So for a while now I've been noticing that if I skip my workout or alternative physical activity my brain is a mess and (the stress anxiety that generates) causes me to behave in a detrimental way. In it's poor messy condition, brain wants to alleviate the anxiety but it gets me stuck in a behaviour like overthinking or paralyzed/procrastinating everything.
Has anyone experienced something like this?
So to illustrate this better.
I wake up, start planning the day head/scheduling my work meetings, doing some bits and bobs, have breakfast around 11am... anywhere here I can get 'stuck'. I can start 'overthinking' by planing too far ahead, OCD-like thoughts start to overtake e.g. my clothes/bedsheets are contaminated/unclean, I start worrying about my routine not being 'perfect', that what I ate had had bad macronutrient proportions or that I ruined the eating schedule by eating slightly lateearlier - that it was not good/healthy/clean enough.
Anyway, once I realise I'm 'stuck' I force myself to start exercising (nothing extreme) ... and 10-15min into it I start feeling normal again. After 30 min I'm confused as to what my earlier issues where. Everything is ok.
Now. I haven't been diagnosed with PCOS just yet (awaiting blood test results) but so far my progesterone is suuuper low and androstenedione is really high. So pointing towards high androgens with the secondary amenorrhea. Since I started eating lower carb, balanced whole food meals which I try to space tout to maintain stable glucose/insulin I've seen an improvement - but it still happens most days. I already cut out gluten, cheese and a few other rosacea triggers. So I don't think it's allergy or intolerance triggered (although there was no formal elimination diet).
I don't believe this is 'normal' but I'm not sure whether this is common for PCOS or if it's something else entirely.
Any advice or pointers would be appreciated

My ex owes me about $1,800. It started back in late October 2022. He needed help with fixing his house so he could list it. Promised me he’ll pay me back, but, never did.
Initially, it was $1000. I have a picture of our messages saying that I’m just lending it to him and him saying that he’ll pay me back in 2 paychecks ($500 each). Never happened cause he needed more done with the house and the priority was paying off the workers.
Then even more problems arise and he’s out of money to even feed himself. So me being me and wanting to be the best gf offered to get him some food. I thought it would be a sometimes thing. Nope. He eventually started working for doordash on top of his full time job. Said that he won’t ever ask me for money ever again. Lasted about 3 or less days then Pokémon came out and that went down the toilet.
Me being the doormat that I was, caved in every time he asked me for something. It got too much in December so I finally complained. He understood but came late January he needed some more help. I offered to just give him the money I planned on spending on a gift for valentines, he said he’s been keeping track of everything I spent on him and he plans on paying me back for all of them and that a gift from me is priceless. So me being me caved in and gave him both.
To give more context. My ex works for the military. Pretty high rank. He said he earns about 3k a month and he re-enlisted when we started dating (mentioned 11k bonus but I understand that gets taxed too).
Why did he need money in the first place if he’s earning good money? Well, he gambled it away to gacha games. Spent so much money on those games knowing that he has a month off (the military gave him a month off to sort out his housing and he’s moving to another location) with no income, has a house that needs a lot of fixing, and has to find an apartment to live in and pay rent to.
Anyways, can I file for small claims? Should I? Thank you.

I've only been on the app for about a month and a half and I've had a handful of dogs that I've done daycare or boarding so far. All have been great experiences with reasonable owners. When I first got on the app, I had someone book boarding for a little more than a month out (now). We did a meet and greet, dog seemed fine. Owner said she had no behaviors I should be concerned about other than jumping when greeting people. The dog is 10lbs soaking wet so wasn't overly concerned about that.
Fast forward to yesterday, drop off time set in the evening so I have made plans for myself during the afternoon to run errands before the dog gets here. I messaged the owner in the morning just to say hi, make sure she was bringing the dogs food, bed, etc., and she tells me we're good and they'll drop off the dog at some point during the day. I ask for a time frame and I'm told "sometime before 5pm". Mind you, it's 8am at the time. I ask again for a better idea of what time she'll be dropping off since there was a clear time set in the app which she obviously had no plans of following. I can tell asking her for a specific time irritated her. I ended up suggesting a time and she reluctantly agreed.
So she drops of the dog and I swear this dog has been barking non stop the whole time she's been here. She's jumping on tables, cries relentlessly anytime I go to the bathroom, can't really spend time in the yard because she won't stop barking even when she's playing with toys.
In the bag of toys the owner brought there was also medications which were NEVER mentioned.
I'm so fed up after just one day and I'm stuck with this dog for 6 more days.
Going forward I'll be requiring a trial daycare day in addition to the meet and greet for boarding. Hard lesson learned.

Unrelated rant: I got banned from badroommates I asked them to turn the comments off and they told me turn off updates so I did.
One of the people who were harassing me kept harassing me on different subs and older posts on that sub.
They banned me when I went back to them about it the second time and threatened to mute 🙄 but shit what kind of person wants to moderate a reddit sub -----//---
So yea he's done things like leave whole food out in the kitchen, there are always crumbs, piss on top of and under the toilet seat.
He even leaves the seat up with piss all on it and leaves the br like it's not there
I cleaned the bathroom twice haven't seen him clean it once
I always squat and avoid shitting at home which isn't healthy ofc
When I have to shit I have to clean the toilet seat. Today's one of those days and I had to clean piss before sitting ofc
I believe he lied to the woman we rent from. I never cook. He's a stay at home chef. I literally cooked and cleaned a pan and pot the day he moved in(february)
The sink was working fine. I noticed it was clogged not too long ago. He told her it's been clogged since he moved in. I was the only person here and again, I don't cook!
I don't mind it as I'm a busy person and am usually not home but he kind of acts like he's the only person who lives here and it's his private kitchen
He leaves his belongings, food and dishes on the counter, table, and in the sink
He does clean it up and doesn't leave it out for an outrageously long time. Unfortunately, he's left it out long enough for mice to get to it a couple of times
We don't pay for toiletries or anything. The woman we rent from provides that
Today, after cleaning up his piss off of the toilet (he's atleast 65), I saw that he left the empty roll of tp on the toilet for someone else to throw away
He also left the empty tp storage open instead of refilling it (the lady we rent from came to restock. I also wonder if she remembers the sink working that day because she also had to clean up and send a notice out about dishes ((he)) left in the dish rack)

I am seriously at a loss here. I've never had this issue with anyone else.
As relevant background, I have some issues around food being cooked all the way, due to some really horrible health issues as a kid. The TL;DR is that I've got ARFID coupled with a pretty severe phobia of vomiting. It sucks and even makes me anxious about what OTHER people eat.
I have two housemates who I've been friends with for a couple years. Max -- the 25NB friend in question -- and Kirby (24NB).
The most recent problem happened around dinner a few nights back I was cooking one part and Kirby was cooking the other. While Max and Kirby were talking about the part of the meal I was nervous about, I got the sense that I wasn't going to be able to eat it. I was inquiring about the texture, but I felt terrible about outright rejecting food. Max finally just said, "Yeah, you probably wouldn't like the texture."
I just sort of nervously laughed and jokingly asked, "You sure you're not just saying that so you can have my food?"
Max gave me a confused look and said no, then started saying that it was hard because they and Kirby like food the same way but I don't. I'll admit to being exasperated when I said that it isn't really that hard ... my stuff just needs to be left in longer. I might have raised my voice but I definitely didn't yell or sound angry. Max grabbed some food and left pretty soon after that (they had something they needed to get back to, so it didn't seem that weird) and then it was just me and Kirby. I apologized if I'd come off badly and Kirby assured me that I didn't, and they were sorry things weren't cooked all the way for me and would toss mine back in until it was done.
The next morning, I woke up to a wall of text from Max telling me that they were angry that I'd called them a liar, angry that I was taking my trauma out on them, and that it was clear from all the times I'd brought up my food issues that I was trying to bait them into a fight.
I was ... and still am ... pretty confused. I apologized for my tone and for getting upset, but said I never called them a liar. Apparently that remark was in response to the joke I made about them wanting my food -- I'll admit that I'm autistic and tone really isn't my strong suit. But I think the idea of me flat out calling them a liar is sort of a reach. It's not the sort of thing I'd do.
They expressed how upset they were at me for dismissing everything they'd said, and I again asserted that I was really sorry for the uncomfortable situation and for being exasperated with them, but there was some stuff they were saying that genuinely didn't happen, including all the assumptions made about what I was thinking when I'd talked about my food issues before (it's food ... it comes up a lot. I've been clear that I don't want it to cause any drama!). Things escalated to them saying they were never cooking for me again (they didn't even cook that night) and to never tell them about any of my trauma ever again.
Now one of Max's friends, extraneous to this whole situation, has been messaging me and trying to get me to listen to Max's side and apologize for calling them a liar. I feel absolutely backed into a corner and trapped. I don't think this is going away, even if I do apologize again for the situation or for making a joke at a bad time. Apparently Max's feelings about the whole situation trump anything that happened on my end.
Unfortunately this is NOT the first time this has happened. Even when I've tried to use my Therapist Voice (lots of "I feel like..."/passive voice/etc) to discuss a problem with Max (and even have people help me write things to be as non-threatening as possible), they tend to freak out, go on the offensive, not accept when I tell them I wasn't thinking anything like that at all, and argue things from a stance that makes me genuinely wonder if we experienced the same event. Details will be heavily skewed, there's either new information or information left out ... it's honestly sort of scary. I don't get the sense they're changing details on purpose, but it makes dealing with these situations that much more of a nightmare.
I have zero clue how to resolve this whole mess and I definitely don't want to drag Kirby into it. I just feel like the bad guy and I've just been hiding in my room the last few days. How do I resolve this??

Hello all. I am currently an ROTC cadet scheduled to commission May of next year into AD. I have recently been looking at the Career Starter Loan from Navy Federal Credit Union. I don’t have any debt in any form right now and don’t anticipate needing this loan to pay off any current or near future expenses. However the interest rate of 2.99% on $25,000 and not having to make payments on my loan until 180 days after I commission is very interesting. What if I was to take this loan put all $25,000 plus $2,000 of my own money in a CD for 18 months at 5.2ish percent APY then just pay off the whole loan when my first payment comes around in a year and a half from now (no early repayment fees). I’ve been doing the math with a CD calculator and I think I’ll make around $2000 after taxes. What are your thoughts on this? Is there something I am not thinking about?

Company Name	Title	City
Lazer Logistics	Class A Driver	Edgerton
TMX Finance	Store Lead	El Dorado
Lazer Logistics	Class A Driver	Gardner
Amare Medical Network	Travel RN	Hutchinson
Frito-Lay North America	Web Merchandiser	Kansas City
Lazer Logistics	CDL A Driver	Kansas City
Clearwave Fiber	Direct Sales Specialist	Lansing
Frito-Lay North America	Sales Driver	Lawrence
TMX Finance	Store Lead	Lawrence
Bishop Seabury Academy	Middle School Instructor	Lawrence
UnitedHealth Group	Crater	Lenexa
Robert Half	Finance Clerk	Lenexa
Robert Half	Accounts Payable Clerk	Lenexa
Boys & Girls Club of Manhattan	Head of Operations	Manhattan
Enterprise Bank & Trust	Financial Advisor	Olathe
Lazer Logistics	CDL A Driver	Olathe
Frito-Lay North America	Web Merchandiser	Olathe
GHR Travel Nursing	Telemetry RN	Overland Park
Robert Half	Accounts Payable Clerk	Overland Park
Whole Foods Market	Keyholder	Overland Park
Frito-Lay North America	Sales Driver	Salina
Jobot	Maximo Engineer	Wichita
Surgicare Wichita	PACU RN	Wichita
Spears Manufacturing Co	Immediate Openings 3rd Shift Operators Caney	Caney
Spears Manufacturing Co	Manufacturing Worker	Caney

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in ks. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

This post was inspired by u/garbageslutt 's post a few days ago. Since I have a little time on my hands, I've decided to reflect on my undergrad experience here and share a couple of opinions on the courses I took. Hopefully, future students will find this post helpful. For each course, I will share the course average, my opinion on the difficulty (on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the most difficult) and my opinion on the overall quality of the course (also on a scale of 1-5 with 5 indicating a course I enjoyed a lot). My difficulty ranking is relative to other courses on this list, and your experience may vary depending on the instructor.
YEAR 1 (Fall 2019-Winter 2020, fall term fully in person, winter term online after March)
ECO101H1-F (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 3.5)
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed this course. The course material was pretty interesting and the lecturer (Michael Ho) was pretty good. Concepts were straightforward and the math required was pretty trivial. The only downside is that the tests were quite long and a little unreasonable for a first year course.
HPS120H1-F (Average: B, Difficulty: 1.5, Quality: 3)
I took this course to satisfy my BR2 requirement and wasn't expecting much out of it. The course was less boring than I expected though. The course instructor (Fermin Fulda) was very knowledgeable on the subject and the evaluations were fair. I didn't really enjoy the last part of the course material, but that's just because I don't really enjoy biology at all.
HPS210H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 1, Quality: 2)
I also took this course to finish my breadth requirements. This course was very boring, but very easy. The lecturer (Brian Baigrie) mostly reads off his slides (which are just paragraphs copied from his book). He wrote the course textbook himself, but forces us to buy it using Tophat. This course was basically a "pay to get good marks" course.
MAT137Y1-Y (Average: C+, Difficulty: 5, Quality: 5)
This was the hardest first year course I took by far. The material was very interesting though and the instructor (Asif Zaman) was amazing. The problem sets are hard, but we got a lot of time to do them, so its manageable if you start early.
MAT223H1-F (Average: C+, Difficulty: 2.5, Quality: 3)
This is one of the easiest math courses I took in all four years. The material is pretty boring but very important for upper year courses. My instructor was a pretty monotone grad student. Tests were fair and straightforward as long as you did the practice tests posted. This was one of the few courses where the posted practice tests were harder than the actual tests (instead of the other way around).
CSC108H1-S (Average: B+, Difficulty: 1.5, Quality: 4)
A very beginner friendly (and practical) introductory coding course. I went into the course with no programming experience and got a really good mark. The instructor (Paul Gries) was very nice and very active on Piazza. Assignments are long if you've never coded before, but we got a lot of time to work on them. Workload is manageable if you start assignments early.
ECO102H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 2.5)
This course was very boring and made me change my mind about taking more ECO courses in the future. The instructor's (Nathaniel Vellekoop) lectures were okay, but pretty boring. Like ECO101, the tests were unreasonably long.
MUS111H1-S (Average: B, Difficulty: 1.5, Quality: 3)
I took this course because I had background knowledge in classical music. The course was okay, but I found MUS207 to be more interesting (I'll talk more about that course later). Exams were fair and the essay was marked quite leniently. I'm not a good writer and I got a decent mark in this course.
STA130H1-S (Average: B, Difficulty: 1.5, Quality: 3.5)
This course is an introduction to R, which is used quite frequently in upper year STA courses. It isn't that important because R is covered/reviewed in upper year courses, but its a good introduction for students with little/no coding experience. The instructor (Liza Bolton) was good at explaining concepts and I enjoyed her lectures. The only thing that sucked about this course was the mandatory two hour tutorials that were pretty useless.
YEAR 2 (Fall 2020-Winter 2021, online)
ACT240H1-F (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3.5, Quality: 3.5)
The whole course is on the time value of money. If you understand the first third of the course well, you should be able to get a decent mark. The test format is what makes this course tricky. The tests are long and mostly multiple choice. One wrong intermediate step and you may get 0 on a 10 point question. Regular practice to ensure computational speed and accuracy is key to success in this course.
MAT224H1-F (Average: C+, Difficulty: 5, Quality: 3.5)
This course was surprisingly difficult for me (I guess I'm not much of an algebra person). It's easy to underestimate the difficulty of the course because a lot of the concepts are similar to those in 223. The course moves at a much faster pace than 223 and is pretty proof heavy.
MAT237Y1-Y (Average: B, Difficulty: 5, Quality: 5)
My thoughts on this course are pretty similar to my thoughts on 137 (probably because the coordinator was the same). The jump from 137 to 237 is much less overwhelming than the jump from high school to 137. The level of rigour for the two courses is roughly the same, but the notation in 237 is a little more messy. A good course to take if you enjoyed 137.
MGT201H1-F (Average: A-, Difficulty: 1, Quality: 3)
Highest course average I've seen in my four years here. The course is basically just high school accounting. Easy course with very trivial math.
STA257H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 4, Quality: 3)
This course is not as rigorous as the course description suggests. If you took 137, you should be fine with the proofs. The instructor (Katherine Daignault) was okay, but I did not like here quizzes. There were a lot of "which statements are true" type questions with tricky wording. You need to be study definitions and concepts very carefully to do well on the quizzes. The tests were challenging but not unfair.
ACT245H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 1.5, Quality: 2.5)
This is the easiest of the three second year ACT courses (and honestly quite useless). The first part of the course material (duration and convexity) never appears in upper year courses. The bulk of the course is on options, but all of the important option concepts (binomial model, black scholes) are not covered until ACT370. The only thing I remember from this course is "buy low, sell high, make profit".
ACT247H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 4.5, Quality: 3.5)
This is the hardest of the three second year ACT courses. A good understanding of ACT240 and STA257 is required. The tricky part of this course is that there are a lot of new notations and formulas. Most of the formulas are not super complicated to use or prove, but its easy to forget certain formulas because you learn so many each week.
MUS207H1-S (Average: B+, Difficulty: 1, Quality: 3.5)
Another surprisingly interesting course. I expected the course to be about classical music, but it covered a lot more than that. The professor covered orchestral music in video games, film and television. Most of the required listening was enjoyable to listen to.
STA261H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3.5, Quality: 3.5)
This course was easier than 257 in my opinion. Level of rigour was roughly the same as STA257, but the quizzes were more straightforward. The instructor (Shariar Shams) was a good lecturer and very patient with answering questions in class.
YEAR 3 (Fall 2021-Winter 2022, fall mostly online with one in person final, winter mostly in person)
ACT348H1-F (Average: C+, Difficulty: 4.5, Quality: 3.5)
This course is a continuation of ACT247. The challenges are pretty similar to 247 (lots of formulas and notation). Knowledge of 247 is assumed, so you have to memorize all the new formulas in addition to the basic concepts covered in 247. I recommend doing a lot of practice problems to help with memorizing formulas.
ACT349H1-F (Average: B+, Difficulty: 2, Quality: 2)
I probably can't give an unbiased review about because it was my lowest undergrad grade. The course was not hard, but I wasn't interested in corporate finance at all. The prof (Jason Tome) wasn't very good either. Lectures are supposed to be three hours long, but he lets us out in under two and tells us to read the rest of the slides on our own.
ACT350H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 4, Quality: 4)
I don't think I can give an unbiased opinion about this course either because the instructor (Silvana Pesenti) will be my PhD supervisor starting in September. The course material is a continuation of STA257. The lectures were pretty good, but I didn't like the textbook at all (and it wasn't followed that closely either). My only major complaint about the course is that there were not enough practice problems given. The final exam questions were reasonable but the test was a little too long in my opinion.
ACT390H1-F (Average: *, Difficulty: 1, Quality: 2.5)
This is a pass/fail course and you will pass as long as you do all the course work. The course was taught jointly by professor Samuel Broverman (who writes all the ACT study manuals) and Megan Whitehead (stats department career support person). There's no math in this course at all since this is a career development course. The course is very helpful for those looking for jobs since it covers things like interviews, resumes and cover letters. I personally wasn't very interested in the course since I'm leaning towards staying in academia. The course invites a lot of industry professionals to share their experiences. I didn't really pay much attention to those talks since they were online, but I recommend that you do if you're interested in staying in industry. NOTE: This course does not count towards the 20 FCE needed for graduation (I only discovered this after I finished the course).
STA302H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 3.5)
I think this course had a pretty good mix of theory and coding. Concepts were not too difficult, but the workload was high (lots of assignments). I also took this course with Katherine Daignault, and I think her teaching has improved. Quizzes were still awful, but slightly less wordy.
ACT370H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3.5, Quality: 4)
This course is a continuation of ACT245 (and much more difficult). The course mainly covers options at a medium level of mathematical difficulty. It is much more quantitative than 245, but a lot of the probability theory associated with option pricing (stochastic processes and SDEs) is not covered until ACT460. The course was very interesting in my opinion.
MAT246H1-S (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 4)
A really interesting course in my opinion. Its not very practical if you are not interested in mathematics, but I personally enjoyed the material. This is a proof heavy course, but the proofs are not super complicated. The midterm for this course was pretty easy. The final exam was much harder, but reasonable in length. Problem sets were not as hard as 137, but not easy either.
MAT334H1-S (Average: B, Difficulty: 2.5, Quality: 3)
The theory behind complex variables is very interesting, but the computations are a little tedious. The instructor was a grad student who lectured a little too quickly in my opinion. I was enrolled in a three hour 6-9pm lecture and it was hard to keep up after two hours. The textbook was okay though and it wasn't too difficult to fill in the gaps in my knowledge after class using the book.
STA437H1-S (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3.5, Quality: 3.5)
A very linear algebra heavy stats course. The course had a significant theory component and there were proofs on the midterm and final. Proofs are easier than MAT224, but you may find the course challenging if you only took MAT223. The instructor (Zhou Zhou) did review linear algebra in great detail in the first couple weeks in the course, so don't worry if your linear algebra is a little rusty. The final was worth 55%, so maybe stay away from this course if you don't like exams.
STA457H1-S (Average: B+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 2)
The course material wasn't that bad, but the instructor (Tharshannah Nadarajah) wasn't that good. The course was entirely online and the pre-recorded lecture videos were just him reading off slides that he didn't make (you could tell he didn't make the slides because he struggled to pronounce some of the words on the slide). His tests were not super difficult, but they had typos sometimes (one question had a final answer with negative variance).
YEAR 4 (Fall 2022-Winter 2023, in person except PHY207, which was online with an in person final)
ACT451H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 3)
The instructor (Sheldon Lin) is pretty good, but I didn't find the material that interesting. Tests are open book, but they are pretty long. I suggest making a summary sheet of formulas that you are not planning to memorize. If you need to flip through all the lecture notes and the textbook to find formulas, you will not finish the test.
ACT460H1-F (Average: B+, Difficulty: 5, Quality: 4)
I also took this course with Sheldon Lin. I found this course much more interesting though (and much harder). A good understanding of stochastic processes is required. The course covers option pricing at a pretty high mathematical level (this course is also a cross-listed grad course). There are quite a few eng-sci students in this class and they're all pretty smart, so don't expect any curving up. Only take this course if you are interested in the material and confident in your mathematical abilities. There weren't any proofs on the tests, but I found stochastic differential equations to be quite confusing.
MAT244H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 2.5, Quality: 2.5)
I also found this course to be pretty boring. It's an easy one though (just as easy, if not easier than MAT223). I mainly studied from the textbook and did really well in the course. The textbook is pretty detailed and an easy read.
MAT337H1-F (Average: C-, Difficulty: 5, Quality: 3)
A very heavy workload course. There were four problem sets, each with about 10 graded problems and a longer list of ungraded problems (only 3 of the graded problems actually got graded though). 80% of the midterm and final questions were from the list of ungraded questions (we were told this ahead of time) so you actually need to do the ungraded questions unless you're really good at writing proofs on the spot. The instructor (Ignacio Uriarte Tuero) was not bad and the lectures were recorded. First half of the content overlaps significantly with 137/237, but the problems are much harder. The last part of the course (series of functions) was very difficult in my opinion and I didn't really fully understand it.
STA314H1-F (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3.5, Quality: 3.5)
This course had a mix of theory and coding. There were four assignments, a midterm and a final exam. The assignments had some proofs (most were not too complicated) and coding. The last two assignments were much more coding heavy than the first two, but the instructor (Xin Bing) did provide starter code to help us out a bit. Lectures were pretty good in my opinion. Midterm was mostly straightforward except for the multiple choice. The multiple choice had multiple right answers and we got the mark iff we selected all the right answers and no wrong answers. Final exam was pretty challenging, but not unfair.
ACT452H1-S (Average: B-, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 3)
The course is a continuation of 451 and taught by the same instructor. I don't have much more to say about this course.
ACT455H1-S (Average: *, Difficulty: 4.5, Quality: 3.5)
This is the last course in the life contingencies sequence (247, 348, 455). Instructor was the same as 348 (Andrei Badescu). Lecture notes are a little messy, but he will explain what he wrote during the lecture. Tests are pretty fair and reasonable if you do the problems in the study manual. Usually, one of the problems will be taken directly from the study manual.
ACT466H1-S (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 3)
This course is somewhat related to the loss models courses (451/452), which is why I didn't enjoy it that much. Instructor was Andrei Badescu. I already shared my opinion on his teaching so I don't have much more to say about this course.
APM346H1-S (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 1)
My highest undergrad grade and also my worst course experience. Material is fairly straightforward and you can learn in from the textbook. There were a few simple proofs, but the course is mostly very tedious computation. The instructor (I.M. Sigal) was a horrible lecturer. I understood very little of his lectures. There were weekly in person quizzes, so we were kind of forced to go to his awful lectures. I kind of regret taking this course.
PHY207H1-S (Average: B+, Difficulty: 1, Quality: 4)
A very good bird course with very trivial (high school level) math. The course is online asynchronous with an in person final. Lecture videos were very good and there were lots of demonstrations (instead of just pure talking). Most of the course grade (~60%) were from various assignments (problem sets, final project, tutorials etc.) that had very high averages. Final exam was fair.
STA347H1-S (Average: C+, Difficulty: 3, Quality: 4)
The course was easier than I expected. The professor (David Brenner) was a great lecturer and made the course mostly computational. The prof did go on tangents sometimes, but he explained the main concepts very clearly. Midterm and final were mostly questions from his textbook (either copied directly or with minor modifications). The course has no assignments (40% midterm, 60% final).
COURSES I TA'D
MAT223H1-F (Fall 2021)
The course was basically the same as when I took it as a student in first year.
MAT135/136H1 (Fall 2022, Winter 2021, Winter 2022)
The two courses are very similar so I'll talk about them together. The two courses are application heavy calculus courses. They are not high school type math courses. You need to be able to do more than just simple calculations. You need to understand the concepts well enough to be able to apply them to unfamiliar problems. There are also writing assignments. If you're looking for a "more mathy" math course, look into 137 or 157 instead.

Hello hello, I’ll try my shot in the sea of other posts so here's a (not so) quick rundown on who I am! I am open to almost any age, height and bodytype.
About me:
I am a student studying electrical engineering. Next to my studies I work part-time to pay for rent, food and to keep my car running. I live together with my brother in an apartment in Eindhoven and visit my parents near Arnhem every weekend (I just hate doing laundry).
Personality:
I am a gentle, soft and kind person (and sometimes awkward but who isn't :P ). Like the title says Ihave a goldern retriever personality, I can get very excited on things and can keep talking about it. I mostly like being indoors, but going out to a park, zoo, museum, theme park or even just for drinks/lunch is also super exciting and fun :) I looove cuddling and kisses and just being close and clingy with my other half, especially when it’s just the two of us :3 Overall I am just happy you're part of my life. I am very communicative and open to a lot.
Looks:
Maybe important to you, maybe not, I'll just put it here in case. Also here is me, I am 1.76m tall, got fluffy curly brown hair, blue eyes. I currently have a little bit of a dadbod but I’m trying to get a bit more fit again (or maybe not if you’re super into it).
Hobby’s and whatnot:
I have a few interest, my main ones are playing video games, watching anime/youtube/movies, cooking/baking and working on my car. Feel free to ask more about them :) Next to that I can be quite the handyman because I’ve been doing stuff for my parents, think of renovating a bathroom, installing solar panels, digging in a swimming pool, etc etc.
My not so vanilla life:
This is not a necessity but I would like to put out there that I am a swich, gentle dom lover and giver, though I am not very experienced at all. Above all very kink friendly and open to try stuff out (sexual and non-sexual) as long as we’re both open to it and communicated about it. But like I said, it could just be a little extra, I’d rather go for a normal romantic connection first. Like I said before, you can ask me more about it :)
Disclaimers:
After reading a bit through this post and thinking: “This guy is cute I’ll send a message” I’d like you to know the following since these might cause some problems. I am living comfortably here so I do not really want to move out to another country, If you live far away but are open to relocation I have no problems with that but I do like to meet IRL and not keep it long-distance, I am just not really good with keeping conversation up for so long, I am sorry :( Next to that I like to smoke a little weed every once in a while, it’d be great if you liked it as well of course but I understand people have preferences.
Still interested??
So now you’ve finished the chapter that is me. Did you like what you read or are you curious if we match just send me a PM or chat, I love to talk to people :) you can ask me almost anything.

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Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. The Tent. Local Time: 0500 Hours.
Emma Booker
I fucked up.
Big time.
And I had no one else but myself to blame.
You know that feeling when you dive head-first into a project that you had zero doubts would somehow work itself out in the end?
The sudden surge of confidence that comes when you let the indomitable human spirit take the wheel?
Well that was me at 0300 hours when my eyes landed upon the hygiene module, and pictured the inevitable outcome of a steaming hot shower after an entire day of nonstop grinding.
I couldn’t help myself but to fall into the same trap as every other would-be DIY-er. I couldn’t stop the excitement, the sudden surge of energy, and the absolute hyperfixation that came with completing a project that promised nothing but endless positives, at the expense of some time and effort that would prove minimal in the grand scheme of things.
And just like every would-be DIY-er, I was this close to completing the task at hand, before finally reaching a roadblock that inevitably brought everything to a screeching halt.
FINAL STEP: REFER TO [UNDESIGNATED WATER SOURCE] FOR ATTACHMENT OF INTAKE PIPE [EIP23] TO EXTERNAL PUMPING MODULE [EPM-1].
That one, final instruction, decimated me.
Especially as I got to that final step at just shy of 0500 hours, when I finally had the entire damn module set up, only to realize that I had missed out on a vital pre-procedure checklist that I’d purposefully skipped because I’d assumed it would be a non-issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL PREREQUISITE: LOCATE, EVALUATE, AND SECURE A RELIABLE WATER SOURCE.
And that’s why I only had myself to blame for this fiasco.
Because I’d assumed that the availability of a water-source in the dorms would’ve been an open and shut case. It only made sense for me to make that assumption though, as I saw that Thacea had clearly used the dorm’s en-suite to shower just the night before.
It was because of this that I didn’t even bother checking the bathroom to begin with. I thought that whatever was in there could’ve easily fit the hyper-modular fittings of the source-intake pipe.
Things couldn’t have been further from the truth however, as what I saw within that bathroom made me question the very fabric of my own reality.
As within those four marble walls, was nothing.
Nothing, but a series of dull flat marble surfaces, and some strange wall-fittings that looked like something out of a 21st century ‘modern’ art exhibit.
There was nothing here that resembled a tap, or even hinted at the fact that there were even any pipes carrying running water behind those four bare walls.
The only other thing of note here was an unseen light source keeping the bathroom lit.
Aside from that, there was literally nothing else here.
This meant I had only one option available to me.
The most logical and straightforward option, of simply nudging the avinor princess awake just so I could ask where I could find a fucking tap.
Whilst it was the most straightforward thing to do, I just couldn’t get myself to do it.
I’d thought about going up those stairs to nudge the avian awake, to then apologize profusely for disturbing her sleep… but given everything Thacea had done for me thus far, and considering the fact that I was responsible for almost all of the headaches we were currently experiencing, it just felt wrong for me to disturb here at that hour.
So I was left with the inconvenient truth of my circumstances, and decided to just embrace the suck, toughing out the folly of my hubris…
At least, until morning came around.
At that point, I could rest easy in actually asking the princess for pointers on the enigmatic machinations of the bathroom.
Until then, I would sleep.
And hopefully, my shortsighted adventure would bear some fruit when morning rears its ugly head around.

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. Local Time: 1000 Hours.
Emma Booker
Good news: Half of my hard work actually paid off.
Bad news: Only half of my hard work actually paid off.
Upon waking up three hours later, forcing my carcass up and back into the suit, I’d managed to flag down Thacea just as she was getting out of bed.
The princess’ reactions to my questions were nothing short of the politeness I’d expected from her.
Which managed to put me at ease as I was getting worried I was starting to get on her nerves with my constant flurry of questions.
The bathroom turned out to be yet another demonstration of the Nexus’ completely unhinged philosophies. As it relied entirely on a mana user’s manipulation of the room to operate. Apparently, whoever designed this place took the whole concept of a modular, personalized room, and just ran with it. Making it so that every aspect of the room relied solely on the mana user to work, as they had to shape, form, and structure the otherwise blank slate before use. This was supposedly done so that the room could be made to fit the precise criterion of a person’s liking. To me however, it just felt like another bizarre concept pulled straight out of the Nexus’ seemingly endless idea-pool of zany, overkill, and mana-addled solutions to problems that sort of existed.
Thankfully, the bathroom didn’t require constant intervention from a mana-user to operate, as certain elements could be permanently turned on.
This included the water mains, which I immediately hooked up the pipes to, as the mana-contaminated water was quickly siphoned into a series of filtration units, all with the express purpose of extracting and removing every ounce of mana present within the water.
This process took about two hours to do.
But by the end of it, I was rewarded for all my troubles by one of the best showers I’ve ever had.
All of the stress, even the constant ticking of the bomb which constantly gnawed at the back of my mind, seemed to fade away for a few short minutes as the warm water washed everything away.
But that about wrapped up the good news.
The bad news however, came in the form of the little MREDD experiment from the previous night.
As I opened the triple-airlocked compartment on my side of the tent, I was met with what could only be described as ‘food’ in name and aesthetics alone.
The soft, white, fluffy loaf of bread had literally become a baton. Whilst the pancakes were now more reminiscent of a mini-frisbee that cracked and crumbled the moment I laid my fingers on them.
My immeasurable disappointment grew the longer I stood there next to the MREDD, and the longer I stared at the small stack of dust that was once a perfectly cooked stack of pancakes.
Beyond this however, I could feel a bit of anxiety seeping in, as the results of the experiment did make me a bit anxious as to the long-term food security of this mission.
Then again, I should’ve expected this result.
It was the first calibration test after all.
“I should’ve expected this, shouldn’t I?” I spoke to no one in particular, but quickly garnered the attention of the EVI who remained within the power armor that currently stood imposingly just a few feet away from me.
“That is correct, Cadet Booker. As you are already aware, the MREDD is designed with multiple calibration protocols in-effect, each which correspond to the type and densities of the foodstuffs to be desaturated. In addition to this, the systems are designed to test the maximal extraction threshold against the subjective palatability gradient with the food safety variable as an integral aspect of these tests. Thus, the first-round extraction procedures dictate that the MREDD will attempt maximal extraction settings, in order to both stress-test the components and systems, as well as to garner data on the mana-extraction process at the maximal setting.”
I blinked rapidly upon hearing the EVI’s explanation being blasted from my suit’s speakers. It felt somewhat jarring turning around to face my armor talking to me. But then again, I should’ve expected it, as I’d yet to set up any other speaker systems within the tent for it to speak through.
“I know, EVI. They already ran everything by me during the briefings. Though I would be lying if I didn’t say I sort of hoped that putting the food under full blast for 7 hours would’ve somehow miraculously resulted in something edible.” I managed out with a sigh.
“Cadet Booker, it is logical to assume that since the extraction of mana from both food and water is indeed viable, that the only point of contention is now the palatability of the foodstuffs rendered through the MREDD.”
“Yeah, well…” I trailed off as I began tapping on the loaf of bread that sounded like styrofoam when I hit it against the armor. “I think you and I have different definitions of palatable.”
“I am confident that the mana-extraction process can be optimized, Cadet Booker. It is at this point that I must ask that you assess the palatability of the designated foodstuff marked CONSUMABLE GROUP A, ITEM 1, for the purposes of data-gathering and analysis.” The AI spoke in a no-nonsense fashion, as I turned around, giving it a look of utter incredulity.
“You want me to try to eat this?” I shot back, tapping on the styrofoam bread for added effect.
“I require data on the palatability of foodstuff A-1 [BREAD] as it is a subjective dataset relying entirely on the input of the human subject.” The AI continued.
I couldn’t help but to shudder at that last line, especially with how it was delivered.
Popular media back home was currently going through another AI-apocalypse phase, with a lot of movies, both immersive and traditional, diving deep into the uncomfortable topics of human-AI relations post AI-takeover.
Being stuck in a bare, white tent, with a monotone, somewhat disgruntled-sounding VI talking to me through a suit of armor several heads taller than me all the while suddenly referring to me as subject really wasn’t doing my movie-binging gremlin brain any favors.
I hesitated for a few seconds, tentatively staring at the bread, then the armor, then back to the bread again, before finally just going for it...
CRUNCH
It did not end well.
“Cadet Booker, I did not require that you actively consume a foodstuff you consider inedible or are uncomfortable eating. I merely needed a dataset for the purposes of this experiment, even if that data-set is a refusal to consume the foodstuff in question.”
I stared back at the VI with unamused eyes and a mouthful of hard-tack currently turning my mouth into the Greater Sahara.
“Damnghit Aeevi.” I managed out with a mouth full of bland, stale bread, before reaching for the water dispenser which thankfully still had some mana-free water inside of it.
“Shall I log A-1 down as unpalatable then, Cadet?” The AI spoke with a hint of disappointment in its voice.
Though I was probably just imagining the actual tone of its voice.
Projection was a heck of a thing after all.
“Yes. And make sure you clarify your intent next time.” I snapped back, as I finished up what limited bits of housekeeping I needed to for now. Which included punting the balled-up undersuit into the washer, getting the wash and dry cycle started, before grabbing a fresh undersuit from the cargo airlock and quickly putting it on.
“I guess the next test with the MREDD includes extracting mana at a slow, sustained rate?” I spoke as I began recalibrating the different electronic components within the undersuit.
“Correct, Cadet Booker. Provided of course, that the foodstuffs are of a similar type, and contain similar properties to GROUP A.”
“Acknowledged.” I responded promptly, shuddering a bit as the haptic feedback finished its calibration cycles. “Alright then, we got a lot of work ahead of us, so let’s get going. System status, SRR?” I asked as per protocol, steadying my hand on the suit’s ‘backpack’.
“Diagnostics running… pending… All systems nominal, Cadet Booker. Status: Ready for standard operations.”
“Operator acknowledges system status after pre-mission diagnostics.” I replied dryly, and with a few final breaths I pulled myself back into the armor. “Current objectives? Preferably the ones I listed before dozing off last night?” I continued, as my eyes quickly readjusted to the constant assault on the senses that was the HUD.
“Priority Objective: Locate and Secure Container 10. Current time remaining until activation of the Denial of Sensitive Assets to Unauthorized Parties Protocols… 36 hours, 34 minutes, and 47 seconds.”
“Alright then, let’s pay a visit to our dear old friend… hopefully she’s alive and lucid enough to get us to the bottom of this little predicament.”

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. Local Time: 1020 Hours.
Emma Booker
Transitioning from the tent to the marble and cobblestone world of the Academy was always jarring. Opening those external protective flaps to reveal something that wasn’t more bare white paneling and drab gray composalite would probably be something I’d need to get used to.
I got into the swing of things quick enough, as I was met with the likes of Thacea who was busy reading on one of the many ornate seats that formed the mini-living room within our loft.
“Was the water to your liking, Emma?” Thacea asked with a clack of her beak.
“I managed to squeeze in a couple minutes worth of a shower, so that’s a win in my book!” I beamed out. “But with a constant stream of filtered water filling up my reservoirs now, I should be able to get something more substantial later tonight.”
The princess nodded slowly at that. “The lengths to which you need to go, just to attain what we take for granted on a daily basis, is quite remarkable Emma.”
“It is what it is, Thacea.” I shrugged in response. “The very air I breathe needs to be filtered. This whole world, or heck, even your worlds are actively hostile to human life. These measures are something that are cumbersome, and seriously draining to deal with, but it’s necessary. Besides, it’s not as if these measures are something new where I come from. My people have had a history of intrepid explorers, brave pioneers, and foolish thrillseekers who all surge forward into inhospitable domains just so they can crest the next wave, or see what’s over the next hill.” I paused for a moment, as I was tempted to strike a pose, but quickly decided against it. “I’m just furthering a legacy that’s already been established. Or at least, I hope I’m doing that. Heck if I know if I’m actually doing things right. Nine times out of ten, I feel like I’m just making the best of my situation.”
“I can’t say I can understand the appeal of this legacy of actively seeking hostile-domains.” Thacea responded with an equal mix of curiosity and genuine concern. “And I do not know what manner of civilization would result from such a culture, though I do harbor a morbid curiosity to inquire further… However, I can most certainly resonate with your latter statements, Emma. Half of the court politics I contend with simply amounts to making do with the hand you’ve been dealt, of making best of one’s situation, and doing whatever it is in your limited scope and power to maintain life, security, and perhaps some waning semblance of your own personal liberty. It’s a great game, where doubt comes naturally as a result of being a player and not the host.”
There was a small pause that followed Thacea’s response as one point in particular caught my attention more than any other.
It was unfortunate that it was so topical as well, given how if things had turned out any differently, this conversation would’ve moved right on into an hours-long exchange of life and culture.
Thacea mentioning the concept of a great game, immediately brought me back to the conversation with Ilunor the previous night.
“Thacea… would you mind if I consulted you on something?” I began, as the gears in my head began turning now at the first major issue of the day.
The princess seemed to catch on as she leaned forward in her seat intently, and nodded. “By all means.”
“Something happened last night at the workshop, and it wasn’t anything to do with the armorer… though, we can talk about that later.” I took a deep breath as I shelved that topic for another time. “Did you happen to pay any attention to Ilunor’s whereabouts after I left for the workshop?”
“Not particularly, no. Lord Rul-, erm, Ilunor had seemingly remained in his room until Thalmin and I retired to our respective rooms. After that, I simply have no recollection of anything beyond my own domicile.”
“Well, Ilunor followed me to the workshop.” I stated plainly, pausing for a moment to gauge Thacea’s reaction. Of which there really was none as she managed to keep that signature poker-face that was probably second nature to her by now.
“And I’m assuming since you managed to uncover this, that his meddling had failed in some way shape or form?” Thacea shot back coolly.
“Correct. However, here’s where things get complicated. I’ll save the bulk of the events for later, but long story short, that discount kobold decided to use some sort of a projection spell to spook me just as I was in the middle of the weapons inspection with the armorer, and the projection used wasn’t just something a random monster or anything… he purposefully chose to bring out a carbon-copy version of the null.”
Thacea’s face shifted at this, which given how difficult it was to phase her, probably meant her mind was going through the full implications of this revelation.
I pressed on as Thacea urged me to continue with a single nod. “Well, I shot it. And, no, nobody was hurt. Fast forward a chase sequence later, and the armorer eventually managed to corner and capture Ilunor. However, when we pressed him for answers about why he was there to begin with? Well… I think it’ll be better for you to see for yourself.”
It was with this that I brought out my data-pad, and began replaying the relevant scenes for Thacea to see.
Starting from the brief spats between Ilunor and the armorer, all the way to my confrontation with the diminutive lizard, Thacea’s gaze remained completely transfixed. She did flinch a bit when the footage finally went over my dealings with the lizard, and Ilunor’s sudden shift in persona as I pulled out the library card and began talking his language.
Yet despite being inundated with this sudden flood of information, with a completely unexpected tangent, she soon responded cooly and without much in the way of a delay. “This complicates matters.” She began slowly. “This entire situation calls for a complete reevaluation of the dynamics of this peer group, and how we need to approach Lord Rul-, Ilunor.” Thacea promptly corrected herself before continuing. “There’s a great number of layers to this unexpected development, each of which hints at a greater game being played here, and points at the fact that there are a great number of interested parties beyond just Ilunor.” The princess took a moment to let out an exasperated coo, her eyes finally moving away from the tablet and back to me. “You must understand as well as I, that Ilunor’s actions do not constitute a scheme of his own making, correct?”
“That I do.” I nodded simply. “The fact that he’s even bothering to do this in the first place is outside of his whole I’m above you persona. I’m not sure if the same rings true here, but where I come from, becoming a spook is not something that most people in high and mighty positions would ever stoop down to. Besides, I think we have a lead. I don’t think a student would actively defer a bit of punishment from a lower level administrator, in order to fast-track it to the highest authorities if they weren’t in cahoots with them.”
“This coincides with my observations of these developments as well, Emma.” Thacea responded with a resonant chirp. “To add to this, his knowledge of the null is most certainly not circumstantial, and considering he was absent from our adventures the previous day, his knowledge of this creature would hint to either the feeding of information via a higher benefactor, or a direct observation of our activities from afar. Either way, this does not bode well.”
“This leads me to what I wanted to consult you on, Thacea. If Ilunor’s out there waiting for us right now, would it be best if we confronted him outright in front of Thalmin or-”
“No.” Thacea interjected sharply, and with a certainty that was almost uncharacteristic of her. “Confronting Ilunor out in the open, in front of others not privy to you and the Vunerian’s current game, would be outright suicide to the dialogue you’ve managed to broker with him the previous night. You’ve managed to prove yourself as not just another pawn, but a player in the game, at least in Ilunor’s eyes. It would be wise to maintain that momentum, Emma. By continuing this line of dialogue with him in private, there is a higher likelihood the Vunerian will divulge more information as he speaks to you frankly, beyond what his current facade will allow. This is now a matter between you and the Vunerian, as Thalmin and I are not privy to these political transactions.”
I couldn’t help but to mimic the princess by gripping my forehead as well, letting out a sigh as the dread of complex court politics had begun seeping in faster than I expected. “That shouldn’t be too hard to do. I’ll just let that situation slide for now, making sure not to mention my dealings with Ilunor when he’s around, and focus instead on our other problems. It’s not like we have a shortage of other things to worry about after all.” I sighed sharply.
“That is an acceptable plan. ” Thacea responded promptly as she stood up and began straightening out her uniform. “Right then, shall we proceed?”

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Living Room. Local Time: 1025 Hours.
Emma Booker
As we exited the bedroom, we were once more met with a similar sight reminiscent of the previous day’s. As there, on the couch, were the bickering pair that had seemed to have carried over their arguments from the previous night.
Except this time, the context seemed to have thankfully shifted to something new.
“Every minute I waste in this room for the sake of that Earthrealmer is another minute that I grow increasingly more famished. It is unbecoming of a noble to sit in waiting for a commoner. In fact, it should be the other way around. Or perhaps this is yet another one of your Havenbrockian reforms that test the Nexus’ patience, Prince Thalmin?” I could hear Ilunor snapping at Thalmin just as we made our way into the living room proper.
Thalmin, amazingly, resisted responding in kind as he got up as soon as we made our way towards the pair.
“We were waiting for the both of you, but it should be fine. Should we miss the breakfast, there is always an a la carte menu we can-”
“I have met the criterion for your unlawful detainment, mercenary. Thus, I shall take my leave.” Ilunor promptly jumped off from the couch and began trotting his way over to the door, his little legs were clearly attempting to generate some sort of a forceful series of thumps as he did so, but only resulted in a light series of taps given his diminutive size.
“Hold on a minute there! That wasn’t our agreement! You agreed to-”
“I agreed to wait for the Earthrealmer and the tainted one. I have no other reason to be here. Now, I must resume my extracurriculars. You lot can do whatever it is you get up to. I will be having none of it.” Ilunor turned to face the Lupinor one final time, before slamming the front door shut, and skittering off.
This made things so much simpler as it meant we were in the clear for now.
“I’m sorry princess.” Thalmin turned to face Thacea. “I thought we might be able to squeeze something out of him yet, but the Vunerian continues to be as squirmy as a prairie rodent.”
“It’s quite alright, Thalmin.” Thacea began, as she turned towards me as if to confirm whether or not I wanted her to proceed on my behalf. To which I did. “There are a few matters we must address regarding Ilunor, which I suggest we do over a short breakfast, as we have even more pressing matters following this.”
After a reluctant pause, the lupinor prince nodded in agreement, leading to both of us sitting down-
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 275% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
-and a privacy screen being brought down soon after.
“So, shall we talk about this over a brunch platter?”

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, En Route to the Healing Wing. Local Time: 1050 Hours.
Thalmin’s reactions were nothing short of what I’d expected.
There was absolute outrage, followed by an unrepentant series of growls, capped off with barks of seething anger at the same clips I’d played for Thacea earlier.
The mercenary prince was perhaps even more uncomfortable than I was at my entry into this game, as it was clear Thalmin despite his noble heritage, wasn’t really one to dabble in it at all.
“I’m telling you Emma, this is a dangerous path forward. Are you certain you are making the wisest choice?” He spoke once again, continuing the conversation from earlier, underneath yet another privacy screen Thacea was maintaining as we approached the medical wing.
“I don’t like it either, Thalmin. There’s nothing more I hate than playing politics, but it’s unfortunately a pill I have to swallow if we’re going to get to the bottom of the issues surrounding Ilunor. I mean, I overheard you guys arguing late into the night. I really don’t think confronting him normally is going to get us anywhere.”
The lupinor let out a sigh of defeat at that, as he lowered his head in my general direction. “I can’t fault that logic, Emma. Perhaps… speaking his language, as you put it, would bring us some resolution to this frankly irritating problem. However…” The Lupinor’s voice lowered, just as we were about to reach the doors to the healing wing proper. “I know how these games work, Emma. It’s dangerous, so make sure you tread lightly, and just know that I, as part of your peer group, am here to support you should the need arise.” The prince reassured me with a smirk, as we pushed past the double doors and into the medical wing proper.
Or at least, that’s what I thought, as we entered what looked to be a massive circular room with multiple branching hallways connected to it like spokes on a wheel. In typical Academy-fashion however, the room really wasn’t at all modest with its size. As it went up a solid twenty or so stories, with high pillars piercing straight up into a marble-lined rotunda with moving murals painted on it like some grand cathedral. Between these pillars were little outcroppings where several gargoyles were perched.
Gargoyles which I could swear were looking straight at us.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 425% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
My gut was proven right again, as it only took a few seconds after our entry for these stony beasts to come to life, with multiple bursts of mana-radiation accompanying what could only be described as the sounds of cracking concrete.
Soon enough, several large gargoyles made harsh, heavy landings right in front of us. The two closest to us held out their arms, before zapping two stony spears into existence, crossing them in a clear display to stop us from going any further.
“Halt!” A voice commanded from above, as a shadowy figure landed right in front of the two gargoyles blocking our path. The figure’s face was hidden underneath an unnatural shadow casted by his hood, revealing just two trapezoidal lights where his eyes should be. “The healing wing is currently off-limits to visitors. So state your ailment, or leave where you came from.” The voice boomed, echoing throughout the large open space, as all eyes within the room now landed squarely on us.
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(Author’s Note: Hey guys! We see more glimpses of Emma's quality of life getting set up here, and we're now making our way over to the apprentice! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Chapter is already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 33 of this story is already out on there!)]

How does one evict a family member that is no longer welcome on our property? They do not pay rent and there are no papers as they have been living here for their whole life.

Bryan Caplan, a noted libertarian economist, wrote an interesting criticism of Georgism that I'd like to address; unfortunately I cannot find my source anymore (I believe it was a blog post) and all I have is a single quote but I'd like to analyze it anyway.
Caplan proposes a thought experiment:

If you’re the second person to arrive on an island, and the first-person has already farmed the best land, it seems very odd to claim that you’re “entitled” to half the surplus value of his land.

"Alone on an island" is a popular thought experiment to underline the fundamental characteristics of various economic schools.
In this case I agree with Caplan and would consider this thought experiment to be somewhat of a strawman. However, I like the idea of thought experiments as a mean to present an argument, so I will entertain Caplan's idea and expand on it.
Let's say that a person is stranded on a deserted island. Over time, they work to improve its land so it will bear food; after a while a second person arrives on the island. We will assume that the produce of the land is enough to sustain both, else there's be no way to reconcile the needs of the two.
Doesn't it seems unfair to simply divide the produce in two? After all, it is only the first person that made improvements and worked on the land, and without their intervention, it wouldn't be as productive. On the other hand it also seems unfair, at least to me, to leave the late-comer at the mercy of the first and state that the first has no obligation to share the resources. In an extreme proprietarian setting we'd say that the first-comer has homesteaded the land and it now belongs to them and if they want they'd leave the late-comer to starve. Of course, if such a condition were to present itself in the real world, I suspect the first man would be all too happy to simply see another human being and he'd be more than willing to cooperate; but this is not the point of the experiment.
I believe Caplan is mistaken in his assumption of the georgist response. I, personally, wouldn't claim that the second person is entitled to the work of the first, they are only entitled to the land. If we assume that both men have equal rights to the land then the solution to the puzzle becomes more straightforward: the first-comer can surrender to them half of the land or, alternatively, pay a price to the late-comer (presumably in produce) that they agree on, in exchange for the exclusive right to continue managing all of the land (taking into account the land improvements made by the pioneer). If the late-comer agrees to work the land himself he will surrender a part of his produce to the first as payment for the improvements made by them in the past.
I am sure someone will think that it's impossible to perfectly divide the land in two equal parts as land is heterogeneous in nature. But we're not here to determine the "true" value of something (there is no such thing); the only real concern in this case is to divide the land in a fair way. This can be done easily, and indeed there are ways to fairly divide a resource between any n number of parties. The first person will divide the land in 2 part that they deem equal (as in, they do not prefer either one or the other), then the second person will decide how the two parts are to be assigned. The first cannot complain no matter what since they're the one that split the land to begin with, the second also has no complains since, if they thought that the division was unequal they would have simply assigned the better one to themselves.

I'm 35, F, 5'5", not diabetic, been on Ozempic for 8 months and was on Mounjaro for a couple months before that. SW: 226, CW: 180, GW: 160.
I think I must be extremely sensitive to GLP1 meds. I got very sick on Mounjaro's lowest dose and ended up in the ER for nonstop vomiting and diarrhea. I went off it for a month, then tried Ozempic. To my surprise, it worked really well for me when I was in the 0.25 and 0.5 doses - cut my appetite appropriately, could still enjoy food but in reasonable portions, had other welcome side effects like reducing interest in alcohol. My weight loss plateaued and I decided to go up to 1mg. After 3 weeks on 1 mg, side effects started to worsen. I tried to stick it out for 2 more weeks but I was throwing up a lot and my doc decided to move me back down to 0.5. I took my 0.5 shot 11 days ago. Sunday of these week, I ate what I thought should be a safe dinner (homemade pasta e fagioli soup, bread) and got extremely ill, throwing up all night and sweating profusely. I stuck it out till urgent care opened and they sent me to the ER. I was able to be stabilized with IV fluids and meds and was released. I was super low energy after and missed 2.5 days of work. Stuck on a liquid diet for a few days, then slowly incorporated what I thought would be safe solid foods. I ate lunch on Friday (grilled chicken breast and rice) and got extremely sick again, ending up in the ER for the second time this week.
At this point, I don't think I can psychologically continue with Ozempic. It's making me afraid of solid food; I can't meet my work, relationship, and home responsibilities; and I feel too awful to exercise or enjoy life. Going to the ER sucks. I think I'm done for good. I was hoping to lose a little more weight but I've returned to the weight I've been able to maintain my whole adult life, before pandemic related depression led to weight gain. I'm a powerlifter and I hope that getting back to training and improving body composition will allow me to keep the weight off (my waist is 2 inches smaller than the last time I was this weight, suggesting body comp improvements). But regardless, I just can't do this anymore. Wish me luck!

Financial Preparedness Tips

Americans at all income levels have experienced the challenges of rebuilding their lives after a disaster or other emergency. In these stressful times, having access to personal financial, insurance, medical and other records is crucial for starting the recovery process quickly and efficiently.

1. Gather financial and critical personal, household and medical information.
2. Consider saving money in an emergency savings account that could be used in any crisis. Keep a small amount of cash at home in a safe place. It is important to have small bills on hand because ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster when you need to purchase necessary supplies, fuel or food.
3. Obtain property (homeowners or renters), health and life insurance if you do not have them. Not all insurance policies are the same. Review your policy to make sure the amount and types of coverage you have meets the requirements for all possible hazards. Homeowners insurance does not typically cover flooding, so you may need to purchase flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program.
4. For more helpful financial preparedness tips, download the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) to get started planning today.

​

Be Safe

• Be cautious about sharing personal financial information, such as your bank account number, social security number, or credit card number.
• Do not click on links in texts or emails from people you don’t know. Scammers can create fake links to websites.
  • Remember that the government will not call or text you about owing money or receiving economic impact payments.
  • Be aware that scammers may try to contact you via social media. The government will not contact you through social media about owing money or receiving payments.
• Keep in mind that scammers may try to take advantages of financial fears by calling with work-from-opportunities, debt consolidation offers, and student loan repayment plans.
• Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ftc.gov/complaint if you receive messages from anyone claiming to be a government agent.

​

Emergency Financial First Aid Kit

The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK), a joint publication from Operation Hope and FEMA, can help you prepare financially and provides tips to reduce the financial impact of disasters on you and your family.
For more information on the EFFAK visit the EFFAK Community Page.
For Organizations
Encourage people throughout your organization or workplace to prepare financially. Here are some ideas to promote financial preparedness in your organization:

• Hold a brown bag meeting.
• Make a presentation at an existing staff meeting using Safeguard Critical Documents and Valuables to support your discussion.
• Include financial preparedness information in the staff monthly newsletter.

At Home
Store important documents either in a safety deposit box, an external drive or on the cloud to make it easy to access during a disaster.
Take time now to safeguard these critical documents. Be cautious about sharing personal financial information, such as your bank account number, social security number, or credit card number.
Household Identification

• Photo ID (to prove identity of household members)
• Birth certificate (to maintain or re-establish contact with family members)
• Social Security card (to apply for FEMA disaster assistance)
• Military service
• Pet ID tags

Financial and Legal Documentation

• Housing payments (to identify financial records and obligations)
  • Some individuals and households may experience financial difficulty because of the pandemic. If you do not think you can pay your loan payments on time, immediately contact your bank and discuss your options before skipping any payments or taking any other actions contrary to the terms of your loans.
• Insurance policies (to re-establish financial accounts)
• Sources of income (to maintain payments and credit)
• Tax statements (to provide contact information for financial and legal providers and to apply for FEMA disaster assistance)

Medical Information

• Physician information (in case medical care is needed)
• Copies of health insurance information (to make sure existing care continues uninterrupted)
• Immunization records
• Medications

Insurance Information
Having insurance for your home or business property is the best way to make sure you will have the necessary financial resources to help you repair, rebuild or replace whatever is damaged. Document and insure your property now.
Household Contact Information

• Banking institutions
• Insurance agents
• Health professionals
• Service providers
• Place of worship

Get Your Benefits Electronically
A disaster can disrupt mail service for days or weeks. If you depend on Social Security or other regular benefits, switching to electronic payments is a simple, significant way to protect yourself financially before disaster strikes. It also eliminates the risk of stolen checks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury recommends two safer ways to get federal benefits:

• Direct deposit to a checking or savings account. If you get federal benefits you can sign up by calling 800-333-1795 or sign up online.
• The Direct Express® prepaid debit card is designed as a safe and easy alternative to paper.

Apply for government-funded unemployment, healthcare, and food and nutrition benefits to supplement your income or savings.
Consider using online and mobile banking services, if you are able. These services enable you to practice social distancing and conduct banking transactions at the same time.
​
Article Source

I kicked a wrapper off of my coffee table and summoned the entire carton of chocolate milk out of my fridge, then put my feet up and flicked the t.v. on to search for something to watch.
But what? ‘I’m in the mood for some fangy bitey girls.’ I thought, and a little while later I was watching generic useless boy gets a harem by being nice and wholesome but really has eyes only for the vampire girl who keeps biting him because she likes his blood… yeah, yeah, there’s a title, but who cares what it is? I just wanted shenanigans, and shenanigans I got.
Jin, in my view, is a good boy, like a little brother who takes himself far too seriously. Ever since I moved in, he’s sort of been that way, happy to do stuff, happy to work hard, grateful for the opportunity to work for someone else…
Kind of a sucker, really.
But a good boy, and now that I knew he had some problems…? I yawned and stretched out my limbs while the protagonist got thrown around like a rag doll, “I’ll keep a closer eye on things.” I muttered and then laughed as I recalled the stunned bunny look of the brat that smacked him around.
I sort of doubted the secret would stay confined to the three of them. People gossip, like…a lot. They say that two can keep a secret if one of them is dead, but from what I have seen of people?
They both have to be dead and the ashes scattered in the sea because even dead men do tell tales if you’ve got a body to examine. And there were three of those idiots. One of them would say something sooner or later, no matter how ashamed they were of losing. Before long? I smiled a little as I watched the protagonist get rescued by his vampire vixen, ‘He’ll have a reputation as a badass without any work whatsoever, and even have a helpful bodyguard out of it?’
I wondered about that, but it wasn’t any of my business, the way I saw it, Jin got a pretty good deal out of some grocery shopping and a little cleanup work.
I chugged from the jug, gulping my milk down… a little clumsily, I lost some on the sides of my mouth, and I cleaned up by wiping the stuff away with my sleeves.
Jin returned about three hours later with a bunch of clean clothes in a big green trash bag over his shoulder, and a pair of big reusable grocery bags in the other, both bags were filled with the snacks I so desperately craved.
I salivated over them, hungry…wanting. Like fangy bitey vampire girl, whatever her name was, hungered for the blood of generic male protagonist, I in turn hungered for the taste of sweets!
My feet stamped on the floor as I moved to stand up and reach for the bags.
“Ooooh no.” Jin said with a boyish grin on his face, “I did all that, but before you start eating it all… did you eat anything this morning that wasn’t a snack?”
My stomach growled.
“Did you eat anything at all?” He asked and raised a dubious eyebrow at me.
“Not exactly… I drank milk.” I said and pointed to the now empty jug that I’d let fall onto the floor when I stood up. Good thing it was empty, otherwise…what a waste.
“Chocolate, too.” He half walked, half waddled with all that stuff toward my kitchen area. “Just… sit there and do nothing.”
I wasn’t about to complain about that.
I flopped myself down on the couch while he disappeared into my bedroom after depositing the groceries on the table.
“What ever did I do to deserve such an inept big sister?” he sighed melodramatically as he mocked my NEET lifestyle and put away my laundry.
“Hey, I solved your problem today, you could at least not refer to me as inept.” I huffed and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I knew he didn’t mean it, and I didn’t either, but even so…
“Yeah… thank you, but I have to ask… how exactly? What did you do?” He asked, raising his voice a little since he was out of view.
“What does it matter? Yesterday you had a problem. Today I did ‘a thing’ and now you won’t have that problem anymore. Don’t over think it.” I said, briefly pausing my show, I shouted, “And don’t go rifling through my underwear either, hentai!” I shouted.
“I’ll blindfold myself when I get to that drawer!” He promised.
“How will you know what drawer it is?! Wait, do you already know?! Are you peeping on me, hentai?!” I shouted again.
“No and… I assume you’ll tell me!” Jin shouted back.
“Oh, there isn’t one, just throw things wherever!” I explained, and heard him groan at my answer.
“You’re impossible!” he declared.
“And you’re possible.” I declared in return. It didn’t make sense, but it didn’t have to. There is no obligation to make sense when you’re with your friends.
“Uh huh, listen, you just wait there.” He said, then after a hesitant moment added, “Wait… yeah, like I need to tell you to not trouble yourself with doing stuff.”
I stuck my nose in the air and huffed while he came out of my bedroom a few minutes later and began to deal with the groceries. “You know, I just cleaned up over there, how is it you manage to get things so damn messy so quickly?” He asked while he put various things away out of the bags, storing ice cream in the freezer and chocolate milk on the upper shelves, frozen premade meals stacked neatly in the bottom and various jellos and other things in the fridge…
I shrugged. “Stuff happens?” I said as if I had no idea how I caused such debris to just ‘pile up’.
It was even sort of true. After all, do I seem like the sort of girl to keep track of shit I don’t care about? I hope not.
No sooner than I’d answered than he was fiddling around with my microwave. “What’ya doing?” I asked, watching him out of the corner of my eye.
“Getting you something to eat other than snacks. I swear, how did you ever become an adult?” He asked.
“Did nobody ever explain to you how time works, Jin?” I asked, as if that was an answer to his question, I knew what he meant, of course, but he also knew when I was teasing.
He blew air out of his nose and dragged his right hand slowly down the length of his face. As far as he knew, I was a high school graduate and college dropout who moved to the town of Sakura and just… enjoyed being the do-nothing neighbor.
I cracked a little knowing smile. There were a lot of rumors about me, of course. I had fun with that one. Some said I was in witness protection from the Yakuza, and that’s why I don’t work. Some said I actually am Yakuza, or at least part of a Yakuza family. That one’s crazy because I don’t look at all Japanese.
Some say I’m an American or European rich girl just hiding out from life, or that I have a Japanese ancestor and I’m here getting in touch with my roots and that’s why I have a Japanese name or… it goes on, some are wild, some are rational, none of them are close to the truth. And as to what I say? I haven’t told anyone anything concrete, of course. The less lies you tell, the less you have to remember.
I could see the curiosity in his eyes though, when Jin looked over at me while he prepared something to eat. Humans… they love their mysteries. A single mystery is worth ten thousand truths, at least to them.
Nobody knew how I paid for anything, but the truth was both the same as them and… very different.
I got paid per job, and I got paid well. Since Earth isn’t part of the interstellar community though, I would buy gold. Gold is really common in the Universe, so common it’s useless as currency, and it doesn’t have much use beyond decoration or some technological hijinks. So it’s dirt cheap, then, I go back to Earth on my vacation, sell bars of it for cash, then put the cash onto prepaid debit cards. It’s a little bit roundabout, but I can’t exactly file taxes here.
Jin approached and handed me my card, then set the dish down in front of me. “I hope you don’t mind, but I got a few extra things that weren’t on the list, some spices, things to make your food taste better. I’ll pay you back if that wasn’t OK.” He said, and then handed me a plastic fork.
“Nope, it’s fine!” I said and set the card on the table before chowing down and shoveling the pot pie stuff with…whatever was concentrated deliciousness that he added to it, into my mouth. “Thank you!” I said and beamed up at him as I ate.
He snorted and shook his head. I earned a lot of snorts, and I cherished every one of them.
“See you later, Kayobi.” He said with a smile that took up most of his face.
“See you later, Jin. Tell me how it goes at school tomorrow, alright?” I asked, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him nod as he walked past and I unpaused my show.
“Will do.” He said as the door closed behind him.
But he didn’t.

I'm looking for smaller venues (room rental, etc) for a 50 person reception in the Hudson Valley at the end of September. We had booked a room in a brewery, but unfortunately that fell through. We are definitely trying to keep this on the lower end of the budget, but I accept that given the time constraints that may not be possible.
For scope, we were going to be paying $500 for the space rental plus $25/person for open bar. Food is being catered by an outside vendor. We're just looking for something that isn't going to require us to rent everything separately, but also isn't going to cost an arm and a leg. Thanks in advance!

I was thinking back on some of the times my edad would take me out to do fun things. He was the only one who took me out usually because Nmom couldn’t drive. He would take me to our county fairs and the state fair. Nmom couldn’t stand that I obviously preferred edad.
I remember one instance where we returned from the fair where my dad had let me play some games and win prizes. He usually let me do this. I had a little trumpet toy that I was probably too old for at 9 but I liked it. When Nmom saw it she flipped out saying it was dirty and covered in germs, that other kids had probably been using it. I tried to explain that it had been in a sealed plastic bag but she insisted they could’ve just put it in the bag and so she forced me to wash my mouth with soap. I guess she never got the chance to do it for me swearing because I was too smart to do that in front of her so she just had to find an excuse to wash my mouth out with soap.
The last time I went to the fair I was 16, I was supposed to go with just my dad but my mom insisted on coming, even though she had never wanted to and because of her health we all knew she would struggle. So she came, and she ruined it like I knew she would. Every time I asked to play a game to win a prize she would say no, even though my dad would’ve said yes. Fair food? Not unless she approves of the choice. There was an indoor part of the fair filled with vendors with mostly non kid directed products. As a kid I didn’t care about that, I wanted to be out on the rides and doing what the other kids did. She wanted to stay in there because it was air conditioned and cool, but of course I was not allowed to go off by myself and we couldn’t dare suggest leaving her in there alone. I was upset because we were supposed to be there for the fair.
When we finally went back out her attitude was awful, complaining about the heat, the dirt roads making her shoes dirty, that she was tired. I blew up at her saying she ruined the whole day. Of course she didn’t care, because how could I be so worried about all that when my mother was uncomfortable?
Ugh. I’m glad I left all that years ago.

This July 4th will be four years with my (42f) significant other (40m). When we met, he was living in a shared house (renting a bedroom). I had bought a house a few years prior. I asked him to move in with me after about 2 years of dating. He did. He also kept his rented bedroom. I get it, he wanted a place to fall back on of things with us didn’t work out. We’re older and practical, so I understood. It’s been 2 years though, and he still has this room he pays $800 a month for. We split the house bills based on income percentages. I make more than him, so we figured I’ll pay 54% and he’ll pay 46%. This money goes into a shared account each month and we use it for utilities, mortgage, food, etc. The rest of our pay/money goes into separate accounts that aren’t available to each other. We both work full time, M-F in office settings. He stayed working in the office through the pandemic. My company had us wfh and it stuck so I’m remote. When he gets home from work, he likes quiet time. That’s cool, I respect that. He spends about an hour in his computer surfing, watching YouTube, whatever. Then we cook dinner together and stream a show for the rest of the evening before bed. On the weekends, he spends all day on the computer gaming or watching videos. I on the other hand, do yard work, clean the house, laundry, care for the dogs, you get the picture. I’ve also recently started grad school, so I’ve been busier on the weekends with homework. Whenever something in the house breaks, I have to fix it or call someone to come fix it. I have asked for help many times, but I don’t get it. I’ve asked if he could find a house cleaner but he says he can’t take the time to do this when working. So I told him I was going to stop cleaning. He told me that he lived in a rented space because he didn’t want the responsibility of a house. There’s a few things I’d like objective opinions or answers on: What’s with keeping the rented bedroom going on 2 years? I’ve spoken with him several times about keeping up the house and yard, but there is no engagement. Is there a way I can present it so he might get off the computer and help? How is his job any more important than mine to not take time to help with a few calls? Is this a case of, ‘he’s told/shown me who he is so I should believe him’ and get over it? Thanks for taking the time to read this and I welcome your insight, thoughts, jokes, or memes.

Are people not wanting to work anymore and are holding out for higher paying jobs? This applies to everything from stores, restaurants, fast food joints, etc.

So, a while ago probably about a few months, my roommate's mother gave her a credit card to use for food, gas, ECT, little things here and there if she needed it. Our roommate said that we could put it in our phones for doordash and uber eats if we need it in an emergency or we just dont have any food or something. We never used it but it was there. Come to find out we had apparently been using it for all of our orders when my partner's card didnt work(she has PNC bank and it blocks her from using it half the time for some reason). So she found out, came to us, we apologized at it was all an accident/agreed to pay her back, or so we thought.
The day it happened we deleted the cards from my doordash while i was on my phone. Well apparently we forgot to delete it from my partner's phone. So we have been using it again and again by accident.
I just got a text from my roommate that her mother is pressing charges for using her card. I dont know what to do. It was seriously an accident. I'm super paranoid about cops showing up or like getting sued or something. What should i do???? Help.

About a month ago, I [19M]ran over a pothole on my way to work which destroyed my wheel and was fired from my job because I was late. I have no money saved up and was relying heavily on that one job for all of my living expenses. Repair cost for both a blown tire and cracked rim totaled at $350 which I clearly did not have. I have no one that can help me financially and family refused to help so my initial action was to sign up for unemployment and utilize it just long enough to pay for a repair and get a job.
Unfortunately, I was denied because I was fired for breaking protocol. I maxed out the only credit card I had to pay for rent and food. I missed both a credit card and car note payment which tanked my credit score making it impossible for me to get a loan or a cash advance(I know they’re the devil but I couldn’t think of anything better). I tried to sell everything I could but nothing sold for a whole month. I also live miles away from a job and there are no bus routes around me. I’m about to get evicted, my car will get repoed soon and my phone bill will go into collections. I have no hope for my future.
Can you tell me what I should do in this situation?

So I started an internship. Mind you, I haven't had a normal/nontraumatic conversation since I left my mom at a hotel . We'd been hopping from hotel to hotel because we had no place to stay.
Then weeks prior, I got an email (that was sent to about 4 other interns) from a intern, I'll call him D.
D emailed us and I responded. We kept everything non flirtacious. I was nervous about being in a state I had never lived in, knowing that I had generalized anxiety and ADHD , I never lived on my own and I had to make a drastic change.
We joked about the internship. Since gaining weight, the idea of wearing anything business casual, gave me shivers. I barred myself to wearing baggy clothes. Which is all I said and I asked him where he went to get his business casual clothes. Most of his places were way too expensive for me, I went places that were cheaper.
He double texted me a lot because I didn't have much time and I also didn't have anything else to say most times.
Anyway, the day of the internship, he's talking to everyone but me. He even stood behind me, disrespectfully reached right aside me and shook the hand of my tablemate, who sat right across from me. I didn't say anything or force him to acknowledge me because he was just being human...and humans can be so wishy washy . He waited till most people had gone by the end of the day, to talk to me .
I responded and let him leave.
Every since then,due to my internship being male centric, he managed the day before to get the number of the male leadership member (who will soon be my project lead). After the first day, I started to notice a weirdness about the other men around us. My soon to be project lead could barely look at me and the others soon followed. I knew it was over when my own male project lead gathered all his "boys" (male interns) and had their own little chauvinist club DIRECTLY behind me. Talking about some uncomfortable stuff here and there. I noticed how all of them had a weirdness towards me too.
I had to take two days off and I left my group presentation early because I started to have a nose issue. I went to the hospital and they told me I might need to take a day or so off. I had been gone since Thursday and got a text by D friday. I deleted him from my messages Tuesday and just moved on. He says, "where did you go? " , then an hour later, "u ok". And I ask "whose this". He tells me its him and asked what happened to me. I just told him I was advised to take a day off due to my health. He responds with, "whose this". I tell him, " A 12 year old boy named D apparently". Like why text someone and try to be funny after learning about their health issue.
I'm not new to the idea of men/guys behaving weird around me because they think I have some other romantic interest towards them. I remember working at Hot Topic at 18 (my first job) as a seasonal employee. My objective was to get hired on and one of the ways (aside from doing a good job) was to try and make friendly convos to the other employees because maybe they'd put in a word for you. I've talked to everyone at one point except for the only guy there. He does the same thing. Just straight up acts weird like I was trying to suggest something else. I was never flirty, overly smiley, I was normal.
There were numerous other situations like this...
This one with D really bothers me because I really can't just quit my job, drive back home, order food and decide IF I want to work again. I have to stay here otherwise I will have to pay the company back OR go back to live with my grandma in my other home state but I don't because she's terrible.
I'm up to my wits end working with men. There's one guy I sit next to (because the seats are assigned) and we talk on and off. He's the only sane acting one. He doesn't take our conversations as me trying to flirt . He stares at me when I talk to him. He's not dotting his eyes away . I don't want to speak too soon about his character just yet though.
It bothers me because the other women in my internship, they are treated VASTLY different. There's only 7 or 5 so women in our internship and the rest are guys ( there's 24 interns in total).