Does cvs sell gingerbread house kits

Hi,
I'm currently in a home renovation and I can't go on with it. I see problems everywhere and I can't do it anymore.
We've bought a house in 2021 that needs a lot of renovation work done. We've found asbestos before (had it professionally removed), but the anxiety of the highly probable exposure because we were already living there (it was unbound asbestos, the nastiest kind) is ruining me. The house needs so much work and everything makes me go crazy with anxiety: painting the exterior needs to be done, but there's the fear of lead and dust. I don't dare to break open anything inside the house to renovate, because we might find more asbestos, but we need to replace the kitchen and bathroom.
My wife quit working, so we are barely getting by and can't sell the place and get a different one, because the housing market is slowing down and a lot of the investments haven't made the house worth more, we stand to lose a lot of money (about €40k) if we sell now. I can't hire people to do the work, because we can't pay for it. I'm getting my first child soon, which is beautiful, but the house isn't ready and I'm all over the place.
I so strongly wish I just would've bought a house with less renovation work, but here I am, I feel completely stuck and on top of that I have this health anxiety of the asbestos exposure. My whole work/life balance is suffering, my job is going badly and I'm feeling more depressed each month. I'm thinking about professional help, but I'm unable to afford it now.
I feel incredibly stuck and the pressure because I'm going to be a father is increasing sharply, but all I want to do is hide away.
Does anyone have some advice?

Cross posting with personalfinance to get different opinions.
I’ll try to be brief here while providing detail, but my main question is around how you would handle offloading a home and renovating the new one.
Last year a house in our city came available that we thought would be our dream home, and not necessarily being I love with our old house we jumped on it. We have been lucky in investing in our primary residence over the years, buying and selling at the right moment a couple times. This meant we have a lot of equity in this “dream house”. However for a multitude of reasons we no longer want to live here and want to go back to a more modest home.
About the house - purchased for $810k in august of 2022. Took a 30 year fixed loan @ 5% on $215k, paying ~$1800 a month all in. Equity in theory is around $600k. The market is still fairly strong. Could likely sell for around what we paid for it, maybe a little more, but with realtor fees likely we would take a loss, which we are ok with if it is reasonable. Win some lose some.
Ok time for the question. How would you go about downsizing to a more modest home. Keep in mind the more modest homes likely would require some renovations, which ideally we would not live through while living in the home, but open to the possibility.
Option 1 - put current house on the market. Once sold either try to buy something else right away or rent till the right home comes available and renovations are complete. This is the safest option obviously but I would like to avoid making the family move 2 more times.
Option 2 - get approved for a second mortgage. Once the right modest home is available, purchase with second mortgage and move in. Put current home on the market and hope it sells quickly. If it doesn’t, we would be carrying about $4k-$5k worth of mortgages till it does. This would allow us only to move once but if we needed to renovate we would be living through it.
Option 3 - same as option 2 except we don’t put the current home on the market right away, take a HELOC out and use that cash to finance the renovations on the modest home. Once the project is complete, sell the current home and pay off the outstanding debts. This would be the least obtrusive to the family but that’s a lot of loans and though our income is high, that would stress me out.
Option 4 - something I am not thinking of.
So, how would you suggest going about this?

I’ll try to be brief here while providing detail, but my main question is around how you would handle offloading a home and downsizing.
About us - mid 30’s and married with one kid. Household income $225k in a MCOL city. ~$600k in retirement (Roth, 401k, and brokerage). Absolutely no debt besides the mortgage on the house we want to offload.
Last year a house in our city came available that we thought would be our dream home, and not necessarily being I love with our old house we jumped on it. We have been lucky in investing in our primary residence over the years, buying and selling at the right moment a couple times. This meant we have a lot of equity in this “dream house”. However for a multitude of reasons we no longer want to live here and want to go back to a more modest home.
About the house - purchased for $810k in august of 2022. Took a 30 year fixed loan @ 5% on $215k, paying ~$1800 a month all in. Equity in theory is around $600k. The market is still fairly strong. Could likely sell for around what we paid for it, maybe a little more, but with realtor fees likely we would take a loss, which we are ok with if it is reasonable. Win some lose some.
Ok time for the question. How would you go about downsizing to a more modest home. Keep in mind the more modest homes likely would require some renovations, which ideally we would not live through while living in the home, but open to the possibility.
Option 1 - put current house on the market. Once sold either try to buy something else right away or rent till the right home comes available and renovations are complete. This is the safest option obviously but I would like to avoid making the family more 2 more times.
Option 2 - get approved for a second mortgage. Once the right modest home is available, purchase with second mortgage and move in. Put current home on the market and hope it sells quickly. If it doesn’t, we would be carrying about $4k-$5k worth of mortgages till it does. This would allow us only to move once but if we needed to renovate we would be living through it.
Option 3 - same as option 2 except we don’t put the current home on the market right away, take a HELOC out and use that cash to finance the renovations on the modest home. Once the project is complete, sell the current home and pay off the outstanding debts. This would be the least obtrusive to the family but that’s a lot of loans and though our income is high, that would stress me out.
Option 4 - something I am not thinking of.
So, how would you suggest going about this?
Edit 1 - for clarity on the renovations requirement. Most of the smaller homes in the area we want to be in that are completely renovated would cost more than the equity we are going to pull out of the current home. I am trying to complete this with a paid off home at the end. If we buy a fixer upper and renovate, it would most likely be cheaper than buying an already renovated home

I've got about 45K saved up right now, 20K of which is in a TFSA, the rest in a HISA.This is for a downpayment on a house that I plan to buy in a few years and I'm continuing to contribute.
However, not to be grim but my grandparents are close to their way out and my family will need to pay capital gains on their cottage which I doubt they have the money for.
They were going to sell my grandparents home to pay the gains on the cottage, but I think it's a terrible idea to sell a home out of the family, so I have also been considering keeping this money to pay for the inevitable gains tax for them, and then renting out their home until I've been paid back.
This way we keep the house in the family.Unfortunately to keep my money flexible enough for this option I have to focus on TFSA over FHSA. Does my rationale here make sense?

Spurred by Nathan John's post at the Gene Wolfe Appreciation facebook site, here's a quick morning reflection on a Freud-referencing short story I had always wanted to return to, "Detective of Dreams": https://genewolfe.mla.hcommons.org/2023/05/29/detective-of-dreams/
The first person he visits, Fräulein A, sounds a bit like “New Sun’s” Agia and a bit like Cinderella. No father in the picture, only a mother. She’s poor, works hawking good in a central market place, but seeks to be garbed in all the fancy clothing that appears to allow others to be in the DreamMaster’s fine hall and enjoy his fine company, as if naturally owed it. Trying out a strategy, she wears all the fancy clothing she sells and so by appearance now looks like all the other hall’s guests, but to no avail: she remains seen and spotted out, deemed again and again suspect — the odd one out — and rejected anyway. The DreamMaster — here, the fatherly master of the grand hall — would seem to be perhaps the father who died in her early youth. She might in her dreams have interpreted what she was missing, with all her life in contact with only her mother and her world of dressmaking, was some contact with a father, and that the father was not there for having deemed her unworthy (this is not reasonable as she knows at some level his early death had nothing to do with her, but the text… via the detective’s musings, refers to a perhaps deeper truth that reason by itself can’t divine but that dreams reveal). The dream brings nightmares but it does also bring some fatherly contact: at the very least, the Father notices her, even if only to reject her once again (the dream also reflects that suffering, which in her own life is shown to mean perhaps drawing sympathy towards her — she herself cries thinking of the terribly hard, long-working-hrs lives those who made the dresses she sells must have had — does mean some fatherly remorse over what he must nevertheless be forced to inflict on you). The suitors referenced in the text are rejected because she is seeking engagement with a man who rejected her, not someone who is drawn to her. Repitition-compulsion of past ostensible Fatherly rejection, to perhaps somehow conquer him. The protagonist Green in “There are Doors” has the same compulsion: drawn only to one who rejects him, ostensibly for something being deeply wrong with them that can’t be masked. Just as surface reason is reduced in its efficacy in this text — what Freud and his unconscious did to the Enlightenment man of reason — surface appearance (ego) are mocked by something deep within (id).
Herr R__ sounds a bit like “Long Sun’s” Blood. Started off poor, and again, no father, only a Mother. Fräulein A wore the dresses her mother passed down to her, Herr R__ buys his mother a house and in his dreams, visits a grand house that he says is infested with a spirit of the DreamMaster’s mother. Just like the DreamMaster rejected Fraulein A even as she appeared to look the same as his accepted guests, Herr R__ is rejected — very harshly — by the DreamMaster, even though it would seem he has in abundance what the DreamMaster requires of him: riches. He is not worthy of the DreamMaster no much how much money he makes, for unlike the DreamMaster, who has a pianist’s hands, his proletariat/street background never quite disappears from him, as was the same with Blood and his lingering language expressions learned on the street. Mimicking the harsh rejection he suffers from the Father, he humiliates a servant who owes him a huge amount of money. Thereby to some extent he takes within him — through replicating his action — some sense of the Father that was missing in his life. This is not so much an expression of sin, but unconscious portrayal and criticism of the Father’s manner of interaction. Father is being put on notice.
The Countess is not under the power of the DreamMaster, but has him under her power. Her husband is about to have him shot. There is a sense of culmination through these tales, of rising ability to defeat the DreamMaster. We sensed this in Herr R–‘s tale, when he confronted the DreamMaster, informing him it was possible to make resolution if only he’d accept money from the world he comes from, if only he’d be reasonable rather than pig-headed. There’s a rise in class status. Fraulein A was proletariat. Herr R, once even worse poor, but now risen to be bourgeoise, indeed a factory owner — new wealth aristocracy. And the Countess, solid old-wealth royalty. As if they represent the same patient but sequentially improved, like the members of the Triumverate in “Free, Live Free” are as they through their actions fold more substance into themselves through time, there is perhaps a sense that the DreamMaster senses that his subjects are increasing in their ability to take him on, and rather than find himself defeated, disappears into a sacrifice. He then infuses himself into them all, giving them eternal life, so they might be purchased out of expressing their fury out on him. He, the Father who was not in any of their lives, vanishes from an overt perpetrator — which is what he amounts to in the first two patients’ lives — to becoming a kind of benign presence that infuses rather than refutes you, like Pas did after Echidna sought to take him out. Indeed, there is something of the transition of Typhon-into-Pas operating in this tale with how the DreamMaster changes from hard patriarch into someone subterranean but still powerful.

I bought a barely used, 11 month old X-Pro3 in September 2021 and I loved it. I loved the form, I loved the images it makes, I loved the flip down screen, all good.
After about 6 months I realised the shutter button no longer clicks a second time. There's a click for focus but then the button is simply soft. On electronic shutter, there is zero feedback that you've actually taken an image. It's a pain, I'd miss a shot here or there but, looking online, it didn't appear that this issue affected too many people. A handful of cases. At 5 months out of warranty and no recall, I told myself I'd pay to get it fixed when I find the time. What i did find online was a bunch of people complaining about the sub monitor failing. Greeaat.
Fast forward a year and I've kinda come to terms with the shutter button, working around it and just putting up with it when low and behold the sub monitor konks out. Looking around online again and apparently the main monitor often dies shortly after. There are talks of a class action lawsuit in the US but nothing is really coming of it. Coupled with the news that it's no longer being manufactured and no replacement announced, it kinda feels like a failed experiment.
For the overpriced piece of kit that it is, you'd think that it would be a bit more reliable. I've never dropped it, never gotten it wet. These days it's all photos of my kids and all-too-rare street photography walks. It's pretty disappointing to see the wheels start to fall off on a 2.5 year old camera.
I'll likely pay to get it back to fully functional and sell it for a xt4 or something.
How does everyone else with an xpro3 feel about it's worth and longevity?

Hi, I’m a first time buyer in the West Midlands and i’ve been browsing the market for a while now. Just wondering what peoples opinions are on the saleability of 1 bed properties, specifically terraced houses? i’ve found something i’m interested in and i’ve requested a viewing, just curious to know peoples thoughts and experiences in a 1 bed place on their own and how it was selling the property afterwards as it’s a much smaller target market in comparison to 2/3 bed
This does have a nice sized garden and 2 parking spots too
for context i’m 24 with a career with no dependants and in a short term relationship, buying somewhere on my own has always been a goal of mine
thank you

​
My wife died 7 weeks ago; her ashes will be scattered on her birthday next month. I look forward to giving her the freedom she deserves. She will be scattered along with an old dog of ours and her brother who died recently too.
Meanwhile for me I have realised that I am sure I have grieving to do and flashbacks will come and go I’m not going to wallow anymore.
My wife had cancer in 2017 and survived with an all clear in 2019. Cancer was discovered again in 2022 and after a 10-12 month battle it was over, we lost, but we knew that from the start.
It has come to my realisation that as much love as I had for her, our relationship turned to a great friendship. We were unable to be intimate and that super close connection that we had before was gone. I was her carer and guardian for the last 4 months and sole carer for the last four weeks of her life.
I have also realised that although she physically died in April, her spirit died months ago, her eyes turned grey, she didn’t want to wake up, she told friends and family this frequently. I am able to process this as the fog is starts to lift.
I have a new therapist, switching from a counsellor, and I have realised my trigger words, scared and alone come from my own illness and not from the passing of my wife. Further yes, I may be scared as I wait for results but I am actually not alone. I have friends, good friends who are there when I need them.
I had moved all of her clothes out of sight and put them in the wardrobe soon after her death. I have today cleared that wardrobe and thrown things out, not a tear shed. I was scared of losing any messages on her phone, conversations we had. We had them, they were said. I don’t need to know them verbatim; I will remember the good and bad from them. I have taken the photos, but I will be erasing the phone. I don’t need her voicemail; I know what she sounded like.
I have only a few printed pictures of her on display, we never had photos around the house. I’m not sure I want them up, why are they up? They remind me she has gone; she won’t be forgotten anyway. I honestly think they are up because others expect them to be up.
Deepest sympathy cards, away. I’m keeping them for six months but why, because I’ve been told I’ll see how I feel at the end of the month.
I have experienced anger, anger that she has left her precious things behind, things I have no attachment to. We could have sold or gifted to family while she was well. It’s all just stuff. Now I have to deal with it alone and I will.
I no longer say good morning or goodnight to her, she’s not here.
And finally, I have met someone. I never meant to meet anyone. It’s fantastic, I am alive, we talk, we laugh, we tease, we touch. Nothing more intimate than a short kiss and long hugs. She enjoys my company and I hers. We are at a distance from each other and time is precious with her.
She stated a fantastic thing, sometimes holding on does more damage than letting go. A mantra that I followed but needed reminding of. I am not a hoarder, archivist or keeper of trinkets, my wife was, everything I need is in my head or that of my friends and family. They will remind me of the things I forget, I will remind them of the things I remember.
So here I am 4 hours after writing the above, it’s all done, the wardrobe and the easy things. Just the items of value to list and sell.
I’ve been out the front with the neighbours scattering some wildflower seeds. Two short emotional moments but nothing unbearable. I could have avoided the street, but I faced it.
I’m ready to depart this train..

So, my partner and I are currently living in rented accommodation and are very comfortable where we are, so much so, we would like to buy it but the landlord isn’t currently willing to sell. So we’re planning on staying here until he does decide to sell, my question is: Do you think it’s wise to buy a house to rent in the meantime (not for us to live in, but for us to let to tenants).
We can’t decide because the profit margins are so small with the current rate of mortgages. Our main aim is to build on our savings through rental income and equity and in all likelihood sell when it comes time to buy ‘our home’ All advice welcome

Just like the title says you can claim cryptocurrency for composting at evergreencoin.org/poe. EverGreenCoins or EGC can be bought or sold on a few diffrent markets and have small liquidity pools and peer to peer purchasers to allow you to cash out what you earn.
Please consider claiming crypto for composting, but chances are if you stoped to read this you are either already composting because you care about the environment or are a crypto enthusiasts with a curiosity of how this all actually works back end to add value to this work. I am happy to explain everything both groups may want to know.
Those of you that are already composting most likely want to encourage others to also compost because you know all the amazing environmental benifits of it we are going to quickly review for anyone who doesn't. Composting makes healthy soil that is at least 50% geologically stable carbon. It also reduces green houses gasses by over 3lb of co2e for every 1lb of food scraps composted. Compost is also used to help plants grow faster increasing the rate of carbon capture. So in short composting reduces emissions increases carbon capture and sequesters CO2. We all can and should be composting paying what you earn forward is a great way to encourage a friend to get started.
Caring composters will ask "is crypto bad for the environment?" so lets chat energy consumption and impact. Running an EGC full node has less energy demand for 1 year run time than 1hr of social medias energy demand. You will need to interact with other systems that have their own energy demands and claims of impact. Many claim to have a positive impact on the environment overall but each should be reviewed independently but remember we have several sole purpose coal power plants and use over 1,000,000gallons of water per day to make currency in the US alone so our traditional system is also terrible for the environment.
So how do you claim cryptocurrency for composting is get an EverGreenCoin wallet at evergreencoin.org/wallet what ever wallet you choose will give you an EGC address you can use to receive the coins. Then you will share photos and personal stories of the composting you are doing to evergreencoin.org/poe and will receive coins at the beginning of the next month. Then you can save them, sell them or use them to reward other positive actions.
How does EverGreenCoin and blockchain technology work? Basically the blockchain is a shared saved file of transactions every one can see. EGC is a Proof of Work turned Proof of Stake blockchain. Proof of work uses a more decentralized competition of computing power to reward newly created coins PoW method uses more energy. Proof of Stake uses a more collaborative system that rewards new coins to people saving them in a core node, this system uses less energy but is viewed as more centralized. EGC rewards 7% network rewards annually for saving coins.
The creation of new coin by Proof of Stake is primarily where the coins that the EverGreenCoin Foundation pays out come from. The foundation owns about 3% of the total coin supply that was donated by community members it uses to encourage environmental action. The value of the coins is determined by the community and public market.
If you are still reading you may have an interest in how value is added to the effort to encourage positive environmental action. Participating helps us but there is also a lot of ways you can do that. Encourage friends and family to also claim EverGreenCoins for Environmental works and use the EGC in a local peer to peer market as a value added for a more circular economy. Buy EverGreenCoins on public markets or peer to peer from PoE participants with traditionalcurrencyor in exchange for goods. Save EGC on automated markets to claim EGC and paired asset of your choice over time. Donations made to the 501c3 public charity are tax deductible for US tax payers. There are also a host of corporate sponsored donation generation tools like ebay gives and humblebundle you can utilize. All of these things add value to the community and EGC various ways.
Happy to answer any other questions people may have or go deeper into any of what i have said here.

Hi all, I'm looking for a little guidance here please for chefs who have experience working volume breakfast.
My new store has been purchasing pre diced, boil in bag home fries. Of course I want to get away from this and switch to buying cases of potatoes and prepping batches in house.
I've never done this at this capacity and I'm not entirely sure I can execute it well enough to be reliable and not overly burdensome on the staff and avoid waste.
I understand the potatoes have to be boiled first. Of course I will season during this step with salt and garlic cloves. I read someone adds baking soda to the water to help with the texture during this step. Is that something you'd recommend?
Holding time for parboiled potatoes is 3-4 days. How does your store feel about this? Is there a great quality degradion between days 2 and 4? Volume can be a bit unpredictable as we do offer all you can eat breakfast buffet with the potatoes available every morning. It's not a super busy place, but it can have it's moments.
I'm equally worried about not having enough prepped and also having too much and it going to waste.
Next step to execute. I have a flat top for finishing and also a fryer but would like to avoid having to use it but can if necessary. Currently we only turn it on for dinner service. My question here is what's your recommended procedure for finishing the potatoes to sell. Do you start cooking off a ton early in the morning and then set aside and flash heat to sell? If you do this method and then prepare too much how well do they perform the next day? Or would it be fast enough to just take handfuls from the cambro of boiled patatoes and finish them on the flat top to order? The flattop is a small one so a few orders of pancakes and it's maxed out so I can't really have a huge heaping pile on the edge of it the whole shift, but we can manage a small pile along the side. They are going in to small chafers for the buffet so it's not the most time sentitive execution. Just has to be doable and consistent. We also sell plated breakfast, but could always plate the potatoes from the chafers if that's the more practical way of doing it.
Thanks for your advice and input. I know it's not the most exciting question to need help with, I just want to be introducing the best practices for my staff and offer the best product for our guests.
Much appreciation to you all.

Came across a massive stash of models being sold on a local buy swap sell site and wondering which of these kits could be worth picking up? i was thinking of grabbing anything Tamiya they have but would love some recommendations from anyone with a bit more experience than me.

1. Eduard Superbug 1/48 Limited Edition
   1. Eduard Superbug 1/48 Limited Edition
   2. Eduard Superbug 1/48 Limited Edition
   3. Takom 1/35 2142 M60A1 W/ERA & M9 Bulldozer
   4. Academy AH-60L DAP Black Hawk
   5. Trumpeter 1/35 M1A1/A2 ABRAMS 5in1
   6. Italeri 1/35 Road Block And US Soldiers
   7. Academy 1/48 Mig-21 Mf Soviet Air Force And Export
   8. Academy 1/48 M29A FULCRUM
   9. ITALERI 1/48 A-1H SKYRAIDER
   10. Kora Models MiG-29 Fulcrum A Bulkan
   11. Kora Models MiG-29 Fulcrum A Iranian
   12. MiniArt 1/35 T-55A Late Mod. 1965 w/Interior
   13. Italeri US M113 ACAV
   14. Italeri Tornado Ids (Gulf War) 1/48
   15. Takom 1/35 Soviet ZSU-57-2 2 in 1
   16. Takom 1/35 Russian Medium Tank T-54 B
   17. Takom 1/35 Russian Medium Tank T-54 B
   18. Takom 1/35 Ukraine KrAz-6322 Heavy Truck
   19. Takom 1/35 Ukraine KrAz-6322 Heavy Truck
   20. Takom 2072 1/35 US Medium Tank M47 E/M 2 in 1
   21. Takom 1/35 IDF Medium Tank Tiran-4
   22. Takom 1/35 IDF Medium Tank Tiran-4
   23. Takom 2054 1/35 Iraqi Medium Tank Type 69 II 2 in 1
   24. Takom 2113 1/35 M60A1 w/ERA
   25. Takom 1/35 Russian Medium Tank T-55 A 3in1
   26. ITALERI 1/48 RF-4E PHANTOM II
   27. Italeri 1/35 T-55 Iraqi Army Gulf War 25th Anniversary
   28. Italeri MiG-23 MF/BN Flogger
   29. Italeri MiG-21MF Fishbed
   30. Italeri P-40E/K - Kittyhawk
   31. Italeri M998A1 - Humvee
   32. Italeri 1/35 20 Military Container
   33. Italeri S.A.S. Recon Vehicle "Pink Panther"
   34. Italeri 1/35 Military Light Multirole Vehicle
   35. Italeri 1/35 Lince UN
   36. MINIART 1/35 UKRAINIAN BMR-1 W/KMT-9 37043
   37. MiniArt 37055 SLA Heavy APC-54 w/Interior
   38. MiniArt 36031 1/35 Village House With Base
   39. MiniArt 35543 1/35 North African Ruins
   40. MiniArt 35543 1/35 North African Ruins
   41. MiniArt 37006 1/35 V-54 Engine
   42. MINIART 1/35 V-55 ENGINE 37025
   43. Tamiya 1/35 Israeli M51 Tank
   44. Tamiya 1/35 U.S. M113A2 Desert Version Armoured Personnel Carrier
   45. Tamiya 35071 1/35 US M577 Armored Command Post Vehicle
   46. Tamiya - 1/35 US Medium Tank M4A3E8 Sherman "Easy Eight" Korean War
   47. Tamiya 1/35 S.A.S.Land Rover Pink Panther Truck
   48. HobbyBoss 1/48 F4U-7 Corsair FRENCH NAVY
   49. HobbyBoss 1/48 MiG-17F Fresco C
   50. Hobby Boss 1/48 P-51D Mustang Iv
   51. Bronco CB35092 1/35 M1114 Up-Armoured HA(heavy)Tactical Vehicle
   52. Bronco FB4006 Curtiss P-40C (Hawk 81-A2) AVG "Flying Tigers"
   53. Bronco FB4008 1/48 Curtiss P-40C ’Warhawk’Fighter (US Army Air Force)
   54. Bronco 1/35 YW-701A Armored Command & Control Vehicle(Gulf War)
   55. Academy 1/48 RAF & Export Hawker Hunter F.6/FGA.9
   56. Academy 1/48 Mirage 111C Fighter
   57. Revell 1:35 - BMP-2 03083
   58. ICM 1:35 35006 Afghanistan Taliban Forces
   59. AMT ERTL 1:48 Scale Curtiss P-40N Warhawk
   60. Revell MAN 5t. milgl 4x4 Truck 1/35 P/N: 03049
   61. 1/35 Eastern Express 35131 GAZ-66 Army Truck
   62. Meng Model VS005 VS-005 PICKUP w/ZPU-2
   63. Historic Plastic Models Shenyang J-6/F-6 (MiG-19S)
   64. Rye Field Model RM-5059 T-34/85 Chinese Volunteer
   65. Rye Field Model T-34/122 Egyptian 122 mm Self-Propelled Gun
   66. Meng 1/35 Russian Main Battle Tank T-72B3
   67. Dragon 1/35 SA-9 Gaskin
   68. Revell TPz-1 "Fuchs" A6 ABC
   69. TRUMPETER 00394 1/35 ITALIAN C1 ARIETE MBT WITH UPARMORED

Thanks!!

Hello:)
Does anyone know a good website / store that offers preset-kits to expand the Drum-Kit Library for the MPS-850?
I know drum-tec is selling their so called "Sound Edition" to add new Preset / Custom Kits to the MPS-850 module. But is there any other source besides them where I could get something similar? Doesn't matter if its free or paid service.

Previous Chapter <-> Next Chapter
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“Blessed accessories of all varieties. Come sway fortune in your favor with trinkets blessed by the very own Beucara of the seven jaws of the mystic mother themselves, brought to you all the way from the land of tides Nami-Kuni.” The short old lady announced to bypassers using what little voice she had to try to attract the customer to her miniature stand.
A small huddled-up figure of a boy sat on the adjacent sidewalk with arms wrapped around his head with the sound of sniffing and weeping emitting from him
“Young lady, come here. This necklace blesses one's body with great fertility if you desire-“ She tried to grab the attention of a couple walking nearby, but they passed by her without even granting her a glance.
“Sir, Sir. If you could .…” It was no use. No one cared enough about her simple wares, especially with how old her stand looked. However, the wailing of this kid wasn’t helping either and as a matter of fact, it was starting to get really repetitive.
“Shoo. Get out of here, kid. Loiter around some other stand, before someone comes and kidnaps you. Go scare someone else’s customers off.”
But he paid her no heed, just like the others.
“Tsk. I swear parents these days don’t bother raising their kids themselves-“ She stepped off the wooden crate that she was standing on and grumbled her way toward Zekes to scold him. But stopped in her tracks once she once got a better look at him She took a look at the poor boy, who had curled up into a ball and dug his nails into his arms. His cries screamed of a pitiful state of resentment.
“Are you alright, boy? Are you lost?” She called out to him as she tried to put a hand on his shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off.
This made her flinched for a second. “You got a lot of attitude for such a young man.” She commented tiredly, yet the boy still disregarded her comments.
“Listen, kid. I don’t know what has led you to huddle up all by yourself next to my stand during this busy time of day. But you are scaring off my customers and last time I checked jinn doesn’t grow on trees. So could you kindly step away?” She pleaded, but Zekes stayed resilient in his stubbornness.
She let out a weary sigh. “If I weave your fortune, would that cheer you up enough to stop you from crying at the very least?”
Zekes slowly raised his head revealing a snot-covered face and puffy eyes.
“You can … tell my fortune?” He answered in a nasal tone.
“Something of that sort.” Zekes watched her march back to her stall, struggling to get onto the crate again. He vaguely remembers a story from a book about traveling chosen from an eastern land of beauty and festivals.
“Do you want your future told, or would you rather keep gawking at me?”
“Ah, sorry.” He quickly got on his feet, repulsively wiping off his snoot on his arm as he made way.
“Ugh.” The sound of disgust escaped her. “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to, otherwise you are paying for it.” She warned him before he sat down.
“If I remember correctly, it should be somewhere right here.” She fumbled tirelessly under the table, before thumping a heavy oval object dressed in cloth in front of her, all sitting tightly on a thick cushion. Wiping the sweat off her brows, she unraveled a large glass disk.
The old lady breathed a bit of pride as she presented it to him.
“Bet you have never seen diffusion glass this large before?”
She waited for Zekes’ reaction, but his once emotionally charge face had only a dull expression to give in response.
“So it was all a sham.” He said with disappointment in his eyes.
“Sham?!?” She repeated loudly.
“It is just a fancy-looking diffusion glass. You are just gonna use it to dictate my type of Beucara and start spouting nonsense. You got my hopes up for nothing.” He pouted at the glass disk.
“It is a multipurpose tool, kid. If you doubt me so much feel free to leave any time you want, it is not like I made you pay for this.” She reminded Zekes. ”Now put your hand upon the crystal and concentrate on filling it up with your raw Beucara and spare me of your mockery.”
Zekes didn’t protest, for she did only ask him to stop crying in exchange.
He complyingly put both his hands on the crystal and tried to feel as if little currents of air blew out of his pores. A small amount of dark gaseous fluid crept through the glass like smoke through an amber.
“Ah, that is good. I see you are well-rehearsed in utilizing your Beucara. That should be enough.”
At the base of the cushion, he could barely see a slab of stone with a concave surface, it was perfectly designed to let the glass have the freedom to rotate while it was on top. Skillfully, she balanced the top of the disk with her finger and began spinning it with her other hand. Slowly the dark gas started separating into clouds of 2 different colors, an orange-colored mass and a smaller blue one.
“It appears that you are a quite blessed elemetasis with a bit of sorcesis Beucara. A lil’ master of the elements in the making I see. Not much of a rare combination. Often people with your attributes are able to control and manifest a material, such as fire and wind.” She scoffed.
“I am not a little master of anything.“ He pouted. “Regardless, why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Don’t take it so personally. I have seen many elementosorcesis pull off inhuman feats. A guy I crossed paths with once was able to become invisible by bending light around him. But if you think this is the extent of what I can do then, you ain’t seen a thing, kid!”
She rubbed the palm of her hands together as she murmured a prayer-like verse.
“Bless us with your sight, she whose jaws still ache. When the coastal breeze turned our tint blue, was it not you who weaved our clothes from your mane,? Was it not you who called for grief when the blood of our ephemeral protectors soiled the currents of our streams? Was it not you who taught the blind stars how to shine, so that the moon needn’t to lead the night alone? So who is it if not you that will guide this gentle seedling through the torrents of uncertainty, for it shall surely bear fruit in your great plan by your clairvoyance.”
The tip of her thumb and index finger from both her hands were now aligned against each other with the empty space between them adopting the shape of an oval flower. She gently placed her palms up against the glass just before a bundle of silk-like projections entered the glass. They danced and darted through the two masses inside, like a careful hand knitting a scarf, barely reducing with each emergence as the color quickly shifted from one to another.
“What are they trying to do?” Zekes was dumbfounded.
“This is not what is really important for you. What is important mostly for you is what color they end up tampering your Beucara into.”
“But they look like they are trying to turn it into something.”
“Beucara is shapeless, kid. No mold can redefine its shape, for it will always revert back to its most relaxed form. Just like the pattern of your eyes, the color is also unique to each person. No two beings share the same exact color and behavior of Beucara. Almost as if the strings of fate have already seen through your whole being. Writing your existence through shades our mind can only hope to decipher the nick of.”
“But as the great scholar Axtutan once said: “To guess at a being’s nature is the most essential step to its nurture”.
“That is why my people have dedicated their lives to mastering the art of revealing and interpreting this secret hue, in the hopes of providing ease to those minds whose thoughts agonize for what is to come. Like a shepherd judging if the clouds in the sky proclaim of an incoming storm so that he hastens the flock’s grazing.” She ended by enveloping the disk in the cloth it was packed by. “Now we let it rest for quite a while, then your destiny shall be revealed to you.”
The eyes of the boy in front of her were now gleaming in awe.
“How did you do that? That was so beautiful”
“Hmph.” She scoffed, before declaring proudly. “What else would you have expected? You are looking at an art that has been honed through a thousand years of fine work by the greatest of Sorcesis users.”
“You whispered something right before the squiggly line came out of your hands. Was that how you were able to use your power?”
“Those squiggly lines you are talking about aren’t of my own power. I prayed to the mystic mother to grant me her blessing for nothing more than a moment. It is through the mystic mother’s Beucara that weavers are able to shape the colors. She is the lifeline of all that we hold dear and all that we strive to accomplish. If not for her, our ancestor's refuge after the Great Ascension, Nami-Kuni would have never come into existence. And for that, we are in eternal gratitude, so the least we can do is chant our personal prayer.”
“You really hold that lady in such a high place. She must have helped a lot of people. Can you teach me how to do that thing with the squiggles? Please. Pretty please.” He begged.
“Sorry, can’t.” She made sure the glass was wholly covered in the cloth.
“Come on, why? I promise not to bother you again. I really do mean it this time. So please just teach me, please.”
“Sorry, kid. I won’t budge on this. So let go of it already.”
“Well then. I refuse to leave you alone till you teach me how.”
Zekes crossed his arms in protest as he pouted.
The boy was as stubborn as they come. His face was clearly soft and his hands were still smooth. The signs of an easygoing life, the life most kids are fortunate enough to live, but this one had clearly gone a level deeper as his entitlement spelled out how spoiled he was. A subject of unconditional love, which one could not blame him for embracing. But it had the unforeseen side-effect of denying him from learning how to take no for an answer.
A bothersome sigh escaped her.
“You can’t get everything you want in life, kid. Fate has given each of us our own share of capabilities. Just like how I can’t easily make a fortune by blessing items like those damned Aurasis users, you also don’t have the right attribute to do fortune weaving, even if you did only those personally blessed by the mystic mother are able to borrow from her powers.”
“But … I also have sorcesis Beucara in me. Y-you saw it, didn’t you?”
“Sorry, kid. But it ain’t enough to do you any good here. You must at least primarily be a sorcesis to have the knack for it.”
“This isn’t fair. I want to become stronger. I need to become stronger. If I can’t become better, then it will be so long before I can see his uncle again.” This train of thought was the result of his sorrows from feeling abandoned by his uncle. The truth is Rafik’s words managed to lodge themselves deep within his heart because, despite his childishness, a part of him knew that the reason his uncle sent him to Arobolus with Rafik was to become stronger and learn from him. So if that was all he needed to do, then he had to become strong as fast as he could, so that he could show his uncle that he was worth something.
“Don’t sulk on it for too long. Just because you didn’t have your luck with this method, it doesn’t mean there isn’t something out there more suited for your Beucara. You know they have a saying in Nami-Kuni: “If the Kunji vines bloomed every season, it would lessen from the beauty of spring.”
Zekes lowered his gaze visibly trying to make sense of what she quoted.
“What it means is that if everyone was able to weave their fortune, then fortune weaving wouldn’t be so valuable anymore. But the fact that we are different makes it so that can accomplish feats that would be nigh impossible for anyone else.”
“But my Beucara isn’t really something that can tell the future or cure people of illness by a few fancy punches. I don’t have the potential to become strong. All I can do is open up little rifts and run-” Suddenly he cut himself off, remembering his uncle’s words of caution.
“Hmph. If that is what this is about then …” She pointed behind him.
In the middle of the bazaar stood a well-built man wearing a baggy sharwal and a sleeves grey shirt imbued with red patterns. The man’s feet danced around elegantly as two long sticks with both ends on fire spun between his gloved hands. The crowd around him cheered as he threw the sticks in the air and spat fire from his mouth like a furnace, right before jumping through the same fire he spat fire and caught both his sticks mid-air in an extraordinary show of athleticism. He was one of the street performers Zekes was looking forward to seeing. It seemed like he had failed to notice that one was performing was only a few stands away from him while he was in the depth of despair.
“How did he do that?” He asked without even shifting his eyes from the performer.
“Years of practice and unwavering will, that’s how. That kid is the youngest of a lineage of ignis dancers, not as old of a tradition as us fortune weavers, but old enough that one could say they are the progenitors of their art of flame manipulation.”
“Huh, so lucky to be blessed with such a talented bloodline of ignis dancers. Not so lucky for me.” Zekes disappointedly sighed as he rested his head between his arms.
“Well, he most definitely did inherit the passion for it, but the ability to perform it, not so much."
Zekes looked back with a raised eyebrow.
“But how? He can clearly do all the jumps and stuff?”
“Tell me, what do you think it takes for one to be able to become an ignis dancer?”
“Huh?!? …. Hmm, let's see.” He ruminated intently while observing the ignis dancer perform. “Well, you would surely need to be able to breathe fire … oh, and having strong legs would really help.” He answered, eagerly waiting to see if he had answered correctly.
“Yes, one would need to be able to control fire and have “strong legs”, but more importantly he must be able to be one with the fire.”
“Be one with the fire?” He repeated after her the moment she explained.
“Don’t interrupt me in the middle of my sentence, kid.” She was quick to scold him. “To be one with something is for both of you to be able to accept each other without bringing harm to one another. It is an essential rule that is important for anything that wants to be whole and content. Just like how a sculptor must make sure the edge of the chisel he uses is only pointed towards the rock he is carving, lest he carves himself into the very same sculpture he was sculpting.”
She gave a pause to let Zekes digest her words.
“The boy was born with a defect that let the very fire he produced burn its maker. An omen that could only spell the end of this longstanding tradition with him. A curse almost as if made by design to mockingly leave him by a hair's breadth reach of attaining his one desire. He was ready to give his soul and body to the flames, yet they only rejected his touch.”
“A word of wisdom for you, youngling. I have studied the shades of fate for decades on end. Many say that fate is blind to pleasures and agony or that fate favors the virtuous, but from what I have seen it has a taste for ....” She leaned forwards to whisper the last word to him. “IRONY. If cruelty was an art, his birth would be but one of many punchlines. If people can laugh at the face of fate, then it is only expected for fate to laugh back at them.”
“And yet … he performs! Look at him!” She declared in amazement.
“Tell me what else do you see when you look at him.”
“But I have already-“
“Look, boy. Look!” She insisted. “Ignore your presumptions and see beyond the facade of an easy life.”
He complyingly observed with his eyes squinted in search of the core of this tremendous showmanship. Just in a matter of seconds, he was able to make an obvious sign that he had previously missed somehow.
“His mouth and jaw … they are as red as molten steel.”
“Right, right. Now look closer. Look at his arms.” She pointed.
“They seem … tight as if the skin has been stretched out. They must have been burned.” He deduced smiling back at her from feeling a sense of accomplishment at noticing such an unfortunate thing. The old lady’s slow nod confirmed his suspicions, making him change into a more appropriate sad expression.
“Scars can hold more stories than words and this boy’s burn marks are not much different. Days and nights, his family pleaded with him to abandon his risky endeavor. They used their connections to offer him effortless jobs, many beautiful women’s hands in engagement, and many more happy outcomes just to get him to quit. But he held on like a she-wolf holding onto the scarce meat she managed to scavenge for her cubs. Though his family loved him dearly they could not allow him to throw away his life in pursuit of the unattainable. So they came to me in hopes that if he saw his future, it would put reason into him. And though I was reluctant at first, when I saw a light kindling from his heart to his eyes I knew that even if he were to see his own self turn to crisps right in front of him his will would still refuse to waver.
“I pitied the kid’s burning desire, but also empathized with the parent’s worry.” She paused. “… because the joy of their children is the fruit of all hardships they are willing to endure. And to stand idle as this fruit rots is a sin against one’s purpose and existence, such actis only committed by the most selfish and the least shameful.” Her eyes seemed teary and her words sounded burdened. “As a mother, I could not let the situation stay the same as it had presented itself to me, but it is hard to change the mind of those who come to you with a sense of desire. But thankfully I needn’t do that cause when two people desire the same thing, a compromise can always be made as long as they are both satisfied. And what they both wanted was for him to have a long-lived happy life, and the only thing impeding between them was doubt, the weed that I had to uproot to let the sprout flourish.”
“I accepted to read the boy’s fate, but only with two conditions in mind. First, they had to understand that to question the strings of fate is to refute the very sacrality of the art itself, an act of disrespect against the Mystic mother. Naturally, they agreed, but when I told them that my second term was for them to support the boy in his aspirations no matter the outcome, they lashed out at me, calling me all kinds of slurs and profanities. I was quick to remind them of my first condition and how whether he is to be relieved or ruined is not for any of us to decide, but what he thinks of his family at the end of his life can be changed. Of course, it did little to appease them and as they were about to leave, the boy did something even I couldn’t have foreseen. He stepped in to make his own terms. He reasoned that if they were to see he would vanquish to the flames, he would happily retire from ignis dancing and live the rest of his life in accord to his parent’s wish. Otherwise, they would have to let him do as he wishes. The boy had been resilient on only becoming an ignis dancer up till now, so why the sudden change of mind, I thought to myself.”
The bickering stopped when his parent’s temper seemed to ease up to the proposal. They agreed thinking there was nothing to lose. I thought about advising him to reconsider and coming back another time, but I knew he wouldn’t have made such a risky gamble if he hadn’t already set his mind on it. I did what only I could do then and put his future in fate’s hands. You could imagine our surprise when the weaving read as someone greatly favored by fate, emitting a color keener to an exceptionally talented hunter than a prey of the hunt. The mark for a soul to thrive beyond its primal circumstance. It was a color far too grand and unusual for someone who wanted to participate in the endeavor of showmanship.
“After that, the boy silently walked away from my stall, while father wanted to curse me knowing that what I had told him would only encourage him to continue if not push him to live more recklessly, yet he had surprisingly chosen not to as to respect our arrangement, so they quickly paid their due and left.”
“It was not an atypical outcome to see for us fate weavers. Nothing feels worse than losing all the work you had put in by only a few words, but I hoped that I at least gave them the comfort that their kid wasn’t gonna get himself killed.”
“Later the boy came back to me alone, apologizing for his family’s behavior, offering to pay me from his own savings as reconciliation. Of course, I refused and reminded him how now that it was certain for him to become a great ignis dancer there are better things he can spend it on than an old woman selling charms in the middle of the street.” Despite his insistence, I only took no for an answer. He then promised me that he would pray to the gods for the longevity of me and my descendent as long as he can bear flames. Lately, he had begun to become indecisive as everyone around him suffocated him with doubtful remarks, he confessed to me. He had only wanted to spread the happiness that had once received from seeing other artists perform. But seeing how I fought for him, despite there being so little reason to, finally gave him the bit of courage he needed to properly stand up for himself.”
“Now even after years of trials and tribulations, even though he still makes mistakes, he had not missed a single day to show up to perform in ‘his favorite spot’.” She satirically expressed. “The surface of his hands had deformed into a leather-like hide, leaving them with the mobility of a crab’s claw. Yet when he conceals his deformity, but he does not do so out of shame, rather to keep his hands as an instrument of joy. For he knows that he must keep up the illusion of an easy hardship to ease the hearts of his admirers. He hides his weakness as to become their strength.” She monologued. “Those are the hidden signs of true strength. It looks easy because you had never felt the fire scorch against your skin. I bet, even now, whenever a sweat dribbles down his arm, it is from his fears weeping for him to cave into what is sensible. But his very being rejects it as if it could not have lived any other way. His core of strength was not gifted to him but shaped by his very own hands like a river carving the rigid stone to what its currents are at ease with the most. Just so that he can be that last candle that still holds the dim flame even in the darkness of the night.”
“In a sense, every other ignis dancer danced in the flames. But him,” She scoffed. ”he manipulates the temper of the flames as he barely lets them reach him like a gentle hand striking the sharp strings of a Shamisen to produce its dreamy sounds, making him the only one who truly dances with the flames.”
She took in a deep breath as she finalized her story, letting the sound of the noisy bazaar take over the narrative once more.
“So … what was the point of the story.”
“The POINT is that everyone has the potential, but it is the consistent drive to improve that separates those who protect from those who need to be protected. Only the tallest plants thrive, while those under survive. But if you asked me about it, you could do yourself a great favor by stopping this pursuit of power altogether. You are just a kid after all and all that power accomplishes is giving you more things to burden your life with. It won’t lead you to what you desire. I stopped seeking it long ago even though I was ever so close to becoming one of the seven jaws of the Mystic mother and despite all, there hasn’t been a sour thought about it in my mind ever since.”
The wooden crate creaked below her as she readjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position. Zekes silently stared at the feeble old woman in front of him who was struggling to crack her back.
“Hmmm … what are you gawking at?” She caught him.
“No-nothing,” he averted his gaze. “… but I mean … you are saying that you were once powerful enough to become one of the jaws of the Mystic mother. … I am not really sure how strong they are, but from the way you talked about them, they sound like a pretty big deal. And I mean ….” He hesitantly eluded.
“Huuuuhhhh. So now you doubt my honesty? Shameless I say, shameless!” She let out a regrettable sigh. “But I cannot blame you for having such an impression of me. I have long forsaken the potential I once had and now I only remain as a rusty tool, made to use only due to convenience. … just barely sufficient enough to get the job done …. a sad old woman that leaves behind a legacy of minor acts of kindness in people’s subconscious.”
Seeing how his unneeded question ended up burdening her heart made Zekes feel guilty inside.`
“I am sorry for making think such bad things. I was only trying to think how I can get back to my uncle.” He lowered his gaze in shame.
“You have too gentle of a heart for the things you desire. I was merely reflecting on myself. All that I have done was of my own devices, so save your pity for those whom it can help.”
He lifted his head to the sound of her scouring through her pockets.
“There it is.” She cried out before producing a small stack of colorful light crystal panels with their ends attached to each other by a piece of string. The crystals dangled down from her hand revealing a collection of pictures. She pointed towards one containing a well-built lady with a thick white braid holding a bundle of fibers in her palms.
“That’s me back when I was still perfecting my weaving, in order to be admitted as an official fortune weaver.” She then pointed to the one below it. It was of a plaza with many waterways running in between, decorated with flowers and flags and filled with colorful tents that people gathered in. “This is the kunji blossoms festival, where we give to the less fortunate, in order to pass on the kindness the Mystic mother has shown us. It is also required for fortune weaver initiates to practice on passersby as to strengthen their connection and control of the blessing.”
Zekes’ eyes were gleaming with fascination. He only had a vague idea of what Nami-Kuni was like from years of reading through his uncle’s library, but it was the first time he had seen Nami-Kuni itself. Part of him wished that he could have appeared there at the snap of a finger.
“It looks … so different.” He struggled to find the right words.
“Different is one way to describe it. Every year for seven days, people would take up to the streets and sing folklore songs of the great heroes whose lives were forfeited protecting the land and waters of Nami-Kuni. The beautiful melody of the Shamisen would echo throughout every house and temple, while the needle-beaked lillas listened to every stroke of the string so that they could sing it back to people weeks after the festival was concluded. The smell of pastries would overcome the smell of the fresh dirt for the first three days as the bakeries would lay out the soyan root pats that they had been tirelessly growing for the last two months. Oh, what a pleasure it is for the mouth. Sweet and stringy. Made from the soyan bean’s sweet roots. Dried and boiled til the honey-like nectar spewed out and then hardened into a delicate glass-like brittle stone that just dissolved in your saliva.”
Zekes’ mouth dribbled before she even finished her sentence. The steamed milk buns he had prior, now felt more like stale bread compared to the soyan root pats she was describing.
“So to say it is different is to do it injustice. It was the life many aspire to live. So you could imagine my disappointment in having to work in a colorless city like this with the personality of a dead weed.” She exclaimed out of frustration, but no one paid her any attention.
​
Previous Chapter <-> Next Chapter

My father (75M) gave me (30F) his entire estate. Everything was willed to me only, leaving out my 5 siblings. They aren’t happy about this, and are demanding I split equally as it’s what “dad would have wanted”. I have been made out to be a greedy villain to our extended family as they post on Facebook about it constantly.
I am the youngest child of 6 and I have been financially caring for my father for over 7 years now. I also care for an older disabled sibling (32M).
My father was very fortunate to own a house, multiple vehicles, and a decent life insurance payout. I was on the deed to the house prior to his passing. The total inheritance for me was around $500k in the house, $60k across a couple vehicles, and $200k for his insurance policy (20k was used to cover funeral expenses).
It was mere hours after he passed when my siblings began asking about who would get a certain vehicle. My oldest sister also talked about fixing up a few things in the house and putting it on the market to sell a little after. They had no idea I was even on the deed for years. The 4 siblings upset do not live near us, 2 didn’t come to the funeral, and they all only visit about once every year for a couple days.
I was aware the entire time that I would get everything. It had been this way in our family since I was in my 20s. I still have paperwork from previous life insurance plans that lists me as the payout. My father believed me to be the most responsible, that I would also care for my disabled brother after he was gone. They were quite upset to see I’ve known this for years and didn’t mention anything.
I’ve turned to my disabled brother for support, but he can’t really comprehend what’s going on nor does he care.
They’re reached out to lawyers but mine says everything is pretty solid since I have immense amount of documentation to show this was his decision for almost a decade. However, I feel like I’ll ruin my family if I keep it to myself.
I own a small business and I make a decent living myself so I’ve paid my dads expenses (utilities, phone, etc) for years and allowed him to pay his debts instead. I don’t see why I should have to share with family members who were never around nor did anything for him. I’ve sacrificed relationships, having children, etc.. to care for my dad. He’s been my #1 my whole life.

Begin with a thesis statement.
This still applies to smaller scale adventures. This is your guiding star as the GM, your vision, your touchstone, the root of your interest and the reason you are willing to invest years of (possibly literal) sweat and tears into a campaign. It will get you through slumps, serve as inspiration, and permeate every aspect of your campaign, every encounter and houserule and map, such that your players can feel it. After reading OotA I sat down and wrote “I want a tragic, character-focused narrative about how extreme challenges in an alien environment warp people.” I seldom succeeded (and struggled a lot against the mechanics¹⁾ but the times when I did every player noted it as a highlight or point of interest in the campaign.
Taglines have a profound effect with little investment.
Some GMs use music, others have a specific phrase to begin the session. Ideally whatever it is evokes your thesis statement. Taglines serve as a moment for both players and GM to center themselves and become present within the fictional world. Several years later the words “When we last left our intrepid adventurers…” can turn me into Cesare Trillibain, a soul lost in Barovia trying to find his sister. I hope “The caves wind before you, and the darkness closes in around you…” has a similar effect for my OotA players.
Logic puzzles can represent abstract concepts the game has no good mechanical framework for.
This is not a broad solution, but it can be another tool in the GM’s kit which also adds variety.
Rolling a series of skill checks to chase down a derro is not engaging. You don’t want the derro to succeed so the end is the foregone conclusion to a binary pass/fail roll. Posting a chess puzzle to capture the king will be engaging to at least some of your players, and fun to construct a narrative around when the paladin character (knight) bowls over a bystander (captures a pawn).
Logic puzzles also require no knowledge players may not have (the infamous ‘think like the GM’ moments). If the GM can solve it in 5-10 minutes the table will reliably brute force it in 15-30. Posting a japanese logic puzzle without instructions and describing what lights up creates engagement through verisimilitude and collaboration.
D&D is literally just a cool monster and a cool map.
I was scooped by Matt Colville. Yes, aspiring GMs, it really is that simple. There are a number of nuances to what can make a combat ‘good’ (meaningful stakes^1, alternative objectives or limitations, threat level variety, tactical variety, unique abilities, environmental synergy, visual/auditory cover, environmental hazards, atmospheric set pieces, triggered buffs/debuffs, environmental changes, additional participants, dynamic developments) but ultimately every session of D&D is just a map and a monster (a dungeon and a dragon, even) and any narrative glue the GM can squirt between them.
I am done with D&D.
It has difficulty telling compelling¹ stories. I believe RPGs are art. I believe they have the ability to let us explore the human experience. I believe they are capable of so much more than a tactical simulacra of violence. I want a framework which can support this vision. D&D simply does not.
1) See attached essay on my personal thoughts about D&D’s inability to create meaningful stakes, and by extension compelling narratives, through its lack of support for roleplay and emotional or social mechanics. This is not intended as an indictment of D&D 5E, a takedown piece, or a sermon on the benefits of other systems. This is my attempt to philosophically work through my personal dissatisfactions with the campaign in the hopes of creating something more aligned with my ideals whenever I next GM.
A power fantasy may be enjoyable, but it’s not compelling. A compelling narrative is one where there are relatable, applicable, or impactful stakes, and even with the availability of situational details there remains an uncertainty in the outcome. D&D is sorely lacking in its ability to generate emotional relatability, uncertainty and risk, diverse and meaningful stakes for players, or supporting GMs in this endeavor.
Of the pieces of Maslow’s hierarchy which can be mapped to in-game concepts, Physical Health is the only one with any sort of in-game representation, and even then it is still a poor approximation. Fundamentally if players were truly challenged with a more combat-as-war 50% lethality rate rather than D&D’s current combat-as-sport 5% lethality rate and disincentivised fleeing mechanics it would be impossible to carry on a campaigns as they are written with their assumptions of heroic narrative model and continuity of character experience. People outside of fiction rarely resort to violence because it carries a high risk of physical danger or cost in the form of physical injury. Not even the addition of multiple house-rules (ie slow healing, exhausting DSTs) can’t undo the abundance of spells (goodberry, healing word), abilities, and equipment designed to negate challenges to physical health or needs. Additionally there is the psychological disconnect caused by our inability to feel our character’s pain, or have a mechanical representation of the psychological cost for said pain, so combat ceases to have the aforementioned relatable, applicable, or impactful stakes.
The argument may be made that needs such as food, shelter, and rest are not resources worth tracking as their minutiae are not worth the narrative interest they generate. OSR systems do tend to generate their narrative interest from focusing on these needs, but through largely incidental effects. “How much gold can I physically carry back?” can be a compelling question if the impetus for obtaining that gold has relatable, applicable, or impactful stakes. However, D&D, and most other RPGs, offer no guidance or structure for creating or representing such stakes.
In theory, roleplaying games should excel at providing threats to a character’s social or emotional security. Human beings understand intuitively and viscerally what being shunned by a community feels like, or having their trust betrayed, or being exhausted by a myriad of requests and expectations, so theoretically no mechanical support or representation is necessary; however, that relies on the player being able to authentically represent their character regardless of the disparity between the character’s characterization and the player’s ability to emulate that characterization. This level of empathy comes with no GM guidance or mechanical emotional guard rails (such as abstraction) against player over-investiture and real emotional harm. This lack of framework also places an immense load on the GM to construct from whole cloth a situation (supported by an entire narrative world) which can challenge the social, emotional, or esteem needs of the character.
If it sounds absurd to desire a framework for generating socially dramatic narratives, consider how a compelling narrative also contains the implicit promise of catharsis where the revealed outcome conforms to all details both hidden and available. Inexperienced GMs may 'railroad' a defined end, while seasoned GMs have learned to accept any outcome which meets the details. Authors do have many tools for narrative frameworks (three act structure, two body plots) to guide themselves along this path of details, and video game developers likewise (FPSs, Idlers, Roguelikes). While it is reasonable to say that D&D in particular cannot or should not be all things to all people, if the consistently memorable portions of any RPG campaign are the moments of dramatic tension created in the space between a map-monster routine it is worth critically examining if it is meaningfully contributing to the experience we wish to have.

Timestamps of everything.
I will link most items to a retail page so you look at it to get any info on it you need. Feel free to make an offer on any item below. I will give discounts on bundles. Great discount if you just buy it all, I really don't need this stuff sitting around.
Radiators have been flushed with distilled water.
Minimum $10 order for shipping
Buy it all for $500 ($714 Value by my very fair pricing)
Comment before PM.
local is 35040
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Barrow Gold Soft fittings x5	$3/pc	Barrow Soft tube
Barrow Gold 90 x2	$4/pc	Gold 90
Bitspower Rigid 12mm fittings x12	$3/pc	Bitspower Rigid
EK Torque 90 Rotary, Black Nickel x4	$6/pc	EK 90
Black Soft Fittings x4	$2/pc	Dont remember what brand they are. They were in my loop until i swapped. They work fine with copper rads
Black 90s x7	$3/pc	Same as above
180 PCIe adapter, Used with EVGA 3080ti	$8 all three	180 PCIe
Dierya Keyboard Sold to u/ActuatorAccurate3740	$25	Keyboard Bought this on a whim. Used it for about 6 months to log in to my pc and sell stuff on reddit. I never had an issue with it.
Arctic Bionix P120	$15	Bionix
Arctic P14 RGB x3	$15/pc	P14 RGB
Arctic P12 PWM w/PST x14	$6/pc	Budget Kings
Silent Wings 4 PWM 120mm High-Speed x6	$20/pc	Amazing Fans Comes with all the original parts. No original boxes
Lian Li & Silent Wings 2 140mm fans x2 & x2	$5/pc	Pulled the Lian Lis from a case, bought the SW2 from a sale.
Black Ice Nemesis 360GTS x3	$40/pc	2 come in original packaging 1 without. 360
Black Ice Nemesis 240GTS	$20	Has a dent in the top from shipping. it does not effect function in any way that I could notice
Black Ice Nemesis 120GTS	$20	Normal used condition. no significant damage to fins
Byski Asrock 6900XT OC Formula waterblock	$50	Byski
Corsair Hardline Kit	$25	Hardline Kit%20%7C%20BVI&utm_term=4587643556468892&utm_content=Ad%20group%20%231)
Corsair XC7 CPU Block	$25	No original box but all original parts. XC7
Phanteks RGB Starter Kit Sold to u/ActuatorAccurate3740	$20	RGB Kit Missing manual controller. Works better plugged into mobo port anyway
BeQuiet! M.2 Cooler Sold to u/ActuatorAccurate3740	$5	NIB ended up not using it.

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Partner and I are FTHBs - we're both 30 and make about $150k a year combined. Our only debt is a $449 per month car payment (it's only got about 18 more months left on it at a 0% APR). We've got about $20k saved up for a down payment with 750 credit scores.
We live in the Denver area (we'd leave, but our parents aren't in great health, so we need to stay close by.) We both grew up pretty poor. So we don't have parents or grandparents that can gift us any down payment money. We're doing this all on our own.
We've been rejected on ever single offer we've made for various reasons - lower offers with larger down payments, other buyers offering $40k - $70k over asking, houses scooped up by cash buyers and investors, etc.
Today we were so close... But the sellers didn't want to risk selling to a FTHB.
Are FTHBs really that risky? Even when they're using a conventional loan that's already been underwritten and the rate is locked in? Does our $20k down payment make us look too risky to sell to? We are feeling so bummed and so defeated.

Hey guys so we are mid-way through taking a Padi open water diving course in Ecuador.
The whole thing is a bit of a hilarious mess of screwed up equipment and poor training.
I am gonna run through our experience for two reasons:

1. I genuinely want to know what should be in a Padi Open Water course and what everyone else does in theirs
   
2. So you can get a laugh out of how terrible it all is over here
   

This cost the same as all the other shops selling courses in this area and it was $340 PP (Asked 5 tour shops) so I’m not holding back on them. Their charging full-European rates on this and giving a shit service.
Day 1
We meet our “English Speaking” instructor. Barely any English he just nods at everything. At one point I asked if we were taking a Tuk Tuk to the pool. He responded with yes, thank you I love to teach diving it is my passion.
We watch a 1 hour video on the TV and he says yeah that’s enough the rest is not so important. My partner has a cold so we insist with some debate that she will not do the course (As the video said).
Move on to the pool and do some drills. Take jacket off and replace, swap breathing tool with dive buddy, use reserve breather etc.
Most of the kit was leaking air a lot. Rubber protectors broken off and lots of corrosion. If I removed my breathing tool I has to shake and twist it to stop air flowing out. We did 1 dive for about 45 mins and called it a day.
Day 2
Our first open water dive on an island. Boat barley worked and required 5 mins of playing around with a screw driver each time we set off.
Got to the site went to put together my gear and there was a frayed line on the pressure gauge and a leak. Guides said it’s fine. I pointed out another leak and a jamming breathing tool. Got it changed for a new one.
Assembled the kit and got ready to jump in. After a few seconds in the water I say my breathing tool is a bit hard to draw from (usable but annoying) he said switch to the secondary and use that. It’s missing one of the bite pads which was a real pain. No more extras on the boat and did not want to go all the way back.
Okay so I just hold the mask on my way down. Get to the bottom and my dive buddy floats off a bit. I had just finished an exhale and my mouthpiece fell out of the breathing room (We are around 8 meters deep here). So I had no air in my lungs and also no breathing tool.
I tap the guide and point to my reserve (previously main) and he hands it to me. It was a bit out of my reach and I did not have much time to get it as I had not realised the breathing tool was detached from the mouthpiece and got some water in my mouth on an inhale.
I’m fairly stoic so was not freaking out. Between us someone would have given me air but it was my first time in the ocean (ever). I cleared the tool with the button on the back (As I had 0 air) and managed to get a good breathe.
Anyway so he had a spare mouthpiece for my reserve one that he gave me. All good and breathing again. My dive buddy has floated away at this point and he signals to wait here. I wait for about 3-4 mins alone and they return. Had a little browse around and saw my first school of fish (Total time ever with scuba gear now 50 mins including 40 from the pool). We do 2 dives with my dive buddy repeatedly floating off.
We are on the boat talking to the instructor and we go what’s the deepest you’ve gone diving. He replies “The most was 35M because I have not done my advanced divers course yet” SO HE JUST HAS OPEN WATER TRAINING.
The owner of the dive shop is a dive master I believe but he spoke no English and was not diving with us. He will probably go down on the paperwork as the teacher. BTW my Spanish is decent and in the end we were speaking mainly in Spanish anyway. My hope was his English would be a lot better than my Spanish.
Under the water we did stuff like take off and put on jacket. Clear goggles etc. Total about an hour underwater maybe more. Tomorrow we finish off the course.
I did a bit of looking around and it sounds like other people did exams, lots of studying and way more diving but those were from 6 or so years ago. How different is Ecuadorean diving from the rest of the world?
Dive location: Salango Island

Items:
BNIB 7950x3D - $650 USD
Used 5950x - $350 USD
Used MSI X570S Ace Max - $200 USD
2x Used 32Gb (16x2) kits of 4000 CL 16 GSkill Trident Royal Z Silver DDR4 RAM - $125 USD each kit
Willing to bundle all used parts (5950x, X570S, and 64Gb RAM) for $700
Local to 10026 but willing to travel around the boroughs.
Recently upgrade my build to AM5 so I'm selling my old CPU, MOBO, and RAM. Also happened to wind up with one too many 7950x3Ds so I'm selling the spare.
All used parts were in a custom loop. The 5950x briefly had liquid metal on it for a period of a month so etching on the top of the CPU is worn away. Included a BIOS timestamp to confirm the model. I can provide stable PBO CO values for each core if buyer plans to overclock. Highest FCLK I could achieve with 32Gb of RAM was 1900, with all 64Gb of RAM I was capped at 1800. I can also provide stable subtimings for the RAM that I landed upon. Memory is Samsung Bdie that I ran at 1.4v.
Mobo comes with cables and screws but does not include the m.2 PCIe riser card.
Timestamps : https://imgur.com/a/kjn5CiC