downfall that saw the O’rangers blow a 35 point lead with three events to go and eventually leading to the Savage Speeders second Marble League title.
29. Yellup is Gone (M1S2 Aquathlon): Yellup would fall off the track altogether, providing one of the best Greg Woods lines.
30. Red Eye ascends (M1S2 Savage Speedway): Really, the entirety of CCE’s S2 could be an entry but it’s hard to ignore a marble making a historic effort to win the title with a gold by over eight seconds while also securing pole and FL points. It ended up being one of five golds for CCE that season en route to a historic title.
31. Battle of Champions (SMR S5 R9): A short race featuring two former champions in Dragon’s Egg and Red Number 3 go head to head with Dragon’s Egg winning by 0.02 seconds.
32. Four Felynia (ML21 Sprint): The record would fall a whopping four times, the last of them being by Green Eye winning gold for the hometown Crazy Cat’s Eyes
33. Here Come the Speeders (ML21 Relay): The Speeders dominate relay, having won it five times. This one was perhaps their best, performing an incredible comeback in the final that saw Greg’s line come to life.
34. A mob for the podium (ML21 Sand Rally): Blue Eye would hold off a large ground of marbles trying to get on the podium. Alpine and Shimmer would come out of that group with medals.
35. A Race of All Time (ML21 Marblocross): ML21 was the best tournament, one that saw 11 teams having a chance to win the Marble League. Implications changed nearly every lap of the whole race and while Minty Fresh won the race, it was Yellup and Mellow Yellow who would come out victorious by getting bronze and securing the title.
36. Solidifying a legacy (M1S3 Mellow Meadows): Red Eye would complete a comeback in the final lap by jumping the bumpers over Clutter marking the first successful last lap overtake to win a race.
37. One Lap Away (M1S3 Mirage Meowtain): Easily the two best teams were the O’rangers & Crazy Cat’s Eyes in S3. The final lap saw Royal pass Red Eye at the start of the lap to steal the title from CCE and hand it to the O’rangers. Had the race been one lap shorter, CCE wins instead.
38. Four in a row (ML22 Sand Rally): Before 2022 the Shining Swarm were known as the ? team being forgettable. This stretch changed that by winning four straight medals in a row, never done before in a single Marble League. The latter saw them hold off Aryp and Bonbon in the SAND. The Shining Swarm would climb from last at one point to 12th before the event stretch began all the way to 2nd at the end.
39. Pinkies defy expectations (ML22 Elimination Race): 2022 cant be written without the surprising domination of the Pinkies. They would win seven medals and secure the title in this event once Galac5th happened. The 13 point margin is the largest in ML history and the unlikely story considering they were dead last in 18, 15th in 19, and failed to qualify in 20 & 21.
40. Zapped (SMR S6 R2): Silver Bolt charges at the home stretch to rally on Slimer by 0.01 seconds. Slimer however would get the last laugh winning the season.

Happy 40th birthday Jelle!

I know they only been open for less than a week but does anybody know how the water temp is around the local pools since we've had some decent weather? I want to take my 5 year old swimming (most likely to Plainview) and just wondering if has warmed up any.

I received three tickets the other day. They were for things money could have prevented, but I’ve been struggling financially for about a year and a half now and they (and the repairs) aren’t gonna be cheap.
I had moved in with two roommates in 2021. Within two weeks of move in they both lost their jobs and did not get another one until we moved out. One of them wasn’t on the lease, brought in by the one other roommate who was, as we had planned to add her during recertification. I couldn’t risk eviction due to non payment or subletting, so had nowhere else I could go or someone to house me, so I had to pay our rent. Rent exceeded my income from my 40+ hours a week job, so I did gig work. Worked on farms, boats, lawn work, anything that didn’t require some sort of intellectual skill set or a resume, as I have no college degree and have only ever worked retail or labor.
Had to get credit cards for cash advances. Credit tanked. Didn’t have money to stay when lease was up, had to get a loan just to afford down payment on a new place with a stranger for a roommate. New roommate was better (but disgusting) but now instead of rent exceeding my income, it’s all my other bills. Medical, credit, the $5k I still owe to a community college I had to drop out of when my parents got divorced. Now I’ve got three traffic tickets and have to juggle either paying those and avoiding taking time off work for court + court fees OR fixing everything on my car that got me the tickets in the first place.
Just moved into another place with my little sister. I have a doctor appointment coming soon to follow up with my ADHD treatment, but my statement is $340 and I’m worried I won’t be seen. I’m overwhelmed. I wish I had made better decisions in terms of friends and standing my ground, wish I’d fixed some of the things on my car sooner and just starved for a few weeks instead. Hindsight being 20/20, I know it’s not worth it to beat myself up and wonder what could have been, but I’m lamenting the fact that I may have turned into the fuck up everyone has always thought me to be.
I already have a full time job but I only get around 32 hours. I was supplementing with instacart but Gig work is a no go until my car is road ready again (I’ve got until July 10th before the court date). Hoping for some sort of serving job that’ll be flexible around my FT. I’m so tired already, I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.
Nobody has to read all of this, I’m just feeling isolated at the moment, as I’m sure everyone in my life is over seeing/hating about me doing poorly. I’m sure it’s gotten old to them at this point. Take care, everyone, I’m going to make an effort to keep above the water today.