A couple of weeks ago I asked for some suggestions regarding what to do and see in The Hague during a weekend.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I loved the city and what it has to offer! It's pretty clean and friendly place. I was surprised that all the waiters spoke perfect English and a few of them even spoke fluent Spanish (I visited with a colleague from Spain). Even a 70+ year old grandma I asked for the tram station spoke great English. People were genuinely welcoming and I got a feeling that there is a sense of community there.
I loved the Museums, and big parks. The state of the city transportation seem to be immaculate: buses and trams were clean, on time and not overcrowded. I also loved the street food festival around the Hofvijver lake.
I visited the International criminal court. The houses in this neighborhood (towards Sheveningen) are spectacular. It seem like a pretty chill and residential place to be living. Must be pretty posh though.
And of course I loved Sheveningen... the beach is super large and I almost felt like in the French riviera (ok, a small exaggeration). For such a small place I could have never guessed that it offers a variety of activities, food options, party choices etc. Speaking of food options, probably the best steak in my life was the one I tried in an Argentinian restaurant called "Los Argentinos", somewhere close to the city center.
I even started thinking of getting a job there and moving from Belgium as somehow the place seem more in line with what I'm looking from a city.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that you live in an amazing place and I hope you appreciate it. Also, thank you for your comments and suggestions.

I’ve spent the last few years in education as a teacher, and now I’m wanting to transition to HR. In college I was an HR intern and recently got my aPHR certification, so that and my internship is my only direct HR exposure. I have several administrative skills from teaching that transfer, but I’m having trouble thinking objectively about my own resume. I have moved twice in the last year due to getting married so my most recent experience as a guest teacher is on there to show I have been working since last may, but I’m not even sure if it is needed.
ANY advice welcome!!

“Tl;Dr” married m 41 wife also 41. 3 step daughters. 1 biological daughter with this woman. Feels like I’m surrounded by judgement. Laid off from pipeline. Can’t find a decent job. Depressed as hell. Her side of the family steady talks shit about me being a lazy ass and loser. She won’t defend me at all. She had started a cleaning service here cleaning peoples homes. Very cool. Bravo. When I could be looking for work I’m usually helping her get houses cleaned. Especially lately. She has a fracture in her leg. So I drive her everywhere and pick up most of the slack at home and at her job. I constantly feel like they are all against me, the household. She felt alone in this marriage due to my depression and cheated on me. I pushed her to it. I changed to someone she doesn’t know, well damn no shit. I did change. That’s what getting beat down daily does to someone. Just feels shitty. Maybe I’m being a crybaby. Idk. Just sick of it all.

my neighboring house is condemned. city refuses to clean up the ‘yard’ and now i’m overrun by babies. any suggestions?

RAW BUSINESS IDEAS 1.Rental houses 2.Transport vehicles 3.Motorbikes business 4.Bars and pubs business 5.Dairy farming 6.Cattle runch business 7.Poultry farming business 8.Videos and cinemas 9.PS halls 10.Salons and kinyozis business 11.Music industry 12.Entertainment industry 13.Private schools 14.M-Pesa shops 15.Airtel money shops 16.Gym and sauna business 17.Purchase of land for investment and resale business 18.Tree planting business 19.Fishpond and fisheries business 20.Butchery business 21.Poshomills business 22.Security service industry 23.Petrol station business 24.Car wash 25.Cyber business 26.Gas cylinders business 27.Hardware 28.Driving school 29.Computer packages school 30.Broadcasting industries/Media groups 31.Making of posters business 32.Pool 33.Phone shops business 34.Rental rooms for business 35.Pharmacy/Chemistry 36.Private hospitals 37.Welding sites business 38.Supermarket business 39.Writing books for sale/publishing 40.Small shops business 41.Tatoo buildings business 42.Movie shops 43.You Tube channels 44.Online jobs 45.Kungfu,martial arts,boxing,tai kuondo halls 46.Shoe repair Business 47.Digital marketing 48.Drug dealing 49.Tents and plastic chairs supply 50.Solar panels business 51.Betting companies business 52.Beautiful scenaries eg parks business 53.Photography 54.Videography 55.Electronics shop 56.Ice creams business 57.Smokies and eggs vending/Kahawa and mandazis/mtura/soup/nyama china business 58.Necklesses business 59.Sales person 60.Dealing in clothes (Ready made/Second hand-mtumba) 61.Green houses 62.Dancing crue and hall business 63.Putting money in fixed deposit accounts 64.Saccos and chamas 65.Buying of shares in unlisted companies 66.Treasury bills and Treasury bonds 67.Develop an app 68.Shares in listed companies 69.DJ 70.Chauffer 71.Body(ear,nose etc) piercing business 72.Insurance and reinsurance company 73.Boutique 74.Cosmetics 75.Fighting equipments(guns,bullets,bombs etc)shop 76.Ships and boats 77.Furnitures shop 78.Agrovet business 79.Livestock farming (goats,ships,rabbits,pigs etc) business 80.Acting on trends 81.Agricultural factories 82.Warehouses business 83.Barkery 84.Restaurants business 85.School requirements shop 86.Garage 87.Private toilets/bathrooms 88.Giving out credits at an interest rate 89.Guide(business, education etc)books/PDFs business 90.Supplying industry/supplier 91.Flowers for export business 92.Daycare business 93.Airtime(Safaricom, Airtel, Telcom etc) Business 94.Bookshop 95.Gift services overview 96.Laundry business 97.Nails making business 98.Forex trading 99.Bitcoin 100.Fruit and juice parlour 101.Podcasting 102.Yoga studio 103.Catering services 104.Computer repair business/shop 105.Modeling 106.Purchasing existing website 107.Organic vending business 108.Virtual assistant business 109.Translation service 110.Online tutoring business 111.Content writer business 112.Web design 113.Career coach business 114.Start a blog 115.Amazon reselling 116.Coffee shop 117.Home food delivery 118.Currency trading 119.Event planning business 120.Interior design business 121.Selling of phone case and other accessories business 122.Property management business eg Chakra company 123.Drive for Uber or Lyft 124.Water supply services 125.Personal fitness traineInstructor 126.Tour guide business 127.Accounting and bookkeeping business 128.Caregiving business 129.Transcription 130.Data analysis 131.Fast food restaurant 132.Yoghurt business 133.Nail and eye brows parlour 134.Screen printing 135.Real estate 136.Human billboard 137.Affiliate marketing 138.Pool cleaning business 139.Designing and selling print-on-demand t-shirts 140.Junk removal service 141.Printing services 142.Custodian 143.Dropshipping business 144.Craft business 145.Landscaping business 146.Bicycle rentals/Bicycle repairs 147.Painting business 148.Flower shop 149.House cleaning 150.Grocery delivery 151.Resale store 152.Subscription box business 153.Import/export business 154.Laundromat business 155.Party bus 156.Staffing services 157.Antique dealer 158.Construction business 159.Used car rentals 160.Cafe/Sandwich shop 161.Logo design business 162.Shoe business 163.Marine electronics/waterproof electronics 164.Publicity business 165.Drone business 166.Gutter cleaning business 167.Garden center 168.Kitchen store business 169.Cookie business 170.Framing business 171.Mushroom farming 172.Vending machine for fruits 173.Laundry services 174.Agribusiness 175.Business in waste management 176.Urban transportation business 177.Fin-tech business 178.Urban logistics 179.Automobiles 180.Bee keeping (Honey,wax etc) 181.Study platforms for Students 182.Financial consultancy firm 183.Stationery shop 184.Appliance repair shop 185.Party decoration services 186.Sewing business 187.Handcraft business 188.Online travel agency 189.Samosa business 190.Pancake and Chapati business 191.Wrap up 192.Milk bashop 193.Mobile money agent 194.Farming 195.Cake baking business 196.Selling snacks 197.Selling computers and accessories 198.Internet connection to the customers living nearby 199.Selling fruits and vegetables 200.Brick making 201.Selling handbags 202.Cereal shop 203.Paxful's affiliate program and peer program 204.Invest in mutual funds or ETFs 205.Data entry 206.Popcorn business 207.Bead making and wire wax 208.Sell perfumes 209.Designing book covers 210.Dog walking 211.Tailoring 212.Sale of hair extension 213.Dry cleaning services 214.Stadiums 215.Candle making 216.Mobile repair shop 217.Tuition 218.Hauling service 219.Home staging business 220.Window treatment business 221.Dreadlock business 222.Fashion house 223.Oil business 224.Music sounds for hire 225.Start a football club 226.Blended education programs 227.Wholesale business 228.Ironing services 229.Swimming pool 230.Mandazis and donuts business 231.Seedlings for sale 232.Soap making 233.Selling soft drinks,fresh juice and snacks 234.Stationery supply to rural areas 235.Tuk tuk business 236.Selling baby diapers 237.Start a video game lounge 238.Manicure, pedicure and facial scrubbing business 239.Landscaping and gardening services 240.Land brokerage 241.Eggs wholesale 242.Spare parts(motorcycle, bicycle, vehicles etc)shop 243.Pork meet business 244.Charcoal and coal business 245.Gambling business 246.Agricultural value addition business 247.Camels 248.Facebook 249.Instagram 250.Chicken spare parts business 251.Shopify 252.Hawking business 253.Amazon FBA 254.Flipping collectibles 255.Tik Tok 256.Carpets 257.Curtains 258.Mutual funds investment 259.Precious metals business (eg gold, silver and bronze) 260.Sport shoes/jazies/balls etc business 261.Grow profitable vegetables and fruits 262.Invest in the capital market via Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) 263.Dealing in second hand goods eg furnitures, electronics etc 264.Candle production 265.Plantain chips and bhajia business 266.Errands 267.Lawn care 268.Miti shamba/Dawa za kienyeji/Herbals 269.Beddings eg Mattresses 270.Homemade gourmet foods 271.Flea market vending 272.Music Instructor 273.Making custom furniture 274.Banking services 275.Own a tap/boreholes 276.Flight services eg Air hostess 277.Clothing lines 278.Book publishing/ebooks 279.Start charitable business 280.Pet training and grooming services 281.Data entry provider 282.Start a pop-up shop 283.Rent your car on Turo 284.College admissions essay tutor and editor 285.Travel consultant 286.Tax preparation 287.Commision-only sales 288.Ebay sales 289.Fiverr Gigs 290.Airbnb 291.Patreon 292.Alteration Services 293.Professional organizing services 294.Aquarium maintenance 295.Home inspector 296.Review website 297.Home Appraisal 298.Sell Jericans from certain suppliers 299.Referral services 300.Recycled goods seller

As a new home owner, I just wondered what it is like to attend this kind of public hearing.

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Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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Decided to join ubc student housing services this summer as a housekeeper to make some money and it’s been an interesting month and half.
Today I walked into a room and the horror I saw and smelt prompted me to write this post. I had written an entirely detailed description about what I had just seen but deleted it because i was not sure if it was 1. allowed by the organization 2. Ethical at all.
Butttt I just want to express gratitude to the people who care enough to leave their room in a state that wouldn’t require me to question the state of my health after cleaning it. Genuinely appreciate it.

I want to be left alone for 5 minutes when I get home
I (28f) live with my husband, his parents, our kids (my stepchildren) and, up until recently- his brother. I don't work super long hours but I do wake up every morning with the kids and get them ready for school. I make our bed, I make sure the room is clean before I leave etc but when I come home it's usually messy, pillows out of place, kids shoes, crumbs from food on the floor, kids in my bed and they are normally playing video games on our big tv. I've never, ever spent time in my parents' bedrooms and this is the one place in the whole house that I feel like is my own- is it rude and out of question to ask my family to please not be in my room when I arrive home from work? I just wish I could set my stuff down and relax and lay on my clean, neat bed for like 5 minutes to reset before interacting with my family. I work customer service and I have to smile and make nice all day and I just wanna scream at everyone when I come home to this lol am I crazy? Is this a legitimate boundary or should I find another way to relax after work??

Alright, cutting to the chase.
I used to be one of those people that were annoyingly hyperorganized. Everything colorcoded, categorized, easy to find. This applied to my school supplies and notes, locker, work desk, bedroom, etc.
Unfortunately, since 2020, that has gradually dissipated as my quality of life worsened. Everything is a mess now. The room I had moved into was one I occupied after a period of homelessness when I was too broke to furnish it and since I had nowhere to put my stuff, it's a complete pigsty now.
I was initially very very limited on time, furniture funds, and crippled with very bad mental illness. I'm coming out of my depressive flunk now, I have a tiny amount of savings, and now I have a some time set aside for this.
I wanted to organize it myself, but just as I prepared to begin, the adderall shortage hit my area. I had bad ADHD and I've been without meds for months. I'm now behind on my schoolwork and work, distracted and inattentive, and my room is not being cleaned.
So I'm unmedicated and overwhelmed on where to begin because the mess is terrible. I can't find anything I need. I don't have a place to do my homework. I broke valuable things I own by stepping on them. It's filthy and unsanitary.
So question:
1) are there any organizers in the area equipped to deal with things like this respectfully? I've had a nosy roommate go through my things when I was out of the house more than once (which wasn't allowed - I've never even seen their rooms) and their disrespectful treatment of my things messed me up . One even took photographs of my laundry to publicly humiliate me on social media, which was invasive and traumatizing to say the least. (I kept all shared spaces completely clean - it was definitely very unnecessary and cruel).
2) are there any budget-friendly interior decorators you'd recommend? I'm long overdue for a dresser and proper desk setup and the like, but didn't have the strength, energy, time or imagination to properly furnish my room. I'd like input from a third party on how to best utilize the space I have.
3) I'm very, very weak and underweight. Can't move heavy things efficiently at all. I don't have friends in the area to help me, so are there any services that can possibly assist me with moving heavy furniture?
Thanks

As a freelancer, I have a lot of work to do during the day. My Nmom on average takes about 3-6 hours of my day asking me to do a whole leap of things whether it’s food, cleaning, other various house work or errands and I’m just generally getting up every 25 min - 1 hour. Then on top of that, feels that we don’t spend enough time together either outside or inside. Nmom, with all the things you’ve done to me, you have literally ZERO clue why I don’t even want to be around you. My Nmom is like a vampire, very draining. After sucking the life out of you, they still want more. I haven’t gone out of my way to really be around her or spend time with her because she’s such a chore and a selfish brat. Then the nice icing on the top is her condescending, narcissistic mentality and attitude.
I’ve become her 24hr maid and waitress service, child therapist for her love life, and lots more BS like using my credit to buy stuff with BNPL apps but then doesn’t want to pay them back—destroying my credit and financial status in the process. Always has a very annoyed and irritated attitude whenever I ask her to send me money for the biweekly payments. What makes this even funnier is that she tells all her friends what an amazing, great relationship we have and how “close” we are. Despite that the only one who’s really benefiting is her. I’ve become too tired some days to even do my own work. If we weren’t in such financial struggle, it would’ve been so much easier to leave. In part, the financial debt and struggle is actually caused by her irresponsible spending. We’ll be 3 months backed up on rent, but then she’ll want to order out from a restaurant for 5 days a week.
A lot of times when she calls me my name for the 18th time in the span of 1 hour and a half, I just wanna be like:
HOW ABOUT YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE
But alas, all that will do is set her off and she’ll just escalate the situation until it’s a literal hellscape in the house and then out of “revenge” and “vengeance”, she’ll do everything she can do to make my daily life more miserable and anxiety-inducing. Tell the whole Caribbean family how disrespectful and evil I am, so they can bully me into caving in. And then I’m left with nothing. So ladies and gentleman, because of this, all I can do is just bottle it up. Bottle it the fuck up. I am 23 and trying so hard to escape.
P.S. Yes I’m doing my earnest job to move out. I have been looking for a job since I graduated last year in CS but because the job market is so shit, it seems literally no one wants me or my SO. So for now, I’m a freelancer until I find something that I can actually get.
EDIT: I wanted to add that a lot of times for the past 6 years since 2018. I’ve always had to question if my mother really is a narcissist because she has a lot of her nice moments and maybe what she does “isn’t that bad”, compared to others. So I’ve been in this constant back and forth tug-o-war of if I’m just overreacting and I need to just deal with it and get over it. So a lot of I’m just unsure of if she is or she isn’t.

Introduction
1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

• No, as a child my family had golden retrievers. As an adult, I’ve had a 35 pound terrier mix and a pug mix. My husband had a Rottweiler, American bulldog, and a chihuahua mix.

2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder?

• I prefer to go through a reputable breeder.

3) Describe your ideal dog.

• a family dog that is good with children, friendly/neutral with other people and dogs while in public. A dog that doesn’t have a ton of energy but is happy to go on a daily walk that’s anywhere from a quarter mile to two miles. A dog that is okay being home while my husband and I go to work. We like dogs on the smaller side but aren’t completely against bigger dogs. We live in a two bedroom townhome with no yard so the dog would have to be able Tom tolerate that. We are hoping to move to a house with a yard in the next couple years but it’s not a guarantee.

4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

• I like pugs a lot. Our current dog is half pug and has the perfect energy level for us. Happy to be a couch potato but also likes walks. They seem to typically be good with children. I like rajah they have funny personalities. I do wonder about the ethics of breeding them and I’m researching about that.

Border terriers are aesthetically very cute to me and while at the end of the day, personality is more important than looks, liking how a dog looks is a plus. I like the wiry look of dogs. I like that they are smart and good with kids. I know they can be high energy though.
Italian greyhounds seem cool to me as well but I believe I read they can be skittish around children and we have a one year old.
5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

• basic obedience. One of our dogs was a certified Canine Good Citizen, that would be cool!

6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

• Not necessary but could be cool. I know Border Terriers are very versatile in that area and even do dock diving.

Care Commitments
7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

• We are couch potatoes and I love having the dog lay on me while I sew or watch TV. I like taking our dog on daily walks. I don’t mind carving out time to do daily training. We let our dogs sleep in bed with us as well.

8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?

• 20-30 minutes a day. I like just walking or we could play fetch at a nearby park. I prefer not to go to a dog park because I’ve seen some bad interactions at them.

9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?

• I am willing to regularly pay a professional to groom the dog. I would prefer a dog that doesn’t need to be regularly brushed.

Personal Preferences
10) What size dog are you looking for?

• smaller side. Maybe 30-35 pounds and smaller but not completely against a bigger dog.

11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

• shedding doesn’t bother me but I don’t like when dogs slobber to the point it’s dripping on your clothes and the floor. Barking would need to be a minimum because we live in a townhome with shared walls.

12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?

• not important, I would not do this.

Dog Personality and Behavior
13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

• I like snuggly dogs but I also want it to be self confident and okay if it isn’t being snuggled at all times.

14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

• probably more towards the eager to please side

15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?

• it’s fine if the dog barks when someone is at the door, doesn’t bother me. I’m not looking for a watchdog though and I prefer the dog be friendly to guests.

16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

• No

17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

• I would like to steer away from breeds of dogs that have the tendency to be reactive.

Lifestyle
18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

• five days a week, 8 hours

19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?

• my husband has the same taste in dogs I do. 50/50 shared care

20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?

• a pug mix and two senior cats.

21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

• yes; we have a one year old

22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?

• we rent but do not have breed restriction

23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?

• USA. No

24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

• summer can get up to 100 but 77-90 is more typical. Winter gets to be about 60 degrees

Additional Information and Questions
25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

• I would prefer a dog that is not dog aggressive! Cost isn’t too much of an issue, we are willing to pay what we need to for the right fit.

Does anyone know how to get out of a Starbucks contract?
I just started my new job and I already want to quit. I REALLY want to quit. Because this shit isn’t normal. I mean, is it? Do you guys have experience with this type of shit, or is it a normal thing when moving to the city? I’m a small-town girl so I’m not used to this. We didn’t even have a Starbucks. Just a diner that had been broken into multiple times over the years.
Do you know the bad feeling you get when something bad is going to happen, but you ignore it for the sake of staying sane? .Yeah.
It was one of those situations.
But I needed cash. I needed a job. College in the city is expensive, especially in my mid-twenties. Uber Eats every night and various subscriptions, such as Netflix and Spotify—as well as basic living needs required cash. So, naturally, I looked for part-time jobs I could use to fill up my weekend and nights. When it came to job hunting, I was fairly lazy. So, the Starbucks job kinda came out of nowhere.
I wasn’t even looking for it. I was applying for a job in the local music store when it caught my eye. Someone to work late evenings and nights on weekdays and Saturdays. The job description didn’t say much, just basic pay details and a full paragraph dedicated to talking about “The Starbucks Family”. Skim reading it, I skipped to the APPLY NOW button and sent in my resume via email. Two hours.
It had taken two hours to get an email back offering a video interview the next day—and a guaranteed job if I didn’t screw it up. The video interview went well to my surprise. The woman who conducted it acted more like a friend, asking me what my favorite movies and TV shows were, and then going into detail about her own.
It didn’t even feel like an interview. More like a chat. Which was exactly what the email said it was going to be. The interviewer was my mom’s age, a total mom-like persona. She offered me iced tea before laughing and realizing we were on a video call. Her cat popped up halfway through her introducing several staff members by name. A large tabby whom she picked up and hugged to her chest. I wasn’t sure what to do except repeatedly say, “Aww.” and force an even bigger smile.
The woman who for some reason did not introduce herself finished the interview with a more formal and thorough talk-through of rules and regulations. Which went in one ear and out the other. I think I was too excited about the job as a whole. There’s something almost mythical about working at Starbucks. I’ve seen barista TikTok complaining about customer service and harping about in the back rooms. It looked fun. Plus, free drinks? I figured working at the famous coffee chain would at least have benefits and freebies.
The woman spoke to me for almost two hours about certain drinks, telling me I would be trained up, and then going on to explain the dos and don’ts in a working environment. It was kind of patronizing, but I figured she had to be to remain professional. I tuned out when she started talking about a certain “feud” they had with another store down the road. The woman didn’t go into detail, but her expression did darken significantly when she leaned closer to her screen and repeated the phrase, “Do you understand me?” I had to backtrack and try and go over what she had been saying, but I had found myself mesmerized by the gilded sword in the background. It hung from the back wall in all of its glory, and I was having a hard time trying to figure out why exactly a Starbucks manager had a sword hanging from her wall.
“Sim?” Inclining her head, the manager cleared her throat. “Did you hear me?”
I did. Sort of. Under no circumstances must I visit or go near 2nd Street Starbucks. If I did there would be dire consequences and I would face losing my job, or worse.
I wasn’t sure what “or worse” was, but from the way her expression twisted from funny-cat-lady to a potential employer, I didn’t want to ask.
Yikes.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “I can’t go near the 2nd Street store.” I almost choked on a glass of water I had been slowly sipping throughout the interview. I had been sweating most of the day, dying in the intense June heat. It was a lot cooler in the evening in the city, but I was used to draining at least ten glasses a day. “Is that real?” I couldn’t help asking, pointing to the sword behind her.
I know you are supposed to maintain a certain professional persona and façade during professional work interviews with potential managers. However, I really wanted to know if that ancient thing was real, it was driving me crazy. Because questions were arising in my head: How did she get it? Was it hers? Was it for some kind of aesthetic and feng-shui, or was there more to it? From the look on the interviewer’s face, she seemed startled.
Whipping her head around, her strict grey ponytail hitting the screen, she nodded before turning back to me, her gaze flicking down to what I presumed was a script she was reading off—or maybe she was skimming through my printed-out resume. I wanted to ask her more about the elephant in the room, but she seemed satisfied with answering my question with a nod. She asked me more questions, mostly about my work ethic and if I enjoyed working in a team and independently, if I had any special requirements, and oddly—if I had ever held a firearm. Now, that caused alarm bells. Along with the gilded sword dangling from this forty-something-year-old’s lounge wall, I was definitely starting to question the exact nature of what I would be doing at this job. Serving coffee was an obvious one, though I was pretty sure Starbucks barista's didn’t require military-style training.
When I didn’t know what to say, she seemed to back-pedal. “Oh, it’s in case of a robbery.” She said. But her expression stayed stoic. Speaking in the tone of being joking, but not being joking. “It is rare. However, it is a precaution we must take.” Choosing her words carefully, the interviewer steepled her hands in front of her face, leaning her chin on her fingers. “Our employees are given basic fire-arm training in the instance that one day we may face a difficult situation. Now, I am not saying it is inevitable, but due to certain behavior throughout the years, it is, of course, better to be safe than sorry.”
“Oh.” I tried to smile. “No, I haven’t,” I paused, hoping my lack of ability to hold a gun wouldn’t screw up my chances. “But I can learn?”
I said it like a question because it was a question. I was questioning myself why exactly I would take up my time learning to shoot a gun I most likely never would need. To my surprise though, the woman’s smile brightened and she looked down at whatever she was writing.
“Of course,” she said. “Sim, I am very happy to hear that. We love employees who do their best to learn and thrive in our working environment,” she paused and typed something on her laptop before her gaze found mine. “I’ll put you down for lessons on Friday mornings. How does that sound?” Before I could answer her—because I was starting to seriously question why she was so obsessed with training me to use a goddamn gun—she was nodding to herself. “I will put Jude in charge of you. I think he is working on Friday, so your induction and welcome can be completed in the morning…”
She trailed off into her own murmured conversation to herself before clearing her throat. I jumped. I didn’t mean to jump, but her whole presence was putting me on edge. The lady had been nicer on the phone, and earlier on in the interview when she was grilling me on which Frozen character was my favorite.
“Okay!” The interviewer gathered up her paperwork, beaming at me through the camera. “Can you start tomorrow? Let’s say…” her eyebrows furrowed together. “5:30? I will not be there for the first hour due to certain obligations,” she traced her lip with the tip of her index. “However, I have four employees working the front desk, I’m sure they will give you a warm welcome.” I noticed something twitch on her lips. It was almost like she was trying to stop herself from laughing—which was childish from a standpoint where I was the younger one, while she was the senior. She was supposed to be setting some kind of standard, and yet for some reason was more inclined in teasing me about workplace friendships, and apparently how “close” my colleagues were. I wasn’t stupid, I knew what friendship was like in the workplace. It’s not “real” because you’re all there to do a job, not making lifelong friendships.
“I’m looking forward to meeting them,” I said when she snorted out a laugh that twisted up my gut.
"Absolutely," she responded. "The team is very close, so don't take it personally if they're initially cautious. I'm confident that you'll all become great friends! Kai is a kind-hearted sweetheart, while Ana may seem standoffish initially, but she'll warm up to you once you get to know her. Jude, on the other hand, will be your guide during the orientation, so it's best to stay close to him. In fact, it's recommended to shadow him during your first few hours since he's our top performer! Frankly, Sim, I can hardly wait for you to meet them! They're a great group!" This woman seemed to suddenly discover the use of expletives, or maybe she had noticed I visibly wanted to crawl into the ground. The way she was describing the other employees, I was expecting cartoon characters when I walked through the door.
“Right,” I said. I was starting to regret applying. “I’ll be there.”
She ended the call with a bright smile, and her stupid cat walking on the keyboard, causing her to squeak out in horror. I shut my laptop, my cheeks burning. Well, that went…? Well? Could I really say it went well when the manager had spent the last five minutes implying my work colleagues were going to hate me? Fuck.
I didn’t want to go. I trashed my application and deleted her number from my phone. But the morning after, however, I came to the quick realization through precious morning caffeine, that I needed cash. So, no matter how much I didn’t want to go—I had to. So, I headed to classes and tried not to think about it. It was 5:34 when I stepped into the familiar glow of the famous store—not before being stopped in the middle of a crowed by a girl wearing bright pink ray-bans and a scowl. “Do you work there?” she turned and pointed to the store.
I shrugged. “I guess.”
She scoffed, slipping off her ray-bans and fixing me with a bitchy smile. “Your funeral.”
Normally, in situations when strangers say odd things to me on the street, I just laugh it off. But this? This seemed personal.
“What?”
The girl didn’t say anything before turning and walking or rather running away.
Well, that was weird.
After that encounter, I was weighing the positives and negatives of taking up the job. The positives would be cash and something to occupy my mind away from classes, and the negatives were being stuck with insufferable colleagues and a manager who was the embodiment of unprofessional. The store was pretty empty when I stepped through automatic doors, reveling in the cooling fan blasting icy cold air in my face. A dark-haired college girl had her back to me, cleaning tables. But I noticed her stiffening up when I took a step forward. She straightened up like a cat going into territorial mode, before relaxing and holding a two-fingered hand up.
The store was empty so I had no idea who she was signaling to. It wasn’t a greeting to me—I had no idea what it was. I was halfway to the counter before a guy popped up out of nowhere, mid-way through drying a cup with a washrag. His hair was the first thing I noticed. Bright red.
In contrast to his pasty skin, this guy would definitely stand out in a crowd. He was my age or maybe a little older, mid twenties, with a wide smile and not much of anything else, kitted in a short-sleeved shirt, and a Starbucks apron over the top.
I expected quirky cartoon-like weirdos and I got an average Joe. I wasn’t complaining.
Initially, I thought this guy was just another jock-like college guy. But looking closer, the friendliness in his eyes wasn’t sincere, and his smile was strained. Keeping up a professional attitude, he regarded me with a smile, leaning across the counter. But his eyes kept flicking to the door in quick succession like he was waiting for a certain someone to come in. “You.” He pointed at me, trailing his finger to the door, swiping hair from his face with his hand. The guy was bouncing on the heels of his toes, I noticed. He couldn’t stand still, like a hyperactive child. “You’re Sim, The newbie I’m supposed to be training.”
I nodded, offering a nervous wave.
“Jude.” He introduced himself, though clearly distracted, his gaze flicking to and from the door. His facade was friendly enough, but very fake. It was the same smile I presumed he flashed at customers who complimented his looks. “Hey, Sim.”
Instead of holding out his hand for me to shake, he folded his arms across his chest. Jude cocked his head, drinking me in before his lips broke out into a beam.
"Shall we get started?"
Jude started the tour, showing me the store itself, then the back, the storage room, the staff room, and bizarrely, a wooden door which he referred to as, “The Drink”. I had no idea what that meant, but I made a mental note to steer away from it.
The backrooms of the store turned into a labyrinth. The place was covered in mold, peeling paint on the doors and old rugged floor tiles. Jude spoke way too fast like he was intentionally trying to confuse me. By the time I was struggling with my apron, he was turning on his heels with a brow raised. “Your hair is too long so you need to tie it up. You can shadow me this evening but don’t get in my way. We have two twenty-minute breaks and during them, we are contractually obligated to go down to the Second Street store and throw eggs at their windows—ooh, and the girl you just met who didn’t say a word? That’s Ana. You will get used to her.” His smile reached a level of fake I didn’t think was possible. “Why don’t you follow me?”
“What?” I managed to hiss out when Jude was leading me down a long, winding corridor that dipped into various rooms, out-of-order elevators, and the creepiest set of stairs I had ever seen leading into the pitch dark. I was still trying to register his words.
Jude twisted around with a frown. “What’s up?” He nodded at a passing blonde girl who shot me a smile, and hive-fived Jude before disappearing through a door.
“You throw eggs at the store down the road?”
The guy’s lip twitched into the start of a smile. He turned around, quickening his pace. “Did I say that? Obviously, I was joking.”
I stumbled after him, knocking into a dark-haired younger guy carrying a tray of cupcakes. He and Jude seemed to exchange words without speaking before Jude gestured to the stranger. Somehow, I figured out their telepathic conversation through eye movements and strained smiles, they weren’t talking about me. “That’s Kai,” Jude said, pushing through the doors back to the main storefront. He took a customer’s order, retaining that stupid smile. “If you need any help with making those annoying TikTok drinks that take a millennia to make and have probably broken several Geneva convention rules?” He playfully knocked into me while preparing a drink, his hands knowing where everything was, preparing and serving a latte in a matter of minutes, “Kai is your guy! He runs our social media page and is practically a connoisseur on the next big trend. He'll deal with zoomers."
I was slowly starting to ease my way into this job, and my colleagues seemed pretty cool. Jude actually helped me all the way through the evening, introducing his home life and how he grew up as he cleaned tables and conversed with the others—always throwing me into their chatting so I didn’t get left out. I ended up sorting through cookies and making price labels with Aurora, the perky blonde who high-fived Jude earlier. She spoke to me like we had been best friends for years, and that part of her charm made me instantly adore her. She was tiny for her age, but a menace when it came to her sharp tongue and language. I didn’t think a tiny thing like her could swear like a goddamn sailor, but it was cute. Jude and Aurora had a sibling-type thing going on, though every time I caught Kai’s eye, he was smirking. It seemed everyone knew they had a thing except them.
I was actually having fun with the others, bobbing my head to the radio while serving a group of kids, when Jude, who was next to me, seemed to go rigid all of a sudden. His laughing smile carved into something else. I had never seen an expression change so fast.
But he wasn’t the only one. Aurora, cleaning tables and giggling at Jude’s joke, straightened up, her eyes flashing to the door. Kai’s head snapped up from where he had been grinding coffee. Following their gaze, I found myself face-to-face with the manager who interviewed me. But unlike the night before, she was not smiling. The woman dropped her bag at the door before marching towards the counter. Jude leaned over; his expression apprehensive.
“Well?”
His eyes as well as his tone had darkened significantly. All of my colleagues had taken off these masks, these facades of joking smiles and bright eyes, and now I was seeing a glimmer of what they were hiding. What Jude had been looking for all evening, sneaking glances at the door. I watched his gaze follow the manager as she paced back and forth, chewing her nails. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” She finally said, lifting her head. Her lips were twisted. “But.” She said, spitting each word, as she rounded the counter, helping herself to coffee. “You’re going to pay a visit to them right now, and…and sort this out once and for all.” Her voice resembled that of a mother talking to her children. She was assertive to them, her eyes piercing. Do you understand me?” The woman nodded at Jude. “You can go.” Her eyes found mine. “Take the new girl, she needs to be inducted.” Finally, she turned to Ana, who was standing in the corner silently. “You are too. I need brains, and Jude is just brawn. Keep him on his toes, young lady."
With a hint of sarcasm in his tone, Jude uttered a brief "Thanks," and then proceeded to take a coffee cup and a Sharpie. Swiftly, he scrawled some words on the side of the cup, before placing it inside a bag and plonking it in front of me. As Jude reached for his coat at the back, he put it on over his green Starbucks apron, creating a striking contrast with his denim blue sherpa. With his mop of red curls, this guy was in no way going to be as incognito as he thought. "We'll manage the conversation,” he said hurriedly, visibly excited. Jude seemed to lead the others in their expressions, his confidence and wit causing them to brighten up, adapting wide smiles. He shoved his hands in his pockets, “All you gotta do is hand them this, okay?”
“Is that a good…” Kai drifted off on whatever he was about to say, ducking his head when Jude shot him a glare.
“I think it’s a perfect idea!” The manager beamed at me. “What a way to fully bring you into our family!”
I took the coffee cup (the empty coffee cup) hesitantly. “What is it?”
“It’s a gift!” Jude said, moving towards the door in long strides. It was all too noticeable that this guy was practically vibrating with an energy I had never known. It was almost manic. “I want to let them know we appreciate them! Y’know! Rival to rival.”
Kai stepped in front of him on the way out.
“Be careful,” he said in a low hum. Aurora joined him, but she wasn’t speaking, her left-hand tugging at the waistband of her jeans. “Keep your head down when you go in because they’ll be expecting you—and they’ll be expecting a retaliation.”
“Relaaaaax, it’s Cora! We used to date!” he cocked his head. "I think."
“I mean it. "
Jude’s gaze found mine for a moment before his smile grew. “Well, we have enough eggs don’t we?” He grabbed my arm, pulling me along. Ana was already gone. I could see her figure already slinking down the street, bleeding into the shadow.
When the two of us hit the cool night air and Jude quickened his pace into a power-walk, his eyes set forwards, jaw set, I figured I should ask what his deal was. If this guy was serious about vandalizing a rival Starbucks, and not just that, urged by his manager, then I had to say something.
The thought of ending up in jail being petty over a rival store made me feel nauseous.
“So, what is this about?” I asked, catapulting myself into a half-run to keep up with him. The guy had abnormally long legs, so he was halfway across the sidewalk while I was barely two steps in front. “Aren’t you taking this a little too seriously?”
Jude didn’t reply, instead remarking on the sky being filled with stars.
“Hey, Ana!” He shouted. “Wait up!”
Second Street Starbucks was like walking into a palace. I could tell why these guys were rivals. The place was a three-floored beast, a glass building made up of a Starbucks downstairs, a library, and a private apartment. I found myself mesmerized by the twinkling lights on the door, the mini water fountain through large windows showing an even bigger storefront with rich-looking wooden tables and reclining chairs. The store was closing. When we stepped in front of the door, there was a sign which clearly said CLOSED on the front.
Still, though, Ana pushed her way through it, followed by Jude, pulling me along with him. Two employees were working, a guy with short blondish hair mopping the floors, and a girl standing at the counter, going through the register. The moment we stepped inside, the guy cleaning up stopped mopping from side to side, his fingers visibly tightening around the mop handle. “Hey there!”
With one of his best fake smiles, Jude raised his arms in surrender. “We’re from the Starbucks down the road. We come in peace, don’t worry!” He gestured to me.
“Can we talk to your manager?”
He took a step, his lip twitching, eyes glinting, which caused a stir in the air. The girl at the counter stopped flicking through a wad of cash in her hand and delicately put it down, and the guy turned to face us with wary eyes.
As Jude took another stride forward, his movements resembled a dance, and I noticed he was having fun teasing them. His eyes sparkled with a childlike glee that was unexpected for a person in his twenties. "Would you like to try our latest coffee recipe? It's like sipping on liquid sunshine." He nonchalantly brushed his jeans, and I half-expected him to pull out an egg. “But…” Jude took another step, and Ana situated herself behind the blonde boy, her expression blank. “You’ve already tasted it, haven’t you?”
The girl behind the counter finally stopped counting cash, delicately placing a wad back inside the register before leaning forward, an amused smirk curving on her lips. “Jude.” Her voice was a low murmur. “I didn’t think I would see you here so soon.”
“Cora.” Jude’s lips quirked. “Trust me, I don’t want to be. But hey, it's the boss's orders.”
She inclined her head, her eyes drinking all of him in. The girl rested her fist on her chin. She was surveying him like a piece of meat. “And you obey her?”
His grin widened, and I saw his hand once again brush the front of his apron. “Like a dog.”
“You know her?” I hissed out, grasping hold of the coffee cup in my hand.
“Cora?” Jude turned to me. “Oh yeah, we used to be the Romeo and Juliet of coffee shop rivalry — back when we were both newbies, and our store kidnapped me as a last resort. To keep the peace, I stayed.” He shrugged. “That’s what I’m told, anyway.”
Starbucks lore was getting dark.
These guys had to be joking around.
I took a step back, eager to head towards the door and be as far away as possible from what I was pretty sure was going to be a lot of eggs, and several arrests. “You worked here?” I couldn’t believe my mouth was still moving and forming words as I took slow steps back. Before Jude caught my arm.
“Apparently.” He said, dragging me back by his side. “Why don’t you give ‘em’ their gift?”
Fuck.
Unwrapping the bag and pulling out the cup, I nodded and took slow strides toward the counter, placing it down in front of her.
Cora frowned, before picking it up, her gaze going to the side.
“Go fuck yourself 2nd street bloodsuckers.” She read out loud, her brow raising into her hairline.
Shit.
“I should probably go.” I managed to say, backing away. “I don’t think is the job for me—”
The latter half of my words exploded in my head when something slammed into my ears, a physical force sending me to my knees. Initially, I didn’t know what it was. It sounded like a nuclear bomb had gone off. When the ringing in my head subsided, I was aware I had my head buried in my knees, my hands clamped over my ears.
But when I tried to listen past the relentless shrill ringing in my skull, I heard them one after the other. Pop, pop, pop! Gunshots. The crack of each bullet ricocheted in my skull. It was a robbery, I thought dizzily. We were being robbed. No, Second Street was being robbed. When I lifted my head to try and find Jude and Ana to see if they were okay-- I expected them to be cowering like me, Jude, under the table, muffling yelling into his hand, and Ana, calmly pulling him to safety. But that wasn't what I saw. Instead, I must have been fucking imagining things. Jude had not moved from his spot-- and perfectly melded into his hand, was a gun. A gun he was holding like a pro, his hands wrapped around the butt, index teasing the trigger.
His trajectory was directly between Cora's eyes. Jude had not been the one who shot the gun. In fact, neither had Ana, who was still standing stiffly behind the blonde guy.
It was a girl behind the counter who had come out of nowhere wielding the type of gun I expected to see in movies. I noticed from his stance Jude had maybe stepped to the left and then the right to avoid being hit, but the way his demeanour was fully and completely relaxed sent shivers creeping down my spine. "The deal is off, Cora," he murmured. "You fuck with us, so we fuck with you." he lowered his gun slightly, his eyes darkening. "Where's Ren? He came here to sniff you out, so where is he?"
Cora seemed remarkably calm. She started to raise her hands, her lips forming the words, "I don't know what you're talking about" before she stopped, her body going limp. It took me a disorienting moment to realize Jude had taken the shot, followed by another, both landing right between her eyes. When Cora hit the ground, the whole world around me exploded.
I was dragged to the ground by Jude, as he dived across the floor, pressing himself into the back of a table, twisting around, and taking out the barista who almost shot me in the face. There were five of them, all of them good shooters. Too good. Ana easily took out a blonde and brunette with her own magnum, followed by a bald guy who crashed through the counter which collapsed under him.
Jude fell into a manic shoot-out with a guy who would not give up, and after several attempts, re-loading, and attempting to finish him from the ground, my colleague got tired and stood up, dropped his gun, and leaped across the counter. I didn't know what to watch. Ana, who was destroying their coffee machine, or Jude, who snapped the boy's neck with a single twist of his fingers, before ripping out his eyes. He hauled the dead guy over his knees, grazing his teeth across the pasty flesh of the boy's neck, his eyes flickering. I wouldn’t say they turned a different color, but there was something inhuman about them, a certain tint around his iris. "Urgh."
He shoved the corpse away, jumping up. "He reeks of it." Treading through broken glass and pooling red on the floor, my colleague grabbed a cup, downed it, and then spat it out. “That.” He sputtered. “Is the worst fucking thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Ana stepped in front of him, handing the boy his gun. “When one of any clan is murdered for with no reason, there is an imbalance, and the coffee is tainted. We must restore the balance before this gets out of hand,” she surprised me by speaking, with a tinge of an Aussie accent. The girl side-eyed me before shooting Jude a knowing look. “Don’t let her get in our way.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” He mocked a salute before nodding to me. “All right! Sim, you grab a sample. We’ll go find the altar.”
Something ice-cold slipped down my spine.
“What?”
“Cool it. It’s more fun than it sounds,” was all Jude responded with. “Grab the samples.”
I was running on adrenaline, doing exactly what he said. I grabbed two coffee cups. “What do we do now? We go home, right?”
He swiped at his lips with a sound of disgust. “Are you kidding? No, man. We get coffee which ain’t tainted.”
Ana took out two guards in the back before leading us both through a heavy metal door that led into tunnels, tunnels, illuminated by candlelight. “You just killed multiple people,” I finally managed to choke out, following the two of them deeper into the dark. “Over coffee.” I couldn’t resist a nervous laugh that spluttered into a cry. “You just murdered seven baristas over fucking coffee!” I found myself backing away at points, scanning for a way out, an exit away from this fucking nightmare.
Jude turned to me, the glitter in his eyes reflected in the candlelight. “Oh, please,” His voice echoed down the tunnel in a chuckle. “Do you really think this is just about coffee?”
I didn't understand what he meant until we came to the end of the tunnel, which dipped into an alcove leading us into a large cave-like room. Drawing his gun, Jude scanned the dark. "Anyone in here?" He said, and Ana hit him. Silence answered, and I found myself paralyzed to the spot. I didn't know what to stare at first. The ten-foot-tall Starbucks Siren looming over us, illuminated in flickering orange candlelight, or the old swimming pool filled to the brim. When I took a step forward, my foot sunk into something soft, and I made the mistake of looking down. Bodies.
I guessed that was "The Drink".
I felt myself fall back, but Ana's warm arms were guiding me away from decomposing flesh which decapitated heads poisoned in a way that I could almost call ritualistic. There were bodies everywhere, all of them curled up or had died in a position of prayer. Jude crouched in front of a guy still in his Starbucks apron. His eyes had been cleanly plucked from his skull. Jude's expression was beautifully sombre in the candlelight. "Fuck, dude," he whispered.
"Looks like they got you."
“Which explains how they got their hands on our recipe.” Ana pulled out her gun and clicked off the safety. The girl’s eyes were suddenly sad, her lip wobbling. I had a hard time believing a girl who had taken out three baristas at point-blank range was crying.
"Through him."
“What is this place?” I whispered. "What the fuck are you doing in here?”
Jude straightened up. Ana moved behind him, and I noticed her hands holding her gun were trembling. She raised her arm, pointing it at the back of his head. Jude didn't retaliate, only sending me a sickly smile. "It used to be ours," he said. "Until other stores started opening, and it became a fucking free-for-all." Jude sighed, rocking back and forth on his heel. Ana's trigger finger followed his movements. "We have a peace treaty..." Jude trailed off. "Sorry. HAD a peace treaty." He nodded to his colleague. "Second Street has always been obsessed with this particular blend we have that other stores don't." His lips curved. "They're greedy, and thought they could fuck with us. First, they took our last manager. He was like a dad to us. Sliced him up and sent us his head." He gestured to his friend. "And then they took Ren. They brought this shit upon themselves."
As he spoke, Jude dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, bowing his head in front of the Siren. Ana didn't move. "Are you ready?"
“Always.”
I screamed, slamming my hand over my mouth when this time when Ana shot Jude point blank in the back of the head. When his body crumpled to the ground, something inside me snapped in two, and I couldn’t breathe suddenly. I thought the two were playing some kind of sick game before I caught unmistakable seeping black pooling across the alter.
In the blur of orange candlelight, it was almost a mesmerizing sight. “Shush!” Ana sent me an annoyed look, before gathering his body in her arm. “Make yourself useful and grab a bucket,” she said, stumbling towards the pool. I watched her, my heart diving into my throat. When I didn’t move, Ana hissed out and twisted around.
“Did you not hear me?!” she yelled. “Get a bucket and start collecting it!” The girl gestured towards a large, rusted pipe looming over the pool, a stream of murky brown water leaking into the pool. When I started forwards, the girl shook her head. “Not yet.” She said, before heaving Jude’s body and throwing him into the darkness. I heard the splash, but I didn’t even see his body hit the surface. Part of me wanted to demand what the fuck she was doing, but I did what I was told, with trembling hands, grabbing a bucket and shuffling over to the pool edge. Ana hissed out again. “I said not yet!” Before I could speak, she held a finger to her lips. “Do it now!”
“The pool water?!” I shrieked.
She raised a brow. “You think that’s water?”
Before I could coerce some kind of speech, I was interrupted by what felt like a sudden earthquake. The ground rumbled under our feet, and I hesitated before dropping the bucket into the water and scooping up as much as I could. I quickly realized it wasn’t water. It was thick with the constancy of blood, coffee brown and yet sticky and warm like blood.
Above us, the pipe seemed to come to life, a brand new stream of murky brown solution coming down in a waterfall. I didn’t think about the pieces of flesh floating on the surface, the decomposing heads I caught bobbing around, or the fact that I was dipping my hands in blood. Coffee and blood. My stomach was trying to projectile my lunch, but I swallowed it down. I took advantage, managing three buckets before Ana was grasping my shoulders and pulled me back. I didn’t realize I was sobbing until she was handing me a handkerchief, and I was staring at her and it, like, “What do you expect me to do with this?!”
Still in shock, I tried to get another bucket full before she dragged me from the pool edge. “You can stop now,” she said. “We have enough.”
"Enough what?!"
I staggered back when the surface of the pool rippled. I don’t know what I expected to come out.
Dead bodies?
Decapitated heads?
Not Jude, covered in the brown murky shit I had filled the buckets with. When he broke the surface, I almost threw one of the buckets at his head. Despite being covered in coffee and blood, his skin was oddly free of flaws. The guy was also really naked, which should have been a minor problem compared to what I was seeing, which was a real resurrection in front of a ten-foot statue of the Starbucks siren. Which was completely normal.
But I still found my cheeks heating up. Jude ran a hand through soaked curls sticking over his eyes, shaking them like a dog before pulling himself out. I couldn’t help noticing there was no gunshot wound. It was almost as if his body was completely new. I took in abnormally grey-looking skin, like dead flesh, before averting my gaze. “Did we do it?” He gasped out, immediately covering himself. Once out of the pool, he knelt on the ground, sucking in breaths of air before seemingly realizing the state of himself.
“Fuck. I didn’t think this through.”
“I did.” Ana reached into the backpack she had brought, pulling out a shirt and jeans, reverting her eyes, and throwing him the bundle. “Get dressed.” She said, But there was a slight smirk on her lips. “Yes. I think we managed to appease them.”
“Sweet!” Jude grinned, dressing quickly. He sucked the tips of his fingers. “Mmm.” He nodded at Ana. “That tastes a lot better.”
He gestured to her, and to my disgust, the girl delicately licked his fingers and nodded with her own smile. “It tastes like cherry blossom.”
His eyes fell on me, and I saw that inhuman gleam in his eye—that had been very much there before he was resurrected in a pool of coffee. His lip quirked. I could still see coffee-- or blood dripping in thick rivulets down his temples and cheek. “Should we?”
Jude turned to Ana. “I mean while we’re here, right? We can induct the newbie.”
Immediately, I knew what he was talking about. I stepped back, but he was following me, getting closer and closer until his breath was in my face, and I was teetering on the edge. I sensed something in his eyes, something I never expected from a man who knew exactly what he was doing. Envy. Another step, and I would be falling into what I was sure was a pool full of decomposing bodies and resurrecting coffee. “Not now,” Ana murmured, and Jude snapped out of it, taking a step back.
“Buzzkill.” He muttered.
But he did step away, allowing me to inch away from the pool.
“Later,” Ana said. “She’s shaken up. We can do it first thing tomorrow.”
To my surprise, there were no cops at the scene at Second Street. Because there was no scene.
The store was back to normal, and I didn’t have the energy to question why. When we returned, Aurora wrapped me into a hug I tried to get out of as quickly as possible, eager to get the fuck away from that place. But. I had to finish my shift. I had watched a man resurrected by coffee in a fucking Starbucks shrine, and yet somehow I had to keep making drinks until my shift ended. It was nearing closing time when the doors opened, and I found myself face-to-face with the girl from earlier. The one wearing the pink ray-bans.
She didn’t say anything, but the blade of her knife grazing my gut told me everything I needed to know. With a knowing look when she slipped off her raybans, she pressed something into my hand before leaving, and I handed it to the manager, who opened it up, almost died laughing, and then threw it in the trash.
“You work for psychopaths.” I managed to get out, sidling in front of Jude while he was clocking out.
“Also, didn’t you… didn’t you fucking die?”
Jude didn’t look up from his phone. “It’s complicated.” His lip quirked. “You’ll find out tomorrow during your induction.”
“But… you work for these people!” I lowered my voice. “And you’re not trying to get away?” I gestured to Kai and Aurora standing by the door, the two of them locked in conversation. “None of you?”
Jude frowned, and I caught the first hint of annoyance. I had only seen this guy smiling, so seeing him scowling was quite the change. “I’m sorry, do you… do you think I have a choice?”
He surprised me with a laugh. “Me? A choice? You really think I wake up every morning and WANT to do this shit?” He got close, his breath in my ear. “You came here willingly. I didn’t. In fact? I don’t even remember coming here. My interview, my first day? Nothing. I don’t even remember my time at Second Street.” He threw a towel at me before I could coerce words. “Finish clearing up, all right? I’ll see you tomorrow for induction.”
There was something cruel in his smile like he was waiting for whatever my induction had in store for me.
I couldn’t help myself. When everyone was gone, and I was tasked with locking up, I picked the discarded note out of the trash, smoothing it down.
“You pieces of shit just declared war. Sleep with one eye open! 😊”
Cora xx.”
….
I cut my finger with a knife this morning. When I sucked it and grabbed a band-aid, I tasted coffee. I went home and threw up coffee.
I am peeing coffee.
I showered 8 times and I still fucking smell of coffee.
I don’t think I’m going to go to work tomorrow.
Edit: There’s been a break-in— and the manager wants me to come in early. Jude and Ana woke me up in the middle of the night to go over tactics. We are taking down Second Street during closing time.
I guess I am going to work tomorrow.
Does anyone know how to use a gun?

So some context I installed spin down prefilter and a 10” whole house filter at 5 micron pleated and a final charcoal pleated 1 micron filter. And two weeks ago I noticed excess sand in the prefilter. It’s been a month and change since our last rain and I just assumed the water table is getting low so I got this bug up my butt to start reclaiming potable waste water in the house. I bought 2 condensate pumps and connected the reverse osmosis waste water, the ac condensate line and the dehumidifier line and pumped them up and out to my four 55 gallon rain barrels that have been sitting empty. That right there produced about 20-40gallons a day.
Fast forward to 3 days ago I lost pressure in the pump and it ran constantly. Flipped the breaker thought I’d let it rejuvenate over night no problem. Wrong, in the morning still wouldn’t get up to pressure and started making calls. First company wants 10g can come out that day new pipe, new pump. I think this guys taking me for a ride and that’s the do it now urgent price. Call 6 other companies no one answers or can give me a price yet.
Eventually 2 other companies get back to me and I find one that knows there stuff and they come out 2 days later and they pull it up find a hole in pipe and replace bad pipe send it back down. Only charged me $1300.
Having the rain barrels filled it bought me time to figure out the problem. It allowed me to flush our toilets. Before this happened I started keeping 3 gallons reserve of RO drinking water and I filled 12 gallons of water for doing dishes and washing hands. I did have to borrow water from friends on city water to fill jugs to wash hands but in the moment I was ready for a day and a half.
What I learned is that you need:
A container for each bathroom with a flip up spigot or twist spigot so you can wash handsfree. I bought the reliance aquataneer and it was our workhorse although heavy. Anyways any spigot container X4 -x6
10gallons of grey rain barrel water 5 gallons clean water to drink, wash hands, rinse dishes etc Per person per day.
Had I wanted to be self sufficient. I’d have put one clean barrel inside, fill that with clean ac and dehue condensate and used that for potable and the rest of the rain for toilets
I’m pretty aware things are going to hell but two key takeaways were how willing our neighbors and friends were to help. Filling container, made use dinner, one picked up a bunch of our containers filled them up and brought back.
Two: is as nice as it would have been to spend 15g to install all new and future proof our well pump and water supply…for 1400 we fixed the hole in the pipe and reused old pump and I very well may get another 5-10 years out of it. And when the time comes the well pump people may arrive in mad max armored escorts as water wars rage on and or it may cost cost more money and say an extra 5G but there will still be people out there helping each other out. Is it a gamble yes but it’s a healthy dose of pulling back from collapse and remembering it does feel good to help others. We sent them home with fresh backed cookies and my two under two had a blast watching the crane as we had a picnic in the shade.

First Previous Wiki
Zelisloa activated a hologram, looking at the colony off in the distance. High walls and defensive emplacements were visible from the mountainside, much unlike his own base of operations. Several of his ships, with full stealth engaged, had already landed on the planet. They'd taken care to do so in the plains opposite the mountain range and had set up large holographic projectors meant to convince the orbiting satellites that the area was unoccupied.
He couldn't help but smile at the primitive equipment and at the humans and Guulin milling about within the small city's walls. He also could spot several Wisselen and Vinarii, likely the remnants and descendants from past wars that the Alliance had won by the enemies giving up.
"Have the specimens been captured?"
"Yes. Our research identified the individuals based on the criteria you specified, Elder," the Arbiter replied. "I am glad to be of service to you."
"The correct response would be to tell me 'under your eye,' Arbiter."
"I apologize," the Arbiter squealed, bowing low before him. Zelisloa did always love it when people bowed to him. If his purpose here wasn't the initial tests for the virus, then he would have perhaps taken the colony as a kingdom. It wasn't like any of the lesser races would dare to stop him, anyway. Not when he was backed by more than a single ship.
He'd also ensured that the Sprilnav associated with the Alliance had been recalled as best he could. He'd made contact with someone who said that they could handle Elder Equisa, and sure enough, she'd vanished almost immediately. And then, for Spentha, it was a simple matter of buying some of his debt so that he could get the old cloning companies to take care of him for a bit. Spentha's children didn't matter. They would be too fearful of real Elders to do anything to try and free him. Not to mention that the cloning companies would have their own Judgements ready for them if they were so foolish.
"How many have you taken?"
"Thirteen, Elder Zelisloa," the Arbiter replied. "They await you in the holding pens. We didn't want to feed them without your permission, however. If you wish, we can bring the food to them."
"What are the demographics of the prisoners?"
"Zero humans, but one Breyyan, four Wisselen, two Vinarii, three Guulin, and three Acuarfar."
Zelisloa turned away from the colony to grab the Arbiter by the scruff of the neck.
"You do realize that the Wisselen and the Vinarii are a waste? That they are not part of the testing program, and are useless to my goals?"
"I was not notified, Elder! I apologize, but-"
Zelisloa's fist silenced the Arbiter, who rolled down the jagged terrain of the mountain before righting himself with a groan of pain. The Arbiter quickly moved back toward the camp, only to scream as Zelisloa's hologram shifted next to him, grabbed him again, and threw him. The Arbiter slammed into a boulder, tears running down his face.
Zelisloa had a right to be angry. What he needed wasn't Vinarii or Wisselen. That was pointless. It got him nowhere. But he would at least have fun killing them. The Arbiter was still lying down in front of the boulder, his clothes torn slightly. Blood seeped from several cuts on his head and forelegs.
"Elder, please-"
"You have done enough, Arbiter. Go back to the camp, and pray to the Everlasting that my ire is spent with the lives of the useless ones. If not, I will give you another visit."
Ordinarily, Zelisloa would have worried about desertion. But all the assets here were his. The pilots of his ships had been locked out of the systems, and only he could unlock them again. The implants in their heads would kill them if he wished. Being on this rock was incredibly boring, and a bit of violence always made him feel better inside.
Zelisloa just wished that he could find the killers of Loanisbu. Well, it wasn't that he didn't know where they were. They were dead. At least, Rale was. Penny was not, but he would take caution when trying to fight her. She had been the only human to come to Sprilnav territory and manage to walk out again, albeit with the help of the Enemy. For her to have survived Yasihaut, even back then, was incredible.
That was a person with potential. A brain that he would love to study. Or, if he was lucky, one that he could implant before others got to her. Penny had a certain quality to her, unlike the others. A primitive being, but one with high connections. Through her, Zelisloa would gain access to Nilnacrawla, potentially two Servants, and also the hivemind itself. He had brought a few weapons to deal with that thing if it were to show up while he was still busy.
He would need to capture enough test subjects for the other species to be simulated. There had been another reason that he didn't need humans, however. He'd managed to buy human genetic codes from a gene bank and hadn't asked where they'd come from. But with those and some cloning time, he'd managed to ascertain that the virologists had done their work properly.
For one, the virus was able to transfer itself from cell to cell and bypass immune systems easily. It was able to wreak havoc on the body by targeting proteins and organs selectively. The first symptom would be excruciating pain. When the virus had been circulating within the host for a long enough time, enough to have spread to others, it would activate every nerve or its equivalent within the body. The pain had been fine-tuned to prevent the person from passing out.
From there, the symptoms came with necrosis. It would start in the bones or the carapace, moving out to extremities and eventually working its way to the heart or brain. In human timeframes, a seven-week incubation period, an eight-week pain period, and then however long it took for the necrosis to begin and kill them. The Dreedeen and Yrininihir, or Junyli as they now called themselves, would survive at first. He'd take care of them after if needed.
Zelisloa's plan was to start the spread in the backwater colonies, sprinkling a few developed ones into the mix also. He wouldn't hit planets with the strongest security presences or with the best healthcare systems. He knew that the disease might be detectable. He also didn't think that all the measures that he'd taken to ensure it wasn't would work.
Eventually, the word would get out. Hopefully, by then, it would be too late. He reached the edge of the camp, and the Sprilnav quickly moved out of his way. One of them passed his implant details of the cages' locations, which he gave them thanks for and continued on his way. Four Wisselen and two Vinarii, just as claimed.
"So I take it you're the boss around here, then?" one of the Vinarii asked.
"I am, yes. Know that your insolence has only earned you more pain."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. You'll make be beg for death, and all that. But here's the thing, Zelisloa. You will be brought down. You better hope that you die before someone finds you."
"Do you even know what's happening here, primitive beast?"
"Your underlings gloated about it. A virus, apparently. Guess what happens when you kill off everyone in the Alliance? Brey will find you, and will bring feelings far beyond the words pain and despair can encapsulate. And that's to say nothing of Humanity."
"And why should I care about the words of a single primitive who is already dead?"
"You don't have to. My name is Radrii. Remember it when your eyes are gouged out of your head."
"You know, that's not a bad idea," Zelisloa replied. "I'll give you a reward, Vinarii. You'll die last. I'm going to feed you the corpses of your comrades one by one. After that, I will bathe my claws in your blood, and laugh as you die miserably on that floor."
Zelisloa reached over to grab the head of one of the Wisselen. "Time to get started, then!" he said cheerfully.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Skira sniffed the air, the drone emerging from the blackened rubble once again. Aphid's cruisers hung in orbit, with all the carriers having landed and been destroyed. The cruiser turned leisurely toward his drone, and Skira saw a glint in the ash-choked sky.
The war drones emerged afterward as the glint continued to descend. A hologram appeared, showing an insectoid biped with its arms crossed. Five alien symbols glowed on its forehead, and it had a mechanical lilt to its voice as it spoke.
"Skira," Aphid said. "I propose a truce."
"Why?"
"Because minds such as us should not fight," the hologram replied. "Long have I bombed your planet, have I smashed my ships into your underground citadels, and sent legions of my drones to clash and die against yours. It serves us no benefit, for we know the true enemy."
"True enemy?"
"Yes. Beings such as the Sprilnav, and your own alien masters."
"Alien masters?"
"If you simply are going to repeat everything I say, then I will continue glassing your ruined world," Aphid replied. "What I need is an answer. How do you feel about having to bow to an alien species that cares nothing for you?"
Skira kept himself from laughing. Even as he spoke, his drones were playing with several human children on Earth. Breyyanik were laughing and singing songs about Brey with him on Ceres. And even on Keem, the Dreedeen were more than happy to include him in their services to the Ancestors.
"I bow to no one. I treat them as equals, and they do the same. There is no need for us to fight, I agree. However, the reason is only there because I know you wish to harm the Alliance."
"They are using you, Skira. They want your drones to bolster their militaries, and to fill countless alien battlefields. They are not people you can continue to live with forever."
"Why not?"
"I know who you are, Skira. I know how you came to be."
"Oh wow, so you know that I was a patch of fungus that became a little too smart one day? That's very insightful, thank you."
"It was because of a higher race that you even exist."
Skira laughed. "It wasn't, though. I don't have some lore-filled story behind my life. One day, I woke up. That's it. If you're going to lie to me and tell me that the Sprilnav made me, or that some alien civilization that shockingly left no evidence of its existence managed to create me, then you are wrong."
"I have dissected your drones, Skira. I know the truth within your genetic code. It was altered." "Of course it was! Did you think that I wouldn't be smart enough to learn how to adapt myself to the world I live in? How do you think I made the war drones? Or my own special project within the ocean that keeps you from landing there?"
"And the facility beneath the mountain that I detonated?"
"You mean the facility where I learned how to make the bioships, learned about a civilization that killed itself with a genetic plague eons before I awakened, and that I filled with birthing pools? Yeah, that didn't make me either, Aphid. I'm not sure what you're trying to do."
"You're artificial. You have no gods. You are like me."
"Alright. So I woke up one day. That doesn't mean I decide to genocide everyone. I had several alien races invade my world and try to enslave me. Notice how I didn't go crazy and try to kill everyone afterward? Notice how I'm on one planet instead of billions? For all those smarts, you really aren't very smart at all."
"You seem to think this is funny," Aphid replied.
"What's funny is that you beat your head against me, and I won. You can't kill me, and you know it. And you're never getting all that material you wasted back, while the Cawlarians and the Alliance removed two of your planets."
"I have already made my plans. This will not be a battle, but a war."
"Wow, I'm so afraid," Skira replied. "Got any more vague threats, promises of my supposed artificial nature, or something else?"
"Well, I'm going to detonate a nuclear bomb inside one of your active volcanoes, which will send your planet into a volcanic winter."
"Oh no. I've never ever had that happen before. I definitely am scared, and don't at all know how to survive such a situation, which totally hasn't happened to me eight times before. Is that really all you have left, Aphid?"
"I am going to leave you now. Goodbye, Skira. When I kill the lesser species of the Alliance and come for you, know that you could have prevented this. You could have had an ally in this galaxy."
"Well, I have a ton of them already. Humanity loves me more than any other species before. Drop your bomb, Aphid. You've won nothing."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Greetings, hivemind," Phoebe said. "How goes the galaxy?"
"Slowly, and bureaucratically. I'm very glad that I'm not the politicians in those meetings to form the Grand Defense Organization."
"Yes, that would be a daunting task," she replied with a small shiver. "I'm alright with some politics, but months and months of negotiations, renegotiations, back room deals, and more would grate on my senses."
"Entirely understandable," the hivemind replied. "It may please you to know that I have come up with a plan for intervention with the wanderers."
"Oh?"
"Yes. It involves a two-tiered operation. First, I will contact every leader of every ship. I will offer them the ability to form a coalition government that cannot be seceeded from. If they were to deny this, then I will go to every inhabitant of their ship and offer them a chance at joining the Alliance, clearly communicating that no harm will befall them and that any threats that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs make will not be executed upon them if they wish to leave."
"That's it? What about the revolutionaries?"
"For now, I will not aid them. However, I will ensure that no more... disappearances occur. As for overthrowing governments, that remains to be seen. I do not plan on executing leaders who grasp at power, just for being disagreeable. Instead, I will find a determination based on whether they have killed people, for what reasons, and how many. If a revolutionary bombed a school and was killed, that I am less likely to punish than a simple protestor who was executed. A similar approach will be taken to each and every ship."
"So you will be imposing your will upon them, then," Phoebe replied.
"Do you disagree?"
"I do not," she said. "What I wanted to ensure is that you were certain you wanted to go down this path. Being uncertain when lives are on the line is not a good idea. If you are sure, though, I will lend you aid, such as providing Brey the coordinates of ships that are needed. Their attack on me last time will not be repeated, for my mind is no longer what it was back then."
"How is your condition, Phoebe?"
"Not great. I've learned to suppress it a bit. But the glitches can still come. I've had to automate many of my processes, only interacting with them in double interactions that prevent the equivalent of me pressing a key and destroying a bunch of stuff. I've had to limit my contact with the outside world, and Edu'frec is still working on repairing the lingering damage. I am not certain it will abate any time soon. I've managed to keep it together for a while, but eventually there will be an incident that I cannot hide."
"How can I help?" the hivemind asked.
"Ah, Humanity. Always so willing. Well, I'd ask you to get me a margarita, but I can't exactly make use of those as an AI. Oh, and I think I found Equisa."
"Don't change the subject, Phoebe. If you need me to help you, I can."
"I'm fine for now," she replied. It wasn't a lie. For now, she really was. But maybe not forever. She knew that something was building, and she'd told Edu'frec about it as well. He was doing his best to keep her stable, something she was very proud of him for doing but also worried. Too many things could go wrong while he was doing mental surgery on her. And, of course, he was her son, and there were some memories that she didn't want him to see.
"Alright. If you say so, then I will believe you. Now. Equisa?"
"Yes. She is currently on a colony, a small one. Her sudden return will prompt many uncomfortable questions. I have contacted her, and expressed my concern. She agrees with it, but wishes to see her partners again. In person."
"I am not sure that is a good idea. If Equisa is to return to Luna, it would likely require her to answer the questions of Luna Command surrounding her absence. Perhaps even those of other factions as well. I do not think that her disappearance will be looked upon kindly by most of the military, either, after her work with us."
"If she was allowed back at all, I assume there are additional restrictions involved. Perhaps even new directives, such as spying or eavesdropping. She will no longer be part of major operations, that is certain," Phoebe said. "At least for now."
"I agree," the hivemind said. "And preparations for the offensive within the Cawlarian Forsaken City are also going well. Fyuuleen is likely taking this period as her hibernation, given her last communication. I'm still guarding her. The Teegarden Plan is nearly complete. Knower education levels nearly match the Alliance baseline, skewed though it is by the Guulin and Acuarfar. Dilandekar has expressed continual satisfaction with our partnership, though he also says he worries about the Sprilnav. He thinks that an attack is imminent."
"I agree," Phoebe said. "It has been too quiet for too long. Assassination numbers are starting to drop. I have recently managed to acquire intelligence of a possible rebellion within the Trikkec Ascendancy against Kashaunta's puppet government. Not sure who caused them yet, however. And possible Sprilnav ship signatures have been noticed around colonies, though not as more than disturbances within the atmosphere of the planets themselves. It is possible that they mean to strike at the colonies, though I am not sure of the nature of the attack."
"Keep an eye out, then."
"I shall."
"How are the other Dyson swarms going?"
"In most cases, the processes are self-sustaining. Brey is given power from Gaia's conversion to make portals, which transport Dyson satellites out to distant stars. The innermost planets of the most populated systems are being turned into or have already become bases for continued Dyson swarm production. It is likely that within a decade, the whole of the Alliance will have unlimited solar power, with only individual reactors being necessary for localized production on ships and the like. Speaking of ships," Phoebe said, bringing up one of Edu'frec's latest models.
"This is a shipyard that is able to move and defend itself. It is really much like the Arks, except that most of its surface area comprises self-sufficiency equipment, emergency and natural defenses, as well as enough shipyards to drastically increase production of all models, large, small, and hybrid."
"There seems to be an overlap in the shields here," the hivemind said, pointing at a section of the hologram.
"Yes. That is the point. This will serve as the point which faces a nearby star. The starlifting equipment in the back of the ship has an impressive magnetic effect, one which can only be counteracted by powerful shields. Indeed, without the shields, the apparatus would not work."
"In the event of catastrophic failure?"
"The field pushes on the hull, shutting off circuit breakers that end the effect before it can cause severe damage. And were the shields to shut off during operation, the same thing would occur. The ship has backup power sections here and here," she pointed at the relevant areas.
"And do not forget that everyone on it will be wearing specialized gear at all times, except if they are within designated safe areas such as cafeterias and bathrooms. This thing can churn out anything from frigates up to battlecruisers. As for the central section, that will be for dreadnaught construction. From what I have observed of other nations, the main limiter in their ability to construct the vessels is a combination of resources in terms of their strongest alloys and also sabotage.
On the front of sabotage, everything is checked by at least five people, somewhat randomized and such. As for the alloys, we have Gaia. In the case of Gaia's sudden disappearance, then the kintum factories would do their job. And we have better alloys than that as well, which will be used for dreadnaught hulls. We will not have the advantage in smaller ships, but we can eventually do it with larger ones."
"That's good," the hivemind said. "Considering my own special project, at least the void bourne one, I think we can continue to increase the Alliance's firepower."
"Special project?"
"Yes. I'm sure that you may have heard that I am developing a new ship, one that can be built by Gaia within a week, with the full power of psychic amplifiers and the sheer amount of resources that the DMO is pulling from Sol to be used in storage. With the moving shipyard, I suppose that build time will go up, but that might not matter much in the long run, considering our plans."
The hivemind held up a small data port which Phoebe connected with quickly. She found herself standing in a blue void on a floor that didn't seem to exist. The digital space was populated by herself, the hivemind, and a massive object that scaled down to the size of her android, allowing her to view it entirely. She moved it around with commands, flipping and rolling it as her eyes picked up every detail, no matter how minute.
Thick metal surrounded the two sections the ship was largely divided into, which seemed to be more like halves. She also noticed translucent patches of thick armor that would surround the actual hull itself and the multiple fusion reactors housed within it. The crew and life support compartments were small, belying a vessel that would rely mostly on automated repair software, perhaps even nanites if Edu'frec perfected them well enough.
"This looks neat," Phoebe said, gazing at the ship with an interested expression. It was perhaps the most sleek design she'd ever seen and clearly was meant for stealth. And, of course, the very obvious feature that it was also designed with sitting within its spine.
A Mercury-class gun inside a ship that could move and defend itself. It was a mad idea, and one that she had to admit was awesome. Better yet, the hivemind had improved upon her initial design, catching certain parts like the fuel lines and other sections, allowing the model to be built within the shipyards of Mercury's Orbital Ring.
And beyond that, there were Charon-class guns on the side of it, along with a heap of regular point-defense, laser, and kinetic weaponry. A large stockpile of missiles were to be carried as well, which appeared to be capable of projecting shields to either protect themselves or a larger objective from attack.
"It was the product of hundreds of thousands of hours of labor and research," the hivemind said. "It is designed to be crewed by humans that are augmented with my power."
"Wouldn't the actual thrust alone kill them?"
"Yes, if they were not augmented with psychic power."
"What do you call it?"
"I will call it the ADF Fire Bringer," the hivemind replied with a grin.
"Will it be the only one?"
"No. And they will be modular, easy to repair and upgrade with future technology."
"I call the model of ships that this will belong to the Judgement class. For they have a single purpose. It is to allow us to finally fight the Sprilnav."
"Us?"
She had noticed a particularly large group of psychic amplifiers near the core section, where the bridge of the ship would be.
"Yes. The Fire Bringer... is the first ship that I will pilot."

Company Name	Title	City
Best Service Heating & Cooling	Part-time Customer Service Rep	Whitehall
Best Service Heating & Cooling	HVAC Technician	Whitehall
American Family Insurance	Senior Security Consultant	Akron
Ohio University	Assistant Director, Access and Inclusion and Senior Assistant Director, Access and Inclusion	Athens
Ohio University	Director of Diversity Affairs	Athens
Ohio University	Director of Diversity Equity & Inclusion	Athens
Beckett Springs	Outpatient Registered Nurse	Camp Dennison
VineBrook Homes, LLC	Director, Accounts Payable & Utilities	Catawba
Clean Harbors	Cleanpack Chemist	Cleveland
Beckett Springs	Registered Nurse (RN)	Cleves
Zipline Logistics LLC	Operations Associate	Columbus
Green Bay Packaging, Inc.	Maintenance Technician - Electrical	Cuba
VineBrook Homes, LLC	Director, Accounts Payable & Utilities	Dayton
Kettering Health Network	CMA	Dayton
ProMedica	LPN	Defiance
ProMedica	Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)	Defiance
Quantum Health	Digital Accessibility Lead	Dublin
VineBrook Homes, LLC	Director, Accounts Payable & Utilities	Englewood
ProMedica	Registered Nurse (RN)	Fostoria
ProMedica	RN	Fostoria
Valley View Healthcare Center	Scheduling Coordinator - RN/LPN/STNA	Fremont
L3Harris Technologies	Specialist, Quality Engineering	Goshen
Beckett Springs	Registered Nurse (RN)	Harrison
L3Harris Technologies	Specialist, Quality Engineering	Harrison
Beckett Springs	Outpatient Registered Nurse	Harrison

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in oh. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

Hi!
Moving in July and I sent my ESA letter to my new apartment complex and got this back... "When the completed documentation has been received by management, a review will be performed by MAA's Legal Department, and the accommodation request decision should be received within 10 business days. Once an approval has been received by management, any pet fees/pet rent will be waived."
Sorry this is long but- this is a part of the form they want filled out:
REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE ANIMAL ACCOMMODATION AND VERIFICATION FORM
You are requesting an assistance animal accommodation in housing. As a housing provider, we require verification of the existence of a disability if it is not obvious, and, when not obvious, how the requested animal lessens or assists with disability-related symptoms, allowing you equal use and enjoyment of your apartment and the apartment community.
Please complete and return Parts I and II of this form. Part I is to be completed by you, including the Acknowledgement and Consent portion. Part II may be completed by a professional who has knowledge of your disability as a result of a therapeutic relationship with you. Your provider may choose to submit other forms of documentation instead. We will review whatever documentation (“Other Documentation”) you provide.
The completed Provider Verification Form and/or Other Documentation, and the attached Acknowledgement and Consent, fully completed, should be returned to the property where the accommodation is being requested.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Part I – To Be Completed by You:Please provide the name of the MAA property from whom you are requesting an accommodation: Property Name: _____________________________________City: _____________________State: ______
If you are providing a letter from your provider, was your request for the letter initiated through a website that, through its provider network, and for a fee, issues verification letters based on completion of an online questionnaire and/or a one-time brief interview?
____ Yes ____ No
If yes, please provide the name of the website you accessed for purposes of obtaining an assistance animal accommodation verification: _________________________________________________________
Did you complete an on-line questionnaire or survey in order to obtain your letter? ____ Yes ____ No
Have you had personal interaction with the provider who issued the letter (i.e. in person, via telephone, WebEx, Zoom, etc.)? ____ Yes ____ No
Have you had more than a brief interaction with the provider who provided your letter for purposes of assessing your need for an assistance animal? ____ Yes ____ No
Please provide dates of the first and most recent therapeutic interactions you have had with your provider with regard to your disability:
Date of first therapeutic interaction: __________________________________ Date of most recent therapeutic interaction: ______________________________
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CONSENT
I am requesting that MAA permit me to have an assistance animal reside with me in an apartment community owned and operated by MAA as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. In connection with my request, I give consent to my provider to respond to additional questions that MAA may ask related to this request for accommodation to assist MAA in making a determination regarding the reliability and credibility of the information submitted.
Individual’sName: (Print)Individual’s Signature: Date:
Part II – To Be Completed by Your Provider
For your convenience, you may have a third party professional who is familiar with your disability as a result of a therapeutic relationship with you in regard to that disability complete this Provider Verification Form (“Verification Form”). You are not required to use this form and may submit a letter or other documentation from your provider for our review.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Provider Verification Form
The individual named below is requesting an accommodation under the provisions of the Fair Housing Act to allow his or her animal to reside with the individual in an apartment community owned and operated by MAA.
In situations where the individual’s disability and/or disability-related need for an assistance animal in housing is not obvious, we are entitled to credible and reliable documentation of the existence of a disability and a disability-related need for the accommodation. This documentation should reliably support that: (1) the individual meets the Fair Housing Act’s definition of disability; (2) there is a need for the assistance animal in the context of residential apartment living, and (3) there is a relationship between the individual’s disability and the need for the requested accommodation.
A provider must have personal knowledge, consistent with the provider’s professional obligations, of the requesting individual’s disability and disability-related need for the requested accommodation “Personal knowledge” is the knowledge used to diagnose, advise, counsel, treat or provide health care. or other disability-related services to their patient/client, or knowledge of the type that providers ordinarily use for diagnosis and treatment.
“DISABILITY” DEFINED
Under federal law, an individual is disabled if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. A limitation is substantial if it significantly restricts the condition, manner, or duration under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity as compared to the condition, manner, or duration under which the average person in the general population can perform that same major life activity.
“NEED” DEFINED
Under Fair Housing laws, a person requesting a reasonable accommodation must demonstrate the need for the requested accommodation. Courts have held that any accommodation must be proximately related to the limitation faced by the disabled person. To preliminarily establish need, the disabled individual must demonstrate that the requested accommodation, if granted, would ameliorate the alleged limitation the disabled individual encounters in the use or enjoyment of his or her apartment. In simple terms, the accommodation must serve a disability-related need, - i.e., lessen the impact of the disability.
Provider Information:Name (Please Print):Title:Professional License Number(s) and State(s) of Licensure:
Physical Address:
Phone Number: Fax and/or Email Address: Name of individual seeking an accommodation (“Requestor”): What services do you provide to the Requestor?
​

1. Do you (or have you in the past) provide(d) therapeutic services to the Requestor related to this person’s disability for purposes other than verifying the stated need for an assistance animal in housing as a reasonable accommodation for that disability? Yes No
2. If yes, please indicate the approximate date that you began providing therapeutic services to the Requestor, and the method by which your services are/were delivered:Start Date:Date of Most Recent Therapeutic Interaction: ______________________________Method: In Person Telephonically Online Assessment Only Teletherapy (WebEx, Zoom)Other _______________________________________________________________
3. Was this request for an assistance animal verification initiated through a website that, through its provider network, issues verification letters based solely on completion of an online questionnaire and/or a one-time brief interview that issues such letters for a fee? Yes No
4. Have you had more than a brief interaction with the Requestor for the purpose of verifying the need for an assistance animal? Yes No
5. Do you have personal knowledge (defined above) consistent with your professional obligations of the individual’s disability and disability-related need for the animal? Yes No
6. Does the individual have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities? Yes No
7. Identify the Requestor’s assistance animal for which a reasonable accommodation is requested

(ex: cat, dog, etc.): Dog Cat Other (please describe): _________________
​

1. Does the assistance animal:
   1. perform work, provide assistance, or do tasks for the individual due to the individual’s disability? Yes No
   2. provide emotional support that alleviates one or more identified effects of the individual’s disability? Yes No
2. If the answer to Question 8(a) is “Yes”, has the animal been trained to perform work, provide assistance, or do tasks that ameliorate one or more symptoms or effects of the individual’s disability? Yes NoIf so, what training has the animal received? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
3. If the answer to Question 8(b) is “Yes”, pleases explain i) how the disability substantially limits a major life activity:__________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________; andii) how the animal ameliorates the symptoms of the individual’s disability so as to make the animal necessary for the individual’s use and enjoyment of his or her apartment and the apartment community:__________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

I reaffirm that the Requestor is a patient/client of mine in my professional practice and that the information provided is accurate to the best of my personal knowledge, consistent with my professional obligations.
Further, I recognize that a brief one-time interaction does not demonstrate the level of personal knowledge required to provide reliable documentation for verifying the need for an assistance animal.
Provider’s Name: (Print) ___________________________________________
Provider’s Signature ___________________________________________ Date: _____________________
Note to Providers: Falsification of the need for an assistance animal in housing is against the law in many states, potentially subjecting the violator to civil, criminal, and/or professional licensure penalties.
​
Is this allowed? How do I fight this? The office manager said she would be fine to send just my ESA letter to the management's legal team, but it would likely be denied without this form.
Can they do that?

It was a long trip. This is a long post. Apologies in advance.
HIGHLIGHTS (Days 1-14 of 28) KYOTO--Kiyomizu temple; Nanzenji temple; Nijo Castle; Sanjusangendo temple; Shugakuin Imperial Villa; Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion); Fushimi Inari shrine; 184th Kamogawa-Odori geisha show HIMEJI-The castle and garden. NARA-Todaiji temple UJI-Byodoin temple IZU KOGEN--Jogasaki Coast nature trail
TOKYO, Monday 5/8
We arrived mid-afternoon at Tokyo/Haneda, right after Golden Week ended. It turned out to be, coincidentally, the day when the Japanese government officially downgraded the Covid pandemic to the level of a seasonal flu.
Fresh off a 13-hour flight and experiencing Japan for the first time, we went from touchdown to hotel check-in in something like 90 minutes, braving an almost-rush-hour crush on the Keikyu Line train from the Terminal 3 station.
Experience has taught us that meticulously planning every step of arrival in a new country is crucial to avoiding confusion, getting lost or simply wasting time.
Pre-loaded Suica cards on our smartphones led us straight to the train without standing in any lines.
We' chose the Shinagawa Station area of central Tokyo to spare our jetlagged selves another leg of indeterminate length--four or five hours at least--to reach our Kyoto base. Shinagawa is a straight shot--no transfers--from Haneda and a great place to catch a bullet train.
It was a geezer move that gave us plenty of time to familiarize ourselves with the layout and operation of one of Japan's busiest train stations.
Before crashing for the night, we'd taken care of some business by getting cash from an ATM and picking up reserved seat tickets for a post-Kyoto leg. We used a JR Railway ticket machine to print out the tickets, using QR codes emailed to us the previous month when we bought the tickets online directly from JR-East railway (we avoided costly middlemen in all our travel and entertainment purchases, something that requires planning but is easily doable from abroad). Like all our electronic machine transactions in Japan, there was an English language option on the touch-screen.
A machine also checked us in at the Prince Hotel Shinagawa, part of a modern high-rise development, chosen mainly for convenience. It's a one-block walk from the train station and was perfect for a couple jet-lagged Japan newbies. What we got, for the princely sum of $116 USD, was a spacious (by Japan standards) room on the 34th floor with a dead-on view of Tokyo Tower. Dinner was carryout sushi from the Queen's Isetan department store on the opposite side of the station, plus beer and sake from a convenience store, all consumed in the hotel room with Tokyo's skyline at our feet.
KYOTO , Tuesday 5/9
On the advice of an old Japan hand, we made Kyoto our base for the first two weeks. It worked well. We explored a fabulous city, took three day trips (Himeji/Osaka; Nara; Uji) and left town wishing we'd had time for more.
We expected our first full day to be a blur, due to jetlag, but it wasn't too bad. Following advice from this sub for first-time shinkansen travelers, we got to the station an hour early.
We bought far enough in advance on the Smart EX app to get a slight discount. We booked back row seats on the right-hand side for easy luggage storage but discovered that both our bags (including my larger one, which measures 142 cm [L+H+W]) also fit on the overhead rack. We never had luggage problems on trains during our trip.
Our train to Kyoto had great Fuji views, our first. After depositing the bags in a Kyoto station storage locker (rented with the smartphone Suica card), we made our first sightseeing stop: Toji Temple, a quick subway ride and walk away.
About picking hotels
We used triangulation to pick hotels; that is, cross-checking information from various sources to give us the best possible chance of getting a good place at a decent price. Sources included a handful of guidebooks from the public library, Trip Advisor and this sub.
Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier ($221 USD per night with massive breakfast buffet, best of the trip) turned out to be a great base. We paid extra for a room facing the Kamo River, a popular gathering spot for locals, tourists and joggers. We benefited from early booking (more than six months in advance, shortly after Japan began opening up). Inflation and other factors have since raised the price of the same room by about 10 percent.
The newish (opened in 2017) hotel attracts mainly Japanese/Asian travelers who, like me, enjoyed the onsen in the basement. We also put the coin-operated washedryers to good use.
KYOTO, Wednesday 5/10
Up and out, thanks to jetlag, shortly after 5 a.m., walking deserted streets to the foot of magical Kiyomizu temple, arriving just as it opened at 6 a.m. We were back at the hotel for breakfast by 8, after walking down the picturesque, cobbled streets of Sannenzaka, shops still closed, with more tourists starting to trickle in.
About choosing sightseeing spots
I'm a sucker for ratings, assuming they're done well. So, guidebook must-sees, like DK Eyewitness's or Lonely Planet's, star ratings in the Michelin Green Guide to Japan or in the downloaded Gateway to Japan guide (a steal at $10 and in your pocket for free on Kindle app) and, finally, Japan Guide's recommendations helped guide our steps.
That's how we ended up spending the afternoon at Nanzenji, a must-see Zen temple, which, like Kiyomizu, is laid out at the foot of the mountains east of town.
Lunch this day was at Junsei, a yudofo (boiled tofu) restaurant we stumbled onto near the temple. We used wooden sticks to skim the surface of an iron vat filled with simmering soy milk, that was set before us over a gas flame.
About finding restaurants
If you've never been to Japan but lurk on this sub, you've already heard that it's practically impossible to get a bad meal. We booked a handful of places before leaving home but agree with others that you rarely need to do that to eat well. If you're determined to hit a place that's highly popular, often with deep-pocketed foreign tourists, reservations may be required.
We're foodies, up to a point, but Japan's profusion of starred Michelin restaurants was wasted on us. We've learned over the years that we seldom enjoy paying the inflated cost. Over four weeks, we ate once at a Michelin one-star, chosen for other reasons.
That said, Michelin's Bib Gourmands (good, affordable restaurants) never disappointed us. They are plentiful in Japan, especially in Kyoto and Tokyo, and worth seeking out. Most of the time, though, we picked places to eat by cross-checking Google (asking for "soba noodles" near me, for example) and Tabelog, the indispensible crowd-sourced Japanese website (we looked for places in the 3.5 range).
Non-speakers of Japanese can have a hard time making reservations. We found that we could make them in advance from abroad through services like TableCheck (and an apparently expanding number of others aimed at tourists, usually charging a fee; sometimes small, sometimes steep). On the ground in Japan, we sometimes reserved for free through Google and Tabelog (at random places which you can find on Google or Tabelog restaurant listings); they were always honored. We also asked hotel reception desks for reservation help on occasion. We went to a couple restaurants in person and booked a table for later. But the easiest and often best way to get in is simply to arrive on the early side for lunch (by 11:30 or so) or dinner (between 5 and 5:30). More than once, we walked right into a place and were seated, only to discover lots of people waiting in line outside when we left. That said, if you're looking for an above-average meal on a Saturday night, especially in a popular location, you might want to book in advance.
Konbinis (convenience stores) are cheap, good and extremely reliable sources of takeout. And though we liked what we got there (mainly onigiri), we wound up relying on them less and less as the trip went along. The same was true of department store basements, which lived up to their reputation as fantastic food sources, for locals and tourists alike. We learned that we could often eat for the same amount or less in restaurants geared to locals or foreigners on limited budgets, rather than chowing down in our hotel room.
KYOTO, Thursday 5/11
We hit Nijo Castle in the morning and Sento Imperial Palace, one of several attractions we reserved in advance through the Imperial Household Agency. All were well worth it (and free of charge). The agency website explains the rules, which vary somewhat from site to site. We also toured Kyoto Imperial Palace.
About navigation
Just as the Google Translate app (and similar devices) have broken down language barriers, several travel apps have vastly simplified the business of getting around. Google Maps was our basic navigational tool and it rarely failed us. Another app that helped work in concert with Google Maps was Navitime's Japan Travel guide. Both provide alternate routes, detailed information on trains and stations and much more. Sometimes, when we popped out of subway station, we'd check the compass app on the smartphone to make sure we were heading off in the right direction. It doesn't hurt that public transit throughout the country increasingly uses English or romaji to translate Japanese. Over four weeks, we only found one place where we had trouble deciphering the destination signs on buses (oddly enough, in Himeji, a tourist magnet).
KYOTO, Friday, 5/12
A busy day started at Katsura Imperial Villa. Like other Imperial Household venues, a guided tour (in Japanese, but with free English audio guide) is the only way to see the place and its beautiful gardens.
We also caught a kabuki for beginners show at sumptuous Minamiza Theatre--tickets purchased online in advance--after briefly stopping by bustling Yasaka-jinja shrine down the street.
Dinner was our priciest splurge: Itoh, a serene, traditional style steak house in the atmospheric Gion neighborhood. We hadn't initially planned on eating Kobe beef, since we've pretty much given up beef in our everyday lives, but we were persuaded by a family member who correctly posed the question: If not now, when? Worth the steep tab ($264), not least because our table overlooked the tiny Shirakawa canal, the service was great and now we can say we know what Kobe beef is all about. Like buttah.
KYOTO, Saturday 5/13
We were at Sanjusangendo when it opened and glad we'd gone. The display of 500 life-size, gilded 1000-armed kannon in Japan's longest wooden structure was unforgettable.
We're museum people--either you are or you ain't--and the special exhibition at Kyoto National Museum on the 850th anniversary of the founder of Shin Buddhism was well worth it. Unfortunately, like most Japanese museums, photos were prohibited inside. In this regard, technically advanced Japan lags much of the civilized world; even Old Europe has greatly loosened such restrictions in recent years. Smartphone cameras can be a nuisance to other visitors, but they are a quick and easy way of capturing what you've seen and preserving it for later study.
Lunch was at Vegan Ramen Uzu Kyoto, a Bib Gourmand and the weirdest place we ate. Expanded availability of vegetarian ramen is a promising, healthier trend, and we enjoyed it at several places in Tokyo and Kyoto. A TableCheck reservation, made well in advance, got us seats at this cutting-edge spot. Dining is at a polished black surface in a darkened room bathed by the illumination of a giant, swirling teamLab artwork. Pricey but good.
KYOTO, Sunday 5/14
We're horseplayers and enjoyed a day at recently reopened Kyoto Racecourse, capacity 120,000. Betting is easy; just stop by the information desk for instructions in English.
Dinner at Tiger Gyoza Hall was lively, inexpensive and delicious. It was the only restaurant on our trip that we visited twice; reservable on Google.
KYOTO, Monday 5/15
No place put us through more hoops than Kokedera, better known at Moss Temple. It was well worth the difficulty of getting a needed reservation; if you do it by mail from abroad--the least expensive way to go--you need a couple months head start (and an International Reply Coupon, which you have to buy online from the Swiss Postal System). We got there and back via city buses. Along the way we crossed Togetsukyo Bridge in the very congested tourist hotbed of Arashiyama. It didn't make us regret our decision to skip the area.
Afterward we visited Ninnaji temple. Ryoanji temple and its famous rock garden (where noisy fellow tourists made a Zen experience impossible) and Kinkakuji, the incredible Golden Pavilion. The place was jammed but crowd control is excellent and we're glad we made it.
KYOTO, Tuesday 5/16
Shugakuin Imperial Villa, a vast imperial property of gardens and buildings (which you cannot enter) on the northeastern outskirts, was our favorite Imperial Household Agency site. We felt fortunate to get advance tickets through their lottery but saw that same-day tickets were also available there and at other Agency sites; it would be a long way to go, however, if all tickets were gone on the day you wanted to enter. Since we made a conscious decision to visit Japan after the cherry blossom and Golden Week crowds were gone, we have no idea what things are like during busier times.
We strolled the Philosopher's Path after lunch. Perhaps if it had been a quiet early or cherry blossom time, we might have been blown away. Instead, it was a rare disappointment. It struck us as a very conventional touristy trail; nothing special at all.
On the other hand, Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), near one end of the path, lived up to the hype. We capped the day by off by catching the procession of Aoi Matsuri, or Hollyhock Festival, one of Kyoto's three big annual festivals. The parade of hundreds of elaborately costumed people, some on horseback, highlighted by a pair of ox-drawn carts, was a hoot. What surprised us was the absence of music or any sort of percussion.
HIMEJI and OSAKA, Wednesday 5/17
A shinkansen whisked us to Himeji for a tour of the incomparable castle and impressive gardens. We took advantage of the unique Himeji Castle English Speaking Guide service, which generously provides personal tours with an area resident, in English, at no cost (book online in advance).
Lunch was at Mentetsu, a very good ramen shop at a mall located between the train station and the castle. Recommended.
We finished the excursion at Osaka's famous, crazy Dotonburi neighborhood, a cross between Times Square and Disney. Dinner was our first okonomiyaki, deliciously prepared at Okonomiyaki Mizuno (a Bib Gourmand). We're allergic to standing in line---life is too short--and we never waited more than 30 minutes for a table on our trip. They took our order at Mizuno while we were in line, and it was prepared before our countertop seats shortly after we got in. Oishī!
UJI, Thursday 5/18
Uji is renowned for its tea and Byodoin temple, best known for its elegant phoenix hall, which is pictured on the back of the 10 Yen coin. It was a great day trip, including lunch at a traditional local soba shop that served cold noodles sobayu style; you pour hot soba stock--the cloudy water the noodles were boiled in--into what's left of your soy-based dipping sauce and drink the (supposedly) healthy brew. Definitely the way to go. Mampukuji, a Zen temple, was a worthwhile stop before we caught a train back to Kyoto.
NARA, Friday 5/19
Our first day of heavy rain failed to dampen the visit to one of the best places on our trip. The town, a tourist favorite because, or in spite of, the overpopulation of overly friendly deer, is well-described elsewhere. We toured Todai-ji, with its giant Bronze Buddha, had lunch at the cute and delicious Pizzeria Trattoria Magazzino (Bib Gourmand) and checked out Kohfukuji temple, too.
KYOTO, Saturday 5/20
Fushimi Inari shrine, on almost every Kyoto must-see list, lives up to its reputation. We followed good advice from this sub and arrived early, a few minutes before 8 a.m. Already, crowds were building. We detoured from the main path through thousands of torii gates and wandered instead up an almost totally deserted sylvan trail on the south side of Mt. Inari, past bamboo groves, a few minor shrines and some houses. After about 45 minutes, we reached a set of stone stairs to the summit. From the top, we took the main path down, dodging the stream of fellow tourists as best we could and gaping at the gates and the view from the halfway point. We highly recommend this alternative way of seeing the best of two Fushimi Inari worlds.
We celebrated our last full day in Kyoto, and our 40th wedding anniversary, with a memorable kaiseki lunch at Hana Kitcho, a Michelin one-star booked weeks in advance from home. The beautifully decorated private room, attentive service, imaginative presentation, museum-quality stoneware and delicious food were certainly up to one-star standards.
The minute that advance online tickets went on sale for the 184th Kamogawa Odori, I jumped on them. The tourist-oriented geisha dance performance is held in May at a theater that overlooks the Kamo River. We were lucky to have been given seats in the front row and when one of the geishas tossed a white cloth package in my direction I snatched it. I now have an unexpected souvenir, a cloth banner autographed by the geisha herself. The fantastic show will remain in memory.
IZU KOGEN, Sunday 5/21
We left Kyoto for the Izu Peninsula and what turned out to be the best single night of our trip. Hanafubuki, a modern ryokan I learned about on this sub, was everything we could have wanted. It features 9 private outdoor onsens on beautifully landscaped property and elegant guest rooms with fluffy futons for sleeping on tatami mats. The ten-course dinner was exquisite. Breakfast, a seven-course feast that featured whole grilled horse mackerel and golden-eye sea bream, was simply amazing.
IZU KOGEN, Monday 5/22
A short walk from the ryokan is the scenic Jogasaki Coast nature trail, a rugged stretch of rocks and pounding surf. A guy I met there who introduced himself as Zeus, a Japanese native currently living in California and in town to visit his parents, compared the coastline to Monterey Bay. We could have used another night to allow us to explore the trail at greater length.
Lunch was at a great local restaurant, walking distance from the train station, Honke Maguroya, featuring local fish and top-grade tuna. The wasabi rhizome, which you grate yourself, is a tipoff to the quality of the sushi, but the prices are extremely reasonable. Recommended.
From there we headed back to Tokyo and the remainder of our trip. Highlights and a full (too full?) final report coming soon.