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I (17f) met a friend (17f) through my two male friends who are in a technical ed. program with her. I also go to this careetech school, but in a different program.
Given the scope of our tech school’s districts, even though I went to school with her, we live about 40 minutes away from each other, meaning I did not spend very much time with her outside of school. When we did hang out, she expressed an attraction to another member of our group (18m) which I dismissed, as she has a boyfriend of almost 2 years and she was unlikely to act on it.
Being teenagers in a rural area, we often have fun by drinking and playing card games. This is a pretty universal American teenager experience, and we were always safe and drank in moderation. For one group member’s 18th birthday (one of my original two male friends), his parents allowed him and friends to drink under supervision, as long as our parents all gave permission. I was not given permission, and was one of two sober teens in a group of roughly ten.
We were all enjoying ourselves, but my friend got intoxicated relatively quickly, and was very flirty with the guy she was attracted to. Her boyfriend was not present. It sort of ruined the mood for the night, at least for me, as I had to keep her separate from him until I left at 11:00 pm.
Sometime after I left the birthday party, she attempted to run off to the basement to hook up with the guy, who was far more intoxicated than anyone else at the party. The remaining partygoers had to pull her back upstairs and put her to bed in a separate room for the night.
The next day, her “victim” did not remember any of the previous night’s events. He was horrified and felt taken advantage of. She, however, spent time at her boyfriend’s house, which I found out through a snapchat picture of them together.
I asked her what she was doing not telling him, to which she replied “she did not want to hurt her sweet boyfriend with her actions”. I left her message unanswered after insisting she tell him, and later she said that she told him. I am obviously unable to say what exactly their conversation was like, but I do know that he did not break up with her.
It has been several weeks since the incident and she has now decided that friendship with me is “not in the cards” for her. She is mad at me for making her tell him, and cut me off because of it.
I think that what she did was wrong that night, and I think I was in the right by keeping my friend accountable, but AITA?
Note: I am for some reason unable to post in Aita, so I hope this reaches the right audience.

Below is a GameCube I have the opportunity to buy but I’m not sure if this is a fair price or not. Details are below. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
For sale we have a fully modded and refurbished GameCube !
Listing includes an Oem controller of your choosing out of Spice orange indigo or black ! OEM power brick Aftermarket av cables SD2SP2 Pro adapter
Mods -
Controller port LEDs Xeno mod chip Picoboot with 256gb Sandisk micro sd card Pluto HDMI mod Custom painted shell by Mitchel Shaner Custom Jewel by Rockergaming on Etsy
Refurbishment / preventative maintenance
Full recap on the whole system New thermal pads Full device cleaning New clock battery in coin cell holder
Asking 500 shipped paypal g/s

This process is so heart and gut wrenching. Some days I’m fine. Some days I’m collapsing in on myself emotionally and just want to be done with everything.
Today was a bad one. Dday 1 was two months ago. Dday 2 was one month ago. Been married 3.5 years and discovered that I was the other woman for the 8 months of our relationship. Unknown to me. He left her and they became platonic though he never told her about me. She learned I was his wife and not his roommate a month ago. I always thought they were just friends because that’s what he told me despite my suspicions-in the beginning he put her feelings over mine, would sleep over her house every couple of weeks, and then would tell me I was just jealous when I asked questions. In addition to this, I found out he was sexting three other people for at least the first year of our relationship. And 3 months into the marriage, he cheated on me and gave oral sex to a stranger.
This is the same person who tells me I’m his everything. Same person I financially support because I’m the only one working. He still hasn’t gone to therapy. I have.
I cracked this morning. Told him I hate him. Threw a small toy at the wall in anger. He said this wasn’t healthy and then implied that he was done.
I was trying to tell him about my hurt before I did that. That it’s hard for me to trust him and reconcile how he can love me but hurt me how he did by making those choices. He listens but he gets impatient and raises his voice. Then he tells me it’s not a good time. But I feel like it’s never a good time. And he always get impatient.
I want to give up but I love him. He still maintains a friendship with the person he cheated on me with for 8 months.
Am I the toxic one now? Is that what I’ve become? I’m just so sad.

Thank you for any advice in advance.
We recently had a bad wind/rain storm that knocked out our power for several days in Kentucky. During this time, my sump pump couldn't function without power, so our house flooded.
Our claim has been approved, but they're filing it under a sump pump failure, which I only have $10,000 limit to my coverage. The damage estimate far exceed that amount, so they're trying to get our onsite adjuster to amend is estimate (which seems illegal) so we can get paid the 10K.
My argument is that it's a power failure, not a sump pump failure. I'm also claiming lost food, and they're aren't filing that under deep freeze/refrigerator failure.

I’ve seen a few posts here wondering if the 3.5qt braisers with domed cast iron lids ever go on sale. Just found some in Graphite listed for $150 on eBay that ship directly from Zwilling Henckels. They are visual imperfection pieces. Just a heads up for anyone looking. I’ve been waiting for a discount on that piece for a while, so I ordered one. Fingers crossed the imperfections are minor 🤞
Edit to add the link: eBay listing

For sale:
Futureworks (31, Dark Navy). Clean, not hemmed or altered. Not WTF. $50 shipped in CONUS. Price is firm.
https://imgur.com/OfVG1RI
Venmo or Paypal.

I’ve seen a few posts here wondering if the 3.5qt braisers with domed cast iron lids ever go on sale. Just found some in Graphite listed for $150 on eBay that ship directly from Zwilling Henckels. They are visual imperfection pieces. Just a heads up for anyone looking. I’ve been waiting for a discount on that piece for a while, so I ordered one. Fingers crossed the imperfections are minor 🤞

Before evrything excuse me, english isn't my first language I think my mother is abusive my little sister. I (F23) have moved out five years ago, and two month later my father passed away and since then my mother became depressed. She started drinking and smoking all day while popping pills and honeslty just became absolu mental. Now my sister is 16 and is becoming more and more quiet, she lost weight too. At first i tought she was sad because of our dad passing but two days ago i went back home for her birthday and i saw bruises and what look like a cigarette burn on her arm...when i asked her how she get that she said she fell on the pavement...my mom also start yelling that my sister was dumb because she was failing in class (wich is new, she was like at the top of her classes before) and is "sleeping around"... It honeslty break my heart, my sister is the sweetest person on earth and i'm scared to do something...what if i'm wrong and she really did fell or even self harm ? And what if it is true and my mom is abusing her ? Honeslty i have no idea what is going on in this house anymore...what should i do ?

Hey there. Probably a really easy question, but I'm sure the answer is that it depends on your needs.
But I've seen the hype, and I feel confident in making use of their spring sale and finally getting myself a Steam Deck. I just don't know which one to get.
From what I've read, I could get by with just the 64GB as long as I also purchase external storage, which would be cheaper than the deck upgrades and could be used in other ways. If I crank it up to 512GB, then obviously I wouldn't need additional storage, and I also get an anti-glare screen. That'd be expensive for just the anti-glare, but is that a really nice feature in your experience?
I'm not opposed to shelling out for the hotness, but obviously I want to spend my money wisely. I'm not as huge a gamer as I used to be, but I do have Portal 2 and No Man's Sky, which aren't small. I may consider buying more games with this, such as RDR2. Many of the games in my library tend to be smaller (Jackbox, Small World, Loop Hero).
Any pros and cons I hadn't yet considered before I take the plunge?

Hey there everyone, I have a question that someone here may be able to answer. My husband and I bought a home last year (July) as a primary residence. We got it as a foreclosure and have done some things to improve it so I believe it’s worth more than what we paid for it. (Maybe 50-100k?) If we were to have some financial difficulties and decide to sell the house before we’ve been here for 2 years, will we have to pay capital gains on it? Is there any way to avoid this? Any information offered would be greatly appreciated, as I’ve tried to do some research myself and am feeling a little confused about how it all works. Thanks in advance :)

Hey there,
Will from Future Copywriting here.
QUICK QUESTION – Do you use YouTube to learn copywriting?
I did when I first started, but it was hard for me to find quality videos from people I liked.
I wonder if you have the same issue…
I’m asking because I’m trying to decide if I should start making tutorial videos for aspiring copywriters.
Currently, I have over 50 topics I could cover including:

• How to write email sales copy that actually sells
• Psychology tactics that boost conversions
• How to use build rapid trust with customers
• Useful mental models that make you a better writer

If you’d be interested in videos like this, leave a comment down below with any thoughts.
I can’t promise everything you want will get made.
However…
Making these videos is something I WANT to do, and I’d like to fill the gaps you’re seeing as best I can.
So, take part and tell me what you think, what you’d like to see, and what you’re most interested in.
Looking forward to your feedback!
-Will from Future Copywriting
BONUS Follow-up questions:

• What copywriting YouTubers do you watch?
• What do you feel like is missing from copywriting channels on YouTube?
• Would you be interested in quality videos that cover: step-by-step techniques, concepts, lessons, and realities of being a copywriter?

There is a girl staying with me in my house. Today, she received a toothbrush in our mail to our address. None of us jokingly sent this toothbrush. I am 100% serious - does this mean anything? Why were we shipped a random toothbrush? Is this even the right subreddit for this question? I don't ever use Reddit, we are just so confused. What the hell does an anonymous toothbrush in the mail mean? Help?
Is this a mistake? A sign? A message? It was definitely none of us and none of her friends, and nobody else knows she is staying here. Her name is spelt in a very specific way that isn't common for her name either, and it was spelt correctly on the package. The package only had the tracking number on it which didn't really help.
How does this happen?
Why did they mail a toothbrush to our address to give it to her?
I attached a photo she took of the toothbrush. Why who what where when? help?
https://imgur.com/a/FJNopWv

Hi all,
​
I already run a company, but because i am adding an online auction as a sales channel (for dealers only/B2B) this name doesnt work for the auction part because of several reasons.
​
I sell used Caravans (equals to travel trailers in the US) to dealers all over Europe. That also leads me find a name that makes sense in pretty much all countries, but most importantly Germany, Poland, Holland. I am not sure if Caravan or Camper means the same in all the countries, but would like the most generic name for this. To be clear, i'm not talking about mobile/motor-homes.
What is a multi-country-synonym for Caravan in Europe (if it's not just Caravan...)
And do you have any ideas for names? I am already having a hard time finding availible .com sites that arent bought/for sale by domain sharks already :-(
I am my self thinking about something like:
CaravanSource
CampDirect
CampTrade
And so on, but most are not availible.
Not so worried about the SEO friendliness, but would still like a name that makes sense and easy to remember.

Is my memory failing? Didn’t EcoFab post they were closing down? They were having a sale at the beginning of March.
If you go to their site now it is operational just as if nothing has changed. Also, the post I remember being on Instagram announcing the end of the brand has been removed. It’s as though they reversed the decision.
Only reason I can think of for doing this is that they are now trying to monetize the brand through a sale instead of a wind down. If that’s the case then they must have had someone express some kind of interest in it.
Am I going crazy, was it a dream or some parallel universe or something?

So, I've just started learning a second language. I would like to surround myself with it and use it in daily life as much as possible -- like having items around the house labeled, and cues hanging in relevant areas for phrases like "I am washing dishes" "We put our shoes here" "Let's get dressed." But seeing written words won't help me learn to say them aloud. (I'm sparing y'all my whole neurological chart and sad history of failed language learning; just trust me on this point. For me, I have to hear it aloud.)
So I was thinking, wouldn't it be great if instead of a written label on the wall, I could have a button to push that would play the audio instead? I even looked into recordable birthday-card chips but they're like $9 each, which would add up FAST. (Yes they're probably way cheaper if you get chips and batteries separately but any project that can't be assembled with duct tape is too finicky for me.)
Then I considered QR codes, like at a museum where you scan a code to hear a part of the prerecorded tour. But the process of taking the audio clip and uploading it to the cloud, then creating a QR code to link, then printing out the QR code (printing? At home, on paper? I thought I'd never again have to do that once I turned in my last college essay) is maybe more than I want to take on.
tl;dr I would like some way to go to different parts of my house and easily hear a relevant phrase in the language I'm learning.
Have you ever done something similar? And/or is there a less complicated way to do this than I'm thinking?
Thanks for any input, or even just for reading :)

https://i.redd.it/6a1p4oo8kroa1.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/WhitePeopleTwittecomments/11vpp4p/why_doesnt_he_identify_with_what_he_was_born_as/

Long the subject of rhetoric, migrants have now become props in political theater

BY JAMES BARRAGÁN SEPT. 22, 2022
A long-reliable political playbook of highlighting immigration in election season has been escalated by Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis.
For five months, Gov. Greg Abbott bused migrants to Democrat-led cities to draw attention to the number of people arriving at the Texas border.
He began with Washington, D.C., then expanded the busing to New York and Chicago. At least 11,000 migrants have been removed from the state, by all accounts voluntarily.

But an attempt by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to deploy the same tactics last week took the issue to another level, when the state flew planes to Texas, allegedly lured migrants onto the flights by promising jobs, housing and services and a free trip to Boston, and then left those migrants in Martha’s Vineyard, an island resort town about 100 miles away. Three of those migrants have now sued DeSantis in federal court.

In one way, Abbott and DeSantis are following a familiar playbook: Find ways to put immigration front and center in election season to take advantage of populist backlash. But some say the transports have brought the country’s political discourse to a new low by using migrants as props in political theater, and not merely subjects of rhetorical attack.

“To me, this is just really crass manipulation of people. It does speak to our values,” said Jim Harrington, the retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project who has worked on immigration issues since 1973. “The idea that you could play with people in the way he did.”

Abbott’s office said Texas played no role in the flying of migrants to Massachusetts. But it has caught similar backlash for its recent push to send migrants in buses to Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Washington — a stunt that Harris is unlikely ever to have seen, given that the vice president’s residence is within an 80-acre scientific and military compound, the Naval Observatory.
“She’s the border czar, and we felt that if she won’t come down to see the border, if President Biden will not come down and see the border, we will make sure they see it firsthand,” Abbott said. “There’s more where that came from.”
In November, Abbott is seeking a third term, and DeSantis a second. Politicians have frequently used immigrants around election time. In 1994, California Gov. Pete Wilson ran ads depicting migrants crossing the border during his reelection campaign. More recently, Donald Trump’s successful presidential run in 2016 began with his denouncing Mexican immigrants as “criminals,” “drug dealers” and “rapists.” Abbott himself ramped up his attacks on “sanctuary cities” in 2017, the year before his first reelection campaign.

But while those efforts depicted and discussed the immigrants, the use of actual migrants themselves has disturbed scholars and observers who see it as just the latest in a series of collapsing norms that are eroding American democracy.

Donald F. Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, said the latest transports represent a “dramatic escalation in the use of immigrants as a political tool and a political symbol.

“One of the things that’s happened for sure is that immigrants as human beings — the notion that they have needs or problems they’re trying to escape and their aspirations to create a new home in the U.S. — has been pushed aside by the idea to create a mega symbol and use them as pawns that are being moved,” Kettl said.

“It’s a truly awful way to treat human beings and it’s an effort for sure to push the needs of human beings aside to try to score political points.”

Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M professor who researches political rhetoric, said the transfer of migrants to a political opponent’s jurisdiction follows a rhetorical tactic called “reification” where people are treated as physical objects whose feelings don’t count.

“There’s no concern in the plan for the migrants and their well-being and their welfare,” she said. “It’s, ‘how can I use these migrants to score a political point against my opponent?’”

Abbott and DeSantis have said that they want to force Democratic officials, starting with President Joe Biden, to take action. But Mercieca said that is belied by the execution of the programs without any proposed solutions.

“These aren’t about policy solutions,

but instead they are about generating political spectacle. They are about creating dramatic events or ‘pseudo events’ that have to be covered,” she said. “They gotta stick it to the other side. They gotta show that they’re tough. They gotta have victory.”

Those “pseudo events” are aimed at controlling the narrative as both governors seek reelection and an opportunity to grow their name recognition, possibly in anticipation of a 2024 presidential run, Kettl said.
The polls show why that might be advantageous for Abbott. Over the summer, much of the political discourse in Texas focused on the school shooting in Uvalde and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll found that more Texans trust Abbott’s 2022 challenger Beto O’Rourke on abortion issues — and they are evenly split on the issue of gun violence. On border security and immigration, on the other hand, Abbott holds a 12-percentage-point advantage.
But Mercieca also noted a change in how far politicians are willing to go to get their point across and how much the public is willing to tolerate.
“A stunt like what Abbott or DeSantis has done would have made zero sense 10 years ago, 15 years ago and 20 years ago,” she said. “That wouldn’t have resonated with a more general audience. But today’s audience loves that.”
That’s partially because cable news has become hyperpartisan, pressuring politicians to take dramatic and even extreme action to get attention.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” she said. “They’ve radicalized the audience that has in turn radicalized them.”

The movement of migrants has also drawn comparisons to painful parts of U.S. history. As news of the Florida flights spread across Massachusetts, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library published a tweet comparing the effort to the “reverse Freedom Rides” of the 1960s.
“To embarrass Northern liberals and humiliate Black people, southern White Citizens Councils started their so-called ‘Reverse Freedom Rides,’ giving Black people one-way tickets to northern cities with false promises of jobs, housing, and better lives,” the library’s account tweeted.
But those jobs and opportunities did not exist and instead left the Black travelers stranded away from their homes.
This week, PBS broadcast the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ latest project, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” which chronicles America’s refusal to change restrictive immigration quotas to help refugees, even as millions of people fled Europe before and during the Holocaust.
Harrington said the use of migrants to score political points shows a new “callousness” in how Texans view immigrants. Just 21 years ago, a Republican-led Texas Legislature approved a law to allow undocumented youth who grew up in the state to pay in-state tuition at public universities. Following the escalation of the migrant movements this month, no Republican elected official has spoken out, nor have major business or civil leaders.
“A lot of people are sitting around talking about this and bemoaning it, but where is the leadership that helped shape and form our humane response as a democracy? Where is it?” he said. “We are so fractured right now.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/22/migrant-busing-abbott-desantis/

Since I was a kid, I just cannot keep my room/ backpack/school lockers etc tidy, and even if someone helped me tidy up I can't keep it constantly clean for more than three days. Every month or so my family would be annoyed at the messiness of my room and I'll clean, pack and throw away stuff for once, then it gets messy again at the end of the week.
My parents both have pretty good hygiene and my mom tidies up the house well, so they are always irritated by my behavior, but it is as if I cannot control myself.
Personally, I don't especially care about / think that state of tidyness of ny room is that important, so I don't have a habit to keep it clean and tidy. As long as I have space on my desk to work, I'd be fine
The hygiene isn't poor as in there's bugs and stuff, but just that books are scattered across the floor and i have a pile of clothes at the end of my bed etc.
Just wanted to know if any of you share similar struggles, and if so, how do you deal with your situation? I really want to get this solved but I dont know how.

Double Boxing.

1. A consumable item that most definitely would not be a gift, already inside it's own sturdy box with plenty of packaging (example, a fridge filter I sold the other day) - No, no extra box at all.
2. A non fragile item that comes from the factory already double boxed, and the thicker outer box has little to no indication of the item inside, or maybe a model number that can be sharpied over. -No, no extra box at all.
3. A retail item that is very fragile and it's box is thinwall cardboard - Yes, will be double boxed.
4. A retail item that is very fragile, with no retail box - Yes, sometimes I triple box if it's very thin glass.
5. A retail item that is very fragile, but already inside a sturdy box and packed from the factory - This will just get one new box.

Reusing of boxes.

1. Do not reuse any boxes that have strong, noticeable odors, like a larger box that smaller boxes of dryer sheets would come in, candles, etc. I've used boxes with faint odors (good ones only, obviously not a box from a garage sale that smells like cat pee) for things like used car parts, or items that generally won't be inside a house.
2. Do not reuse boxes that have odors from food, due to allergy concerns.
3. Contrary to myth, barcodes should only be crossed out or covered up if they are old shipping barcodes. I've never had any issues from leaving normal barcodes exposed, as many things ship to stores with the UPC barcodes left exposed anyway.
4. This one is probably a no-brainer, but cover up or remove any mentions of ORM-D, hazardous materials, batteries, etc.

Packing and packing material.

1. Leftover grocery bags make great packing material. Again, don't use ones from food or a candle store. I generally keep ones from stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. Or big ones from some clothing stores.
2. Plastic wrapping, like the ones toilet paper and paper towels in, is also a good choice. Similarly, plastic wrapping from shipping boxes, like the wrapping some USPS free boxes come in works too.
3. Generally I won't use either for a more expensive order on new goods. It can kinda look tacky. On cheaper or used items, I generally wrap in a bit of paper first, never had a complaint.
4. Don't overdo packing material. Think of your box like a car. If a car was full of cement from the bumper to the dash, all that force is getting transferred to the driver. Similarly, an empty box will crush easily. You want the box to absorb a bit of impact, but not to the point that it will crush whatever is inside from it. So don't over-stuff a box.
5. I use a lot of newspaper. While newspaper ink used to transfer to things, newspaper has been printed with soy or water based ink for over 20 years now and doesn't seem to be an issue. Even goodwill will wrap your glassware in newspaper.

Management is paid a yearly bonus based on performance, but only after a sales goal is met.
The bonus was paid from $x signed contracts during the fiscal year, which is how all other milestone and sales bonuses are paid.
Now 3 months later the owner is saying the bonuses should have been paid based on $x collected money, only for this year end management bonus because it is profit sharing.
We did sign a separate sheet for the management bonus and it reads "Paid x% of every dollar in sales exceeding $x" and in this case, I feel like "Sales" is a very ambiguous term as it is used interchangeably throughout everyone's contracts either meaning money collected or signed contracts that haven't made it to AR status.
With the new ruling by our owner, we do not qualify for a sales bonus at all, so 100% of the bonus would need to be paid back.
Owner apologized for the confusion and did let us know he asked the bonuses not to be processed until he had time to review and make sure everything was good. The person who is the most impacted by his decision to rescind the bonus was the one who pushed it through (office manager).
He said they would redo the contracts to be more clear moving forward.
There are only 3 of us entitled to the bonus, sales manager (me), production manager, and office manager. and only one of the 3 will be impacted significantly as it is about 30% of their income, and they already spent the money on a car. For myself and the other manager involved it is about 5-10% of our yearly pay. Still sucks, but less of an impact.
Not sure what I'm asking for here, the taxed bonus is the biggest issue I have. I could write the owner a check, but it doesn't seem right. I think it would have to come out of future bonuses? I just know we are all midly irritated and trying to figure this out. The office manager swears it was just a breakdown in communication and has no idea how she is going to be able to pay it back.