I want to bring up a topic for discussion that is rather peripheral to the usual subjects here, but I think it's salient in a way. I'm posting this here, even though there may be more subject-appropriate subs, because I think the discussions happening here span the entire subject realm in a very positive and productive way. This is a long read, but I think it will be worth your time and consideration as a thought experiment.
Many of us are aware of the comet Enki and its role in causing the Younger Dryas and collapse and erasure of any pre-Ice Age civilizations. Around 12000-14000 ago, it began to break up and change its orbit after drawing too near to the sun. Many large fragments from its meteor stream bombarded the northern hemisphere and causes massive tsunami, volcanic and seismic events globally. We still find caves pack with jumbled bones, mud and trees to this day due to the "mud floods", wind storms and ocean waves that it generated.
Let us presume for argument that some of the more robust relics like the Sphinx and other stone ruins survived. I postulate that those may have already been obsolete antiques and ruins even before the impacts, just as the would likely survive another similar catastrophe in the future. So where did the rest of any per-impact high technology go? Even if some portion of those societies went underground and/or off world in time, much would have been left behind in the strata.
Some of course may have been long ago recovered and horded by any number of people - and I would absolutely, without exception, consider any self-aware non-homo sapiens intelligences including sufficiently advanced AI to be people - so if they exist, it would be reasonable to presume there are plenty of incredible relics that have been found, passed down and are now hidden in the hands of various modern government, aristocrats and or non-human entities.
Some would remain recoverable in the present day just due of the size of the planet and our huge current human population, compared to any point in our planet's history. There are now simply more people digging and looking than ever before. Perhaps we are starting to see more of that now, with more average people discovering more and more unusual objects.
But there are forms of technology that are more subtle and likely more centrally located than cities or craft or exotic power plants, even in our own current civilization. This technology generally produces incredible and constant amounts of thermal energy, requiring massive amounts of constant cooling.
This technology is already a critical linchpin of our world right now. If it were to fail, we would be plunged backwards in incalculable ways, perhaps by hundreds of years. Of course, currently we distribute that technology all over the world, in different forms, formats and vintages, using a wide range of materials and implementations. That wide and diffuse distribution makes it incredibly robust to even the worst kinds of disasters and may be ultimately our saving grace, should such an event ever occur again.
Perhaps we should thank our innate practicality and hyper-independence for that. We allow our technologies to evolve in a heterogeneous manner and are not quick to abandon the old as we integrate the new. We thankfully are less obsessed with perfection than we once were as a species, as we have learned that the entire concept if perfectionism is truly a poison and ultimately the enemy of anything that is good. In my opinion, for any being or civilization, Profection is the ultimate and eternal goal, while Perfection is nothing more than a dead-end death-trap that is typically merely used as a weapon by the mighty against the weak for the purpose of control, ego and selfish greed.
Now we are already entering a time when practical considerations such as climate change, resource scarcity, corporate monopoly and political needs are driving this core civilizing technology toward centralized consolidation, homogenization and relocation to a place that is more conducive to those needs. This is already occurring now, with new facilities being built as a type this.
I do not mean nuclear reactors, underground bases, or anything of the sort. I am referring of course to server farms. Our civilization now utterly depends on them in almost every way. They require huge amounts of space, network connectivity and cooling. If they are to be optimized and truly reach their highest capabilities, our society believes they require local stability on every level and must be centralized to keep them neutral and manageable. They are being built well above the arctic circle at an ever-increasing rate. Soon, the antarctic may follow as the southern hemisphere's location of choice. It's quite obvious and rational to build them there. What could go wrong?
But what happens if those regions were to be again bombarded and liquefied by a series of large comet fragments and then their remnants buried and ground to muddy paste under billions of tons of glacier ice in the aftermath? What would future humans find if we were to search those areas now? Would we find useful metals, exotic composites and functional remnants? Could any of those facilities, systems and/or their associated administrative AI or very limited on-site organic staff members survive?
Now, of course such a comet strike likely could have been prevented by an advanced space-faring civilization, but what if they had instead put their entire attention on other forms of travel and development earlier in their develpment that allowed them to neglect more "primitive' kinetic and mechanical forms of technology? What if achiving world unity as a singular coherent civilization allowed them to begin advanced industrial development as an overly-unified and too-singular whole, rather than a collection of robustly independent rivals and allies? What if through perfected society, consensus and ease, they had already fully centralized all of their technological and industrial base into a single self-administered top-down system. Or what if, for whatever reason, they simply did not try very hard to prevent it, or even simply allowed it to happen, for any number of reasons we can only speculate on?
Perhaps we should continue to keep our server farms local, not be so quick to adopt "thin-client" computer systems, keep our technology heterogeneous and our administrative systems independent and heterodox. Perhaps sometimes efficiency is its own greatest weakness. Perhaps we should continue to explore material science, solawind power and other means to make local computation sustainable and performant, thereby safely rendering mass-centralization both unnecessary and impractical. "Optimization" as a concept requires that all factors be considered, not just economics or administrative convenience. Perhaps “Working from home” isn't just better for the worker, but also for the greater good? Are there other lessons we can draw from this thought experiment?
Just something to ponder.

Link(s) for previous post(s) -

• Prologue

Book 1: Pale

Epigraph 1 - (had to put up the whole thing really; won't be doing this for every epigraph; just the imp. ones)

In the eighth year the Free Cities of Genabackis established contracts with a number of mercenary armies to oppose the Imperium's advance; prominent among these were the Crimson Guard, under the command of Prince K'azz D'Avore (see Volumes III & V); and the Tiste Andii regiments of Moon's Spawn, under the command of Caladan Brood and others.
The forces of the Malazan Empire, commanded by High Fist Dujek Onearm, consisted in that year of the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Armies, as well as legions of Moranth.
In retrospect two observations can be made. The first is that the Moranth alliance of 1156 marked a fundamental change in the science of warfare for the Malazan Imperium, which would prove efficacious in the short term. The second observation worth noting is that the involvement of the sorcerous Tiste Andii of Moon's Spawn represented the beginning of the continent's Sorcery Enfilade, with devastating consequences.

All this seems intimidating to say the least!
Epigraph 2 - About a mother lamenting for her boy (it seems), who's now a young soldier, but who's not yet seen what war is about ("bright heart not yet cooled to hard iron"). Is this close to what it's depicting, or...?

Chapter 1

• 1161st year of Burn’s Sleep; 103rd year of the Malazan Empire; 7th year of Empress Laseen’s Rule.

QUICK RECAP

• 7 years since the events of the Prologue.
• Laseen is now the Empress, and the Empire is ever spreading under her rule.
• An old witch, Rigga [1st app.] is alongside a young fisher girl (unnamed) on Itko Kan, watching on as a Regiment of soldiers pass them by.
• The witch is speaking about some prophesies concerning the girl, but the latter is seemingly uninterested. Rigga seems like a cool charac… oh, never mind. She’s dead. (by a swinging gauntleted hand from one of the soldiers, hitting her in the head, and killing her). Well... anyways, moving on.
• With the soldiers now out of sight, and old Rigga lying dead at her feet, the girl encounters two men – Cotillion [1st app.] and Amanas [1st app.], along with a sudden appearance of 7 massive hounds out of nowhere, who then follow the path the soldiers had taken when the latter, shorter man gives the order to do so.
• After a while, screams can be heard. The girl, now a witness, is engulfed by shadows through Cotillion, who says that she’s now “a pawn of god.”
• Some time later, Adjunct Lorn [1st app.] arrives at the horrifying scene where the men, women, and horses of the 19th Regiment of the Itko Kanese Eight Cavalry have been brutally massacred. Along with the locals, over 400 have been killed. (Jeez!)
• Paran, who wanted something challenging, and was hungry for prestige, has now joined the Malazan Army. Now as a Lieutenant, he’s overseeing the investigation of the carnage.
• After discussing his opinions with the Adjunct to the Empress in his usual fearless, uncaring, and confident manner, Paran is hand-picked by Lorn into her staff, to become an aide to the Adjunct. Lorn is sure that the merciless murder of so many is a diversion from something much bigger, and that gods and sorcery are now involved.
• Lorn is no ordinary woman herself. She’s young, dangerous, and a mage killer. The one who hunts down and kills mages. The scorpion in the imperial pocket. And who arrived in Itko Kan thanks to “eerie magical Warrens”. (first mention of the magic being used)
• Meanwhile, Staff Seargant Aragan [1st app.] is faced by a very young, hardly 12/13 year old girl, named Sorry [1st app.], who is there to be recruited into the Malazan Army, specifically under the command of High Fist Dujek Onearm – Onearm’s Host, which is currently overlooking the Genebackan Campaign (which is apparently in a mess of its own).
• Paran is tasked to gather intel of the massacre from a nearby town named Gerrom. But when he reaches there, it’s completely deserted. Even worse, inside the Imperial Constabulary, everyone is dead, killed by magic.

Sweat and death clung to the air thick as gauze.
The dark bloom of sorcery was a stain few cared to examine too closely. It had a way of spreading.

OK, now that sounds like something, eh?

• A short while later, he’s met by Topper [1st app.], a Claw of unsurpassed skill who took the lives of Unta’s royal line. Also, loves the colour green, and wears a lot of colourful rings on both his hands. Oh, and also is apparently the Commander of the Claw itself. (although he persists that Laseen still commands it, and he just assists her)
• After a quick bite of food and a sip of wine, Topper guides Paran and his horse through the Imperial Warren.

Paran turned to see a curtain in the air tear open on the road, spilling dull yellow light. A Warren, the secret paths of sorcery. "Hood's Breath." He sighed, fighting off a sudden chill. Within he could see a grayish pathway, humped on either side by low mounded walls and vaulted overhead by impenetrable ocher-hued mist. The air swept past into the portal like a drawn breath, revealing the pathway to be of ash as invisible currents stirred and raised spinning dust-devils.

First look into the "Warrens".

A short while later they came to a stone archway. It had been recently constructed, and Paran recognized the basalt as Untan, from the Imperial quarries outside the capital. The walls of his family's estate were of the same gray-black glittering stone. At the center of the arch, high over their heads, was carved a taloned hand holding a crystal globe: the Malazan Imperial sigil.

First look at the Malazan Sigil.

• Passing through the archway, they land directly inside the the Hall of The Throne in Unta, where Laseen is sitting atop a throne of twister bone.
• After exchanging a few “pleasantries” with the Empress, Paran meets up with Lorn (who is casually dressing up while Paran enters, but when the latter turns in embarrassment, Lorn replies with “I’m not one for modesty.”). OK lass, fair enough.
• After discussing a few things, Lorn orders Paran to return to his home in the capital for now, and that there will be a reckoning/revenge for the carnage at Itko Kan. Paran answers straightforwardly (as usual) that he’ll be there when that time comes.
• Paran return to his family home, where he is met by Gamet [1st app.], the guard. Once inside, he’s greeted by Tavore [1st app.], his sister who’s a year younger. After very briefly discussing about their father and his business, she mentions that Felisin, the youngest sibling, is at her studies and that she would be happy to see Paran, but sad to know that he’ll be leaving soon. Before leaving, Tavore also mentions that Felisin is “too soft for this world, brother. For any world, I think.”

​
BEST OF: QUOTES / DIALOGUES

The Empire's been grinding this land down for a hundred years. You was born in it. I wasn't. When I was your age Itko Kan was a country. We flew a banner and it was ours. We were free, lass.
Rigga to fisher girl.

​

Across the sea the Empress has driven her knife into virgin soil. The blood now comes in a tide and it'll sweep you under, child, if you're not careful.
Rigga to fisher girl.

​

You are now one with the body of Empire, Lieutenant. It commands you. You respond unquestioningly to its will. You are a small part of a muscle in that body. No more. No less.
Topper to Paran.

​

The Claw smiled. "You have begun to learn, Paran. Never be too easy with the knowledge you possess. Words are like coin—it pays to hoard." Topper
"Until you die on a bed of gold," Paran said.

​
BEST OF: SCENES / MOMENTS

• The Itko Kan Massacre. 'Nuff said! (honestly, something about those four words has a different feeling about them. There's more Gravitas surrounding them, I feel personally. Whenever I think about the whole thing, it just feels like the start to something dark and dangerous. Is it just me?)
• Rigga's prophecies were something to ponder upon for sure!

​
FINAL THOUGHTS + THEORIES AND SPECULATIONS

• There are a couple references present to the Prologue. Firstly, Paran pondering on the words "live quitely" by the Commander. Secondly, Laseen pointing out to Paran that he didn't take the Commander's advice of not joining the Army after all, and that the Commander himself didn't heed to hers (no detail about the latter is present though).
• From what I could gather, there's an unease, a kind of tension between Paran and Tavore it seems. On the other hand, Felisin seems to have a good bonding with Paran.
• Overall, a very good start imho. Of course, there's some names of people and places that you have no idea about, but I'm just enjoying the ride tbh!

​
A huge shoutout to 'Malazan: Search of the Fallen'. It was a massive help, and I hope to continue using this amazing tool. Credit where it's due.
​
Any feedback is always welcome. Hope you enjoyed.
Cheers!

Our apartment's office is staffed by two people, a manager and an assistant. We have lived here for 9 years, and found that staff changed a couple years ago when the new manager answered. I was a bit traumatized by my first experience with them, and didn't call again for several months until my dishwasher broke.
I spoke with the new assistant, who told me they would put in a ticket. When I asked how long it might be, she said "I don't know, but it's not an emergency."
I called every few weeks, and it was always the same. There was never any apology, and she would rush me off the phone, interrupting me to make the point that there was nothing else to say. It was very impersonal. I get that she's not personally responsible for the solution, but you can still have a personal touch. The dishwasher took four months.
Then my air conditioner broke. I work from home, and was becoming hot and nauseous in the afternoon. The assistant said, "I don't know how long it will be, but it's not an emergency." I ended up fixing it myself.
Last month, I notice I hadn't been charged rent a couple days after. I go to the website and try to make a payment, and it fails. I try a couple more cards before I realize it's their payment processor. I wrote them an email letting them know I would deliver payment to them immediately, and to not charge me a late fee since it was an issue on their end. They replied that they would not, and that they had fixed the issue.
A week later, there's a note in my door. It's a statement that I owe the fee. I called the office and got the assistant.
"Okay, did you pay your rent late?"
"I really don't understand why after a BACK AND FORTH EMAIL EXCHANGE with your office about this I would receive a notice, you should already know what's going on."
"Sir, stop yelling. We'll take care of it."
"I was told that in the first place! I can't count on you all to take care of anything around here!"
"Sir stop yelling or I'm going to hang up."
"I'm not yelling BUT BY ALL MEANS FEEL FREE."
I hung up. You know, I did feel bad. I figured that she must not have been the one that read the email. I wrote an apology email shortly after, explaining why I was upset, and the issues I'd been having.
The next day, I had a notice in my door that I had 30 days to move out. It seemed like a very heavy handed response. I didn't yell. I mean, I did escalate my tone. I did use emphasis. I didn't cuss, I didn't personally attack her. I was frustrated. Was I wrong to show my frustration?
A month later, I was charged those late fees. I came into the office and the manager walked out. I told her I don't understand why I have to have this much trouble over it, all the way to getting thrown out. She says it's because of how I talked to them. I tell her they've been rude ever since they started working there. She says they haven't been, they're just doing their jobs.
Are they just doing their jobs? AITA?

I know carnivorous plants typically need rain water or distilled water but if I have a water tray for humidity can I use tap water since I’m not watering the plant?

Just what it says on the tin. I'm trying to get a full daedric suit together without the use of exploits. It seems slower than ever on DFU (in spite of being great in many, many other ways). Is there a EBA (extra big ass) dungeon somewhere that features a lot of warriors and fighters to up my chances? All the ones I've happened upon naturally have been kinda on the smallish size and Im not getting enough loot rolls to make it happen. I've got a tower shield and some boots so far 20+ hours in but the random mix of ebony, adamantine and dwarven is unasthetic and driving me bonkers.

I have many dreams that happen in schools, old blocks of flats, small towns, shopping malls, but there is one place that is so strange that I need to talk about it.
It looks like this or this or this, or this. It depends on the dream.
Basement corridors, this place has long corridors that lead nowhere and everywhere. In the beginning, when I started dreaming about them, I walked into them by chance, sort of "backroom clipping from reality" or some kind of door just led to this place. At first, I got lost in them, I wandered around. it's a huge endless labyrinth. sometimes the corridors had windows, green doors, or plain wooden doors, all with numbers on them to indicate it was someones property. I vividly remember once finding a room where an old man had a shop full of wooden figures he had made from those doors. It would be just a place I dream about, but this place is more than that. It appears in almost all of my dreams, but not as the main thing if that makes any sense. I could have a dream where I'm talking to a friend and then I notice a hole in a building that looks like there used to be a door or like I said before go through a normal door and I WAS IN THIS PLACE AGAIN (I once was in an old building and the floor collapsed and I fell into this place). With time and exploration, I realized that some doors can be opened and are shortcuts to other places in the dream I am currently having.(or lead to a completely different dream). Some Corridors can even lead me outside on their own, which is rare. I have been dreaming about this place for about 8 years, it has helped me in many situations, such as escaping nightmares or traveling faster. It scared me at first, but I got used to it, tho it's still not very pleasant place to be in. Some might say I dream of a "backroom" but believe me, it's not backrooms, I've had dreams where I was in all sorts of backrooms, and the basement even led me to it once. It's different. If anyone is still reading, have any of you ever dreamed of this place? Maybe someone knows what it is/means.
Details of this place:
Smells of mold and wet cement/concrete. The walls are white, green,gray or the color of dirty sand. The doors are always wooden in brown or green. behind some doors someTHING can be heard. If you look through a keyhole, it's always dark on the other side, though it could lead to some sunny place.There are rusty pipes with running water. No one else roams the halls when you're there. You can take people there, but once they get out from there, they'll forget about it. This is rare, but there may be stairs going up or down. (There are lights), in some places there are no lights, there are light switches, but you can't turn on the light. The doors are numbered from 0 to 100, if there are stairs you can have numbers from 0 to 399.
If anyone has some questions I'm happy to answer them. Sorry for grammar errors. English is not my first language.

My PCs have been adventuring underwater lately, and I wanted to come up with a way to implement a shark feeding frenzy. I tried something out and I think it worked pretty well. Here's my instructions for it, if anyone is interested:
During combat, any time a character or enemy takes damage for the first time in a round, put a d6 on the table. This represents blood in the water, so only do this for things with blood that take damage which might reasonably cause bleeding.
At the end of the turn, roll your d6's. Remove any d6 that lands on 1, and for that dice one shark swims into the fray. Other dice stay in the dice pool. Sharks go last in initiative for convenience. Or they go first if you want to be mean.
If 4 dice roll 1's at once, remove them all and introduce a giant shark instead.
Remember, sharks have blood too! And they also might attack each other sometimes.
This makes for a nice snowball effect. As combat goes by, more things bleed and more sharks show up. If they take damage, they bleed and even more sharks show up. This isn't really a combat you win, it's a combat to encourage the PCs not to stick around an area forever. I used it to give PCs a challenge while they gathered items quickly and got out, leaving a pile of sharks swarming behind them.

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

Minecraft with shaders (very intense)

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

*$1500

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

• Once I find the parts I want

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

• No peripherals or moniter just parts (not including cpu or storage)

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

*US

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

*Ryzen 5900x

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

*No

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

*No

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

*No

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

*No

Extra info or particulars:

Just started using Dermadry and I'm going to try and update this every other day to help keep me on track and using it as frequently as I am supposed to because I'm bad about sticking to a routine. This may be more for myself than anything, but if someone else finds it useful, even better. I'll try and format it by sections so you can just read the parts you're interested in.
Dermadry Treatment:
Using the "Upgraded version" with the rubbery bottom mat, and hexagonal grid top mat. I am using bottled water at room temp, however, I have read others using different types of water, and even adding chemicals to the water. For now, I will stick with bottled water, and depending on the results in 2 months, I may change it up.
6/10/23 - 10:00 AM Treatment 1: I used ~250ml of room temp bottled water in each tray. Set the current strength to 5mA to just feel it out (1-15mA is recommended). For the first couple of minutes, I couldn't feel anything, but as we approached the 15min mark I could feel a slight tingling and my hands were a little itchy. The biggest surprise came at the 15min, 10min, and 5min mark (I think). The voltage readout displayed "L5" and I felt a shock strong enough to make my forearms spasm and tense up. It wasn't painful, just a weird feeling, and I assume this has to do with its rotating current phases. Their website states "L5 will be displayed when the tension is lower than 5 volts." I don't know what that means, but I will contact customer support about it. My hands were a bit sweaty after I finished up, and the itchiness was gone after a few minutes, but after an hour my hands dried up a bit and have been completely dry for several hours. I plan on doing it again at 5mA tomorrow and then give it a day of rest before upping the voltage up to 7 or 8mA.
Background: I'm in my late 20s and have suffered from sweaty hands for as long as I can remember. I would say I have it moderate during most of the day, but in social situations, it can go up to a 10 in severity. I'm talking wiping my hands with a paper towel over 10min will completely soak it through. At its worst, I can clench my fist and literally have beads of sweat run off. I get a bit self-conscious in social situations, but I wouldn't say I have bad social anxiety. But it's this slight nervousness that really sets off my sweaty hands.
Improvised treatments: I started out trying to dry my hands with harsh chemicals on a few occasions when I knew I had a social event of some sort that would involve shaking hands. I would soak my hands in brake cleaner or rubbing alcohol as I work with them and had it lying around. Alcohol would just dry it for a bit, but sweating would come back 10-fold within 30min after. Brake cleaner lasted a while longer, but is absolutely terrible for your skin, your health, etc. Please for the love of god, DO NOT use brake cleaner, I was young and stupid and it only worked for a few hours at a time. I also tried wearing latex gloves during my entire time working as it caused me to sweat a bunch and would get my hands to sweat so much, that sometimes it would prevent me from sweating further the rest of the day. This kind of worked, but my work environment has changed, and working in latex gloves now would just make people think I was a psycho. My final attempt was to just get healthy. For a whole year, I dropped almost all caffeine, drank nothing but water, and dietary/workout shakes, worked out and had a diet to match with hardly any dietary cheating. This helped out mostly with social situations, as I wouldn't be near as self-conscious, but I still would get severe sweating during dates, big meetings, and school tests.
Antiperspirants: I bought some Dove Clinical Strength antiperspirant and used that for a while, applying it before bed, or during the day and letting dry under a fan for 15-30min. This would help for normal day stuff, but the moment anything like a date, or a meeting with a boss occurred, it would be like I hadn't done anything. After about two weeks of on-and-off applications, I switched to trying Certain Dri with the results being about the same. The third product I tried was Sweat Block Wipes which were less effective than the previous ones. Not saying these products aren't good, they just weren't effective for me. The last product I tried was Antihydral, I ordered this at the same time as Dermadry and was by far the best. One application with just enough that you could tell there was a layer on there, and let dry for 15-30min under a fan kept my hands dry for days at a time. I only tried this a couple of times before my Dermadry unit came in, so this is my fallback plan if Dermadry doesn't work. I hear from some users the effectiveness of Antihydral can wear off over time, so I have put that on pause while I just do Dermadry.
Medical treatments: I went to a dermatologist and was prescribed Glycopyrrolate. This would help if taken in high doses, but when I got a new dermatologist he highly advised against taking it in the dosages I was. I still have a lot of it left over, and will still take it before a date or social event. In combination with the antiperspirants, this is still fairly effective but requires planning ahead and remembering to take it. I have fairly good medical insurance, but after talking it over with the doctor, the cost of Botox with the side effects and longevity of the treatment made me put it off as a final Hail Mary if all else fails. Finally, I got Dermadry and that's what I'm starting now, and we will see how this works for me.

Hi all, bit of an informal off-the-cuff post, but it's something that will hopefully lead to some interesting questions and ideas. Or not. We shall see.
So I've wondered for a while about the relationship between someone's star sign and their experience with psychedelics. I know a lot of people view astrology as ludicrous, but I have seen too many patterns and occurences in my own life that suggest there is something to the notion that our lives, and our being, are intimately tied to the external world, with an earth-based symbolic projection placed upon the stellar objects that surround our home.
So, please write your sun sign and explain your personal relationship to psychedelics, and your experiences with entities if you have had any.
If you are already interested in astrology, or have a general knowledge of it, i.e. you know your birth chart, and maybe even have used transit charts to track your psychedelic adventures, definitely include this info.
I admit I haven't gotten much that would interest others, but psychedelic use, and mentally cataloguing the star signs of the people in my life, has made it easier to notice recurring patterns in my life, repetitions of signs with similar attributes and offering similar messages to me. When you know the basics i.e. the twelve signs and their symbolism, the house system, the twelve split into four groups of three to represent a different element, then you can extrapolate and the repititions begin to form a meaning to you, such as, 'I keep getting into relationships with x sign and then pulling away when it gets too intense.' Depending on the element of the sign (earth, air, fire, water), you may find you are missing this element in your own psychic makeup, and thus attracting it externally; not quite making a solid connection to the energy, and not yet learning how to embody it yourself.

I have super dry skin that gets flaky if I don’t stay on top of my skincare and water intake. I’m not worried about acne or a product being too rich and don’t wear makeup most days.
I’ve tried a ton of moisturizers and wanted to use them up before purchasing a new one.
Here’s what I’ve tried:
• Tatcha Dewy Skin & Water Cream (love the feel of this but probs too lightweight for my skin)
• Drunk Elephant Lala Retro & Polypeptide Cream (used years ago and liked, but stopped due to price tag I think)
• Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
• Farmacy Honey Halo Ceramide Moisturizer (liked but wasn’t sure on the scent)
• SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream (liked but didn’t blow me away)
• Fresh Rose & Hyaluronic Acid Deep Hydration Face Cream
• Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Daily Lotion & Treatment Balm
Currently loving:
• All Dr. Jart products, particularly the ceramidin cream but that isn’t moisturizing enough for me to use on its own
• Korres Grape Velvet Skin Drink to layer on top
Looking at:
• First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
• Kiehls Ultra Face Cream
• Belif True Cream Moisturizing Bomb
• IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream
• Trying Drunk Elephant again?
Would so appreciate any advice or feedback on these products or others I should look at. I’m also open to purchasing drug store and using my gift card for something else.
Thank you!!

As usual, before a big final, I like to get a little behind the scenes insight. Last time, I got up close and personal with the players, but as a result, a restraining order was issued, so this time, I leveled up and installed some cameras in their hotel rooms. This will give us a first-hand look at their prep for the finals.

Casp-o-vision :

Sunday, June 11th. The clock strikes 6:00AM. Norwegian music begins playing. Casper’s eyes open. “Ahhh Kongesangan,” thinks Casper, “the only choice for brushing one’s teeth”. Casper begins brushing. He is already in the bathroom, where he sleeps standing up to maximize efficiency. He brushes the right side efficiently, and does the best he can on the other. Though these teeth are mainly defensive, they are constantly improving. Casper turns to his coaches, who are sitting in the tub watching him brush. They nod and make fists, the only coaching he has ever received from them. He nods and makes a fist as well. The main coach, whose name he has never learned, hands him a plate of Fårikål, and he begins eating. “Shouldn’t I have eaten this before I brushed my teeth?” he asks, but perhaps the storyteller, like Casper’s team, did not think this through. Still though, Google is very informative. “Boy, I sure do love Oslo,” muses Casper. “And fjords.” Wow, Casper is ready for Roland Garros.

Djokocam :

Sunday June 11th. The clock strikes 6:00AM. Norwegian music begins playing. “Perhaps we should not have been roommates” thinks Novak, as he looks across the room to Casper’s bed. But Casper is not there. Djokovic stretches his impervious to cramps body. He is not in a bed, but gently relaxing on a bed of moss, which grew when he summoned it with warrior one. He eases slowly into chair pose, and a chair appears. Goran quickly sits in it. “Look at my cool new shades!” says Goran. “Very nice, Goran,” says Novak, as he closes his eyes to begin meditating. “You think we can win, Novak?” asks Goran, while swinging his legs excitedly in the chair. “Yes, Goran,” answers Novak. “Can you believe they eat snails here?” asks Goran, while pretending his hand is an airplane. “Yes, Goran,” answers Novak. “Would you ever eat a snail?” asks Goran, while pretending he is an airplane. “Yes, Goran,” answers Novak. “Wow,” says Goran. His friend Novak is so cool.
Casper emerges from the bathroom, and Djokovic heads in. There are crumbs in the sink, and Ruud’s team shake their fists and nod at him as he begins combing his hair. Novak shakes his head. He is ready for Roland Garros.

Men’s Singles Final :

There is something about Casper Ruud’s game that makes it seem like he is not doing anything special. He is ultra-consistent, and he makes the right choices in almost every situation, but his disciplined approach can make a player like Zverev or Rublev seem like they are on another level. Ruud has made two Grand Slam finals already (both last season), but was summarily written off before they began, suffering defeat at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, and Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Here again, he is being given very slim chances by most people. When you do everything right (by the book), there is a sense that you become predictable, and the greats of the game have excellent situational awareness. If they can move early to your shots, you’re not going to get many errors from them. It makes this a very uphill battle for him, because Novak Djokovic is a player that is unlikely to be rattled by the classic patterns and approaches to the game, and is one of the most consistent players the tour has ever seen. Once he gets in a rhythm, you’re playing a tennis game set to expert, so Casper will need to elevate his aggression here.
Ruud will thankfully be fresh for the finals, but after watching the Alcaraz demise it’s hard to gauge how long that will last. Him being a bit older does give him a bit more stamina and experience, and he had a fairly quick match against Zverev. He’s also done this before, so I think physically he is ready to go 5 sets. Thinking, though, isn’t it always the cause of our blunders. Zverev looked competitive in parts of their match, but he is not at the top level of the game yet. His ceiling is, but where does his ceiling lurk? Ruud is nearly robotic out there. You know he is going to execute and move the ball well and his defensive skills are solid enough to make his opponent play several shots to win a point. It’s the discipline he has that allows him to do this regardless of the stage and the opponent. Zverev, on the other hand, is very much thinking out there. When he has a setup, it’s very up in the air what he should do. He’s often creating angles and situations that he is only going to play 1-2 of per match, and it leads to errors as he second-guesses and hesitates on shots (especially rough in choosing when and when not to come to net). In truth, he could have wound up deep in the match against Casper, but when Zverev had control or time, he made a lot of unforced errors trying to crack Ruud’s defenses. Despite having a ton of experience on tour, Zverev has not really ironed out his game and since returning from injury, he hasn’t really dealt with a match where he had to play hard every point in order to win. The ability is there, but the repetition of effort is not.
Speaking of repetition of effort, it should be noted what a great adjustment Djokovic made in his semifinal match. He is very frequently a slow starter on clay, but he came out and looked to match Alcaraz’s aggression from the start. It was a very “I’m not going to miss and I want you to know that” approach, and digging in in this manner started to forced Alcaraz to come up with more and more ambitious attempts. They both have a lot of heat on their shots, but Alcaraz is certainly the one swinging harder on the average ball. He started to make errors, but it looked to me like he would wear down Djokovic’s defenses with the onslaught. There have been a number of matches this tournament where the first couple games were furiously played, and eventually one player settled into their role as a defender, or folded up and forced offense until they lost. This didn’t feel like the case here, as both of these players can legitimately expect to hit a high percentage of their shots no matter what style they proceed with. A good example is how a post-cramp, immobile and defeated Alcaraz was able to guide winners off Djokovic’s serve. Not a strategy to win the match, but something that he rarely uses in match-play yet was instantly able to do.
After losing the first set, I still like Alcaraz’s chances. It had become the best type of ATP match, one where the player who is serving doesn’t just automatically win. The great big 3 matchups featured so many breaks and yet those breaks weren’t huge cracks or fails at all, it was just that at the highest level, players can play defense and offense from everywhere on the court. They exchanged breaks late in the 2nd set, and it seemed like Alcaraz’s aggression was finally mentally wearing Djokovic down. Early in the third though, disaster struck in the way that it always seems to when a phenom plays Djokovic at a major. Carlos Alcaraz cramped. Spectacularly. His hand cramped, his calf cramped, and he looked like Medusa slid in his DMs for a moment. Big credit to Djokovic for being bigger than the moment, and coming across the net to express concern and help Alcaraz to his chair. Cramping is something that affects a lot of players on tour, but it was pretty unexpected from Alcaraz. His physical strength is off the charts, and he trains extremely hard. If some combination of nerves and over-exertion really caused this, then it’s a by-product of Djokovic being willing to go toe-to-toe with him right from the start of the match.
There are great nutritionists working on the tour, but once you actually go full-cramp, it is nearly impossible to continue playing tennis. The muscle is in pain, and doesn’t want to fully flex even if you do. In short, you’re fatigued, in pain, and weak. Alcaraz forfeited the game so he could get treatment, but with 2 full sets left against the guy who is leading the GOAT debate currently (and competing against off-tour opponents), you’re pretty much finished. Brave of Alcaraz to finish out the match, and I had some hope that the kid would go full-tank and hydrate to recover for a 4th, but it appeared the damage was irreversible. He stood in on some returns, and while this means that any poor returns leave your court position too shallow to cover both wings of the court, he did show a pretty good ability to utilize this tactic. I’d love to see him do more of this in the future, as the best returners are pretty much hugging the baseline and you need this to win with minimized effort on hardcourt and grass. I’d also add, his deep return position was allowing Djokovic to serve and volley an awful lot, and Novak really was the one scoring off the dropshot in the non-cramp sets so Alcaraz will need to work on some other strategies. A good restful win for Djokovic, and a new wrinkle to the “how high will Alcaraz rise” debate. I don’t think too many people were really expecting cramps (to my knowledge it’s the first time he’s dealt with that on tour), and he had the momentum before they occurred.
One of the best things about majors is how long the players are out there. It allows for so many deviations in strategy and planning. Dumping sets to conserve energy, planning to sprint early then take a set off, and changes in strategy (holding back a bit of pace on serves early or playing frequent dropshots to take your opponents legs) can be really effective. Djokovic got the benefit of an interesting result here. It seemed like his defense was good enough to keep Alcaraz at bay but he wasn’t able to counter-punch. If this was by design, kudos to him and his team for allowing Alcaraz to punch himself out. If it wasn’t, it has at a minimum inspired other players to dig in on defense against Carlos now that they’ve seen the gas tank actually on E, which is tremendous for the tour since we’ve seen a few top guys fold against him already. The names on the trophies are less important than creating an environment where these guys can compete at their freest, because the sport won’t continue to grow unless the product is visibly enticing to the non-tennis public.
Djokovic Ruud should be a great match, the same way Swiatek Muchova was today. Ruud has yet to win a set against Djokovic in his career, but almost every single set has been confined to a single break of serve. That’s largely what I expect here. Ruud is good enough to compete with Djokovic for 75% of the match. Similar to the CA/ND situation that caused the cramps, Ruud is good enough to play Djokovic on even terms, but not really able to get out of trouble once he’s in it. Since Djokovic’s measured approach won’t wear himself out like Alcaraz’s did, this means a long match, with a vaguely assured result. This is good for Ruud for a few reasons. One, he won’t be distracted very often. When you’re going uphill but are a great competitor like Ruud, you don’t get caught up in the “what ifs” of an L or fret changes in the scoreline, you just keep an eye on how you’re doing out there. Trying different approaches, working on the spots you’re losing ground in, and communicating with your box constructively rather than complaining are useful, and keep you in the present moment. That’s a good place to stay for Casper here, because the crowd is very likely to get behind him. Djokovic is a beloved champion, but fans want to see a long match. If Ruud was considered an even contender here, he could almost enter villain territory, as fans would not want to see a great champion dethroned. Since he’s publicly regarded as a plucky underdog, he’ll have plenty of support.
Tennis-wise, the problem here is simple. Djokovic has the best backhand in tennis, and Ruud fights his off. He can create some great angles with it, and hits passes fairly well, but it’s a safe target for Djokovic which means the majority of shots are going to go there. We all saw how devastating a weapon the dropshot and forehand inside-in became for Alcaraz when Tsitsipas attempted to camp in his backhand corner, and I fear that Ruud will have similar issues in this match. This is doubly tricky because Djokovic’s backhand dropshots are much better and much more frequently attempted down the line. Ruud served well against Zverev, but he went out wide from the duece court a lot and Zverev never really punished him for it. Djokovic ropes these shots cross-court very well and he’s good at picking a few spots to up the aggression. If Casper is forced to abandon this serve, it’s a problem because it’s generally the best way to ensure that his second shot is a forehand. He plays well behind the pattern, but great returners (and great teams hello Goran) are likely to notice any significant lean on a particular serve. The odds at -450 indicate that Ruud will be competitive (because basically everyone watching is looking to bet on Djokovic at this point), but this would be the most surprising result that has occurred in tennis in a very long time. I think Ruud wins the same set via steady play and heavy hitting that Khachanov did, but it’s hard to see Djokovic struggling with patterns and opponents that he has already figured out. Djokovic in 4.

I called it the honey vanilla mousse. I took a maple syrup mousse and adapted a few things to use almost 100% animal products in it. (I never realized it was animal dessert before but I'm sure it could make your vegan friends cringe.)
It is not a healthy recipe BTW. Too sugary but I make it for Christmas.
- 4 eggs - 500ml of heavy cream for whipping - 250ml of honey - gelatin (those small packs you get at the grocery store.) + 25g of water - Optional: 1-2 stalks of vanilla (It makes it so much better but it's vegetal. You can skip it for the fun of making an all animal product dessert.)
Separate the yolks from the white. In a pot, heat the honey until is liquidly and turn the heat down. Add the yolks. Make sure the mixture is heating but that you're not cooking the yolks. When homogenous and thicker, take off the heat. Add the inside of the vanilla beans to the mixture and let it cool down to below 50°C. Add the gelatin+water mix.
Whip the cream. Whip the egg whites. Incorporate the whipped egg white into the whipped cream by folding with a spatula and then the sugary mix slowly. Pour everything in a large flat container and put it into the fridge for 2-4 hours. Serve.
With the leftovers, you can freeze it to make incredible ice cream!

A slight misunderstanding and you pull up the blow-up mattress
And for me, that’s it’s - I can’t be an actress
Not again tonight
“What’s changed?” You ask
“Everything,” I think
“Nothing” you say
I guess I should go pray that your feelings for me haven’t completely gone away
Silently visualizing harming my sweet skin
While holding my sweet, little girl, kissing her sweet, little chin
I sing her lullabies to sleep and pray that she can’t hear the tears that fall from my cheeks
“You’re beautiful mommy”
And there it is;
the one reason I can hold on
That I can’t give up
That I must go on
Her love is healing me,
Keeping me
from drowning
I pull my head above the water and breathe in the air
I kiss the top of her hair and lay beside her crib
Here I will stay tonight, next to someone who still loves me

My pole was stolen this morning 🙃. Long story short, I witnessed and had to become somewhat involved in a mental health crisis near the water today. I set my pole down, and after about 30 minutes of dealing with the situation / EMS, returned to my spot. My pole was stolen. Fortunately I left the rest of my gear in the car nearby.
Anywho, I want to replace it as soon as possible, and am viewing this as a good opportunity to upgrade my setup a little! Or at least be more intentional about it.
I’m newish go fishing and my setup was:
-7’ St. Croix Bass X Baitcasting Rod, Medium Heavy (I believe?) -Shimano SLX reel
I don’t have a boat and stick to pier / shore fishing in Minnesota. I like fishing for bass, but am intrigued by targeting others like pike, perch, etc. I like something lightweight, and typically use ned rigs, carolina rigs, spinners, and top-water frogs.
My setup was awesome, but I’m open to changing it up! I’m not totally set on bait caster, as sometimes it can be awkward casting to my non-dominant side. I also found it long at times, when fishing in tighter pockets.
Any recommendations? My budget is probably around $200, and I would buy used if it meant nicer components!

I'm not taking any of this as medical advice, just want to hear your stories.
The capsules are just not hitting me like the powdered kratom does.
I don't want dry socket of course, but wondering in your experience when you went back to powdered kratom.
I also am on a mainly liquid diet still, and also easy foods like yogurt, applesauce, and ice cream, and I use warm salt water gargled 3-4 times a day.
What was your experience?

*external, ugh. Hey folks, I recently discovered that an eternal facing wall in my home has zero insulation behind the sheet rock, and the wall gets extremely hot in hot weather. In fact the previous owner install mirrors on this wall so it was actually radiating heat! Anyway, I tore away the sheetrock and see that we have diagonal shiplap (old house built to Galveston county codes). Outside there are old asbestos shingles and siding. Most of it is sealed nice and tight, but in some spots there are gaps and I can feel the heat pouring through. I’m going to put insulation up on this wall, but wonder if I should take the extra steps to use some sort of gap filler or caulking to fill in these gaps first. Gaps are about 1/8”-1/4” and you can feel a draft of hot air pouring through. Any reason not to seal it with gap filler?
Thoughts appreciated.