So what's going on?

If you didn't already know, Reddit recently made a policy change that will essentially wipe out all the major 3rd party mobile Reddit apps. Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API, from being free, to a level that is unsustainable to popular apps such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, Narwhal, and BaconReader. The apps Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and Sync have already determined that this price change is beyond what can be afforded, and they have decided to shut down.
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Why does this matter to us?

Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this has an impact that could be detrimental to all of us. Including the loss of popular mod tools that help prevent spam and predatory behavior, bots that help both mods and users by automating common tasks, and labor of love resources such as Reveddit that allows everyone to audit mod actions and removals.
For Fallout76Marketplace this API price change most likely won't have an affect to our karma flair bot(I think). Even though we are just a niche little trading subreddit for a niche game dying game, we believe in participating in this protest regardless. Our contribution to the black out will help get the message across to Reddit that the direction they've decided to go will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
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What's the plan?

On June 12th Fallout76Marketplace will be going dark along with many many other subreddits, to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
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What can you do?

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1. Complain. Message the mods of reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at ModCoord - but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible. This includes not harassing moderators of subreddits who have chosen not to take part: no one likes a missionary, a used-car salesman, or a flame warrior.

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It's reasonable if you think "I don't care about this, I'm just here to trade." If you think that then we get it, but us mods and couriers of Fallout76Marketplace have put a ton of effort, time, and even money into this subreddit over the past 3 years. We don't want Reddit to change any more than it already has, so we hope you can understand why we're joining the blackout.
If you've made it this far, then thank you for reading, sincerely Fallout76Marketplace mods <3
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Honestly, I can say that I'm actually low key surprised I passed. A lot of things happened recently with getting laid off work and really was unmotivated to study for the test. I didn't want to pay the reschedule fee so I went ahead and took the exam knowing I didn't prepare the best.
Contrary to what I read most, it wasn't really that difficult of an exam and the language was pretty straight forward. I did really take my time with the exam because I usually test quickly and wanted to really weigh the options. My main thought was always to pick the choice that I thought was all encompassing and rooted in managing risk to the org the best. There were things I was really lost on, I'm just going to pass that off as the experimental ones.
As far as how I prepared, I started off by listening to Kelly Cybrary video to get an idea of test topics. Moved on to Mike's Linkedin learning course. Watched Pete's videos on youtube and a few of the destination certification videos to see if they offered better explanations on some topics. I didn't read any book except the end of chapter summary notes of OSG. I also did like 400 of the practice test questions. I printed off a few of the notes and cheat sheets but really only reviewed the Memory Palace 2 days ago.
As far as my experience, I only have 3.5 years of experience 1 of those in a full InfoSec role and the rest in Help Desk.
I would say mentality is really the deciding factor.
Thanks for reading!

So I had a really uncomfortable experience with a man from planet gym and am wondering if any others have had the same.
Finished up there just before close today and went to Tesco before heading towards eyre square. I had just passed lidl when I noticed a man walking ahead of me with a bike (who I had seen in the gym) slow down so he was more or less next to me. Didn’t think a whole lot of it. I also had headphones on so could not hear him even if he tried to speak to me.
I ended up taking the left immediately after Argos to get to eyre square as I figured it would be quicker and I wouldn’t have to overtake people on the other narrow path. I began walking this way when I turned to realise the man with the bike had followed. I kept walking and thought to myself that he might live up that road.
This is when he began walking next to me. I took off my headphones as he had started to speak to me (I know I shouldn’t have). I couldn’t understand what he was saying. He didn’t seem to have much English. He ended up speaking into Google translate to ask me if I was tired (I do not know why.) he then continued to speak to me while I either did not respond or gave very blunt yes/no response. He asked me if I lived nearby and asked if I had WhatsApp. I said no and this is when I turned right at the top of the road towards eyre square. I believe he went the other way.
I ended up meeting a girl outside TK Maxx who was also at the gym and said he had just done the same thing to her except he had followed her into a shop. She stayed on the phone to her boyfriend the whole time and eventually got rid of him but saw him follow me afterwards and she followed to make sure that I was alright. She also said the same man had followed her the previous week also.
Obviously this encounter is creepy in and of itself but the fact that he seems to be targeting whoever he can is a whole other thing.
If I see him at the gym again I will be alerting staff. For any one else who goes to this gym or lives in the area (ladies especially), he was probably about 5’10”-5’11”, quite tanned, fair hair and was wearing a black vest and shorts with a cap. Again, he also didn’t have much English.
Stay safe !!

Hello HPSlashFic
By now you have probably heard a lot about The Open Letter about API Pricing. Some of your favorite subreddits may have signed up to protest. When we cross-posted the letter, plenty of people were confused about what API even is, how this pricing would impact them, and why it was worth talking about. Since then, there have been a number of posts about this very subject, all explaining better than we could. Subreddits like explainlikeimfive have highlighted in an easy way to understand what API is and why this is change is a problem. AskHistorians have explained in detail why so many Mods are upset and, frankly, disillusioned, in the wake of the Admin announcement.
To a lot of people, the API changes are not a big deal.
If you use the Official Apps and have no issue navigating it, that’s great. You may not have known that third party apps existed, or why people prefer them. If you’re wondering why people can’t just use the official app, we can acknowledge that for many users it is simply a personal preference. They’re used to it (some of us have been using them for years before there was ever an Official App) or they might simply prefer it because of the designs and features. If you’re interested in a visual representation of why so many prefer third party apps, please check this bestof comment out for a side-by-side comparison.
For mods, the mod tool support of these third parties largely makes our jobs much easier, which keeps the communities we all love safer. On a third party app, we can accomplish in two clicks what would take the Official App five. This efficiency means we can address more problems in the community in a more timely manner.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “If these apps are making a profit, Reddit deserves a cut!” we do agree. What we take issue with is that their API is being valued at 10-20x over what other similar services do, to the point where almost every app has released some kind of statement that indicates these changes will kill their apps. I could link to more statements like that, but you get the idea.
Before you ask “why can’t they just run ads to offset those costs”, Reddit has already decided this will not be an option for third party apps. One thing to be aware of as well is that even if a third party app manages to survive July 1st through a subscription based model alone, those apps will not have all the same content as the Official App. Namely, despite paying for the privilege of having a choice, NSFW content will be unavailable and invisible to those users.
If you’re thinking "well, I'm fine, I only use the mobile website via my chosen mobile browser" (chrome, mozilla, etc), you should be aware that Reddit has already been testing functions which eliminate mobile web browsing, and there is no guarantee that your preferred method of using Reddit won’t be next.
Limiting user choice, charging exorbitant and predatory fees, and refusing to communicate, are all significant problems that we take an issue with. However, the one we find most egregious is what this change will do to members of Reddit’s blind community.
How are blind Redditors impacted by this decision?
In short, Reddit’s Official Apps leave a lot to be desired at best, and are barely functional at worst. The app on iOS has incorrectly labeled controls, doesn’t always work with swipe, and not all functions can be accessed. For blind moderators, it can be difficult to impossible to find the moderation functions necessary to moderate, and customizing layouts to better suit their needs or make the app easier to navigate is similarly difficult to impossible. Third party apps have addressed many of these types of issues because Reddit won’t, giving these underserved communities a voice that Reddit seems to have no problem taking away.
You might ask yourself how blind users navigated Reddit before there were apps, and the answer is that it didn’t always used to be this way, but it has certainly always had accessibility issues. In fact, discussions about accessibility have been going on for months, if not years. Just a few months ago, Reddit received a free consultation to make their mobile layout more accessible. Reddit did not follow up privately or publicly until the protest’s momentum started to build. Even after numerous, far more recent interactions with the Admin, there seems to be little progress or commitment concerning these issues. This type of interaction is exactly why we feel that Reddit is not making accessibility a priority.
Subreddits like blind are vital for the visually impaired in various stages of blindness, providing not just a source of communal support, but insights, strategies, and resources to navigate their new and changing lives. In the wake of Reddit's changes, subreddits like blind will be forced to go dark, leaving an already overlooked group without the invaluable support they both need and deserve.
These changes will also significantly impact volunteer run support subreddits such as transcribersofreddit and descriptionplease, which serve to allow visually impaired Redditors to read text images, and receive descriptions of visual content such as videos and images. These volunteers are indispensable to the blind community, because Reddit is the only social media website with no support for alternative text. As visually impaired Redditors are forced to use an app that is not designed with accessibility in mind, these communities will shrink, wither, and may cease to exist. (See this video for more details on this subject).
For many of us, third party apps are a choice or a preference, but they are an absolute necessity for the visually impaired. We are of the opinion that pricing these apps out of existence before their own app is WCAG compliant is nothing short of passive discrimination.
The mod team of HPSlashFic, and many others, feel that July 1st is an unrealistic timeline to make all the changes necessary to make their App accessible. At this point, the only reasonable course of action is for Reddit to publish a public list of key results that they are committed to addressing, and guarantee that third party functionality will be left unchanged until they do.
Frankly, disabled individuals are often expected to pay a premium for the same basic things everyone else uses and enjoys for free. Visually impaired Redditors deserve equal access, and even if third party apps survive, they will not receive it. Those users will not have access to all of the content and features that the rest of Reddit will. Remember, NSFW content will be unavailable to regular users on third party apps, and yes, disabled people like porn too!
So what does all this mean for HPSlashFic
Some of our Mod team do use third party apps, both for casual browsing and for moderation. Others don’t. For us, this is not just about our personal preferences; it is about standing in opposition to ableism and making sure others have a voice.
HPSlashFic has decided to join the blackout on June 12th.
We are prepared to remain blacked out for a minimum of 48 hours. This means that no one will be able to access any of our content until the blackout is over. In standing up for the voices of others, however, we don’t want to strip away the voices of our community. So now we want to hear from you. If you support us in this decision, please share and upvote this post, and comment with your support.

• When will we come back? - We aren't sure at this time. After 48hrs we will reassess the situation and come to an agreement. We are deeply grateful for the support of our community in this -- many of you told us to black out as long as is necessary, and we cannot tell you how much this means to us.
• How will I know when HPSlashFic is coming back? - We will be transparent in ModCoord to make our position known. Likewise, if we feel it necessary to temporarily open the sub up to make another announcement, we will!
• I want to help! - If you want to help, spread the word! You can also join us in not using Reddit for the 12-14th, and check in at ModCoord for the status of the protest!

I've experienced success with intermittent fasting twice in my life, the second time intentionally.
Back in 2011 I made the decision to enter residential training in meditation at the Rochester Zen Center. This was a new lifestyle with a rigorous schedule and plenty of physical exercise. I hadn't gone into this with the intention of losing weight, and in fact had never seriously considered a "Diet" before, but within the first six months we noticed my weight had dropped from above 300 to the low-mid 200s. I don't know what my weight was when I left in 2015, but I imagine it was around 200.
Years later when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, most of that original weight had returned. When I considered the factors on my weight during training, it occurred to me that I had (without intending it) been practicing IF by following RZC's training schedule. Breakfast was at 7:30 am, followed by lunch at noon. Dinner could be taken between the end of work at 3pm and the evening sitting at 7pm. While you could go outside on your own time and eat, most of the time it was practical to just eat at the Center. Most often I did eat dinner immediately after work at around 4pm, suggesting an eating window of ~9 hours.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes I was living alone and working at a desk. My chronic depression had kicked in months prior. Like a lot of people I've used food to distract myself from the pain. But my physician was telling me that I had this serious medical condition and I couldn't do nothing. I remembered losing my weight during Zen training and felt that was enough to try intermittent fasting. I had tried calorie counting and knew that lifestyle wasn't for me, but I knew how I'd lost weight before.
I didn't post to intermittentfasting at that time but my PCP had arranged for me to take to a nutritionist. I'd started working with the Fasting Tracker app, 16/8 (excluding breakfasts), and begun seeing improvement when I informed them. They both approved of what I was doing, and by the spring of 2022 I was down to around 230lbs from over 300. After several weeks I decided I would modify my diet to fast entirely 2 days out of 5, thinking this would help to stabilize my blood sugar levels. I liked how that felt to fast for 50+ hours on the weekends.
My physician told me at the time I was a model patient for managing diabetes and that if I continued as I was doing he expected me to be able to stop taking metformin entirely after my next check-in. However, my work for my new employer would inspire a nervous breakdown a couple weeks later, and my chronic depression returned. That effectively ended my second experience with IF.
Since then I lost my job, my unemployment benefits, spent my 401K, moved out of my rented house and sold my car. But on the plus side I've recovered from my depression and stabilized my material circumstances. Now I want to begin managing my diabetes again and lose weight.
As of this morning I'm at 285lbs and I've been using 18/6 daily for the past three days. Since I've returned to living with my parents, I take most of my meals with them. I first tried 16/8 until I realized that my mom had adjusted her meal schedule to give me three square meals a day
I've since explained that I only want two meals a day, which has been difficult for her to accept. Fortunately, at 50 years old my mom and I have a much better relationship than we did in my 20s and 30s, so I've been able to hold to my new commitment without too much stress.
Nevertheless it is still frustrating. I've reminded her that she was happy with my weight loss last year, and that both my physician and my nutritionist had been happy with my use of IF. She remains unconvinced, and has suggested that fasting is dangerous for the health of my heart. But she's begrudgingly accepted that I will follow the diet that makes sense to me.
TLDR: I practiced intermittent fasting last year after recognizing a similarity to the conditions of a spiritual residency I'd done several years ago. That experience of IF was interrupted by a mental health crisis. Now that I've recovered my mental health I want to begin following IF again. I began again with 18/6 this week.

Sorry in advance for the length of this post, but I can't let it all just keep festering inside. Apologies for any typos.
Life has been hell lately and it's left me dwelling on something I really need to get off my chest.
When I was 12 I began being raped by a "friends" father. I won't go into all the details, but he first used coke, then eventually meth to keep me coming back. Make me willing to degrade and humiliate me in ways I can't allow myself to recall. When they surface I drink until I'm comatose.
The rape, torture and humiliation ended when I turned 14. By that time his wife had left him, taking his son along with her. To this day I don't know if I'll hug him if I see him or beat him to death.
In any case, that made him spiral, he'd always been a "functional" addict. Good at feigning normalcy while a monster his behind the mask. That mask wasn't on when I was with him. He nearly killed me strangling me with a silk scarf multiple times. Stuck needles in my feet. Between my fingers, sodomized me with objects when he was too high to rape me himself. Every session ended with him giving me something to keep me high till the next time. Like clockwork, when I ran out, I went over and he was literally expecting me.
This time was a bit different. He told me to come over the very next night. (I usually went over between 10 and midnight and snuck back in at 3 or 4. I always came in through the back patio door, but it was usually closed, unlocked, but closed. Tonight it was wide open. He didn't like me speaking unless told to, so I silently went through the house. It didn't take long to find him in the bathroom, dead. He'd overdosed. I didn't even touch his body. I just left.
I left in tears, sobbing. Because he'd fucked up my perception of love and intimacy that I genuinely thought he was my lover. Not my rapist, not my sadist.
I was saved, I was finally safe. I was also heartbroken and suicidal. When I got home, I tried to cut off my own penis with a pair of scissors but only ended up with a slice and a lot of blood. Then the detoxing started. After 2 years of stimulants and forcibly going cold turkey with only a basic understanding of what was happening to me. I was a wreck. I'd leave the house all day and just hide away from people crying in drainage ditches or off trail at a nearby park.
This all happened at the beginning of summer, by the time school started again, I was able to stay stable with the help of copious amounts of weed and Robitussin.
But it was my secret, my burden. My parents never knew, my friends never new. And I quieted the trauma by immersing myself in things that interested me. Easier to not think about yourself when your mind is focused on history, or physics, or world religions. It worked for far longer than it should have. But there was a darkness I was keeping at bay. I craved the feeling of being used, being hurt, being humiliated, being raped with no ability to fight back.
I liked women, and men, but I never pursued relationships because I could never trust myself enough to be who I wanted to be around others. Some of those friends I wanted to become lovers I pushed away and burned the bridges I had between them, all because I hated who I was, who I still am to this day.
Eventually I got sober before the drinking killed me. I opened up to my family about what happened, got therapy, got medicated. I even found kink communities I can enjoy myself at from time to time.
But in spite of all this positive progress, I still feel trapped. Destined to a life where the best I can hope for is being kinda okay most days.
Be comfortable being a deviant and damaged goods. And most of the time that's okay with me.
Now I'm not so sure. A dear member of my family nearly died and will be in the ICU for months in total before and after receiving a heart transplant. During the transplant she had a stroke and can now barely speak. It's killing my father taking care of her but he's too stoic to be vulnerable.
Then last week I got a massive amount of dental work done, 13 teeth pulled and 2 bridges. Less than a week later my backpack was stolen with the bridges inside. $3000 worth of dental work gone in an instant and it feels insignificant compared with everything else in my life.
Everything is fucked up and the world's on fire, and at times like this, all I can think of is the last time everything was fucked up and my world was on fire. I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails and I just want to let go. Grab a handle of vodka and jump in front of a train.
But I have a family that loves me in spite of all these scars, inside and out. I have nieces and nephews I want to watch grow up and have a normal happy life. One where there's not a monster of self destruction lurking deep inside. People I can guide away from my own mistakes, protect from the monsters that left me black inside.
But it's so hard right now. I never thought I'd say this, but I want to go back to just being depressed. Feeling nothing but emptiness is so much better than this.
So for now I just try to keep moving, day by day, hoping it gets better. I wish I was doing it for myself, but it's for all the others in my life. My mom, my father, my stepfather, all the kids in my life who I can be a positive influence on. I genuinely don't care about my own life, but I care about hurting them. But I just don't know how long that will be enough to keep me going.
Anyway, if you've read this far, thank you and I'm sorry. I'm not looking for advice. I just needed to put all this shit into words. Something about doing so helps.
To end this, all I can say is hold onto the ones you love. Sometimes they're the only ones keeping you from falling into that void. You matter to them, even when you don't matter to yourself.
That's all, Im off, I need a cigarette.

Soo I've been really confused and devastated trying to figure this all out. Long story short, I went two months without prenatal care in the process of leaving a DV situation, moving states and waiting for insurance. This Wednesday I had my first appointment with my new obstetrician, he's great. We had not received any of my prior health records yet so doctor went by my LMP that would've put me at 23w5d, HOWEVER, I previously had a scan at seven weeks that would leave me around 21w5d at the day of the appointment, so basically two weeks behind. We did an anatomy scan and given the lack of prior history and some of the measurements taken that day the DR stuck with the 24 weeks-ish gestational age and informed me that baby's head circumference was <1%. I've been scheduled with MFM for next week, and sent off for my records showing the previous given due date that was dx by scan at approximately 7 weeks.. Ive been so lost and I tried to ask the nurses for more info but they've said based on the scan and LMP they'd like to stick with 24 weeks. I'm wondering..... If they are indeed incorrect about the gestational age, would that still mean that we'd be facing a possibility of microcephaly, or are their dates just off causing skewed measurements? I know no one can answer this but a MFM or Dr, but two weeks worth of measurements seem to be a big deal and if I was in fact about 22 rather than 24, would that not possibly cause an error in interpreting the measurements? The baby did not measure 23+ in any area, all within 21.5-22.3 (I watched very closely at the calculations during the exam), after which the ultrasound tech said I measured 22 weeks which is more aligned with my original due date. I had an NIPT at eleven weeks which came back negative for any chromosomal issues. Idk, I'm spiraling here not knowing if the second trimester gestational age, LMP, and scan measurements are more conclusive rather than the other given due date. AND if the doctor is correct in that I'm actually around 24 weeks and we are indeed facing microcephaly or something, what will I be facing in the coming weeks? I'm heartbroken thinking that my perfectly healthy looking baby I'm seeing is having a severe and possibly fatal condition. Is this the case with microcephaly? Is it world ending or just life changing? I'm so stressed and confused, worried sick. Idk. If any has any thoughts, experience or advice I'd truly appreciate it rn. Thank you

So my wife of 5 years is a wonderful and lovely lady. She is so smart, beautiful, patient and stubborn.
Every time she goes out grocery shopping she comes home as the amazing wife she is and puts the groceries away. HOWEVER. You know that spot on the fridge door on the top shelf that's just big enough to put a carton of eggs? Well lo and behold that where we put our eggs and the top of the carton sits a bit more than flush with the rail. Well when my wife puts things away she will often put other things on top of the carton, at which point the item is no longer protected by the rail.
Queue the pettiest of revenues. After opening the fridge door all week and having a whole container of blueberries spill out onto the floor, picking them up, washing them off and putting them back in the empty crisper. Everyday the package found its way back onto the eggs. So one night after the whole family fell asleep. I went to the fridge and wrote a letter to my wife... from "the eggs". With that note I stuck 5 toothpicks into the carton nailing the letter to the carton. Then I impaled a blueberry onto each toothpick.
The letter read something to the effect of...
"Dear MRS of the house, procuror of food and stocker of the sacred temple of freshness. I the leader of the ovum empire have reason to believe that you wish to antagonize us with your constant acts of war. We are delicate beings and will no longer tolerate any other civilizations to be built upon our shoulders. You will find attached to this letter 5 tokens of warning. We will not ask twice. Next time there will be war.
Signed the choosen one
To this day, she hasn't placed anything else on the eggs. However she routinely jokes about it.

Hey, I’d like to make an extended audio file that includes thought/emotion-provoking words of guidance as well as music. For example:

• mostly music for the onset, with short statements or prompts (1 minute or less) that will help reinforce the intention
  
• somewhat clips of guidance (a few minutes each) during the peak, again related to my intention, intermittent with music
  
• longer clips as the effects let off, and mostly music for reflection throughout the end
  

Music is very impactful for me, but I’d like more structure to help anchor my thoughts and reflections. I’d like to keep the experienced focused in on specific intentions.
My question is, does anyone have any recommendations for audio clips that could provide this kind of guidance? Trauma, social anxiety, self-love/insecurity are all connected to what I’d like to reflect on. If you can’t suggest specific clips, any resources where I might find some would be extremely appreciated. Thank you.

My BF and I are Irish, his ex is Canadian and was working here for a few years. She's a year older than me and she's kind of my polar opposite. Heck, he even joked about it. Vegan, stoner, loads of tattoos, yoga instructor etc. I'm training to be a lawyer and share none of these characteristics. Frankly, I'm more like him from what little I know. They were together for 4 and a half years and were married (still are?) for the last 1.5 years of that. It seems like he really loved her and I can't help but feel insecure. She even lived with him and his family for almost a year as they were saving for a place in Canada.
He ended it 7 months ago. She cheated on him once before a year into the marriage and he forgave her. Then she did it again with a male friend for a few weeks while she was back in Canada. He ended it over the phone the evening he found out. He told me on our 5th date that he was married and I was gutted and almost stopped seeing him. Despite my concerns, he seems to really like me. I've dated quite a lot these last 2 years and this feels like how my last (and only) serious relationship began. I was with a guy for 2.5 years and assumed I'd marry him, it was intense and I loved him the way he loved/loves (??) his wife. His friends are delighted he's moving on and his mom is eager to meet me. It's only been 6 weeks.
However, every so often I remember he's married and I freak out a bit. He was basically with her for the entirety of his adult life so far, so it's hardly surprising she comes up in conversation a lot. He is adamant he'd never take her back. I'm on vacation with my family currently and he's still texting me all the time and is always eager to call when I'm free. She texted him twice in the last 2 weeks (he showed me) and she called him to ask if he was seeing someone. He told her to please leave him alone unless it's divorce/finance related. I feel that I shouldn't allow myself to get attached to him because i can never be special and what if I fall in love and what rhey had was so special that he never can again? How do I stop feeling insecure about this?
TLDR: my BF is married/separated. How do I stop feeling insecure about the fact I can never be as special as her?

I’ve reviewed a lot of resumes on here that asked to be roasted and have even helped a few people who DMed me their resume for private critiques. (No, I don’t charge, but I don’t always have the time to help when asked.) I also tend to do well on interviews: my last three face-to-face interviews resulted in three job offers. But I still get flustered, frustrated and impatient with the application to interview process. Should it be useful, and I hope it is, I’ve decided to share my reflections on my current campaign for better employment.
Mini bio. 2 years as an FA at F500 tech company, plus multiple stints in accounting at mid-sized companies. Total comp at an SFA level for my region, which is typical for tech. Bored, skills underutilized, and looking for an opportunity to add greater value.
Resume. I did multiple tests in April and May to see if my resume was effective. Each time, I applied to a dozen or so positions that I was qualified for and got 3-5 interview requests. All of them came within a week of applying, so I would assume more than two weeks without an interview request means the company isn’t interested.
Applications. LinkedIn is a garbage dump when it comes to their “Easy Apply” job postings. 95% of those postings are from external recruiters for jobs that may or may not exist. Their general listings for SFA have been light of late and I’ve had to page through pages of “related opportunities” that aren’t. Having said that, I have gotten almost as many interview requests from LinkedIn applied positions as from Indeed. Also, I have a couple thousand connections on LinkedIn, so odds are there’s a 1st connection at the company who I can inmail my resume and that I applied for the position: if you are a 1st connection with an HR director or manager, there’s a greater chance of getting an interview request within one day of your inmail.
Indeed’s “make your resume public” option got me one decent outreach from a company when I first did this, but since then it’s just been emails from recruiters pitching random crap. It’s a useful app and I appreciate that they show the estimated salary range for most positions: a lot of interesting opportunities if money wasn’t a concern, but it definitely is.
Company applications can cause me to pass on completing them. I got an email reminder this morning to complete a 45 minute assessment they give to all applicants, regardless of the position or whether you’ll even get a phone screen. Hard pass. It doesn’t have to be an Indeed easy apply application but ffs be reasonable.
Interviews. I started interviewing this week.
The first interview was for a Senior [Business Unit] Analyst and was heavy on preparing reports and effectively communicating data to drive business decisions over the business unit. I therefore used the “Tell me About Yourself” question to provide examples from each job of how I effectively used different communication approaches (emails, spreadsheets, visualizations) that resulted in better business decisions or needed action. It’s all about selling from the first minute. (They wanted to bring me in for an interview but when I found out that the pay for this “senior analyst” was equivalent to the high-end of an FA pay range, I passed.)
The second interview was with a software company. It was for an FA role, but it was tech and they reached out to me on LinkedIn, so I figured the comp might be acceptable. The incoming phone number said “Scam likely,” which wasn’t a promising sign. The HR recruiter said they’d already hired a half dozen FAs in the past month, which is never a good sign: either there was a mass exodus of staff or everyone’s new and it will be the blind leading the blind. The nail in the coffin was the extremely low salary range and only a 6% annual bonus.
Rejections. I’ve gotten some lovely rejection emails from some very fine companies. Not exactly sure why companies bother with this: it used to be extremely demotivating to receive these earlier in my career. Now I just file them and may search for them if I’m applying again to the company and want to know how long it’s been since my last application.

A big talking-point by redpillers I see regarding the redpill/broader manosphere is that its adherents are brave enough to face the raw reality of gender dynamics/society, no matter how unpalatable it might be. Bluepillers are spoken of disparagingly for being blissfully ignorant or clinging onto comforting Disney lies.
Yet to me it's obvious that redpillers are the ones clinging onto a fantasy. This is clear by how quick they are to ignore/dismiss facts that don't align with their preferences.
A massive example I see with this is when speaking about female virginity/chastity and age gaps in relation to divorce rates.
Manosphere men frequently say that one of the biggest reasons they want to marry a virgin (or a woman who has not slept with many men) is because the divorce rate is lower.* This reluctance to add fuel to the risk of getting divorce justifies their stated preference for a virgin.
On the other hand, many men in the manosphere speak of their desire to marry a woman considerably younger than them, with many even saying that they plan on waiting until they are in their late thirties/early 40s, before settling down with a woman in her early-mid 20s.

• the first thing I would like to point out is how rare this is. The average age gap in many countries (US, Canada, UK, Russia, Brazil, Japan, most of western Europe, New Zealand, Argentina, etc) has the man two/three years older than the woman. Poor African countries have the largest age gaps in marriage (female autonomy is lower), and even then it is only 8 years at the most.
• If we look at US statistics, just 7.6% of marriages have the man 10+ years older than the woman.
• Women marry on average in their late 20s/early 30s (28.5 in US for the first time/almost 32 in UK), so even of those in age gap marriages, many won't be in their early/mid 20s.
  
• couples where one or both of the couple married very young (under 25) are more likely have a marriage that ends.
  
• Marriages are the most likely to last when the man and the woman are around the same age (and preferably both in the 28-32 age bracket), which is when people marry on average, so a lot of people seem to have naturally worked this out.
  
• on the other hand, 'A five-year age gap means the couple is 18% more likely to divorce. That rises to 39% for a 10-year age difference. When the couple has a 20-year age gap, the likelihood of divorce rises to 95%. A 30-year age difference means a whopping 172% chance of divorce.' - unhappy marriages.com
  

So my question is, why do men in the manosphere cling to facts when it suits their fantasy of a virgin wife, but ignore them when it comes to the reality of getting and keeping a considerably younger woman? Isn't this the opposite of facing the ugly truth?

So I work in a factory of a major corporation and I knew that when I started that they required you to shave if you’d have to wear a respirator. Well I’ve worked here for 5 years and other then n95 dust masks I’ve never seen anyone use a different type of respirator. So it’s really odd that they are suddenly going to force everyone to clean shave to be fit tested for one. Well I’m on at least a 30 days streak right now and I feel better about it then I have in so long. I thought I could get around shaving if someone here was preforming the test. Well yesterday I found out it’s an actual company and that clean shave was required to take the test. So I was forced to email my safety manager and tell him about my Trich and tell him flat out that I was not going to clean shave. Because even though it seems logical to shave my face if I pull the hair it’s actually worse because it gets irritated. And I get awful ingrown hairs. I’m transgender and almost everyone here knows and I expressed to him that this was more embarrassing then that and to not tell anyone he doesn’t have to :/ i hope I don’t have to go through the trouble of getting my psychiatrist to write a whole letter out about it but we will see when he answers my email Monday.

We are a family of four that needs to get to the Paris Orly Airport for an EasyJet flight that leaves at 7:00 AM for Venice. We will be leaving from a place in the 19th arrondissement. This is a dodgy booking.com place that has no concierge or manager on-site, so no help from that avenue. I expect we need to get to the airport by at least 5:00 AM to be there 2 hours in advance. And I can see that the Metro and RER trains are not an option at that time. There is an bus option, but it is slow and involves multiple connections so I don't see that as viable--I think there is too much risk that I would end up missing a connection...
Also, what is the recommended amount of time to be at the airport in advance by? Is 2 hours good or would you recommend more or less?
So I expect we need a taxi or something similar (such as Bolt or Uber, etc.) I am hoping that someone more experienced or knowledgeable could tell me what the best options are in Paris for this--and the best way to go about this. Any advice, pointers, tips, welcome and appreciated! Thanks!

Two days ago I lost the most wonderful and important man and role model that I've ever known. My grandad was a true gentleman in every sense of the word and we both had an unspoken special bond. He left us on Thursday morning and he took part of my soul with him. The only other time I felt this level of deep pain was 5 years ago during the loss of my baby and my partner leaving me 3 weeks afterwards. I do not know how I have gotten through the last 3 days. Yesterday my entire being felt like it was being ripped apart. The level of sadness I feel at losing my wonderful grandad is beyond anything I anticipated, even though I had 2 weeks to prepare for what we knew was coming, I think I was still in denial and a little flippant. Until it actually happened. How am I supposed to continue on without the person who has been the strongest constant in my whole 36 years? He bought nothing but joy and love. And now that hole is so huge and black, I feel hopeless. I feel like a lost little girl without him. His house and car are there as normal, but he isn't. It's wrong and nothing is as it should be. He was the one person in my life I have always been terrified of having to say goodbye to and now it's happened, all I want to do is be with him so that I never have to let him go again. This pain of being left behind is unbearable.

My BF and I are Irish, his ex is Canadian and was working here for a few years. She's a year older than me and she's kind of my polar opposite. Heck, he even joked about it. Vegan, stoner, loads of tattoos, yoga instructor etc. I'm training to be a lawyer and share none of these characteristics. Frankly, I'm more like him from what little I know. They were together for 4 and a half years and were married (still are?) for the last 1.5 years of that. It seems like he really loved her and I can't help but feel insecure. She even lived with him and his family for almost a year as they were saving for a place in Canada.
He ended it 7 months ago. She cheated on him once before a year into the marriage and he forgave her. Then she did it again with a male friend for a few weeks while she was back in Canada. He ended it over the phone the evening he found out. He told me on our 5th date that he was married and I was gutted and almost stopped seeing him. Despite my concerns, he seems to really like me. I've dated quite a lot these last 2 years and this feels like how my last (and only) serious relationship began. I was with a guy for 2.5 years and assumed I'd marry him, it was intense and I loved him the way he loved/loves (??) his wife. His friends are delighted he's moving on and his mom is eager to meet me. It's only been 6 weeks.
However, every so often I remember he's married and I freak out a bit. He was basically with her for the entirety of his adult life so far, so it's hardly surprising she comes up in conversation a lot. He is adamant he'd never take her back. I'm on vacation with my family currently and he's still texting me all the time and is always eager to call when I'm free. She texted him twice in the last 2 weeks (he showed me) and she called him to ask if he was seeing someone. He told her to please leave him alone unless it's divorce/finance related. I feel that I shouldn't allow myself to get attached to him because i can never be special and what if I fall in love and what rhey had was so special that he never can again? How do I stop feeling insecure about this?
TLDR: my BF is married/separated. How do I stop feeling insecure about the fact I can never be as special as her?

Hey everyone,
Reddit recently announced some changes to their API that may have a big impact to how you use Reddit. You've probably already seen quite a few posts like this on other subreddits you browse. We're joining those subreddits.
TLDR:
This subreddit will be made private (meaning you will not be able to view any of its contents) on June 12th, 12am CEST and will return 48 hours later, on June 14th. Reddit is making it impossible for third-party apps used to browse the site to exist, as some of them will have to pay upwards of $2 million per month. This means they will most likely shut down or impose monthly fees on their users.
You can help. Read below to learn how.
Context Third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, Narwhal, Boost and others are going to become a lot more expensive for their developers to run. This, in turn, will either kill the apps, or result in their developers imposing monthly fees to users if they choose to use the apps to browse Reddit. Why? Because these apps make requests to the Reddit API to fetch data among other things, and each request made by any user will cost the app developers money. For example, the developers of the very popular third-party Reddit browsing app Apollo were quoted upwards of $2 million per month for their current API usage rates. The only way for third-party apps to be viable is if you, the user, pay a monthly fee. However, realistically, this would most likely kill them. To put it simply:
If you use a third-party app to browse Reddit, you will most likely no longer be able to do so, or be charged a monthly fee by its developers.
In addition to this, NSFW content will no longer be available in the API. This means that you will no longer be able to access NSFW content on third-party apps, and will only be able to access it on the official mobile Reddit app. Also, bots such as video downloaders or reminder bots will not be able to access any NSFW content. It will also become harder for moderators of NSFW subreddits to combat very serious violations such as CSAM due to moderation tools not being able to access the content.
Open Letter to Reddit In light of what's happening, an open letter has been released by the broader Reddit moderator community. treats is supporting it. Please consider giving it a read and signing on.
Subreddit Blackout
On June 12th, lots of subreddits will be going dark to protest these changes. Some will return after 48 hours, while others will go away permanently unless this is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to all the work they do with the poor moderation tools available in the official app. Us, subreddit moderators, do what we do because we love Reddit, we love our communities, and truly believe that these changes will make it impossible to keep doing what we love, which is why we've decided to join all of those subreddits.
This collective action is intended to raise awareness and urge Reddit to reconsider their recent API changes. Our primary goal is to initiate a productive dialogue with Reddit, leading to a reversal of the detrimental modifications they have implemented.
Treats will be going dark for 48 hours starting June 12th, 12am CEST. We'll be back on June 14th.
"Going dark" means the subreddit will be made private. You won't be able to view any of its contents. After the 48 hours, everything will come back to normal.
We understand this will be an inconvenience, but believe it's necessary for the long-term future of Reddit as well as the broader Treats community. Over 20 people visit this subreddit each month, so we want this to be something the community cares about enough that we can all come together and say something collectively with our actions.
What You Can Do From Save3rdPartyApps
Complain. Message the mods of reddit, who are the admins of the site. Submit a support request. Comment in relevant threads on reddit, such as this one. Spread the word. Discuss on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Complain about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at ModCoord. (Please don't spam modmail inboxes or anything like that though!) Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th. Instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support! Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite and reasonable as possible. Sincerely,