Dicks sporting good hours

So, there's a man crawling through the desert.
He'd decided to try his SUV in a little bit of cross-country travel, had great fun zooming over the badlands and through the sand, got lost, hit a big rock, and then he couldn't get it started again. There were no cell phone towers anywhere near, so his cell phone was useless. He had no family, his parents had died a few years before in an auto accident, and his few friends had no idea he was out here.
He stayed with the car for a day or so, but his one bottle of water ran out and he was getting thirsty. He thought maybe he knew the direction back, now that he'd paid attention to the sun, and thought he'd figured out which way was north, so he decided to start walking. He figured he only had to go about 30 miles or so and he'd be back to the small town he'd gotten gas in last.
He thinks about walking at night to avoid the heat and sun, but based upon how dark it actually was the night before, and given that he has no flashlight, he's afraid that he'll break a leg or step on a rattlesnake. So, he puts on some sun block, puts the rest in his pocket for reapplication later, brings an umbrella he'd had in the back of the SUV with him to give him a little shade, pours the windshield wiper fluid into his water bottle in case he gets that desperate, brings his pocket knife in case he finds a cactus that looks like it might have water in it, and heads out in the direction he thinks is right.
He walks for the entire day. By the end of the day he's really thirsty. He's been sweating all day, and his lips are starting to crack. He's reapplied the sunblock twice, and tried to stay under the umbrella, but he still feels sunburned. The windshield wiper fluid sloshing in the bottle in his pocket is really getting tempting now. He knows that it's mainly water and some ethanol and coloring, but he also knows that they add some kind of poison to it to keep people from drinking it. He wonders what the poison is, and whether the poison would be worse than dying of thirst.
He pushes on, trying to get to that small town before dark.
By the end of the day, he starts getting worried. He figures he's been walking at least three miles an hour, according to his watch for over ten hours. That means that if his estimate was right, he should be close to the town. Unfortunately, he doesn't recognize any of this. He had to cross a dry creek bed a mile or two back, and he doesn't remember coming through it in the SUV. He figures that maybe he got his direction off just a little and that the dry creek bed was just off to one side of his path. He tells himself that he's close, and that after dark he'll start seeing the town lights over one of these hills. That'll be all he needs.
As it gets dim enough that he starts stumbling over small rocks and things, he finds a spot and sits down to wait for full dark and the town lights.
Full dark comes before he knows it. He must have dozed off. He stands back up and turns all the way around. He sees nothing but stars.
He wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely lousy. His eyes are gummy and his mouth and nose feel like they're full of sand. He’s so thirsty that he can't even swallow. He barely got any sleep because it was so cold. He'd forgotten how cold it got at night in the desert and hadn't noticed it the night before because he'd been in his car.
He knows the Rule of Threes - three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food - then you die. Some people can make it a little longer, in the best situations. The desert heat and having to walk and sweat isn't the best situation to be in without water. Unless he finds water, he figures, this is his last day.
He rinses out his mouth with a little of the windshield wiper fluid. He waits for a while after spitting that little bit out to see if his mouth goes numb, or he feels dizzy or something. Has his mouth gone numb? Is it just in his mind? He's not sure. He'll go a little farther, and if he still doesn't find water, he'll try drinking some of the fluid.
Then he has to face his next, harder question - which way does he go from here? Does he keep walking the same way as yesterday (assuming that he still knows which way that is), or does he try a new direction? He has no idea what to do.
Looking at the hills and dunes around him, he thinks he knows the direction he was heading before. Just going by a feeling, he points himself somewhat to the left of that, and starts walking.
As he walks, the day starts heating up. The desert, too cold just a couple of hours before, soon becomes an oven again. He sweats a little at first, and then stops. He starts getting worried at that. He knows that when you stop sweating, you’re in trouble. It’s usually right before heat stroke..
He decides that it's time to try the windshield wiper fluid. He can't wait any longer - if he passes out, he's dead. He stops in the shade of a large rock, takes the bottle out, opens it, and takes a mouthful. He slowly swallows it, making it last as long as he can. It feels so good in his dry and cracked throat that he doesn't even care about the nasty taste. He takes another mouthful, and makes it last too. Slowly, he drinks half the bottle. He figures that since he's drinking it, he might as well drink enough to make some difference and keep himself from passing out.
He's quit worrying about the denaturing of the wiper fluid. If it kills him, it kills him. If he didn't drink it, he'd die anyway. Besides, he's pretty sure that whatever substance they denature the fluid with is just designed to make you sick: their way of keeping winos from buying cheap wiper fluid for the ethanol content. He can handle throwing up if it comes to that.
He walks. He walks in the hot, dry, windless desert. Sand, rocks, hills, dunes, the occasional scrawny cactus or dried bush. No sign of water. Sometimes he'll see a little movement to one side or the other, but whatever moved is usually gone before he can focus his eyes on it. Probably birds, lizards, or mice. Maybe snakes, though they usually move more at night. He's careful to stay away from the movements.
After a while, he begins to stagger. He's not sure if it's fatigue, heat stroke finally catching him, or maybe he was wrong and the denaturing of the wiper fluid was worse than he thought. He tries to steady himself and keep going.
After more walking, he comes to a large stretch of sand. This is good! He knows he passed over a stretch of sand in the SUV - he remembers doing donuts in it, or at least he thinks he remembers it; he's getting woozy enough and tired enough that he's not sure what he remembers anymore or if he's hallucinating. He thinks he remembers it, so he heads off into it, trying to get to the other side, hoping that it gets him closer to the town.
He was heading for a town, wasn't he? He thinks he was. He isn't sure anymore. He's not even sure how long he's been walking anymore. Is it still morning? Has it moved into afternoon, and the sun is going down again? It must be afternoon; it seems like it's been too long since he started out.
He walks through the sand.
After a while, he comes to a big dune in the sand. This is bad. He doesn't remember any dunes from when he was driving over the sand in his SUV. At least he doesn't think he remembers any. This is bad.
All the same, he has no other direction to go. Too late to turn back now. He figures that he'll get to the top of the dune and see if he can see anything from there that can help him find the town. He keeps going up the dune.
Halfway up, he slips in the bad footing of the sand for the second or third time and falls to his knees. He doesn't feel like getting back up, since he'll just fall down again. He keeps going up the dune on his hand and knees.
While crawling, if his throat weren't so dry, he'd laugh. He's finally gotten to the hackneyed image of a man lost in the desert, crawling through the sand on his hands and knees. It would be the perfect image, he imagines, if only his clothes were more ragged. The people crawling through the desert in the cartoons always had ragged clothes, but his have lasted without any rips so far. Somebody will probably find his dessicated corpse half buried in the sand years from now, and his clothes will still be in fine shape - shake the sand out, give them a good wash, and they'd be wearable again. He wishes his throat were wet enough to laugh. He coughs a little instead, and it hurts.
He finally makes it to the top of the sand dune. Now that he's at the top, he struggles a little, but manages to stand up and look around. All he sees is sand. Sand and more sand. Behind him, about a mile away, he thinks he sees the rocky ground he left to head into this sand. Ahead of him, more dunes, more sand. This isn't where he drove his SUV. This is Hell. Or close enough.
Again, he doesn't know what to do. He decides to drink the rest of the wiper fluid while figuring it out. He takes out the bottle and starts removing the cap when he glances to the side and sees something. Something in the sand. At the bottom of the dune, off to the side, he sees something strange. It's a flat area, in the sand. He stops opening the bottle and tries to look closer. The area seems to be circular, and it's dark: darker than the sand, and there seems to be something in the middle of it, but he can't tell what it is, so he looks as hard as he can but still can't tell from here. He's going to have to go down there and look.
He puts the bottle back into his pocket, and starts to stumble down the dune. After a few steps, he realizes that he's in trouble; he's not going to be able to keep his balance. After a couple more sliding, tottering steps, he falls and starts to roll down the dune. The sand it so hot that he thinks he's caught fire on the way down - like a movie car wreck flashing into flames as it goes over the cliff, before it ever even hits the ground. He closes his eyes and mouth, covers his face with his hands, and waits to stop rolling.
He stops at the bottom of the dune. After a minute or two, he finds enough energy to try to sit up and get the sand out of his face and clothes. When he clears his eyes enough, he looks around to make sure that the dark spot in the sand it still there and he hadn't just imagined it.
Seeing the large, flat, dark spot on the sand still there, he crawls towards it. He'd get up and walk towards it, but he doesn't seem to have the energy to get up and walk right now. He must be in the final stages of dehydration he figures as he crawls. If this place in the sand doesn't have water, he'll likely never make it anywhere else. This is his last chance.
He gets closer and closer, but still can't see what's in the middle of the dark area. It’s hard to focus, and lifting his head up to look takes so much effort that he gives up trying. He just keeps crawling.
Finally, he reaches the area he'd seen from the dune. It takes him a minute of crawling on it before he realizes that he's no longer on sand - he's now crawling on some kind of dark stone. Stone with some kind of marking on it - a pattern cut into the stone. He's too tired to stand up and try to see what the pattern is, so he just keeps crawling. He crawls towards the center where his blurry eyes still see something in the middle of the dark stone area.
His mind, detached in a strange way, notes that either his hands and knees are so burnt by the sand that they no longer feel pain, or that this dark stone, in the middle of a burning desert with a pounding, punishing sun overhead, doesn't seem to be hot. It almost feels cool. He considers lying down on the nice cool surface.
Cool, dark stone. Not a good sign. He must be hallucinating this. He's probably in the middle of a patch of sand, already lying face down and dying, and just imagining this whole thing. A desert mirage. Soon the beautiful women carrying pitchers of water will come up and start giving him a drink. Then he'll know he's gone.
He decides against laying down on the cool stone. If he's going to die here in the middle of this hallucination, he at least wants to see what's in the center before he goes. He keeps crawling.
It's the third time that he hears the voice before he realizes what he's hearing. He would swear that someone just said, "Greetings, traveler. You do not look well. Do you hear me?"
He stops crawling. He tries to look up from where he is on his hands and knees, but it's too much effort to lift his head. So he tries something different: he rolls over and leans back trying to sit up on the stone. After a few seconds, he catches his balance, avoids falling on his face, sits up, and tries to focus his eyes. Blurry. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and tries again. Better this time.
Yep. He can see. He's sitting in the middle of a large, flat, dark expanse of stone. Directly next to him, about three feet away, is a white post or pole about two inches in diameter and sticking about four or five feet out of the stone, at an angle.
And wrapped around this white rod is what must be a fifteen foot long desert diamondback rattlesnake, with a hovering tail and rattle seemingly prepared to start rattling, looking directly at him.
He stares at the snake in shock. He doesn't have the energy to get up and run away. He doesn't even have the energy to crawl away. This is it: his final resting place. No matter what happens, he's not going to be able to move from this spot.
Well, at least dying from a bite from this monster should be quicker than dying of thirst. He'll face his end like a man. He struggles to sit up a little straighter. The snake keeps watching him. He lifts one hand and flicks it in the snake's direction, feebly. The snake watches the hand for a moment, then goes back to watching the man, looking into his eyes.
Hmmm. Maybe the snake has no interest in biting him. It hasn't rattled yet - that’s a good sign. Maybe he isn't going to die of snake bite after all.
He then remembers that he'd looked up when he'd reached the center here because he thought he'd heard a voice. He is still very woozy; he feels like he might pass out soon. The sun still beats down on him even though he is now on cool stone. He still doesn't have anything to drink. Although maybe he had actually heard a voice. This stone doesn't look natural. Nor does that white post sticking up out of the stone. Someone must have built this. Maybe they are still nearby. Maybe that was who talked to him. Maybe this snake is even their pet, and that's why it isn't biting.
He tries to clear his throat to say, "Hello," but he’s too dry. All that comes out is a coughing or wheezing sound. There's no way he's going to be able to talk without something to drink. He feels his pocket, and the bottle with the wiper fluid is still there. He shakily pulls out the bottle, almost losing his balance and falling on his back in the process. This isn't good. He doesn't have much time left by his reckoning before he passes out.
He gets the bottle open, manages to get the bottle to his lips, and pours some of the fluid into his mouth. He sloshes it around, and then swallows it. He coughs a little. His throat feels better. Maybe he can talk now.
He tries again. Ignoring the snake, he turns to look around him, hoping to spot the owner of this place, and croaks out, "Hello? Is there anyone here?"
He hears, from his side, "Greetings. What is it that you want?"
He turns his head back towards the snake. That's where the sound seemed to come from. The only thing he can think of is that there must be a speaker hidden under the snake, or maybe built into that post. He decides to try asking for help.
"Please," he croaks again, suddenly feeling dizzy, "I'd love to not be thirsty anymore. I've been without water for a long time. Can you help me?"
Looking in the direction of the snake, hoping to see where the voice was coming from this time, he is shocked to see the snake rear back, open its mouth, and speak. He hears it say, as the dizziness overtakes him and he falls forward, face first on the stone, "Very well. Coming up."
A piercing pain shoots through his shoulder. Suddenly he is awake. He sits up and grabs his shoulder, wincing at the throbbing pain. He's momentarily disoriented as he looks around, and then he remembers: the crawl across the sand, the dark area of stone, the snake. He sees the snake, still wrapped around the tilted white post, still looking at him.
He reaches up and feels his shoulder, where it hurts. It feels slightly wet. He pulls his fingers away and looks at them - blood. He feels his shoulder again - it feels like his shirt has two holes in it - two puncture holes. They match up with the two aching spots of pain on his shoulder. He has been bitten. By the snake.
"It'll feel better in a minute." He looks up - it's the snake talking. He hadn't dreamed it. Suddenly he notices - he's not dizzy anymore. And more importantly, he's not thirsty anymore - at all!
"Have I died? Is this the afterlife? Why are you biting me in the afterlife?"
"Sorry about that, but I had to bite you," says the snake. "That's the way I work. It all comes through the bite. Think of it as natural medicine."
"You bit me to help me? Why aren't I thirsty anymore? Did you give me a drink before you bit me? How did I drink enough while unconscious to not be thirsty anymore? I haven't had a drink for over two days. Well, except for the windshield wiper fluid... hold it, how in the world does a snake talk? Are you real? Are you some sort of Disney animation?"
"No," says the snake, "I'm real. As real as you or anyone is, anyway. I didn't give you a drink. I bit you. That's how it works, it's what I do. I bite. Plus I don't have hands to give you a drink, even if I had water just sitting around here."
The man sat stunned for a minute. Here he was, sitting in the middle of the desert on some strange stone that should be hot but wasn't, talking to a snake that could talk back and had just bitten him. And he felt better. Not great - he was still starving and exhausted, but much better - he was no longer thirsty. He had started to sweat again, but only slightly. He felt hot, in this sun, but it was starting to get lower in the sky, and the cool stone beneath him was a relief he could notice now that he was no longer dying of thirst.
"I might suggest that we take care of that methanol you now have in your system with the next request," continued the snake. "I can guess why you drank it, but I'm not sure how much you drank, or how much methanol was left in the wiper fluid. That stuff is nasty. It'll make you go blind in a day or two, if you drank enough of it."
"Ummm, n-next request?" said the man. He put his hand back on his hurting shoulder and backed away from the snake a little.
"That's the way it works. If you like, that is," explained the snake. "You get three requests. Call them wishes, if you wish." The snake grinned at his own joke, and the man drew back a little further from the show of fangs.
"But there are rules," the snake continued. "The first request is free. The second requires an agreement of secrecy. The third requires the binding of responsibility." The snake looks at the man seriously.
"By the way," the snake says suddenly, "my name is Nathan. Old Nathan, Samuel used to call me. He gave me the name. Before that, most of the Bound used to just call me 'Snake'. But that got old, and Samuel wouldn't stand for it. He said that anything that could talk needed a name. He was big into names. You can call me Nate, if you wish." Again, the snake grinned. "Sorry if I don't offer to shake, but I think you can understand - my shake sounds somewhat threatening." The snake give his rattle a little shake.
"Umm, my name is Jack," said the man, trying to absorb all of this. "Jack Samson."
"Can I ask you a question?" Jack says suddenly. "What happened to the venom...umm, in your bite. Why aren't I dying now? How did you do that? What do you mean by that's how you work?"
"That's more than one question," grins Nate. "But I'll still try to answer all of them. First, yes, you can ask me a question." The snake's grin gets wider. "Second, the venom is in you. It changed you. You now no longer need to drink. That's what you asked for. Or, well, technically, you asked to not be thirsty any more - but 'any more' is such a vague term. I decided to make it permanent - now, as long as you live, you shouldn't need to drink much at all. Your body will conserve water very efficiently. You should be able to get enough just from the food you eat - much like a creature of the desert. You've been changed.
"For the third question," Nate continues, "you are still dying. Besides the effects of that methanol in your system, you're a man - and men are mortal. In your current state, I give you no more than about another 50 years. Assuming you get out of this desert, alive, that is." Nate seemed vastly amused at his own humor, and continued his wide grin.
"As for the fourth question," Nate said, looking more serious as far as Jack could tell, as Jack was just now working on his ability to read talking-snake emotions from snake facial features, "first you have to agree to make a second request and become bound by the secrecy, or I can't tell you."
"Wait," joked Jack, "isn't this where you say you could tell me, but you'd have to kill me?"
"I thought that was implied." Nate continued to look serious.
"Ummm...yeah." Jack leaned back a little as he remembered again that he was talking to a fifteen foot venomous reptile with a reputation for having a nasty temper. "So, what is this 'Bound by Secrecy' stuff, and can you really stop the effects of the methanol?" Jack thought for a second. "And, what do you mean methanol, anyway? I thought these days they use ethanol in wiper fluid, and just denature it?"
"They may, I don't really know," said Nate. "I haven't gotten out in a while. Maybe they do. All I know is that I smell methanol on your breath and on that bottle in your pocket. And the blue color of the liquid when you pulled it out to drink some let me guess that it was wiper fluid. I assume that they still color wiper fluid blue?"
"Yeah, they do," said Jack.
"I figured," replied Nate. "As for being bound by secrecy - with the fulfillment of your next request, you will be bound to say nothing about me, this place, or any of the information I will tell you after that, when you decide to go back out to your kind. You won't be allowed to talk about me, write about me, use sign language, charades, or even act in a way that will lead someone to guess correctly about me. You'll be bound to secrecy. Of course, I'll also ask you to promise not to give me away, and as I'm guessing that you're a man of your word, you'll never test the binding anyway, so you won't notice." Nate said the last part with utter confidence.
Jack, who had always prided himself on being a man of his word, felt a little nervous at this. "Ummm, hey, Nate, who are you? How did you know that? Are you, umm, omniscient, or something?"
Well, Jack," said Nate sadly, "I can't tell you that, unless you make the second request." Nate looked away for a minute, then looked back.
"Umm, well, ok," said Jack, "what is this about a second request? What can I ask for? Are you allowed to tell me that?"
"Sure!" said Nate, brightening. "You're allowed to ask for changes. Changes to yourself. They're like wishes, but they can only affect you. Oh, and before you ask, I can't give you immortality. Or omniscience. Or omnipresence, for that matter. Though I might be able to make you gaseous and yet remain alive, and then you could spread through the atmosphere and sort of be omnipresent. But what good would that be - you still wouldn't be omniscient and thus still could only focus on one thing at a time. Not very useful, at least in my opinion." Nate stopped when he realized that Jack was staring at him.
"Well, anyway," continued Nate, "I'd probably suggest giving you permanent good health. It would negate the methanol now in your system, you'd be immune to most poisons and diseases, and you'd tend to live a very long time, barring accident, of course. And you'll even have a tendency to recover from accidents well. It always seemed like a good choice for a request to me."
"Cure the methanol poisoning, huh?" said Jack. "And keep me healthy for a long time? Hmmm. It doesn't sound bad at that. And it has to be a request about a change to me? I can't ask to be rich, right? Because that's not really a change to me?"
"Right," nodded Nate.
"Could I ask to be a genius and permanently healthy?" Jack asked, hopefully.
"That takes two requests, Jack."
"Yeah, I figured so," said Jack. "But I could ask to be a genius? I could become the smartest scientist in the world? Or the best athlete?"
"Well, I could make you very smart," admitted Nate, "but that wouldn't necessarily make you the best scientist in the world. Or, I could make you very athletic, but it wouldn't necessarily make you the best athlete either. You've heard the saying that 99% of genius is hard work? Well, there's some truth to that. I can give you the talent, but I can't make you work hard. It all depends on what you decide to do with it."
"Hmmm," said Jack. "Ok, I think I understand. And I get a third request, after this one?"
"Maybe," said Nate, "it depends on what you decide then. There are more rules for the third request that I can only tell you about after the second request. You know how it goes." Nate looked like he'd shrug, if he had shoulders.
"Ok, well, since I'd rather not be blind in a day or two, and permanent health doesn't sound bad, then consider that my second request. Officially. Do I need to sign in blood or something?"
"No," said Nate. "Just hold out your hand. Or heel." Nate grinned. "Or whatever part you want me to bite. I have to bite you again. Like I said, that's how it works - the venom, you know," Nate said apologetically.
Jack winced a little and felt his shoulder, where the last bite was. Hey, it didn't hurt any more. Just like Nate had said. That made Jack feel better about the biting business. But still, standing still while a fifteen foot snake sunk it's fangs into you. Jack stood up. Ignoring how good it felt to be able to stand again, and the hunger starting to gnaw at his stomach, Jack tried to decide where he wanted to get bitten. Despite knowing that it wouldn't hurt for long, Jack knew that this wasn't going to be easy.
"Hey, Jack," Nate suddenly said, looking past Jack towards the dunes behind him, "is that someone else coming up over there?"
Jack spun around and looked. Who else could be out here in the middle of nowhere? And did they bring food?
Wait a minute, there was nobody over there. What was Nate...
Jack let out a bellow as he felt two fangs sink into his rear end, through his jeans...
Jack sat down carefully, favoring his more tender buttock. "I would have decided, eventually, Nate. I was just thinking about it. You didn't have to hoodwink me like that."
"I've been doing this a long time, Jack," said Nate, confidently. "You humans have a hard time sitting still and letting a snake bite you - especially one my size. And besides, admit it - it's only been a couple of minutes and it already doesn't hurt any more, does it? That's because of the health benefit with this one.

M(17) Every time I send the first text to a girl she answers in a good way, but when I send her a second message with a question to try to start a conversation with her she doesn't answer and leaves me on delivered. Example; I texted this girl that goes to a different school saying "Hey!, I'm (my name), we haven't met but l've come across your profile many times in my feed and you look like a very interesting and nice person and I'd love to get to know you better and she reacted to it with a ❤️ and said "awww thank you that's sweet", then I was like "no problem, how's your summer going?" and now it's been 3 hours and she hasn't answered and I'm sure she won't answer. The thing is how am I supposed to get to know her and make her interested in me if she doesn't even give me the chance to have a conversation with her, this has happened a decent amount of times already and it's really killing my confidence. I don't know what to do now, any feedback would be highly appreciated.

M(17) Every time I send the first text to a girl she answers in a good way, but when I send her a second message with a question to try to start a conversation with her she doesn't answer and leaves me on delivered. Example; I texted this girl that goes to a different school saying "Hey!, I'm (my name), we haven't met but l've come across your profile many times in my feed and you look like a very interesting and nice person and I'd love to get to know you better and she reacted to it with a and said "awww thank you that's sweet", then I was like "no problem, how's your summer going?" and now it's been 3 hours and she hasn't answered and I'm sure she won't answer. The thing is how am I supposed to get to know her and make her interested in me if she doesn't even give me the chance to have a conversation with her, this has happened a decent amount of times already and it's really killing my confidence. I don't know what to do now, any feedback would be highly appreciated.

Beginner questions about LiFePO4 batteries for portable and POTA. If more info is needed, please let me know.
The FT-991A requires 13.8VDC/23aH at 100w. My typical operation will be from the car (stationary), running 100W cw for 3-4 hours at a time.
I don’t know yet which brand names are good. Thoughts on this one?:
https://www.bioennopower.com/products/12v-30ah-lfp-battery-pvc-blf-1230as?_pos=2&_sid=112f012b9&_ss=r
Can I connect it directly to the 991A or does it need to be conditioned first?
Thanks for your suggestions.

M(17) Every time I send the first text to a girl she answers in a good way, but when I send her a second message with a question to try to start a conversation with her she doesn’t answer and leaves me on delivered. Example; I texted this girl that goes to a different school saying “Hey!, I’m (my name) , we haven’t met but I’ve come across your profile many times in my feed and you look like a very interesting and nice person and I’d love to get to know you better and she reacted to it with a ❤️ and said “awww thank you that’s sweet”, then I was like “no problem, how’s your summer going?” and now it’s been 3 hours and she hasn’t answered and I’m sure she won’t answer. The thing is how am I supposed to get to know her and make her interested in me if she doesn’t even give me the chance to have a conversation with her, this has happened a decent amount of times already and it’s really killing my confidence. I don’t know what to do now, any feedback would be highly appreciated.

2.5 for Seven Months.
4'11 & 40lbs lost.
Hashimotos + IR
It has been almost 2 months and I have not gained a pound of 40lbs back! I have actually lost 3lbs since my last shot in April.
I started doing every 2 weeks in Jan ( I had no problem losing in this time) Last shot was the first week of April. I did not want to lose anymore weight and want to see what my thyroid numbers are without the medicine.
My mounjaro diet remains relatively the same. Food pairing, prioritizing protein + limiting sugar, eating dinner early and eating a big healthy breakfast. But nothing strict. I am not perfect, I just try and be intentional. I bought Pringles today because I wanted something salty. Water. Water. Water. I have never had BED or other food noise issues, this may be helpful in my case in keeping on track. I imagine having food noise would be a demon that I would not be able to fight. However, I did have a sugar addiction that has not showed back up.
Walking for an hour everyday that I can. But no other exercise to speak of. I really want to start something more intense. I just love walking so much and time is limited.
Just wanted to give you my experience post MJ. (I have 4 boxes in the fridge and can get two more before time is up on the coupon) Am holding on incase the inflammation creeps back.
Good luck as many of may be ending your journey soon! Feel free to ask me any questions.

I (14 m) off to a video I found in my parents room of my 43 year old mom, my 45 year old dad, my 19 year old brother , and my 14 year old sister having an orgy, i was caught by my mom and she was mad but helped me finish and then said i could practice on my sister because we're only a year apart and i need to have experience before i join them, from then once a week me my mom and my sister practice my sister feels so good on my dick and i love giving her back shots and i finish so quick every time, after a year when i turned 14 they finally let me join them our favorite thing to do is having me inside my sister blowing her back out and then having my dad inside me, my mom likes to dominate my brother while me my sister and my dad do our own thing, i found out my parents having been doing this since my siblings were little and didnt tell me because they didnt think i was understand. sometimes we invite other people and its the best thing in the world my 13 year old gf has loved the experience too but im worried she likes my dads dick more than she likes mine but its okay because ive started to really enjoy spending time with my sister and have sort of developed a crush on her.

I get addicted to many things. I was in good control of typical substances (alcohol, weed, caffeine, nicotine) but I suppose I can't really say that now. I vape nicotine constantly even though my throat hurts, and weed is a tough one to break since my partner is addicted to it. But that's not entirely why I'm here. If there's no weed I can drop it quick enough.
I'm here because I get addicted to people. New relationships, sex, connection, the whole nine yards. I get attached so easily and completely submit myself to them. This has led to more than a few toxic relationships and unending amounts of drama. I'm married, but polyamorous. I understand that may stick poorly with some people but we're in good communication and neither the husband or I see anything wrong with doing so ethically and responsibly. It's the responsibly part that I struggle with. Husband is a recovering shut-in that doesn't like to talk, go out, or really do things together. I crave all of those things because I was severely isolated from society until I was 21 (I didn't go to school, I didn't have sports or other social hobbies, we went to church twice a week and that was it until late high school when I took online classes and got some socialization that way). I craved friends, spending time with them, young romances, and all the things other kids got to do. My parents neglected me unless they were punishing me...so...now I crave those punishment-based relationships. My first relationship was a man I met online, a few states away, who was emotionally abusive, emotionally and sexually neglectful, had tons of his own baggage and issues with alcohol and nicotine addiction...and I stayed and bent over backwards to try and earn the love he never really had for me. The relationships after followed a very similar pattern. I'm still amazed that I didn't get into way worse trouble.
I'm 34 now and feel myself losing control. I chase after people, experiences...anything that brings that 'high' which gives me life and motivation. I've never had an active healthy sex life and my self esteem is better than it was...but still complete shit. I can't seem to enjoy my alone time the way I used to. I waste my life on the couch until the next surge. I hate myself, and I hate my life, and I know it's all entirely my fault that I am this way. I was addicted to food and sugar and I've gotten over that hump, but of course I can't cut out food and fall back pretty easily
I love my husband but junk food is his love language and he can't seem to break from weed. We keep each other stuck. I play my part too.
I don't know how to resign myself to a 'lifeless' future. Nothing gives me joy anymore besides substances and new relationships, which is short-lived. I've tried antidepressants and they make me feel worse. I've tried therapy but we're just not in a financial situation to keep at it for long so I try to handle it myself.
I'm falling towards rock-bottom and I don't want to lose what I've worked so hard to achieve. I don't know what to do.

For last 100 hours of comp im stuck in high gold/ low plat lobbys. I have over 350h on genji and 70h on Tracer ad they're my safe good picks. I have decent mechanics and its nothing new for me to have top kills on various tryhard ffa servers in full gm lobby (especially on genji). I watched A TON of genji/tracer content like: unr to gm or coaching sessions and vod reviews (harmless poke have rly good edu content for gengi players). I started watching my own vods and noting my mistakes in txt on desktop. I made a break from ow for 1 week and completely changed my mental, from tryharding toxic genji to understanding and accepting that my mates are trying their best and flaming is not working (im still flaming flamers for better mental of guys getting flamed and fr it works B) ), i started understanding that stats doest matter. I can say with full confidence that im close to last point of dunning-kruger chart in my gamesense. I understand basics like: building comps, resources= space, spamming tank from frontline with full team as flanker is 8th deadly sin, baiting resources = free space, playing my own life; and advanced concepts like: proper pathing on flank, blink and dash management (i swear dying in 1v1 is super rare for me), i understand value of different situations and i know when to commit an engage and when to go back and just wait for death of my 1v5ing teammate. Soo yeah... IM NOT WRITING THIS POST TO COMPLAIN im not this guy, im seriously asking 🏋️HOW TO DEADLIFT🏋️ average gold guys playing most random comps, and teammates from 9th circle of hell. Many people told me that some games are just unwinnable and yes pretty much they are but my goal is to change this 0% chance to at least 1%.
So in short: I have good mechanics and gamesense but i feel that playing 1v5 need some unconventional tactic when i cant and i dont want to rely on my team. How to use my teammates in other way than just discracting meat?
Dear redditors have you ever been in place like this? What helped you the most to rank up?
Any tip will be worth more than gold for me, weirdest and most unconventional ones too.
Sry for my eng im not native

I noticed I've been posting this under a few posts recently so thought I would do a bigger one to summarise everything. If you don't mind working with children, I would highly recommend becoming a swim teacher.
It also pays very well, as a 20+ year old casual employee where I work you would get $33/hr (at 19 it's about $30/hr and 18 around $26/hr I think). Some places pay more and some less.
Disclaimer: Getting the license is a process, so might take maybe 6-8 weeks, but if you aren't having any luck anywhere it is definitely worth it as it is a literally guaranteed job at the moment. You also need to be above 17 to officially start work (but you can do all the licensing stuff at the tail end of 16 if you want to work straight away when you're 17).
"Guaranteed job" might seem like an exaggeration, but it's not. For example, school swimming lessons (that all schools are required to do) have seen an unprecedented halving in duration recently solely due to teacher shortage. I work at 2 swim schools that are chomping at the bit for teachers and we virtually hire or train anyone that moves (in the last year, our interviews for people that are licensed have had a 100% offer rate).
For the process:

1. do AUSTSWIM course and CPR course (either St John's or RLSSWA)
2. get working with children check - do this early so you don't have to wait for it too long
3. get police clearance (most jobs need this from my experience) - same as above
4. do your practical hours for AUSTSWIM course by contacting any swim school near you and/or the department of education swimming lesson program.
5. complete & submit paperwork
6. receive license and apply to department of education or any local government near you. i have never worked at a private swim school but i assume they are also desperate.

It is particularly good for current or future uni students, non-professional parents looking to return to workforce, and anyone generally looking for casual or part time employment.
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

my depressive episode is just getting worse and more tiring. for 2 months now i am almost emotionless everyday. i havent laughed in a long time. every time i drive home from the gym, work or uni i sit in my car for 30 seconds holding back tears before heading inside. i used to routinely clean my room every week. i havent cleaned my room in a month now.
im so tired. uni is killing me. every day im stressing out about somethnig, uni, work, or my dads cancer. im letting down people around me. my uni group has noticed a drop in quality from my contributions in our assignments. i tell them im really busy and ill get the rest done later but in reality i cant focus because im extremely unmotivated.
my insomnia is fucking with me even harder. everyday i wake up too early with racing thoughts, heavy heartbeat. blood tests come up with nothing wrong.
its getting out of control. no one else knows how fucked my mental health is at the moment. my friends, family and coworkers still see the good old me as usual.
the only time where these thoughts go away is in the gym, i wish i had more energy so i can workout for more than an hour.
im not suicidal at least....

Hello, bonjour! Let me start by saying that I suck at writing about myself! But, I become an open book pretty quickly when I get comfortable with someone.
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Let's start with some info about me:
I am 27 and currently in university for a degree in software engineering (I suck at physics!!!).
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If I'm not studying or working, I try to work out or play sports. When the pandemic started,for some reason I challenged myself to reach 100kg, but it was a bad decision for someone that's 5'7! Don't worry though, I am back at a healthy weight. I am hovering around 73kg, but this time my challenge is to reach 65kg! I like playing street/floor hockey(rambled too much about my weight!). I'm a new fan of biking too! Did a 100km run this summer, we can be bike buddies too if you are in montreal!
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If I'm not working out, I am either gaming, watch kdramas or animes, or just going out with friends for food.
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Favorite food is fried chicken and takoyakis!
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If you're a fan of kdramas,that would be great, we could discuss about them and watch them together if you like that! My favorite kdrama is Signal. I can share my list fro mydramalist if you are interested. Hopefully, you don't think I'm insane for the amount of kdramas I watched!
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I watch animes too if you are interested. Favorite are Hunter X Hunter and Gintama. Read a lot of mangas, too(Currently: Sakomoto Days, Blue Lock, Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, Boruto, Spy x Family, Chainsaw Man, etc!).
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I can be a homebody, but also someone that likes to go out! Another activity that I like is traveling so if we vibe,maybe one day we can travel together! I usally try to travel once a year. Had a streak going on, but covid destroyed it! For now, I have visited South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Saudia Arabia, Bangladesh and a few states in USA. Also the UK! Came back a week ago!
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I know that was a wall of text, but I hope it wasn't a drag to read! Don't mind being friends or even more if we hit it off! We can get to know each other more by chatting and you can ask me anything you want to know so we get more comfortable! We could share about our day everyday if we're not too busy!
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I can speak and write in french too!
I am currently watching the kdrama Mouse, Good Bad Mother, Dr Cha and Joseon Attorney: A Morality! What are you watching right now?
Looking forward to chat,have a nice day!

I wanna be able to start fresh relationships and build genuine connections with new people that can hopefully last long term.
Here's a few things to give you a preview about me:

• UP student
• into sports, music, and gaming
• has a nice speaking voice (so they say)
• willing to try new things

Some things about you:

• Someone who can easily talk about anything
• Good political views

If you're interested, DM me with your short intro and answer this question: what is a deal breaker for you?

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I have been putting this off because I’m hoping the judge doesn’t order visitation. I’ve moved 9 hours away and have no desire to have any contact. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

I live in the midwest and I spend a lot of time watching movies and reading about movies. Movie trivia is my second language. I've been accused of being a cinephile(I've also been accused of being a fake cinephile, and I'm lost). I spend a lot of time looking at screens because I have fibromyalgia. If it's not movies, its video games, if it's not screens, I'm painting miniatures, walking my dog, or listening to music(music is the thing I move the most; I could analyze and discuss my favorite songs for literal hours), or some combination of the three. I guess you could say I'm a hobbyist? I like warhammer, I like d&d, and I REALLY like writing. The writer in me is the reason I like movies so much. I enjoy reading scripts and hearing stories about production and learning all the trivia I can. Same with video games. Good writing just attracts me.
I have chronic pain. I'm always hurting and rarely have good days. At the same time though, I can pretty much see a bright side and find humor in anything, long as I'm not in the worst mood ever. Honestly, I find most things funny.
I guess what I'm looking for in a partner is someone with the same hobbies. Someone to make my day at least a little better, and someone whose day I can make better myself. Ideally you're someone who creates, whether it's art or music. Someone to actually enjoy my life with. And if it doesnt work out, I dont want to have to move to a different state and seek counseling. I've had enough of that kind of nonsense. I want someone who will dance around the house naked when I put on Stevie Wonder, someone who will annoyingly cling to me while I'm trying to cook or shower or paint, and someone who shares my interests and will talk at length about them.
Speaking of shared interests, if you've made it this far, please understand we can only really get far by having a hobby in common that we can do together often. It is most important that we share a hobby that we can do together. It makes talking so much easier. I can't tell you how many convos have just fallen off because neither of us knew how to keep things going after a week of "good morning, what are you doing today?"
Unfortunately, because of my illness, I cant work. I cannot be your breadwinner in any version of the future. I keep a clean house though. I'm pretty good in the kitchen too. I mean it, I'll make you fat. I'm great at listening, I give awesome foot massages, and bonus, I DON'T snore.
I don't need anyone rich or anything ridiculous or fantastical. If we can make each other happy, that's enough for me. Be honest, don't ever lie to me, and tell me if you think I'm being a turd, and we will get along famously. I don't really prioritize how anyone looks or what they weigh. That's not to say I set the bar low or anything, but a good personality goes a long way. If you're the girl I want, whoever you are, I hope you find me.
Bottom text.

Got this game last week and finally beat the game. Party was with original crew, normal difficulty.
At first was turned off by the initial complexity: multitude of buffs and managing multiple decks with different play styles for each character. Once I got the hang of it though, I was hooked.
I was surprised at the length of a run. I was expecting something between 30-45 minutes to complete a run, but I end up takin 1-2 hours. It's a weird mix of fun and frustrating.
I see there's other modes to play and more to unlock, but I'm going to take a break for now. Great game, good work devs.

I've caught a good number of smaller pike on big paddle tail swimbaits and whopper ploppers, and today I finally caught my first big pike on a white spook. But I was out fishing for probably 3 1/2 hours today, and that was the only fish I saw. I tried fishing dropoffs, I tried weedy flats, I tried fishing a point, I tried deeper water, but the fish just weren't there. I was throwing mepps spinners, paddle tails, and a few topwaters. I'm going out again tomorrow to a lake that has both northerns and tiger muskie. How do I locate these fish? What baits should I be throwing if the water temperature is around 65 degrees? Location MN, USA