Hello, I will be taking my mom to Italy later this year (will be her first time in these cities), and she's keen to check out a fashion outlet in Italy.
As I will be going to Florence, Venice and Milan, based on what I have read so far, the options nearby these cities are: - The Mall (Florence) - Noventa di Piave (Venice) - Serravalle (Milan)
My questions are: - Is there any other outlet not listed above that you'd recommend? - Is any of the stores above better than the other, or are they pretty much the same? (To me as a non-shopper who doesn't understand fashion, the brands on offer look rather similar) - Is it worth spending 1+ hour of my day to commute to and from the outlets in the first place, i.e. are they actually discounted a lot? Or would it be similar to the shops in the cities?
Thank you

mall opens at 10 a.m., i have a fantasy about servicing some men in my store and having them cum for me. very new to playing with men, been straight all my life but for some reason i love cock and cum so this is strictly handjobs, would only consider sucking if i find your cock really attractive and you can prove your clean. would love to have multiple guys in this but idrc.
looking for white, decent looking, clean!!, not overweight, with an average to above average cock, heavy cummers come first lol
me: 6’0, average build, 8 inch cut cock, nice small perky bubble butt (hairy tho). these are just some stats i dont wanna be touched or anything (ass grabbing is fine) im just interested in servicing men and having them cum, not me.
DM me if serious about this, i will not give out the name of my store/my identity through text, that stuff will be revealed when you come to our agreed meet up spot at the mall.

Pt 1 If you haven't read it.
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Pt 2 If you haven't read it.
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Pt 3 If you haven't read it.
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Hope you enjoy Pt 4 and happy reading!
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*Flick* "Aligning descent profile for re-entry." I had made all the final preparations
*Flick* "Prepare for comms black out in 10" William began the countdown.
"9"
"8"
"7"
"6"
"5- when you get back I absolutely *have* to show you this really old movie, interstellar, its a classic" Will interjected.
"4-Oh my stars we're about to enter the atmosphere of Ix-5 at 7km/s and all you can think about is showing me some old movie when we get back?!"
"3- Fine."
"2"
The plasma had begun to lick around the edges of the heat shield and up onto the windows.
"1"
The comms began to make a static hissing sound.
"Just breathe." Will muttered to himself.
The whole shuttle began to shake violently.
"PASSING MAX-Q" Will had to shout to be heard over all the rattling.
Just like that, it began to quiet down, the fiery inferno of re-entry plasma died down and we began our coast down to find a suitable landing spot. Comms had also returned.
*Click* "I'd just like to let everyone know that we made it through re-entry just fine." Will had radioed back to the ship.
The sound of faint cheers from bridge could be heard.
"Engaging cloaking device" *Flick*
A loud hum could be heard as the cloaking device not only prevented us from being seen by eyes, but also seen by any radar, sonar, or other means of detection spun to life.
"So where should we land?"
"Oh just a few more kilometers to shore, then I'll just find a nice, secluded spot and we'll spend the next couple of days getting to know the locals!" I responded gleefully, as this was my first time with a civilization that didn't just learn how to farm.
After carefully gliding down we landed in a patch of grass-like vegetation. Will pointed out all the leaves were all black, to which I responded by telling him that the vegetation had to adapt to capture more of the light spectrum than the vegetation on Earth, because of the dimmer, red dwarf this planet orbited.
We had set up the basics, communications equipment, synthesizers, and a variety of other scientific tools.
"Hey, remember when you said you wanted to see an example of human food! Because I do!" Will exclaimed giddily.
After plugging in a drive and pressing a few buttons, the machine whirred to action, printing out a most unusual dish.
"So keep in mind this is just one dish out of... out of well I don't really know how many different kinds of dishes we have, all you need to know is that it's a very large number... But here's too hoping you enjoy it!"
What came out were this white, almost sphere like but more so a squat raindrop shaped... things. Will called them "Dumplings", and they smelled delicious, though he had dipped them in this brown liquid he called "Soy Sauce" that I really did not care for as far as smell goes.
I carefully picked one of these dumplings and bit into it.
"Oh my" I said, albeit muffled by the food.
"It's good isn't it! I told you!" Will grinned.
"That's quite the... texture. I don't really know how to process this. It's so soft and yet firm. Nutrient packs are so much easier, they don't make a mess and they're just so efficient, I mean, you could probably play around with the recipe, make them tastier. Right?"
"You just don't get it do you." Will said, shaking his head.
"Oh well, more for me." He grabbed at my half eaten dumpling.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"So you DO like it then!"
"No, just, ugh, leave me and my dumpling alone, I've already had my Nutrient Pack for the day I'm going to hibernate now."
Will rolled his eyes at my response.
"Fine." He said in that same begrudging manner as before.
I walked on over to the hibernation chamber, a circular area just big enough for me with a warm, gentle breeze flowing over. As I was going inside I heard Will behind me closing up the door after bringing everything inside.
"Wait... you were going to tell me about.... sleep..." I muttered out.
"Oh yes so hold one, could you just fully wake up for a little bit so I can explain, so your species, and for that matter every other alien species I've met, sleeps one hemisphere or one part of their brain at a time, but humans sleep the whole brain all at once."
"What's that like?" I replied, still in the grip of hibernation.
"So for starters we are like, FULLY unconscious the whole time, we can be woken up but we have a very, VERY limited understanding of what's going on around us. We also go limp so we don't move around accidentally, we still do. It's not perfect but it works enough to where I can say, "yeah we go limp"."
"But aren't you... what happens... if... someone ambushes you at night?"
"In all likelihood unless we happen to be right next to a weapon or something good enough, we die."
"Oh my. How... how did this not drive your species extinct?"
"I'm left wondering that same question too Tomō."
This might be the first time I've heard about a human ever being truly defenseless. Will had disappeared off into another room to change, returning in only a pair of shorts. Which left me examining his exposed torso. Human skin is wrapped quite tightly around the internal structure, and there seems to be very little, if any, loose skin, it also seemed to only be composed of one layer, most others I've meet without loose skin have special layers that can break off. Perhaps humans might be less sturdy than I had come to expect. No no that can't possibly be true I thought to myself, or as much as I could with half a brain working.
The morning was punctured by this infernal clattering from Will's bed, his arm swung up and smashed down on a small table next to him, causing the sound to stop.
"What was that?! Did someone find us?!"
"No... it was just my [Yawns] Alarm, we need to be startled to wake up and that [Will yawned again] was the startling noise."
Will climbed out of bed, shuffled over to another table (Those humans have a lot of tables) grabbed a fresh change of clothes and made his way over to the bathroom to change.
That's when I heard it, a loud SHHHHH sound from the bathroom, I made my way over to the locked door and shouted:
"EVERYTHING OKAY IN THERE WILL?"
"YEAH, JUST TAKING A SHOWER."
"A WHAT?"
"SHOWER"
"WHAT'S THAT?"
"I DON'T CARE FOR THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW."
"OH OKAY."
I shuffled back over to my hibernation chamber, pulling the divider closed I took in a bath of UV sterilizing light and changed out of yesterday's uniform, and into todays, which on scout missions is always a set of cloths made to imitate the look of whatever cloths are common on whatever world we're scouting. In this case it was a brown turtleneck sweater, some black pants, 6 pairs of gloves as the basic orbital scan of their unencrypted communications revealed they obsess over cleanliness, often sporting multiple pairs of gloves for specific tasks, kept in separate pockets, land lastly, a sort of shawl like piece of fabric, apparently used to protect yourself from the midday dust and wind storms.
The disguise of our more... alien features was provided by some makeup, changing our skin to a sort of pale grey. We also made use of some printed prosthetic noses, wigs, and ears, which made our faces impossible to distinguish from the local inhabitants.
Once I had finished applying all my disguises, I exited my chamber and walked over to where Will was, standing by the synthesizer watching it print up a breakfast.
Will, who hadn't even donned the appropriate clothing at this point (he was wearing a simple outfit of black shorts and a grey t-shirt), was oddly enough, sopping wet. His hair had turned a jet black color due to its saturation of water, releasing its store down his face and his neck, resulting in the back of his shirt, and the front collar turning a visibly darker shade and sticking to his body, at this point I also noticed that his skin was covered in beads of moisture glinting in the sun.
"Why are you so wet?" I asked him.
"It has to do with a shower, I get myself under this sort of, simulated rainfall, only the temperature is nice and hot, and use soap, not the same kind you use to clean your hands, but the function is still the same, I then put some stuff in my hair which gets rid of oily build up, the water rinses everything off, but by the end I'm soaking wet, I will need to dry off properly though before I put on all the disguises."
As he grabbed his tray with his hands, still damp from the shower, and the skin around his fingers was all shriveled up.
"Your fingers look like mine now! See!" I asked, moving right up next to him to better show him my fingers.
"It just increases the surface area so I can grip things better underwater, only happens if they get wet."
"Why wouldn't they be like that all the time?"
"Once again I'm left wondering that question myself."
"So what's on the menu for "break-fast"?" I asked
"Well for starters, it's just one word, breakfast, and secondly, I'm having two slices of buttered toast, an egg, and a black tea. Standard human breakfast, though Coffee is more popular."
"Black tea...?" I had heard of Coffee before and its danger to other species, and was hoping that this tea drink lacked any of this substance known as Caffeine.
"Yeah just a little caffeine to wake me up."
"CAFFEINE?! That's... that's a.... that's a Class IV chemical weapon! They banned that centuries ago! How?! What?! Oh my... Oh my..." I began to hyperventilate.
"Relax! There's only what... 50 milligrams in a cup."
"FIFTY?! FIFTY!?! ONLY FIFTY?!? THAT'S TEN TIMES THE DEADLY DOSE! WHAT ARE YOUR THINKING!" I shrieked, though deep down I did take note of how that was less than that of Coffee.
"Shhh, you'll risk us getting caught, calm down, don't worry I'll have the cup disposed of properly, I've done this every day and so far, no one's gotten hurt." Will said in his standard, nonchalant attitude that has become so typical of him, a tone which did not seem anywhere near appropriate for the situation.
"SO FAR?!" I was not heeding his instructions to calm down, it's typically very hard to do so when faced with something that could lead to a violent death.
"Look, look, it's totally harmless for us humans, besides, the Federation strictly manages our recreational use of substances highly dangerous to other species, such as but not limited too: Caffeine, Capsaicin, and Cocoa. I make one wrong move and my ass is sent to jail."
I was shocked, frozen with shock, at least I wasn't screaming but I felt like I couldn't move a muscle. Capsaicin was last used by the Rx'lac to murder billions, Cocoa I hadn't heard of before so it must have been something unique to Earth, but it terrified me still. In my frozen state I waited for the cup he drank from to be destroyed, and at this moment I began to regain my motor functions.
After rigorously drying himself off with a towel and this awfully loud machine he pointed at his hair, Will began to
"Now, could you help me apply the makeup?"
Human hands, while much sturdier than what most of us use, in the case of Captain Reloxyn, she has 6 tentacles which can vary their diameter, and in the case of Zorxians like myself, we have the two hands attached to their respective arm much like a human, but the geometry of the fingers themselves are different, each finger is made up of 3 fluid filled sacs, attached one after another in segments, each sack is attached to the previous with a variety of muscles, which gives each joint the ability to make movements with a full 120 degree range of motion, in any direction. While this makes them far more fragile, due to the lack of skeletal structure, this makes us quite dextrous.
But yet, I noticed that Will's right hand, arm, and ankle were already painted, which puzzled me, if he could paint his right side, then why couldn't he paint his left?
"Do you really need my help? You did just fine painting the right side of your body."
"Tomō, do you really know so little about humans?"
"You know you're the first human I've met!"
"Humans tend to have what's called a dominant hand, what it means is that there's one hand I am really good at using, and another that I'm not so great at using, I *could* train myself to use both hands equally well, but I never really had a need, and even when it would've come in handy, there's always been someone else who can help me. Like you!"
"Aww, thanks!" I responded.
"In my case, my dominant hand is my left one, fairly uncommon. Only about 10% of people are like that, the rest are right handed, and a very small number are born with both hands being of equal capability."
"But you really should get on it with the whole training your right hand. There won't always be someone to help you."
"And yet there always has." Will responded jokingly.
"We ready?" I asked.
"Just have to get some things ready, hold on, if this society is so obsessed with cleanliness, how come they don't wear face masks? I doubt they've gotten to a point where they've already eradicated all diseases. That should take them at least another century."
"Oh, this is the really cool thing about this planet! So basically, airborne diseases never evolved! They just... don't exist here!"
"Absolutely fascinating." Will responded.
"Everything we need is now in the bag." He pointed to the black bag slung over his shoulder made from the local flora.
"And we should be ready to go!" Will enthusiastically marched over to the shuttle door, opening it at saying;
"After you!" With a look of pride on his face, odd, if anyone should be proud, it should be me, after all, this mission is already off to a good start considering he's a rookie.
The red light of Ix bathed the planet in this warm glow, Ix was rare for a red-dwarf system, as most habitable planets are tidally locked, but we marched through the woods, noting observations of the local ecosystem that we stopped periodically to jot down in our notepad.
About halfway through the forest Will stopped suddenly, turning back to face me.
"You forgot to tell me what bridge came up with for our secret identities? Oh stars, saying it like that makes me feel like some kind of super-spy!"
"Oh yes, I must have gotten distracted..." I reached for my communicator.
"Okay, so we're two hikers, you named Po'ol and I named Gra'aul, and we just finished up a nice long hike and so we're off back to Hl'Ix, population 12.8 million, and about a 2 hour train ride. Oh by the way, I have to share the language file hold on... yup that should do it! Congratulations you are now fluent in Ix!"
A requirement of working for any Federation job was the implantation of a language chip which allowed the user to become fluent in all 608 languages and, what they called "Significant Dialects" spoken in the Federation, though for people working on exploration vessels like me and Will, we had access to a file sharing system so we could download new languages for the planets we visited after the central computer processed them.
"Thanks!" Will responded from a meter or so ahead of me.
We continued our march down to the road, where we walked parallel to it as cars zipped by. Eventually the forest we had landed in cleared way for farmland, which after about 5 kilometers or so more walking, started to turn to houses with expansive yards, which gradually became smaller and smaller as we neared the center of town.
"You getting tired yet?" Will asked me, we had decided it was best for him to walk behind me, so we could make sure we stayed together.
"Yeah, but just a bit longer until we make it into... whatever the name of this town is."
"Alright."
We continued to make our way into the town, named Urup and with a population of about 3 thousand. When we got there it was almost devoid of any activity, and the wind had started to pick up, which carried in dust. Thankfully we anticipated this, having donned contact lenses to keep debris out of our eyes, and using the shawl to cover up our mouth and nose. At this point will stopped to pull out a small, and very thin, weather sheet, which he released into the wind. This device would record the weather conditions as it gets carried by the wind. Just after doing this, he turned to me and said,
"Weather at time of release: Temperature: 10 degrees Celsius. Wind speed: 56 Kph, rising. Feels like: 5.2 Degrees Celsius, falling. It wasn't able to get a good reading on dust concentration because it's rising too fast so that should tell you everything you need to know."
The wind nearly blew Will's shawl off, but he grabbed it just in time, and me, being too focused on Will, had let my own shawl blow away in the wind, and while Will had tried to reach for it, the wind carried it away far too quickly for him to get it in time, only missing his fingers by a handful of centimeters. I quickly covered my mouth with my sweater, though this did leave part of my midsection exposed to the elements, a suboptimal position to be in during a dust storm of this magnitude.
"Dammit! Almost had the blasted thing!" Will shouted, the rush of the wind was beginning to drown out our voices.
He put his hand in one of the many pockets on his pants, that's something everyone can appreciate about Ix fashion, anything below 10 pockets is simply unacceptable. Anyways, Will pulled out a small pair of scissors, and quickly removed his shawl.
"What are you doing you can't remove your shawl in these conditions!" I shouted back at him.
"I'll be quick, don't worry!" Will responded as he cut his cloth in two.
"Here!" He said handing me the now removed half of his shawl, and quickly covering his face with the remaining half.
We continued on, though this time much slower than before, as we didn't want to loose our balance and be toppled by the wind. Never before had I ever had to deal with wind this intense, no wonder they assigned the human.
"Squat down! Boundary layer winds should be slower!" He shouted to me while bending down to waddle his way across the street to the hotel.
Squatting down only provided minimal relief, as I suppose one would have to crawl to truly take advantage of this effect. Slowly but surely we made our way across the road, over to the hotel. Opening the first set of doors we were met with a powerful blast of air, which prevented any dust from getting in. Only until after the doors had closed, and our clothes were sufficiently purged of any particulates that had somehow lodged their way into the remarkably dense fabrics. Eventually though, the blast died down, and the second doors opened automatically.
The doors opened to reveal an interior with a largely brown, beige, and black color pattern. The whole lobby was lit with a quite warm color tone, with the lightbulbs occasionally flickering and all the windows had been sealed off behind steel plates. Eventually Will turned his head to face a desk spanning quite a large distance, located just in front of a large board with all the room numbers located next to a light.
We could vaguely hear someone talking to another person, emanating from behind a door marked "Employees Only", Will glanced at me, pulling my attention to his gloves, which he began to swap out for a new pair. I quickly followed suit. Eventually, just moments after I finished putting on a new pair of gloves, one of the people from behind the door exited.
"Why on Ix would there ever be customers walking in during the middle of the storm! We issued the alert 2 hours ago!" The woman said to the man who stayed in the room as the door closed behind her.
Turning around to face the two of us, and walking over to the main part of the check in desk, she began to speak to us.
"Hi my name us Za'ul!" She said, showing us her name tag.
"Now what can I do for the two of you! Must've been miserable trapped out there in the storm!"
Will began to approach the desk, seeing this I decided to sit down and catch my breath, the 10 kilometer walk had exhausted me, it was remarkable to see Will barley fazed by it.
"Hi my name is Po'ol and this is my hiking buddy Gra'aul, we just finished up the most beautiful of hikes through that nearby forest, so we're on our way back to Hl'ix! I was wondering if you could get us a room please and thank you ma'am." He said in a sort of folksy manner, not too dissimilar from the way Za'ul spoke.
"Alright you want one bed or two?" She responded.
"-Two please." He said, almost cutting Za'ul off.
"All right! You want first floor or second floor?"
"Oh second floor would be lovely."
"Well here's your key and have a lovely stay!"
Will walked over to me.
"Got us a key for room 203, here's your key" Will had switched from his folksy mannerisms to a soft whisper, but I just let the key hit me, I was far to tired to catch it.
"Well I see our hike took quite a bit out of you, so just come up when your ready, I got the bags don't worry."
I nodded my head in silent agreement, I was exhausted, but I knew I should probably go upstairs to the room with him.
"Hold on.." I said, slowly lifting myself up onto my feet and carefully making my way over to the elevator.
Standing in the cramped elevator I noticed Will suddenly had this terrible and persistent oder.
"You okay?" I asked him
"Yeah... why do you ask?"
"It's just... you smell kind of... bad."
"Oh!" He chuckled with that same old chuckle I had heard a million times before.
"Yeah, uh, I'm sure after I explained to you what a shower was you were probably perplexed as to why we don't do the standard UV bath, but basically humans smell bad after a long day, or after a long enough, or intense enough period of physical exertion. Showering gets rid of the smell. I did notice the Ix had only a single layer of skin, and hopefully this means they too have the scent issues that humans have, and thus also make use of showering."
"I see. Can you take another shower when we get to the hotel?"
"Tomō! That's... don't say that to other humans okay, you can be direct with me like that but... a lot of other humans will not take that kindly. Just letting you know that."
ding
The elevator had made its way up to the second floor.
"Let's see, 203... 203... here it is!"
Will unlocked the door and opened it.
"Oh thank the stars they have actual beds and it wasn't just a translational error!" He cried out in relief.
Will ran over to the bathroom.
"And they have showers too! Just Wonderful! Don't worry a shower should adequately clean you too."
"Oh I brought my own portable UV sterilizer, I'll be fine."
"You just relax down I'll take care of the report back to bridge."
I made my way over to the beds and just collapsed into it. Hibernating while laying down was not ideal, but at this point I'd do anything not to be on my feet anymore. Eventually I decided that I didn't care for lying face down, and instead rolled over to face Will, just to make sure he didn't botch the report.
Eventually once he finished his report, he walked over to the rooms corners and placed the sound barriers, which would cancel out our voices making sure nobody heard us. Which he, well, I was supposed to do first thing upon entering, though I was far to tired, and Will must've only just noticed. You know, when he first got here he really just annoyed me to no end, but now, he's really settled in and has gotten really into the hang of things, and sure, he's weird, but you know what, he's a human, he's not weird, just... different.
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I think I'm going to leave it off here, I know I promised some action but this is just where the story lead me, and it was already getting long. Part 5 will be out tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Hey everyone :) so like the title says my in laws have very generously purchased a stroller for our baby. Baby is due in October but they purchased now because there was a big sale. The stroller they purchased is the 3 wheeler, Joie Crosster stroller in black with brown leather crossbars. I am grateful for the gift but unfortunately this is not the stroller I wanted. And it wasn’t cheap, about $700 for a simple stroller with no included accessories such as car seat or bassinet.
To start, it is only front facing without the ability to flip the seat. I am a first time mum and have always been excited about parent-facing strollers, especially in the first few months, as I think it’s adorable and I wanna look at my baby!! There is the ability to purchase compatible additions that could be parent-facing but this will at our own expense of hundreds of dollars.
I also am not overly excited about the look of the stroller. It is a cross terrain, 3 wheel stroller with huge back and front wheels meant to help crossing into different ground types. My partner and I are wholly city based and are not very adventurous/nature exploring. We will just be using this stroller around the city, shopping malls, travelling to friends and families houses. I am also only 152cm and it’s quite tall and bulky.
Lastly, I feel there are better strollers and stroller sets available that I would have preferred, that would have much better suited my preferences both functionally and aesthetically. Unfortunately I checked the store they purchased from and they don’t do refunds, only exchanges or store credit, but this store doesn’t have a large variety of strollers, none that I like.
Am I being extremely ungrateful for feeling this way? It’s just not the stroller I dreamed/spent hours researching about. But I know the gift came from a good place, just maybe the wrong choice? Does anyone else have experience with this stroller and how was it?
Thanks xx

Mods, I hope this is okay.
I realize all the members of this Reddit are likely spread out all over the northern hemisphere. However, I thought it would be helpful to do an “in search of” and/or list some of the items we’ve found in our local BBWs in case some of us are local to others. I’m sure we’re all looking for that one thing that might not be available online (or maybe you just don't want to pay for shipping!).
Of course, you’re participation will depend on your level of comfort with sharing your location. I completely understand not wanting to do that!
The following locations and stores local to me have an abundance of these products:
GA, Metro ATL - South Lake Mall
Poppy Lotion
Gingham Love Body Scrub
Gingham Love FFM
Gingham Love Body Cream
At the Beach Shower Gel
You're the One Shower Gel
Disco Day Dream FFM
Disco Day Dream Shower Gel
Pure Wonder FFM
Pure Wonder Shower Gel
​
GA, Metro ATL - McDonough (Jonesboro Rd.)
Hello Beautiful Lotion
Hello Beautiful Body Cream
Groovy Watermelon FFM
Groovy Watermelon Lotion
Sun-Ripened Raspberry FFM
​
ISO: GA, Metro ATL: Strawberry Pound Cake! Good God, where is it?!?!

I've been browsing this sub for about an hour now and it seems like me having this result should be a good thing. My doctor thinks otherwise. He said I should retest before I do an MRI but wrote me an order for both and left it to me to decide. I see people here in the low 20's range and they're being told it's perfectly normal. I have very bad insurance and I don't want to enter this rabbit hole of costly tests for something that might not even be the cause for my ailments.
​
For those who would like more information:
I'm 22 Male, 175lbs, 5'5"
Free testosterone level as of May 24, 2023 is 444 NG/dL. My first test was a month prior at 387 NG/dL which is why my doctor recommended me to test my prolactin.
I started taking zinc, magnesium glycinate, glycine, ashwagandha, D3, and L-theanine which all helped with various issues I felt which is laziness, fatigue, increased headaches, low mood, and a type of dizziness I can only explain as vestibular migraine like where I start to get kind of nauseous and feel faint when I'm in places like shopping malls and grocery stores.
I saw an eye doctor to get my prescription done and told her about my symptoms as I initially suspected it was something with my eyesight. Everything came back normal for eye pressure and looking behind my eyes. my eyesight was slightly worse but nothing significant since my last test in 2021.
I do feel more energized after starting the supplements and getting more sun, but after going on a short trip out of town I've suddenly fallen back into this depressive state because of being constantly tired and lazy. I can't get my work done on time anymore and even when I try to just relax on my computer to watch youtube or play games I start to feel like I'm just doing something wrong and end up staring off into nothing for long periods of time wondering why I've become like this. The day feels long and dull despite having responsibilities and work to do.

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In short- I am looking at how the storage environment (STORE) affects the quality of winter squash. I measured 10 different varieties of winter squash (CV), over the course of six months (DATE). The question I am asking is, how does the storage environment affect the quality of winter squash over time, and by variety?
The quality parameters I measured were soluble sugar (Brix), Starch (Starch), dry matter (DM), interior color (LavgI) (AavgI) (BavgI), Exterior color (LavgE) (AavgE) (BavgE). L*a*b* are measurements of color. L=Lightness, a= red/green on a spectrum, and b= yellow/blue on a spectrum. LAB info
I have two storage environments- PGC and THG.
In each storage environment, I had the same 10 varieties of Squash randomly distributed in bins, and would remove 4 of each variety each month (REP).
So, My response variables are: DM, Brix, L*, a*, and b* interior, L*, a*, and b* exterior, and Starch.
My explanatory variables are STORE, CV, and Month. I also measured AvgRH and AvgTemp within each storage unit.
One of my committee members suggested getting rid of 10 lines and only having three to simplify things for the viewer. He suggested that I group varieties of squash that have similar attribute together.
I am thinking he means if a certain variety has a dry matter content of 10-14%, 15-19%, and 20%+, create groups for them, which would mean I have 3 lines on my line graphs representing varieties instead of 10. I could do the same for the other quality parameters.
Can any one help me understand how to:

1. create new factors with my existing levels of those factors in r?
2. use those new factors to create ggplots?
3. I am open to other suggestions you may have outside of what I have asked if you think it may work better.

This is the code I have been using:
WSD %>%
group_by(STORE, CV, DATE) %>%
summarize(avg = mean(DM,na.rm = TRUE)) %>%
ggplot(mapping = aes(x = DATE, y = avg, group= CV, color= CV)) +
facet_grid(~ STORE) +
geom_line() +
theme_minimal() +
labs(x='DATE', y='Mean DM', title='Linear Regression Plot') +
theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust=0.5, size=20, face='bold'))
​
I uploaded a screenshot of my data, if there is a preferred way to share just lmk and I will edit.

Trip Report- 13 days Tokyo/Kyoto/Hakone/Nagoya (Ghibli Park) /Hiroshima with a 2 year-old toddler. (plus day-trips to Nara and Osaka)
I love reading other peoples' trip reports and thought it might be useful to share my experiences travelling with my wife and toddler in Japan. We used Shinkasens for most of our travel between cities but did rent a car in the middle so that we could drive to a rural Onsen and then to Shirakawa-Go from Nagoya. (We also briefly rented a car to visit 3 plaaces around Hakone, too).
First of all, traveling with a toddler in japan is great. Our kid loves trains and busses and got tons of attention and shouts of "KAWAI!!" from friendly people everywhere we went. She even got a lullaby sung to her by a Japanese grandmother as she dozed on a city bus in Kyoto. She never had to pay for any bus fares or train fares. (technically she was a "lap baby" on the Shinkansens).
We read a book of etiquette before we went and it was very useful to know. I am sure most of these tips are stickied elsewhere , but things like "don't point with one finger, always grasp cups with both hands, don't wipe your face/mouth with the hand-cloth, don't talk loudly in restaurants or on trains, keep yen bills neat and flat and use the trays provided when paying for things," etc, were good to know before we went. We brought and carried a "point-and-say" translation book but only used it once; generally Google Translate worked great for images of menus and signs. (and many restaurants have English versions of menus, or use digital menus on iPad that can switch to English. ) Google maps handled most of our navigation needs without issues too, both via train and car. We parked the stroller outside most restaurants or folded it and brought it just inside the door if the weather was bad.
Prep work --
The only major prep work we did before leaving was to buy our JR pass and alert our banks to the dates that we would be in Japan so that our credit and debit cards would work. We had no problems getting cash from the ATM machines at 7-11 or at the Airport. We reserved all hotels/AirBnB/Onsen/Car Rentals beforehand. Also bought SkyTree tickets before departing. We stayed up until 4am to get a ticket to Ghibli's Grand Warehouse -- fortunately only one ticket was needed since our child was under 4 and my wife wasn't interested. We rented a mobile hotspot device from Sakura Mobile before leaving America and it was waiting for us at our first hotel in Tokyo. We dropped the hotspot and charger in a mailbox in a pre-paid envelope before leaving Kyoto.
Major tips -- no need to pack lots of snacks or water each day , since vending machines and 7-11 stores and similar are ubiquitous. Do pack paper towels/ Napkins and extra plastic bags for carrying wet diapers and trash, as public trash cans are almost non-existant. (and when they do exist, they are often just for aluminum and PET plastic bottles) Throw away trash where you bought it, (for things like satay skewers) or bring it home to your hotel. The "pack-it-out" mindset takes a little getting used to, but the results -- a society seemingly without litter-- are superb. Having a lightweight , easily foldable stroller made this trip much easier. Our child often slept in the stroller, and being able to quickly collapse and carry it was key to getting up and down the many sets of stairs in the train stations. It also occasionally doubled as a luggage cart for us. Packing light is key; we picked hotels and AirBnBs that had laundry options to allow us to carry a minimum of stuff. (and no need to bring laundry soap; the washing machines dispense it automatically) My wife wished she had a Japanese-style suitcase with 4 roller-wheels, but I think we did fine with our backpacks , etc.
In general, we didn't have much trouble finding things for my daughter to eat; she loves noodles and dumplings, and even got really into red snapper sushi one night. (basically she loves anything she can dip in soy sauce). Chicken Karage was usually an easy thing to find and feed to her, as were the egg salad Sandos, fresh fruit, and various rice balls from 7-11. Oddly, she also really loved the "pickle-on-a-stick" things that were pretty common in outdoor markets. (I think we got them in both Kyoto and Osaka)
Flights - we flew JAL to from LAX to Narita outbound, and returned on JAL (operated by AA) from Hiroshima to Haneda to LAX. The outbound flight was great; the JAL service was impeccable and they gave my child a model airplane which kept her occupied for hours. We gate-checked our folding stroller on the outbound flight -- the gate clerk put into a plastic bag for us just before departure,
The return flight (operated by American Airlines ) was a step down, but still fine. Transferring planes at Haneda for the return was a little more of a hassle than we had expected becuase you have to exit one terminal, walk a while, exit the building and then get on a free bus, and then go back through security at another terminal. On the plus side, the Haneda international terminal has a padded play area that my daughter liked near the duty free shops. Becuase our return journey was two flights, gate-checking the stroller was not possible, but instead, after measuring its size, we were able to keep it as a carry-on for both legs. (had it been larger, JAL said they would have met us at Haneda with an airport loaner stroller, something we saw other parents using in Hiroshinma and Haneda)
Highlights from each city (focusing on things that my child loved)
Tokyo -- our first night in Japan was a little disorienting: the Tokyo metro station is like a gigantic multi-layer mall-labryinth, and since none of the maps seem to show the "big picture" finding our way to the correct exit lugging luggage was a bit of a challenge the first time . We went back down that night for our fist meal, and by the next day we were practically experts, and were even able to find our way to Ramen Street (on level B1) for lunch and --after waiting in line for about 20 minutes-- slurp some great noodles.
Our first morning we wanted to visit the imperial Palace Gardens, but discovered it is closed on Mondays. Stil, just seeing its moat and stone walls was impressive. We walked to the Children's Science and Technology Museum near Budokan, and our duaghter loved operating cranes and turning cranks of giant Rube-Goldberg machines. (some with bowling-ball sized steel balls moving around). Most of the exhibits were in Japanese, but the fact that this wasn't a common tourist destination made it interesting to visit. On the way home for naps we ate at a random underground food court under an office building and learned how to order a food ticket from a machine for eating at a restaraunt. (a key skill!)
We next headed up to the Owl Cafe in Akihabara, mostly as an excuse to have a visit to Akhiabara, and found it was closed, but seeing the electronics stores and nightlife of Akhihabara was fun. As you might expect, my daughter loved getting Gacha Balls from vending machines (both in Akihabara and everywhere else )
Our second day we spent the morning hunting for the legendary "Elephant Playground" (worth the hunt!) and then went to the nearby Tokyo Childrens' Toy Museum. This was a fantastic combo, and I would recommend anyone with young kids in Tokyo do both. From there we walked to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which was a wonderful oaisis, full of picknicking families and couples. We explored the tropical greenhouse and then had a well-needed rest under a tree near a tea-house in the traditial japanese garden section Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden also was conveniently close to the Shinjuku rail station, which was imporant because we had Sky-Tree tickets that evening, and we headed there directly. We didn't have time to do any shopping or visit the two museums recommended to us near the skytree (Tobacco and Salt and the Tobu rail museum) But we did have what I consider my favorite meal of the trip: beers and gyoza and molten-lava hot takoyaki at a tiny( 6- seat) izakaya a few minutes south of the Skytree. (i'd recommend it by name but it was completely in japanasese and I am not sure I can now accurately ID it)

The third day we visted the Tusikiji outer fish market -- we got there early and and it was quickly full of tourists and good food. (many different kinds of grilled things on sticks, as well as raw oysters, etc) I was amazed that the public bathrooms there were sparkling clean -- as they were throughout almost the entire trip. My daughter loved getting an ice-cream drink at John Lennon's favorite coffiee shop (Yonemoto). On the way back thorugh Ginza we bought an enormous fig wrapped like the crown jewels from one of Japnan's famous fruit-gift stores. It cost about $9, but was absoulutely delicious. (it was crazy to see $200 watermelons and $170 muskmellons in the same store) 

We also took this time in Ginza to do one of the things on my bucket list -- buy an overpriced gift fruit from a fancy Japanese store. We bought the second cheapest thing in there - a single giant fig, and I think it cost about $9. (totally worth it!) . it was just fun to ogle $80 spherical watermelons, and other beautiful, but incredibly expensive fruit.
Later that afternoon visited/saw Shibuya crossing, ate decent and very inexpensive sushi at a 3rd floor conveyor-belt restaurant, and went to Harjuku. (not in that order) Harajuku was chaotic fun, but equally fun was the long peaceful forest walk to visit the Meji Ginku shrine that starts just outside Harjuki station . By now we were experts at tossing coins, bowing, clapping, and praying in the appropriate cycle. (something the 2 year old seemed to quite enjoy). We also knew from our guidebook that we were supposed to walk only on the sides of the path at Meji Ginku -- the middle is reserved for the Gods.
NAGOYA/GHIBLI - We took a direct bus from Nagoya station (cash accepted, Pasmo Cards also accepted) out to the sprawling expo grounds that surround the Ghibli exhibits. Our 2.5 year old loved Studio Ghibli Parks Gand Warehouse, particularly the miniature town where she could run around and pretend to drive a train and serve beer at a drafthouse. There was a furry Catbus to sit on, (of course) as well as another padded Catbus to jump around on for a few minutes with shoes off. Totoro is the only Ghibli character she knows well, and she loved finding hidden Totoros and (and a giant bar-tending one) around the Warehouse.
Arguably, Ghibli park was a little disappointing for us two adults , becuase it was pouring rain when we visited making the long walks between areas less than fun. And despite having moved heaven and earth to get a timed ticket, there still were long lines (~40 min) for areas inside the "Grand Warehouse." It was interesting for me to see the sketches and reference photos a used to make each cell of Ghibli animation realisitic ... but it was annoying and crazy that most areas of the warehouse totally forbad taking photographs. Much of the rest of the Grand Warehouse was just lines for people to take selfies in front of recreated scenes from the movies for posting on social media.
We had watched or re-watched all the Ghibli movies prior to our trip, so we were well prepared, but overall I would say that if you can't get tickets to go to the Grand Warehouse, don't feel bad. (There are many many more magical and wonderful things everywhere else in Japan, and your 2 -year-old will love them just as much. )
HAKONE/SHIRAKAWA-GO/ HIDA (Onsen)
We took a Shinkasen south from Tokyo to Hakone, and spent a day there with a family friend who showed us an ancient tea-house along the old imperial road, a famous Shinto shrine, a deliicious meal, and of course, Mount Hakone with its black eggs, sulfurous fumes, and melty black ice cream. The toddler loved the eggs and the ice cream, of course! For me, sitting and eating tea and mochi in the deep forest along the royal road was like being transported back into a historical Kurosawa film.
If you visit Hakone, I would encourage you to get into the woods and do some hiking. It's a gorgeous area. Apparently the japanese love to drink and tour Lake Ashi on a pair of pirate ships. which added a comic aspect to our visit to the much-photographed Hakone Shrine's Tori gate.
We knew we wanted to visit the truly rural areas of Honshu, so we reserved a night at a remote Onsen near Shirakawa-Go. The drive from Nagoya was stunningly beautiful, traffic was light, and because we had rented a toll transponder along with the rental car, we could just breeze through the toll-booths (which are located at the off-ramps) . Seeing the untouched mountains coexisting with sleek new road tunnels and breathtaking shining bridges made me realize how decrepit American infrastructure has become.
IT was a bit stressful to drive on the left hand side of the road, but conversely, It was great to be able to pull over at will. For example, we could stop at at a small town outside of Nagoya for a delicious prix fixe breakfast at "cafe Pierrot" and again later to see and visit a beautiful riverside Shinto shrine along the road. The car gave us the freedom to and be able to just stop and explore and let our child play in the shallow water surrounded by green hills. Driving in the rural areas wasn't too bad, and doing so let us see a whole other world that we would have missed had we stuck to the trains. For example, we visited a delightful outdoor morning market in the village of Miyagawa and bought fresh produce and some delightful snacks (including fish-shaped custard-filled mini-donuts) from the vendors followed by an impromptu picnic along the riverbank.
On this portion of the trip we also got to experience the Japan's wonderful rest-stop cuisine -- you use a ticket machine to select some items, hand them to a chef behind the counter, and in a few minutes your number is called . We had some delicious Japanese pizza (shaped like a elongated, puffy taco ) fragrant beef curry, and a "Miso Katsu" dish too.
Later we would stop at another rest stop and discover that it had an absolutely epic set of slides and tunnels built into the hillside. You borrow a plastic sled and then slide about 150 feet down a green carpet. It was hearwarming to see how kind and welcoming the japanese children were to our daughter, helping her to slide and showing her how to play and explore the tunnels. Arguably this was my child's favorite part of the entire trip.
Shirakawa Go was great fun for the whole family -- it was definately touristy, but it was great to be able to stroll and relax and learn about Japan's past. (Parking closes at 5pm, though!) We had only a few hours there but I think we would have enjoyed an entire day of strolling and snacking and learning. Interestingly all the parking attendents there seem to be senior citizens.
Our Ondsen was in a small farming comunity outside Hida, surrounded by orchards, mountains, and rice paddies. We were the only non-japanese that we saw there, and it was a little challenging to keep our toddler ccorralled during the formal meals (served in a common area, not in our rooms). As expected, the indoor slippers provided were a bit small for my size-11 feet, but we had a great time in a beautiful, secluded place.
Staying overnight got us a ticket to also visit the large and well-maintained municipal baths just up the road. (each side of which had about 7 pools of various temperatures and medicinal properties) There was a wonderful hiking trail that looped through the deep forest around the town. One of my biggest regrets of the trip is that we did not have more time to hike and explore these lush, pristine mountain woods -- I think I enjoyed our hikes here as much as I did the onsen baths.
The driving portion of our trip ended on the western coast of Honshu, at Kanazawa, but we didn't see much of that city other than a gas station and the rental car return before taking the "thunderbird" train down to Kyoto. (not quite as fast as some shinkasen, but very comfortable).
KYOTO and day-trips:
We had three delightful days in Kyoto, along including day trips by rail to Osaka (to see the market, eat okinomiyaki, and climb Osaka Castle) and Nara (to walk aound and feed the deer in the park and then the koi at a a beautiful botanical garden, stroll through another temple, and to eat the best Udon noodles of the trip while siting outdoors in the forest. In Nara, we also stumbled upon a wonderful Beatles-only vintage record shop called "B-Sels" on an upper floor just across from Nara station, and listened to a street performance of Shamisen music at the station itself. Nara, like Shirakawa-Go, was full of busloads of tourists, but that didn't make it any less of a great experience for us.
Kyoto itself was wonderful to explore on foot -- I won't go into exhaustive detail, but our child loved walking and being pushed in the stroller to various Temples and loved the view from Kyoto tower. (and the Gatcha ball souvenir tower even more!) . She liked the path through the bamboo forest (crowded with tourists) and loved "hiking" through the beautiful and less crowded gardens of Tenryu-Ji temple -- part of which has remained unchanged since the 14th century. We skipped the monkey park.
In Kyoto proper, we walked through Chion-In Buddhist temple , took our shoes off and bagged them, and observed a ceremony -- it was interesting to see how similar it was to ceremonies in America, with the same incense, syllable recitation, and wood-block time-keeping interspersed with bowl-gong ringing .... but on a much grander scale. The size of the wooden buildings is epic, rivaling the stone cathedrals of Europe. Because of the large numbers of steps to get from the massive Sanmon gate to the main building of the shrine, my wife and I took turns exploring and let the toddler play along the paths of the temple's small tea-garden next door.
Hiroshima-
Finally, we spent the last two days of our trip in Hiroshima. It was shocking and surreal to get off the train underground and suddenly be hit with an overwhelming smell of burning -- there was construction work all around Hiroshima station and I don't know if it was from digging pylons down into subterranean ashes, or just from some other more modern aspect of the construction As someone whose worldview was shaped by reading Barefoot Gen as a child, visiting Hiroshima was an important and somber part of our trip.
It was interesting to see that the bulk of the visitors to the Peace Museum visitors seemed to be Japanese school groups. Of course, most of the photos and exhibits museum went "over the head" of our 2/yo child. (she wasn't frightened, just not interested). She did enjoy ringing the peace Bell outside and seeing the collections of paper cranes. We bought books to help share the experience with her again once she is older.
In any event, Hiroshima is a charming city showing no outward signs of being apocalyptically devastated (except at the Peace Memorial Dome) and there is an excellent restaurant district just around the corner from the main train station, with many small restaurants that are open late.
The people and proprietors of Hiroshima seemed particularly kind to us; it's more relaxed there than any of the other cities we viisted. Our chid loved was the "Children's 5-day Science Museum" about a quater mile away from Peace Park that has a lot of hands-on exhibits and two stories of climbing tunnels. We did not do the planetarium there, as it is in japanese-language only and we had limited time.
For us, the highlight of our time in Hiroshima was taking the long ferry to Miyajima directly from Peace Park and then wandering around the narrow streets of Miyajima in the afternoon and evening. It was great to see the oyster beds being worked from the ferry and then later dine on delicious grilled and fried Miyajima oysters.
Our child loved the ferry rides and wandering around Miyajima (there are deer there too) but she also slept for much of our time on the island. The return ferry was part of the JR rail network and so we could use our JR passes for that. (its a short, straighter route).
All in all, Japan was very kid friendly, as long as you can quickly and easily fold up your stroller, and we loved our time in every city we visited. (and could have easily spent much more time in any of them).
Other Thoughts: We bought the Japan Rail Pass, but probably didn't save much money by doing so; My wife estimates that we about broke even with the number of shinkansen, trains, and ferry-rides we used. It was a nice security blanket, though, to know that if we missed a train it wouldn't cost us anything. (but we never missed any trains) . For non JR-line trains, we used a pair of "PASMO" cards. Pasmo cards can also be used at other random retail places as a stored-cash card. When you go through the gates, you must look for ones that say "IC" if you are using a Pasmo card and tap against the NFC pad with it. Using Pasmo is nice because the card is durable (unlike the paper JR Pass) and you can load up enough money for multiple trips on the card.
We use T-mobile, and our plan included 5 GB of "high speed data" while in japan but we weren't sure we would have good service for our rural drive, so we gout a WiFi hotspot from Sakura Mobile. This worked fine -- and its speeds was always faster than T-Mobile's coverage when tested. The hotspot generally would last about 20 hours on one charge. But honestly T-Mobile's Japan coverage was probably good enough that the hotspot was an unnecessary expense; we often used it instead of the hotspot and only came close to the 5GB limit on our last day. If I were on a tighter budget, a shorter trip, or knew I wouldn't be in remote areas, I would skip the Hotspot and just use T-mobile.
TLDR: Tokyo Toy Museum is fantastic for little ones. Ghibli Park (Grand Warehouse) is fine, but our kid probably had just as much fun on many other Japanese playgrounds. If you do choose to drive, don't miss the Japanese rest stops which can be fantastic with fresh food and jungle gyms and slides. Our kid may remember little from the trip except the toys she took home from GATCHA balls, but we have a lifetime of memories gained. Don't miss the Udon in Nara at "Mizuya Chaya", just outside the beautiful Manyo Botanical Gardens.
links:
ELEPHANT PLAYGROUND:
https://www.thetokyochapter.com/tokyos-retro-playgrounds/
RAMEN STREET:
https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/ramen/tokyo-ramen-street/
Miyagawa Morning Market:
https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1255/
Udon at Mizuya Chaya in Nara:
https://www.visitnara.jp/venues/D01057/

So I was looking for good shoe store around the city and I move from Manitoba Winnipeg where they have like outlet stores for Nike, which are really nice. Any recommendations but I should go? I was in the mall yesterday didn’t really find anything good
Appreciate all your suggestions thank you 😊

Just passing it along - I’m most excited for Ruby Dixon’s FF Risda story but it looks like it’s a great anthology!
Here’s a quick descriptor:
Pride Not Prejudice is a charity collection of 21, never-before-published, brand-new stories featuring and benefiting love and Happily Ever Afters across the gender and sexual identity spectrums. Proceeds from both ebook and paperback will be donated to four nationally renowned organizations in support of LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized and oppressed communities in the United States, including PLANNED PARENTHOOD, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN, NATIONAL CENTER FOR TRANSGENDER EQUALITY and HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ADVANCING LGBTQ+ MEDICAL TREATMENT AND EQUALITY.
The following contributing authors are either NYT or USA Today bestselling or LGBTQIA+ or BIPOC own-voice authors who are allies, parents, or children touched by the need to read more romance where people of all identities and orientations find love.
Authors: Amalie Howard ~ April White ~ Camille Duplessis ~ Cynthia St. Aubin ~ Darynda Jones ~ Erica Ridley ~ Hildie McQueen ~ Jade Lee w/a Kathy Lyons ~ Janna MacGregor ~ Jennifer Ashley ~ Mila Finelli ~ Kerrigan Byrne ~ Kim Loraine ~ Kristan Higgins ~ Mira Lyn Kelly ~ Piper Huguley ~ Robyn Peterman ~ Rosalind James ~ Ruby Dixon ~ Sara Ney ~ Clare Rebecca McCarthy
Amazon US link

AggroTelloYoutube's IGS Rep Page
Wishlist (Will give better deals for any of these games)
Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition
Autonauts
Autonauts vs Piratebots
Astronarch
Alchemy Garden
Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders
Adventures of Chris
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
A Story About My Uncle
Alien Rage - Unlimited
Alien Breed: Impact
Alien Breed 2: Assault
Alien Breed 2: Assault
Alien Breed 3: Descent
Build Lands
Beyond Contact
Brunch Club
Blazing Chrome
Beholder
Beholder 2
Breathedge
Crumble
Crashlands
Cats in Time
Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
Claire's Cruisin' Cafe
Caveblazers
Call of Cthulhu®: Dark Corners of the Earth
Curse: The Eye of Isis
Dust to the End
Dead End Job
DESOLATE
Dark Deity
Darkstone
Drink More Glurp
DOOM (1993)
DOOM II
DOOM 3
DOOM 64
Embr
Everhood
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
From Space
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands
GOAT OF DUTY
Game Dev Studio
Golfie
Golf Gang
Garfield Kart
Garfield Kart - Furious Racing
Geometric Sniper
Geometric Sniper - Z
Geometric Sniper - Blood in Paris
Home Sweet Home
Hue
Helheim Hassle
I Am Fish
I am not a Monster: First Contact
Iconoclasts
Ironcast
Just Die Already
Kingdom Rush
Lair of the Clockwork God
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Lornsword Winter Chronicle
Leisure Suit Larry 7 - Love for Sail
OUT OF THE BOX
OUTBUDDIES DX
oO
MageQuit
Main Assembly
Machinika Museum
MegaRace 1
MegaRace 2
Peachleaf Pirates
Penarium
Porcunipine
Police Stories
Rebel Galaxy
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
Snooker 19
Space Crew: Legendary Edition
Syberia
Syberia II
SoulCraft
State of Mind
Serial Cleaner
Slain: Back from Hell
Survivalist
Survivalist: Invisible Strain
The Spectrum Retreat
Turok
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
The Coma: Recut
Tomb Raider V: Chronicles
Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness
tiny & Tall: Gleipnir
The Wild Eight
Terrain of Magical Expertise
Tiny Troopers
TRISTOY
The Suicide of Rachel Foster
The Inner World
Unto The End
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy
Velocity®Ultra
Vambrace: Cold Soul
Wolfenstein 3D
Wayward Souls

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Its like im in a new dream of a mall shooting or grocery store shooting every fucking night and its so realistic and scary hiding behind aisles and running and knowing the active shooters are coming for me. Seeing women and men and kids be shot in my dreams blood everywhere the shit so fucked, im used to the bad nightmares cause ive been a alcoholic who has quit cold turkey tons of times. im getting nyquil for tonight atleast it makes the dreams more bearable and less haunting, some of them are so haunting i cant even begin to describe it my mind creates music and small rooms and horrifying things. good thing i have my doggie by my side at night cause without him id be so scared in my own house at night

Hi everyone, I came here to ask this since many of you beautiful people alr went no contact which must mean you had a job, which must mean you know what to do…
Anyway I’m barely 18 and have been trying to get a job (only ones I can get are like $13/hr and entry level/minimum wage) for a year now and still have not been successful.
I desperately want a job so I can save and move out (with roommates- will probably find them online) but I literally can’t do anything if I have no money.
I revised my resume and showed it to my sibling, he said it’s fine, and that “the job market is shitty rn”
I don’t know what to do, I applied to so many places, be it starbucks, stores at the mall, publix, adidas, cafes, etc… And yet no one responds… I keep getting emails to apply to more jobs but what’s the point if no one will even accept?
What can I do? Is there’s something I’m doing wrong?

TLDR: AI is replacing my special interest as an artist and I believe AI programs are going to plunge us into an even worse dystopia. I am feeling dead inside.
I want to preface this all by making it clear that I will NEVER end my own life. Yes, I may feel like doing it, but I ultimately never will as there are far to many people in my life who would be destroyed if I did.
Introduction
Who am I? I’m a 20 year old lady with mild autism. I am an artist and have known since I was little. I have been working to improve my skills for so many years and am currently in university studying animation. Art and animation are the only things I am really good at. My autism makes life mostly unenjoyable. My art has been the one thing keeping me going all these years.
The Problem
You have all definitely heard of AI art generators by now. I was shocked when Dall-E 2 was unveiled in April last year. We all thought AI could never be creative or make art. Yet all these creative AI’s pretty much came out of nowhere in quick succession last year. Mid journey, chatgpt, stable diffusion, text to video programs, you name it. It just happened all at once.
My concerns should be obvious. These AI systems can make art and even write stories. They can do it at lightning speed and at the cost of electricity. This puts anyone who writes or draws for a living in a terrible position. Companies and individuals will surely go for the quicker, cheaper option. Even if it is slightly worse in quality.
My autism would make getting any other job an actual nightmare so I have been incredibly disheartened by these developments. Not to mention that many creatives are like me and are on the spectrum too. They are often socially awkward and find regular life difficult. Many of them will have their entire future’s ruined by these systems.
I still find it hard to believe that art of all things is getting automated. Art, writing and more. All the creative tasks are getting taken from us. Sure, they can still be hobbies. But that just leaves us with more soul crushing work. And not to mention that future generations will have it even worse. Why would anyone want to bring kids into such a depressing world where all the things we enjoy are monopolized and automated?
A Dystopian Future
Not to mention the other, possibly worse side effects of this new technology. AI voices, videos and images are getting better every week. Imagine how easy it will be to generate a fake video of someone doing or saying something horrible that they didn’t do. And the technology will likely be so good in just a few years that we will have no way of knowing if it’s fake or not. Sounds like the worst kind of dystopia. Some people may doubt that the tech will ever get that good. Well we never thought that AI would be able to creat art, yet here we are. Just look at how much AI images have improved since April of last year. Or heck, 3 months ago!
But back to job/purpose loss. This worries me just as much as the paragraph above. Art is the only thing I have really ever excelled at. And I am now realizing that I probably won’t be able to make it my career. Yes, I do animation so that probably has a while longer. But at the rate the tech is progressing I wouldn’t be surprised if AI takes over animation and VFX in under 10 years.
Where I’m At
I am not exaggerating when I say I am crushed. Truly this time though. I have been through many things that destroyed my spirit, it’s pretty much guaranteed for people on the spectrum. I was bullied my entire childhood, denied being able to be in a relationship due to my sensory issues, isolated from society and more. Yet the one thing that kept me hopeful was being able to show the world my art and make a living off it.
And now it’s gone.
Now anyone can have top tier skill. Anyone can generate anything in any style. Even if I make a new style, someone can just feed my drawings into a machine and infinitely clone them. My skill doesn’t matter anymore. The one thing I truly had going for me is basically worthless. And if not now, in a few years. I have no purpose anymore. I feel worthless. Even though I have more friends and family that love me then most people, I feel worthless now. Even if there is still room for human artists, we simply can’t keep up with the speed AI produces stuff. We will be drowned out by AI works.
I knew I would likely never make big bucks by pursuing art and animation. Unless you run a massive studio you don’t get mega rich. But I knew I could earn enough to comfortably live off my work. With things like YouTube and Patreon it seemed feasible as long as I worked to become good enough. I wanted to start doing commissions online. I wasn’t expecting to get rich, but I was so excited and happy to get started. Then this all happened. I already see many artists online talking about how they’ve lost their jobs or how nobody commissions them anymore.
People often ask the question "Where would you be and what would you be doing if money didn't exist?". Well, the life I had planned out WAS what I would be doing if money had no value.
To be honest, I don't like where the world in general is going. We're spied on every moment of our lives, people are being increasingly fake and we can't provide for our families. Then there's cancel culture, political correctness, wokeness, decaying attention spans and instant gratification. All of which didn't really exist just a few years ago.
Questions You May Have
I want to dedicate a section to answering some questions I can see people having for me as to clear up any confusion.
“You’re Being Dramatic”
I can see why someone might think that. But imagine if you’re entire purpose and passion suddenly became pretty much worthless and you had to face the rest of your life without it. Seriously, imagine it. You’d be devastated. Also, all the things I’ve mentioned here either already have happened or are likely to happen.
“AI will never be as good as human artists”
Maybe it will never be as good as the top 1% but it’s already better then most artists out there. And if it’s this good now then imagine where it’ll be in 5-10 years. Not to mention that even if it is slightly worse, most people will chose it over a human artist simply due to the speed and cost.
”You Must Adapt And Use The AI’s In Your Workflow”
I will. I will do anything to keep my dream alive. I’ve played around with various AI tools to enhance my workflow. But in doing so, the enjoyment is gone and my original visions destroyed. Not to mention that AI will dramatically devalue all creative works, so I may not be able to earn enough to keep doing art as a career.
“These Are Just New Tools”
Maybe now, but they’re already replacing tons of artists, voice actors and more. Also, the end game for these ‘tools’ is to completely remove the need for any skill or talent. An AI image generator makes all the decisions for you, while you type in a text prompt. These systems are replacements, not tools. If you were a brick layer you wouldn’t see a brick laying machine as a tool. You would see it as a replacement.
"You Only Care About Making Money"
Read the part where I went over this. Yes, I am afraid of not being able to make a career off art. But I'm also scared of not being able to get noticed and having my work devalued. If everyone's an amazing artist, nobody is. Also, my parents are wealthy enough to be able to comfortably support me and my two siblings for the rest of our lives. But I don't want this. I WANT to work hard and feel accomplished for doing so. And These AI systems take that away.
“We Can Fight The Companies Developing These AI’s”
Sure, but what will that achieve? The technology is out there and it won’t go away. Even if every government in the world banned these AI’s overnight then they would still be developed in secret. I know some people are suing AI art generators over copyright infringement for using their art to train the AI’s. I personally do not see the court systems ruling in favor of the artists. It will most likely be seen as fair use.
“There Will Always Be A Place For Human Made Art”
I do agree on this. One tiny positive is that physical art such as paintings and sculptures may have a resurgence due to digital art being devalued. But this will likely be a tiny niche.
“This Is Just Like NFT’s”
No it’s not. Everyone knew from the beginning how stupid NFT’s were. We knew they were a pyramid scheme destined to collapse. And they did. AI art and their similar tools are not something that’s going to go away. They are rapidly developing and getting better. They’re going to be more and more widely used in the future.
”You Only Care When Your Own Job Is Being Replaced”
Not true. I have felt very sorry for those who’s jobs have or are being automated. When I first heard of self driving cars I immediately felt dread for truck drivers and anyone in a similar position. I actually will go out of my way to not use the self service checkout in order to help keep the store employees employed.
”Do You Hate AI Bro’s?”
No. I don’t hate anyone who uses or is excited about this new tech. I can totally see their perspectives and we shouldn’t dogpile them. My issues lie with the developers of this technology and the people online saying “LOL GO DIE IN A FIRE ARTISTS! YOU’RE WORTHLESS NOW!”. You’re allowed to love this tech, but actively routing for someone’s downfall is very horrible and childish. I wouldn’t think anything bad of any group of people who were about to have their professions made obsolete.
Conclusion
I am truly broken this time.
I don’t see this getting better. We are entering into an even bigger dystopia then before. I have never felt more hopeless then I do now. I’m only 20 and I’m tired. My spirit has officially been crushed. And yet I’m meant to stay in this game for another 60+ years.
I have been depressed before in life, but this has made me completely suicidal. Never before have I actually felt like ending my life. Yet this has pushed me over the edge. Though I will ultimately never do it.
I want nothing more then to wake up and for this technology to be gone. I would do anything to go back to even just 2021 when it seemed like these systems didn't exist. How I wish technology wouldn't have 'progressed' past that point.
All of us now just happened to be unlucky enough to be born into the most boring dystopia. I have no idea how to find happiness or purpose in any of this. But I will continue living because what else can I do?
If anyone has any questions or wants to discuss things then I will answer them.

"Story Lord: You can' t beat me Rick, I have one million times your motivation!
Rick Sanchez: So do those guys with cellphone kiosks at the mall" -Rick and Morty
Yeah, first of all, I know and understand the grind, but here's a little rant about Smartphone Kiosks in Malls dito sa Pilipinas.
POV: You went into a mall just casually strolling, chilling, and suddenly you thought: "I need a new tempered glass and a stylish case!". So you go to the gadgets section of the mall to try and check out some new cases. Just as you stepped at their realm, you were caught off guard by bombardment of different smartphone agents! Or vendors..idk what should I call it.
" Oppium smartphone sir? Vovo? Fakeme? Anong hanap nyo sir?"
"Maghahanap lang ako ng case, thanks"
"Anong cp nyo sir? Check nyo store namin, maraming bagong unit"
"Sorry, di ko pa kailangan, salamat"
And the look of disappointment they give is just.. I don't know, di ko naman kasalanan kung di ko kailangan eh.
Pero ibang usapan na kapag mamimili ka ng phone talaga. As a reader of latest smartphone releases, syempre may idea ka na kung ano hanap mong phone based sa specs, yung kahit pricey or budget pero alam mong di ka talo sa specs.
Alam mo yung feeling na idodownvote nila yung unit na hanap mo para yung bilhin mo yung brand nila? Not cool, agents, not cool. Kapag tinanong mo anong meron sa unit nila, Snapdragon yan sir, maganda sa ML, malinaw camera, 50mp sir, di katulad nyan Mediatek lang, mas kilala si Snapdragon. Tameme yung isang Oppi vendor sakin nung nagtanong na ko ng benchmark scores tsaka years of support sa product nung sinamahan ko mamili ng phone yung erpats ko.
Sorry kung may smartphone agents dito pero next time research about your product well, and naintindihan ko grind nyo, but take it easy folks, lalapit sa inyo yung isda if you give the right bait. I was in different sales departments including smartphones, pero di kumportable sa tao yung current approach nyo haha. Tsaka kung may napili na yung customer, respeto nalang. Most customers alam na yung bibilhin nila, suggest and upsell kung magparecommenda.
Thanks, and have a nice day reddit people.
Ending? Di ako nakabili ng case tsaka tempered, order nalang sa Shopee. Lol