Cars similar to mini cooper countryman

Brought an extremely low miles 2002 Rav 4 for my teen a few years ago for her first car. Got totaled out by the insurance company after a recent accident and now I'm trying to find something even remotely similar but I see the prices for these things are not in my range (10-15kosh) and the mileage is crazy on what's out there. Toyota and Honda ain't happening so what else is out there for a college student type car that I don't have to worry about to much?

My situation is one where I know I’ve got it good- money for food, rent is paid, roof over head and functional nice vehicles. I’m privileged and I do know it.
But I previously had a high paying job, in a high cost of living area. Which is its own thing- yes I had a large income but I was still spending money left and right trying to keep up.
Anyways, now my family is on one income due to life changes. And in many ways, I appreciate where we’re at very much. We waste less, we have less coming in so significantly less clutter etc. that feels good.
But sometimes it just feels like a bummer. It’s summertime where I’m at and I went out looking for that little summer crap that’s out now- I bought 2 water guns, a nerf gun and a riding scooter. The prices felt close to outright insanity. The nerf gun was around 20 dollars, it isn’t super large and I bought extra nerf bullets because 6 isn’t enough and that was an additional 12 dollars. The scooter was around 30 bucks, so not too bad.
In my past life I would have just gone to wherever was easiest (not driven all the way out to gross Walmart) and thrown anything and everything into the cart. Expensive Lego sets and all types of shit we didn’t need.
For me, it did feel great to do that. It was a rush and I’m sure I’m mentally ill in some facet - and I’m a stuff person, my love language is gifts and I’m like a bird I like shiny things. I also just absolutely love giving my kid little stuff that brings a smile to his face- like even if it was just a short burst of pleasure- that was very satisfying to me. I know it’s probably bad to be this way. I’m probably being taught a lesson from the universe.
So anyways- I bought 2 toners at Ulta, one to use and a back up. They were about 13 dollars each (The Ordinary glycolic toner, good stuff) and my god if I don’t feel guilty about it but I see a huge improvement in my skin when I use it and I wanted it.
Feeling crappy over cheap toner isn’t a good feeling. Again, I used to just blow money at Sephora that you wouldn’t believe. I can hardly believe it now. Literally hundreds of dollars a month. Now I feel like garbage. I feel like a garbage human for even thinking about this stuff.
I don’t want to complain about my situation. I have more than a lot of people. It’s a feeling I extend to everyone- I want every kid everywhere to have the joy of a nerf gun.
Things also can feel so weird now because I think we appear a lot more financially well off then we are now. We have nicer cars (long paid off) and a lot of nice quality shit that I bought when I had money. People seem to lean on me to always pickup the lunch tab or pay for activities and it’s really uncomfortable because at the place we’re at- we shouldn’t be affording those things.
Ultimately I just want to say to anyone living similarly, that I’m sorry. Expendable income literally is just fun. I want to give you all a nerf guns. I want to give your kids shiny balloons and tiny bits of “stuff” joy.
I have much more of an understanding of the choices many people are confronted with every day now. I know some people would have had to put the toys back for food and that makes me so sad. Life is hard enough.

Greetings spacefarers, Starfinders, and similarly adventurous individuals!
I am currently building a character (using Hephaistos) and have encountered some confusion on how much ammo I have to work with. My weapon of choice is a Tactical Skipshot Pistol from Near Space (page 150) with a capacity of 20 rounds. Small arm rounds can be purchased for 40 credits for a case of 30. However, the following sections of the Core Rulebook (page 168) have me wondering if that is necessary:

Weapons that use standard ammunition (arrows, charges, darts, mini-rockets, petrol, rounds, scattergun shells, etc.) are sold preloaded. For weapons with other forms of ammunition (such as grenades), ammunition must be purchased separately. [...]
Cartridges are typically either contained in a multi-cartridge magazine or loaded into the weapon individually; a weapon is assumed to come with enough magazines that you can load spare ones for reloading the weapon in battle. If you buy more cartridges than can be held in a single magazine of your weapon, the purchase includes additional magazines of the same capacity, up to the number needed to fit all your cartridges into magazines.

Looking over these sections, I have a few possible ways to interpret them:

1. When purchasing the pistol, the price included 20 (or possibly 30) rounds and a few spare (empty) magazines. Additional ammo, and magazines to hold it, are available at list price.
2. When purchasing the pistol, there was an additional price of 40 credits for necessary ammo (1.5 magazines worth) and spare magazines.
3. When purchasing the pistol, several full magazines were included in the price. This would be absurd for a 105 credit gun, and I'm not seriously considering it.
4. Purchasing the pistol in game would result in 1, as part of character creation those included rounds were expended some time ago and purchasing more is necessary.

As I am unable to find any conclusive answers on the subject, I turn to your expertise. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Dont know if this is the right sub but maybe someone can help i have a american bass XO 12 running off a hifonics zues 400 x 2... ive wired them into every car ive owned for the past 10 years... they were working in my current car until sometime last year... i looked over the wires all looked right so i chalked it up to a "blown pre amp" (mighta made that up) on my headunit and just disconnected for a while.... got a new headunit a kenwood dmx47s and threw it in hoping my sub would work but it didnt.... over the past weeks ive replaced every individual piece of the system.. amp, sub and wiring kit but still get the same result.....
The symtom is that my amp turns on and looks proper green light next to power on , red diagnostic light off... then as soon the sub trys to move the power light flickers or goes off and while there is SOME bass its nothing close to what the pair are capable of...
THE ONLY difference in my car i can think of is i replaced the battery recently i thought it was after the sub stopped working tho... i dont remember what my old battery was but my current is a diehard gold 640 cca and 100 reserve.... i assume this is at least similar to the old battery as i almost always buy "gold" batteries

This is going to be long, since I feel I need to do a lot of explanation to demonstrate the severity of everything. So buckle up for this ride.
My mother has been an alcoholic her entire adult life. It was hidden from my siblings and I as kids, but since 2015 it’s gotten progressively worse and obvious. She is now at the point where she drinks every night, and has started drinking during the day as well. She has also gone through periods where she drives drunk, and has been doing so again.
It’s not surprising that she has this problem, her entire childhood led up to this. She was born and lived in El Salvador’s until she was 14, and was physically abused by her mother who blamed her for being cut off from her family for having my mom out of wedlock. She was molested by multiple family members from a young age. Then during the war she saw violence and hundreds of dead bodies multiple times. She was treated poorly and lived in poverty as other immigrants often are when her family came to the US.
She already had a drinking problem when she met my father. He, not understanding what an addiction is really like back in the 90s, enabled her and continues to do so even today. He is also a narcissist and controlling, so I imagine this has something to do with it as well.
My father has intense rage issues. All four of us grew up in an extremely abusive home, experiencing emotional and physical abuse from both of them. My siblings and I all have intense trauma and issues because of it. My parents also abuse each other, having intense fights where items are thrown, one of them leaves in the middle of the night, and/or cops get called. Dad has also always refused to stop drinking and smoking weed in the house, stating her problems shouldn’t be his. This triggers her all the time.
My mother was diagnosed with panic disorder and depression in 2019. She mixes her meds with alcohol every day. She was 51 then 5250d in 2021 for claiming she took all her meds one day while drunk to kill herself (plot-twist, this was a lie). She hurts herself often and we believe she is beginning to experience the beginnings of live disease as she is morbidly obese, doesn’t eat anymore, shits liquid and often blood. She refuses to be honest with her doctors about her alcohol use.
She’s attempted to stop before, but only by shortly going to AA or outpatient rehab before dropping out. My parents go back and forth saying the other one rejects the idea of inpatient rehab. I keep telling my dad to get her an IID on her car but he says she’d be embarrassed.
My two sisters and I still live in the home, as my parents have made it incredibly difficult for us to be independent. My dad has made sure all four of us have always stayed reliant on them in some way. We all see drama firsthand every single day.
Multiple family members get into fights all the time. I usually have to mediate. My mother blames my father every day when she’s drunk claiming he ruined her life and it’s his fault we lost our home and that she is the way she is. She also seeks me out, switching between wanting to tell me stories of her trauma and calling me a druggie slut that also ruined her life. She follows us both around the house to do so. Their fights have traumatized me so much that every noise I hear from upstairs results in me hearing their voices arguing every night. I have a tick now that makes me need to call my dad or sister, or listen against the door to the stairs to confirm what’s happening. Often it’s just normal talking or the TV. I for ear plugs, but I still hear their voices when anxious.
I have been making plans to move out, but multiple reasons have made it difficult, though now it will happen in the near future.
My dad has talked about having interventions and “conversations” with her for years. It never goes anywhere, and financial circumstances have up until recently made it impossible for her to go to inpatient rehab. He finally is in a good position financially to do so, and seems more serious about it. Thing is, any conversation we have she always agrees and promises to stop, but nothing happens. I believe we need to have a spot for her lined up same day if we’re going to do this.
How do we go about this? Should we have a professional be present? I worry about doing this alone since most of the family cannot control their tempers. At the same time I’m scared all the commotion of the family would be too much for the interventionist. I also worry about the fact that my mother knows and uses the fact that my father and I have both abused drugs as a defense. I’m 27 and have party kinda of often( electronic scene) but have calmed down and lot and not heavily abused drugs for years. My father heavily abused many drugs until he had multiple heart attacks last year. He no longer uses cocaine but has started smoking and drinking occasionally again. I know for a fact she will call this out and I’m not sure how we’d respond to that without escalating.
I’m honestly not even convinced that rehab would help. She has a lifetime is extreme trauma and issues that she refuses to talk about with mental health professionals or anyone if she’s sober. I truly see her drinking for the rest of her life. A big issue is that there are virtually no consequences we can seriously dole out. My dad will never divorce her or kick her out because they are extremely codependent and he has major guilt issues. He will never prevent her from driving. He just bought her a new Benz for Christ’s sake! None of us have the capability of cutting her off right now - my sisters and I live with them, both sisters are in college, and my brother who is autistic and struggles with decent employment works for them. I’ve chosen not to interact with her in the past, but it just made her worse! There’s also 0% chance he will do the research to get her set up for rehab, as he never follows through with anything.
I truly believe this will be nothing but a money sink and that she will drink until she dies from an overdose or an accident. My father, her, and the rest of our family are too fucked up or toxic. My dad will most definitely drive her to relapse with his bullshit. But we have to give it a try. Otherwise it’s guaranteed she’ll never change.
If you made it through this, thank you so much for spending that time. I am very grateful for any advice given and hope that I find the light at the end of this tunnel. I feel for everyone here in similar positions.

So i’ve been trying to sell my non-running, non-titled 93’ Lexus SC400 for awhile and as you can probably expect, it’s been a slow seller. It needs a torque converter from what I understand (but may need more), it has no radio but the body and interior are in good shape and rust is minimal. 178k miles. If it was running and titled I could probably get 4-7k for it. But right now i’m struggling to even get 1500.
Right now the best offer from what I can gather is a trade for a 2004 Honda Odyssey. Tan. 180k miles and one family owned. He says it has a clean title and is in good shape generally aside from needing a new radiator and some minor rust/wear and tear. In my area these seem to be worth about 2-4k in similar condition.
I should note im also gonna be handling the towing (both the lexus and the odyssey) so it’s gonna be a long and pricey day.
So I guess my final question is, keep my lexus, which is a cool car with some big downsides, try to get it titled and either keep it or sell it later, or trade for the odyssey, an uncool car but at least it’s running and has a clean title, swap in a new radiator, and sell that?

i’m curious because i know that astral projection utilizes similar techniques while still staying in this reality, so would it be a good stepping stone before shifting? i’ve been trying to shift for three years, and i’ve had a few mini-shifts, but i’m looking for that extra push to help me fully shift

So I’m located in Toronto and decided to take my car into the Dealer for the AC condenser issue that plagues pretty much all 10th gen Honda Civics. When I called I was told that if it was under the extended AC Condenser warranty everything will be free of charge but if during the diagnostic they found it was not an issue with the AC condenser I would have to pay a $270 diagnostic fee. I agreed because Toronto summers can get unbearable and it’s not ideal to drive with the windows down on the highway while answering work calls. I took it in and a few hours later get a call from the dealership saying that their is a leak in the condenser and that it will be replaced free of charge with the extended warranty but there is an issue with the temperature sensor and that they cannot proceed to replace the condenser without replacing the sensor. I was told that this was not covered and would cost $380. After haggling a bit I was able to bring it down to $250. They said ok and proceeded as they had the part in stock. Then a few hours later I get a call saying they replaced the condenser but there is a leak in some pipe (don’t remember exactly what part they mentioned) so they aren’t able to refill the Freon. This repair would cost $680 and all together they can do it for $900. At this point I dropped the whole thing told them I’d take my car back as is. Now my question is couldn’t they have determined this before replacing the ac condenser? Before taking it in the ac was still blowing cold air faintly just not how it use to when I first purchased the car. Now since there is no Freon at all it’ll be totally useless. Is there anything I can do or am I just out of luck. Anyone had any similar experiences?

I have one cat and she is everything to me. I am planning a large move (1,500 miles) at the end of this month to move to be by my family.
Next week I am flying to my parents house (3 hour flight) to look at areas to live and then at the end of the month driving down there, about a 20 hour, 2 day car ride.
I could bring my cat with me on the plane next week and leave her at my parent’s house where she would have a whole room to herself that is about the size of my apartment. It would spare her the 2 day drive. Or I could wait and drive down with her but since I am driving solo I worry about giving her attention and her litter box. I also would be so sad to not see her for a week or two but would get constant updates and know she is safe. She has always done great when I take trips and likes new people but the longest trip I’ve taken before was 4 days.
I guess I am hoping that people who have driven this distance or taken a similar length plane ride with their cat can tell me about their experiences as I have never done either with a cat before. I just want to save her as much stress as I can. TIA!

I'm hoping that I could get some advice on the following issues I'm having with my car, hopefully the below information is clear enough!
I'm also wondering if this might be the start of a long string of more serious/frequent issues?
Car: Kia Ceed 2010 1.4L (G4FA engine) Mileage: 88k miles, regularly serviced by 3rd party garage (last full service in spring 2022, mini service in Nov 2022). No major issues in 7 years of ownership

• Late April, the car started intermittently feeling/sounding odd, plus amber solid or flashing engine warning light. Read the codes at our local garage as a cylinder 3 misfire.
• Codes cleared, & advised that as long as the car seemed OK, it was safe to drive with the engine warning light, but would likely need a new ignition coil (plus spark plugs?). Unfortunately they didn't have availability for 3 weeks
• 1 and a half weeks of limited use later, I swapped ignition coils 2 and 3, and the misfire code moved to cylinder 2. Replaced the ignition coil in 2 (that had been in cylinder 3), cleared the codes, and engine seemed to be back to normal
• 2 weeks later, after normal use (including a few long journeys of ~ 3 hrs driving each), engine warning light came back on. Read the code and it's a P0420 (Catalytic converter efficiency below threshold)
• Driven ~50 miles since the new engine warning light, engine started feeling odd again (today). Read the codes again, and P0420 still present, but also cylinder 3 misfire.

Could this be as simple as replacing the other ignition coil (should spark plugs be done at the same time?), and using a bottle of Cataclean to clear the catalytic converter? Or is it indicative of bigger issues?

For reference i live in Southern California and am in the market for potentially buying a new car. I dont make much money since I'm a recent graduate (3500/month after taxes, grad last June), though I have roughly 5k to put as down payment so I was looking for advice regarding this topic. Now, I know that the Dave Ramsey folks will be telling me that I cant afford anything new, and that I dont deserve any fun because I'm not rich but I like cars and would love something that would be fun to drive but also won't kill me with maintenence and repair costs. The way to look at it is that I would be willing to replace a hobby with a car expense for example because it is kind of a hobby to me.
Now here's my dilemma, I dont know if I should just wait it out a couple of years, as the EV infrastructure in California is getting better and with the outlawing of gas powered engines in the near future, the case for EVs just get better and better here. Now the only problem is that the only EV that catches my eye stylistically is the model 3, which is way out of my price range.
I'm also moving into an apartment that doesn't have at home charging and will require me to commute an hour to work, therefore even if I get an EV the gas savings won't be that much as ill have to rely on superchargers here that charge 30 cents per kwh.
I currently am driving a 2022 prius prime thats in my fathers name and I have been making payments on it, and its a great car no doubt and very economical, I'm just looking for something a little more spirited and exciting to drive in and hopefully not as slow. I've been looking at the Mazda 3 turbo, the corolla se, and similar cars, but no real commitment to any of them thusfar, especially bc they'll all likely have higher maintenence and gas costs than my current vehicle.
So for the money I have right now, ICE vehicles seem to be the only viable option, but with the way prices are it may not even be realistic for me since I'll be spending 46 percent of my paycheck on rent and necessities, or even realistic in the longer term as EVs get pushed more and more by the government.
Feel free to absolutely fire roast me if I'm being an idiot as well. I love cars, but that doesn't exclude me from being a dummy given my situation. Thanks!

I've seen some pretty wild sauna builds since joining this sub and I thought instead of commenting on every post it might be beneficial to make an actual post for more people to find. These basic tips and design principles apply for a Nordic style sauna with a rock covered electric or wood heated stove where you throw water on the stones. If you're building something else or disagree then go for it. I'm an architect and not a builder so these basics are theoretical and someone with more hands on experience can comment with more information.

1. Dimensioning Most stove types heat the room only above the level of the stones so your legs should be above that level when you sit in the sauna. The steps should can be 300mm but not much more. The space above your head shouldn't be too much because then you're heating an empty part of the room. The steam will gather to the highest part of the room so it's worth noting that the experience might change depending on where you sit. Pictured are some examples of layouts.
   
2. Moisture Throwing water on the stones is an essential part of the sauna experience and releases steam which makes the heat feel more relaxing. (If you build a "dry" sauna it's like having a car but not filling it with fuel) This means water will be released into the room as steam and there will be splashing. So a drain is needed in the sauna room. Alternatively a small sauna can have a sloped floor to drain the water to the next room that has a drain. The door to the sauna room doesn't need to go all the way to the floor. Note the slipperyness of the floor material here. The steam will condense and end up on the floor too.
   
3. Ventilation A sauna needs ventilation to let it dry and to keep the air fresh so its more relaxing to bathe. Pictured is a theoretical example of vent placement.
   
4. Cleaning Sitting on the benches and sweating will cause grime of all sorts to accumulate on the floor and under the benches. It's a good idea to make the benches so you can lift them up for cleaning them and the floor. This is also where the drain is useful so you can scrub the sauna and just hose it down.
   
5. Materials The benches are the most critical part since they are touching your naked butt and back and feet. This should be a wood type that doesn't splinter easily and doesn't have resin. The resin will run over time in the heat and will be sticky and unpelasant. The walls are fine to make from wood with resin but then you might want to add a back rest from similar wood than what the bench is made of. In my country the benches are. 95% of the time made of alder. Repurposing wood is awesome but I wouldn't use any wood with any paint or other chemicals left over since they might release some chemicals into the sauna due to the heat.
   
6. Safety It's a good idea to add wood railings in front of the stove and near the steps to the benches. Climbing up to the bench isn't always that easy because you might have had a few beers. Its also nice to rest your feet on the railing. Having a glass door or a window is a good idea because if the lights go out for some reason you'll have more light to help you not fall onto the stove while getting out. Different stoves have a certain safe distance you can have the benches from them. Also a metal shield can be added around the stove.
   
7. Structure. A normal design is to have an empty ventilation space above the sauna. This space is ventilated to the adjacent room. This allows the sauna to dry completely with the moisture going upwards.
   
8. Electrics Remember to get heat resistant lights for the sauna. It's also a normal solution to have the light quite low where it's not that hot. If you make a wood "shade" box with slats on it for the light, you get a good dim light for bathing and you can remove the shade when you need more light for cleaning.
   

Yes no build is the same but these are some basics taught in architecture school. Good luck with your builds and have fun.

This is a continuation of my other story. Now I was disappointed that my phone call seemed to get no respect but after a week of thinking about it I decided I might be in the wrong. Each DM has their own way of handling things and their own rules, so who was I to tell another DM how to run their game. Maybe the best was yet to come, maybe I should try to embrace it more, maybe it wasn't so bad? I mean I was hanging out with friends and we were playing, making progress, and the story had to go somewhere right?
That entire session was near torture. The DM had not only ignored the advice I had given but had doubled down on the roleplay demands. Wanting us to describe our clothing, what were the colors, how did they go together, how did we put on our armor, what were we having for breakfast, who was cooking it, describe how we are walking, when we rest the horses, were we brushing our teeth! Most everyone was zoned out only answering short answers at this point and each answer was getting shorter and shorter. How no one had walked away from the table was beyond me.
Of course her boyfriend was super into it and trying to get everyone to play along between the copious amounts of encouraging her and PDA. Hour goes by like this and we break for camp. Nothing interesting has happened and nothing interesting has been described by her. We get our random roll and once again after we pick our number she says "Wow you're the luckiest group I've ever seen, no random encounter. Isn't that amazing?" She was all smiles and giggles like it was the best thing in the world while everyone else at the table was literally groaning.
Another hour of overly intensive roleplay where the veterans and myself had just given up. We wouldn't answer any of the roleplay stuff. What are you talking about? Stuff. Are you taking care of the horses? Yes. Well roleplay. We travel till we set up camp is there anything important? I can see Wizard is visibly angry, the new players besides Bard are now looking at memes on their phones, and cleric and I are just bored. Another camp sight set and another "lucky roll." With no encounter, and another round of groaning.
This continues and it is near the end of the session. We have done NOTHING. Now I will never say I am a great DM, I am passable. I can create a story that people have fun with but I am by no means perfect. That being said one thing I find myself doing even as a player is looking around the table and seeing how engaged people are with the story. From what I can see this group is going to fail and fail hard. Everyone is at their wits end and if something interesting doesn't happen we won't have a game. So when the time comes for her to roll the random encounter dice and pick a number I say. "We choose to fail it."
The DM looks at me and asks "What?" "We choose to fail it, right guy's? Bring on the encounter. No roll needed hit us with your worst." Cleric started to laugh knowing exactly what I was doing but nodded along. Wizard smiled and said "Sure we choose to fail." The other new players look from the DM to me, and back again. "Wait that's an option?" One asks and they both agree "Ok we fail what do we run into?" I'm happy because everyone is on the same page, there is no second guessing here, we all chose to fail the roll and have an encounter and if the DM was angry we all said bring on your worst. Cleric even brought up a saying from our old groups of "Bring it scruffy." meaning we'll take as hard a fight as you want to throw at us. No pulling punches.
DM "Excuse me, I am the DM here, I am running the game and I will remind you I am a professional who has done this for fifteen years. That is not how the rolls work, you don't get to choose if you fail or succeed now pick a number."
Wizard, Druid, Barbarian, and myself were all just done. we couldn't take it. Our heads in hands on on the table visibly upset by this but she was holding to her ruling. That's when Cleric spoke up. "I know you have DMed for fifteen years however a game like this where roleplay is intensive and heavy is something that a lot of people wouldn't sign up for. Breaking it up with puzzles and combat is good. So you have all your players volunteering to fail the roll. This is a cooperative game and we aren't trying to step on your toes, but we do wish for some action. Also keep in mind I have been playing since AD&D."
I nearly laughed at the little flex there that she had been playing so long and this younger girl couldn't compete with that. Cleric always had a way about her to command instant respect even from the most stubborn people. So the DM flipped through their book and said as we were setting up camp a large snake slithered into camp. Not the most exciting of encounters but it was something! Everyone rolled for initiative and Druid got to go first. They asked if they could roll their animal handling to tame the snake. Which wasn't a popular idea for the rest of the party who had murder in their eyes. The DM said sure and after a good roll the snake left. The session ended and we asked about XP.
DM "No XP." Me "What? But we've been doing a LOT of roleplay and we had an encounter. We've done everything you wanted." DM "I have been DMing for fifteen years and how I always run it is XP is only given for defeating monsters." Cleric "We defeated the snake." DM "No you tamed it you didn't kill it. It's alive so you didn't defeat it. See you next week."
I was seething! I was so angry I wanted to scream, I talked to everyone after the game and asked their feelings, we were all in agreement that we'd give it one more shot and if things didn't improve we would walk out. Usually I am a calm person but I went home called her up and gave her a piece of my mind. Explaining that it is stated in the rules how to give xp for roleplay, that defeating an encounter peacefully is still defeating it, and I went on to explain to her that if she kept up this boring, demanding, and tedious way of DMing that everyone was going to walk out.
The next week came about and we all made it very clear we were done with the ridiculous step by step of our day. We'd roleplay ONLY when there were NPC's to interact with, if there wasn't anything going on we wanted a time skip. So either dump the human drama that we want to get away form or leave. This must have woken her up a little because we did get a time skip. We went forward in time to where we were a couple of days away from delivering the package to the king. Along the road we saw a group of eight orcs coming our way. We asked if orcs were common or peaceful in this area and she said common yes peaceful no we could tell they were bandits. Initiative was rolled and we were all revved up for a fight!
Druid went first and sent his wolf companion ahead because it could reach the orcs before any of us. I was worried because that meant the orcs got a full two turn to pound on it before we could get there. However when it came the orcs turn The DM declared "The orcs walk forward." I smiled because it was a good call. Not realistic but this was a new player and killing their animal companion would have been bad. We all moved forward and the wolf got in one attack. Next turn the wolf attacks, we all move forward and the orcs move forward. There is 30 feet between us now so the fighter types rush up while the ranged types stay back. The orcs have Druid, his wolf, Barbarian, and Cleric all on their front lines. While Wizard, Bard and myself stay back. It's the orcs turn and I wait to see how they will battle the group. What tactics and such.
DM "The orcs walk forward." What? I am a bit lost as she moves the mini's forward on the map going around those that are currently combating them to get to the spell casters. We aren't even a big threat so why did they all move? Why did they give up free attacks to move and do nothing? They didn't even attack us when they could have just moved and waited. I was so confused and trying to think of any game reason this could be happening. Perhaps she had it out for me? If so why wasn't I attacked? My ac wasn't that high? Was there something else going on?
The new players were super into it though and on their turn moved behind to hammer at the orcs. It got to the orcs turn and the DM skipped over them going to my turn. Cleric, Wizard, and I all noticed this while the new players were obliviously cheering how well they were doing. The DM looked to me and asked what I was doing. "I'd like to roll insight and arcana." I rolled and got an 18, and a 16. "Do I notice anything off about the orcs? Eyes glazed over, slack jawed, seeming in a daze, moving oddly? Do I know of any spell that would cause this?"
DM shrugged "No, what are you doing?" I was still confused thinking this had to be magic of some kind. "Umm, I try to touch one. Can I make a save to see if it's an illusion?" DM "The orc is real." Me "I'll hold my action then. Also I think you skipped the orcs turn." DM "Oh right. The orcs move forward." And she moves the minis PAST me and everyone in the back line. The new players are whooping it up. "Yeah run away! We got you now." While the rest of us just stared. What was going on? Wizard took his turn and cast detect magic and askes if he senses anything off about the orcs. No magic to be sensed. So from here Wizard, Cleric, and I just hold our actions while the turns go by with the DM "forgetting" the orcs turns and the new players killing them. We got a bit of loot. Some rusty weapons, a small amount of silver and gold, and a tiny bit of XP. We fast forwarded to delivering the treasure to the king with a lot of roleplay because "There are NPC's here." so we had to roleplay every conversation with every guard, captain, knight, lesser noble, high nobility, royal, and what not at the party.
When the DM had left we all talked again and I asked "Ok what was that?" The new players asked what I meant and I pointed out "Think about the fight." Druid "yeah that was great my wolf did so much damage!" Barbarian "Did you see me? It was like they couldn't hit me!" Wizard "They couldn't." Barbarian "What?" Me "They couldn't hit you because they never attacked." Druid "Wait, didn't they?" Cleric "No they only walked forward. Didn't you notice we all stopped attacking them? She never rolled a single die and stopped calling out their turns all together." Barbarian and Druid looked back and forth from each other and then nodded like it just dawned on them. I asked what we should do and they pointed out the one noble had asked us to investigate some thefts at the town so there was hope for a better story. So we all agreed to continue, somehow keeping hope that this would get better.... See you in part three.

Hey everyone, sorry if this has been posted before. So I used to carry a knife religiously from 2012-2020 and a firearm from 2014-2020. I still have my CCW and it’s active but my issue is that since the pandemic and the lack of going out of my house from 2020-2021, I have been lax with carrying anything. Usually now it’s just wallet, keys and phone. Maybe because at my max I was carrying a firearm, knife, multitool, flashlight, extra mag, phone, keys and wallet and it was just too much? I’m not sure. I’m wondering if anyone else had a similar experience with carrying and what you did to get back into it. Sitting here writing this post I know I need to get back into it but when I leave the house I don’t realize that I’m not till I’m already in the car or at my destination. Thanks for the help everyone!

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone with experience or knowledge in this area could provide insights into the most cost-efficient way to carry out text embedding using an open-source model like all-MiniLM-L6-v2 for supabase edge functions? for bulk embedding, and for query embedding before running a similarity search
While searching, most of what I found was either done by OpenAI ada model or through hugging face inference api
Just wondering if there's any way to use all-MiniLM-L6-v2 for bulk embedding (for creating the collections and indexes before storing them into pgvector), and query embedding (when embedding the user input before doing the similarity search) without the hugging face inference api
Thank you in advance for your valuable input!

Coming face to face with people in suits always makes me hyper-aware of how badly I dress. Since I knew I was going to meet up with Mary Markov today, I intentionally put some more effort into my appearance. I picked out a pressed shirt to wear over my leggings. Since it was far too big for me, I threw my wide yellow belt into the mix. Thus satisfied, I called up Elijah Carter and asked whether he wanted to come along. He agreed readily enough so I had him pick me up and drive us over to Mary's office. It was nowhere near the hospital and not in the vicinity of her news channel headquarters either. It was located in a slate gray concrete building that was quite confusing to look at.
No outside observer could have mistaken it for a residential house, for there was hardly a less homely or comfortable place imaginable. It was utterly repellent in its rough, dreary nature. It couldn't have belonged to some kind of business either, though. There were no marked parking spaces for employees, no signs or advertisements. Altogether, it reminded me of something out of a cheap or unfinished video game.
"Sketchy," Eli remarked, eyeing the slab of concrete with a similar lack of enthusiasm. "Looks almost abandoned. How weirdly fitting for a semi-secret government operation."
I nodded. The warm air had taken me by surprise and I found the weight of my jacket suffocating, so I took it off to leave in the car. "What is it?" I asked, noticing the way Elijah squinted at my outfit.
"What are you wearing?"
"Clothes."
"You don't say." He snorted. "Looking kinda funny there, Shirley."
"I look professional," I corrected him.
"I suppose." He grinned to himself. "Depends on the profession, though."
We rang the bell and a highly official-looking security guard let us in through the heavy double doors after confirming that Mary Markov was expecting us. He gave the necessary directions, sending us down several flights of stairs. The better part of the building was in fact underground, like with an iceberg. Eli made a remark about how it'd be safer if outsiders weren’t allowed to roam the place by themselves. It seems to be a habit of his to vaguely analyze and point out flaws in the structures of government institutions. Then again, maybe it's just flaws in general he's fascinated with.
Upon arriving outside Mary's office, we were called inside to find her sitting behind her desk. She lifted her head, giving us a polite, if cold, smile. "Good morning. You're on time. Wonderful."
"Would you please give me an honest appraisal of my outfit?" I asked.
The newsreader frowned in confusion, her eyes briefly roaming my form. "You put effort into your appearance today," she concluded. "It's appreciated."
"Wait, what do you mean today?" I inquired.
"Note also how she did not actually answer your question," Elijah added.
I huffed, flinging myself into one of the chairs in front of Mary's desk. Eli sat down beside me, folding his hands in his lap and leaning back. "Thanks for letting me come with Shirley," he told her.
"Naturally. I assume you're her emotional support human." Mary Markov's lips curled slightly. "At any rate, you had contact with the Collective yourself, so this does concern you. As far as I'm concerned, it can't hurt having an ex-cop in the mix, anyways. Despite the regrettable reasons you had for leaving the force."
Elijah's brows lowered, the muscle in his pronounced jaw twitching. "How do you know about that?"
Mary looked innocent. "It's very important that I'm fully informed, of course. Don't worry. We don't need to go into it, and I don't judge you, either. The effect the incident at that highschool had on you is completely understandable."
"I didn't ask for your assessment." My friend's voice had sharpened. "Can we move on from this?"
"Of course." If the sudden shift in tone had rattled the agent, she wasn't letting it on. Sifting through the neat stack of papers on her desk, she pulled out a thin brown file which she slid over to me. "Miss Shirley, you remember the female member of the Collective we took into custody? She has already been questioned by the local police. Unfortunately, I don't have the authority to lead such an interrogation, but I was present for it and I want you to have this transcript."
I perked up and began leafing through the folder.
"You may take that with you to read in peace," Mary told me. "But don't expect too much, lest you'll be sorely disappointed. The girl hardly said anything at all. The most helpful information she gave us was a name she kept referencing. Jewel. At first, we thought it was a sort of code word, but it seems to be what the other person she was with calls themself."
“Jewel,” I echoed.
“Sadly enough, that’s all we have. We’ve never provided our services to anyone of their physical description. There are a couple clues, but they don’t amount to anything helpful. There’s the fact that you met them at a convenience store with relatively high prices. Maybe I’m just grasping at straws, but that could indicate a cushy financial situation. On top of that, the store is rather far away from here, so they might be an out-of-towner. They also might be able to influence the way others perceive them, considering the way they seemed to hypnotize you in the woods merely by holding eye contact.”
“How come they couldn’t do anything to Frank Preston?”
Mary Markov twinkled at me. “They couldn’t? Huh. That rather intrigues the philosopher in me. Jewel works through eye contact and it is said that the eyes are the window to the soul.” She cocked her head at me.
“Are you saying Blondie doesn’t have a soul?” Eli asked, raising a skeptical brow. “Is this one of those Plato-Schopenhauer-whatevers?”
The newsreader shrugged artfully, watching my reaction. “We could discuss this for hours on end. I only meant to draw attention to the implied distinction between an organically born entity and a being who was originally an inanimate object.”
“I beg your pardon?” I said slowly.
“Oh, nevermind; that’s neither here nor there.” Her tone told me that she did, in fact, consider it to be both here and there. Not wanting to go further into this with her, I made a mental note to ask Frankie later.
“There’s more,” I added, trying to gently prepare her for what I was about to say. “I want to get Kit Sutton back.”
Mary’s lips thinned. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t mean for the town to get flooded in the process. I think we can find a solution to help her, if we work together. I’m convinced we can figure something out, but I don’t believe in abandoning her anymore. Which is essentially what we’re doing if we leave her to her fate.”
“You do realize what you’re asking of me? Your former roommate isn’t some kind of minor water spirit. Her father appears to hold tremendous power over the seas, or at the very least our part of it. He has countless similarly dangerous individuals at his service so he might be considered a ruler of sorts, if not a deity.”
“So Kit’s the little mermaid, basically?” Elijah asked, equal parts joking and genuinely intrigued.
Mary grinned an actual, amused grin. “I must ask you to take this seriously, Mr Carter.”
“I am!” he chuckled, raising his hands. “I swear.”
“Anyways, Miss Shirley, the point you make is an individualistic one, but I see why you’re invested in the girl’s fate. I want to help, I do… But we need to proceed with caution. If you can suggest to me some kind of sensible approach, then I’ll do what I can. That’s all the promises I can make at the moment.”
I thanked her and got up, Eli following me as I headed for the door. “Miss Shirley,” Mary called out and I stopped, turning back around to face her. “If you like my style, we could perhaps meet up to go shopping sometime? I could show you some quality stores. It wouldn’t be anytime soon since I’m currently swamped, but I figure—well, just in case you might like to.”
I nodded. “That sounds pleasant enough.”
She smiled brightly and waved us out the door. “Excellent. I’ll be in touch.”
Back inside the car, I tossed the file onto the backseat to read later. “Would you like to go to the beach?” I suggested.
“Why not. Wait, is this for a stroll and ice cream or do you want to kickstart the mermaid-rescue-operation?”
“I can’t see why it shouldn’t be both,” I replied comfortably. “We’ll need to take your flashlight, though.”
"You know I don't like getting myself into trouble unless it's paid."
"Yes, but you also find me endearing and want to protect me from danger, which you can only do by accompanying me."
"You're a terrifying tentacle beast from another dimension. I don't know that I'm all that scared for your safety," he grunted.
I gave him an affronted look. "You have now hurt my feelings."
"Have I?"
"Plenty, but I'll forgive you if you come with me."
Elijah Carter sighed deeply but started driving anyway. I let my arm dangle out of the open window, allowing the warming spring air to wash over my skin. The closer we got to the shore, the stronger the scent of salt mixed into the breeze. The cries of seagulls became audible over the sounds of the road and the streaming wind and was finally joined by the crashing of waves when we pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. Taking along the heavy duty flashlight he always kept in the passenger seat footwell, I led Eli to the mouth of the cave, explaining what Nettie and I had seen along the way. He looked commendably calm, simply turning on the torch and entering alongside me.
The tunnels were just as damp, dim and quiet as the last time. Before long, we had reached the spacious canyon room with the lake at the bottom. "I want to go across and see if there's anything important in the rest of the grotto back there," I reminded him. "Please hold on to your bearings."
"I'm not repeating your mistakes," he replied gamely. "What do you think? This oughta be connected to the ocean somehow." He let the beam of the torch roam the mirror-like surface of the lake. It seemed almost deceptively quiet. My eyes followed the lengthy stone ledge. Eli stepped close, and after receiving a nod of approval, he grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me onto the rocky protrusion. I straightened up, instantly pressing my back against the wall. A wave of nausea hit me as I glanced at the water below. "Chill," Elijah muttered, climbing after me with ease. "Nothing will happen. You're not gonna fall."
I merely shook my head. "You didn't see what's down there."
"And I won't, because we'll be careful," he answered steadfastly.
I started walking, the warm light of the torch upon my back, illuminating the path ahead. The shelf narrowed as we reached the end. I swiftly clambered down, relieved to place my feet on wider, solid ground once more. Now looking over the lake from the other side, it had an entirely different feel to it. It seemed darker somehow, but also less big—I attributed it to the change in perspective. We were standing in a cramped little nook with two passageways leading off into separate directions behind us. Elijah Carter eyed them pensively. “Which do you reckon?”
I pursed my lips. “The right one. Because it’s right.”
“Makes sense.”
We proceeded into the passage, the tight space pushing us closer together. He had to duck his head, uncomfortably hunching his shoulders, and for once, I was grateful for my own short stature. The corridor seemed to go on forever. The darkness and silence created a feel of unnatural solitude, and for more than once, I got the distinct impression that I must have jumped dimensions again. It was as though Elijah and I were enclosed in some kind of bubble, cut off from everything outside; a place where time was a foreign concept and the only sun was our flashlight. Needless to say, I was distinctly uneasy. I allowed myself to lean back, brushing against Eli’s chest whenever I could. Eventually, I cleared my throat.
“Could you touch me?”
“What?”
“Just so I still know you’re there.”
His palm came to rest on my shoulder, his thumb digging into one of the tense, painfully rigid muscles of my upper back, forcing it to soften. “Good?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He hummed. “You’re scared.”
“Yes.”
“Me, too.”
This caused my resolve to falter. “Maybe we should turn around after all,” I said quietly. “Who knows how much longer—”
“Look.”
I perked up. Before us, the tunnel grew wider, opening into a large, spacious room. We picked up our pace, tackling the remaining distance in a light jog, and finally found ourselves standing in another hall. The beam of light traveled the floor and high walls, revealing a sight that took our breath away. We were standing in front of another lake, only slightly smaller than the last. The water glittered in violet hues and strange, pale plants climbed up the walls, some of them looking rather like starfish. Multiple rocky protrusions formed an almost complete bridge across its middle. With a bit of light climbing, we'd undoubtedly be able to get to the other side. Wordlessly, Elijah Carter swung himself up onto the platform closest to the edge of the water, pulling me up after him. The flashlight switched hands a couple times as we maneuvered ourselves along.
Soon, we reached the middle of the lake. I risked a glance at the water below. All was still and perfectly quiet. Eli was about to take on the next rock when suddenly, I felt something heavy and gooey drip onto my head from above. I flinched, then slowly pointed the torch up to the ceiling. My stomach dropped. My throat had turned paper-dry, and I frantically tugged on Eli’s arm. He tipped his head back, following my pointing finger. His eyes blew wide and his face fell.
There was a creature clinging to the high walls, its pale, enormous body describing a streamline curve as it pressed itself against the hollowed stone. The closest thing I can compare it to would be a sort of olm, except probably a hundred times larger. Its snout looked large enough to swallow either of us whole. It hung open, secreting a thick fluid that slowly dripped down to hit the rocks or create ripples upon the water. Its blind eyes seemed to be trained on us, and I could spot tiny, sharp teeth lining its maw. It wasn’t moving, not even an inch, but somehow, I knew it was aware of us.
I looked up at Elijah, the panic in his eyes mirroring mine. Both of us had freezed up mid-motion, not daring to take another step. My mind was running wild; I was thinking feverishly. We’d have to turn around for sure, but how? The olm was already highly alert, if we were to start scrambling back to solid ground, it would undoubtedly hear us straight away. Eli looked equal parts terrified and furious, and I could tell he was scolding himself for not thinking to check the entirety of the room before proceeding across the lake. I could understand the sentiment, we’d definitely made a grave mistake. I figured it had been the misleading beauty of the cave hall that had taken our edge off. Glancing over into the direction we’d come from, I found myself wishing to be back in the endless dark corridor. The entrance to the passage seemed miles away.
The olm lifted a three-toed foot, shifting its massive form to a lower spot on the wall. It was taking a tentative step towards us, extending its snout as its body bent into our direction. Elijah had grabbed onto my arm, his fingers clamping around it like a vice. He stayed silent and unmoving, but he held my gaze with clear, sharp eyes.
“Don’t move,” I mouthed, and he gave me a curt nod.
Slowly, I reached around to push my shirt out of the way of my unfurling tentacles. Elijah took a quiet step back to make room for my changing form, something of a resolute expression settling on his face. I opened my mouth, relieved when my teeth acted according to my will and elongated. I didn’t know to what extent I would be able to defend against this absolute giant of an amphibian, but at least it would give us a chance. I took a deep breath, trading glances with Eli once more before darting off to the side, bounding onto the platform next to our current one. Elijah followed suit, grabbing onto one of the limbs I extended to him for support. Despite the swiftness of our movements, we were anything but quiet, and the olm reacted in an instant. It slithered down from the wall, sinking into the lake below to make its way to the rocks we were standing on. As we headed for the next stone, it darted out of the water, splashing wildly as its snout breached the surface. Its jaws snapped at us, missing me by a mere foot as I jumped across the gap between the protrusions. Droplets flew as the creature dropped once more, but instead of retreating, it swam around the platform. Its massive, snake-like body was bobbing up and down as it circled us.
“Oh fuck,” Elijah breathed, his chest heaving. “Keep going! Move, move!”
I took a short running start, then flung myself onto the next rock, using my extra limbs to land safely. I then helped him cross again. The olm rose from the depths of the lake once again, and I lashed at it with one of my tentacles, hitting it on the snout and forcing it to dive underwater again. We kept working our way back towards the other side of the lake, slipping and sliding as we went. The water surrounding us seemed to hum with unrestrained energy, the white salamander’s tail whipping up waves and splashing around. We were finally getting close to solid ground again, or at least it looked like we were for a moment. That’s when the creature took a massive leap, draping itself over the final stepping stone, effectively blocking our path.
“Shit,” Eli hissed beside me as we came to a skittering halt.
I’d have to try and fight this thing. There was no way around it now. I clenched my sweat-laced palms into fist, trying to slow my rapid, shallow breaths. I can do this, I said to myself. All I’d have to do is send it back into the lake for long enough so we could run back into the tunnel. There was no way the olm would fit through the passage—once we were in there, we’d be relatively safe. I stared at the dripping, writhing animal; stared at its bared needle teeth, and the less hopeful, more realistic part of my brain told me that I would, indeed, probably not be able to do this. Just as I was contemplating the degree of our screwed-ness, an unseen someone called out from behind us. I didn’t understand a word they were saying, but I recognized the language, and more importantly, the voice.
It was bright as a bell, girlish but with a rough, warm edge. Even before I could turn to face her, I knew who it was.
The gigantic amphibian perked up at the sound, lowering its head and withdrawing into the murky depths with a splash. Elijah Carter let go of a long-held breath, dropping his shoulders before tensing up again, realization setting in. He shot me a look of utter disbelief.
“Wow,” the newcomer spoke up again, this time not in the tongue of the deep ones. “You two have to be actually crazy or something to show up here.”
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart

Hi friends I'm trying to decide on my next big lego purchase. I'm trying to decide between the ghostbusters ecto 1 car or the back to the future deloroean. The mini figs in the dolorian are tempting me. But the ecto looks so cool. If you had to choose what would you choose. If you own either or both tell me what your thoughts. Thanks for any help!

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone with experience or knowledge in this area could provide insights into the most cost-efficient way to carry out text embedding using an open-source model like all-MiniLM-L6-v2 for supabase edge functions? for bulk embedding, and for query embedding before running a similarity search
While searching, most of what I found was either done by OpenAI ada model or through hugging face inference api
Just wondering if there's any way to use all-MiniLM-L6-v2 for bulk embedding and query embedding without the hugging face inference api
Thank you in advance for your valuable input!