Cheap nail salons near me

I’ve been in 4 serious relationships in my life so far - each of them better than the last one and this one was hands down the best one i’ve had. I love this girl with my whole heart and it’s the most fun I’ve had with a person ever. That feeling is mutual.
When we first started seeing each other she mentioned an ex boyfriend who was super fucked up (abusive in all sorts of ways) and that was her first relationship. She left it cause she caught him cheating. I also got out of a serious relationship around the same time so both of us were in the mindset of not getting into relationships anytime soon - until we met each other in the most perfect romcom way. first day of class were the only ones who didn’t check the email that the prof moved the class online for the day and since then we have been together. until two days ago.
about a month ago she wanted to break up because she was feeling overwhelmed and she figured out it was because of her not fully getting over and internalizing what had happened with her ex two years ago - she builds up a wall that she doesn’t know how to tear down. we decided to talk less and see each other less to see if that space would help and it was going well. friday she told me she can’t wait to work on herself so we can get back to ther because i’m everything she looks for in a relationship and she also said that on monday when she called to break up with me but she just said she can’t do this anymore because she doesn’t see herself being ready for a relationship anytime in the near future and she doesn’t want to drag me along because we both love each other.
i genuinely wish her the best but man i don’t want to get over here because i know it’s stupid but i cannot wait for the hypothetical day she texts me and asks to go out for a coffee.
my goal this summer is to be consistent in the gym and ace the MCAT so i can get into med school the following year. help me feel better about this situation but also advice on how i can truly “focus” on myself

With peace and love ethan. As someone who experienced the combo as recently as this April, there's no chance there's even an ounce of poop on the colonoscopy camera.
They make you stop eating more than 24 hours prior. On top of that, they require you to drink the most disgusting and the most SATANICALLY STRONG Laxative x2. I nearly sued my fucking GI doctor istg! The force with which I shat..... My soul was in the toilet... at some point during it, I know I surpassed hunger ff's PR. No hyperbole... I was entirely convex, inverted, and inside out by the end. Imagine a raisin. That was me until after the procedure.
In conclusion, no poop remained so no poop on the camera. They also sent me photos of my insides. Squeaky clean!
(I was knocked out btw. Full anasthesia. Some people in the members vid chat were saying you have to be awake for safety of something. Lies!)

Hi there ✌🏻
About me: I’m a big tall boy 😤😤 at 6’3, I have blue eyes and dark blonde hair and wear glasses cause my eyes don’t work so good🤓, I have lots of different hobbies like rowing, playing video games, watching one piece and rizzing you up. I’m big into documentaries and kind of a big film buff, I don’t really listen to music expect when I’m having a lil Friday evening drink so podcasts are my main thing. I’m full time employed as a Manager in a NGO. I have my own car and looking to buy a house at the moment. Also been told I have a baby face
About you: looks wise I don’t really have a preference, someone cute and trendy, I for some reason like it when girls paint their nails idk why. and someone who’s driven, ambitious and got their own life going on. Also if you had a couple similar hobbies that would be neat so we can talk about stuff and get excited about the same lame shit 😫😫😫😫😫.
Not to be too serious but I am looking for something real and long term, if that’s not what you’re into that’s totally cool we just won’t match I don’t think! Anyway yeah dm me and we can have a nice lil convo and find out all sorts about each other, idk what else to write here
Talk soon bye 🖤

Previous
Writer's note: Remember. Sometimes it's the thought that counts. Even if it's too little too late.
What am I referencing when I say that? As if I'm gonna tell you that before you read it in a chapter or two.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLOSE IT! Vickers thought as he struggled to maintain his grip. The new, animal, side of his brain told him NOT to hold on. But he had to. CLOSE IT!!!!
He couldn't see. Everything in front of him was fire. He wasn't even sure he still had eyelids. Magic flowed through him like the flood from a broken dam. His armor struggled to even exist, despite his constant struggle to keep it manifested.
It's an elemental. He thought. It's like the one that destroyed the capital. And they unleashed it in a small room that's probably underground. This was them setting off a nuke to deny us a win.
And I'm at ground zero. God... Choi really does rub off on people doesn't he?
Someone stepped in behind him, but with the fire flowing around him Vickers wasn't conscious of it. Even as a large hand pressed into the small of his back and braced him, pushing him forward ever so slightly. The persons other arm nestled underneath his left armpit and held a hand out. Whoever it was, the hand was old and had gnarled fingers.
Then they spoke into his ear, whatever was left of it now. The voice was louder than a human voice should have been. It had to be in order to be heard over the roar of the flames. He did hear it, and recognized it, even despite the all encompassing pain that dominated every other facet of his existence.
"USE IT AGAINST ITSELF!" The voice said. "REDIRECT THE ENERGY INTO YOURSELF! THEN SEND IT BACK!"
Vickers couldn't do that. He couldn't even acknowledge it. He had more important things to do.
He had to close the door.
Then he felt the heat lessen. He didn't know how or why. He wasn't enough of a person right now to even care.
But he knew what he could do with that small act of mercy.
Vickers arms flexed. Muscles that could lift well over two tons now strained and tore as he pulled at the enchanted wood of the door frame. Things snapped and cracked and creaked and he not only didn't know if it was the wood or his own bones and tendons.
He didn't care.
CLOSE THE DOOR! He screamed at himself in his own mind.
And the crackling noises intensified even as they were drown out by the roar of the flames.
----------------------------------
James was about half a second away from intercepting a golem as it attacked a group of soldiers when the monster simply collapsed.
James skidded to a halt. The soldiers all stumbled and froze in shock at the sudden end of their struggle. Then they looked at him in surprise.
"Uh." He said as he shook off his feet, which were hot..... and bare. "Did it just.... die?" He asked.
One of the soldiers poked at it with a sword even as its golem flesh sloughed off of it.
"I think so." He said. Then he looked up at James and realized he wasn't talking to a fellow Petravian.
Then the sky grew light in the distance, as if a sun had risen.
"What the hell is tha....." James began. Then the magical energy washed over him and he knew.
He didn't stick around to discuss it. Before the soldiers knew what had happened he was already gone. Moving toward the light.
The soldiers all jumped a moment later as the wall of one of the nearby buildings exploded outward and a creature came barreling out of the wreckage.
"Another one!" One of them yelled as they all readied their weapons.
"Glag?" The creature said curiously. The soldiers all paused and looked at each other.
"They can talk?" One of them asked. None of the golems they'd fought this night had done more than occasionally roar.
Then the creature, seemingly made of stone, inspected the fallen golem. As it did it seemed completely oblivious of the soldiers around it with their weapons pointed at it.
Then it looked up into the air.
"Glaaaaaaag." It said, and they got a sense that it was annoyed, or perhaps upset. Then it began rolling away in a ball. It crashed through another building as if it was made of paper.
"What just happened?" The soldier who'd poked at the golem asked.
-----------------------------------
"Ma'am!" A soldier exclaimed as they ran into the command room. Amina looked up from the hastily drawn map that she'd been studying. "There's another elemental!"
The room froze as everyone heard the announcement.
"What?" Amina asked plainly. "What did you just say?"
The young officer swallowed as they noticed everyone around looking at them. "Chief Vickers." They began. "He managed to reach the Agency's infiltration point. But they summoned an elemental on the other side of the door."
"How do you know this?" She asked. But even as she said it she noticed how bright it was outside of the command room, which had no windows.
"The two new were-folk that are part of his team." The officer replied as they marched around the room towards her with one of the Earth tablets. "They saw it on their.... goggles?" He said uncertainly. Then he handed the tablet to her and she saw Colonel Muhammed's face. "The Earth command compared what the Chief saw before they lost connection to what was described with the previous elemental." He nodded. "They believe its the same thing."
"We don't have any previous footage of that one unfortunately." The Colonel said on the tablet. "I have to admit that I'm surprised you're back General. We had expected your trip to last a few months longer."
"We can discuss that later." Amina replied. "Tell me what you know. Can I see the footage? Also, Vickers has were-folk on his TEAM... now?" She asked curiously. She had seen reports indicating as such. But they had been tangential to the information she had needed, namely troop and enemy locations, as well as casualties and supplies. Plus there was still the matter of securing the very castle they were in.
"I think THAT can also be discussed later." The Colonel answered. "For now just know that Chief Vickers went toe to... well not toe. This massive... thing doesn't seem to have actual limbs so to speak. But he waded in with the thing." As she said this Amina saw a little window pop up showing a video that was playing in slow motion. "It is kind of hard to see. The chiefs abilities frosted up his glasses pretty badly."
"Show me the elemental." Amina said.
Muhammed nodded, then after a bit of tinkering on her side the window changed and showed a room with a group of people in it, their eyes glowing the same red as those of the golems outside.
"We only have a few frames." The Colonel informed her, and as the film moved through those frames.
Amina saw a red light appear on some piece of furniture behind the group of supposed golemancers. The people turned to look at it in surprise and seemed to say something. Then the screen flared with bright light before cutting off.
"That's where we lost the chief's connection." Muhammed said solemnly. "But the thermal on his glasses read temperatures at close to a thousand degrees."
Amina scrolled through the few frames. Watching as the small red light expanded into a bright bloom of light. Then she looked out the still open door at what appeared to be daytime, despite it being nearly an hour until dawn.
"I've also been told we have another matter to discuss." The Colonel said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
As if on cue a pair of Earth military personnel, one of whom she recognized as their disgraced First Sergeant, and Ambassador Werner stepped into the doorway.
Amina's sword arm twitch subconsciously as she saw that one of the soldiers was carrying one of the Earth firearms.
Then the Colonel spoke. "For the record I didn't authorize this." She said with a sigh. "But some of our people got caught in the action down in the dungeon. And Mister Batista took it upon himself to arm himself."
"This is in violation of my father's current agreement with your people." Amina said harshly.
"I know. And when the dust has settled we'll gladly even up." Werner replied in place of the Colonel. "But until then. Bullets work on these things pretty damn well. And my people want to help. AAAAND earn back a bit of good faith in the process."
Amina began moving over to the small group rapidly, and several of the guards in the room began unsnapping their weapons.

I’m 37 years old. I have 2 children 14&15 and a partner who’s great…most of the time. I hate where I live and the people there fill me with rage and negativity. I have lots of animals I adore and they are my escape from it all. I work full time and volunteer. I’m so sick of my life. I had a get out plan and thought I knew where I wanted to end up living as soon as the kids moved out but now I’m not so sure. I’ve been in this place for the past week and I’ve realised I hate the people here just as much as I do back home. It feels dark and pointless to me just like home. The photos are where I’m staying and it’s near the house on its own island I always dreamed of living in. How will I find my happy place to be?

I am finishing up PN school this summer and should take the PN NCLEX by fall. When I started, my end goal was to become an RN. I decided on LPN school first for several reasons. 1. I have other degrees and massive student loan debt and my state would pay for tuition because it is a technical degree and considered in a different "bucket". 2. I wanted to see if nursing was a good fit because I have spent 98% of the last nearly 30 years in an office (yes, I'm old 😂). In my state, LPNs work in a variety of settings including hospitals. The average LPN new grad starting wage ranges from 20-26 and RN is 25-32. I know that in the long run my earning potential and job opportunities are better with the RN. Working on a Med Surg unit now as a tech. I do like nursing but I absolutely hate nursing school. At my age and with my student loans, I'm starting to waffle about going to school for 3 more years having to work as an LPN to pay as I go for school and not having any real disposable income. By the time I'm done with RN school and pre reqs, I will have less than 15 yrs before retirement. PN school has about killed me. I have memorized until my brain no longer works (accelerated program so no time to understand much of anything). I am tired of life being consumed by studying and anxiety (I know I know that's nursing school). Just wondering if anyone has any advice or personal experiences to share on the subject. ie someone who struggled in school as an older student but went back and got RN or someone who decided to ride out their career as an LPN.

So I've been meeting some really cool people in a new job/environment. Met some of the crazy ones and got some bad vibes, but I've been hanging out with this cute girl and her friends in the girls-wing of our rez building. She's pretty funny, has a ton of energy, just kinda thought she might be a crazy party-person but she isn't actually like that now that I know her. She's quite openly expressive about sexuality and stuff (which doesn't bother me), and she had a similar experience growing up in a fucked up environment like I did.
She's somewhat flirty but more so with touching while laughing and having good vibes when we're alone. She even msgd me saying "Im getting like heavy vibes with you :)" and I said the same and she thought it was super sweet. She seems much more genuine than the crazy girls I've met here, which she has warned me about and I trust her judgment on that. It's been awhile since I've really dated anyone, and I didn't think I would meet such a rare energetic stoner-chick so I really don't wanna mess it up.
I think I should just ask her out on like a date-date (or just see if she wants to make out), we kinda had like a casual drinking-date at her rez building with other girls but she isn't super flirty in front of anyone yet. It's pretty obvious I like her, I'm fairly direct and have told her she's quite pretty. Plus she's called me the rez-husband because I'm pretty nice to everyone and we nearly all smoke weed plus I hook everyone up with amazing weed that I grew. I don't want anyone to be with me or be my friend solely because I have weed, but I kinda miss being the go-to weed guy that helps everyone out.
Think I'll just ask her out tonight on like an official date. I don't wanna wait too long and miss my chance. Not really looking for advice or anything but just wanted to write this out.

This is my first ever romantic relationship. Me (14f) and my girlfriend (15f) (Anna - fake name) have been going out since October. It is nearly eight months that we have been together. At first it felt amazing because she admitted that she had liked me for quite some time and I was thinking 'sure, why not?' Now it feels kind of like a chore, or like we are friends but with the added bonus of nicknames. We went to a theme park and I held hands with her twin sister more than I ever held hands with her in the entirety of our relationship. I talked to her sister more with her in the day than I ever do with her normally. It feels one-sided. I text Anna good morning at 11:25 am and she still hasn't replied at 11 pm. I talked to my friend (Thea - fake name again) and she said that she would text Anna asking her how she felt the relationship; Thea text her TWICE and Anna still hasn't responded and left her on read. I'm trying to figure out how she feels with this relationship, but if she feels it is dead, then I am breaking up with her ASAP because it is tiring. But if she thinks that this is perfect, then I will try harder and talk to her. Sorry for the rant and any advice is more than welcomed and definitely needed. Thank you

The gameplay of getting all the gears to turn reminded me of those gear puzzles for opening doors in Super Solvers: Gizmos & Gadgets. Man, talk about nostalgia. I played that game as a kid and it was pretty darn fun while also being very educational. Of course, Genshin's puzzles weren't nearly as hard as some of the gear ones in G&G.
Just something I thought I'd share in case anybody else remembers that classic.

First Previous
I rouse from my slumber as piercing rays of light shine across my metallic face. Rising to a sitting position I find myself still surrounded by my drones who remain ever vigilant. Now fully aware of my surroundings I opened the door to the room that I had stayed the night in and began moving down the road with my scorpions following close behind.
———
Arriving at the Outpost around noon I find that the drones that I had sent ahead of me have already arrived and have been helping out around the compound. The hornets have joined the veterans from the previous battles and have chosen their sniper positions. The two squads of new hounds have decided to split apart and are currently patrolling the area while the two remaining battle tested hounds acted as the alphas of their respective squads.
Letting my scorpions loose into the swarm I make my way over to my group of spiders, not including the ones deployed here from the transport moose. Opening up the build menu I order them to start making this outpost a more functioning forward operating base by constructing some basic drone production. As they begin scurrying around gathering materials for the project I start gathering up the current garrison to form up in front of me.
It takes a few minutes but they all eventually get to their positions. Looking upon the strike group I count two squads of six hounds each, a sniper team of five hornets, a triplet of scorpions, a few scout groups of rats, and a support team of three mooses and the spiders who are riding on them. Satisfied with the amount of drones at my disposal I opened up my territorial map.
My eyes drift around the map before landing on another of MAI's Outposts which is due north and about a day's worth of travel from my current position. My scouts have only done a few brief sweeps of the area due to its distant nature but from what they have seen, the Outpost is under defended which means it should be easy pickings. The outpost, from what my scouts could see, is located inside of a series of warehouses surrounded by a large fence. Oddly enough there was an abnormally large amount of holes around the fence which completely negates the effectiveness of it.
Anyways after this outpost is taken there would only be one more and the MAI's main base which are quite close to each other. Likely because of the proximity of the last outpost and the main base, from what my scouts have been able to glean, the outpost is heavily defended with a multitude of hornets, crabs, and scorpions. I don't think I can handle that quite yet.
Taking down my map projection I start making my way over to the far off outpost with my small army of drones following close behind.
———
My drones and I have been marching for about 6 hours and dusk is soon to hit. The remaining sunlight is able to light up the path enough to where I have a slight difficulty seeing in any of the shaded areas but it was manageable. As we continue moving, I notice that the buildings around me slowly start to change from being a mix of residential and commercial buildings into most of the buildings being under construction with scaffolding scattered all around.
I idly ponder on what these buildings were going to be made into before I start feeling a light rumble. Looking around for the source, I only find more unfinished buildings and stacks of more scaffolding. The rubbing slowly becomes louder and louder before it sounds like it is right on top of me and my drones.
Wait! On top!
"Everyone scatter." I yell out urgently to my drones while running over to some nearby buildings. Many of my drones are able to get a decent distance away from each other but for some it was not enough as three something shoots out from the ground and two of them manage to slam right onto some of my hounds. The sounds of drills digging through the lowly armored sides of my hounds fills the area.
My hornets were the first to react as they fired their armaments which managed to graze the front most ambushing drones and piercing another in the chest. My scorpions also charge up and fire on the enemy with three bright blue beams, stunning the two drones in the back. Last of the group to respond to the sudden attack, my hounds rush to their injured comrades and all rush towards the immobilized enemy.
As all my drones are doing this, I move forward to some cover near the enemy so I may get a better look, which I do get. The drones had sleek bodies and a spiral drill which encompassed most of their face. On their arms were two curved plates that looked like old medieval shields that were split in half. Also their legs were little stumps that were barely two inches tall which would have made them kind of cute if they were not trying to kill us. Hmm. They kind of remind me of moles if they decided their face was the best of their limbs for digging. As I observe the new drones, my hounds have closed the distance and the enemy mole drone uses its large shield legs as a barrier in front of itself.
My hounds, upon reaching the mole, form into a semi circle and start to move in to encompass the drone. The mole, realizing that it is alone, attempts to break out of the closing in line of hounds by charging straight into the left end of the formation. It moves with surprising speed, using its frontal claws to help volt the mole above the hounds that were about to champ down on its neck. As the mole lands it twists around and grabs onto one of the hounds with its claws and uses its drill to dig deep into the poor drone's cranium. As my hound falls limp in the moles claws, the rest of my hounds pounce on the offending mole and begin ripping it to ribbons.
While they do that my hornets have rearmed and now that the other moles are still stunned they fire on them. This time all of their spikes land their mark and hit the moles all over. One of the moles immediately falls over, dead, but the other mole regains its control and revs up its drill face and starts to burrow into the ground. One squad of hounds, realizing that it is trying to escape, breaks off from the main group and grabs onto the exposed legs of the mole and, with the help of one of the scorpion's claws, pulls it out of its escape hole and they start to ravage the mole.
I walk out from where I was hiding, as well as my spiders who immediately begin repairs on the injured, towards the impaled corpse of one of the moles and pop up the description description.
"The Deep Magma Tunneler or the DMT is a mining drone meant to dig to the deepest part of the mines where most other drones cannot reach due to the cramped spaces and excessive heat. Thus they are smaller than most driller drones and are decently heat resistant. They also are equipped with portable shields to help with protecting the less armored areas of the chassis from collapsing tunnel debris or other such hazards. Can be constructed at a Medium Drone Works."
"Nice, now I have something to mine out the ores in the outpost."
As I close the description I find that my hound drones are finished with enacting their vengeance and my spiders would need a bit of time before they could finish patching up the injured. I set my hornets to begin flying around to ensure no one sneaks in and ambushes my drones again. Ordering my ground based drones to protect me, I hop out of my vessel and start the usual check ups on the home base and the outpost.
As I look around I notice that my territory is woefully under defended when I leave. Seeing as I don't have anything else to do, I decided that tonight I would change that.
Next

I’m 35+ years old and I’m curious about what I’ve been coping with all these years. Now my child may have ASD. (As do a couple of my siblings). I’m questioning my past. Here it goes.
Can you relate to anything?
1) covered my eyes as a child around people I didn’t know and was overly shy. Even as a teenager, I’d sit in the corners when seeing friends. Often peers noticing and thinking I’m weird.
2)very creative and still am.
3)Bed wetting until 9 years. (No recognition of it during my sleep).
4) very quiet socially even though I’m the life of the party at home.
5) Always struggle in groups of two+. Get physical pain when in social settings. Panic attacks etc. (more easier now - but very uncomfortable and feel painful trying to cope. Plus, I used to jump at tv adverts, traffic lights etc.
6) documentaries and knowledge is my world. Dislike cartoon and unrealistic things, comedy’s. Love education and can repeat the same courses/training again and again, even on the same day. I’ve trained at work, then I’ll go home and do the same training all over again.
7) accident prone.
8) hate dust near food and drink. Have to have clean surfaces. No one can use my cups or cutlery. I don’t like sharing my things. I get stressed if I miss things like a parcel and become anxious to where it is, what might Happen to it etc. can’t rest until I receive it.
9) extreme planning. For example driving lessons. I HAD to Google earth before each lesson to see everything and get familiar with it, before I could do it on my lesson.
10) known for spitting food. If it doesn’t taste the same, I can’t eat it. If it doesn’t look the same, I can’t eat it. And I notice the small details no one else does with food. So often I don’t eat a part of many meals. Where others I eat with don’t observe what they eat and would never notice.
11) I can appear rude when I’m trying to just be honest. I don’t like to lie. I am considerate of others, but I tend to steer towards honesty
12) very paranoid of things that appear out of sorts. If I receive something unexpected, I’ll wonder why I have received it. I don’t like leaving my water bottle around, incase something happens to it.
13) morning routine has to be in its order and other sequences in order, otherwise I blow!
14) I’m very conscious during eye contact. I prepare it, time it (to make it a look natural to others). Then worry about how it looked after. All in all, it’s effort and unnatural. (Sometimes it can be natural but mostly not if I’m not home - at home - I get away with doing it how I want to).
All in all. Right now. Daily, my morning routine affects not only me, but those who I live with. It has to be in order. Eye contact is effort. Seeing family, can be effort and feels performed and not natural. I do work and that’s ok. But I have found, who ever I’m with, acts like, I act odd. It’s so hard to explain. But, everyone gives me the same look. Even people at the shops. It’s a taken back look and a pause. Yeah, somethings off I feel it. People often don’t know what I mean, so I have to explain things better for them. Sometimes, I start talking before someone’s finished their sentence. So that’s awkward. I have so many rules and everyone who hangs with me, notices them. Especially when it comes to food, germs and my possessions. I’m just a complete ocd and anxious person, or there is more to this. Because I haven’t met anyone like me and I’m wondering why.
I’m not looking for a diagnosis of course :)
But im looking to know what direction to lean towards, as I feel like somethings deeper about me. So I’m narrowing things down. With ASD high in my family. I thought I’d ask about here for any similarities.

Previous / First
Writer's note: Remember. Sometimes it's the thought that counts. Even if it's too little too late.
What am I referencing when I say that? As if I'm gonna tell you that before you read it in a chapter or two.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLOSE IT! Vickers thought as he struggled to maintain his grip. The new, animal, side of his brain told him NOT to hold on. But he had to. CLOSE IT!!!!
He couldn't see. Everything in front of him was fire. He wasn't even sure he still had eyelids. Magic flowed through him like the flood from a broken dam. His armor struggled to even exist, despite his constant struggle to keep it manifested.
It's an elemental. He thought. It's like the one that destroyed the capital. And they unleashed it in a small room that's probably underground. This was them setting off a nuke to deny us a win.
And I'm at ground zero. God... Choi really does rub off on people doesn't he?
Someone stepped in behind him, but with the fire flowing around him Vickers wasn't conscious of it. Even as a large hand pressed into the small of his back and braced him, pushing him forward ever so slightly. The persons other arm nestled underneath his left armpit and held a hand out. Whoever it was, the hand was old and had gnarled fingers.
Then they spoke into his ear, whatever was left of it now. The voice was louder than a human voice should have been. It had to be in order to be heard over the roar of the flames. He did hear it, and recognized it, even despite the all encompassing pain that dominated every other facet of his existence.
"USE IT AGAINST ITSELF!" The voice said. "REDIRECT THE ENERGY INTO YOURSELF! THEN SEND IT BACK!"
Vickers couldn't do that. He couldn't even acknowledge it. He had more important things to do.
He had to close the door.
Then he felt the heat lessen. He didn't know how or why. He wasn't enough of a person right now to even care.
But he knew what he could do with that small act of mercy.
Vickers arms flexed. Muscles that could lift well over two tons now strained and tore as he pulled at the enchanted wood of the door frame. Things snapped and cracked and creaked and he not only didn't know if it was the wood or his own bones and tendons.
He didn't care.
CLOSE THE DOOR! He screamed at himself in his own mind.
And the crackling noises intensified even as they were drown out by the roar of the flames.
----------------------------------
James was about half a second away from intercepting a golem as it attacked a group of soldiers when the monster simply collapsed.
James skidded to a halt. The soldiers all stumbled and froze in shock at the sudden end of their struggle. Then they looked at him in surprise.
"Uh." He said as he shook off his feet, which were hot..... and bare. "Did it just.... die?" He asked.
One of the soldiers poked at it with a sword even as its golem flesh sloughed off of it.
"I think so." He said. Then he looked up at James and realized he wasn't talking to a fellow Petravian.
Then the sky grew light in the distance, as if a sun had risen.
"What the hell is tha....." James began. Then the magical energy washed over him and he knew.
He didn't stick around to discuss it. Before the soldiers knew what had happened he was already gone. Moving toward the light.
The soldiers all jumped a moment later as the wall of one of the nearby buildings exploded outward and a creature came barreling out of the wreckage.
"Another one!" One of them yelled as they all readied their weapons.
"Glag?" The creature said curiously. The soldiers all paused and looked at each other.
"They can talk?" One of them asked. None of the golems they'd fought this night had done more than occasionally roar.
Then the creature, seemingly made of stone, inspected the fallen golem. As it did it seemed completely oblivious of the soldiers around it with their weapons pointed at it.
Then it looked up into the air.
"Glaaaaaaag." It said, and they got a sense that it was annoyed, or perhaps upset. Then it began rolling away in a ball. It crashed through another building as if it was made of paper.
"What just happened?" The soldier who'd poked at the golem asked.
-----------------------------------
"Ma'am!" A soldier exclaimed as they ran into the command room. Amina looked up from the hastily drawn map that she'd been studying. "There's another elemental!"
The room froze as everyone heard the announcement.
"What?" Amina asked plainly. "What did you just say?"
The young officer swallowed as they noticed everyone around looking at them. "Chief Vickers." They began. "He managed to reach the Agency's infiltration point. But they summoned an elemental on the other side of the door."
"How do you know this?" She asked. But even as she said it she noticed how bright it was outside of the command room, which had no windows.
"The two new were-folk that are part of his team." The officer replied as they marched around the room towards her with one of the Earth tablets. "They saw it on their.... goggles?" He said uncertainly. Then he handed the tablet to her and she saw Colonel Muhammed's face. "The Earth command compared what the Chief saw before they lost connection to what was described with the previous elemental." He nodded. "They believe its the same thing."
"We don't have any previous footage of that one unfortunately." The Colonel said on the tablet. "I have to admit that I'm surprised you're back General. We had expected your trip to last a few months longer."
"We can discuss that later." Amina replied. "Tell me what you know. Can I see the footage? Also, Vickers has were-folk on his TEAM... now?" She asked curiously. She had seen reports indicating as such. But they had been tangential to the information she had needed, namely troop and enemy locations, as well as casualties and supplies. Plus there was still the matter of securing the very castle they were in.
"I think THAT can also be discussed later." The Colonel answered. "For now just know that Chief Vickers went toe to... well not toe. This massive... thing doesn't seem to have actual limbs so to speak. But he waded in with the thing." As she said this Amina saw a little window pop up showing a video that was playing in slow motion. "It is kind of hard to see. The chiefs abilities frosted up his glasses pretty badly."
"Show me the elemental." Amina said.
Muhammed nodded, then after a bit of tinkering on her side the window changed and showed a room with a group of people in it, their eyes glowing the same red as those of the golems outside.
"We only have a few frames." The Colonel informed her, and as the film moved through those frames.
Amina saw a red light appear on some piece of furniture behind the group of supposed golemancers. The people turned to look at it in surprise and seemed to say something. Then the screen flared with bright light before cutting off.
"That's where we lost the chief's connection." Muhammed said solemnly. "But the thermal on his glasses read temperatures at close to a thousand degrees."
Amina scrolled through the few frames. Watching as the small red light expanded into a bright bloom of light. Then she looked out the still open door at what appeared to be daytime, despite it being nearly an hour until dawn.
"I've also been told we have another matter to discuss." The Colonel said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
As if on cue a pair of Earth military personnel, one of whom she recognized as their disgraced First Sergeant, and Ambassador Werner stepped into the doorway.
Amina's sword arm twitch subconsciously as she saw that one of the soldiers was carrying one of the Earth firearms.
Then the Colonel spoke. "For the record I didn't authorize this." She said with a sigh. "But some of our people got caught in the action down in the dungeon. And Mister Batista took it upon himself to arm himself."
"This is in violation of my father's current agreement with your people." Amina said harshly.
"I know. And when the dust has settled we'll gladly even up." Werner replied in place of the Colonel. "But until then. Bullets work on these things pretty damn well. And my people want to help. AAAAND earn back a bit of good faith in the process."
Amina began moving over to the small group rapidly, and several of the guards in the room began unsnapping their weapons.

Hello! I’m an incoming high school senior for the 2023-2024 school year, and I’ve been wanting to look for colleges near home with a good enough nursing program and a high possibility of me getting in. My father is especially partial to UTSA because it’s just a few miles away, and I don’t need to live on campus in order to attend.
However, I’ve been hearing word about the nursing program at this school, and I’ve been told it’s not the best path to take if you plan on attending UTSA. I wanted to hear from the students themselves, so I’ve decided to ask here.
Any thoughts? And if UTSA isn’t my best bet, what colleges neain San Antonio should I look into?

I work for a commercial cleaning company. One of the buildings I clean is an internet provider. Some of the the workers live out back in trailers. There is this one guy. He's really nice. Almost too nice. Sometimes he gives me a $20. That I appreciate, but he is usually drunk, and I don't like being around drunk people. He also yells at his dogs which I don't like. I'm afraid it will escalate to something else. Last week he asked me for my number. I gave it to him, and he said if I ever need anything then give him a call. He invites me to bbqs a lot too. I don't go for the reasons I listed above. I have to go near his trailer too to put trash in the dumpster so i often just put the bags of trash in my car and take them home and put them in my garbage bin. Im thinking of just quiting so I don't have to deal with it.

I (22M) live in a small town in Wisconsin. I go to a super small conservative school (I’m not that way I’m just trying to finish my degree) but I really want to meet other people my age in my town. I would really like to join like a friend group in my town or near me, with maybe a possibility of finding a date. Any tips?

Hello! I’m new to the area (Belleville) from out of state. My contract position ended in April and I was let go from my under the table job today. I’ve been putting in apps like crazy to companies that can offer me (near) the same hourly but in this economy I’m starting to freak out as all of my savings went towards relocating 6 months ago.
I’m in need of a place I can walk in, resume in hand, and have peace of mind of a paycheck coming before next bill due date while I churn cover letters for a lateral position.
Who is that in town ? Which restaurants turn over decently?

Too many hours into ds1 right now, and apparently tomb of giants is just a big ol' screw you to players who haven't found some form of night vision or a torch. I beat pinwheel after dying to the bone wheel skeletons like 6 times the first try round, and then I lost my sounds trying to see if there was a bonfire right after the boss near tomb of giants.
Go back, grab my souls, homeward bone, level up and go back to the tomb again. There's a bunch of sliding mechanics that make me think I'm definitely gonna slide into an arena at some point, and my pyromancy is only strong enough to two shot with fire orb.
How am I clearing this without a torch?

Hey gang. Newbie Horus Heresy player here and I love the look of the Sabre tank. (Interesting that it was originally premiered in White Dwarf 120!)
Loadout 1: Base, standard stub autocannon and heavy bolter. Heavy bolter is defensive so you can target infantry while shooting tanks with the autocannon. Cheap!
Loadout 2: Multi-melta up top, volkite saker centreline. Now the volkite is your defensive weapon so you can shoot tanks with the multi-melta and hit the troops with volkite. Expensive upgrade, though.
Loadout 3: All volkite, all the time. Seems bad, since the culverin has almost twice the range of the saker, and heavy support squads do volkite better.
Loadout 4: Neutron cannon, heavy bolter. The cannon's "get hot" and no twin-linked make me shy away from it (I roll a lot of 1's). Could be a good tank-hunter though? Seems expensive and not as good as Loadout 2.
Any thoughts on these? I'd love to see what you guys think is the best loadout.

Looking For Cards In London
Hi everyone. I'm not much of a competition TCG player but me and my friends enjoy created themed decks and then pitting ourselves against each other.
In my home town, there is a store that sells single cards for dirt cheap (they're usually normals that people get rid of in bulk) but I enjoy looking through what people have sold to the store for more deck ideas.
I'm going go be in London next week and I was wondering whether there are any stores like this in the big city. It's not the kind of thing you can find on google, especially as it's usually independent stores that do this sort of thing.

So recently I was coming home from work. I was biking opposite to traffic on the sidewalk because I want oncoming traffic to be able to see me. I was biking from one sidewalk to the next (there wasn't a crosswalk but I did have the right of way as a pedestrian) and there was a residential street and someone from the other side of the street was crossing over and going into said residental area. I was left with a sprained ankle, extremely sore, and with a mangled bike (my Publix deli sandwich survived so I had something at least paletable to eat at the hospital lol). But according to the story the guy gave my dad. He was looking to the right at the traffic so when he starting driving forward he was looking to the right and ran into my right side pretty much right next to the sidewalk. I was IMMEDIATELY surrounded by tons of people who stopped, luckily I live near a hospital so many of the people were nurses and tended to me the best they thought until paramedics arrived. I've been going back and forth with this guy's insurance company and the agent company because apparently they are separate entities. And I finally managed to open a case with his insurance company and it turns out he hasn't bothered to try to contact the insurance company once over the past few days, which seems odd to me. What sort of financial compensation should I be expecting? If it's anything decent I'd want to be able to buy an okay used car and finally be able to move for college by Christmas. Thanks to anyone who can help

Just got HOMER up and running on a Hyper-v machine, and then installed a node (HEPLIFY) on the 3CX SBC (also running on Hyper-V) to try to track down some random call quality issues.
Homer is saying that the JITTER from SBC -> PHONE is around 35, while the JITTER from Phone -> SBC averages 90. Sometimes 80, sometimes over 130. This seems very weird to me, as the phone and SBC are on the same network, even the same subnet (no L3 devices between them).
Also weird that incoming jitter (3CX -> SBC -> Phone) would have lower jitter than traffic going from the phone -> SBC.
Running other tools shows pings at constant 2ms, and spikes of 30 (guessing hyper-v load). But nowhere near 80 or 130, and certainly not for the duration of 5 minute phone calls.
Using Yealink T54s and T53s.
Considering dropping a new VLAN in for just the VoIP traffic (yes, should have started that way), but am curious if anyone else is using HOMER with the SBC, and if so, if they've seen weird Phone -> SBC jitters.