Jack and jingle cocktail

[CW: mention of suicidal ideation]
i wish i could work so bad. i enjoy physical work but i can't even vacuum the living room without having to lay down for a few hours. customer service is completely out due to social anxiety, auditory processing problems, etc. and my sleep schedule is too awful to consistently show up to anything; on rainy days i'll just be out completely and barely get up to eat. and it sucks cause i just feel like i'm doing jack shit! i hate being jealous of abled people while they're talking about how much their job sucks. i'm trying to get on SSI but i'm really not sure if they'll accept me cause the only diagnoses i have are autism, ADHD, and depression, and i've only been to a doctor for my physical problems once. and if they don't accept me for it then i feel like i have no option but suicide. everything feels like a monumental effort and i just want to live normally. i rely on my parents for scheduling and taking me to appointments so it's hard to get to a doctor. sometimes i feel like maybe i could work and i'm exaggerating everything but every time i think of trying something it's absolutely terrifying.
this turned into a rant but... yeah. i'm tired and in pain all the goddamn time and i don't know what to do

I used Kratom from 2020-2022. Originally tried it to help my ability to focus as I was finishing up college. It didn't work the best for focus but I did like it to boost my mood quickly and make me more enthused about different tasks. Definitely eased anxiety and depression. And as a result, I got to where I depended on it almost DAILY at 10-15 GPD as I embarked on a highly stressful full time job doing marketing for several fortune 500 companies fresh out of college. And it got to where I had to quit the job to be able to quit kratom since I relied on it so heavily day-to-day and could not keep doing that job without some assistance from kratom. So I quit the job in late June '22, quit kratom cold turkey the day after, and my health never recovered. I expected to get back to the same normal life had Pre-kratom, not relying on a substance to feel normal, but instead my health has been in a steady decline ever since I quit. I went from kinda mild stuff like vision issues, jumping joint and muscle pain, headaches, and feeling like crap constantly, then when October hit I started having neuromuscular problems. Lost muscle all over my entire body. My shoulders and knees are now super boney, my butt feels boney when I sit, and my clothes fit baggier immediately until I gained fat to offset the weight loss in the form of muscle My neck, arms, face, and hands also had super scary rapid muscle loss. I have a harder time walking now as my feet kinda flop around more and I just have less muscle than I did. My vision issues come and go as well and I have way less energy than I used to. Before June I was far more productive. Had never had any legit health issues. Doctors aren't suspecting MS or ALS at the moment as I've undergone MRIs and terribly unpleasant EMGs, but my muscles and nerves are so screwed up now. I'm only 24, never had any health issues before, and then this shit hits me right when I try to get off kratom. Haven't felt quite right since that last dose in June The heavy metals in it and the addictive nature of it def screwed me long term. Can't tell me I'd be having these same issues if I never did kratom. The timing lines up so close as I had absolutely flawless health before I quit. I can only hope I'm eventually one of those stories of people who get their lives back after quitting, but I've been in this hell for so long now and never really gained jack shit from doing kratom. Doctors still haven't figured out what's wrong with me but I'm too damn damn young for my health to be falling off a cliff. No way this shit just came out of nowhere, something in the kratom I took almost daily is to blame. Maybe my body couldn't handle the withdrawals, idk, but a life without kratom would've turned out so much smoother. Nobody ever told me this is how shitty life would turn out. Please assure me I'll have my life back at some point.

The other night my friend was having a party. Me and my friend live very different lifestyles but we grew up in the same shitty neighborhood. He still live in that shitty neighborhood but I stay somewhere nice now.
I own three different cars. When I know I’m going somewhere it’s better off to not show that I have money, I just drive my car that you’d see any day on the street.
Well my gf at the last minute needed to use that car so I let her have it. I considered just driving my nicer car but I was afraid somebody might try to press me because it or try to jack my shit. So I finally decided not to go last minute.
I told my friend that I wasn’t gonna be there and he was mad cuz we ain’t seen each other in a minute. He kept pressing me why and I told him I couldn’t roll on his side of town with my ride. He said “fuck you.” And hung up.
I’m just trying to stay safe, I wanna be around for my girl and my unborn child so I try not to put myself in dangerous situations anymore. AITA?

Buckle up, because it’s time to return to Camp Yellowjackets. Season 1’s finale saw the girls deal with some major drama and an even bigger, more terrifying, reveal. After confronting her bestie Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) over Shauna’s affair with (and impending pregnancy by) Jeff (Jack DePew), our former queen bee Jackie (Ella Purnell) decides to … Continue reading ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2 Episode 1 kicks off with our first bite — and an equally big clue

Ok, this may be completely off the wall, but here goes.
Both Picard and Kirk's bodies were stored at Daystrom where they were presumably autopsied or otherwise studied. This is an odd thing to do, even in the name of science. The Federation is keeping the remains of it's iconic captains in cold storage rather than giving them a proper burial. That seems like a pretty messed up thing for the Federation to do, so they probably have a damn good reason why they would think it worthwhile.
I think that reason is The Nexus.
Both Picard and Kirk have been to the Nexus, which is a reality in which they had the ultimate power to shape it to their will. Like the Q Continuum, or any other number of "god-tier" species. Maybe that event physically changed them. Maybe it altered their DNA and the death of Picard is what set this season's whole chain of events in motion. I think that Q, in particular, was so tied up in judging humanity and Picard in particular because he was destined to be among the first humans to have the mutation that eventually leads to humanity eventually evolving into a god-tier race. The trial wasn't so much to see if humans were worthy to continue to exist, but rather to determine whether or not they were worthy of joining the community of species on par with the Q Continuum, Travellers, or the Prophets/Pah Wraith (which I think are acting through Jack Crusher at the moment), etc.
Since actual Picard is dead and what remains is an inorganic android, the antagonists would need to obtain the next best things should they want to control the ultimate ascendancy of humanity to a higher order species, Picard's remains and his living son. I think that whatever is going on with the Q last season will tie into whoever the evil Changelings "handler" is and will also bring in the Prophets/Pah Wraith as well. I think that the story is ultimately going to explore just how those God-Races interact with each other and humanity's role in that.

I mean I doubt this will be how it goes but the fan in me would love for some sort of cliche happy ending last scene were we watch the original TNG crew standing at dock watching a new Enterprise gliding out of space berth before it cuts to the bridge where we see Commander Seven having all stations check in, medical with Dr. Jack Picard checks in, Engineering with Engineer Alandra La forge reports all systems a go, Helm with Ensign Sidney Laforge reports ready, tactical reports all good with Alexander Rozhenko on loan from the Klingon Defense force for some reason due to the whole changling plot lol, where it then cuts to the captains chair where there sits my new favorite dipshit from Chicago uttering some one liners about being stuck with the off spring of trouble makers and he just wants one normal week 🥴😂 it’s ridiculous and really doesn’t make any narrative sense but I’d die laughing and love the ridiculousness of it all the same

I've just thought of this while watching ToS. So much of the episode relies on technology from the Daystrom Institute. Could that be a really big hint at what the whole season is about? Then the latest epsiode has memories of Data, Lore, B4 being combined into one AI unit. The previous Picard's body was retrieved, as was Kirk's body... Was Section 31 trying to improve upon the M5 unit with experiences of previous Captains? Richard Daystrom said he imprinted himself upon the M5 computer in order to teach it ethics and how to think. What if Jack is the the result of the same idea, but this time imprinting computer logic and efficiency on a human? That would explain his efficiency at detecting and then neautralizing threats to himself (similar to M5's destruction of the Excalibur crew, and the crewman who tried to shut it off). Perhaps this was an evolution of the Soong method where you didn't need an android golem anymore, but you could imprint a machine conciousness into a fully organic-based lifeform. Similar to the Borg, but without the need for any synthetic compoents.
The Changelings could have learned of this and began to infiltrate Starfleet to prevent more "experiences" from being imprinted on this computer, limiting their ability to spy on the Alpha Quadrant species.

I have always liked improvising. To use an old idiom (or if its called an analogy), you play with the cards that you're dealt. If your cards are jack and a 7, or if you have a pair of kings, you play your hand and figure it out.
Obviously it is not perfect .. but without question this is my favourite event they have done. I log into Act 1 Twilight Strand and I can literally start playing the game. None of this "oh get past act 10" to start playing the game. None of this "I need 150 divine build investment" to start playing the game or whatever other exaggeration for a divine cost. No need to PoB anything. Game starts at level 1.
Sure my build is garbage. Yes my character at levels 20, 30, 45, 55, 60, etc at all progression checkpoints are probably the ugliest characters an outsider has ever seen. It is getting better since I've referred to the community spreadsheet and also the Focus group's PoB template.
For me this event has been about "What stupid stuff can I get myself into. Will I be able to find a way out of this mess." The more silly it is then a better chance I'll have fun. The quality of being serious or overly hypothetical is not fun. Being absurd or running around like an idiot in a Monty Python-style is fun.
Some observations:
1 --- Regrets. Buy heist contracts from Whakano at levels 46 and up, run them when you're ready. 100% guarantee you will be given scourings, regrets, and you will get your chance orbs back. Otherwise there is the chance orb recipe in the campaign. Rarity gear, delve nodes, and prayer for rare items. If there is a next time I do hope GGG allows for regrets or passive point refunds to be readily available. The ascendency in particular was a pain refunding and learning what you actually have.. before the nodes were publically known.
2 --- Mana. So far I have never required lifetap or even Eldritch Battery. Mana regen rate, increased max mana, and reduced mana cost I have found along travel nodes. Mana leech was found in a convenient place for me at the time of writing. But I have not specifically gone out of my way for these things. This may change later depending on how much time I put into the character.
3 --- Death timeout. In classic GGG humor they added the one minute penalty for losing your character. Forcing you to engage with monster abilities and PoE mechanics, or else you get to enjoy doing nothing with your character sitting in town.
4 --- Multi button builds. On the first couple days I think there was no one-button campaign build. Maybe it was doable but I'd be skeptical. My view is the campaign experience requires you to use multiple skills ... until you figure out the passive tree and what you can reach.

Buckle up, because it’s time to return to Camp Yellowjackets. Season 1’s finale saw the girls deal with some major drama and an even bigger, more terrifying, reveal. After confronting her bestie Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) over Shauna’s affair with (and impending pregnancy by) Jeff (Jack DePew), our former queen bee Jackie (Ella Purnell) decides to … Continue reading ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2 Episode 1 kicks off with our first bite — and an equally big clue

I also enjoy Tolkien, Jules Verne, and Jack London. But would love something more modern. Thanks in advance!

I am getting a different hop unit (Maxx M4A) because my current one is deteriorating. I will also be getting a new inner barrel (247mm 6.01, PDI, old one is ~266mm, so is my outer barrel). In a few months I’ll be getting a Jack or F2. I’m also using a maple leaf macaron 60 degree bucking and the omega nub. I was wondering if this could cause any issues and also how well your Maxx M4A works.

The only thing I remember is Jack very suddenly remembering or realizing something and then sprinting away comically fast for whatever the reason was. I know that's not much to go off but I appreciate any help :)