Hello guys, im 20 years old male from Macedonia and i was working in Novalja about 4 days ago but i got fired and now im Zagreb without job, money and a place to stay. Can you tell me where i can ask for a job which pays daily and offers a place to stay? I can work in a hotel or in a barestaurant as a barmen.(It doesn't have to be in Zagreb i can go in other city for work if its needed)

This subreddit has been an amazing resource for my solo trip prep over the last few months so now it's my turn to give back. I did not have a set budget in mind since I save diligently for my trips. I am fairly well-traveled, a late 30s, solo traveler. This was my first time in Japan and my goals were a mixture of eating, exploring history, enjoying some theme parks, and enjoying experiences that only Japan could offer.
Total USD Spend: 17 days (2 travel days) came out to about $4200 USD total: * Flight: $1050 * Accommodations: $1400 * Food and Snacks: $1000 * Transportation (IC card, buses, trains): $250 * Theme Park & Novelty Experiences: $400 * Misc (souvenirs, shopping): $200 I typically budget out about $5K USD for my trips and Japan was definitely on the higher side of the budget, but again, I splurged on some fantastic restaurants, premiere entry at Universal Studios Osaka, along with numerous day trips. As others have mentioned here, I also averaged between 25K-30K steps a day. I’m in decent shape but walking 10-15 miles everyday definitely took its toll and my body shut down for a day.
Day 0: Landed in Osaka in the late afternoon and ended up wandering Dotonbori for a few hours since my hotel was located a block away. Ended up eating some very mediocre ramen at a stand in Dotonbori which was pretty disappointing, but the carbs were enough to knock me out. Day 1: Woke up early to walk around Dontobori at 5am and then headed out to few unique temples, including Namba Yasaka Jinja. Hopped onto the subway to enter Ueno Sky Tower, and overall, it was meh, I didn’t stay long just taking a few pictures and walked around Ueno for a few hours before heading to the Pokemon Cafe in Shinsaibashi. As others have noted, the food was very mediocre, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. Spent the rest of the evening getting drinks in Dotonbori before calling it a night.
Day 2: A full day at Universal Studios Japan to experience Super Nintendo World. I splurged on the express passes that gave me full access to a bunch of rides. SNW is pretty fucking awesome and I had a blast riding the Yoshi and Mario Kart rides, all the while taking taking in the atmosphere. The premiere pass also gave me access to a few additional rides including Harry Potter, Doraemon VR, and Jurassic Park. Had a late dinner at Kyushu Ramen getting their famous chashu ramen and it did not disappoint.
Day 3: Spent most of the day exploring Kuromon Ichiba Market, the local malls, and Dotonbori trying some street food. Went back to my hotel room and just relaxed for the rest of the day since jet lag was still bothering me. Watched some sumo matches on random Japanese tv before calling it a night.
Day 4: Took a day trip to Himeji to see the Himeji Castle. What a fantastic piece of history! I spent hours just taking in the sites and the nearby garden also highly recommended. Afterward, I had my first taste of Kobe beef in the form of a beef bowl at Kushiyaki Kobe Beef. Fantastic little hole-in-the-wall place with some really nice people working the counter. Took the train from Himeji directly to Nara where I was planning to stay the night. Day 5: Spent the entire day playing with the thousands of deer and checking out some local temples, including Todai-ji. I didn't do anything in Nara that hadn't been mentioned enough times here, but as others have said, a day trip or one day is more than enough time in the area. Took a late train to Kyoto. Day 6: Woke up in the early morning to beat the crowds to enjoy Fushimi Inari. Hiked the entire loop (about 2-3 hours) with only a fraction of the crowds, enjoyed some macha soft serve at the peak of the hill, and took my time going back down right rwhen the army of tourists and tour groups arrived. Grabbed an overly expensive Kobe beef stick from one of the food stalls by the temple gates and then spent an hour at a cute coffee shop called Rickshaw Cafe just people watching before grabbing an early dinner at Ramen Sen-no-Kaze. The food was solid, but it took 90 minutes to get a table. Not worth it and in hindsight I would have left.
Day 7: Woke up early again to check out the highly overrated Arashimyama bamboo forest. It was pretty underwhelming, but I did get a few nice photos before the crowds arrived. Strolled through the park and really enjoyed walking along the Katsura River seeing the catfish waiting to be fed and seeing the fishing boats tied up. A very tranquil place. After the nice long stroll, I walked back-and-forth the Togetsukyo Bridge and Kimono Forest (meh). The highlight of the morning was really Tenryu-Ji and the amazing zen garden. After a few hours taking in the peacefulness and silence, took the city bus to Kinkaku-ji, and the crowds were in full swing. Still totally worth seeing in person although it didn’t last very long. Day 8: A full day experiencing the Philosopher’s Path on a gorgeous sunny day. Too sunny since I got some pretty bad sunburns! I visited too many amazing temples, including Kiyomizo-dera, along with old Gion, although I thought the area was bit overhyped. I preferred the smaller, more peaceful temples away from the mass of tourists. Some of my favorites during my day exploring old Kyoto included Eikan-do, a more secluded temple up in the hills, Nanzen-Ji, with its beautiful aqueduct, and just walking the streets aimlessly for a few hours. Went to Nishiki Market and ate some amazing oysters at Daiyasu. If you love oysters, this is the spot to try it! Spent too much money on oysters and decided to go cheap and ate at Kura Sushi. The food was mediocre by Japanese standards, but blows away the quality and cost of the Kura Sushi restaurants in my hometown of Los Angeles.
Day 9: Took an early morning train to Kanazawa. Enjoyed my first ekiben while taking in the sights from the comfort of the Thunderbird Limited Express. Spent the rest of the day visiting the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (meh) and Kenrou-ken, probably the most beautiful garden in the Kanda province. Wrapped up the day by visiting the D.T Suzuki Museum and wow, the tranquil pool area was amazing. Do yourself a favor and stand on the corner and just stare at the water. You’ll feel like the entire world is moving along on a plane and you’re the one that is frozen in place. It was pretty trippy. Ate well at Mori More Sushi Omicho and stopped by the Pokemon Center to pick up the exclusive Pikachu Kimono figure only available in the Kanazawa store.
Day 10: Torrential rain the entire day but I powered throughit with my trusty umbrella. Enjoyed breakfast and snacks at the Omicho Market, enjoying a tuna-don at one of the stalls, fresh uni, and more oysters. Not cheap but fresh! Walked around the Higashi Chaya District, doing a bit of window shopping and ate some gold leaf macha soft serve at Kaikaro, spending more time people watching. Walked around the Kanazawa Castle Park in all its empty glory as well as the Oyama Shrine. The castle was pretty underwhelming esp. after seeing Himeji so I probably would have skipped it in hindsight. Wrapped up the day visiting the Naga-machi District, probably my favorite part of Kanazawa. Had more sushi at Sushi Rekireki Omicho, an enjoyable omakase.
Day 11: Took the Shinkansen to Tokyo eating the most expensive ekiban I could find, and spent the rest of the entire day in Asakusa in Tokyo. Walked around Senso-ji, had a few beers in Hoppy Street, and finally tried Ichiran. Called it an early day since I would be doing DisneySea in the early morning.
Day 12: Took the express bus from Tokyo Skytree to DisneySea. Thanks to the early forecast of rain, the park was barely 50% full? The longest wait for most rides was under 20 minutes so I was lucky enough to ride everything at least once. My meals consisted of a bunch of unique Dsney parki food: gyoza hot dogs, alien mochi, Mike watermelon bread, etc. Stayed until the fireworks and went straight back to the hotel and crashed. That was a 40K step day!
Day 13: Visited Akihabara, spending way too much money on crane games, browsing retro games, and looking at figures. Headed to Shibuya to eat breakfast for lunch at A Happy Pancake (meh). Went to the Nintendo Store in the PARCO mall, only to be disappointed to find out that all of the Nintendo World store t-shirts were sold out. Actually everything semi-interesting was sold out. Went up to Shibuya Sky to watch the sunset, spending a few hours just watching the day slowly turn into night. Did the Scramble a few times and then headed to Shinjuku where I’d be located for the last few days.
Day 14: Another torrential rainstorm sadly ruined my plans of visiting Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Jingo, and Harajuku. Maybe next time. I was hoping to buy Tokyo Giants tickets but they were all sold out so I ended up going to the Tokyo National Museum. I won’t lie, I was pretty bored, and in hindsight I wish I went to the neighboring National Museum of Nature and Science instead. After strolling Ueno Park in the rain, I was craving tonkatsu and googled Tonkatsu Yamabe. Good decision as it was the best tonkatsu I had in Tokyo. Went to a nearby Taito Game Station wasting more money on crane games before heading back to Shinjuku. The area is insane and in hindsight, I would probably pick somewhere like Shibuya or Ueno, somewhere slightly more chill. Day 15: One of my favorite days in Tokyo! Teamlabs Planets lives up to the hype but ONLY if you can get first admission at 9am. It was glorious to be among the first people in the exhibits as I could take in experience the way it was intended. There were only a few people in each room giving each space such a great, peaceful, and chill vibe. Headed to Ginza to the Michelin-rated Sushi Toyama, where I had a chance to finally experience bluefin toro (worth it!). Probably the most expensive lunch ever but it was quite the experience. A sunny and beautiful day, I bought a bunch of souvenirs and clothes (a 12-story Uniqlo with its own coffee shop, Muji Ginza, Ginza Six), checked out my favorite Toy Story in Japan, Hakuhinkan Toy Park, intricate stationary stores like Itoya, and went to a very popular Ginza Starbucks to people watch. Spent the evening in Shinjuku exploring Golden Gai getting swarmed by Nigerian dudes. Wanted to try a hole-in-wall ramen spot in the area but the line was stupid long so I ended up just going to Kyushu Ramen and was satisfied enough. A good day.
Day 16: With the break in clouds the day before, I decided to call an audible and set up a last minute day trip to Mount Fuji. Took an express bus from Shinjuku to Fushiyoshida and got dropped off in front of Chureito Pagoda. It was cloudy for most of the day, but for the last several hours I saw Mount Fuji in all its glory. It was a gray day but no complaints — it was nice to cross another bucket list item from the list.
Wow, this was much longer than I anticipated. Well if you got this far, feel free to ask any questions! In the meantime, I'll be planning my next trip to Japan soon!

I recently moved to New a Brunswick due to a significant life event change. I’ve never lived in the state and don’t really have much much of a support system close by. I’m finally starting to get accustomed to the area and I’m really interested in meeting some new friends. I’m a single female in her early 30’s. Does anyone have any recommendations on places to socialize with other people my age, social groups in the area, meet ups, and/support groups that are locally based? I’ve been out to bars and restaurants, but looking for more pointed recommendations that revolve around other activities outside of eating and drinking.

Hey just wondering if there are any good spots around that will have the UCL final today at 3? Admittedly I don't really go to bars or restaurants often and don't know who plays what lol

My partner has celiac and we have lived in Philly for a long time and eaten at many places in Philly and the surrounding suburbs, so I thought I would post my list of all the places she is able to eat at safely and that we like. Feel free to add any suggestions or places you have been to in order to help grow this list.
Obviously everyone has a different level of sensitivity to gluten, I cannot speak for cross-contamination at these places. If that is a concern to you, please call ahead to verify.

Restaurant	Cuisine	Location
Schmear It	Bagels	Center City/University City
Batter & Crumbs	Bakery	Passyunk
Flakely	Bakery	Manayunk
Happy Mixer	Bakery	Chalfont/Langhorne
High Fidelity	Bakery	South Philly
Taffets	Bakery	Italian Market
P.S. & Co.	Bakery/Cafe	Rittenhouse
Sweet Lucy's Smokehouse	BBQ	Northeast Philly
Winkel	Brunch	Washington Square West
P'unk Burger	Burgers	South Philly
Front Street	Cafe	Fishtown
Gilda	Cafe	Fishtown
EMei	Chinese	Chinatown
Unit Su Vege	Chinese Vegetarian	Fairmount
Fox & Son Fair Foods	Corn Dogs/Funnel Cake/etc.	Redding Terminal
T-Swirl Crepe	Crepes	Chinatown
Okie Dokie Donuts	Donuts	South Philly
Doro Bet	Ethiopian	University City
Lovebird	Fried Chicken Sandwiches	Various (suburbs)
El Merkury	Guatemalan	Rittenhouse
Real Food Eatery	Health Food	Rittenhouse
Veda	Indian	Rittenhouse
Cry Baby Pasta	Italian	Queen Village
Giorgio on Pine	Italian	Washington Square West
Panorama	Italian	Old City
Prunella	Italian	Center City
Double Knot	Japanese	Center City
Jomon	Japanese BBQ	Center City
Moonbowls	Korean Bowls	Girard
Bar Bombon	Latin American	Rittenhouse
Mission Taqueria	Mexican	Rittenhouse
&Pizza	Pizza	Rittenhouse/University City
Couch Tomato	Pizza	Manayunk
D'Oliva	Pizza	Northern Liberties
Emmy Squared	Pizza	Queen Village
Jules Thin Crust	Pizza	Various (suburbs)
Slice	Pizza	Italian Market
Prohibition Taproom	Pub	Poplar
SouthHouse	Pub	South Philly
Jay's Steak and Hoagie Joint	Sandwiches	Langhorne
Middle Child	Sandwiches	Washington Square West/Fishtown
High Street	Sandwiches/Pastries	Washington Square West
DanDan	Sichuan/Taiwanese	Rittenhouse
Kalaya	Thai	Fishtown
Primary Plant Based	Vegan	Fishtown
Puyero	Venezuelan	Queen Village

Some personal favorites of ours:

• Doro Bet has incredible GF fried chicken
  
• Panorama has incredible homemade GF pasta, most other places use store bought GF pasta
  
• Puyero is just absolutely delicious
  
• Okie Dokie donuts are phenomenal and deliver
  
• Middle Child sandwiches are the best and the GF bread is a Focaccia
  
• Mission Taqueria has great tacos and margaritas
  
• Jules Pizza is the best but it is out in the suburbs unfortunately
  

My partner and I have been together a year. As a surprise I thought it would be nice to book a weekend away for us. We've been on weekends away before and I know this is a place my girlfriend really wants to go. I made sure she was free on the weekend I had booked and then planned out the weekend.
Before I paid I made sure to show my gf when I had planned for us to make sure she wanted to do it. She said it seemed amazing and she wanted to do it so I paid for it. I paid for the hotel, train tickets, a deposit for a restaurant and a deposit for a cocktail bar so in total I spend over £250. It comes to the day of the trip and my gf says she doesn't think she can go. I ask her why and she just says she feels anxious. We talk about it for a bit and she still decided to cancel.
Later that day I mention the money I have lost and tell her I don't mean to sound bad but I expect her to pay me back. She seems shocked and asks if I'm being serious. I say yeah I am since I spent over £250 to do something nice for her only for her to cancel at pretty much the last possible minute and mean that the money is wasted.
She said I'm using her anxiety against her. I point out I'm not holing it against her but if your actions cost someone else money then you should reimburse them. She just repeated that it's not her fault she has anxiety and that I'm being unfair by bringing it up and making her feel more guilty. How would you have handled this situation?
tl;dr my gf cancelled a trip I had planned and paid for last minute causing me to lose the money. When I asked to be reimbursed she said I was using her anxiety against her. How would you have handled this?

Hi. I was originally supposed to travel with a friend for Cod Champs, but he backed out (even after offering free hotel stay lol) and so instead of wasting the tickets I bought I decided to go solo.
I was wondering if there are any shows/ places/ restaurants I should visit during my 2 day trip. I read that the Wynn buffet is really good, but I have never went to a restaurant by myself so I am not sure what to expect? I guess I am wondering if people would think it's weird or not to go to a buffet alone.
I also got ticket to "O" show. I am also not street smart so if there are any red flags I need to watch out for please let me know.
I was also wondering would it be risky to bring a pen back home with me (its illegal in my home state so would I get stopped at the TSA?)
Also another question how much cash should I keep in person during the travel? How much should I tip at the bar per drink?
TBH I do not know what I am doing and not feeling confident for solo travel, but I think I need this.

I’m 18+ and all characters and participants must be 18+
"Oide Yo! My name is Honoka~! And it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A's Grand opening~!!" A very busty, pink haired woman appeared on the screen at the front of the transportation bus. The only thing she was red heart shaped pasties over her nipples and pussy, a red armband that read "cast", and matching elbow length gloves and thigh high stockings.
"As Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A's first ever guests, we have many great surprises in store for you all~! Unfortunately I can't talk about them, you all will just have to see them for yourself~. But what I can talk about is all of the amazing "worlds" that Mizuryuu Kei Land has!
Starting with the Beginner Area, this part of the park is the first thing you see once you leave the gear area. In Mizuryuu Kei Lands original location in Japan. This is the area where our shy guests spend their time. Mizuryuu Kei Land is all about sexual freedom, and sometimes that can be very scary. For guests that aren't as open with their sexuality as others. But that's OK! For most guest all it takes is one ride on the "Meet N Fuck FerrisWheel" to break them out of their shell. Apart from the Ferris wheel, the Beginner Area also has other attractions for both men and women. The Dildo Carousel, and Glory Mystery Wall are both very popular attractions.
The Urban Jungle is a place where our guest can live their exhibitionist fantasies. Built to look like New York City. Guests here can live out their wildest public sex fantasies. Sure fucking in public is what the park is all about. But there is something special about fucking in a city environment. And in the Urban Jungle there is a place for every fantasy. From bars and clubs, to all types of store recreations, and of course all types of dirty alleys and public restrooms. It is a guarantee that you will never have the same experience when you visit the Urban Jungle.
From Urban Jungle to actual Jungle. Where the Wild Whores Are, is the ultimate pet play experience. Men and women alike can live out their most depraved fantasies of living as fuck pets. The area is divided into several "habitats". A tropical jungle, a pet walking park, and "the zoo". So if you want to let out your wild side, or want to know what it feels like to own your own fuckpet come on down to to Where the Wild Whores Are.
There are many more areas inside of Mizuryuu Kei Land. So many that I am unable to inform you about all of them in such short amount of time. Unfortunately due to legal reasons I am also unable to discuss what goes on inside of areas like our Raceplay World, and Land of Beasts. You will just have to experience those places for yourself hehe~.
Now I'll leave you all by letting you know that as our lucky week long guests. You all have the ability to switch hotels at any point during your stay for free. There are many themed hotels inside of the parks areas. And we want you all to be able to experience as many of our facilities as you can~!
Other than please enjoy all the amazing attractions, restaurants, facilities, events, and both staff and guest contest. Your ride is now at its end. Welcome to Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A!
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Hello dear pervs :3. And thank you for reading my Mizuryuu Kei Land roleplay idea. Based off of the original doujinshi, I want to create a story that severely expands on the world that wonderfully depraved doujinshi created.
So I did not emphasize a "main character" during the prompt. That is because there are many different characters that we can choose from for this rp.
There is Honoka, the current peppy mascot of Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A. Who gets to live in the park and do all sorts of fun events for the guest. Unfortunately she did not read her contract to well. And now she has to fight for the right to keep her job as the parks mascot. Or be replaced by another slut.
There is also Natalia, a college student who's friend was somehow able to score 3 tickets fo the theme parks grand opening week. As a closet pervert Natalia was basically dragged along by her friends. In an attempt to get her to loosen up. Oh if only they knew the bitch in heat they unleashed in the park.
Another option is Stephanie, a 30 year old single mother who was given a ticket by her best friend as a birthday present. She didn't really want to come, as she felt the idea of the park was disgusting. But accepted to go anyway as it was a gift from her friend. The question is will Stephanie be able to come out of the park as the same woman she was when she got there? Or will the depravity of the park turn her into a shameless slutty milf?
And finally there is Evelyn, a recently graduated journalism major and self proclaimed artist. Who infiltrated the park by getting a job as a staff member. As she is trying to launch her career as a real journalist. By exposing Mizuryuu Kei Land as a corrupt cesspool of depravity, and misogyny. Created by the "Patriarchy" to force a narrative that women are nothing but sex objects. Will Evelyn be able to find enough evidence to prove this? Or will the parks influence and its "secret board of directors" turn her into the thing she hates the most, a whore?
The park is basically a sandbox, where we can create anything we want. The only limit for what story we can create is literally our imaginations! So as my GM you will have a lot of creative freedom for what ever lewd attraction, event, store,etc. You want to add to the park.
As for what I am looking for in a partner? I'm looking for someone literate, creative, who can match my writing. Be it multiple paragraphs if the need arises, or just short replies. Really just someone as excited as I am for this prompt. So if my prompt interested you, then please message me at Demondork on Kik. Chat will be ignored, and long detailed replies will get my attention first.
Kinks and limits list:
Kinks: cum, cum eating, cum food, cum play,bukkake,cream pie,bdsm, bondage, forced, body writing, spanking, cuddling, degradation, rough partners, sizeplay, dominant partners, toys, multiple partners, spit roasting, mating press, full Nelson,frenching,rimming,body oil,bestiality,water sports,wax play,sex machines,being filmed,cosplay,NTR,petplay,exhibitionism,biting and pretty much anything that isn’t my limits
Limits:
Scat,gore,vore,hyper sizes,necro and vomit
PS: tell me if you prefer irl or drawn refs for characters in your opener too

Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be found in this same subreddit at the links attached. Hopefully this part will live up to the insanity that inspired me to write about it!
There are…so many things that happen between 1988 and 1994 in one discipline of figure skating it is near comical. With Soviet domination of ice dance near assured during this era, the focus shifts from who will win to instead question how fast the Soviet dynasty can fall apart. The answer? Well…I guess you’ll have to see.
With Bestemianova/Bukin and Wilson/McCall opting to go to the pro ranks after their Olympic medals in 1988, Klimova/Ponomarenko seemed the de facto leaders of ice dance. Natalia Dubova now not only coached Klimova/Ponomarenko but also a married couple making their international debut in Maya Usova/Alexander Zhulin. The new rink situation pit the 2 couples against each other as each aimed to become the top couple in the world.
No one could deny Klimova/Ponomarenko in 1989 though. Skating to “Mack the Knife,” Klimova/Ponomarenko skated to victory with a more humorous and friendly free dance to expand their horizons. According to the media of the time though, this new styling for them wasn’t as beloved as their previous work. However, no one could deny their technical ability as they took the ice.
Their countrymates Usova/Zhulin nabbed the silver medal with a free dance skated to dramatic classical music. Usova/Zhulin were a team that felt like they encapsulated everything Dubova had ever aimed to bring to the ice. They floated across the ice in ways that only Klimova/Ponomarenko could sometimes achieve. They also had brilliant matching lines that Dubova liked to emphasize through her choreography. They tended to skate in a hold that had Usova in front with Zhulin wrapped behind her, consistently close together. Their gentle, lyrical skating made them a quick favorite for fans of the sport.
The Duchesnays improved from 8th at the Olympics to grab the bronze in 1989 on home ice in Paris. The Duchesnays were…the best way to describe them is that they’re the proto-French ice dance team. Their free dance was set to an instrumental version of Eleanor Rigby, and told the story of dreams and reality, where Isabelle represented dreams constantly being brought down to Paul’s reality. The Christopher Dean choreographed program was…noticeably easier in difficulty compared with the Soviets, featuring less holds overall and more lifts that took Isabelle off the ice. However, their eccentric concepts made them another crowd favorite in these years.
In 1989, Dubova also put together another Soviet team to compete against her top 2 skaters. Evgeni Platov, a 3-time World Junior champion, had just placed fifth in the world with his former partner before their split. Oksana Grishuk, coming off a World Junior title herself, moved from Natalia Linichuk’s school to pair with Platov after she split from her partner. The 2 began skating together in the summer of 1989, making Dubova the sole coach of the top 3 Soviet teams. What could possibly go wrong?
The 1990 season saw all 3 Soviet teams compete for the podium alongside the Duchesnays and, surprisingly, an American team who slipped up to 4th: Susan Wynne/Joseph Druar. For Wynne/Druar, it was the highest place finish for an American team since Blumberg/Seibert were still skating. Their free dance to “Hit the Road Jack” was a tribute to tap dance. Their style was distinctly North American, similar in style to that of Wilson/McCall, in that the woman appeared stronger on ice rather than the dainty appearance of women like Marina Klimova and Maya Usova (think Madi Hubbell compared with Gabi Papadakis for a more recent example). This style, wherein the woman was an equal on ice to her partner, was not popular with the judges of the time, so acted more as a precursor to the North American style than as a legitimate podium threat.
Klimova/Ponomarenko earned a second World title in 1990 skating to “My Fair Lady,” now fully bought into the idea of the one concept free dance but still maintaining the classical switching of rhythms within that one concept, marrying the traditions of ice dance with the post-Torvill/Dean landscape. Best described by the commentary of the time, Klimova/Ponomarenko were technically unmatched by their peers, even as their free featured less holds than had been their norm. However, their prowess still took the cake as they walked away with a second title.
The Duchesnays improved on their 1989 placement by earning silver in 1990. Skating to their first iteration of “Missing,” Isabelle and Paul truly embraced the avant garde. Dean gave his now girlfriend and her brother choreography that was simpler and easier to perform but striking in its repeated poses and lifts to make an unbreakable impression on the audience and judges, earning them first in the free dance. On a more…aesthetic note, this is the first time in my write up that I’ve seen a dress that looks like the skirt was shredded, which is just a fine precursor to the horrors of costuming to come.
Usova/Zhulin grabbed the bronze with a sophisticated tango to Piazzolla selections (naturally). Usova/Zhulin improved on their lyrical style to incorporate more speed and sharpness to their movements, which drew more attention to their matching body lines. However, the tango was far easier than their free dance the previous year, featuring more side by side skating rather than close holds. And in their senior debut as a pair, Grishuk/Platov earned 5th place with a free dance using music from “Zorba the Greek” (I truly wish I was joking). But regardless of the odd music choice, Grishuk/Platov were known for their skating skills, arguably the strongest of the next 8 years. While this free dance certainly didn’t show that off, the promise of the senior pair was apparent from the moment they stepped on the ice.
All good training rinks must carry with it insane amounts of drama though, for this is ice dance. And stuffing the top Soviet teams under one coach was bound to implode at some point. It was during this time that Dubova started to favor Usova/Zhulin for the Olympic gold in Albertville 1992. And with it, better program ideas. This came to a head when Klimova/Ponomarenko slipped to a silver medal in 1991, behind the Duchesnays. And that’s truly where the bubble burst.
The Duchesnays had an interesting season, debuting their Reflections FD which was actually a program originally meant for Torvill/Dean’s professional career before being scrapped and given to the Duchesnays…which should tell you all a lot about both Dean and the insanity that was this FD, where Isabelle and Paul were made to look like mirror images of each other. The free dance received a lukewarm reception, causing them to scrap the FD for the amateur ranks and instead opt for a second iteration of their “Missing” FD, aptly titled Missing II. Outrage from fans on behalf of Klimova/Ponomarenko was apparent, as the Duchesnays’ repeated lifts and tricks were inherently easier than the skating that Klimova/Ponomarenko were doing. But the lack of Dubova faith and the judges’ love of Christopher Dean worked in the Duchesnays’ favor.
Klimova/Ponomarenko skated to “Lawrence of Arabia,” entering the free dance in a surprising 3rd place after the original dance (OD), which had by now supplanted the OSP. After being behind Usova/Zhulin in the compulsories and behind both the Duchesnays and Usova/Zhulin in the OD, Klimova/Ponomarenko needed near perfect scores to retain their title. They would not get it. The pair attempted to expand their horizons even further with a more dramatic piece of music; Klimova/Ponomarenko put more emphasis on their lifts, which were vastly improved. But some media felt that they had lost their inherent qualities that identified them in favor of trying to prove their range. This would become a major sticking point in the Olympic year.
Usova/Zhulin meanwhile earned bronze at these Worlds, elegantly skating to “Variations” from Andrew Lloyd Webber. The couple’s lyrical and emotional interpretation entranced the audience in watching the leaders after the OD. Of course, Usova/Zhulin couldn’t hang onto their lead in the end, which really should’ve acted as effective foreshadowing of not only their competitive careers but also what was happening behind the scenes with their rinkmates Grishuk/Platov, who had placed 4th in the same event.
The summer of 1991 was absolute ice dance chaos. In a span of a few short months, all of this happened at once:
· Klimova finds out Dubova is giving preferential treatment to Usova/Zhulin. She cries in front of a Russian sports journalist.
· Andrei Bukin goes to Tarasova, begging her to take on Klimova/Ponomarenko so that they aren’t shut out of a gold. Tarasova agrees, and Klimova/Ponomarenko flee Dubova.
· Christopher Dean gets married to Isabelle Duchesnay and vows to choreograph them to Olympic glory (they later divorce in ’93)
· Alexander Zhulin, 28, begins his infamous affair with Oksana Grishuk, 19, putting a strain on the Usova/Zhulin partnership on and off ice. The affair becomes Grishuk’s fault in the media.
· The Soviet Union falls, leaving the Soviet skaters without a country to represent for a year
And those are just the heavy hitters boys and girls! Truly, an offseason to remember.
Tarasova took on Klimova/Ponomarenko and attempted to steer them toward gold amid heavy competition from Dean’s Duchesnays and Dubova’s Usova/Zhulin. A strong polka OD had Klimova/Ponomarenko in a comfortable lead going into the free dance, where they performed a lyrical and transcendent program to “Air” by Bach. The pair looked statuesque as they floated over the ice. Granted, the program had about as much substance as your average show program. But man if the couple didn’t make it look good. It was a return to form in a lot of ways for the pair, returning to their more classical roots but now with the experience of having done more dramatic works and being able to incorporate that emotion back into a lyrical program. Tarasova had her second Olympic gold medal winning team in the span of 2 Olympics, adding to her already storied career in ice dance (having led a pair to an Olympic medal in 4 of the 5 competed events at this point).
The Duchesnays settled for silver in a home Olympics in Albertville. Their free dance was set to the music of “West Side Story,” with the pair portraying the sibling duo of Tony and Maria (thank God). In a lot of ways, it was a call back to Dean’s past World title winning free dances based around Broadway musicals. And the choreography was meant to call to mind the intricate choreography of the musical, including some of the first instances of the reverse lifts naturally. However, the easier skating choreography caught up to the Duchesnays and their free program placement suffered for it. Hard to consider it a skating program if most of the dance was spent in the air or side by side.
Usova/Zhulin entered the ’92 Olympics incredibly strained. This was only exacerbated when Zhulin gave Grishuk his wedding ring for her to wear during the compulsories, to which Usova understandably lost her cool. With that in the back of their minds, it’s truly a wonder that they pulled through for a bronze medal. Their “Four Seasons” free dance was meant to tell the stories of two statues coming to life. Which seems apt for a couple whose chemistry had about as much warmth as two statues. Grishuk/Platov earned 4th place with a more modern free dance. It’s…very 80s, I don’t know how to describe it. But it was obvious that their partnership was finally flourishing in a way that their promise had predicted. Which is naturally the perfect time for more insanity to come between them.
After a Soviet podium sweep at Worlds, the summer of ’92 saw Zhulin and Grishuk’s affair escalate during the show season. Everything really hit the fan when Usova caught Zhulin and Grishuk at a restaurant together and “saw Grishuk sipping a margherita at a bar, came up behind her, grabbed her hair and smashed her head against the counter.” And although Usova later apologized, Dubova had had enough and expelled Grishuk from her camp for getting involved with Zhulin. While Grishuk headed back to Moscow, Dubova attempted to pair Platov with a young Tatiana Navka, who would’ve been around 17 and representing Belarus following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ultimately though, Grishuk returned to former coach Natalia Linichuk and Platov followed, restoring their partnership before the 92-93 season.
The Soviets, now officially representing the newly reformed country of Russia, maintained their absolute stranglehold on the discipline. With Klimova/Ponomarenko retiring to focus on the pro circuit and starting a family as well as the Duchesnays’ retirement, all medalists slid up the rankings, with Usova/Zhulin finally earning their gold medal on the backs of a sultry blues free dance that kept the audience spellbound and where they pretended that they were into each other for 4 minutes.
As if to contrast the gold medalists, Grishuk/Platov skated to a more violent blues, which is admittedly one of my guilty pleasure skates. The free dance told the story of toxic lovers, even incorporating choreography where it looked like Platov was choking Grishuk. Their skating earned them their first medal at Worlds, a silver. And they also started to find that their strength was in the dramatic, even if they don’t go back to it for several years. It is at this time that the media picks up on the former Grishuk/Zhulin affair, but only mentions it during Grishuk/Platov’s programs.
Inter-country politics began early when Alla Shekhovtsova advocated to the judges for Anjelika Krylova and her former partner Vladmir Fedorov, coached by Linichuk, to be sent to Worlds in 93, threatening their judging careers if they put their competitors Elena Kustarova/Oleg Ovsiannikov in front. Naturally. Krylova/Fedorov were sent by one judge’s vote and earned a bronze at Worlds. Krylova was known for her amazing leg line, but this free dance doesn’t really do them justice on that end. After Krylova/Fedorov earned a medal in their debut, American and Canadian media started to become frustrated with lack of results from their ice dancers, insinuating that their lack of results was strictly because of the flag next to their names. In the ‘94 offseason, Krylova/Fedorov would break up and Ovsiannikov would be lured by Linichuk to pair with Krylova.
A little further down the standings, Susanna Rahkamo/Petri Kokko dazzled with a free dance to Valse Triste. The fourth place finishers were crowd favorites known primarily for their slow, methodical, lyrical dances. An innovative couple, their choreography featured harder lifts as well as well placed switching in height. However, their programs were often not as technically difficult as the Russians even as the passion on ice touched the audience.
In the 1993 offseason, a change was made to the rules for professional skaters, stating that those who took money from doing shows could still compete at the amateur ranks. The news was huge, allowing many of the skaters who had been held to professional competitions to compete again for an Olympic title. The biggest name to return to the ice, of course, were Torvill/Dean. Just about 10 years after their win in Sarajevo, Torvill/Dean were determined to earn another Olympic gold. But in the 10-year interval, a lot had changed about ice dance.
After Dubova refused to allow RusFed to see Usova/Zhulin’s programs ahead of the Olympic season, Russia silently started to get behind Grishuk/Platov. On top of that, Usova found out about Zhulin’s affair with a 19-year-old Navka around the Olympics. Navka’s then-partner found out and beat Navka for the affair, before Usova and Zhulin’s mothers started beating each other. So, Maya Usova was distracted to say the very least.
The competition also disallowed classical music for the free dance that year, instead opting to go more modern to appeal more to the audience. Torvill/Dean publicly worried about whether their routines would be suited to more modern music.
With all that happening, the Grishuk/Platov, Usova/Zhulin, Torvill/Dean showdown started in full swing at the European championships, when Usova/Zhulin won the compulsories, Torvill/Dean won the OD, and Grishuk/Platov won the free dance. It was the closest ice dance competition in history at that point and left many wondering who would ultimately take home the Olympic gold, even as Torvill/Dean came home with the European title.
The event lived up to the hype. The first compulsory, the Starlight Waltz, was won by Usova/Zhulin before Grishuk/Platov won the blues compulsory (which is absolutely gorgeous by the way, please watch it) and began to build their reputation as the best compulsory skaters of their generation. Torvill/Dean, unfortunately, looked a bit like their age in the compulsories that Olympics, coming up third in both. However, their rhumba OD was sensational and encapsulated the best of them, including their obvious chemistry on the ice. The original dance placed first in the segment, with Usova/Zhulin in second and Grishuk/Platov in third. The final placements would come down to the free dance.
Torvill/Dean would perform a free dance to “Let’s Face the Music,” which read a bit like a greatest hits free dance, incorporating choreography from some of their more famous programs. While the program did feature closed holds when skating, there was also a ton of lifts and tricks incorporated into the choreography, which seemed controversial among the judges. Usova/Zhulin competed with a free dance based on circus acts. A more humorous routine than their past entries, the free incorporated technical difficulty effectively but was a tad bland, which is truly a feat given what the program was supposed to be emulating. Ultimately, it came up short in their final Olympic competition.
Grishuk/Platov carried away the gold with a controversial free dance to “Rock Around the Clock” (also, side note, the spelling of Grishuk’s name as Grichtchuk in the video I’m looking at is just so obscene it needs to be mentioned). What was the controversial part of this free dance you ask? According to the rules of the time, all dance couples needed to be in hold for a certain amount of time during the free dance. Many media outlets and Torvill/Dean themselves felt that Grishuk/Platov did not meet the required amount of time in hold, to the point where Torvill is attributed to saying that “if the judges wanted a show program, we could’ve given them a show program.” The judges, however, loved the free dance, even giving the team four 5.9s in technical merit and a 6.0 in artistic impression. And so the team that nearly split just two years prior were walking home from Lillehammer with gold medals in their hands. And Linichuk finally earned a second gold medal, this time as a coach.
At Worlds that year, Rahkamo/Kokko earned a long-awaited bronze after 8 senior seasons at Worlds. A French couple, Sophia Moniotte/Pascal Lavanchy earned the silver. And so ended an overwhelming era of ice dance. But as skaters like Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz, Tatiana Navka, Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas, and Elizabeth Punsalan/Jerod Swallow waited in the wings while Canadian and American media lamented the lack of variety at the top, only 1 thing could be stated for certain: the chaos that is ice dance was sure to continue far past 1994.

So I'm going to go to my gm about this tomorrow, but figured I'd post it here and see what you all think.
I work in a corporate restaurant/venue with multiple locations in the US. Inside our building, there are four bars. One of them is a solo/ standalone situation where I work by myself and there are no tipouts or tip shares coming in or out. So I am in the unique position of knowing exactly how much I made when I walk out of the building.
The other day, looking at my paystubs, I noticed a consistent 1.5% discrepancy between credit tips on my records and my paycheck. It only comes out to a couple bucks per paycheck, but my concern is this is happening to every bartender and maybe servers across the company. Advice?
Edit: Going to start printing a second copy of my end of shift report for my records, and go online to print paystubs so I have physical evidence. I told my other boss and he laughed. Said to gather proof. I think he's hoping to stick it to corporate.

I’ve been lurking in this sub for a while and haven’t posted yet so i hope this fits the criteria.
I have been serving for 3 going on 4 years now. i have also worked almost every part of a restaurant- host, carside, expo, runner, serving, cooked, and bartended at previous restaurants. i have been working at this restaurant i’m at for over a year now (dining room server). i have asked to be moved to the bar and have been skipped over multiple times. recently i had a meeting with my owner (i work for a small business) over something unrelated- an altercation with a manager. the owner and i did not see eye to eye and i told him i wanted to quit and brought up the bartending issue as a reason why and he directed me to talk to my GM about switching me to the bar. literally 2 weeks later (last night) my GM comes to me and tells me that they won’t move me because the owner “doesn’t support it” but he didn’t give me a reason why. i feel like it is because of the conversation we had because according to my GM and my coworkers-im good at my job. i clean i get good reviews from my tables. like literal comment cards.
i feel very disrespected by my owner and he doesn’t even know me well. he comes to the restaurant MAYBE 1 day a week at most. and mostly on those days i don’t see him for more than 10 mins.
i just feel very lost and don’t know what to do.
(i’m also writing this before my shift so i’m sorry for grammatical errors i’m rushing.)

You might be see headlines in the press of:
1- "So-and-so was laughed at [during a speech / during an interview / in a group setting]"
example: "Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian Got Laughed at by the Emmys Audience"
2- "So-and-so was booed and ridiculed [during a speech / during a interview in front of an audience / in a group setting]"
example: "Elon Musk booed off stage at a Dave Chappelle show"

Breakdown

The implication of these kinds of articles are that the individual being on the other end of some disrespectful aggression is to blame.
That they MUST have done something wrong; that the boorish audience is correct in its assessment and their reaction follows naturally from something said individual did wrong.
Never is it mentioned that it is vulgar of the crowd to boo and disrupt when someone is speaking. Or mentioned that it is gauche/lame/desperate for someone to laugh at another person.
The aggressor isn't blamed, only rewarded for their actions.
White culture prizes social aggression; its display is an automatic conclusion to indicate the target MUST have done something wrong (more so if they don't like the target or gain in some way by getting people to hate on the target).
But if you've lived any number of years in the US, you know that whites don't need a reason to taunt you, or laugh at you, or heckle you.
They will do it simply because they don't like you or because of some pent-up aggression or whatever, but their disrespect does not flow from your actions or is justified by them.
The reason I mention this is to bring up that whites weaponize displays of disrespect and the larger culture often validates what the disrespect seeks to do, which is to lower the standing of the target. You might have been stung by this kind of disrespect in the past.
My purpose is to uplift Asians in mentioning all this- and show how to respond when this happens.

3 Rules to Live By:

1. Do not take it personally or assume you've done something wrong when whites snicker at you, make some off-hand comment in your earshot about you, make a disgusted face at you (I could go on).
2. Do not assume cause and effect: Uncle Toms, Chans, Krishnas - whatever you want to call them- in a group setting may be inclined to fault you when whites disrespect you because they are unaware how white culture weaponizes these shows of disrespect, whereas our home culture, people would only disrespect you for something you actually did wrong. They will advise you to change your ways and conclude you did something wrong. Do not let their misguided nature phase you.
3. Respond or Ignore: You have to choose your spots. There are times it's better to speak up and there are other times it's better to pretend they are not there.

Simple Examples

I'll use simple examples from my personal life. I was in a bar with my friend (a Chinese-American male, similar age as me) and some white clown for some reason was mimicking what we were saying to each other. Rather than waste any time, my friend just ignored him and we talked as if he wasn't there.
Importantly, he didn't look at him, stop what he was saying, didn't look frazzled, but remained confident and didn't show any signs this person was saying anything. The white person likely being drunk meant he was just an attention-getter and once he realized he was having no effect, he gave up.
Another example was when I was sorting some issue out at a restaurant and some guy snickered and made some derogatory comment about me. I went up to him and in his face said "What did you say?" in a loud voice. It got him to stop.
Asians are usually seen as passive targets; there is much to gain as a community in us standing up for ourselves in these situations.

In Conclusion

The reason I mention this, even though it might be obvious to some of you, is that disrespect is weaponized in white culture.
Once we break our natural association with disrespect to 'errant action', we realize we are often not at fault when it happens, and should act in ways that discourage the offenders. Having this awareness may uplift Asians in combatting elements that cut away at their quality of life.
I'd be curious other examples people have from their own lives.

This particularly uninteresting Friday, with the outside temperature reaching up to 90 degrees (32 Celsius for my European friends) I decided to avoid cooking, and instead order something.
"How about Chinese?" My new roommate, Nick suggests. He moved in with me last week after my old roommate moved out due to some bad blood between us, but it's in the past now, I hope.
"Nah, they take too long to deliver, by the time it gets here it's already cold," I said as I scrolled on Reddit, not really looking for anything in particular. I glance up at Nick, who was looking at me.
"Mcdonalds then?"
I shake my head in response. "They always get my orders wrong." Nick sighs. "You're hard to please." I chuckle. "I guess so."
"What do you suggest we eat then?" He crosses his arms. I shrug in response.
He sighs again, this time deeper than before.
Something catches my eye on my phone, an ad for a new restaurant. Hell's Kitchen. It's actually in our small town. "That's creepy" I mutter under my breath.
"What's that?" Nick calls out from the kitchen.
"Nothing!" I call back. He walks back into the room, wiping his hands with a towel.
"It's just this conspiracy theory, how the government listens in on our conversations and then gives us appropriate ads." Nick raises an eyebrow.
"We were talking about ordering food, and I got an ad for this new food place in our town, Hell's Kitchen."
He plops down on the couch next to me and leans in to look at my screen. "Looks fancy."
I click on the ad, which takes me to their homepage. "Let's see what they have got."
I navigate to their menu page and we begin scrolling through each item.
"Hell wings.." Nick gulps down on his saliva. "I wonder how spicy those are." He absolutely loves spicy. "Evil fries, what kind of name is that? They just look like regular fries." I comment, each item has a unique name related to Hell.
"Pizza of darkness, that sounds good." Nick points out with his finger. I shake my head in disgust. "It has pineapples dude." He chuckles.
"Then how about Inferno Pizza? It's just spicy pepperoni." I shrug, "Maybe, definitely sounds better than pineapple."
"We could also get some tortured hamburgers." I point out to him.
"I don't feel like eating a burger.." Nick replies. "And you say I'm hard to please." He laughs at that, I laugh too.
After discussing a couple more options we finally settle on Pizza of Wrath. It's put together with pepperoni, bacon strips, and mushrooms, + a mild ghost pepper sauce.
"Is there a number we're supposed to call, or do we order online?" Nick questions as I begin looking for the phone number.
"Don't see an order online option, there must be a phone number listed somewhere on the website."
"Ah there! Found it!" I exclaim in excitement, my stomach rumbles. Nick chuckles. "Me too, me too."
After confirming what we're ordering with Nick, I dial the number. It only rings once before someone picks up. I wait for a moment, to let them introduce themselves, as all fast food places do, but there's only silence, so I speak first.
"Uh Hello, is this Hell's Kitchen? We'd like to order some food."
A deep raspy voice responds. "Yes, what would you like to have?"
"Okay, we'd like two Pizzas of Wrath, small Evil Fries, and two large cokes of Doom." I cringe internally having actually said all that out loud.
The voice waits a moment before speaking again, "Is that all?" I look at Nick for confirmation that I didn't forget anything, but he's preoccupied with giggling like a little girl. I'm not sure which one of us is more cringe.
"Yes, that will be all."
"Okay, it'll be delivered to you in a minute."
"Wait, I didn't give you my address!" I shout into the receiver, but it's already too late, they hung up. I sigh, and then redial. "The recipient you are trying to reach is currently not available, please try again at another time."
"What's up?" Nick questions, having finally stopped laughing. "They don't have the address, and now the number is disconnected? not available? What does that mean? I just talked to them a moment ago." I'm beginning to get irritated.
Both of our heads jolt to the front door as someone rings the bell. Then we both look at each other. "There's no way, right?" Nick asks. I stand up and begin walking toward the front door.
Looking through the peephole, I see a man dressed in a business suit, with dark short hair, holding a couple of pizza boxes and a small paper bag on top. His eyes are a deep red, I didn't even know such an eye color existed.
I take a deep breath, suddenly feeling nervous, and open the door. The man towers over me. He smiles, "Is this Jonah's and Nick's residence?" I gulp down a bunch of salivae, how does he know my name? Much less Nick's? I never mentioned it on the phone.
I nod in response. He smiles. "I have your food delivery here, my name is Lucifer."
A deep shiver goes down my spine, an incredibly uncomfortable feeling, it's like my body is screaming at me to run back inside and slam the door shut, that whoever is standing in front of me is highly dangerous.
"Why don't you come inside?" Nick suddenly appears beside me.
I shoot Nick a look, but he ignores me.
We both step aside to let Lucifer in.
The delivery guy takes a deep breath once inside and walks into the living room, placing the boxes and the paper bag on the small coffee table in front of the sofa.
I gulp and then speak, "How much do we owe you?"
He turns around and smiles at both of us. "Would you like to pay now, or after you die?" "After I die?" I stammered back at him.
"Yes, you'll sign a contract to pay after your death."
"I'll pay after I die," Nick says beside me, grinning. "Sounds fun."
"I'll pay now.." I respond. How would I even pay after I die? This sounds too sketchy. Nothing makes sense about this situation.
Lucifer nods and claps his hands. Suddenly, two folders with documents appear on the small coffee table, beside the food. He motions for Nick to come over, and snaps his fingers, a pen appearing between his fingers, which he hands over to Nick.
Nick looks excited as he takes the pen. Lucifer flips open the folder on the left. "Read through this if you want, otherwise you can sign here, and here." He points with his long finger to the bottom of the page.
"Jonah, want to come over to check your contract out?"
"My contract? I thought I'd be paying now." He nods. "Yes, you will be."
I walk over with shaky legs and look at the contract laid out in front of me.
Service Contract This contract is between the following parties; Contractor: Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness Client: Jonah Upon mutual agreement, the client will have 31 days to complete the following to pay for the services provided by the Contractor. 1. Consume the food that was delivered. 2. Introduce 3 friends to Hell's Kitchen. 3. Sever ties with the closest person to the client. 4. Murder a single person. Failure to comply with these terms will result in the client immediately relinquishing their rights to their soul.
What the fuck is this? A joke?
"Can't I just pay with cash?" I look up at Lucifer, he smiles and shakes his head. "By ordering our food, you agreed to sign either one of the contracts provided."
"What's the other contract then? How do I pay after I die?"
He nods to himself, "You'll work at Hell's Kitchen for 7 years, after that your debt will be paid off."
I swallow hard and take a deep breath. "I wish to pay after my death then."
Lucifer claps his hands together. "Excellent choice!" He exclaims a little too loudly.
A new contract appears before me.
Service Contract
This contract is between the following parties; Contractor: Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness Client: Jonah
Upon mutual agreement, the client will work at Hell's Kitchen for 7 years after they die.
Failure to comply with these terms will result in the client immediately relinquishing their rights to their soul.
How did I even get here? I just wanted to get some food...
"Done!" Nick exclaims excitedly, grinning from ear to ear, and hands the pen back to Lucifer.
He points the pen toward me, signaling for me to take it. "Ready to sign?"
"What if I don't want to sign either contract?" I ask, not wanting to sign either contract.
Lucifer sighs and places a palm on his face. "Refusal to sign either contract will result in your immediate extraction to Hell, where you'll stay till the end of time." His voice suddenly turned demonic, sending a chill down my spine.
I take the pen from his hand, and he retracts his palm off of his face and fixes his collar. I sign the contract with shaky hands.
"Excellent!" Lucifer exclaimed and then clasped his hands together, the contracts suddenly disappeared.
"I hope you enjoy your food." He comments and begins walking back toward the front door. "We will," Nick responds.
Once the front door shuts behind him, I collapse on the couch, beginning to shake.
Meanwhile, Nick opens up the paper bag and takes out his Coke, taking a sip.
"What the fuck just happened?" I question him.
"What do you mean? They delivered our food, nothing else happened."
I sigh. "Since I basically signed my soul away, I might as well eat what they brought." Nick nodded profusely and opened the pizza box.
In contrast to the scary experience of having to deal with Satan, the food tasted better than anything I'd ever had before.
So all that was yesterday, me and Nick haven't talked about it again. We did have a small fight this morning, he gave me a black eye, and I broke one of his legs, so he's in the hospital right now. I don't know what came over me, or him, but I was just so incredibly angry at everything, including him, and he seemed to be the same way.
I snapped out of it after I slammed a chair against his leg and heard a crack and then a loud scream.
The food was 100/10 in Hell's Kitchen, would highly recommend it. The price however was outrageously high. I can however still safely say that it was worth it, and I'm thinking of ordering again.

Hey all,
So let me start by saying my dreams are exhausting. There is always a different plot to the dream, sometimes is a continuation, like it picks up where it left off type thing.
That's pretty standard as far as i can tell. But whats really crazy is that for years, ever since i can remember, i have been dreaming of another world. It started small with my Memas old double wide, and gradually increased in size. I do not have control of my dreams but i consistently recognize my surroundings and remember there is a whole world attached to whatever part im in and i can teleport myself just by thinking of that place (again its unintentional). Now its so huge i have to map it in parts in the waking world.
In the north there is a desert city (think the first Assasins creed type city. In the city alongside the giant cliff wall in the back is a temple that goes deep into the earth and is filled with many creatures i have to fight to get past.
In the east is the coast, and the ruins of what was once a massive city, now its a shelled out crumbling place that is still at war even now. In the west is another coast, with a beach cabana resort, a giant dock, and the beginning of some cliffs where a group of bandit like individuals camp out that i run into when im flying around as a dragon.
In the south is a great forest with the tallest trees imaginable, and in the middle is a small hamlet village thing with small people inhabiting it (think gnomes or dwarfs)
In the center is the city, and surrounding it is jagged mountains and steep green valleys where many floating homes are clinging to the sides of the mountains. In the city is a historic downtown, with antique stores, bars, restaurants, a giant hotel skyscraper, many many tall buildings i dont yet know the purpose of. There is a mall, a school, a cemetary. There is country areas with big sprawling properties with cattle and horses. There is a giant park in the middle that i guess is a wildlife refuge cause there's gators in water. Etc etc etc
I keep discovering new places, like an apartment i apparently live in with roomates i apparently dont like, and and haunted mansion that i cant resist, that has many hidden rooms and passages. And to top it all off, a lot of the time i am fighting for my life, running from danger or attempting to rescue my friends/loved ones from whatever horror vists me at night. Sometimes ill even have dreams where i start on my world, and i get on my giant rubber duck float and feel the force of leaving the atmosphere, and the gut drops when i zoom into other planets to look at them from the sky. They have cities and spaceships and the colors are insane. This has regularly become a part of my nightly experience.
What is happening to me? Im really considering signing up for a sleep study, i can never get true rest anymore. I wake up drenched in sweat and exhausted because it feels SO REAL. Does anyone else experience this? Does anyone have any explanation or am i just going crazy?
I posted this elsewhere and got one reply that did really help me get it under control for a bit... but now? Its getting REAL concise. Im talking i had a dream yesterday that i was there and gathering my friends together at my dream apt so we coukd find out why things were messing up and dying/breaking down. Then last night, we go to the south, past the village deep into the mountainous woods and we decide to go down that giant sinkhole in there. Turns out theres a frigging UNDERCITY this whole time and we met the dude in charge. He stole one of my friends and cast the rest of us away in a tunnel of fire at first, and it turned into this bluish green tube and next thing i know im alone, my physical body is on the shore and im stranded in the water trying to get back to it on the boatdock side of the map.
Tldr: I have vivid dreams that exhaust me and I think im going crazy but its been way to concise for me to just drop it

I initially tried programs like OpenShell and StartIsBack to modify my Windows 11 to look more like Win7 or XP, and I tried different ways to approach that. None of the free programs changed my taskbar, expect something called RetroBar (and OpenShell only adding it's logo to the corner of the taskbar).
I tried WindowBlinds11 30-day trial and every theme I applied did change things like the "titlebars" of programs and the colors of file explorer and task manager, etc. I would've liked that, but WindowBlinds didn't modify my taskbar at all. I even tried it by combining OpenShell, but it still didn't allow me to change the look of the taskbar.
I ended up uninstalling OpenShell, WindowBlinds and all these UI-altering programs. I still noticed, that certain areas of Windows, like notification boxes when deleting a file from the trashbin or the background color in registry editor had changed to a brown-ish color, when it should be white by default and always has been. (I think this color had been associated with a WindowBlinds -theme I had tried earlier)
I Googled this and someone had recommended the "Purge" command to undo these changes by Stardock. I purged and rebooted, nothing happened. I reinstalled WindowBlinds, applied the default theme, then purged, rebooted and nothing happened...
So, I had a System Restore -point, that was created when first installing OpenShell a few days earlier (I believe this was before I had installed or tried WindowBlinds). So I reverted Windows back to that point and nothing else had changed, expect that the background color in these different Windows -boxes was now blue (this was similar or the same color as the "accent color" that had been chosen in 'Settings > Personalization > Colors', although the option "Show accent colors on tile bars and windows borders" had been unchecked.
As an example, I just chose an ordinary picture of regedit (from the internet), and as an reference just added the color change in Paint, like so.
It's not the correct color I'm seeing, but just an example. And also, in my reference pic, there's an upper bar that has "Name", "Type" and "Data" in the colored area, which is actually still remained white.
When removing a file to Recycle Bin or deleting it from there, the notification area should look like this, but instead it looks like this.
How should I fix this, is this even Stardocks/WindowBlinds fault, is there an easy fix for this or what?
UPDATE: Apparently, I still had WindowBlinds installed when I checked (I thought it was uninstalled even after the System Restore -point) but I couldn't open it or uninstall it and the "Purge" command just said errors. So I re-installed WindowBlinds and effectively, whenever I choose the "Default" -theme, it's basically like default Windows, except for the background changes in some areas (like the screenshots above).
So, Reinstalling WB, changing back to "Default" theme, doing the 'Purge' -prompt and rebooting Windows didn't do anything once again.

Demographics: Chinese female from South Carolina
Intended major: Computer Science or Computer Engineering
Note: My Highschool from 9-10 was entirely sports oriented hence why I barely have ECs from before then
UW GPA: 3.98/4.0
W GPA: 5.147
SAT: 1230 (applying test optional for all schools)
APs (also not submitting scores):
- APUSH
- APHUG
- AP CS-A (will take Fall of Senior year)
Dual Enrollment:
- Government and Politics
- Chinese I-IV (will complete senior year)
- College English 111-112
- Introduction to Python
- Physics
- Calculus
ECs:
- Speech and Debate (member all 4 years; President 11-12); 1ST Place SCISA STATE
- Computer Surgery Club (Founder and President): Aims to help non profit orgs with tech related things (ie. building and donating computers, setting up software, giving tech talks etc)
- FBLA (11-12; Vice President 12) : 5th place district- Public Speaking
- piano
- SPARK! (11-12; CompSci Captain 12): teaches middle schoolers about different topics but I specifically did CompSci
-CompSci tutor (12): tutor people
- Multicultural Cooking Club (11-12; Communications Officer 12)
- This summer I'm going to Germany to do AI research in Bioinformatics at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
- Volunteeering at local library
Awards:
- RIT Computing Award
- CCNA: Intro to Networks Certification
- Federal Aviation Administration Student Pilot (Working towards PGL)
Work:
- Restaurant Cashier (Family business 9-12)
Misc:
- AI and Neural Networks Summer Program (10th)
- Arduino and Robotics Program (9th)
- Building computers-HOBBY
- CompSci Spike (6 CS credits/courses by the time I graduate) + ECs
​
Schools:
- NC State
- Brown
- CMU
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- Northeastern
- UMass Amherst
- UMich
- Cornell
- RIT
- Stony Brook
- Northwestern
- MIT (for shits and giggles)
- Virginia Tech
​

Boston Globe
Boston's finest.
​

A man who spent nearly 19 years in prison for the murder of his cousin, a charge later dropped because of police and prosecutorial misconduct, on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the Boston police detectives who allegedly paid key witnesses and buried evidence that could have exonerated him.
Shaun Jenkins, 45, was convicted in 2005 by a jury and sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of Stephen Jenkins in Dorchester, based on the false theory that the cousins had been fighting over drug turf and customers, according to the 45-page civil complaint filed in US District Court in Boston.
In quick succession in the fall of 2021, Jenkins was released from prison, had his conviction and sentence vacated, was granted a new trial and had his murder charge dropped. Those actions came after then-newly uncovered files showed that police failed to investigate another potential killer and paid two witnesses $100 each for their testimony.

...

The lawsuit names the city of Boston, Boston police detectives Daniel Keeler, Dennis Harris, Kevin McGoldrick, Paul Schroeder, and Paul Farrahar, commanding officer of the police homicide unit.
Keeler, who was the lead detective on the case, is a polarizing figure who has played a role in other verdicts that have since been overturned. He retired in 2016 after nearly 40 years in the Police Department.

...

“BPD sat by for 19 years and watched as Shaun was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, even though the problems with Daniel Keeler’s squad were well known and evidence of Keeler’s misconduct in this case — an improper witness payment — was sitting in the BPD’s own file,” said Benvenutti Hoffmann, a New York-based civil rights lawyer. “This is a symptom of deep systemic problems at the BPD.”
It was Keeler who paid two key witnesses $100 each to implicate Shaun Jenkins in his cousin’s death, the lawsuit alleges.

​

I initially tried programs like OpenShell and StartIsBack to modify my Windows 11 to look more like Win7 or XP, and I tried different ways to approach that. None of the free programs changed my taskbar, expect something called RetroBar (and OpenShell only adding it's logo to the corner of the taskbar).
I tried WindowBlinds11 30-day trial and every theme I applied did change things like the "titlebars" of programs and the colors of file explorer and task manager, etc. I would've liked that, but WindowBlinds didn't modify my taskbar at all. I even tried it by combining OpenShell, but it still didn't allow me to change the look of the taskbar.
I ended up uninstalling OpenShell, WindowBlinds and all these UI-altering programs. I still noticed, that certain areas of Windows, like notification boxes when deleting a file from the trashbin or the background color in registry editor had changed to a brown-ish color, when it should be white by default and always has been. (I think this color had been associated with a WindowBlinds -theme I had tried earlier)
I Googled this and someone had recommended the "Purge" command to undo these changes by Stardock. I purged and rebooted, nothing happened. I reinstalled WindowBlinds, applied the default theme, then purged, rebooted and nothing happened...
So, I had a System Restore -point, that was created when first installing OpenShell a few days earlier (I believe this was before I had installed or tried WindowBlinds). So I reverted Windows back to that point and nothing else had changed, expect that the background color in these different Windows -boxes was now blue (this was similar or the same color as the "accent color" that had been chosen in 'Settings > Personalization > Colors', although the option "Show accent colors on tile bars and windows borders" had been unchecked.
As an example, I just chose an ordinary picture of regedit (from the internet), and as an reference just added the color change in Paint, like so.
It's not the correct color I'm seeing, but just an example. And also, in my reference pic, there's an upper bar that has "Name", "Type" and "Data" in the colored area, which is actually still remained white.
When removing a file to Recycle Bin or deleting it from there, the notification area should look like this, but instead it looks like this.
How should I fix this, is this even Stardocks/WindowBlinds fault, is there an easy fix for this or what?
UPDATE: Apparently, I still had WindowBlinds installed when I checked (I thought it was uninstalled even after the System Restore -point) but I couldn't open it or uninstall it and the "Purge" command just said errors. So I re-installed WindowBlinds and effectively, whenever I choose the "Default" -theme, it's basically like default Windows, except for the background changes in some areas (like the screenshots above).
So, Reinstalling WB, changing back to "Default" theme, doing the 'Purge' -prompt and rebooting Windows didn't do anything once again.

I ended a thirty-year drinking career six months ago under the influence of, first, a therapist (had me go through one of those checklists where you think you're doing pretty good checking only a few boxes and then the punchline is "any one of these indicates a likely drinking problem") and, through random serendipitous chance, almost immediately reading Alcohol Explained by William Porter. That book is similar to David Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol in that both try to attack what Carr calls the "brainwashing" that leads us to think alcohol (and, by analogy, other substances) "fix" things that are missing in us or truly provide a "crutch" (e.g., making us "more comfortable" and "less inhibited" in social situations). In fact, of course, the substances we abuse create almost every problem we think we are "fixing" by imbibing.
I read Alcohol Explained first, back in December and January. I just read the Carr book (actually, in both cases, I listened to audio versions, which was a great way to do it, I thought). Both of them talk about the fact that humans are basically born with a highly developed ability to socialize. Look at children at a birthday party. Perhaps a little shyness for the first 20 minutes, then bam, shrieking and running around together and not wanting to leave two hours later. Of course there are SOME people who develop some issues for various reasons and experiences, but nowhere NEAR as many as the people who gradually become convinced they "can't" feel comfortable in social situations without alcohol. But if you think alcohol is truly "helping" you socialize, fixing some congenital defect, ask yourself: How come this problem didn't really arise until after some significant exposure to alcohol?
Carr in particular emphasizes the importance of not changing what you do just because you quit drinking (with the exception of activities that you ONLY do for the alcohol, like hanging at a bar with fellow barflies you met there and only see there), because--since his book does such a good job eliminating the brainwashing that makes you think alcohol "helps" in some way and that its absence will be a problem--well, there won't be a problem.
This may sound crazy to some of you, but I have found it to be true. Five days after quitting drinking, I went to a New Year's Eve party thrown by neighbors in my extremely alcohol-friendly neighborhood. So, people I like, but people who DEFINITELY enjoy drinking. Bottles all over the counter, just about everyone with an alcoholic beverage in hand. And yes, I felt slightly awkward for twenty minutes and then I got talking and suddenly it was two hours later and I was having a great time (and not feeling so "uninhibited" that I started slurring my way through great long know-it-all speeches but actually enjoying a back and forth and learning things about my friends I hadn't known before). Literally NO ONE sniffed my glass and demanded to know where my required alcohol was, and if they had, I'd have known they weren't really my friend.
And last night, almost six months clean, I once again went out to a nearby restaurant/balive music venue where a lot of my neighbors hang out. There was an awesome funk band playing, and I was home alone with my 12-year-old daughter who told me she wasn't sleepy. So, at 8 p.m., we walked over. Time was, at 8 p.m. on a Friday, I would already have been drunk and high. I might still have taken my daughter out, but in that condition should I really have been crossing streets without a stop light, navigating dark city streets (pretty safe rural city, but still)? And my daughter's 12 now--how much longer did I really have before she would be really consciously noticing how different I am intoxicated, and how unsafe would that be making her feel? Surely it was already happening by the time I quit.
As it was, we sat with friends, enjoyed the music, she had a slushy and I had a soda water (looked just like everyone's vodka drinks or whatever and NO ONE CARED ANYWAY), and I enjoyed not only the music but NOT feeling my gut fill up with alcohol and greasy food I wouldn't otherwise have eaten. My friends were jolly and fun but also their cheeks started hanging loose and they got that stare a drunk gets when maybe they are on the edge of too much, and I knew in the morning they would be feeling the after effects and I would be well rested and fresh. And perhaps best of all--and this is one of my favorite parts of not drinking, how I can now be responsible and a protector of my family, and at any moment I can drive them to the ER without risking a DUI--I knew I wouldn't be drunk-walking my daughter home through traffic and dark streets reeking of booze.
My friends, it was awesome, and I did not miss drinking for a second.
I highly recommend these two books.

For independent western travelers, Japan demands more planning than, say, a trip through Europe. But the corresponding rewards are huge. And you absolutely don't need to hire a guide, so long as you do basic homework (which is half the fun of travel, anyway).
This is the last of three reports from our recent four-week journey, covering ten nights in Tokyo, one in Nikko and three in Kamakura.
HIGHLIGHTS
Tokyo--Nippon Professional Baseball at Tokyo Dome; May Grand Sumo tournament, Hamarikyu garden; Tuna auction
Nikko--Toshugo shrine
Kamakura--Sunset spectacle at a seaside park
TOKYO, Monday 5/22
For this 7-night leg, we chose Park Hotel Tokyo (the top floors of the Shiodome Media Tower; $208/night with breakfast). The lobby is on the 25th floor, requiring separate elevator rides to reach your room. Access to subways is a mixed bag (Shiodome Station is next door; more useful Shimbashi is a longer walk). There were far more Americans than our other hotels, and the ample breakfast buffet wasn't as fabulous, either (an admittedly high bar). On the other hand, the area teems with great, affordable places to eat. Our room had something we'd never experienced: a fog-free bathroom mirror (the new must-have!). And when we opened the curtains of our 28th floor room in the morning, there was Fuji in all her glory, an unforgettable vista. What more could you want?
TOKYO, Tuesday 5/23
Our first stop on a drizzly day was the Imperial Palace grounds, last of our highly recommended Imperial Household Agency tours. The adjacent East Garden, open to all, is worth seeing, too.
After lunch, we checked out the nearby National Museum of Modern Art. Kudos to management for allowing photography. The highlights room on the top floor is a great survey, and if you're short on time you could skip the rest, unless a special exhibition piques your interest.
We caught a fantastic show about Tokugawa Ieyasu at the private Mitsui Memorial Museum--the best single exhibition we saw. Unfortunately, it closes tomorrow, June 11; but that's a place you might keep an eye on.
TOKYO, Wednesday 5/24
We visited Senso-ji first thing. We liked it so much we went back a few nights later to see it lit up. Either way, it's a must.
Lunch was at Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku, a welcoming place that's been dishing up made-to-order onigiri for almost 70 years. It's a Bib Gourmand. Show up just before 11 am to avoid a wait; otherwise, you'll be given a time to return for a seat.
We went to Tokyo Dome to catch a Yomiuri Giants game, stopping off first at the adjacent, very worthwhile, landscape garden, Koishikawa Korakuen (geezers over 65 half-price!). The game itself was a trip, much like an American football game, with non-stop chants by fans and on-field cheerleaders between innings. Our lower-deck seats, bought in advance from the team's website, cost under $35 each.
TOKYO, Thursday 5/25
Like other great cities, like New York or Paris, Tokyo is made for strolling. On this day, we were flaneurs, with stops along Omotesando, the tree-shaded fashion avenue that calls itself Harajuku Champs-Elysees, and hip Cat Street nearby. The area wakes up slowly, so consider a visit at midday or later.
Lunch was a pure pig-out (pun intended) at Tonkatsu Nanaido. Can't recommend it highly enough; the wait was a tolerable 30 minutes (dinner reservations possible). Try to ignore the health implications of tender pork, fried (extremely lightly) in pure lard. Pure heaven.
TOKYO, Friday 5/26
Meiji Shrine and garden got us going in the morning, and the Meiji Jingu Museum was well worth a stop.
We were somewhat ambivalent about sumo but bought advance tickets to the big May tournament because, well, when might we ever see sumo in person again? It turned out to be the surprise hit of the trip: a spectacle with deep historic roots, more engaging and suspenseful than we imagined. Advance online tickets are gettable; no middleman required.
TOKYO, Saturday 5/27
The Tokyo National Museum lives up to its reputation as the best in the country (at least the best we saw). We made repeated visits and still didn't see it all. And it's free for those of us over 70. One of our favorite items: a 1,500-year-old ceramic sculpture of sumo wrestlers and a judge. The museum's enlightened view toward photography means we'll always have our pictures to remind us of what we saw.
TOKYO, Sunday 5/28
We spent a relaxed Sunday morning at verdant Hamarikyu Gardens, a park that borders Tokyo Bay. The former playground of feudal shoguns is an urban oasis of water features and classic landscape design. You can happily spend a couple hours strolling its paths.
In the afternoon, we checked out Ginza's main drag, closed to vehicle traffic. We wish, though, that we'd known that Akihabara's Chuo-dori is also pedestrianized on Sunday afternoons.
NIKKO, Monday 5/29
We cabbed it to Asakusa Station and caught the Tobu Kegon express to Nikko. Light rain didn't stop us --or hundreds of other umbrella toters--from visiting glorious Toshugo Shrine. Far better, though, was our visit the next day. At 8:30 a.m., the shrine was essentially deserted; crowds started arriving at 9:30. That quiet morning hour was reason enough to have spent the night in Nikko. It also kept us ahead of the crowds at Rinnoji Temple and nearby Taiyuin and Futarasan Shrine, all well worth visiting.
Nikko Station Hotel Classic ($270, including excellent meals) was the most old-school place we stayed (They still put top sheets on the beds). Masking is requested, and at breakfast, guests are asked to don plastic gloves before going through the buffet line. The onsen in the basement was absolutely first-rate, as was our meticulously prepared tofu kaiseki dinner at the hotel restaurant.
TOKYO, Tuesday 5/30
For our third and final Tokyo stop, we chose the Ueno area and weren't disappointed. The well-run and sophisticated Nohga Hotel Ueno Tokyo ($217/night, including breakfast) is on a quiet street just a short walk from Ueno Station and park, with its many attractions.
TOKYO, Wednesday 5/31
We wandered through Yanesen, a traditional neighborhood sometimes described as a hidden gem, and began our end-of-trip shopping on mid-century Yanaka Ginza.
Lunch was at Inshotei, a lovely traditional restaurant in the heart of Ueno Park, booked online before our trip. 3.59 on Tabelog.
TOKYO, Thursday 6/1
Tuna! We initially took a pass on the early morning auction, discouraged by reviews on this sub and elsewhere that dismiss the relatively new Toyosu auction site as vastly inferior to the former one at Tsukiji market. But an old Japan hand persuaded us to give it a try. We're extremely happy we did. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the open-air observation platform and the experience became a trip highlight.
Up and out by cab before 4:30 a.m., we had about half an hour to watch and hear the action directly below us. It may not be Tsukiji, but it's the only Tokyo tuna auction you've got. I say go, especially if you can snag open-air gallery passes.
KAMAKURA, Friday 6/2
There weren't a lot of great choices for lodging in the coastal town of Kamakura (a day trip for Tokyo residents). We needed a quick getaway to Haneda Airport on Monday morning, and Hotel Metropolitan Kamakura, a JR East property, fit the bill. It was pricey ($292 per night with meals) but our room was spacious, even luxurious by Japanese standards, and smack in the middle of the action.
KAMAKURA, Saturday 6/3
I wondered, before leaving home, if we'd get templed-out, like other travelers do. It never happened, though torrential rainfall, spun from the remnants of Typhoon Mawar, tested us at the end. On the plus side, we had the Great Buddha and Hachimangu Shrine completely to ourselves; the downside was soaked clothing and shoes that would take time to dry out (fortunately, we brought extra pairs, and our collapsible umbrellas did the best they could).
By afternoon, the skies cleared and hundreds of surfers rushed to ride the storm-generated surf. We caught the action from the sands of Yuigahama Beach.
KAMAKURA, Sunday 6/4
Early, before other tourists arrived, we checked out Engakuji temple, but were helpless in the face of Sunday crowds at Meigetsuin temple, better known as Hydrangea Temple. The blossoms were exploding after the rain but visitors clogged the pathways. We fled to Kenchoji, totally empty by comparison, and had a final, restorative Zen moment in the peaceful garden behind the main hall.
Last stop of the tour, after one more omakase sushi dinner, was sunset at Inamuragasaki Park. We never expected what we found: a spectacular view of Fuji, the entire mountain outlined against a multi-colored sky, with pounding waves and a few hardcore surfers in the foreground.
It was a concluding surprise in a trip filled with them, a journey that greatly exceeded expectations. Four weeks turned out to be just about right for a couple of geezers. But it left lots of stuff on the cutting room floor, like Nagasaki, which I still want to see, and much more. Next time, maybe.

My partner and I have spent almost 4 years in an incredible penthouse apartment in Surry Hills but now the landlord is moving back in, forcing our move. We’ve settled for a place in Erskineville as it was the best of a bad bunch… the market is a joke right now... We loved Surry Hills so much so we’re sad to leave. We don’t have kids so vibes are far more important than stuff like schools. Can you hype us up a bit about Erskineville and the nearby area to improve our mood? Bars? Pubs? Restaurants? Nightlife?

I (f20) started dating my boyfriend Jason (M 27) about 8 months ago. I was the other women, I didn’t know. He was dating Jessica (f 27) at the time. Jason has known Jessica since childhood he’s good friends with her brother Adam (F 27). They we high school sweethearts as well. From what I know, they had a pretty bad relationship, of course I only heard Jason’s side up until recently. Jessica’s father owns a restaurant where Jessica and Adam are the managers. I started working there a year ago, where I hooked up with Jason. Devastated, Jessica broke up with him and Jason and I start dating immediately.
Jessica is a very beautiful women. I won’t lie I get pretty insecure around her. Long curly hair, perfect body, face, skin, business degree, and very sweet which is why I feel so bad about being the other women. Recently I’ve noticed she’s been giving me good tables that tip well at the restaurant. When Jason brings me to hang out with his friends, they make jokes about giving me Apple juice since I can’t drink yet, or pointing and saying “Look OP a play ground you want to go? Just mean jokes like that, and Jessica tells them to lay off (Jason gets mad at ME for these jokes so I hate when they make them). Jason also complains to them about my parents not letting me move in with him, and about how I don’t drive, and can’t go with them to bars. Jessica usually tells him to stop complaining and that it’s not MY fault. She also just talks to me like a normal person and includes me in the girl talk with her friends even though they are much older than me.
I told my own friends about this and they said “oh she’s plotting something”. They think Jessica is going to try to sabotage me/ our relationship in some way and try to take Jason back. Jessica has a new boyfriend already though. I actually got into some trouble by Jason when Jessicas boyfriend came into the restaurant to bring her food. All the servers were talking about how hot Jessica’s boyfriend was. I laughed along and Jason saw and got really angry with me. He didn’t talk to me for a day.
Last night I got the courage to text Jessica just ask her why she’s so nice to me, and if she was doing it to sabotage me and Jason. She respond with (copied from the text message) : “Op you’re a sweet girl with a good head on her shoulders and you’re being controlled by a toxic man! please do not let him ruin u I made that mistake when I was younger my advice to u is to run! She also told me about some things that happened with she and Jason while dating. The most scary one was about how he threw a mirror at a wall next to her. This obviously scared me so I asked my friends for advice.
My friends say that this is apart of the sabotage. She’s trying to get me to leave him. They tell me Jason’s parents are rich, he has his own house, a car etc. and I shouldn’t drop him because no guy our age has all of that. I do agree those things are nice, but sometimes I get tired of him blaming me for things I can’t control.
TDRL: I’m torn. Should I listen to my friends or Jessica my boyfriends ex who’s being nice to me. Is she plotting??