I have enjoyed microdosing mushrooms in chocolate for years now. I love the process of making the chocolates, the taste, the texture, etc.. It makes Micro and mini dosing easy and delicious. I was wondering if I could do the same, also since Methallylescaline is so potent, it would be great if i could dose it volumetrically in chocolate, rather than having to trust my mg scale dor 2-3mg dosages.
Does anyone have any insight on the structural stability of these compounds in fats/sugars/proteins? Any experiences to be shared?
Have a nice day, and thank you for your time. :)

TW: Mentions of restriction and purging, also very rambly, sorry I just needed to get it out
Four pizza pops, around eight bags of chip ahoy minis, uncountable handfuls of chocolate chips, some stuff I might be forgetting idk, plus more normal amounts of oatmeal, toast, tuna, yogurt, etc. Binged yesterday too and the night before but I feel like today is way worse. I meant to restrict, 400 to 500 cals, but just gave up I guess. I never can actually get myself to restrict anyways and even when I do I binge by the end of the day. It feels really lonely too, the people closest to me who I talk to about this, while they're understanding, are both actively trying to gain weight, so I don't know anyone else who can't just not eat. On that, one of them told me tonight that it seems like I've become consumed by disordered eating, talking about it a lot, treating it "like a religion", and so on, and they're really not wrong. It's really ritualistic and seems more like a virtue or value in of itself than anything else, from attempted laxative abuse despite knowing it doesn't work to there being no real consistent reason for trying to restrict or avoiding eating normally (currently it just feels like it would be too much despite my habits lmao). The most concerning part is the emotional numbness around all of this. Whenever I looked at stuff about binging today I started crying but I didn't actually feel anything. No guilt, no shame, very little real concern about weight, just a pure physical response. This is the only issue where this has happened, everything else is much more clear while with this something is obviously wrong but I have no intimate access to it.

So I’m going to a music festival in a couple of weeks and I’m bringing edibles to help with sleep. The last festival I went to I made 30mg buckeyes, but I was in Florida heat for 4 days and they didn’t survive well. For those that don’t know a buckeye is a peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate, I know not my smartest move. They tasted meh but knocked me tf out for a few hours which was what really kept me going. Anyway, I’m just looking for suggestions for a treat that will hold up in the heat! Thanks :)

Ok look, I just want to open by saying that this is gonna be long and kind of a vauge rant; but i wanted to post it somewhere just so that someone might understand where i'm coming from.
Im pretty sure i fall into a smallish minority of players of the Phantasy Star series. My first foray was Phantasy Star Universe; and while it seems to be a bit of a blacksheep of the series, as someone just discovering my first mmo outside of Runescape (and on a console no less) it was pure MAGIC. There was SO much to do, so many cool and unique items to collect, a fun and engaging community who was friendly and willing to help. You had branching paths, themed bosses; everything just felt so ALIVE to me as a kid. All these people here in this awesome virtual world all having fun, making real memories with real people through the joy of fun community features, and a shared love of finding the next exciting drop.
Jump forward in time a couple years after the PSU shutdown; I catch wind that PSO2 is playable in japan, and its possible to play from the US. Immediately, nostalgia floods me, and i start trying to rig the wonky launcher and super primitive english patch on some crappy 200 dollar walmart laptop i had (SO many hours spent doing captchas in hiragana as a dumb american... holy hell). I get into the server, and its like magic all over again; im a little confused about how the field lobbies are gone and how the layout works as a whole; but im having a good time. I settle in on ship 2, i do a handful of missions and happen to run across some english speaking players and boom; i'm in an alliance, here comes the sense of community again! Now, at this point i'm a little older and wiser; i've played a good few f2p mmos at this point, and so it isn't long before i notice the cash shop and start trying to figure out what i'm missing. So I start asking about in the voice chat of this alliance i'm in; and most people tell me that if i'm having fun that a premium set is the biggest thing worth having. However i would need to find a way to convert my money (which at the time was quite complicated, though it later got easier i'm told). So i kind of hit a stone wall and decide "Well im having fun, all these new skill trees are really cool and im enjoying the game and its combat especially vs PSU..... so how hard can it be to grind it out as a f2p?
​
Well it wasn't the worst. I lasted a good 6 months and maxxed out 1 class, i survive through SG storage space, and learn that through shop tickets and room tickets i can get pretty much anything i want through smart grinding. At some point through the leveling process, the loop started to feel more rewarding the more you really learned combat; but the overall rewards just felt so slow and unsatisfying. I'm sure it didnt help that MANY items were untranslated; but so much of the loot felt so samey. There were no super cool special drops or anything outside of augments really that people wanted that werent AC scratch items; so i got to farming. Alot of my alliance members were very skilled and knowledgeable, and frankly carried me super hard in both knowledge and power (shout out to Cedric, Gorani, and Maileese). I started to learn and understand alot about the game outside of the fun community aspects that drew me in. I started bringing in ok money and got my character set up with a cool outfit; made my room nice and decorated so i could invite my alliance over to hang out. Overall, i managed to thrive as a f2p despite constant mid run banking, storage problems, slower xp, and shitty buff drinks. I stayed and learned to thrive, because it gave me the option to thrive as a f2p through learning the finer bits of the market (and being able to access it reasonably easy).
Jump forward like 5-6 more years; my crappy laptop is dead; I had long taken a break from pso2 JP when they started ip banning english players; and im playing on xbox as my main source of gaming entertainment. I had almost forgotten they ever promised to bring pso2 west nearly 10 years ago; but when i saw PSO2 at E3 of all things; needless to say I LOST MY MIND! i was beyond excited for it to finally touch back down; and whats more its even coming to the platform i have access too! so many years of content and things i missed! I was mentally preparing to lose myself in PSO2 for ages; but this time i was fully invested in "Min/maxxing" mentality. I know that lots of people are going to be playing for the first time, and that having already played a bunch myself; i have the advantage to some degree in knowledge; and can use it both to help myself and others. I like to think that overall i did pretty good; i ran an alliance with a good handful of friends who i convinced to play; and we all had a great time... for about 2ish weeks until we realized gearing peaked at revolsio weapons. I knew the content drip would be slow but steady; but there was such a renewed sense of community, that even though they began to trickle out; i couldnt help but stay.
I started getting into augementing and experimenting with builds; i start affixing units and weapons for profit, i engage in the community colored chair wars, i people watch on block 69; life is GREAT and im having a great time. Ofc i bought in for a founders pack and had premium and some cosmetics and stuff; i was actually an adult with money this time, and i mean hey; what's 30 bucks to support a game i love and get basically everything i need for one character? I occasionally grumble over the inability to trade people without premium, or that those without it level extra slow; but i know that if they just make it over a certain barrier that they can thrive no problem. I use photon capsule machines to trade friends gear; we do even more advance quests even more of the time to make sure people get the levels they need; and eventually they have a stockpile of tickets, and have a max level character; and start making money. At some point alot of them start having enough fun that they too buy into the game, some for a premium set; some full send whales. Now, the whales started being a double edged blade; because there were enough people making well affixed gear at steady enough of pace; but jussst slow enough at first that demand was still very much outweighing supply. So the market begins to skyrocket on perfect affixed units. Now me personally; i made alot of money on this. but for MANY of the other players who are just trying to get better gear and those who are chasing the "end game" so to speak; this became super punishing.
I could go on and on and on about how much stuff got super crazy on the market because of whaling. but as long as you were on the right side of it from a standpoint of affixes and material farming; you could make a fortune off of it; although at some point they even started making that not as good with premium capsules and whatnot. Soon capsules are best in slot across the board, shop tickets begin trickling out; The balloon breasts jump to like 2 billion meseta lol. so much stuff starts happening around me that im like "man this game isnt like... pay to win but SUPER pay to conveinence". but the reality was starting to get a little bit bleaker by the end of pso2 era for F2P players.
To come full circle here with what drove me to rant and rave about this al;l is how the model has progressed in NGS. We lived in an age where there was no player shop access for f2p (unless you were sitting on a dragons hoard of unsed 3 days from base game), there were no rooms, even premium benefits were basically nil outside of a shop. AC scratches were getting pumped at at an all time high, no concerts, no real entertainment of any kind; just fuggin resol forest all day. and finally we have come to an age of content where sega finally makes skill trees not cost money to change; but just sells you the ability to skip playing the game. and not only that but effectively spawn in the best items in the game for AC. It just feels so unfortunate that the content has dried up; nothing feels anywhere near as creative or fun. the combat is inch deep; as are the skill trees. theres no crazy combos; no 20 piece combo craziness. just the same 4-5 moves; on repeat; with mostly some % buffs thrown in.
I havent even begun to mention the mile long list of other stuff missing that even base game had. Bas egame had some genunely fun and challeneging content. there were fun missions to run and it made sense to do them. NGS is just devoid of any of the charm of fun that made any of its previous iterations great; and all while gouging you for more and more.
I know this trails all over the place and has a rushed conclusion, but i was just reading the patch notes considering dipping my toes back into the water again after skipping stia; and im just honestly so turned off by it. nothing has changed; no major interesting content has dropped; and now they are going full on pay to win. I'll be honest; i think ill just stick to clementine server or something; because at least there, the devs actually give a shit about the game. I feel like im in an abusive relationship im just waking up to after 10 years os PSO or something. and with that i dont have much else to say tbh. i love this franchise, and i want to love this game; but SEGA really just cannot do right with this game.

Has anyone else had a forgotten memory surface after smelling something? For me, the smell of lilacs in the summer drags up an odd recollection indeed. The year is 2002, and the sweet smell of lilacs surrounded me as the summer breeze dance among the purple-white flowers above me, their tendrils dancing in the wind. I’m lying on my back in the scratchy grass near my grandfather’s old, but well maintained barn—painted a rust red. The sun is slowly making its way beyond the horizon, leaving the sky a mix of darkness and shades of red, orange, and purple. Strands of clouds float far above, driven like cattle by the winds at higher altitudes. It’s peaceful. I spent almost every summer in high school out on the farm with my grandfather, a gruff, green thumbed and silver tongued old man with smile wrinkles as deep as a desert dune. A perfect memory of a nice summer day, no?
Something always feels odd about it, though. The grass is scratchy, but in a searching way. The lilacs hanging from the boughs above me dance in strange rhythms, moving in wind I cannot feel. And my grandfather stands just out of eyesight, staring intently at the sun as it dips slowly out of sight.
My grandfather recently passed away, at the exceedingly ripe old age of 109, though he hated talking about his age. Living through all of that he did—two world wars, the end of segregation, all the twists and turnings of a century of human civilization. A monument of a man, and a well regarded member of his little slice of society. In the latter half of his life, he began growing and tending to the lilac trees I mentioned earlier. They were a bit different from other lilacs, although I couldn’t really tell why—they looked the same, felt the same, smelt mostly the same (a bit of spice to them, if that makes sense), but cuttings would always would wilt quickly when they were far from him. He always said that they were just accustomed to his presence, and so grew wistful and melancholy in his absence.
All this to explain my surprise when I received a small potted lilac sapling in the mail, deposited carefully on my doorstep. The sapling smelled of summer days long past, with a small handwritten note from my grandfather, the words shaky from the crumbling control he held over his hands:
“Grandson,
I entrust this child of my grove to you. The lilacs always enjoyed your presence among them, and you seem to have inherited my green thumb.
Don’t be afraid of them.
Love,
Grandpa”
I don’t know when he had the time to write the note or send it, as his death was sudden—he was found leaning against one of his lilac trees, the oldest of the grove, with a smile on his face and sightless eyes. At least it seemed he had passed without pain, which is really all anyone can hope for. I was a bit confused about the “don’t be afraid of them” part, but maybe he meant it to assuage my fear of killing the tiny tree, the last gift he gave me.
I truly loved my grandfather. He filled a hole the absence of my dad left in me, a bitter wound that served to make me lash out at my peers and those close to me. He was always gentle, though gruff, and I still remember him telling me, “Grandson, your father wasn’t a bad man. Misguided, yes. Xenophobic, certainly. Bad? No. Don’t let his absence taint your life.” It was the advice I needed at the time, and I was able to get my emotional ducks in a row by the time I finished high school (well, maybe a few years after, but he set me on the right path.)
And so, after I received the sapling, my life slowly returned to the routine it had before he died. It grew slowly, agonizingly, imperceptibly slowly. I was worried at times it was dying, because progress was so slow.
It wasn’t until I cut myself while pruning a dead leaf, spraying the soil with my blood, that the sapling started really growing.
The growth coincided with the dreams.
I kept the sapling in my room, on my windowsill next to several succulents and a pitcher plant a friend had gotten me from an exotic plant dealer. It had no flowers, but smelled faintly of the lilacs it would hopefully one day come to bear. The night I had nicked myself, I went to bed following my usual routine—I’m going to run through it here just in case someone can point something that could have lead to the dream I had:
First, I brushed my teeth (with toothpaste, mint). Next, I took two melatonin pills, and my antidepressants. Lastly, I took a big drink of water, looked in the mirror, and said, “Lilac Lilac you’re the best, you are better than the rest”
Just joking about the last part, but really what I normally do last is say goodnight to my plants. After wishing each of them goodnight and cracking the window to let air circulate, I hopped into bed and wrapped myself in my weighted blanket. I’ve gotten my bedtime routine down to a fine science and so I was asleep less than 30 minutes later.
I woke up, and my grandfather was crouched next to my bed, peeking over the side and staring me in my just-opened eyes. His mouth was out of my line of sight, but I could see his cheeks move as he said, “gr and son” in that cadence over and over again, all the while staring into my eyes like he was searching for something.
Needless to say, I tried to move or say something, to tell him I loved him one last time, even though clearly this was a dream, but shortly after opening my eyes I felt them drooping and “fell asleep” again shortly after—falling asleep in a dream is a super weird feeling.
When I woke up for real the next morning, the lilac sapling had cracked its pot, pale roots intermingling with the potsherds clinging to the dirt. It had grown overnight, and had maybe gotten a half head taller. Weird way to describe a plant growing, I know, but it feels right. Of course, I was ecstatic that it had finally grown, and that I wasn’t slowly killing this last connection I had with my grandfather. I called out of work and transferred the sapling to a larger pot which would serve as a home until it grew large enough to go in my backyard, HOA be damned (what’s with all the weird rules on what I can do with my property!?).
I still have dreams along the same vein as that first one, though my grandfathers vocabulary and grammar has been improving—he tells me stories that he told me when he was alive, and I wake up feeling rested and happy. But if that was always the case, I probably wouldn’t be posting here, would I?
I’ve been having another dream recently, as the lilac sapling—now a fledgling tree—grows larger, and it frightens me. It’s a continuation of the memory I talked about in the beginning. I get up from the ground, an imprint of my body in the grass, and my grandfather tells me to head inside to bed, that he’ll be in a bit later as he has “some work to do in the grove”. I head inside the farmhouse, and get ready for bed, sneaking a sip of the mead my grandfather brewed from the lilac trees, and go to sleep. Usually, I don’t wake up, but something wakes me this time. I go check on my grandfather, expecting to hear his jet-engine snoring, but it’s silent. I get worried, and open his door, seeing his bed empty and unslept in. I go back to my room, and try to go back to sleep, but images of him hurt after falling from a ladder or some other accident with nobody to check on him fill my mind. I grab my flashlight, and head to the side door in the darkness, moving smoothly through the house I have memorized like the back of my hand. It’s very dark outside at night, so far from any city, and the silence is cut only by the soft drone of bugs in the distance. The moon beams down at me, providing just enough light to send my imagination into overdrive, farm equipment becoming monsters waiting to eviscerate me in the cold night. Every crunch of gravel beneath my feet is an affront, my flashlight a beacon screaming “I’m here, and I’m tasty” to any creatures in the night. But I press on, driven by the thought my grandfather could be in trouble—after all, why would he still be out?
Once I reach the grass, it gets a bit easier. The faint smell of the lilac grove moves towards me in the wind, and I feel a bit braver. I pass the barn, and reach the outer ring of lilacs, my flashlight passing over the waving flowers. It feels almost…rude to keep it on the trees, like talking in the middle of a sermon, so I turn it to the ground, illuminating the pale roots of the lilac trees, and walk towards the center of the grove. My eyes slowly adjust now that I have to use them to look in front of me as I creep forwards, feeling nervous at the prospect of finding my grandfather. What if he’s dead? What if he’s out here to get some privacy? I don’t know what old people do. My flashlight flickers, and I think I can see my grandfather standing ahead of me, looking up at the branches of the lilac tree. I raise the flashlight up, and call out for him, only to see his face peeled back in ragged pieces, his eyes unseeing on flaps of skin as his exposed skull, full of lilac flowers, extends thin white tendrils with pulsing purple veins into the oldest tree above. I see the tendrils coming from the tree, intermingling with those coming from him, and I scream as his neck slowly swivels but his head doesn’t turn at the same rate, the tendrils writhing together like snakes in a pit and his face starts knitting itself back together like sewing patches onto a jacket—starting to hide the lilacs and the lilacs are him and the lilacs are everywhere and their spice fills my nose and I’m on the ground—
And my grandfather stands over me, a sad smile on his face, and purple darkness finds me in the lilac grove my grandfather grew.
Then, I wake up, and I feel strange, smelling the strong scent of his lilacs. I’ve been seeing lilac flowers blooming in the corners of my vision, and sometimes it looks like something is moving beneath my floorboards, but I chalk that up to how tired I’ve been recently.
The reason I’m telling all of you this is that I tried to move my bed recently, and when I was able to shift it (with great effort), I saw pale white roots entering the posts from my floor. I’m starting to get very, very worried.
Is this going to affect my security deposit?

I have a bricked mobo I want to reuse in my next build. I wanted to try programming the bios chip directly on the board using this USB programmer. My question: what adapters would we need for this? I wanted to document the process here.
I'm looking at the CH341A Programmer. The bios chip on my mobo is Giga Device's GD25R256DFIG. This is a SOP16 300mil SPI interface flash (25 series) chip pulling 2.7V~3.6V
It seems like a trivial modification is needed on the programmer to have all the pins output 3.3V (as half are rated at 5V out-of-the-box,) which has been widely documented.
Looking at the programmer, I believe we will also be needing a flash clip adapted to DIP-8. Looking at the schematics, does this make sense? This programmer does not technically support this particular EEPROM; however, I couldn't find one that does. Is there anything else I might have to look out for before giving this a shot?
Thanks!

The forest is black. Pitch black.
I pound over the dirt trail, my feet turning the pedals like twin pistons. The bicycle bounces and jolts, shuddering as it rolls across the wooden bridge. There’s something in the air tonight. A chill.
But it isn’t the chill of autumn. No, this is the chill of unease. It crawls up my spine carrying the deep-rooted knowledge that something about these woods, something about this trail isn’t right. It’s the unmistakable dread of being watched.
Pursued.
I stand up and ride harder. My lungs burn with every push of the pedals but I can’t shake the feeling that I need to get out of these woods fast. The hospital is twenty minutes away. I just need to make it there.
I’m close.
So close.
WOMP
Bass rumbles behind me. It’s followed by a rush of wind, enough to throw me forward while ravishing the forest like a tempest. Trees groan. Their frames break and kneel, surrendering to the gale. Branches and leaves come loose. They ricochet through the air like shrapnel, cutting into my cheek and and I throw up an arm to keep myself from losing an eye.
This is insanity.
It’s lunacy.
I don’t know what’s happening, but I know I have to make it through this. I have to get out of these woods, get back to the hospital to see my sister before the heart monitor flatlines.
She’s not doing well. Are your mother and father home?
No, ma’am.
Can you get here to be with her? She doesn’t have long.
Yes ma’am. No matter what.
The distant bass nears, growing thunderous. It’s as though the whole world is shaking, like the Earth might split in two and swallow me whole. I grit my teeth. I let loose a defiant roar, sweat pouring down my temples as my legs tremble, willing my bike forward.
Faster, dammit!
Faster!
There’s a flash. Then another.
Lightning?
No.
I’m answered by an explosion of light, so violent and bright that I can’t see a damn thing. I holler. Scream. My body jerks forward as my front wheel collides with what feels like a fallen branch. Next thing I know, I’m flying over my handlebars.
What’s the phrase?
Ass-over-tea-kettle.
Yeah, that’s it.
I brace myself for a broken arm, maybe worse, but the pain never comes. Nothing comes. It’s as though I’m floating in limbo, like gravity’s unable to finish what it started. I can’t feel a thing– not the dirt beneath me, not my face pressed against the bark of a tree. For a little while, I think I’m dead. That I’m in purgatory.
But then my eyes adjust. The world comes into focus, beginning as a blurry smudge, but soon becoming a picture-perfect recreation of my worst nightmare.
I’m not in the forest anymore.
I’m above it.
I’m looking down at the mess of trees and I’m terrified at how small they are, how much smaller they’re getting with every passing second.
I’m floating into the sky, being carried by a narrow beam of light.
​
___________________________
​
That was a long time ago. Thirty years, give or take.
A lot’s changed since then, but one thing’s remained the same: the nightmares. I have them every night. I dream about that blinding light, that same low bass and that same gut-churning horror of being eaten by the sky.
I used to think they were a coping mechanism. I figured that since the dreams came shortly after my older sister passed, that maybe they were just how my eleven-year-old brain was dealing with the grief. My therapist seemed to agree.
“You’re quite right that there may be a link there,” she’d tell me, lowering her glasses and offering a medical-grade smile. “It’s very likely that these dreams are a form of abstract healing, a means to allow your mind to come to terms with its trauma.”
For a long time, I thought she was right. Or better put, I hoped she was. Now though? Well, I think maybe we were both wrong.
Shit.
Where are my manners?
I’m over here rambling about my childhood, and you’re wondering who the hell I am.
My name is Isaiah Mitchell. I’m a boogeyman, but not the cool kind. I don’t hide in closets or haunt old houses. I’m the type that your parents rant about while watching the evening news, the sort that tinfoil hats point to whenever things go wrong.
I’m what you might call a Man in Black.
The work I do is classified. It’s the sort of work that happens behind the scenes, with shadowy people in shadowy circles. So when I tell you that last night something catastrophic happened, I’m not talking about the stock market dipping a couple percentage points. I'm not talking about increased traffic on your morning commute.
I’m talking about trouble.
Lots of it.
It’s the kind of trouble that’s making me do something I don’t generally do, which is break rules. By the end of this, I might break all of them. But this is important, and in moments like these I find myself thinking about my late sister, Hope, and how she would have wanted me to do the right thing. It’s how she raised me, after all.
So here goes nothing.
This begins with a story, but it ends with a decision. The story is mine, and the decision is yours. When I’m finished, you get to choose whether you spend the time you have left a little wiser, or laugh this off as the ramblings of a lunatic.
Whatever you choose, I’ll have made my peace.
The story is a personal one. It’s about me, but it’s also about you– it’s about everything in the universe, right down to the last atom, and how all of us are facing a horror the likes of which we can’t begin to imagine.
It’s the story of the worst night of my life, and what might one day be the worst night of yours.
It goes like this.
​
_______________________
​
The beam of light sucks me up and spits me into absolute darkness. The sensory whiplash is enough to give me a headache, something like a migraine that pulses near my temples and feels like a bulldozer inside my skull.
It’s uncomfortable.
But not half as uncomfortable as the situation I’m in.
“Hello?” I mumble to the dark. I stumble to my feet, feeling around my environment blindly. It’s cold. Hard. It feels like I might be in a room full of metal, but I can’t imagine where that would be. A warehouse?
Footsteps echo in the distance. They’re closing in.
“Who’s there?” I sputter, and I think maybe I’ve been drugged. People don’t just up and float into the sky in the middle of the night. It isn’t a thing.
That means I’m hallucinating.
That means whoever kidnapped me knows a thing or two about stealing kids.
That means they’re a professional.
What’s the phrase?
Serial killer.
Yeah, that’s it.
WOOOOMP
I clap my hands to my ears. It’s that same bass from the forest, except now it’s reverberating all around me. Another bass joins it. This one is different… coming from a new direction, with a lower tone. It’s almost like they’re communicating– like morse code.
“Please,” I beg. “Just let me go. I swear I won’t tell anybody!”
Static crackles. It’s followed by a sharp squeal of microphone feedback, then the buzz of modulating frequency. “Communication calibrated,” a digital voice says. “Subject identified: homosapien. Geographic location: New Mexico. Language model: English.”
There’s a pause, it’s long and silent enough that I can hear my pulse rushing through my veins. I’m positive I’m going to die. These things don’t happen to people who live to tell the tale.
“Can you understand us, homosapien?” the voice asks.
Yes, I say.
Can you turn on the lights? I ask.
The only thing worse than being murdered is being murdered in the dark.
Yes, they say.
I’m blinded for the third time in as many minutes. I blink, my eyes adjusting to the green glow as it fills the chamber. Wherever I am, it’s strange. Alien. Tall vats of liquid are scattered around a large, circular room, each hosting tubes that extend outward to a central console. Everything is metallic. I can’t make out any labels– any sort of identification at all.
“Is this level of light sufficient?” another voice asks, this one right behind me.
I wheel around, and my breath catches in my chest. In front of me is something that doesn’t exist– can’t exist. It’s roughly ten feet tall, and it’s got sharp teeth, sharp claws, scaled skin, and a tail. It’s a monster. A living, breathing monster.
Fuck.
I scramble backward. My back collides with one of the vats, and blue liquid sloshes against the glass. “Thehellareyou?” I shout all at once.
“We are the Chosen,” says the first voice, approaching my other side. “We are lifeforms from many galaxies away, and we have come to save humanity.”
They stare at me through giant eyes, and each of those eyes are filled with dozens of pulsing pupils. Almost like ink blots.
“I’ve been abducted…” I sputter, hardly able to breathe. “By aliens. Aliens… are real… and I’ve been abducted…”
“Correct,” says one of the aliens. I realize this one has gray scales, while the other has teal. At least I can tell them apart.
Gray looks at his arm, and a digital screen comes to life. He taps at it with a crooked finger. “Readings indicate heightened levels of cortisol and increased adrenal flow. Source: Fight or flight response. Biologically rational, but devoid of purpose.” He looks at me, cocks his over-large head to the side. “You have neither the option to fight us or flee us, so it would be best to comply. Do you understand?”
My jaw hangs open. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do. Are these aliens really standing there reading me my Miranda Rights? “Are you going to probe me?” I ask. “Like the movies?”
Teal blinks at me, his pupils dilating. “Negative.” He points to a vat. “We will break down your genetic tissue into usable material, harvesting your most compatible DNA strands while discarding the rest. It is for the greater good.”
I follow his finger to the tank, and now that I’m right up against it, I can see clearly what’s floating inside. My stomach twists into a knot. Inside of it is a human body. Everything from the man’s waist down has been dissolved, and what’s left of his intestines are dangling freely.
“Jesus Christ!”
“There is no cause for concern,” Teal says. He lumbers across the chamber to the metallic console that all the tubes are feeding into. “Your disappearance will be accounted for. A clone will be deployed to resume your life, preventing suspicion and avoiding social disruption.”
“Let me get this straight,” I say, trying to ignore how faint I’m starting to feel. “You’re going to kill me… to save humanity?”
“Correct.”
The room spins. My chest gets tight and my vision becomes a scrambled mess. My ears are ringing like church bells. I stumble, losing my sense of equilibrium and I think I taste vomit in my throat.
“No,” I mutter. “This isn’t happening… Can’t be happening…”
I steady myself against a vat, looking up to see a dead woman’s face staring back at me. Pieces of her skull have been eaten away. I can see the wrinkles of her brain underneath.
“Heart rate out of range,” Gray says, but I hardly hear him. He grabs my wrist, presses a device against the center of my hand.
I struggle. Fight. I try to use my teeth, but he’s strong, much stronger than me. A coldness pulses against my palm, almost like an ice cube, and soon that frigid sensation is traveling across my fingertips. Up my arm.
“What did you…” I mutter, but the sensation is rolling through the rest of my body. It’s soothing. My eyes find my palm and I see a strange shape seared into the skin, a scatter of dots surrounding a black square. Suddenly I can’t remember the thought I was trying to finish. Was any of this really worth panicking over?
It was just a few corpses in vats, after all.
“You have been administered a sedative,” Gray explains.
My heart rate slows. My ears stop ringing. The ghost of a smile sneaks across my face.
Gray’s staring at his display. “Cortisol levels reduced. Adrenal response suppressed. Biometric readings indicate subject has achieved a suitable level of suggestibility to proceed.”
“Affirmative,” says Teal, working the console.
I feel like I’m drifting through the lake on a warm summer day. My heart is full. I’m in absolute bliss, and all I can think is that Hope should get to experience this before she dies…
“Pulse is quickening,” Gray says with a frown.
Hope.
My sister.
My dying sister, alone in the hospital wondering why her little brother abandoned her.
“Sedation effect dropping,” Gray says. “98%. 94%. Emotional instability reaching unacceptable levels.”
“Hope,” I sputter, feeling like I’m coming out of a daze. “I have to get to the hospital– please! My sister is sick! She needs me!”
Gray presses the device against my other hand, and another pulse of relaxation courses through me. “Invalid concern,” he tells me. “Clone will be a perfect recreation of you, body and mind. It will retain all memories allowing it to continue your life uninterrupted. Conclusion: your expiring sibling will receive suitable emotional support prior to her decomposition.”
Fucking aliens. It takes everything I have to fight against the sedative, to make my case. “How?” I groan. “How is my DNA supposed to save humanity? What the hell is it saving us from anyway?”
Teal turns from the console to face us. His giant eyes are narrowed in a thoroughly displeased manner. “Invalid request. Information too critical to risk dissemination.”
“Rebuttal,” says Gray. “Clone’s memory can be modified. Current biometric readings indicate high levels of emotional discontent, placing likelihood of a compromised harvest at 34%. Solution: permit subject to understand purpose of sacrifice. Result: sense of closure and enhanced probability of project success.”
Teal turns back to the console. “Rebuttal accepted. Proceed.”
Gray looks at me. He places his scaly fingers against my head, and I squirm a little. “Brace yourself for disorientation,” he tells me. “You will experience physical unease and hyperstimulation. After, you will understand the horror that awaits your species in the dark.”
​
______________________________
​
For a long time, that’s as far as the nightmare gets. Gray prattles on that I’m about to see the truth, some twisted fate that justifies melting humans into sludge, but before he can deliver the goods, I wake up.
Every. Time.
Blue balls doesn’t begin to describe it.
Last night, it happens again. The nightmare, I mean. Same aliens, same tanks of human soup, but this time I wake up in a cold sweat. My phone is ringing on the bedside table. There’s a name on the screen that I hate to see.
“Whatisit?” I grumble.
“Jesus Christ, Mitchell. I’ve been calling for ten minutes!”
My boss. Lisa.
She goes off. The words are coming out like machine-gun fire, and from the background chatter I figure she’s speaking to more than just me. It sounds like there’s a crowd around her, like she’s briefing suits as she jogs down a hallway.
“Got all that?” she asks.
Something about a shitstorm. Something about an F35. The air force just shot down a UAP, which is how we say UFO these days to avoid getting laughed out of the room. Apparently it happened in New Mexico. My backyard.
This calls for a liter of coffee. Maybe two.
I stumble into the kitchen and put a pot on. I have some time while she holds the phone to her chest and barks orders at the drones around her. One cream. One sugar. My spoon clinks against the side of the mug as her voice blares through the speaker.
“Mitchell?” she says. “Still there?”
She says she’s got coordinates. I take a sip of scalding java. I’m dazed enough I barely feel it burn my tongue. My fingers punch the coordinates into my laptop, bringing up the location the supposed UAP was shot down.
I spit my coffee over my screen.
“The fuck?” I mutter, leaning forward and doing a double take at the map.
“What is it?” she’s asking.
“Nothing,” I’m saying.
But it’s a lie. The truth is, the coordinates are a dead match for the forest where I had my waltz with psychosis thirty years ago. They’re the coordinates from my dream. Right down to the rickety old bridge.
I ask her if she’s sure the numbers are correct.
“Am I sure?” she snaps. “Look, if you’re asking me if this is another Chinese spy balloon then the answer is go fuck yourself. I’ve been pulling my hair out for the past twenty minutes. This is the real deal, so suit up and get ready to go. I’ve got a bird on the way.”
The clock on my microwave reads 2:34 a.m. and my stomach is telling me to sort my life out. “Do I have time for breakfast?” I ask.
Click.
The line goes dead.
Twenty minutes later, a helicopter is landing on my lawn. I board it in a daze, and we take off in the direction of the crash like we’re trying to outrun a cruise missile. I’m watching the lights of the countryside drift by, and it occurs to me that from all the way up here, in the dead of night, they almost look like stars.
I wonder how long it’d take to snuff them out.
How long it’d take to burn a whole galaxy to ashes?
To crush a universe in the palm of your hand?
Things to consider.
The closer we get to the crash site, the worse my thoughts become. They’re bordering on obsessive. I’m tangoing with darkness. Radio chatter is coming through the com line, something about aliens and extraterrestrials, but all I’m thinking about is controlling my bladder.
I’m drowning in hypotheticals.
I’m wondering what happens if I lose my mind between here and the crash site, what the protocols are, where they’ll take me. Do I get the night off? The week?
“Everything okay, sir?”
It’s the co-pilot. She’s turning in her seat and looking at me like I’m having a medical emergency.
“You look a bit pale,” she tells me.
My muscles work overtime as I twist my mouth into a smile. “Never better,” I lie. “How far out are we?”
“Twenty miles,” she says with a reassuring grin. She turns back in her seat and I take the opportunity to let out an exhausted sigh.
I close my eyes. Take a dozen deep breaths.
Happy thoughts.
I try to ignore how dry my mouth is, how badly my hands are shaking. I try to ignore the fact that every time I look down at my palms, I see that same scatter of dots, that same faded square that no doctor has been able to explain. “I’ve never seen scars like that,” they tell me. “How’d you get them?”
I don’t know, I tell them.
I don’t know.
But I do.
I’ve known this entire time, probably, but I’ve just been too terrified to accept it. I’m not what I think I am– this world isn’t what I think it is either. It’s all of this that’s making me want to curl into a ball. It’s making me want to weep on the floor, to scream at the top of my lungs and pull my hair out with everything I have.
It’s making me want to throw open the helicopter door, take a breath of fresh air and then plunge head-first into the dirt like a human turnip. And if I thought it was that easy, I might just do it.
But somehow, I know it isn’t.
I know it won’t save me– won’t save us, from what’s coming.
See, last night I had the same dream I’ve had for the last thirty years. The same abduction. The same aliens. But last night, I got to see the director’s cut. The Extended Edition. Last night, when Gray told me he was going to show me just how fucked we all are, he actually came through.
Imagine that.
What I saw was everything.
I saw how all of this ends. How all of it began. What I saw is what’s waiting for us in the black infinity of space. And the more that I think about it, the more I think it might be driving me mad.
“Just up ahead,” says the pilot. “Ten minutes to touch down.”
Eight minutes.
Five.
“Jesus,” he says, at the three minute mark. “Are you two seeing this?”
And up ahead is a plume of smoke, rising into the night sky. There’s the faint flicker of fading fires, the haphazard glow of industrial lighting, and there, at the center of it all, is the unmistakable shape of something that shouldn’t exist.
“That… doesn’t look like it’s from this planet…” the co-pilot mutters over the com line.
“No,” the pilot replies, and his voice is shaking. “It doesn't.”
They’re right. They both are. What it looks like is something extra-terrestrial, something alien. It looks like something ripped straight from my worst nightmares.
And really, that’s just where I wish it had stayed.

Hello again!
Payment via PayPal G&S. Shipping starts at $4.50 for a small item depending on zip and increases with weight (USPS). Shipping from the East Coast. $10 min before shipping preferred. All item conditions are noted and pictured best as I can. Most are brand new.
Please don't ghost. It's okay if you change your mind. NIL based on timestamps. Note that I have some of these items listed on other platforms as well and will adjust the availability accordingly.
BN = Brand New; BNIB = Brand New In Box; BNIP = Brand New in Packaging; FS = full size; DS = deluxe size/travel size/mini; FWP = free with purchase
I'm very careful to keep my makeup clean and protected, keeping original packaging where I can. Smoke- and pet-free home. Always masking. See this wonderful feedback from previous buyer 1, 2 and 3 as references 😊
  Please comment below before sending a Reddit chat since I can't see those on mobile.  
Swaplist:
New only: Dior beige mitzah, Rose Montaigne or Pink Corolle mono eyeshadows. Trestique Summer Glow & Go set from Boxy. Try me on Sephora Lipstories balms (I already have shades 07 and 08 and a couple others), must be sealed.
 
Eyes
Mascara - $12 for all  

• Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Vol 2. travel size, BNIP - $4
• Dior Diorshow Volume Mascara, 1.5ml travel size, BNIB - $5
• MAC Stack Superstack Micro Brush mascara mini, BN - $4
• Tarte Lights Camera Lashes mascara deluxe size, BN, 1 available - $3

Eyeshadow  

• Tarte Chrome Paint Shadow Pot in Martini (bronzed olive) 3g, BNIB - $12
• Tarte Chrome Paint Shadow Pot in Wild at Heart (pink with blue duochrome) 3g, BNIB - $12
• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha, swatched - $2
• Colourpop Colour Stix eyeshadow stick in Devotion, swatched & sharpened - $3
• Colourpop Colour Stix eyeshadow stick in Hyde, swatched - $3
• Nudestix Magnetic Eye Color in Smoke, FS, BN/sealed - $12
• Revlon So Fierce! Prismatic Shadow Palette, Slight Flex, swatched/light use - $3
• Sephora Collection colorful metal effect eyeshadow in 07 Volcano Land (metallic brown), arrived broken, pushed back into the pan - FWP
• Sephora Collection colorful shimmer eyeshadow in 254 Diving In (blue), very delicately swatched - $3
• Elf Bite Size Mini eyeshadow palette in Rose Water, light usage - $1 or FWP $20+
• Elf Bite Size Mini eyeshadow palette in Mint to Be, light usage - $1
• Elf No Budge Eyeshadow Stick in Champagne Crystal, used & sharpened 1x - $1
• ArtDeco eyeshadow refill, 218 - soft brown mauve, swatched - FWP
• Phase Zero shimmer eyeshadow in Nude Newbie, usage shown - FWP

 
Face

• bareMinerals Original loose powder foundation SPF 15 in Golden Fair 04, full size, ~80% remaining - $12
• Colourpop Flexitarian Super Shock Cheek highlighter, gentle use shown - $4
• Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation sampler - FWP
• Westman Atelier Vital Skincare Complexion Drops sampler - FWP

 
Lips - New

• Bobbi Brown Crushed Lip Color in Ruby, travel size, BNIB - $8
• Bobbi Brown Luxe Lip Color in Parisian red, travel size, BN - $8
• Clinique Pop Plush Creamy Lip Gloss in 01 Black Honey, BNIB - $16
• Becca Ultimate Lipstick Love in Cherry, FS, BNIB - $14
• Becca Glow Gloss in Rose Gold, mini, BN - $6
• Pat McGrath Labs Lust Lip Gloss in Flesh 6, travel size, BN - $5
• Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine Lipstick, Cherries in the Snow 004, BN/sealed (discontinued shade) - $10
• Catrice Plumping Lip Liner in 080 Press the Hot Button, BN - $1
• L'Oreal Infallible 8hr Pro Gloss, full size, shade Suede (peachy-pink gold duochrome), full size, BN - $4
• L'Oreal Infallible 8hr Pro Gloss, full size, shade Blush (pink shimmer), full size, BN - $4

 
Lips - Swatched or Gentle Use

• Hourglass Confession lipstick in "I Can't Wait" (refill only, will ship with no cap), swatched - $16
• Hourglass Confession lipstick in "If I Could" (refill only, will ship with no cap), used 1x - $12
• Hourglass Confession lipstick in "When I'm With You" (refill only, will ship with no cap), used 1x - $12
• Or take all 3 Hourglass refills for $35
• Bobbi Brown Crushed Lip Color in Ruby, travel size, gentle use - $4
• NYX Limited Edition Avatar Luminescent Lip Gloss, shade 01 Shimmering Waters, swatched - $5
• Too Faced Sex on the Peach mini lipstick, light usage shown - $1
• BareMinerals BarePro longwear lipstick deluxe mini, Petal, usage shown - FWP
• Tarte travel size busy gal gloss in Run This Town (watermelon with gold shimmer), swatched - $2
• Lipstick Queen Sinner lipstick in Peachy Nude Sinner, FS, very light usage shown - $10
• Urban Decay Vice Lipstick, Limited Edition Born to Run, Shade 66 (Rich Mauve-Nude), Comfort Matte finish, usage shown - $4
• Becca Ultimate Lipstick Love in Maroon, FS, very light usage shown - $5
• Catrice Loves PETA Limited Edition Demi Matt lipstick (similar to MAC powder kiss formula) in C01 Spread Empathy, gentle usage shown- $2
• Catrice Demi Matt Lipstick in 040 Exotic Nude, very light usage shown - $2
• Catrice Demi Matt Lipstick in 140 Breathless Berry, swatched only - $4

 
Brushes - Take all for $22

• Real Techniques Brush Crush Vol 2 Limited Edition 301 Foundation Brush in Galaxy; new, washed in unscented cleanser - $15 + free Sigma brush cleanser sample
• Luxie 231 Small Tapered Blender eyeshadow brush, washed once in unscented cleanser - $4
• Ebelin "Sommerblütentraum" Limited Edition dried flower clear handle eye blending brush, BN - $4
• Wet n Wild Pro Line Tapered Highlighting Brush P75, BN - $2
• Wet n Wild Pro Line Fluffly Blending Brush P20, BN - $2
• Wet n Wild Pro Line Dome Pencil Eye Brush, used once, washed in unscented cleanser - $1

 
Skincare - $50 shipped for all

• La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream mini/deluxe sample, BN - $11
• Well People Plant Powderfoliant Renewing Charcoal Exfoliating Powder, travel size 16g - $6
• Farmacy Honey Potion Plus Ceramide Hydration Mask mini, 9g, BN - $5
• Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm mini, 20 mL, BN - $5
• COSRX Hydrium Watery Tonery, 50mL, Exp. 09/21/2023, BNIB - $5
• MAC Hyper Real Serumizer, 4mL, BN - $3
• Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex II, 7ml, BNIB - $9 (one remaining)
• Proactiv Deep Cleansing Face Wash, 2 oz, swatched - $3
• Awake Balance Shot antioxidant concentrate mini, BN - $1
• Tarte Sugar Rush Don't Hate Hydrate oil-free moisturizer, 5mL - $1
• Essence Coffee To Glow undereye treatment with caffeine, new - $2

 
Skincare Tools

• FOREO Luna Play Plus in Aquamarine, New w/ Box - $26
• Revolution Skincare Cooling Eye Roller Ball, BNIB - $7

 
Fragrance, Hair & Body

• Fragrance sampler bundle: Miss Dior, Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia, Dior J'Adore, Dior Sauvage, all BN. $2 or FWP $25+
• AVEDA Nutriplenish leave-in conditioner spray, travel size 30mL - $8
• Hair ties bundle: Essence limited edition Pink & Proud scrunchie (EU exclusive); Ebelin hair claw; 6 x Esmara spiral hair ties - crystal (clear); 3 x Invisibobble hair rings (burgundy); 4 x Kitsch hair spirals (no box); 4 x Ebelin micro hair spirals, all BN - $6
• Devacurl Curl Bond Re-Coiling treatment mask, 30ml x 2 = 60ml (~$11 value) - $2 or FWP $20+
• Or take all of the above for $12
• Sanex Dermo Invisible Deodorant, 50mL, BN (EU item) - $4.25 each (3 listed, 6 total available)

 
SOLD
 

• Hourglass Confession Lipstick in "At Dusk" from the Limited Edition Sculpture Collection. Comes with the Limited Edition refillable holder and At Dusk refill (both never used). Holder fits any Confession lipstick refill BN

Survived a week! Abdominal pain and nausea is still there but not nearly as bad. I actually don’t know if it’s CHS today or the fact that I got my period 2 days ago. I’m still sweating my ass off at night and peeing a million times a day, but I’ll take it over puking. The intense waves of suicidal thoughts and crying hysterically kinda just… stopped? Definitely not complaining, but I thought it was weird. Could have to do with my hormones + the withdrawals. Or it could come back with a vengeance in a few days, guess we’ll wait and see. Still don’t really have an appetite and sticking to bland foods and liquids, BUT last night I was able to eat a (small) bowl of pot roast and rice. Overall still getting better each day.
Also had a happy (?) surprise today - I completely forgot I had ordered some shroom chocolates before all this happened and they came in today 🤦‍♀️ I’m not about to fuck up my stomach even more so I’m keeping them in the freezer until further notice. Whole shrooms always make me super nauseous, but I know some people get it worse than others. I did want to ask if anyone here has tried taking shrooms after quitting smoking — how long did you wait before you took them? I’ve only ever eaten them whole which literally makes me gag, or made tea which goes a wayyy smoother. This would be my first time trying the chocolates, idc if they’ll have effects closer to the whole shrooms or the tea. I remember when I tried to quit vaping for the third time, doing shrooms made my nicotine cravings go away and I was finally able to stop. I was kinda hoping it would have a similar effect with the weed cravings I’m getting.
Hope you guys are all doing well 💗

Trip Report- 13 days Tokyo/Kyoto/Hakone/Nagoya (Ghibli Park) /Hiroshima with a 2 year-old toddler. (plus day-trips to Nara and Osaka)
I love reading other peoples' trip reports and thought it might be useful to share my experiences travelling with my wife and toddler in Japan. We used Shinkasens for most of our travel between cities but did rent a car in the middle so that we could drive to a rural Onsen and then to Shirakawa-Go from Nagoya. (We also briefly rented a car to visit 3 plaaces around Hakone, too).
First of all, traveling with a toddler in japan is great. Our kid loves trains and busses and got tons of attention and shouts of "KAWAI!!" from friendly people everywhere we went. She even got a lullaby sung to her by a Japanese grandmother as she dozed on a city bus in Kyoto. She never had to pay for any bus fares or train fares. (technically she was a "lap baby" on the Shinkansens).
We read a book of etiquette before we went and it was very useful to know. I am sure most of these tips are stickied elsewhere , but things like "don't point with one finger, always grasp cups with both hands, don't wipe your face/mouth with the hand-cloth, don't talk loudly in restaurants or on trains, keep yen bills neat and flat and use the trays provided when paying for things," etc, were good to know before we went. We brought and carried a "point-and-say" translation book but only used it once; generally Google Translate worked great for images of menus and signs. (and many restaurants have English versions of menus, or use digital menus on iPad that can switch to English. ) Google maps handled most of our navigation needs without issues too, both via train and car. We parked the stroller outside most restaurants or folded it and brought it just inside the door if the weather was bad.
Prep work --
The only major prep work we did before leaving was to buy our JR pass and alert our banks to the dates that we would be in Japan so that our credit and debit cards would work. We had no problems getting cash from the ATM machines at 7-11 or at the Airport. We reserved all hotels/AirBnB/Onsen/Car Rentals beforehand. Also bought SkyTree tickets before departing. We stayed up until 4am to get a ticket to Ghibli's Grand Warehouse -- fortunately only one ticket was needed since our child was under 4 and my wife wasn't interested. We rented a mobile hotspot device from Sakura Mobile before leaving America and it was waiting for us at our first hotel in Tokyo. We dropped the hotspot and charger in a mailbox in a pre-paid envelope before leaving Kyoto.
Major tips -- no need to pack lots of snacks or water each day , since vending machines and 7-11 stores and similar are ubiquitous. Do pack paper towels/ Napkins and extra plastic bags for carrying wet diapers and trash, as public trash cans are almost non-existant. (and when they do exist, they are often just for aluminum and PET plastic bottles) Throw away trash where you bought it, (for things like satay skewers) or bring it home to your hotel. The "pack-it-out" mindset takes a little getting used to, but the results -- a society seemingly without litter-- are superb. Having a lightweight , easily foldable stroller made this trip much easier. Our child often slept in the stroller, and being able to quickly collapse and carry it was key to getting up and down the many sets of stairs in the train stations. It also occasionally doubled as a luggage cart for us. Packing light is key; we picked hotels and AirBnBs that had laundry options to allow us to carry a minimum of stuff. (and no need to bring laundry soap; the washing machines dispense it automatically) My wife wished she had a Japanese-style suitcase with 4 roller-wheels, but I think we did fine with our backpacks , etc.
In general, we didn't have much trouble finding things for my daughter to eat; she loves noodles and dumplings, and even got really into red snapper sushi one night. (basically she loves anything she can dip in soy sauce). Chicken Karage was usually an easy thing to find and feed to her, as were the egg salad Sandos, fresh fruit, and various rice balls from 7-11. Oddly, she also really loved the "pickle-on-a-stick" things that were pretty common in outdoor markets. (I think we got them in both Kyoto and Osaka)
Flights - we flew JAL to from LAX to Narita outbound, and returned on JAL (operated by AA) from Hiroshima to Haneda to LAX. The outbound flight was great; the JAL service was impeccable and they gave my child a model airplane which kept her occupied for hours. We gate-checked our folding stroller on the outbound flight -- the gate clerk put into a plastic bag for us just before departure,
The return flight (operated by American Airlines ) was a step down, but still fine. Transferring planes at Haneda for the return was a little more of a hassle than we had expected becuase you have to exit one terminal, walk a while, exit the building and then get on a free bus, and then go back through security at another terminal. On the plus side, the Haneda international terminal has a padded play area that my daughter liked near the duty free shops. Becuase our return journey was two flights, gate-checking the stroller was not possible, but instead, after measuring its size, we were able to keep it as a carry-on for both legs. (had it been larger, JAL said they would have met us at Haneda with an airport loaner stroller, something we saw other parents using in Hiroshinma and Haneda)
Highlights from each city (focusing on things that my child loved)
Tokyo -- our first night in Japan was a little disorienting: the Tokyo metro station is like a gigantic multi-layer mall-labryinth, and since none of the maps seem to show the "big picture" finding our way to the correct exit lugging luggage was a bit of a challenge the first time . We went back down that night for our fist meal, and by the next day we were practically experts, and were even able to find our way to Ramen Street (on level B1) for lunch and --after waiting in line for about 20 minutes-- slurp some great noodles.
Our first morning we wanted to visit the imperial Palace Gardens, but discovered it is closed on Mondays. Stil, just seeing its moat and stone walls was impressive. We walked to the Children's Science and Technology Museum near Budokan, and our duaghter loved operating cranes and turning cranks of giant Rube-Goldberg machines. (some with bowling-ball sized steel balls moving around). Most of the exhibits were in Japanese, but the fact that this wasn't a common tourist destination made it interesting to visit. On the way home for naps we ate at a random underground food court under an office building and learned how to order a food ticket from a machine for eating at a restaraunt. (a key skill!)
We next headed up to the Owl Cafe in Akihabara, mostly as an excuse to have a visit to Akhiabara, and found it was closed, but seeing the electronics stores and nightlife of Akhihabara was fun. As you might expect, my daughter loved getting Gacha Balls from vending machines (both in Akihabara and everywhere else )
Our second day we spent the morning hunting for the legendary "Elephant Playground" (worth the hunt!) and then went to the nearby Tokyo Childrens' Toy Museum. This was a fantastic combo, and I would recommend anyone with young kids in Tokyo do both. From there we walked to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which was a wonderful oaisis, full of picknicking families and couples. We explored the tropical greenhouse and then had a well-needed rest under a tree near a tea-house in the traditial japanese garden section Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden also was conveniently close to the Shinjuku rail station, which was imporant because we had Sky-Tree tickets that evening, and we headed there directly. We didn't have time to do any shopping or visit the two museums recommended to us near the skytree (Tobacco and Salt and the Tobu rail museum) But we did have what I consider my favorite meal of the trip: beers and gyoza and molten-lava hot takoyaki at a tiny( 6- seat) izakaya a few minutes south of the Skytree. (i'd recommend it by name but it was completely in japanasese and I am not sure I can now accurately ID it)

The third day we visted the Tusikiji outer fish market -- we got there early and and it was quickly full of tourists and good food. (many different kinds of grilled things on sticks, as well as raw oysters, etc) I was amazed that the public bathrooms there were sparkling clean -- as they were throughout almost the entire trip. My daughter loved getting an ice-cream drink at John Lennon's favorite coffiee shop (Yonemoto). On the way back thorugh Ginza we bought an enormous fig wrapped like the crown jewels from one of Japnan's famous fruit-gift stores. It cost about $9, but was absoulutely delicious. (it was crazy to see $200 watermelons and $170 muskmellons in the same store) 

We also took this time in Ginza to do one of the things on my bucket list -- buy an overpriced gift fruit from a fancy Japanese store. We bought the second cheapest thing in there - a single giant fig, and I think it cost about $9. (totally worth it!) . it was just fun to ogle $80 spherical watermelons, and other beautiful, but incredibly expensive fruit.
Later that afternoon visited/saw Shibuya crossing, ate decent and very inexpensive sushi at a 3rd floor conveyor-belt restaurant, and went to Harjuku. (not in that order) Harajuku was chaotic fun, but equally fun was the long peaceful forest walk to visit the Meji Ginku shrine that starts just outside Harjuki station . By now we were experts at tossing coins, bowing, clapping, and praying in the appropriate cycle. (something the 2 year old seemed to quite enjoy). We also knew from our guidebook that we were supposed to walk only on the sides of the path at Meji Ginku -- the middle is reserved for the Gods.
NAGOYA/GHIBLI - We took a direct bus from Nagoya station (cash accepted, Pasmo Cards also accepted) out to the sprawling expo grounds that surround the Ghibli exhibits. Our 2.5 year old loved Studio Ghibli Parks Gand Warehouse, particularly the miniature town where she could run around and pretend to drive a train and serve beer at a drafthouse. There was a furry Catbus to sit on, (of course) as well as another padded Catbus to jump around on for a few minutes with shoes off. Totoro is the only Ghibli character she knows well, and she loved finding hidden Totoros and (and a giant bar-tending one) around the Warehouse.
Arguably, Ghibli park was a little disappointing for us two adults , becuase it was pouring rain when we visited making the long walks between areas less than fun. And despite having moved heaven and earth to get a timed ticket, there still were long lines (~40 min) for areas inside the "Grand Warehouse." It was interesting for me to see the sketches and reference photos a used to make each cell of Ghibli animation realisitic ... but it was annoying and crazy that most areas of the warehouse totally forbad taking photographs. Much of the rest of the Grand Warehouse was just lines for people to take selfies in front of recreated scenes from the movies for posting on social media.
We had watched or re-watched all the Ghibli movies prior to our trip, so we were well prepared, but overall I would say that if you can't get tickets to go to the Grand Warehouse, don't feel bad. (There are many many more magical and wonderful things everywhere else in Japan, and your 2 -year-old will love them just as much. )
HAKONE/SHIRAKAWA-GO/ HIDA (Onsen)
We took a Shinkasen south from Tokyo to Hakone, and spent a day there with a family friend who showed us an ancient tea-house along the old imperial road, a famous Shinto shrine, a deliicious meal, and of course, Mount Hakone with its black eggs, sulfurous fumes, and melty black ice cream. The toddler loved the eggs and the ice cream, of course! For me, sitting and eating tea and mochi in the deep forest along the royal road was like being transported back into a historical Kurosawa film.
If you visit Hakone, I would encourage you to get into the woods and do some hiking. It's a gorgeous area. Apparently the japanese love to drink and tour Lake Ashi on a pair of pirate ships. which added a comic aspect to our visit to the much-photographed Hakone Shrine's Tori gate.
We knew we wanted to visit the truly rural areas of Honshu, so we reserved a night at a remote Onsen near Shirakawa-Go. The drive from Nagoya was stunningly beautiful, traffic was light, and because we had rented a toll transponder along with the rental car, we could just breeze through the toll-booths (which are located at the off-ramps) . Seeing the untouched mountains coexisting with sleek new road tunnels and breathtaking shining bridges made me realize how decrepit American infrastructure has become.
IT was a bit stressful to drive on the left hand side of the road, but conversely, It was great to be able to pull over at will. For example, we could stop at at a small town outside of Nagoya for a delicious prix fixe breakfast at "cafe Pierrot" and again later to see and visit a beautiful riverside Shinto shrine along the road. The car gave us the freedom to and be able to just stop and explore and let our child play in the shallow water surrounded by green hills. Driving in the rural areas wasn't too bad, and doing so let us see a whole other world that we would have missed had we stuck to the trains. For example, we visited a delightful outdoor morning market in the village of Miyagawa and bought fresh produce and some delightful snacks (including fish-shaped custard-filled mini-donuts) from the vendors followed by an impromptu picnic along the riverbank.
On this portion of the trip we also got to experience the Japan's wonderful rest-stop cuisine -- you use a ticket machine to select some items, hand them to a chef behind the counter, and in a few minutes your number is called . We had some delicious Japanese pizza (shaped like a elongated, puffy taco ) fragrant beef curry, and a "Miso Katsu" dish too.
Later we would stop at another rest stop and discover that it had an absolutely epic set of slides and tunnels built into the hillside. You borrow a plastic sled and then slide about 150 feet down a green carpet. It was hearwarming to see how kind and welcoming the japanese children were to our daughter, helping her to slide and showing her how to play and explore the tunnels. Arguably this was my child's favorite part of the entire trip.
Shirakawa Go was great fun for the whole family -- it was definately touristy, but it was great to be able to stroll and relax and learn about Japan's past. (Parking closes at 5pm, though!) We had only a few hours there but I think we would have enjoyed an entire day of strolling and snacking and learning. Interestingly all the parking attendents there seem to be senior citizens.
Our Ondsen was in a small farming comunity outside Hida, surrounded by orchards, mountains, and rice paddies. We were the only non-japanese that we saw there, and it was a little challenging to keep our toddler ccorralled during the formal meals (served in a common area, not in our rooms). As expected, the indoor slippers provided were a bit small for my size-11 feet, but we had a great time in a beautiful, secluded place.
Staying overnight got us a ticket to also visit the large and well-maintained municipal baths just up the road. (each side of which had about 7 pools of various temperatures and medicinal properties) There was a wonderful hiking trail that looped through the deep forest around the town. One of my biggest regrets of the trip is that we did not have more time to hike and explore these lush, pristine mountain woods -- I think I enjoyed our hikes here as much as I did the onsen baths.
The driving portion of our trip ended on the western coast of Honshu, at Kanazawa, but we didn't see much of that city other than a gas station and the rental car return before taking the "thunderbird" train down to Kyoto. (not quite as fast as some shinkasen, but very comfortable).
KYOTO and day-trips:
We had three delightful days in Kyoto, along including day trips by rail to Osaka (to see the market, eat okinomiyaki, and climb Osaka Castle) and Nara (to walk aound and feed the deer in the park and then the koi at a a beautiful botanical garden, stroll through another temple, and to eat the best Udon noodles of the trip while siting outdoors in the forest. In Nara, we also stumbled upon a wonderful Beatles-only vintage record shop called "B-Sels" on an upper floor just across from Nara station, and listened to a street performance of Shamisen music at the station itself. Nara, like Shirakawa-Go, was full of busloads of tourists, but that didn't make it any less of a great experience for us.
Kyoto itself was wonderful to explore on foot -- I won't go into exhaustive detail, but our child loved walking and being pushed in the stroller to various Temples and loved the view from Kyoto tower. (and the Gatcha ball souvenir tower even more!) . She liked the path through the bamboo forest (crowded with tourists) and loved "hiking" through the beautiful and less crowded gardens of Tenryu-Ji temple -- part of which has remained unchanged since the 14th century. We skipped the monkey park.
In Kyoto proper, we walked through Chion-In Buddhist temple , took our shoes off and bagged them, and observed a ceremony -- it was interesting to see how similar it was to ceremonies in America, with the same incense, syllable recitation, and wood-block time-keeping interspersed with bowl-gong ringing .... but on a much grander scale. The size of the wooden buildings is epic, rivaling the stone cathedrals of Europe. Because of the large numbers of steps to get from the massive Sanmon gate to the main building of the shrine, my wife and I took turns exploring and let the toddler play along the paths of the temple's small tea-garden next door.
Hiroshima-
Finally, we spent the last two days of our trip in Hiroshima. It was shocking and surreal to get off the train underground and suddenly be hit with an overwhelming smell of burning -- there was construction work all around Hiroshima station and I don't know if it was from digging pylons down into subterranean ashes, or just from some other more modern aspect of the construction As someone whose worldview was shaped by reading Barefoot Gen as a child, visiting Hiroshima was an important and somber part of our trip.
It was interesting to see that the bulk of the visitors to the Peace Museum visitors seemed to be Japanese school groups. Of course, most of the photos and exhibits museum went "over the head" of our 2/yo child. (she wasn't frightened, just not interested). She did enjoy ringing the peace Bell outside and seeing the collections of paper cranes. We bought books to help share the experience with her again once she is older.
In any event, Hiroshima is a charming city showing no outward signs of being apocalyptically devastated (except at the Peace Memorial Dome) and there is an excellent restaurant district just around the corner from the main train station, with many small restaurants that are open late.
The people and proprietors of Hiroshima seemed particularly kind to us; it's more relaxed there than any of the other cities we viisted. Our chid loved was the "Children's 5-day Science Museum" about a quater mile away from Peace Park that has a lot of hands-on exhibits and two stories of climbing tunnels. We did not do the planetarium there, as it is in japanese-language only and we had limited time.
For us, the highlight of our time in Hiroshima was taking the long ferry to Miyajima directly from Peace Park and then wandering around the narrow streets of Miyajima in the afternoon and evening. It was great to see the oyster beds being worked from the ferry and then later dine on delicious grilled and fried Miyajima oysters.
Our child loved the ferry rides and wandering around Miyajima (there are deer there too) but she also slept for much of our time on the island. The return ferry was part of the JR rail network and so we could use our JR passes for that. (its a short, straighter route).
All in all, Japan was very kid friendly, as long as you can quickly and easily fold up your stroller, and we loved our time in every city we visited. (and could have easily spent much more time in any of them).
Other Thoughts: We bought the Japan Rail Pass, but probably didn't save much money by doing so; My wife estimates that we about broke even with the number of shinkansen, trains, and ferry-rides we used. It was a nice security blanket, though, to know that if we missed a train it wouldn't cost us anything. (but we never missed any trains) . For non JR-line trains, we used a pair of "PASMO" cards. Pasmo cards can also be used at other random retail places as a stored-cash card. When you go through the gates, you must look for ones that say "IC" if you are using a Pasmo card and tap against the NFC pad with it. Using Pasmo is nice because the card is durable (unlike the paper JR Pass) and you can load up enough money for multiple trips on the card.
We use T-mobile, and our plan included 5 GB of "high speed data" while in japan but we weren't sure we would have good service for our rural drive, so we gout a WiFi hotspot from Sakura Mobile. This worked fine -- and its speeds was always faster than T-Mobile's coverage when tested. The hotspot generally would last about 20 hours on one charge. But honestly T-Mobile's Japan coverage was probably good enough that the hotspot was an unnecessary expense; we often used it instead of the hotspot and only came close to the 5GB limit on our last day. If I were on a tighter budget, a shorter trip, or knew I wouldn't be in remote areas, I would skip the Hotspot and just use T-mobile.
TLDR: Tokyo Toy Museum is fantastic for little ones. Ghibli Park (Grand Warehouse) is fine, but our kid probably had just as much fun on many other Japanese playgrounds. If you do choose to drive, don't miss the Japanese rest stops which can be fantastic with fresh food and jungle gyms and slides. Our kid may remember little from the trip except the toys she took home from GATCHA balls, but we have a lifetime of memories gained. Don't miss the Udon in Nara at "Mizuya Chaya", just outside the beautiful Manyo Botanical Gardens.
links:
ELEPHANT PLAYGROUND:
https://www.thetokyochapter.com/tokyos-retro-playgrounds/
RAMEN STREET:
https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/ramen/tokyo-ramen-street/
Miyagawa Morning Market:
https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1255/
Udon at Mizuya Chaya in Nara:
https://www.visitnara.jp/venues/D01057/

Greetings from Vancouver, BC.
I say "new pilot" but my first experience with 2 line kites was when I got myself a Trlby somewhere on the coast of Oregon on a family trip when I was about ten years old. I really enjoyed flying that thing, but for whatever reason it never really stuck and I ended up getting into other hobbies as time went on. Flash forward 30 years and the nostalgia bug bit me, so I got myself a Peter Powell stunter to mess around with and, yeah, it's still a lot of fun. I did end up picking up another Trlby off ebay and, while it's nice to fly when the winds are down a bit, I have to say I like the PP more. It seems to be a real crowd pleaser as well, but I digress...
Not that long ago I picked up an old Jewel by Premier for $50 CAD from a guy cleaning out his garage or whatever, and have been messing around with it a bit lately. Finally managed to break the spine yesterday (4mm carbon, I believe) and, while I do intend to replace it, it did kind of get me wondering if this is such a great delta stunter to cut my teeth on. Since I live on the west coast (of N. America) I've been doing most if not all of my flying off shore. There are a couple nice parks a LOT closer to home that I really WANT to be able to fly in, but the wind never quite seems to want to co-operate with me. Such is life...
In any case, while my limited experience with the Jewel has not at all been bad, I have found it wanting in a few regards... First off, it really doesn't seem to want to do much (at all) below about 7 mph winds, which is a bit disappointing seeing as that's mostly what we get out here on summer days and, well, I was just really hoping that it would perform in lower winds. I'll qualify the word "perform" as being able to maintain flight with little to no input from the pilot, or something like that... Adjusting the bridle does seem to help somewhat, but really only gets me so far and I can only move backwards so much until the whole experience becomes something altogether less then a totally good time. The other thing, which may come down to its (relatively) small size is that the kite feels, well, twitchy. Granted that a lot of that is coming from my own lack of experience, but I'll put it like this: If flying the PP is like driving a Cadillac then flying the Jewel is like driving a gokart. I mean, yeah, it was blowing at around 14-15 mph yesterday when it broke its back, and I definitely felt like I was flying it at the upper limits of what it was intended to do, but (again using the automotive analogy) in comparing those two kites against one another the overall impression it gives me is that what I really want to drive is a Porsche or maybe even a BMW. Something fairly sporty, somewhat powerful, but comfortable enough that I don't need to be wearing a 5 point harness seat belt to take corners in. Something I can hit a little pot hole with at a decent speed without losing a filling. Something I can put into a drift reliably and get out of again without the whole vehicle getting all squirly on me. Something like the Wolf NG?
In my own, long winded and probably more than a little abstract kind of way, I guess what I'm really asking for here is advice. The situation is thus:
I do most of my flying off the coast, yet the winds tend to be a bit tame and I'd like something I can get moving at around 6 mph.
I want something that's fairly forgiving to a new pilot and yet allows me enough flexibility to learn some of the basic slack-line tricks.
I want something in the $75 to $150 CAD range and yes, I am vain AND self conscious, so looks are important to me.
I know I mentioned the Wolf NG earlier, but I'm on a fixed income these days, and it would actually be REALLY hard for me to justify spending that kind of money on a kite. I've been eyeing up the CIM Beetle X15 in a pretty serious way for the past couple months, as (while actually a little smaller than the Jewel) it sounds like it comes with a good pedigree, and seems like the type of thing I could bomb around in 5 mph winds, learn the basics (like how to crash), and not regret buying as I progress along my journey. My only real concern about buying a Beetle (funny, considering all the car references, no?) is that I already have one in Jewel form and I just don't know it.
Another bird I'm considering is the HQ Salsa II. Here's the manufacturer's description:
"This kite is aimed at beginners who want to have their first experience in trick and nice flight. Even with little wind, the Salsa II flies smoothly and elegantly. Due to its good-natured handling, even beginners quickly learn to fly the first cartoon characters. The circular precision is also very remarkable for a kite in this category. The dance with the salsa can begin! For the trip on vacation, this kite can be folded to a suitcase size and stowed away to save space."
I'm not going to lie, the whole paragraph makes me nervous as, to me, it absolutely reeks of poor translation, which makes me suspect the description entirely. I will say, however, if it really does fold down enough to fit into a suitcase (or a backpack) that would be pretty damn cool, I like the looks, and I must admit I seem to be leaning towards this kite in particular ATM.
Another (somewhat freaky) alternative I've been toying with is to pick up the HQ Trigger (because some guy on youtube said he was really impressed with it, considering the price tag) and replace all the rods with pultruded carbon in hopes of being able to get it airborne in 5-7 mph winds. This would be an experiment to say the least, but at least it wouldn't be a very expensive one.
OK. I'm tired of reading my own thoughts now, and I'm getting hungry so I guess I'll wrap this up. What do you guys think? Should I stick with the Jewel as my first learner kite? Should I buy a bug? Is the Salsa II any good? Is my idea of retro-fitting a cheapo kite totally off the wall? Should I just move to Scotland and be done with it?
Thank you in advance for all of your thoughts and considerations as well as having a place for people like myself to congregate and discuss some of the finer things in life (like flying a kite), and just being helpful and supportive in general. I really do appreciate it.
Best,
FB.
x-posted to kitelife.com

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some feedback on this summer training plan–specifically block 2 session 1 and how best to train anaerobic capacity. I can’t find that many power endurance resources on getting powered out, mostly those that work on getting pumped out, and those that I do find are inconsistent with what they recommend.
Goals:

• Break into 5.12c/d routes this fall, most likely at the RRG

Some info about where I’m at:

• 29F, 5’0”, 115-120 lb
• Max hang 20mm half-crimp: +25lb
• 2RM pull-ups: +35lb
• Gym: lead 5:12c/d, boulder V6/V7
• Rock: 5.12a/b in 1-3 sessions

Weaknesses:

• Power endurance – specifically, anaerobic capacity. I’ll often fail on a route not because I’m pumped but because I’m powered out. I’ll get to a point where I can still hold on but I feel like I just can’t move.
• Mental game – I’m comfortable taking falls above the bolt on overhangs and steep walls, but I’m less confident on vertical to slabby terrain and when I’m low to the ground. I’m hesitant to stop leading in the gym because it takes me a while to get to a place where I’m confident taking falls.
• Finger strength

Strengths:

• Power – big moves to big holds
• Shaking out and recovering on the wall
• Movement – I can link to videos of myself climbing in DMs, but I don’t think it’s as much of a low-hanging fruit as physical and mental training. Happy to be proven otherwise.

My current plan:
Block 1: Aerobic capacity and strength (5 weeks + 1 deload)

• Session 1: Aerobic capacity
  • Mobility/climbing warm-up
  • 1-2 mini project attempts
  • Route triples: 3 sets, avoid getting pumped (2-3 letter grades below flash)
• Session 2: Bouldering
  • Mobility/climbing warm-up
  • Max hangs
  • Boulder projecting
• Session 3: Strength and conditioning
  • 20 min easy cardio warm-up
  • Deadlift, goblet squat, pull-ups, push-ups, chest fly
• Weekend: Outdoor sport climbing, if not, repeat session 2 in the gym w/o max hangs

Block 2: Power endurance (5 weeks + 1 deload)

• Session 1: Anaerobic capacity
  • Mobility/climbing warm-up
  • Hangboard repeaters (?)
  • Boulder circuits: 12 boulders at hard flash level, full rest between problems (?)
• Session 2: Sport climbing
  • Mobility/climbing warm-up
  • 1-2 mini project attempts
  • Route repeats: 5 sets of hard flash level routes, full rest in between
• Session 3: Strength and conditioning
  • 20 min easy cardio warm-up
  • RDL, front squat, face pulls, OH press, dips
• Weekend: Outdoor sport climbing, if not, route projecting in the gym

Thanks in advance!

Assets & Debt—
Retirement balance: $13,286.43 (I make a small monthly deposit into my IRA. I do not have a 401k at the moment as I'm focusing on saving)
Mortgage loan remaining: ~$162k
Savings balance: ~$20k
Checking balance: ~$5k
Credit card debt: $0 (I pay off monthly)
Student loan debt: $17,539.32 (BFA Photography)
Car loan: $22,227.15
Income—
Income Progression: After graduating, I started in Customer Service making $36k. Some coworkers at my next job recommended I get a certification in Salesforce Marketing Cloud as something to do during COVID’s early month. The company paid. It helped me get into the marketing field. My first marketing job was $50k/yr. On my second with about a year and a half of experience. I want to change fields but do not have the experience necessary to do so. If I stay at my company I may have the opportunity to try the field I want within a year or two. My work-life balance is amazing so I’m sticking with it.
Actual monthly take home: $3,471.80
No side gigs or other income.
Expenses—
Mortgage & HOA: $1,090.09
Home insurance: $31.63
Retirement: $100 (Roth IRA)
Savings: $1,665 (Whatever is leftover at the end of the month. Good this month since I got 3 paychecks)
Investments: $0 (Working with J to help me figure out starting this. I’m late on it, I know.)
Debt payment: $0 (Student loan payments start up again soon. Rebuilding savings in the meantime from home purchase last year)
Electric: $40-90 (last month $42)
Internet: $89
Phone: $72
Subscriptions: $27
Climbing gym: $85
Cats: $53 (food)
Car payment/insurance: $463.50
Health: $102
​
Monday:

• 11 a.m. Slept in since it’s a holiday and enjoyed a delicious breakfast with my boyfriend (J) of some chocolate chip banana bread my mom made. We don’t tend to spend weeknights at each other’s places, so we love our weekends together.
• 12:15 p.m. J heads back to his place to meal prep for the week and do chores. Always the lover of a good cheap find, I went to Goodwill for a 25% off sale. I purchased an Adidas duffel bag, a t-shirt, some unused candles, and an expansion pack for a card game my friends and I enjoy. $35
• 1:30 p.m. One of my core lunchtime necessities as of late is hummus. But specifically the Target brand original. Plus it’s cheap. I also needed other basic necessities: toothpaste, tissues, laundry items, and a prebiotic powder I take daily to control IBS symptoms. I stock up once every two months so this was a big trip. Target Circle had a coupon for one of the laundry items and $10 off on a purchase of $70 or more. $111.25
• 2:15 p.m. Back home laden with one Target bag worth over $100, I crack open my new container of hummus and make a turkey wrap with a side of carrots, an apple, and some veggie straws. I have this every day and it never gets old.
• 3:45 p.m. Watch an episode of Maid on Netflix before going to play video games online with J.
• 7:30 p.m. J and our friends hop online to play a multiplayer game for an hour or two before I jump off to eat. Chicken sausage, green beans, carrots, egg white wrap, and rice. My favorite dinner at the moment!
• 10:30 p.m. In bed and decided to start reading the monthly book club picked by J. Couldn’t put it down for a while but was asleep by 12:30 a.m.
• Total spent: $146.25

Tuesday:

• 7:45 a.m. Alarm goes off. Work after a 4 day weekend. Yay. Out of bed by 8:15. I work from home so I log in, check my emails, and go grab breakfast. I take my morning probiotics, vitamin D, and allergy medicine as a side to my morning blueberry bagel. After a slow morning online, I hit the exercise bike for a quick 15 minute ride. Shower, then a meeting.
• 11 a.m. Whip up my normal lunch of: turkey wrap, carrots, hummus, apple, and veggie straws. After lunch, I grab a couple of Reese’s Thins. Not as good, I know.
• 2 p.m. Work is slow today so I hop on my PC and play a few missions in my current favorite game. I have an oil change at 2 and groceries to pick up from Walmart after. At the oil change, they tell me I need to replace my wiper blades and cabin air filter. I can do that on my own and purchase the parts needed on Amazon. Car & groceries: $172.92
• 3:15 p.m. After my appointment, I hop back into my game and see some items from my Steam wishlist are on sale. I grab them as I’ve been wanting to get them for a while. $24.04
• 4 p.m. There’s a new Spider-Man movie coming out this week that I really want to see. Mentioned to J that we should go but tickets were a bit pricey since it was opening night. He offered to pay.
• 6:30 p.m. Same as the night before. I’m out of chicken sausage now and forgot to add them to my order this morning. Oh well.
• 8:30 p.m. Watch another episode of Maid while I eat. After the temperature cooled down for the night, I went for an hour-long walk around a nearby small lake. Get hissed at by geese and dive-bombed by a red-winged blackbird. Nature is beautiful.
• 11 p.m. In bed reading J’s book club pick. It’s right up my alley and this will be a breeze to get through. Asleep by 12:45 a.m.
• Total spent: $196.96

Wednesday:

• 7:45 a.m. My alarm goes off and I once again snooze until around 8:15. One of my cats makes her way into my room and bugs me until I get up. Turn on my work computer and go start my morning with a blueberry bagel and my medicine cocktail.
• 8:30 a.m. I jump in the shower (hair wash day) and get cleaned up to head to my monthly chiropractor appointment.
• 10:15 a.m. I pulled a muscle in my back just over a year ago and enjoyed my chiropractor visits, so I now do them monthly. This is the last time I’m going to prepay and switch to as-needed. Paid through the end of the year.
• 10:45 a.m. My chiropractor is next to a used-clothing store so I swing in. Attending a wedding at the end of June so I’ve been looking for an outfit. I don’t find one. I find others. Also a shirt for J. Everything I bought was half off! Nothing was over $7. Grabbed 4 things. $21.25
• 4:30 p.m. It was a very slow day at work, just tested some emails, so I spent a majority of the day gaming. My job goes through heavy phases and I’m in a big lull. I sign off for the day and head to the climbing gym.
• 6 p.m. After a short climbing session, my friend M and I go to an outdoor store to buy climbing harnesses. I have one but it doesn’t fit right and he has been renting one. We find the ones we want in store but see they’re cheaper online. He has a store membership so he pays and I Venmo him back. I’m selling my old harness (only used for 2 months) to another climbing friend for $50. Almost breaking even! $3.27
• 7:15 p.m. I arrive back home and make a sandwich for dinner. Cooking seems like too much work tonight. J is at a work event tonight, otherwise we usually climb together than cook a meal after. While eating, I turn on Into the Spiderverse to prepare for the second one tomorrow. It’s still too hot for a walk so I skip that tonight.
• 9:45 p.m. After the movie I watch some Good Mythical Morning episodes I’m behind on and munch on some mini marshmallows for dessert. I prep my camera equipment for an event I’m shooting tomorrow for work. As I get ready for bed I listen to an audiobook. I read for book club for the rest of the night. Asleep around 11:30.
• Total: $24.52

Thursday:

• 7 a.m. I get up early as I need to be at a work event by 10 a.m. I’m photographing it so I won’t have to work too hard. I say now.
• 9:15 a.m. I head out to be to the event a few minutes early to find street parking. The event lasts until 2, so I pay for 4 hours of parking. I could submit for reimbursement but eh, it's not much. $2.50
• 1:45 p.m. I did end up fully participating as well as photographing. We wrap early after sweating in the sun weeding and mulching for a low-income apartment complex. I head home to shower, nap, and relax. Work gave those who volunteered the rest of the afternoon off.
• 5:15 p.m. J arrives at my place after work and we head to see the new Spiderman movie. I pack us some homemade popcorn and various other treats from the pantry. Movie was 10000/10. Go see it. I knew about 45 seconds in that I wanted to see it again. Did not disappoint.
• 8:30 p.m. Despite the snacks, we are still hungry after the movie and decide to go to a local Japanese place. We go in to order and J graciously pays. When we go out, he tends to pay as I typically buy and make a fair amount of our home cooked meals. At first we were given the wrong order, which we realized when we got home. He headed back to get the right order so we got two sets of meals for the price of one! We had opened the first order to see if we liked it enough to deal but it wasn’t enough food for the both of us.
• 12:30 a.m. J stays over and we get to sleep just after midnight.
• Total: $2.50

Friday:

• 8 a.m. J’s alarm goes off but I sleep through it so he has to wake me up. We lounge in bed until his first meeting at 8:30. After his meeting, he leaves for work and I log on to my own. I have no meetings today and a very generous policy where we get Friday afternoon’s off during the summer. I plug away at some small projects I’ve put off for most of the week and log off around 1.
• 1:30 p.m. I went to check the mail as I had 3 deliveries coming today. All arrived! My internet bill came too which I usually throw away, but had a feeling I should open this one. I was right. My bill had gone up $10 because of some new policy I didn’t know about because I hadn’t read any of the last few months of bills. I updated what I needed to to get the price lowered again and spend the next hour researching a new provider but I’m stuck for my area. Ended up purchasing a router so I can return the company’s one and save some more money monthly. $96.72
• 3 p.m. I get a random email that a medical visit from over a year ago wasn’t going to be covered by insurance. I log into my account and see if it’s real, which it is, so unfortunately I pay for it. I don’t remember what the visit was for but insurance covered $0 of it. After I update my spending tracker. Thankfully it was a 3 paycheck month so I’m more than fine. Had a lot of surprising big expenses come up in May. $89
• 5:45 p.m. I leave for J’s so we can eat dinner together and watch an episode of the Last of Us (yeah, we’re a bit late on this one) before we head to the climbing gym.
• 10:30 p.m. We get back from climbing and have a craving for chocolate chip cookies. I help J make a small batch and we eat a few each. We watch the Last of Us and I fall asleep on the couch. Bed time at 12:30 a.m.
• Total: $185.72

Saturday:

• 9:45 a.m. I slept like the dead. J wakes me up as he’s on his way out to go have brunch with a friend. I slowly wake up and leave his place soon after to get my house cleaned before some friends come over.
• 12:30 p.m. J comes to my place after his brunch to help me clean before a double date with my high school best friend and her fiancé.
• 2:45 p.m. They arrive! We chat and play some card games. They leave around 5, so J and I dive back into Last of Us.
• 6:30 p.m. I reheated some leftover chicken from Thursday, frozen green beans, potatoes, carrots, and rice for dinner. We finish the season and discuss the show for a while before he heads home.
• 12:30 a.m. Bedtime!
• Total: $0

Sunday:

• 8:30 a.m. J and I are going to look at some houses today so in my excitement I don’t sleep very well. I get up after laying in bed for a few hours to get ready and go pick him up.
• 10:30 a.m. Open house tour commence! We see 4 houses before lunch time.
• 12:30 p.m. We decided to go to a local chicken restaurant and more than ate our fill. J paid. I dropped him back at his apartment and headed to visit my parents for the afternoon.
• 2 p.m. I arrive at my mom’s house and she dyes my hair. We used a bottle of dye I had purchased a few months back.
• 5 p.m. Game time! I hop on with J and his friends and we complete some missions in our go-to game. I stop to grab a quick snack soon after, still pretty full from our big lunch.
• 8 p.m. J hops off for a break and I do as well. He calls me right after leaving the main call and we chat about our week ahead and hang out while we do our own things.
• 9 p.m. I’m feeling very tired after not sleeping well this weekend so I go to get ready for bed. I stay up on TikTok for a while and get to sleep around 11.
• Total: $0

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Food + Drink (Groceries): $64.28
Fun + Entertainment: $26.94
Home + Health: $187.21
Clothes + Beauty: $64.81
Transport + Vehicle Health: $109.34
Other: $99.99
Total: ~$556
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This is NOT a typical week! Lots of medium things that added up happening at the end/beginning of a new month. That's life! When I buy things I use regularly, I often buy 2-3 more than I need at a time so that I don't have to get them as often. Unless J and I are together, I don't go out to eat to save money. I'm very lucky to work from home and save a lot of expenses that way. My job is pretty low-key and quiet most of the day, so I didn't detail too much about it this week.
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Edit: I forgot to mention above that J and I are not buying a house together, I'm helping him look. We really go to open houses for fun right now as he isn't thinking about buying until late this yeaearly next year. Interest rates are insane right now! I have a super low rate and am not looking forward to losing out on it some day.