For three years now I have been in the cycle of domestic violence but every time he apologized I thought things would be better. I was wrong, now my lease is up in just a month and he was just diagnosed with bipolar one. It went from him punching me, to him making holes in my door, to him almost killing me and now he's going to make sure I'm homeless... After another one of his rage episodes he called a Crisis line who told him to turn himself into the ER. So he did and for the first time I was left alone, away from him with just me and my animals. He had screamed in my face saying he would make me homeless and there was nothing I could do about it, I quit my job back in February as he had a really good income and for some stupid reason I trusted him, I was attacked by a kid and so I quit. Being a substitute teacher for middle school just wasn't for me, then he was fired from his job, the plan had been to renew the lease in July and I would start college in the spring however because he was in the military and is at 60% disability he's going to be getting housing through them... And I will be left behind. It's been three years of my life I wasted away by loving him. All for him to say recently he never loved me the same way I loved him. We have been broken up for almost a year now but with no job, faimly, friends and with my animals I basically have been forced to live with him. And I wanted to see the good in him. The night he left to go to the hospital I made an actual plan to end everything, I would drive up to Nebraska and just leave everything and everyone behind, but when I looked my dog in his eyes all I could do was cry and apologize to him. I don't qualify for aid as I have no job and I can't be without my dog. My rats and dog are the biggest light in my life and the reason I'm still here, all my family wants me to do is return him back to the shelter let my pet rats go in a forest and be in a homeless shelter. I have no friends to turn to and no faimly that can even afford to help I have tried go fund me I actually attempted to rehome my dog with no luck and as of yesterday I have exactly one month to figure out what to do, as a last resort I can abandon my rats to a rescue, give my dog back to the shelter and just drive to Nebraska like I want. I'm only 20 but I think my life has already been ruined by him. Enough to the point I have already packed all of my stuff and I'm just calling everywhere I possibly can to get help. But if I can't find anyone or do anything by the end of this month I'm just going to put my plan into action and do it no one I know cares and are constantly asking why I won't just stay in a homeless shelter for a few years until I can get a job again but that would mean I don't have my animals, which is the only reason im alive. He's taken my money, he's taken everything from me that he can all while crushing my mental esteem. I think my family has just stopped caring at this point and already knows what's going to happen. I had big dreams to get a physics degree but with me and my animals at risk of homeless all I can think about is getting my animals to a safe place so I won't constantly have to worry about them.

For three years not I have been in the cycle of domestic violence but every time he apologized I thought things would be better. I was wrong, now my lease is up in just a month and he was just diagnosed with bipolar one. It went from him punching me, to him making holes in my door, to him almost killing me and now he's going to make sure I'm homeless... After another one of his rage episodes he called a Crisis line who told him to turn himself into the ER. So he did and for the first time I was left alone, away from him with just me and my animals. He had screamed in my face saying he would make me homeless and there was nothing I could do about it, I quit my job back in February as he had a really good income and for some stupid reason I trusted him, I was attacked by a kid and so I quit. Being a substitute teacher for middle school just wasn't for me, then he was fired from his job, the plan had been to renew the lease in July and I would start college in the spring however because he was in the military and is at 60% disability he's going to be getting housing through them... And I will be left behind. It's been three years of my life I wasted away by loving him. All for him to say recently he never loved me the same way I loved him. We have been broken up for almost a year now but with no job, faimly, friends and with my animals I basically have been forced to live with him. And I wanted to see the good in him. The night he left to go to the hospital I made an actual plan to end everything, I would drive up to Nebraska and just leave everything and everyone behind, but when I looked my dog in his eyes all I could do was cry and apologize to him. I don't qualify for aid as I have no job and I can't be without my dog. My rats and dog are the biggest light in my life and the reason I'm still here, all my family wants me to do is return him back to the shelter let my pet rats go in a forest and be in a homeless shelter. I have no friends to turn to and no faimly that can even afford to help I have tried go fund me I actually attempted to rehome my dog with no luck and as of yesterday I have exactly one month to figure out what to do, as a last resort I can abandon my rats to a rescue, give my dog back to the shelter and just drive to Nebraska like I want. I'm only 20 but I think my life has already been ruined by him. Enough to the point I have already packed all of my stuff and I'm just calling everywhere I possibly can to get help. But if I can't find anyone or do anything by the end of this month I'm just going to put my plan into action and do it no one I know cares and are constantly asking why I won't just stay in a homeless shelter for a few years until I can get a job again but that would mean I don't have my animals, which is the only reason im alive. He's taken my money, he's taken everything from me that he can all while crushing my mental esteem. I think my family has just stopped caring at this point and already knows what's going to happen. I had big dreams to get a physics degree but with me and my animals at risk of homeless all I can think about is getting my animals to a safe place before I go, so I won't have to worry about them.

I've finished prototyping the first version of the tow bed for my Cayman 6x6 and it turned out great.
I had to print 3 of them before generally getting it right on the 4th one, which I think is pretty good for someone with extremely limited CAD experience. I made the base "adapter" section myself, and then imported and heavily modified a truck bed model I found online, removing the wheel wells for clearance, and stretching and raising it. It overlaps the rear of the cab nicely, and leaves space for the eventual winch that will go there (I'm sure it'll need to be modified to fit).
I'm very happy with it for now. The next step is trying to figure out how to add ramps that stow inside, or make the whole thing articulate somehow... If anyone has any very simple suggestions that are easy to implement in tinkercad, let me know.
It was an issue with just the cab, but now I really need to replace the shocks so it handles better with a load. I have a lot of extra shocks kicking around but haven't found the best setup yet, but I know the springs need to be stiffer. Just for info, the stock shocks aren't bad, but under the weight of the cab they are not smooth and won't return to the level without assistance.
It's a lot of fun to play with. I used some techdeck skateboard ramps to drive the mini z on to the back and hauled it around, and it was pretty stable considering the weight. My spare parts car with a 1/24 hot wheels die cast monster truck body was much less stable haha.
Thanks for looking. If you have any questions, let me know!

My dad is turning 70 on Wednesday. Yellowstone is on his bucket list. I was thinking of renting a big place for a week or two and having my brothers and sisters pop in and out.
Normally, I would do some research and answer my own questions, but I'm in a bit of a pinch with work and time, etc, so I'm going to break my own rule and ask questions before trying to answer them myself. Thanks in advance.
If I get an AirBNB in Big Springs for the first week in October, will they still be able to do a bunch of stuff?
Which entrance is considered the "best" one?
Will they be able to get passes/permits to get in? The October dates are blocked out?
Should I have him go at the beginning of September or beginning of October?
Anything else I should know? It will be he and my mom the whole time and some kids and grandkids filtering in and out. Most of the grandkids are teens.
Thanks in advance and sorry for being lazy.

I was just finishing up MSR for CSP at the end of May and was looking to sign up for my first ever Amex card for the 150k SUB.
I had some bonus offer links saved with an expiration date of June 7th, but I recently found out those were changed to 80k. My main purpose for the plat is to transfer points over to ANA to book a business class flight next spring for 2 to Japan and fly Spring 2025.
Should I hold out until the end of the year in hopes the 150k offer returns or am I better off just applying for a combination of Plat/Gold? Do the 150k public/referals come around often?
Thanks!

I am a 15 year old female who lives with my mom. I love my mom, my mom has sacrificed a lot for me in my 15 years and I know that she loves me. My mom works as Nail Technician and she is a Vietnamese immigrant. My mom is super nice to everyone. On the outside, my friends think she’s super sweet, super understanding, and my friends all love her. My friends all believe she is the most hilarious person ever and in public everybody likes to believe that we have a really good relationship. The truth is, is that it’s not. I’ve spent 15 years living with my mom and I can just say that once I go to college I’m leaving and never coming back. Insider, my mom has a brother who left because he got kicked out of college so really, I’m the only child she has left. My mom has spent many years trying to teach me from right to wrong just like any other parent. But she did that by crushing my self confidence and self esteem. I was not the most skinny girl ever. In fact I was overweight and I have been for most of my life but only by ten to fifteen pounds. My mom spent countless years telling me that I was ugly and that I was a fat pig. During family vacations where I would have to wear a swimsuit she would just avoid me because I know that she was embarrassed about having me as her daughter . I know she did this to motivate me to lose weight but I turned to SH instead. I spent my freshman year of high school going to the gym constantly and I lost 40 pounds. I spent every morning running four miles for 4 days a week. On the days I didn’t run i rowed. I’m relatively skinny now and when relatives like to ask what I did to lose all of that, my mom likes to say that it was her. She made me lose all of the weight and she tells others to copy her techniques. But really, I was the one that worked hard. I spent homecoming and spring fling in the gym. I couldn’t even eat cake on my birthday because it was too many calories. I spent most of my time in the gym. My mom likes to hit me sometimes or kick me. And when she does that she likes to curse me out in Vietnamese when I do something wrong. In our culture it’s very normalized but my mom shows me no affection. She has never told me that she loved me, she has never hugged me ever since I was 7. My mom likes to insult me in english and in Vietnamese. I think she just expects me to be perfect all the time. I have a 4.1 unweighted GPA and I’m going into my sophomore year taking AP Calculus , AP Spanish, and AP American Lit. I play varsity Lacrosse , I’m Editor in Chief for Yearbook next year and I’m secretary of my class. I am in Chess Club and HOSA. I work very hard. Any other mother would be grateful for me. But to my mom it’s not enough. It will never be enough. She always points out my flaws. And what I do wrong. But she never congratulates me. My mom has never attended any of my lacrosse games,school events, graduations , or anything, never has . She’s never there for me. Anytime I try to speak to her about my problems she always yells at me about how I have nothing to stress about because I have food to eat and water to drink. My mom also does this really annoying thing where if she makes something and I don’t like it she’ll just tell me to eat it and give me a sob story. I’ve also noticed that ever since my parents got divorced my mom has been a really horrible girl friend. Not in a cheating way but she doesn’t trust. And to her everything must be perfect and if she’s having a bad day best believe that once you interact with her you will too. My mom assumes things all the time when I do something and she’ll yell at me for that. She prefers her feelings over the actual facts and that’s messed up the dynamic of our relationship. She also never moves on and will use things against me no matter what. Long story short, she’s shattered my confidence and was my very first bully, she always thinks she’s right and can’t admit when she’s in the wrong, she can’t compromise, she’s manipulative, and she’s never there for me. When people say that it’s a red flag when somebody treats their mom like crap I disagree. Not in all situations but you never know what’s happening behind closed doors. My mom truly makes me feel like she only loves me because she’s birthed me. I truly feel like the child she didn’t want. And I don’t think she likes me. I wish I had a good relationship with my mom like everyone else does but I just can’t . When I move out and start my career, I plan on just giving my mom a shit load of money and then leaving her. She took away my childhood all because she didn’t want to create the time or the effort. If she didn’t want to pay more money she shouldn’t have had me. And I wish I didn’t have her as my mom.

Hey there!
I’m 28 M from Colorado. I’ve been single for about a year in a half. I got out of a marriage that wasn’t great and decided to get some help. And that help was therapy. I was always a person who thought that therapy was pointless and that I would never go but after I was having such a hard time, I decided to go and it was life changing. I got out of that horrible marriage and I was also able to address my own individual issues. I still get a little embarrassed about admitting to people that I’m in therapy but I’m trying to do better with that. After a year in a half since leaving my ex wife and I feel like I’m in a really good place in life but lately, I have been feeling a little lonely and would like to get to know someone.
I guess to start, a little about me. I’m Hispanic and I’m fluent in both English and Spanish. I have a son who is my world and is very important to me. I take my career seriously but I’ve been able to find a great work/life balance that is really working for me. I enjoy things like sports, traveling, movies/tv shows and video games but I’m down to talk about anything!
As far as what I’m looking for, I guess I’m not 100% sure! I would like to start talking to someone and seeing if we click and if we do, maybe eventually meeting up. I guess for this to work out you would have to live in Colorado but I wouldn’t mind talking to people from other places. I do like traveling!
A few ice breakers to start with:
Where do you want to travel next?
And
Last good show that you binged watched?
Hope to hear from someone!

I'm new to Spring Boot and webflux so I've been exploring on my own. I've read that you could return either a Mono or Flux in the handler.
However, I realized that the HandlerFunction functional interface (which is used by RouterFunctions.route()) returns a Mono. From what I read from a post from stackoverflow, it seems like HTTP does not support this kind of streaming data that is required by Flux, so web socket has to be used instead.
Then wouldn't it be pointless for a handler class to have methods that return Flux?

For context, this spring my school is putting on “Dance Nation,” and Ashlee is one of my dream roles. I am very, very excited. I know I would be a great fit for the character if given the chance, but I’m worried I act too old to play her?
Many of my professors have commented that I have a mature acting style for my age before. I often get called back and cast in older roles, and I’m worried that I act too mature to play a character my own age.
So I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I’m doing that makes my acting style “more mature.” I’ve been thinking it’s a combination of two things: my physicality isn’t as free as I would like it to be, and my voice is very naturally chest-resonant. Obviously, I can’t change anything about my voice, nor do I want to, but I have been working on freeing up my physicality.
Anyway, do you all think I’m on the right track? If you’ve had issues like this before, what were you doing, and how did you fix it? Any advice is appreciated!

Getting a new bike soon. Have had several old school dual sports but it’s been a solid 15 years and those bikes were 20+ years old. In my head I’ll be on the dirt more than anything but realistic miles often end up around town for quick trips to the grocery, etc. I don’t need or want to ride the interstate but do have plenty of 65 mph rural highways around. Western Colorado in the mountains. Thoughts? (I’ve seen similar posts but thought I’d put it up for fresh consideration as there’s a lot of interest in these bikes).

Hello, I have been an accounting student for 2 years my GPA is currently 3.2 and got a D for intermediate II this spring semester, which is disappointing since I wanted to graduate in the fall only needed 4 classes left. one class I was taking I needed intermediate 2 with at least a C- (Advanced Acc).
The classes this Fall however don't require intermediate 2 as a prerequisite. (Gov & Nonprofit, Tax 1, International, Audit) and could still graduate. Should I retake Intermediate 2 While taking my electives because I am not sure if it is worth retaking the course since i am close to graduating. How will a D in Intermediate 2 affect me in the long term?
TLDR; Is a D in intermediate 2 worth retake in final semester with 4 electives
Thanks

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is undoubtedly a powerhouse, if not the powerhouse of the indie perfume world. Who else (like me) came to indie perfume at least in part from the hat-tip to BPAL in the acknowledgements of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus? I actually still have never ordered from BPAL directly, but I have amassed a fair few samples and decants thanks to Ajevie, Arae, and swaps. And it's always fun to read through the names and notes of each new collection release!
My general thoughts about BPAL are these: they clearly know what they're doing and have an enormous library of notes for them to draw upon. Sometimes new releases feel very much like they just sort of reached into a dark cupboard and combined whatever bottles they happened to grab (particularly the Ménages à Trois), and yet sometimes the unexpected combinations are genius. (Sometimes they are very much not.) BPAL's perfumes tend to work okay for me, but they're not one of my top houses (that list is made up of Nui Cobalt, Poesie, Arcana, and NAVA), although a few BPAL scents have turned out to be holy grails for me (Drow Yoga Instructor, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale). Oddly enough, their florals often tend not to work well on my skin, which is hugely disappointing especially since I deliberately sought out a lot of their ethereal-sounding florals and then a lot of them failed for me. However, their sandalwood incense is astounding, and I love their sweet pea, plum, and pink sandalwood notes.
My preferences: I especially love snuggly scents, incense, golden amber, cardamom, black tea, beeswax, non-gourmand vanillas, and white florals (though sadly I am allergic to lilies and jasmine doesn’t usually work on me). I don't like hay, overly sweet gourmands, excessive musk, leather, dragon’s blood, patchouli, labdanum, or any really dark scents in general.
So here are 27 reviews, organized roughly by category:

Ambers

And With My Spade I Delfe My Landys [Snow-capped golden amber with snowdrop, winter gardenia, hellebore, and iris] - First off, I'm a scholar of Renaissance music, with a real fondness for medieval Books of Hours. Second, I get obsessed with snowdrops in the late winter when the cottagecore-y, hobbit-y, linen-enthusiast circles of Instagram that I haunt fill with photos of snowdrops in February. So how could I pass this one up? I get golden amber and floral as anticipated, and also (just on application, then it recedes) a very resinous, citrusy, herbal scent that I can't quite place - rosemary? Pine? Some combination of the two? It's also a bit powdery (iris has a tendency to pull powdery on me, and as a lover of powdery florals that's just fine with me). And With My Spade is so very reminiscent of those first tentative flowers pushing up through whatever snow still lays on the ground and it's absolutely bonkers wonderful for that transitional season between winter and spring, which is of course what I bought it for.
Bastet [Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus] - On application, that golden amber reads as powdery honey. As it dries, a sophisticated Egyptian musk and a hint of lotus floral emerge. This perfume is not really gourmand despite the notes. I wish the incense or spices had more presence. As it is, this perfume is nice but it feels a little thin.
Cathedral [Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiastical blend of pure resins] - Ohhh, it's pretty. Golden and resinous with only the slightest hint of smokiness. These resins feel closer to tree sap than a dark or spiced incense, so while it's not like any church I've ever experienced, Cathedral is gorgeous and uplifting. I got one scant wear out of my sniffie and would definitely consider getting another sample.
Golden Priapus [A truly carnal, energetic men’s blend: vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine] - My experience with this was so puzzling that I went to look up reviews on the BPAL forum, which only puzzled me further! On me, Golden Priapus is an extremely resinous, rosewood-y and tree sap-y golden amber not altogether dissimilar to Hexennacht Baltic Amber [Thick rivulets of golden amber, pinus succinifera, cedarwood, jammy fir absolute, oakmoss absolute, tree moss, verdant musk, cardamom, balsam, lightning-scorched ancient boughs] but with more tree resin and less verdant evergreen. "Carnal" and "energetic" it is not - so off to the forum, where I consistently saw reviews calling this "masculine" and even "a more masculine Snake Oil". I've sniffed Snake Oil (just in the vial, not on my skin) and it had a very red musk + spices vibe, and I don't really see a similarity to Golden Priapus. Nor would I call this "masculine" unless you're the sort who views resinous, sappy golden amber as a more stereotypically men's scent.
The Sun Rising [Three shades of tawny amber radiating with orange blossom, Italian yellow bergamot, saffron, and mandarin] - Golden amber and citrus, with a lot of the saffron. I tested what little was left in the free sniffie in late August, and it was absolutely perfect for the heat of late summer, though I don't think I'll bother buying more because the citrus overpowers the amber a bit (especially the prominent bergamot, not my favorite note).
My Wise Beauty [A simple scent for a quiet memory: white sandalwood and sweet amber] - Resinous golden amber and creamy sandalwood…and vanilla frosting? The "sweet" part of "sweet amber" isn't just flowery adjective but actual description. My Wise Beauty is simple and straightforward but really pretty, wrapping me in a blanket of coziness. The sugary frosting aspect will keep me from seeking out more when this little decant is exhausted, but I will happily wear what's here.

Florals

Alice [Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot] - Soft florals, with the carnation a little more present than the rose. I'm always wary of milk or dairy notes, but the milk and honey here simply serve to mute the rose and carnation, both of which can go strongly green or spicy. I don't dislike this perfume, but as a person who doesn't much love these particular floral notes (I'm much more into white florals, especially tuberose and tiare), it's a little bit boring for me and I ended up destashing this one.
Juliet [Sweet pea with stargazer lily, calla lily, heliotrope, honeysuckle, white musk and a touch of fresh pear] - Disappointingly nondescript. Nonspecific white florals and a hint of pear sweetness. It's dainty and feminine but not memorable. For sweet pea, I'll get my fix with Mouse's Long and Sad Tale.
Lady Amalthea [A luminous white winter musk with lilac, wisteria, white chocolate, white mint, and tuberose] - When it first goes on, the different elements - the florals (I definitely get tuberose, and another floral that must be wisteria, which I'm unfamiliar with), the camphoric spearmint, the white chocolate, and the musk just barely brushing animalic - fight with each other, but it quickly dries down to a much more seamless whole, pretty winter florals over a comforting and Poesie-like white chocolate musky base layer.
Maiden [A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose] - It's a lovely combination of rose and carnation, much like Alice, with a slight hint of the green stems but mostly the fragrant flowers (and without the sharp spiciness carnation can sometimes get). On application when it was extremely and uniformly floral, I thought that this perfume needed some vanilla or amber or sandalwood to give it dimension, but as it dried, the white tea emerged to do exactly that - it's not a bitter, astringent white tea, but more the feeling of steam rising from a pale tea in a china teacup. Still, I'm ambivalent at best about rose and carnation, so I destashed it.
Mouse's Long and Sad Tale [Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood] - This one is so pretty, delicately sweet and floral, and a staple of my spring perfumes! (Meanwhile, Husband says it smells like talc powder, acknowledging that I like exactly that kind of thing.) I don't get amber or sandalwood individually, but they lend the vanilla a mellowness and warmth. Several hours later, it lingers as a warm sandalwood-amber-vanilla. I love this one so much that I sought out a decant of Mouse's Long and Sad Pumpkin, which I'm saving to try this fall.
Pele [Muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms] - So pretty! This is entirely a white floral perfume, tiare backed by tuberose (I think? A second white floral, definitely). If there's any ginger in there, I don't notice it. I adore tiare so I am entirely happy, though I can also acknowledge that this perfume lacks depth or complexity. I love this and other tropical white florals for summer.
Zorya Polunochnaya [Pale amber and ambergris, gossamer vanilla, moonflower, and white tobacco petals] - A crowd favorite, and I wanted to see what everyone was talking about! This has a sweet + salty, white amber + pink cotton candy effect. The slight tinge of butter and salt to this white amber (no doubt amplified by the ambergris) reminds me of the Alkemia white ambers, Luminae especially. I actually don't really get any florals from this one, which is a pity because I love the moonflower in Nui Cobalt Crown of Hekate [Moonflower and myrrh over shining white amber on a pillow of sheer vanilla] though I find the myrrh in that one quite overpowering. I had been hoping this would be a nice alternative. As Zorya P starts to dry, the tobacco starts to emerge and replaces the initial pink cotton candy effect. It's gentle as tobacco goes, but still more than I would prefer. All in all, it's been really fun to try this one since everyone's been talking about it - and it is indeed just as "gossamer" as the notes description says, though it has a really surprising longevity! But it's not ultimately going to find a place in my collection, since I have other, equally ethereal vanillas that I prefer, and I'm really not into tobacco.

Lavender

TKO [No official notes - people agree that it's lavender and marshmallow] - Yep, lavender and marshmallow. A particularly herbal, astringent lavender, which cuts beautifully through the sweet powderiness of the marshmallow. I'm also getting a sort of dusty background incense, which makes this scent remind me of Stereoplasm Lavender Scarab [Golden amber, English lavender, blackberry, incense], but with marshmallow instead of golden amber
A Place of Seeing [Pink rosebuds and lavender with amber-gilded sandalwood, vanilla bean, bergamot, and marshmallow] - It goes on with the same sleepy lavender as in TKO, made more detailed and complex with the addition of the gentle pink rose petals and the amber-sandalwood-vanilla base. It wafts around me a haze of femininity. As it dries, the marshmallow emerges too, and it becomes obvious that this is literally TKO with the addition of rose and those warm base notes. Very pretty!
The Air and the Ether [Gentle, almost imperceptible, permeating all things: pale amber vibrating with ambergris and a thread of lavender] - Lavender, one that sits midway between herbal and floral, and skin musk. It's an incredibly skin-hugging scent, but has excellent longevity.
On Wednesday, I Will Promise You a Phantom [A gust of luminous lavender, the spectral skin musk of a gently curving ghostly hand, a melodic twang of wisteria and ylang ylang, and a murmur of myrrh-touched vanilla husk] - Another "sleepy lavender" scent - I have several of these in my perfume collection and I love them all. This is a really ghostly, ethereal scent, wafting elusively around me. On Wednesday is primarily a lavender + vanilla scent, but with a bit of complexity. The lavender is the herbal sort, but it's so soft that it's not at all astringent, and the faintest hint of the other florals makes the lavender sometimes smell like the floral sort. Adding just a touch of myrrh was a really clever choice on their part - there's so little that it doesn't make it smell earthy or smoky, but it grounds it and gives it complexity and richness. It's really quite a lovely, ghostly scent.

Fruits

Drow Yoga Instructor [Wild plum, indigo lavender, and a tranquil tendril of sandalwood incense] - A dusty and purple scent with an absolutely gorgeous gentle incense note (I love sandalwood incense!) backed up by lavender flowers (sort of midway between floral and herbal), and a plum note that is intense fruity candy for about 2 seconds when applied, and then merely makes this scent truly purple. When I say "dusty", I actually mean it - after about half an hour, the sandalwood incense really does start to include an actual dust note. This is a stunning scent for yoga practice, or any day you want a gentle purple incense scent. It is the yoga perfume for me, gorgeous and meditative and containing possibly my favorite-ever incense note (sorry, NCD cathedral incense, I promise I love you too!). I don't wear this one as often as I'd like to because I also have other yoga perfumes and I like to rotate through them, but honestly this is my holy grail yoga scent. Even though it has low longevity on me; it'll last through a yoga class and then some, and that's really all I need from it. I'm seriously considering buying a full bottle, which (since I'm a person who full-sizes hardly anything) tells you something about how essential it is for my collection.
Painted Scars [Wild plum and white sandalwood with lavender bud, white musk, and blackberry wine] - I snapped up a half-ml decant of this as soon as I saw the notes, because it reminded me so much of both their Drow Yoga Instructor and also Stereoplasm Lavender Scarab [Golden amber, English lavender, blackberry, incense], both scents I really like. This is a much brighter, fruitier scent than Drow Yoga Instructor, the plum and blackberry combination going on as brash fruity candy (I don't love this stage). But it does dry down to a very calming scent, those dark fruits joined by a bit of grounding lavender and sandalwood. Unlike the two others I thought this would be similar to, Painted Scars noticeably lacks incense, but it definitely lives in their same family. I quite enjoy it (once it has dried down) but won't need to seek out more. I do wonder if layering this with Drow Yoga Instructor might improve the latter's longevity, which would be thrilling if it works.
Titania [A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon] - It goes on with a blast of fruits too sweet and fruit snack-like, mostly that white grape, but as it sits the florals suddenly emerge with a great whack of petals, and at this point I'm very puzzled because the particular combination of fruit and indistinct white florals reminds me a great deal of mint toothpaste. Another one that's a nice idea but doesn't really work for me on execution.

Greenery

Elf [Pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry] - Wet on my skin, it's pine needles seen through a soft, gauzy veil - it's a strange but lovely effect, the pine needles muted by fruit and amber. Dry, the pine needles disappear entirely, and the perfume is an indistinct but really pretty mix of greenery, floral, berry-like fruit, and glowing golden amber. The overall effect is pretty muted, and by this I don't mean that it lacks throw, just that all of the elements are soft and gentle. It does feel undeniably elfin. I thought it would be a spring perfume but then never wore it the next spring, and when I tried it in early summer, it was much too tree-ish for me - but Husband loved it and happily took ownership.

Beeswax

The Lights of Men's Lives [The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death’s shadowy cave: some tall, straight, and strong, blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering] - I love beeswax notes and was excited to try a perfume that I'd read is the perfect epitome of a lit beeswax candle. It's a honeyed beeswax with an unmistakable candle-ness to it even though I don't smell any smoke. It's an extremely atmospheric scent and one that is very situational for me, not for daily wear. I especially love it for Good Friday.
The Little Owl [Tonka bean and vetiver with brown sandalwood, oak bark, almond, and beeswax] - Not going to lie; I was completely suckered in by the cuteness of the name and concept. This scent feels extremely Nui Cobalt-ish: woodsy but also cuddly, featuring honey + almond (like Silver Fox, Chionophilia, and so on) and also some earthier notes, and the beeswax is strong. This is absolutely going to be a fall perfume for me.

Miscellaneous

Baobhan Sith [Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger] - I'm not really one for ginger-heavy scents, and somehow my skin always seems to amp ginger notes even if, as in this one, they're last on the list. (Isn't that always the way?) This one doesn't go on with too much ginger, but even just fifteen minutes later it becomes primarily ginger on me, backed with the astringency of acidic grapefruit citrus and white tea leaves. I really love apple blossom but I don't get much if any here; it's overwhelmed by the more assertive notes. Another half hour later, Baobhan Sith is actually nearly gone (or perhaps I just grow anosmic to it?). Meanwhile, at that stage, Husband tells me he can still smell it (so yeah, I've probably just gone anosmic), and that it reminds him of the lime oil in the furniture wax he uses - and he says he quite likes this perfume on me. Overall, it's a lovely idea, and I still think a white tea + apple blossom scent would be just fabulous but this is not it for me.
Bliss in the Pumpkin Patch [There's all manner of shenanigans in this year's pumpkin patch! Pumpkin'ized hybrids of GC BPAL scents abound! BLISS: A shot of pure, self-indulgent euphoria! A scent that is very, very wicked in its own way: the serotonin-slathered scent of pure milk chocolate.] - Oddly enough, I don't actually get milk chocolate; I get cinnamon and espresso over a creamy, foody pumpkin - all told, a bit too gourmand for me, but it was tremendous fun to try. (Less fun: the cocoa solids had separated from the oil, which also left unappealing chocolatey smears on my wrists that I later had to go wash off.)
Lust [Uncontrollable passion and insatiable sexual desire: red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh] - This combination of red musk, patch, and myrrh smells to me a lot like dragon's blood. Husband says he likes this one but wouldn't wear it himself; meanwhile it's very very not for me and I didn't bother skin-testing it, red musk and patch being two of my death notes.
Vasilissa [Creamy skin musk and blushing pink musk with soft sandalwood, white amber, dutiful myrrh, and star jasmine] - My immediate response: "Ooh, pretty!" And even Husband graced it with a "yeah, that's nice." A dainty, feminine, slightly floral but mostly pink sandalwood scent with just enough resin and earthy myrrh underneath to ground it.
​

Personally...

I absolutely positively cannot do without Drow Yoga Instructor and Mouse's Sad and Long Tale. Other BPAL favorites include A Place of Seeing and Vasilissa, and probably also The Little Owl (we'll see how much I reach for it in autumn). I'm sad that most of the floral ones I tried don't really work for me. I can also commend BPAL for their pretty and often very clever approach to gauzy, lavender-forward scents.
Thank you to everyone who sold or gifted me these samples and decants!

Hello again! Apologies for the wait. This round we see the elimination of....
Fools Like Me
Along with Home, this is one of my favorite tracks in the album's back half. This song has some of my favorite verses in the album, and it shows how good Vanessa is in writing confessional lyrics while keeping beautiful imagery.
And with that, here are our holy trinity according to you guys:
Tracks remaining:

• Nolita Fairytale
• Hands on Me
• Heroes & Thieves

Place	Song	Votes	Percentage
4th	Fools Like Me	4/9	44.4%
5th	Home	4/9	44.4%
6th	Come Undone	5/10	50%
7th	More than This	4/11	36.3%
8th	My Best	5/9	55.5%
9th	The One	3/8	37.5%
10th	Spring Street	2/6	33.3%
11th	This Time	3/7	42.8%

LINK TO VOTING FORM

Spotify
Apple Music

https://imgur.com/a/YTMRNXz
In the process of buying this house (my 6th attempt in this crazy market!). The floor with the bedrooms has an obvious choice for my room (I am sole occupant). 2 small bedrooms remain at the bottom of the floor plan; there’s also a similarly sized bonus room downstairs that can be used as an office.
I need to have at least one guest bedroom and prefer to put a queen size bed in it for if my friend and her husband stay—plus queen beds are more roomy for even one person who likes to sprawl out. Thankfully the closet doors are sliders so they don’t cut into the space.
I already have a queen box spring and full-to-queen frame. The frame is one of the metal ones that doesn’t add any substantial width or length. Need to buy a new mattress as I ran out of room for the guest mattress in my moving truck 😅
So how would you arrange either or both of the 2 smaller rooms with a queen bed? (I am open to having two guest rooms and using the bonus room downstairs for my home office) but that is not at all necessary.
For the guest room(s) I am okay with tiny nightstands and no dresser. I can put a small dresser in the closet. I DO need nightstands though. I am a firm believer that a bedroom should have lamps at the bedside so you can turn off the overhead light before getting into bed. Also a place to plug in your phone! But I digress.
I am okay with them being a little slimmer on walking space. Would prefer to be able to access both sides of the bed.
TIA for the help!

Welcome back to another Pick'Em thread!
This post can be used to discuss your picks for 06/06/2023. If you have any feedback or suggestions on improving the thread further, drop a comment below or message the moderators.
Don't forget: picks must be submitted during the twelve-hour window before Noon EDT on game day, you can only make one selection per day, and missed days count as losses, so choose wisely and don't delay!
Games for Tuesday, 06/06/2023:

Matchup and Team Records	Probable Pitchers (Season ERA)	Estimated Win Probability
Minnesota Twins (31-29) @ Tampa Bay Rays (43-19)	Louie Varland (3.51) / Zach Eflin (3.30)	42% / 58%
Detroit Tigers (26-32) @ Philadelphia Phillies (28-32)	Tyler Alexander (6.38) / Taijuan Walker (5.65)	37% / 63%
Kansas City Royals (18-42) @ Miami Marlins (33-28)	Zack Greinke (4.19) / Jesus Luzardo (4.05)	38% / 62%
Arizona Diamondbacks (35-25) @ Washington Nationals (25-34)	Tommy Henry (3.73) / Jake Irvin (5.67)	54% / 46%
Oakland Athletics (12-50) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (32-27)	James Kaprielian (8.12) / Mitch Keller (3.25)	36% / 64%
Chicago White Sox (26-35) @ New York Yankees (36-25)	Lucas Giolito (4.08) / Clarke Schmidt (5.01)	36% / 64%
Houston Astros (36-24) @ Toronto Blue Jays (33-28)	Hunter Brown (3.61) / Kevin Gausman (2.76)	48% / 52%
Boston Red Sox (30-30) @ Cleveland Guardians (27-32)	James Paxton (4.26) / Shane Bieber (3.72)	46% / 54%
Los Angeles Dodgers (35-25) @ Cincinnati Reds (27-33)	Tony Gonsolin (1.77) / Luke Weaver (5.36)	61% / 39%
New York Mets (30-30) @ Atlanta Braves (35-24)	Carlos Carrasco (5.74) / Bryce Elder (1.92)	43% / 57%
Baltimore Orioles (37-22) @ Milwaukee Brewers (32-28)	Kyle Gibson (3.89) / Freddy Peralta (4.62)	45% / 55%
St. Louis Cardinals (25-35) @ Texas Rangers (38-20)	Matthew Liberatore (4.91) / Dane Dunning (2.06)	43% / 57%
San Francisco Giants (29-30) @ Colorado Rockies (26-35)	John Brebbia (3.80) / Dinelson Lamet (13.17)	55% / 45%
Chicago Cubs (26-32) @ Los Angeles Angels (31-30)	Hayden Wesneski (4.81) / Tyler Anderson (5.47)	43% / 57%
Seattle Mariners (29-30) @ San Diego Padres (27-32)	Logan Gilbert (4.08) / Joe Musgrove (4.71)	43% / 57%

1. All columns are Away / Home. Records are typically current as-of the time of posting, and do not always contain the matchup results from the day of posting.
2. A bolded matchup means that there is a "Probability of Precipitation" greater than 50% in a non-domed stadium at the time of this post.
3. An italicized matchup means that it is Game 2 of a doubleheader, which for Pick'Em purposes will not be applicable (only Game 1 is counted, but Game 2 is still included above so that you can be aware that pitching management may be different than a non-doubleheader game day).
4. Probable pitchers and stats sourced from mlb.com (via the MLB-StatsAPI); weather data soured from the OpenWeather One Call API.
5. Estimated chance of winning percentages sourced from FiveThirtyEight’s 2023 MLB Game Predictions, an ELO-based, easy to understand ratings system.

Details such as probable pitchers, winning odds, and match certainty are subject to change. Note that a pick for a team in a cancelled game (weather or otherwise) is automatically counted as a correct guess.
View Poll

So the original SNES game has just stealth dropped on the NSO SNES app. I and many other people who have fond memories of this game are thrilled, but it occurs to me that this will be many people's first time playing the game. And as much as I adore HM SNES, I'll be the first to admit that, for someone who is used to newer games in the SoS/HM franchise the original can feel a bit...rough.
Which is to be expected, it was the first game of its kind after all. But many of the modern conveniences that we take for granted are straight-up missing in the original game, so I just thought this would be a good opportunity for us to share any and all tips that might benefit people playing this for the first time. So, that said...
MY PERSONAL TIPS:
- Days are technically endless in HM SNES. Time stops at 6pm, and the next day will not begin until you go to bed. So if you want, you can keep working endlessly by replenishing your stamina in the mountain hot springs.
- There is no real rucksack/inventory. You can only carry one item and have two tools on you at a time. In the early game, it's best to plant your crops close to the shipping bin.
- The English translation can be rough, but generally speaking it gets across what it needs to. But if you ever feel really confused by something, don't be afraid to resort to the internet.
- Nothing grows in Autumn, focus on your livestock and foraging in the mountains (and remember: you can only grab one thing at a time).
- You HAVE to plant grass in order to buy livestock, and it can only be planted in Spring/Summer.
- You can flatten tilled squares by placing a small rock or fence on top of it. You can't just use the hammer like in other games.
- Personally, I do not recommend letting your cows out to graze. They're a giant hassle to herd and having more than a few cows outside at a time can cause the framerate to TANK. You can easily achieve max affection with them just by keeping them indoors regardless.
- The game ends after Summer of Year 3, period. There's no endless mode and no way around this, once the credits roll you are DONE.
- It's possible to have two kids in this game, but due to the game ending in Summer Year 3, you HAVE to get married by the end of (I believe) Fall in Year 1 to have the second kid in time. Honestly, I wouldn't stress about this on your first playthrough. You're honestly not missing out on much.
That's everything I've got for now, I'll edit if more come to mind. Everyone else, feel free to add your own!