How much does saks pay hourly

I've been saying this for a long time and I also hear economists for a while try to avoid talking about it but you can tell they allude to it and they warn against it indirectly but now it became obvious. The president's plan was to take over the central bank the entire time.
He insists over and over again that we have the means and we have the money and that we're going to rely on ourselves. He also says over and over again that the only problem is laws preventing us from access to our money. His populist followers repeat this in the sense that we have the resources (like oil, phosphate..etc) but they were stolen and whatnot, and other people clown him for saying it and say he's delusional. I don't think he is. He knows there's 7 billion dollars in foreign currency reserves in the central bank, you can check here. He also knows he can print money to bankroll the government's local expenses until 2024 elections and say inflation is up because of "e7tikar". To him the only problem is changing the laws to use that money.
This is the same guy whose government depleted all strategic reserves and keeps lying about it saying we're running out of basic necessities because of "e7tikar". They used the reserves for wheat otherwise we wouldn't have run out of bread, and they did the same for oil reserves. He doesn't care or understand the usefulness of reserves and he's going after the most important of all reserves, the one keeping the dinar a real sovereign currency: foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank.
Another reason is that the central bank is the only remaining source of reliable data about finances because since 2021 the government stopped being transparent about what loans it got, from whom, how much interest...etc but the central bank still publishes stats and those stats can show you what's happening.
Now why is this happening soon? there's some obvious reasons and not so obvious ones.
The most obvious ones is that right before something big happens, the president's parrots like Najib Dziri and whatnot start talking about the topic and facebook pages start spewing nonsense about that specific thing that's about to happen. This happened before he called for changing the constitution, before the whole racism mess, before the arrests, before the president said his nonsense theory about the boat in Zarzis...etc.
Right now all of a sudden, all of his parrots are attacking the central bank and talking about how it shouldn't be independent and magically at the same time there's a proposal to the parliament to do just that. Bloomberg, which is not afraid of the US government itself, reported this and the assembly suddenly backtracked and said no there's no proposal after saying the opposite the same day. His comments in Monastir about rejecting IMF ruined Tunisian bonds and I guess they got scared this time and the ministers...etc are probably trying to convince him not to do it.
The less obvious reason why this will be done anyways and soon in my opinion is that the president is very stubborn. He learned a tactic he used when changing the constitution: inviting experts to give their opinions, then ignoring their advice and doing what he wants anyway. He is using these experts to pretend like they support his plan and all he did was just some minor changes when in reality he had an entire other constitution ready that had "bine2 9a3idi" that experts told him not to do. He's doing the exact same thing right now with the central bank: he just invited a bunch of economists and he's going to use them to legitimize taking control of the central bank even if they tell him it's a bad idea. He's going to propose it to the parliament and his puppets there will start a fake debate and pass it eventually.
The other much less obvious reason is that he has to do this soon. The government needs to pay bond coupons worth 163m in August and more importantly 534m in October (source) but they're struggling to find money to pay for food especially now that the world bank and the US stopped giving us money (not loans) for food. The best case is lots of revenue of tourism and remittances in the Summer to avoid defaulting in August but eventually something needs to be done before October.

My boyfriend moved in with me due to financial problems and because he had a surgery that put him out of work for a few months. While I took care of him and our place, I also worked 40 hours a week.
I got laid off 5 months ago. Since then I’ve still been paying the same portion of the rent I was before (80/20 split) and my share of the bills from my savings since my bf doesn’t make that much.
Lately he’s been working more hours, but still not significant enough to pay his share of the bills. Since I’ve been home unemployed I’ve been doing most of the chores but I do ask him to do one or two things.
I asked him to wash a pan today and basically he thought that was incredibly uncaring of me to do so when I saw him “slaving away” all day. It’s true, he was running errands and working all day. I would cut him some slack and do it myself but I feel taken advantage of if I’m contributing so much financially and doing all the housework.
Now we’ve had a blow out fight for this reason (and other reasons) and the anxiously attached child in me wants to mend things. But I really don’t feel like I was wrong and I don’t like that he said I sit around doing nothing all day when my savings are what is keeping us afloat because I worked my ass off and was financially wise.

Brace yourselves, this is gonna be a long one.
Table of Contents
1…… The Main Goal
2…… What I’m Seeking
3…… Personality
4…… Interests
5…… Physical Characteristics (with pics)
6…… Expectations of You
7…… Living Situation
8…… Deal Breakers
9…… Closing Remarks
(1)
The Main Goal:
Well if you’re browsing this subreddit then much like me, you were alone this weekend and I’m sure you’d like to change that as much as me. I won’t lie, I am going through a rough part of my life right now. It’s difficult for me to find the energy for anything at the moment and I’m just really seeking affection in general, anything that will give me a push. I don’t want to be that person who brings everyone down but I could really use someone to talk to right now. I’d really like to find someone who’s similar to me so much to the point that we do everything together and talk about everything while not having to pretend to be interested. I want someone with whom we can mutually spew our emotions onto and have those feelings reciprocated. Not an emotional punching bag, but an emotional teddy bear to hug and cuddle until everything feels better as many times as we need. There’s people who I’m sure have told you the same, they’ll be there no matter how many times you need the support, no matter how many times the insecurities and bad thoughts come back but they don’t mean it. I will be the exception, I’m not so ignorant to think some nice words and tales of relating to you will magically forever heal whatever ails you then get mad when you seek the same support again. Mental ailments are rarely temporary and I don’t care about someone because they’re perfect, caring about someone means being there no matter how many times they need you to be. It doesn’t feel like a chore, it doesn’t get old, and it never will.
(2)
(2.a)
What I'm Seeking:
I will upfront let you know if I’m clicking better with someone else or if you’re the one, I’m not here to tread the sea of fish or keep my options open, I’m here for one singular person.
(2.b)
Relationship:
A relationship is difficult for me right now, it’s been nearly half a year since I got out of my last relationship and the reasons for it ending are partially responsible for how I’ve been feeling and why it’s so hard for me to seek the comfort I so desperately crave. I will tell you about it but for the sake of not treating the entirety of the internet as my therapist, it’ll be in private. I really need the comfort of intimacy and the warmth of someone who cares. I'm not going to feel better if I just sulk and don’t move on. This is my attempt to get better, I’ll admit I’m not great right now and I don’t expect you to be either. If we can help each other heal, then I’d be more than happy :) A relationship isn’t just being there for when someone’s at their best. Even if a relationship is hard at the moment, I do want a life partner and I don’t want to be alone. Things aren’t going to get easier without you so I don’t want to hesitate. I view my other as an equal, I don’t like categorizing us into specific roles. We take care of each other and treat each other how we like to be treated, whatever that is, it's as simple as that. I don't care if you're "successful" or not, living simple lives with our days filled with love is the ultimate measure of success to me.
(3)
Personality:
(3.a)
On the Surface:
As you can tell I can be rather… stoic but that’s largely due to my current stressors, I truthfully am goofy and fun loving but I just can’t find it in me right now. I want to return to that but without someone to light up my world it’s been difficult to just have fun and enjoy stuff. I’m definitely more introverted, you won’t catch me at any parties or really outside at all. I definitely prefer being home though the occasional outing is not out of the question and one day I’d like to travel to other countries because I think that kind of perspective is important.
(3.b)
The Core of My Being:
I like being a spectator to it all and if we bear witness to humanity burning or its miraculous recovery, I want to watch it with you. I enjoy watching humanity advance, less so when it devolves but I want to watch it to the end nonetheless. I’m both a realist and someone who lives with my head in the clouds dreaming of scenarios or worlds that don’t exist. I’m saying that I enjoy a good narrative and can suspend my disbelief to enjoy something but you won’t catch me refusing vaccines or ignoring blatant facts for the sake of some pseudo science or witch doctor’s remedy. I’m an atheist but I do not rule out existence after death, not because I’m agnostic but because due to the nature of potentially infinite time at some point after how many googol years with a googol amount of 0s after that, something’s bound to replicate your consciousness perfectly at some point. It’s actually a really fascinating topic I like talking about. If infinite time and infinite possibilities exist, does non existence exist? Though that’s an awfully existentially dreadful thought process considering the ramifications of infinite existence and infinite possibilities during said infinite existence. I would say I’m confidently left leaning and I don’t think I could truly get along with anyone right leaning, at least America’s definition of right leaning. Left and right seems to have just become; do people deserve to suffer or do they deserve to live good lives? Being political is not something I expected to become but how can you not be when crimes against human rights are being passed on a daily basis and at the end of the day, everything’s political. Oftentimes I imagine the perfect moment as relaxing with my significant other playing games or cuddling in a cold room under blankets.
I value that special someone above all of the existential thoughts, the bad of the world, the good of the world, they practically become my world. So many worries wash away when I’m with them. I don’t know if that’s the defense mechanism my brain created to not feel bad 24/7 but if it is, I’m currently without it.
(3.c)
Insecurities:
I talk of philosophy and politics here but really I spend most of my time just playing games, watching stuff, and trying to not be sleep deprived. I’m also nowhere near as well spoken, heck sometimes I feel like my speech is broken. I won’t claim to be something I’m not, I sit at home while I complain about the world doing nothing about it wishing I had someone here with me. I’m not noble nor do I really want to be, I have morals I uphold but much like most other hypocrites I acknowledge that my comfortable life is built on the suffering of others without doing anything about it. Why? My sleep problems? Am I depressed? Is that why I have no energy to do anything? Do I just think nothing I could do could help? I can’t nail it down myself, maybe it’s a mix of everything, maybe I’m just a bad person. I have always told myself that if I had wealth I would help people but if I get that kind of wealth will I just become a wealth hoarder who tries to justify my riches as something I earned rather than something given to me through incredibly lucky circumstances? If I do help people is it because I’m a good person or out of guilt? Will I die alone? I feel like I drive everyone away with my clinginess, I get paranoid often and need reassurance often. It’s something I want to work on, something I’ve been trying to work on. Hearing that someone cares about me just never gets old. I value self awareness even if it’s painful.
(3.d)
Socializing:
I’m definitely a socially anxious/awkward mess, especially around strangers. I do feel a large amount of anxiety in public, people can’t tell by looking at my face since I kind of go stone faced in an attempt to block everything out but yeah you’ll notice that if we go out in public. Growing up my pediatrician said I was probably autistic, never got a formal diagnosis so that’s just great. But yeah that explains why I can’t make eye contact with people, I kinda just stare at the ground and avoid their gaze at all costs. A lot of these social struggles go away to a great degree once I know you for a bit but yeah I apologize for how terrible I am at socializing at first. Don’t let my social struggles fool you though, I love cuddling and being close with my person.
(3.e)
Sexuality:
I am a heterosexual male, though I’m not very masculine like at all. I may even be a bit feminine sometimes. Not that I believe any activity or manner of acting belongs to a gender but I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m definitely super affectionate and love it when my partner is too. I am open to dating demi people but I do have a libido so I don't think asexual would work out.
(4)
Interests:
(4.a)
Video Games:
As stated before, I do spend a lot of my time playing video games. It’s been hard lately with me having no energy but I really do want to play more games and have a good time playing them with you! I primarily play on PC though I do have a switch. I’m primarily into platform fighters, roguelikes, open world, survival, and sandbox games. As for single player story games, I enjoy watching them through twitch or youtube but for the most part I don’t play them myself. I’d watch you play them though!
Here’s a list of games we can play:
-Minecraft (Java)
-Risk of Rain 2
-Gunfire Reborn
-Roboquest
-7 Days to Die
-Phasmophobia
-Rust
-Unturned
-Bloons TD 6
-Platform fighters: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Slap City, Multiversus, Flash Party, Fraymakers
Whatever you want to play I’ll give it a shot! I will say that League bores me to death but I’ll play it for you :) I try to avoid MMOs, not because I don’t like them but because of how addicted I can get to them. I enjoy learning games in-depth so MMOs can be a fast track to addiction.
I recently got Kerbal Space Program 2 and ehhh not really worth it right now but hopefully later it will be? I’m super excited for Tears of the Kingdom! In the far off future I’m excited for Rivals of Aether 2 which is a platform fighter releasing in 2024, let me know of your most anticipated releases and I’ll see if I could play them with you!
Also I never got into FPS games but I could totally see myself playing like CoD with you or Escape From Tarkov. Any FPS really, I’m down.
I am a fan of Pokemon but with how things have been lately I don’t know how long that will last. Pixelmon is a common Pokemon mod I play for Minecraft if you want to play that! Also if I say I want to play something with you I mean it but there are often times when no matter how much I want to I'm just drained and can do little more than lay in bed so please don't think I'm making an excuse.
(4.b)
Science:
I really enjoy keeping up with the latest advances in pretty much everything, it could be biology, technology, astronomy, anything! I love seeing progression and I love talking about it! Really I could go on and on about what I’m obsessing about that day. I particularly love technology, ask me for my laptop specs I dare you. When I was little I always wanted to be a scientist of any kind but then insomnia and fear of college stuff hit me like a truck aaaand that’s the end of that dream.
(4.c)
Anime:
You got me, I like anime but I’d like to think my tastes are benign.
Here’s some of my favorites I can list from the top of my head:
- To Your Eternity
- Vinland Saga
- Spice and Wolf
- Re:Zero
- Mob Psycho
- Dr. Stone
- Attack on Titan
- Spy x Family
- My Hero Academia
- Ranking of Kings
- Demon Slayer
Okay I can go on and on but I will say I don’t like pointless fan service and the spamming of cliche anime moments. I mostly enjoy action and anything well animated if it doesn’t have a potato story. Heck Demon Slayer could be my top 3 out of season 2’s animation alone. I don’t watch slice of life often or romance but I would with you!
(4.d)
Misc:
I’m not going to go on and on about the tiniest little things when the main ones are covered but I’ll watch pretty much any show with you and anything really. I like random youtube videos that explain some kind of lore or mystery, sometimes mini documentaries too.
As for food I looove sushi and I’m a sucker for fast food. Okay and candy, definitely candy.
I used to play tennis but haven’t really had the opportunity nor friends to play it with and I’m way too socially anxious to seek it out. Also I will say that when we move to something like discord I type waaaay more casually. I’m not going to expect long paragraphs back and forth like we’re writing English papers for each other, I do enjoy long conversations but seriously don’t worry about having to put the utmost effort into every response, I just like making good first impressions I guess.
(5)
(5.a)
My Physical Characteristics:
I’m 5’8 (172cm), 128 pounds (58kg), with curly brown hair and blue eyes. I like keeping my hair long in the winter and cutting it in the summer. I’m pretty slim in general so if you’re looking for someone large, that’s not me. I don’t work out but my work is pretty physical so at least I’m not totally inactive. I don’t have the urge to work out or gain muscle but I do want to maintain my slim figure so if I start losing control of that I’ll work out. I like to keep my face shaved because I don’t think I look good with a beard/mustache so if you’re into those I apologize. I have an average amount of body hair? I’d prefer to be completely shaved but it’s easy to lose motivation with that battle, if you prefer shaved then I’d have no problem complying. Anyways here’s what I look like: https://imgur.com/a/MZZgf2t
(5.b)
My Physical Preferences:
Having physical preferences makes me feel shallow, if I could make myself not have them I would but unfortunately that’s now how that works. I don’t care if you’re shorter or taller than me and I don’t care if you weigh more or less than me. All I ask is that you’re slim-average weight. I would never ask for someone to be something I’m not. I don’t care about tattoos or piercings.**(6)Expectations of You (Relationship Only):**I am not looking for someone “exciting” or someone to “keep me on my toes” I’m not looking for someone to cater to my every whim or anything like that. I don’t care if you’re “boring” or if you aren’t “successful”. I know it’s a common thing for people to not want a “boring” relationship and to seek something argumentative or something with constant challenges but I just want to be with you. During the exciting times, the boring times, and everything in-between, all of it will be great with you! Maybe we do argue sometimes or maybe there will be challenges but that will never be something I purposefully seek out and I don’t want that to be something you seek out either. I will not play tricks on you and I will not play mind games, I expect the same from you. We all have personal measures of success we may or may not have lived up to but what I care about most is our commitment to each other. If we have each other we can get through tough times, near the ends of our lives I want us to look back and feel that this life together was worth more than anything. That’s not saying I want us to be haphazard, I don’t want us to make poor decisions for the sake of yolo and I want us to always be rational, especially with each other. I want you to be someone I can trust to make decisions and weigh the options with a level head, I’ll try my best to live up to the same for you. Most of all I want empathy, understanding, someone to feel the utmost comfort and trust in.
(7)
Living Situation:
Currently my life is pretty relaxed, I work 3 times a week as a night shift stocker. I currently live in a 2 bedroom apartment with my roommate but we’re looking to move into someplace larger by the end of the year if everything works out. The internet is weirdly great for Ohio too like I have fiber and later this year we’re supposed to be getting dedicated fiber so that’s neat. I’m not attached to Ohio so the ultimate goal living location wise is probably moving to a country that won’t send you into a lifetime of dealing with the repercussions from one medical emergency.
(8)
Deal Breakers:
Might as well make this simple and make it a list.
- Anti-vaxxers
- Unironically believing astrology
- Right wingers
- Hard drugs (occasional 420 and alcohol is fine, may even join you)
- Wanting children, there was a time when I was younger when I wanted children but with the state of the word that’s a definite no and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to handle the stress. I’d love a stress free life with as much time with you as possible.
- Homophobic
- Transphobic
- Racist
- Super Religious
- Don’t be a bigot and don’t deny facts.
(9)
Closing Remarks:
Well you made it, I was thinking that finding someone I’d be willing to put a lifetime of effort into at least required this much effort. If I think of anything more I’ll update the post. Also about timezones, it really doesn’t matter where in the world you are. I don’t have a sleep schedule and I have most of the week off from work so it really doesn’t matter.
I request that in your response you do put effort into it, it doesn’t have to be anywhere near as long as this but at least enough so I know that you read this and enough about you so I know why you saw potential compatibility. I will seriously read all of it and respond the best I can. I do also request a pic included in your response (sfw please) or one soon after we start talking to prove identity, I’ll send identity proving pics too. As long as this post is up, you can send a reply!

This is basically a rant that I need to get off my chest.
Ioniq 5 allows you to schedule charging during the off hours - which is very important for us since in socal the electricity rates are amongst the highest in the world (yay!). Unfortunately this functionality malfunctions... often. Either the charging doesn't start at all, or it starts then stops in the middle of the night and resumes half an hour before my wife needs to leave for work. Doesn't happen every time but when it does it forces my wife to go to an electrify america station.
Now you would think that in California EA station should be better than anywhere else.... well this is our first time owning an EV so we can't quite compare this experience to anywhere else, but in short, it sucks:

1. At least one or two chargers are always down at a given station. that's almost a guarantee
2. the ones that aren't down often have their charging speed reduced - we still haven't experienced a properly functioning 350kw charger yet. one that's close to our home always have 350kw chargers gimped at 50kw.
3. There is almost always a line of people waiting to charge - which leads the 'quick trip to the charger' always taking an hour or so.
4. Many EV owners are beyond inconsiderate. There is always at least a clown or two that are charging to 100% even though there is a line up of five or six cars waiting to charge. many just plug in and leave for a while.

I totally understand that this the price of early adoption, but I just wasn't prepared for how annoying it is to use public charging infrastructure. My wife's commute is 75 miles one way (yes, she needs a new job, but it is what it is now) - with Ioniq 5's bad software and far from stellar range it means she has to use public chargers more than she likes. We are very blessed to have a level 2 charger at home and a grossly oversized solar system - which means owning the EV has saved us a lot so far, but I don't think I could stomach owning an EV if I didn't have solar and a level 2 at home. A plug in hybrid, or a hybrid seem a lot more practical at this point.
Hope others have better experience. Thanks for making it this far in my rant. If you have any idea on why Hyundai's software glitches for scheduled charging - please share your ideas/workaround.

I’m a second year teacher at my school. My husband hasn’t been able to find a job in the town we’re currently living in, so I made the decision that if by March he didn’t get a job, we’d move to a town (1.5 hours away) we wanted to end up in anyway (but couldn’t due to me having the job here).
I applied to a job opening in the other desired town. I just found out today I got the job. They’d pay me $10,000 more than I’m making now (I’d have to work 6-7 years before I make as much as I would if I stayed at my current school), and it sounds like their district is a lot more consistent and organized than the one I’m working in now. A lot of pros if I went there.
The thing is, I enjoy what I have with my coworkers (I don’t know a soul over at the other district). There’s some drama that’s happening in my department that I am tired of dealing with (and I know there’s drama everywhere), but my other coworkers are a great support system. Not to mention, moving will be difficult. Doable, but difficult.
If you were in this predicament, would you go for it? I’m just worried I’m going to regret it.

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Hello everyone,
I'm a 16 year old living in a pretty decent and nice area in Florida where the median yearly salary is $100,000.
Let's say I wanted to knock on doors for 8 hours asking people if they would like me to pressure wash their driveway. Around how many houses would I be able to knock on in the duration of 8 hours? How many people would say yes?
Also around how much should I charge for the average size driveway?
I obviously know that the numbers can vary very much, but all predictions are accepted.
Also by the way I'm not planning on pressure washing the driveways, I'm planning on hiring someone to do it, and I'll dedicate solely to door to door.
Thank you,

Does anyone know the rules or if a contractor will blacklist you if you quit to take a better call with more hours and better pay? Or if the hall will be salty about it? Union btw

It was made apparent during Kris Statlander's match against Nyla Rose that Taya is not happy with Kris. Pretty valid reason to. Taya does a bunch of work weakening Jade, Taya still loses, and then Kris swoops in to take all the glory. It's pretty apparent that they're building up to a feud between Taya and Kris, so it made me wonder about how people feel on the idea of Taya turning Heel?
I don't know too much about her, but being a Heel seems to be a role that fits her pretty well. Even when feuding against Jade, she was hardly what I'd call a baby face with how often she'd pick fights with Jade unprovoked, and moreover, how her reaction to losing against Jade the first time was to attempt to use the Road to Valhalla on referee Aubrey Edwards out of spite.

Does anyone in here work for Quinable?
Can you tell me about it.
I am thinking of applying to get a couple extra shifts a month.
How do they pay you?

I, personally, champion “equality” in certain cases & “equity” in others and these questions (while provocative) are sincere. Ladies (for this conversation, speaking strictly from the “equality” side):
(1.) Quotas - would you be in favor of quotas/affirmative action in the workplace to ensure women are represented equally in all positions of economic & political power throughout our entire society. . .if that also meant women must be equally represented in each of the male-dominated disciplines (manual labor, refuse collectors, oil drilling, swordfishermen, logging workers, flight engineers, landscaping supervisors, power-line installers/repairers, structural iron workers, roofers, mechanics, steel workers, etc), regardless of danger, hours worked, compensation & qualifications? ((please resist the low-hanging visceral response: “🥴WeLL, tHeRe ArE sOmE wOmEn WhO dO tHoSe JoBs🥴!” Let’s stick to the specifics of the question, please.))
(2.) Abortions - would you be in favor of abortions being 100% legal (no stipulations, no qualifications, no conversations); “My Body, My Choice” (w/no questions asked). . .if that meant men have the right to “abort” any & all responsibilities (financial & otherwise) for children they don’t want (in the same manner that women abort their responsibilities for children THEY don’t want)?
(3.) Marital support - would you be in favor of men paying alimony so that the ex-wife can continue to live the life she’s grown accustomed to (while she was married). . .if that meant the ex-wife also had to perform her typical wifely duties for her ex-husband so that he could continue to live the life he’s grown accustomed to?
(4.) Physical conflict - would you be in favor of men going to prison for physically assaulting/abusing their wives regardless of how often it’s occurred (“🥴I only did it one time🥴”) & how hard he hits her (“🥴I barely touched her🥴”). . .if that meant every single time a woman hits a man (she initiates the violence), regardless of how often it occurred or how hard she hits him (“🥴I’m just a girl - you have to restrain me or walk away🥴”)?
(5.) Toxic masculinity - would you be in favor of harsh punishments for men who display, what modern women describe as, “TOXIC MASCULINITY” regarding the abusive language & mental / emotional distress they inflict upon women (regardless of anything they’re “dealing with”, any reason (excuse) a man can invent). . .if that meant women would receive the same punishment for those same TYPE(s) of actions (mental, emotional, verbal or physical treatment of any kind that any man deemed “abuse”) - EVEN when under extreme stress (work/family), during particularly uncomfortable-to-downright-painful times every 30-day period or so, throughout pregnancy & nearing the due date, experiencing menopause, etcetcetc?
(6.) Being heard / Having a voice - would you be in favor of any/all women having a voice &/or platform where they can speak on ANY issue in ANY manner about ANYone (even male-specific subjects; 100% freedom in media & the public eye). . .if that meant men are afforded precisely the same freedom; no matter WHAT they are saying, how they are saying it or who they are saying it to?

Hello everyone, I have a question. I'm new at Upwork, and I just got my first job, it's an hourly contract starting tomorrow. When does the time tracker will show the job? Tomorrow? I just wanted to check to be prepared, I have seen several videos about how to handle the time tracker, I will check them now again, but on the videos they show when they are working, like with the job itself, they don't say that the job will appear once the work schedule starts. I apologize if it's a silly question, thank you very much for reading, have a good night!

Does anyone know what could be the issue and how much it will cost to fix it? I need to get my state inspection and I’m assuming it will fail if I don’t get it fixed. Please help!!

I have read so many reviews in regards to working for Ulta... I am a newly licensed cosmotologist, and I take my new career and craft, seriously... but like, I'm a happy chick, if that makes sense. I'm personable, creative and a hard worker.
I applied at Ulta, and on my application shot high with my hourly... I'm in so Cal, there is no reason for me to start an hourly wage job less than $20 an hour.
Ive only been at a commission salon for two weeks, and honestly, yes, its great to be my own business, but at the same time, I live on my own, pay all my bills, and waiting for clients, is not a realistic way of living. I figure, Ulta will give me training (which they do state), as well as help me build clients.
Im hoping this will work out, and I'm going to be positive about it. It's corporate, so I can't have high expectations.. so as we hair artist say " under promise and over deliver"....
If I may ask, to any stylist at Ulta, who live on your own, are over the age of 27, live in So Cali or any other overly expensive state to live in... what's your career like with Ulta?
Its not easy out here, but I'm in a predicament where bills keep piling up, and a starving artist lifestyle... paying $250 a week for a booth... and barely getting clients, is not it.
Much respect.

I (26F) met my ex (32M) online one year ago. We started off extremely strong, chatting on the phone for hours, playing video games together, watching videos at the same time as eating… all the cute long distance stuff. In all honesty, in hindsight I should not have entered into this relationship because long distance is not for me; however I hadn’t had a LDR yet and “how hard can it be”.
A few months in cracks start to show. He was extremely against FaceTime, so much so that we had only FaceTimed once after he came clean about a few facts of his life (basic stuff, didn’t put me off and was forgiven immediately). I very much wanted to meet as soon as possible, he did not. He always said the timing wasn’t right, or finances were an issue. This escalated and made even bigger problems, soon we were at each other’s throats and couldn’t spend more than 2 days without arguing over stupid shit. Simultaneously, the good times were fucking amazing, and I have never felt a connection so deep. At times i felt like our souls were fated to be together. He was my person, the one they talk about in movies.
We would argue, block each other, miss each other, re-add each other and rinse repeat. It was exhausting and a huge strain and effort. Words were said from us both that left irreparable damage, but we struggled on, with the promise that things would be better after we met.
In February, he said that we could set a date to meet. Finally! I book my flight and begin my countdown. 2 weeks before I am due to fly (with some arguments in between) he tells me that hes not ready, situationally and financially, and that I should cancel my flight. When i ask him if we can just rebook the flight for a different time, he refuses.
A short back and fourth was had, and my i hit my final straw. I told him goodbye for good. I then spent the next few days catatonic, unable to do anything with myself. I had an epiphany that he would not know how bad i feel, only i know how bad i feel, and i will be stuck with myself whether hes in my life or not. So I decided to choose myself. I reached out to friends, i joined social clubs, and I downloaded a dating app.
Meanwhile he is messaging me begging for me to come back and give us another go. I cant do it to myself, the relationship we had was not healthy or happy, so I tell him no.
I go out on a date with a new guy, he seems nice. One thing leads to another and afterwards, he ghosts me. I lose all trust in all men ever. I deeply regret it and feel angry at myself for trusting him.
Then i go on holiday to the place we were supposed to meet. I had rebooked the flight with a friend. The trip is nostalgic, i visit the places he used to go (as he used to live there, but not anymore). I sit in the seat in the cafe that I have seen so many pictures of. I feel his presence. I miss him.
He texts me that he saw the pictures, where i was sat. I tell him all about my nostalgic, bittersweet day. I ask him to fly out tomorrow, to meet me. He says he would see what he can do. I tell him i can make no promises as im trying to grieve, to process and move on. He asks if im dating, i tell him yes and that i slept with someone. He instantly blocks me on everything.
And here we are. I know this is the final goodbye for me and him, i know i wont hear from him again. I dont know what to do with myself. I miss him so much, but at the same time im happy its over. I sometimes wish everything could go back to how it was a couple of months ago, as broken as it was. I just dont know what to do. Being with this other guy made me realise how much i value my ex and I don’t think i will easily be able to find that kind of connection again.
I need advice on: Making sense of these complicated feelings of both missing him and not missing him. How do i move on when I don’t want to but also do want to? How do i get over the fact that i might never have this deep a connection again? Or that there may always be unfinished business between us.
TL;DR: i was in a LDR that turned toxic, broke up with him for real, slept with someone else and now that he knows, he has blocked me. I dont know how to feel about it because i still love him (sometimes)
PS- sorry this is such a long post but it was cathartic to write out in full

I've been teaching here for a while now and have noticed that their system is super unfair to the teacher.
The teacher is required to work 140 hours a month which equates to 7 hours a day 5 days a week which isn't bad. But when you realise how they calculate the hours, its super difficult to make those hours. Your hours is based on recorded zoom session times. Class time is actually 50 minutes and there is a 10 minute buffer. So you need 8 classes a day to make the minimum time required. If you have cancellations then you don't make those hours. A lunch break is not accounted for in working hours.
So the school is meant to be based in Texas. I assume that it would follow US labour laws and therefore that the minimum wage would be 7.25 USD per hour. Nope. Its 5 USD per hour.
The admin department ignores messages via WhatsApp for days and selectively responds. They also do not reply to emails timeously.
Its hard to get a family- work balance due to the struggle to make those hours. Does anyone else have any experience with them? If so, what has it been like for you?

Hey all new to this sub, but really need some advice and don’t really have friends to talk to about it.
So I’ve been with my boyfriend for 4 years now, we’re in our 30’s, and I love him very much. However he’s going through a really rough time, and I get the sense that everything bad in his life he’s blaming on me, and I’m really starting to think maybe he’d be better off if he left.
Some back story. He’s from another country and here on a work visa. He has a great job that is giving him a green card which is amazing, but he hates the work he does and doesn’t think he can continue with it. On top of that his mom is really sick with cancer.. it’s a lot at once and I really feel for him and try my best to be patient and supportive.
Normally I would look at this and think clearly he’s going through a lot and just stressed/ doesn’t really mean what he’s saying, but I think the core problem may be our personalities. When we first met he was very outgoing and social, loved to travel, etc which I found very attractive bc it pulled me out of my shell. Me on the other hand, am extremely introverted, don’t really have friends, love to do arts and play games. I could stay in the house for 3 months and not care, where he can’t stay for more than 24 hours. At first this wasn’t a big issue, we would give and take and it worked, and i at least still put in a lot of effort to push myself out of my comfort zone. I’ve started taking language lessons, art classes, workout classes, go out with his friends etc. However with all of the new stresses in his life he is shutting down, and becoming resentful that we don’t go out with friends/ have friend groups, that I rather stay inside some days then go out everyday, that he’s losing confidence and other skills, and I feel he’s blaming it on me and my lifestyle.
I don’t want to break up, when it’s great it’s great, but when he has a bad day he starts saying things about how he feels he’s losing himself, not growing etc, and I am starting to think I’m clipping his wings so to speak and that breaks me more then breaking up would. I don’t have confidence and really have a love hate relationship with myself, I know I’m lazy and should make an effort to be close with people, so I can’t confidently say if it’s his stress projecting or if it really is me.
Anyone go through something similar? Does this sound doomed or just like a rough patch? Thank you and sorry it’s so long and rambled I suck at writing and speaking clearly 😓
TLDR: Bf is going through a rough time, but also thinks our relationship is part of his issues due to my introvertness and him being an extrovert.

Hello JapanTravel!
I finally bought my ticket to Japan for Aug 30th - Sep 30th Im travelling from Germany there.
Its my first time travelling alone or planning a itinerary (which is why i got some help lol), so bear with me
While i do travel to Japan for the first time, i am quite fluent in the language itself, only thing is i cannot read / write it properly.
Inspired by another post on this reddit, i came up with an itinerary using ChatGPT, as i had no idea on what/where to start at.
Some details i also gave to the AI beforehand:
I am Male, 20 Years. Interested in : AniManga, Nature and Aesthetics of Japan, also love the Temples and Castles!
So, here‘s what it came up with (I will be arriving at 8:50 am in Narita):
Week 1 (Tokyo):
Day 1 (Sep 1): Arrive in Tokyo, settle into your accommodation, and spend the day resting or exploring the local area depending on your energy level.
Day 2 (Sep 2): Explore Akihabara, Tokyo's anime and manga district. Visit the many electronics shops, anime stores, and maid cafes.
Day 3 (Sep 3): Visit Asakusa and the Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. From there, you can walk to the Tokyo Skytree.
Day 4 (Sep 4): Explore Shibuya and Harajuku, vibrant districts known for their youth culture, fashion, and food. Don't miss the famous Shibuya Crossing.
Day 5 (Sep 5): Visit Odaiba, an artificial island with a futuristic vibe, home to attractions like teamLab Borderless and the giant Gundam statue.
Day 6 (Sep 6): Take a day trip to Nikko, a city north of Tokyo known for its shrines, national park, and hot springs.
Day 7 (Sep 7): Visit Roppongi and the Mori Art Museum, then enjoy the night view of the city from Tokyo Tower.
Week 2 (Tokyo and Hakone):
Day 8 (Sep 8): Spend another day in Tokyo, exploring any areas you missed or revisiting your favorites.
Day 9-10 (Sep 9-10): Travel to Hakone (about 1.5 hours by train from Tokyo) and spend two days enjoying the natural beauty, hot springs, and view of Mt. Fuji.
Day 11 (Sep 11): Return to Tokyo. Visit Ueno Park, home to several museums and Ueno Zoo.
Day 12 (Sep 12): Spend the day in Ikebukuro, another anime and manga hotspot. Visit Sunshine City, a large entertainment and shopping complex.
Day 13 (Sep 13): Explore Tsukiji and Toyosu Fish Markets, then visit the upscale shopping district of Ginza.
Day 14 (Sep 14): Take a day trip to Yokohama, Japan's second-largest city, known for its waterfront, Chinatown, and Ramen Museum.
Week 3 (Kyoto and Osaka):
Day 15 (Sep 15): Travel to Kyoto (about 2.5 hours by bullet train from Tokyo). Visit Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) and Ryoan-ji.
Day 16 (Sep 16): Visit Fushimi Inari Shrine, known for its thousands of torii gates, then explore Gion, Kyoto's traditional entertainment district.
Day 17 (Sep 17): Visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove18. Day 18 (Sep 18): Visit Kiyomizu-dera Temple and walk around the Higashiyama district.
Day 19 (Sep 19): Travel to Osaka (about 1 hour by train from Kyoto). Explore Dotonbori, a popular shopping and entertainment district.
Day 20 (Sep 20): Visit Osaka Castle, then explore the Shinsekai district and try Osaka's famous street food, takoyaki.
Day 21 (Sep 21): Take a day trip to Nara (less than 1 hour by train from Osaka), known for its giant Buddha statue and free-roaming deer.
Week 4 (Osaka, Hiroshima, and Tokyo):
Day 22 (Sep 22): Take a day trip to Himeji (about 1 hour by train from Osaka), home to one of Japan's most beautiful and well-preserved castles.
Day 23 (Sep 23): Travel to Hiroshima (about 2 hours by bullet train from Osaka). Visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.
Day 24 (Sep 24): Take a day trip to Miyajima Island (about 1 hour by ferry from Hiroshima), known for its floating torii gate.
Day 25 (Sep 25): Return to Osaka and enjoy a free day to rest or explore more of the city.
Day 26 (Sep 26): Travel back to Tokyo (about 3 hours by bullet train from Osaka).
Day 27 (Sep 27): Spend your final days in Tokyo, visiting any places you missed or want to revisit.
Day 28 (Sep 28): Free day in Tokyo. You could go souvenir shopping or visit a themed café.
Day 30 (Sep 29): Last day in Tokyo. Take it easy and prepare for your flight.
Day 31 (Sep 30): Fly back home. (At 3:50 pm in Narita)
Please give me your feedback on this itinerary!
Also, few more questions:

1. Train System As i‘ve heard the JR Pass is an enticing offer for tourists visiting, however i‘ve heard that the prices rose this year by quite alot, and it would probably cost a lot for a month anyways. So im asking on how to travel around there, just use Suica for Bus / Train and pre-book Shinkansen between cities? Really need some help on this!
   
2. Weather From what i‘ve read, September is rather hot, however within typhoon-season. From your experiences, how is it?
   

As for accomodations, im considering something rather cheap, as the flight has been quite pricey.
Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Shady's back, tell a friend. Guess who's back, guess who's back.
Anyway, yeah. I'm back for the ten people or probably less that have the attention span to get through this monstrosity, I'm back.
Back again.
Ok, thats enough of the joke. I'll post the next part of chapter four tomorrow, and hopefully I can get back on track with it. Enjoy-
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Chapter Four
Eventful Events
“-ubber flobber glibber gobbler-” A was cut off.
“I’m sorry, what?” The stranger tilted their head.
They were likely a man by their voice, but you could never really tell.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’?” A asked in kind.
“What kind of swear was that?” The newcomer sounded confused.
“Nevermind that, what even are YOU?” A got to his feet. “I’m fairly sure that any sane worker drone wouldn’t have come anywhere near us, and since K and X haven’t killed you, I would like to know.” A questioned.
“Well sir, I was just telling you-” K began.
“I’m the one talking right now, shut up.” A waved dismissively at K, who shrank down to a meager size.
“Uh, I’m me.” The stranger suggested.
“Yes, I can see that, but what ARE you, specifically.” A insisted.
“Uh, I’m somebody, or something, you never know.” The newcomer was dodging the question.
“Alright, I’m done.” A retracted his hand, a gun taking its place, before aiming it directly at the person’s face.
“Okay, alright!” The unknown person put up their hands. “Calm down. I’m a human.”
A didn’t lower his gun. “That's a lie.”
K intervened, stepping in between the stranger and A. “It's true sir. He was the origin of the distress signal.”
A fixed K with a withering stare, who bravely didn’t back down.
“Sir! You said it yourself that the possibility of a human being there was possible!” K exclaimed.
A scoffed. “Well I didn’t mean it! That was just to get both of you up and away from here.”
“Well sir, it appears that the mission has borne a rather precious fruit.” K gestured towards the person, who gave a little wave.
“As a certified me, I can certainly say that I’m me, which is also a human.” The apparent human stated.
A’s mind just fogged with confusion. “Uh, what?”
“You heard me.” The person didn’t elaborate.
“You know what? You must be a human, because you just said the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” A lowered his gun, shaking his head.
Suddenly, with a yelp of surprise, the human was pushed down to the floor, landing on shaky feet.
“Oh nice.” The human murmured.
X then leapt through the opening, nearly squashing K. “Wassup, I’m back. Who died?”
A shook his head again. “Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots.”
“Not me!” The human spoke up.
A looked back at the human, remembering something.
“What's your name again?” A asked.
“Oh, I’m Jacob. I’m kinda the resident important person here.” Jacob’s hands strayed towards his chest, as if to adjust a tie, only to remember that he wasn’t wearing a tie, so they just folded themselves across his chest.
A let a moment of silence sound through the pod. “OK, why don’t you take off your helmet?”
Jacob shook his head. “Can’t take it off.”
“Why?” A inquired.
“Toxic atmosphere.” Jacob explained.
“Oh, yeah. Well, can you just make the visor clear?” A suggested.
“I don’t know how to do that, I just got this thing after all.” Jacob shrugged.
“You just got it? What were you doing here anyway?” A’s eyes narrowed in suspicion yet again.
K stepped in again to defuse the situation. “Listen, sir. We can all explain this, if you just give us time.”
A stared back at her, who shook slightly under the beam.
“Well then, get started.” A sat down. “We’ve got time.”
* * *
“Ugh, what's that scratching noise?”
A pair of drones walked along a mostly intact pathway covered in rubble and snow, lighting up the darkness with built-in lights.
“That would be ice building up in our armor, I think.” The second drone answered.
“Really? You know how to get rid of it?” The first drone asked.
The second drone shook her head. “Nah, we can’t. Trust me, I’ve tried before, and while I can get the surface level ice, the stuff that coalesces in between the chinks is too deep to get out.”
“Just use something sharp and thin then.” The first drone suggested.
“Where can I find something sharp and thin, Carl?” The second drone replied.
“I dunno, somewhere on the ground, I guess.” Carl looked around the floor, searching.
“You’d be surprised at how hard it is to find something thin enough to fit in between our armor plates around here, and rubble doesn’t really match specifications.” The second drone kicked a rock into a small crater.
“Nobodys got any knives or something?” Carl questioned.
“You think we have knives? Anything that isn’t a nanoblade will only be useful for cooking, and since we don’t even have kitchens, that's out of the question. And nanoblades are impractical, one minute you’re flipping the blade around in your hand, and the next your hand is on the ground, cut clean through.” The second drone explained. “That's why we don’t have them, they’ll slice anything off that isn’t an artificial experimental alloy.”
“I know that, but you would think somebody would have something. What about a pencil?” Carl stopped walking for a moment.
“Pencils will just break, and keep walking, we gotta hurry up.” The second drone motioned for Carl to resume movement.
“Alright, fine. But the moment we finish our shift, I’m going around to see if anybody has something, and we’ll see who has the last laugh, Damina.” Carl glared at Damina.
“Yeah, alright.” She replied.
The pair walked in silence for a few seconds.
“By the way, you ever hear about that Sterl guy?” Carl spoke up again.
“Who?” Damina asked.
“You know, Sterl. He’s one of the only people who survived one of those hunter drones attacking him.” Carl explained.
“So that's what we're calling them? Hunter drones?” Damina said in a dry tone.
“What else would we call them? Killer drones?” Carl stared pointedly at Damina.
“Well I guess the name fits, hunter drones. But I feel like it doesn’t really match their . . .” Damina trailed off.
“Their what?” Carl insisted.
“Their aura.” Damina finished.
“Their aura? THAT'S what you're going with?” Carl said.
“It's the best word I could use. ‘Hunter’ just feels really underwhelming I guess.” Damina shrugged.
“Well, what would you suggest? I’m open to them.” Carl inquired.
“Uh, you’re kinda putting me on the spot here.” Damina scratched her head.
“Take your time.” Carl replied.
“Uh, maybe, murder drones?” Damina suggested, not letting the credits roll just yet.
“Murder drones.” Carl deadpanned.
“Yes.” Damina confirmed.
“Murder drones?” Carl repeated.
“Uh, yes?” Damina sounded more unsure.
“You really think that's better?” Carl questioned.
“I dunno, you didn’t really give me a lot of time to come up with one.” Damina defended herself.
“Hunter drones are better, I’m saying it right now.” Carl crossed his arms.
“Okay, fine, it's better.” Damina relented. “But what about, uh, reaper drones?”
Carl tilted his head in thought, so Damina continued.
“You know, because they only strike from the shadows, and when they come, they only cause death.” Damina clarified.
Carl slowly nodded. “Alright, I’ll give you that, that is a much cooler sounding name, but it's too poetic.”
“TOO, poetic?” Damina asked.
“Yeah, too poetic.” Carl confirmed. “I mean, yeah, they are pretty deadly, but we can’t really be calling those things reapers, can we?”
Damina grunted. “Back then, they used to call early attack drones reapers.”
“What? They did? How do you even know that?” Carl said in a surprised tone.
Damina shrugged. “I must’ve heard it somewhere.”
“Is that even real? I mean, how long ago are we talking here? A few decades, or a few centuries? Attack drones have been around for a really long time, I need specifications.” Carl questioned.
“Like, a thousand years, I think.” Damina explained.
“A thousand years!” Carl exclaimed. “You’re trying to tell me that we got information out of the ancient dark ages!?”
Damina shrugged again. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Carl shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
Damina scoffed. “Whatever. Come on, we need to get moving.”
* * *
Silence filled the pod.
A sat in a chair, arms crossed, eyes staring in the general direction of Jacob, who was sitting directly across from him. K looked around nervously, while Jacob just seemed confused. X had left the pod at some point to go jump off a rooftop for something, doing whatever thing he did to pass the time.
A had listened to K, X, and Jacob explain their small adventure, with K doing most of the talking, because X just told straight up lies most of the time, like claiming that they had found a whole farm of enslaved tornados who were aptly named, “Whiggers” and that they had participated in the freeing of those tornados from enslavement, establishing a new state in the middle east for them afterwards. Jacob was forced out of the explanation because the majority of his speech consisted of, “Uh”, “Um”, “Like so”, “You see”, “Kinda”, and multiple backtracks because he had forgotten to say something important. So, it was only reasonable to just shut up before he embarrassed himself any further, the goddamn idiot.
Finally, K spoke up.
“So, what do you think sir?”
A glanced up at K. “What do I think?”
K squirmed under his gaze. “Er, yes sir.”
A sat up in his chair. “Well, I think that it's a miracle that the human is still somehow alive.”
“Some would say otherwise.” Jacob interjected.
“I feel halfway partial to just calling it all a lie and putting a bullet through this guy’s head.” A ignored the comment.
“I’m . . . not sure if that is the right course of action, sir.” K replied.
A scoffed. “It's a figure of speech, K, calm down.”
K blinked. “Oh, uh, sorry sir.”
“And stop saying sorry so much, it's annoying me.” A added.
“Yes sir, sorry sir.” K said quickly.
A shook his head, before looking at Jacob. “And what are we going to do with you?”
Jacob shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
A leaned forward. “Don’t you humans have to eat regularly to stay alive?”
“I have to take my helmet off to eat, and I’m not really sure that’s a good idea.” Jacob explained.
“Hmm, I see.” A leaned back, deep in thought.
This proved to be a problem, since the survival of the human was paramount to A and his squad’s success. When the distress signal had come through, A had taken an arguably large gamble on it. He had sent the majority of his team out to investigate an unknown signal, when they could’ve spent those days and nights grinding for extra credit.
While some might think that a few days shouldn’t have made a difference, the reality was much harsher. With a whole planet full of competing teams, all vying for control, one had to remain constantly vigilant and active to stay up top. While most of the time in a standard squads lives were spent just cutting down the occasional worker drone that was foolish enough to go outside, which happened quite often, sometimes they would crack open a bunker, which was more than enough to boost them to the peak of the leaderboard.
One wouldn’t even have to tackle a whole bunker, if they so desired. They could just put in overtime hours, spending night after night slaughtering any drone who had stumbled into danger, rapidly clearing out a zone empty of all life, save for the ones that caused it. This could bear a great number of points if it was executed correctly, and while it was time and energy consuming, it was very effective.
So far, A’s team had been doing neither, just killing the stray worker drone that stumbled in their path every now and then, which is what most squads did, just to a higher extent. This was causing them to lag behind, as stated earlier. Also stated earlier, the recent destruction of the local worker drone bunker had boosted them up high into the rankings, but it wasn’t meant to last. And if their scores weren’t up to par, disassembly for themselves was an option.
But now, through some stroke of magnificent luck, A had been thrown a lifeline in the form of the adolescent human boy sitting across from him. If no other humans were hiding in some small nook or cranny around the planet, then that would make Jacob the last living human on the entire planet. Even an idiot could tell you that that arguably made him the most important thing for miles, which made Jacob’s earlier statement somewhat true. If A and his squad were able to somehow return Jacob to the company’s hands, then they would likely be rewarded a large amount of points for their innovative and smart behavior, shooting them up through the ranks until nothing could challenge them for a while.
And so, that made the consequences for failure even higher.
If Jacob were to die, or even suffer from some sort of severe injury, then the blame would lie at their feet. They would be blamed for any and all harm that came to the human, and would be punished accordingly. They likely wouldn’t even know they had been punished, as their memories probably would’ve been scrapped as well.
All in all, A was taking yet another big gamble. They had very high rewards, since if they could place Jacob back into company hands, they would be set. However, they had high risk as well, since they had to keep him in perfect condition along the way, like a small, delicate package that was prone to breaking. A was willing to take that risk, since frankly, he saw no other option. They were too deep in to back out, even if they wanted to. Abandoning Jacob to the elements would garner an even harsher punishment than if they had tried to protect him and failed.
And so, A now had to devise a way to keep Jacob perfectly well, and that began with a rather pressing issue.
“Hey, kid-” A began.
“Name’s Jacob.” Jacob interrupted.
“Uh, I know.” A continued. “Kid, listen, do you even have anything to eat at all?”
Jacob pulled out a shiny silvery package from an armored pocket. “Yep, this here.”
“Are you sure that's edible?” A didn’t relent.
“Uh, yeah. It says, ‘RATION’ on the side so it probably is.” Jacob replied.
“And it's not expired?” A inquired.
“No, it isn’t. I’m good, I have tons of food, it's fine man, calm down.” Jacob tilted his head to the side, before pocketing the ration bar.
A grunted. “What about water?”
Jacob froze. “Uh, I dunno.”
“You thought to take ‘tons of food’ but didn’t take any sort of form of hydration.” It wasn’t a question.
“Erm, yes.” Jacob fidgeted.
A facepalmed. “Do you know WHERE you can get any water?”
Jacob shrugged. “Snow? Ice?”
“The snow and ice on this planet likely contains copious amounts of toxic gasses.” A stated.
“Well what do you want me to say, that I just pulled a random depot of fresh water from nowhere?” Jacob complained.
“Well I don’t know, I figured that the ‘hyper-intelligent’ and ‘oh-so-smart’ human would’ve thought to bring some goddamn water.” A replied, annoyed.
“Well I didn’t think a few days ago that I would be trekking through a freezing wasteland!” Jacob cried out.
“Speaking of, what were you doing a few days ago? I doubt that you were ‘just chilling’ in a cryo pod that failed to break down when every other one did.” A’s eyes narrowed yet again.
“Well I just was! That's the truth of it, kind of . . .” Jacob trailed off.
A felt his opportunity. “Continue.”
“Besides, I’m pretty sure that you aren’t cleared for that information.” Jacob finished.
A inwardly cursed. Once Jacob had subtly implied that there was something more to the story than what he had let on, A had believed that he would be able to get some more out of him, maybe even deducing what made the kid so important. A wasn’t gonna believe for a second that Jacob had just happened to stumble upon a facility full of autonomous guards that had just somehow happened to decide to protect him with their lives, while finding the sole fully-operational cryo pod on the planet, and just so happened to survive for a good amount of time while everybody else died. And the fact that A had received the distress signal on a government transmitter that had just so happened to be placed in their ship made Jacob even more suspicious.
Multiple things weren’t adding up, which is why A had jumped at the chance to wring Jacob dry of any more information he could get. But, A hadn’t expected him to pull out the ‘Classified Information” card. While it did confirm that something bigger was going on behind the scenes, A was now effectively neutered in his future chances to learn, because since he now knew that the information he was searching for was behind higher clearance, continuing his search would be a clear breach of company protocol. Breaching company protocol, like many other things, leads to a rather bad chance of living.
A leaned back in his chair, contemplating his next course of action. He first had to find a breathable atmosphere for Jacob, as well as finding an uncontaminated source of water. Next, and perhaps the most difficult of all, A had to somehow get Jacob off planet. Some very high orders for his little squad.
“How long can humans go without needing food or water?” A questioned.
“Uh, I can’t remember exactly, but I think that if I don’t have any sort of water, then I’ll die within three days.” Jacob answered.
A cursed yet again. Three days wasn’t a time frame big enough to get a source of reliable water in this wasteland.
K coughed politely. “Uh, if I may, sir.”
A’s gaze shot to K. “What?”
“Well, we could scavenge.” K suggested.
“I’m fairly sure that I could’ve come up with that myself.” A replied.
“Oh, uh, sorry sir.” K backed down.
A, in fact, hadn’t come up with that himself, for some odd reason. It seemed like the only viable course of action, and yet he hadn’t even given it a modicum of thought. Strange, but not important.
A stood up. “Well, I guess that's settled. X,” X looked back up from his little thumb game. “You’re going with K.”
“To do what?” X asked, confused.
“Of course you weren’t listening. You’re going to try and find some water for the human.” A answered.
“What!? I don’t wanna do that, why can’t she do it by herself!?” X cried out, pointing at K.
“Because in your absence, I’ve found that I rather like having both of you away from me. And plus, the more the merrier.” A pointed at the exit. “And you’re going right now.”
The night was still hanging ever-present over the planet, a fact made clear by X’s careful inspection from his undesirable point of view.
X opened his mouth to protest further, but the act was cut off by A.
“And that's final.” A glared at X. “Understand?”
X scoffed. “Alright man, fine. No need to get all worked up.”
A turned to K. “Anything you want to say?”
K seemed caught off guard. “Oh, uh, no sir, I’m fine.”
A nodded. “Good. Now off you go.”
Jacob watched the pair leave the pod with a watchful gaze.
A turned towards Jacob.
“Now what do you want me to do?” Jacob asked.
“Now that's the big question.” A replied. “I’ve never really had a human with me.”
“Well, I’m not really gonna just sit here, doing nothing.” Jacob stated.
“You might have to deal with it.” A dryly replied.
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.
“Listen man, how about we talk?” Jacob broke the silence.
A’s LED screen formed an eyebrow and raised it. “About what?”
Jacob was a bit unnerved by the display A’s face just did, but pressed on. “I dunno.”
“I’m not giving a suggestion.” A said.
Jacob thought for a moment. “Well, those guys that just left didn’t really tell me a lot about what’s really going on, so how about that?”
A pondered on the notion. He was tempted to turn it into an exchange of information, but that would still be a violation of policy, and he wasn’t sure if the human would even oblige. And plus, he didn’t really see that issue with giving out that kind of information, as it would even endear Jacob to A, which might pay off in the long run.
“Alright, I can do that.” A agreed.
“Oh nice.” Jacob replied.
“So, it all started with . . .”
* * *
The clacking of the keyboard.
A familiar sound to anyone living within the modern era, or anyone past the 1990s. Commonplace in areas such as work offices, accounting offices, home offices, government offices, probably a lot more offices, and gaming rooms that were only occupied with hunch-backed teenagers who were chronically online. Or maybe just avid fan fiction writers, you never know.
However, those that weren’t accustomed to the fast-paced rapid clicking of buttons would often find the sound annoying or unrestful, especially when the area was overly silent. In this case, a duo were inside a small tent, lit only by the glow of a computer screen, with a robot sat over the keyboard, typing away at the device with the surety of a slight breeze; soft, yet clearly ever-present. The second robot was currently sitting in another chair that was on the other side of the room, trying to fall asleep. But, it appeared as though that they weren’t a fan of the constant noise, deafening in the silence of the night.
Groaning, the second drone called out to the one at the computer.
“Ugh, man, keep it down.” He whispered.
“What do you expect me to do? Type slower? I wanna get this done as soon as possible.” The first drone replied, also whispering.
“Just be quieter, I’m tryna sleep here.” The second drone murmured.
“Why are you sleeping!? You’re supposed to be awake and watching, not dozing off!” The first drone whisper-yelled back.
“You’re awake right now, so it's fine.” The second drone waved his hand.
“No it’s not! I could be stabbed by one of those hunters when my back is turned and you’re asleep!” The first drone exclaimed quietly.
“Don’t care.” The second drone laid back in his chair.
“You know what, Frant!? Get up here, this’ll keep you awake.” The first drone called to Frant.
“No, lemme go to sleep.” Frant replied sleepily.
“Get up here, before I report you, and then you’ll be sleeping forever.” The first drone narrowed his eyes.
This proved to wake up Frant to the fullest extent, causing him to shoot upwards in his seat.
“Are you serious Carme!?” Frant spat between clenched teeth.
“Just come over here, it’ll keep you awake.” Carme ignored the question.
Frant obliged, stomping over to Carme, leaning over his shoulder to see the glowing screen.
“What are you even doing here?” Frant inquired.
“I’m reviewing our files to make sure nothing got lost in the transition.” Carme answered.
“What if something did get lost?” Frant continued.
“Then I notify the experts.” Carme simply replied.
“Uh, okay then.” Frant pulled his seat over, plopping down next to Carme. “Why’d they have to assign me to watch? Couldn’t they have just gotten a soldier to do it?”
Carme shrugged. “They’re spread too thin, the military’s having a hard enough time already trying to maintain a proper perimeter. Watching over the workers would be asking for numbers they don’t have.”
Frant nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” Frant then paused to think. “Hey, why do you know all this stuff anyway?”
“They sent it in a memo.” Carme handed a sheet of paper to Frant, who took it.
Frant skimmed over the paper, taking in all the essential bits.
“You get it now?” Carme looked over his shoulder at Frant.
Frant nodded again. “Yeah, but why didn’t I get this?”
Carme shrugged yet again. “You probably did.”
“Huh.” Frant scratched the back of his head, before squinting at a document on the computer. “Uh, what's that?”
Carme followed Frant’s gaze to the icon on the screen. The file in question was an innocuous little folder that simply read, “DO NOT OPEN WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORIZATION” which was a bit dramatic.
Carme and Frant looked at each other, before settling their focus back on the screen.
“. . . you wanna open it or something?” Frant suggested.
Carme thought for a moment, before shrugging for the hundredth time in a minute. “I’m down.”
Carme moved the cursor over to the icon, double clicking it. The page entered a loading phase, with nothing but a blank screen to greet them for a moment before it opened the file. Inside was a document that had several pages, with the first one having some rather disturbing text.
“‘DO NOT LET ROBOTS READ, THEY WILL NOT LIKE IT’? Why? What does that even mean?” Frant asked no one in particular.
“Probably to make sure robots don’t read it.” Carme answered.
“Yeah, I get it. Scroll down, I wanna see the rest.” Frant leaned in, completely disregarding the warning.
Carme obliged, scrolling down to the first page which had more large, bold text, which read, “NO SERIOUSLY, WE MEAN IT”.
Carme and Frant scrolled down to the next page, which also had more text, which said, “ALRIGHT THEN, JUST MAKING SURE THIS TIME”.
Scrolling down to what would hopefully be the last page with warnings on it, Carme and Frant gazed upon the holy scriptures, which now read, “YOU WOULD THINK THAT WE WOULD PUT A TEST IN HERE TO MAKE SURE YOU AREN’T A ROBOT, BUT THEY DIDN’T GIVE US ENOUGH BUDGET FOR THAT”
Frant groaned. “What is this guy’s deal? Just let us through.”
Carme scrolled past the warning, finally arriving at a page which had something other than a loud warning. A logo could be seen at the top, proclaiming whatever they were to the few that could read the document.
“What is, ‘JCJenson, IN SPAAAAACEE!!!!’?” Frant asked, squinting at the computer.
“I dunno.” Carme shrugged, goddamn man, stop shrugging.
“I thought you knew everything?” Frant looked at Carme.
“I just pay attention, nothing else, and nothing I’ve seen mentions that.” Carme gestured towards the screen.
“Whatever, keep scrolling.” Frant looked back at the display.
Carme and Frant looked on at the screen, scrolling slowly so that they could both see. As they read, their expressions went from curious, to confused, to disturbed, to confused again. The strange document was filled with strange labels and diagrams that just didn’t make sense to either of them, displaying graining images of what appeared to be a drone, with some . . . interesting . . . additions.
“What the hell is a zombie drone?” Carme asked, LED eyebrows furrowed.
* * *
​
​
Again, I'm gonna post the second part tomorrow, and after that it'll take about a week to finish the fifth chapter. This will hopefully be segmented into three parts instead of four like that last one that was more than two, but no promises. Reddit character capacity is a cruel mistress. Hopefully I'll have more free time on my hands going forward, and maybe I will. See y'all.

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I've started looking for other jobs because this hasn't really sat right with me.
Essentially I work in a sales role for a company. I technically work 2 departments where I'm scheduled to take incoming calls for a few hours of my day and the other department is for making outgoing calls. We have 2 separate commission targets for each department. Some days I work 80% of my shift in the incoming calls department and some days its split 50/50 for the hours.
For the month of April I managed to exceed both department's targets by a pretty significant amount and there's no cap for this commissions payout structure. Through out April and until the end my supervisor had been sending me updates for my numbers and basically telling me how I've been doing really well and to keep up the great work.
In the first week of May I ask them, for finalized numbers and I'm told that they're not ready yet and an email will be sent the next week, outlining what I'm owed. Along with that I was also told that since I ended up working more hours in the department the handled inbound calls, my target would be adjusted accordingly to reflect the amount of hours worked where as before they had set up the targets to reflect a 60% outgoing/40% incoming where as it ended up actually being reversed when looking at worked hours.
After that I don't get any emails or any communication until the day prior to the payout of commission and where I was initially sitting at around 150%+ of my target for the incoming calls department, they had adjusted it so that I was now sitting at around 70% to my target. Basically they had increased my target so much that I wasn't getting a pay out anymore whereas before I would have been owed a pretty heft amount. The did also decrease my target for the outgoing calls department but it was a very miniscule change and I did get my commissions from there. But to jack up my target after the month was already over by over like 70% feels pretty shitty to me.
I had a talk with supervisor and basically they brushed it off saying that this is the appropriate amount since I ended up working more hours.
I don't appreciate being told "im killing it or do a faboluous job" and then you increase my target so much that I'm not actually getting paid out for any anything.
Idk if this is legal or not but I'm thinking it might be worth making an inquiry to the ministry of labor.