Clothing consignment near me

Hey, so just wondering if i'm the only one thinking this is somehow "broken".
Inner sight has no visual info to know when it's on. I mean i get the eye filling up near the energy globe, and the globe having a faint burning effect, but i thought something else would be done to make the player know it's active. No shroud near the edges of the screen, no nothing. Is it just me? How do you "see" it better to know you can spam your abilities without looking at the orb?

TW: brief mention of abuse. But I need some advice. Please be kind.
When I was little, my mom used to stand me in a corner or up against the wall and scream horrific things at me for hours. That behavior is one of my first memories. I really don’t know how her lungs didn’t give out.
At that young age, I started disassociating. But I had this thing, I call it a tic for lack of a better word, but if someone has a proper name for it, I’m open.
I would stand there, zone out, and twirl my shirt. Ring the bottom edge of it like it was laundry day. Over and over and over and over, for hours. Eventually I couldn’t get away with that anymore and I started twirling my hair instead. At least if I did that I could play it off as day dreaming.
Now at the age of 32, I have adult acne thanks to the worst birth control ever. And guess what? My skin has become my anxious “tic”.
I don’t want to leave my apartment because it’s hot and humid where I live and that makes my skin so gross. I grew up in dry temperate CO, so this kind of heat and humidity just irritates my skin to no end.
So when I get anxious, I run my fingers over my face, shoulders, back, chest…you name it it’s got acne on it. The soft touch is usually what’s soothing, but it’s like reading a book of braille because I’m touching it which makes it break out worse. Then I gotta try and get rid of that, which gets worse. And around and around we go. I’m just broken.
And then? Que the OCD. If I so much as feel a goosebump, it’s on. I pick it without even realizing it sometimes. Once I did it during an interview, I was terribly mortified but I couldn’t stop. Wtf.
When I’m out in public I carry a Zippo lighter with me in my hand damn near all the time. I know people hate me for snapping that over and over and over. I do it in a chill way, it’s more just something to occupy my hands so I don’t anxious pick in public.
So I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced something even slightly similar and can maybe recommend a behavior change that I can work on? My therapist graduated and I’m waiting to get set up with another so I apologize for asking this of you folks, just need something…I don’t know what. But I also have fibromyalgia, and with raw skin from the acne and the picking, the pain is just indescribable. Add heat and humidity. Ugh.
My doctor just gave me a med for the compulsive side of it, tripled the dose so I’m hoping that works fast. But I can’t piss the whole city off with my Zippo everywhere I go. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks.

All I wanted to do today was spend some time in the company of a friend or fellow human being. A mix of chatting, listening to music or perhaps binge watch a series. It would be great in person but online would also be fine as we could have streamed the series.
One friend is not feeling well, so that is a no can do.
I check the 3 contacts on my phone. Great, one of them must have changed their number. One is not responding to text messages. The other did reply to my suggestion with just "Nah, cba." (Can't Be Arsed) I insist that you do not try to think of an excuse to let me down gently.
The next option use Reddit to find someone, what a joke as no one is interested in any form of contact with a male my age.
The final option is Discord and one of the servers set up for like minded people looking to make friends. Some of the servers have sections specifically for meeting others and enjoying music or series together with another person or small group.
I started trying at 10 am and it is now very nearly 3 pm. In those 5 hours I have not found a friend or a human being that is interested in chatting, music, watching a series or any combination of the three.
Is it just bad luck? Is it just bad timing? Is it too shorter notice? or perhaps it is just me?
I.
GIVE.
UP.

To start, I'm a incredibly impatient person and always have been, and with my top surgery date 9 weeks away it's awful. All I want to do is hole up inside, not do anything but work (I work from home) and try and make the days go by as fast as possible. Often my time spent doing fun things is ruined by my dysphoria, either because I feel dysphoric and so I'm in my own head, or because I'm experiencing pain from binding. But I can't just avoid doing things for the next two months, I have a life and a partner and friends and I want to do things over the summer. I can't just hole up from all that as much as I want to.
It's also made worse by the fact that I feel like I will actually be able to live my life after top surgery because I've pushed off so many aspects of myself that I want to do until post-surgery. I really want to start working out but I'm just too dysphoric, even when in my own home- so that's waiting until after surgery. I love hockey and have been wanting to play it since I was a kid, and there's a co-ed adult rec league near me, but again I'm way too dysphoric. Hell even half of my wardrobe is shirts that match my style and that I want to wear but either show my binder straps or hugs my chest in a weird way.
It's a weird feeling, it feels like my life will actually begin after top-surgery, but I can't just try and make the next few weeks go by as fast as possible because that isn't the case, I do have a life, and I can't avoid it and shut everyone out for two months. How did y'all cope with this feeling, if you relate, I'd appreciate words of support or shared experience.

Does anyone have a good breakfast spot in Packer park? I’m new to the area.

I'm 21 M, skinny, kinda soft introvert doesn't talk much, doing my masters and in my department my juniors look at me or stare i can't decide. But the one i like is very career-oriented, it's been 6 months and i didn't even lock eyes with her, she's different literally different, most of the girl are running after fashion, trend, show off but she attend class with 2 long braids in hair, most common clothes just sweatshirt jeans with shirt in, insane for her classmates.
I admire from first day to now thinking about her whenever talking about juniors.
P.S. :- NO MAKEUP, NOTHING. RARE should be in museum. Don't think I'm exaggerating, I'm from india a metro city for this geographic region, she's Gem.

Hello,i need exp and gifts,so if someone want add me. (I send gifts all days or near to all days). My code is:
8907 9131 7237

Hello,i need exp and gifts,so ir someone want add me. (I send gifts all days or near to all days). My code is:
8907 9131 7237

Hi,
Bit of background: I am a German citizen with permanent resident status in the US, but do not hold dual citizenship. I’ve been living in the US since the late nineties. I just got back into fencing after a long hiatus. I am thoroughly enjoying it and am entertaining the idea of entering some local tournaments. Some of the ones I’ve been eyeing require a USFA Competitive Membership.
Since I’m a foreign national, I would need to sign up for a USFA International Competitive License, correct?
Is ICL the proper way for me to fence at some local, sanctioned events? I don’t think I need to worry about nationals or competing at an international level. I’m nearly 48 and essentially a complete novice. But it feels weird to “rep” my home country since I never fenced in (or for) Germany, since I didn’t take up the sport until years after I moved to the US. I’m not a member of the German equivalent of the USFA either.
Thanks in advance!

I find myself dreaming of her nearly every night when I go to sleep. Sometimes it’s about from when we were together. Other times it’s about what’s going on now. The most recent was me confronting her about the guy she had an affair on me with. I wake up and each time I’m absolutely crushed. I still love and miss her. I want to work on things but she is just so cold and has been for awhile now. Divorce in progress.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to make these dreams stop?

The feeling of having to repeat the same mundane tasks over and over again, it is way too repetitive and having events that are sometimes recycled or a event that lasts this long isn't helping much (7 WC wins weekly.)
This is my daily routine.
-Log on, open free packs. -AFK farm 10 games on manager mode -Clear 3 Daily training quests -Play a ton of event matches on auto, UCL/TOTS event. (I don't event play challenge mode anymore because auto isn't reliable) -log off for the rest of the day.
Modes that I don't play/with reasons.
-League tours, the league tour players have not changed for God knows how long, what even is the point besides trading for gold/elite players for fodders, but then again my players are all max level.
-WC event, 7 auto wins on easy mode sounds easy on paper, but 1 win takes roughly 20+mins on pure auto without tapping to skip replays etc. That is a resounding hours of your day just leaving your phone aside to play.
-Challenge mode, I used to like challenge mode as it gives resources like skill boosts, but having played UCL Challenge mode several times, it took a toll on me and I just got so bored of it and besides, I have never ever packed a decent player from challenge mode packs. Period.
-VSA and H2H, coming from someone who has hit FC3 on both these modes, I find it pointless to further grind up the ladder, I'd admit I'm not a good player, in fact I'm below average, I barely made it to FC3 amongst all the cross spammers and skill spammers, but with all the latest updates such as 115 OVR icons, VSA is damn near impossible for a 130 OVR to survive in FC3 VSA anymore. As for H2H, we all know how "script" can screw with your matches along with me not being a good player, it's just a combo I do not want to try.
What are your thoughts? Are you feeling the same way?

I normally don’t do this but it needs to be said. Hopefully others can relate and add to it too. The #1 thing that I’m sick of is the worldliness. I’m a guy and the amount of worldliness on Christian dating apps is downright scary. I know there’s going to be a lot of downvoting (let the down arrow mashing begin! :/) but it needs to be called out, and hopefully it can help Christian women who it applies to to stop so you can be godly and attract godly men. Also women, what needs to be called out about us guys. What are you sick of?
In no particular order…

• Worldliness (1 Peter 3:3. Too much makeup, too much jewelry, nose rings (septum are kind of scary imo), fake stuff eyelashes etc, low cut shirts showing cleavage, really long or sharp pointy fake nails, tattoos, really high heels, obscenely tight and short clothes (THIS IS A CHRISTIAN DATING APP, CMON!)
  
• If I see Jeremiah 29:11 one more time…please read your bibles so you can put more than that!
  
• Obesity. This is a sensitive subject and I’m saying this gently to those who are working on themselves. Keep at it, you’re doing a good job. But to the ones who are flaunting it, 300 and 400+ lbs…hey there’s someone for everyone…but you won’t attract much with all that extra weight. Its unhealthy to be that overweight. If you want a guy, most guys don’t want that. Work on loosing it and then spend your money and join a dating app. You’re just wasting your money if you’re that overweight. Same goes for a guy. Work on yourself THEN join…or at least put it out there that you’re working on it!
  
• Not filling out your profile. “Ask me anything you want to know 😊” “Just ask” the dreaded “I’ll fill this out later”. You look lazy and definitely like you’re not there to find a husband. How can you when he knows nothing about you?! TAKE THE TIME AND FILL OUT YOUR PROFILE!
  
• Which leads to this next one. Just pics and no info at all or just “hi 😊”…no prompts, no write up…nothing. Its usually the really pretty ones. It tells me that you’re conceited and rely only on your looks. You’ve probably gotten so much attention from guys that you think that’s all you need. You’re there for the wrong reasons and you’ll get the wrong guys every time. You’re not there for a husband or a godly man.
  
• Weird pic angles. Stop holding your phone way up above your head and looking up. Whats up with only half your face in the pic?? Or blurry pics? Or the close-talker-face-taking-up 90% of the pic?? Ask friends. Ask your family’s opinions first…then upload. Also pics of nature and sunrises and bible verses are great, but we’re there to see YOU. You only get about 5 pics, use them all to show YOU.
  
• Show your eyes. They say eyes are the windows to the soul. I’ve seen a lot of women with sun glasses in all of their pics. It looks like your hiding or have something to hide. If you’re going to get on a dating app you have to show yourself. If you’re not ready to show yourself then why join a dating app?
  
• Tongues. The na-na na-na boo-boo taunting, biting etc. Turn off. Immature. You don’t want a husband.
  
• The ones coming out the gate saying “swipe left if…”🙅‍♀️🚫❌ or listing all the things you DON’T want (aka all the things your ex was). It comes off as negative and having lots of baggage and drama. In effect, most people will immediately swipe left on you. Say who you are and what you want, not who you’re not and what you don’t want.
  
• Have at least one full body picture of yourself. I’ve seen some profiles that I want to swipe right on but don’t because all of their pics are face pics or shoulders up etc. It can be taken the wrong way like you’re intentionally hiding or being deceptive. Also have more than one photo or if you’re going to just have one have a full body pic. You’ll get more swipes the more you put yourself out there.
  

Ok I’m done. There’s probably way more that I’ve come across but I’ll stop here and hopefully others chime in. But I genuinely hope this does help us all to find our husband or wife out there in this crazy world.

Ask the title says I’ve gotten a 20/4k on nearly every character in console and pc. Ask me anything from tips, hours played, or what’s the input!

F26 I’ve had a huge burn out spiral coming from two weeks ago at work and being on my period. It’s gotten worse and I called off Friday, and slept off an on the past few days. Leaving the house is a struggle. Unless I’m near my family, even then.
I keep feeling overwhelmed that I’m not where I want to be with my life , that it’s pointless and hopeless and the worst part is the DRDP, I keep wondering am I even real, is what’s around me real and that’s the most distressing part. I know I’m real but I feel so disconnected from myself like I’m a robot ect. I’ve also felt so distressed I’ve had thoughts I normally wouldn’t have.
I have one more week of work, and I want to just call in, but I don’t want to get in trouble or lose my job. then I have a vacation with my family for two weeks yet I’m terrified of ruining it by having this crippling anxiety or afraid I’ll make a fool out of myself .

I got suspended for the last days nearing summer break because I made a really REALLY stupid decision and took an edible right before classes started. The school wants me back, and I’ve gotten support from family/friends saying I just gotta let it go and move on. And others are saying, “there’s gonna be consequences”.
So what exactly are the consequences and/or will I be okay?

pt2
Over the next few nights Kay would stay up late looking at guys on hook ups sites. Sometimes she would guide my head down between her legs. I would pull her panties to the side and eat her out until she couldn’t take it anymore and squeeze my head with her legs as she orgasmed.
About a week later she says, “I found him!”
“Oh wow! Can I see?”
“Umm.. I think it would be better if it was a surprise don’t you?”
“Well i am not really sure about that. I think I should have some idea of what we are getting ourselves into.”
“Honey, this has been you fantasy for a while now. Let me do this for you. You trust me right?”
“Yes I do” just as I said it she came over and gave me a kiss on the head.
For the next few nights we had the most amazing sex as we talked about what our threesome would be like. I couldn’t believe I was going to live out this fantasy for real.
——
They started chatting, just a little bit at first but after a while it turned into all the time. Kay would stay up late into the night with the blue glow of the phone lighting up her face. She got so addicted to her phone that sometimes I would find her with mine when hers died. Couldn’t stand being without one.
“He wants some pictures of me” she told me on evening as we were getting ready for bed.
“Ok. I have that nice one of you from the park the other day we could send”
She stating laughing, “no sweetie. He wants to see a bit more than that. Here take my phone and I’ll strip down a bit”
She then headed to the corner of the room and stripped down to bar and panties. Never thought I would be taking picture of my wife in her underwear to send to another guy. “You sure this is a good idea?” I asked
“Yeah. I it will be fine.” She said as she started to strike a sexy pose. “You know at first I couldn’t get behind this threesome idea of yours. But now it’s really turning me on”
Nice, I thought, getting some sex tonight. But once I gave the phone back her attention was right back to messaging the photos of her to the mystery man. “He wants one without the bra”
“Ok well that’s too much, he can wait until we have our night for that.” I said rather sternly.
“Don’t be silly” she didn’t even notice my tone. “Come over here and take it off for me. I have a good angle for a selfie.”
Before I knew it I was over there taking off her bra and she started taking pictures and then her attention was right back to her conversation with him. “Thanks honey” she said as she walked away not even looking at me. As she rounded the corner I swore I heard her giggling. And there I was alone in the bedroom noticing I was hard as a rock. I wondering is it because she is waking around in her underwear or because she is ignoring me?
—
“Holy shit!” is all I hear as I am startled awake in the middle of the night. As I lift my head up a phone is thrusted in my face.
“That is the largest cock I have ever seen” Kay says.
“Huh?” I say rubbing my eyes awake.
“I’m not sure I can handle that. Not when I am used to yours.” She reaches down my pants and starts playing with my dick. “What do you think honey?” I start to get hard as she strokes me “Do you think I can take it?”
“Umm” god this is sexy. Can’t believe we are actually talking about this. “Yeah sweetie” the stroking is getting faster “ I think we will have a good time with the threesome” I say. “I know I will” Kay says staring at the picture.
We start making out heavily and soon our clothes are off. She has me lie down on the bed with my dock pointing to the air. She grabs the picture of his cock on her phone and places next to mine. “Wow” she says. “Didn’t know they could be that different. Did you?”
Too embarrassed to answer and feeling self conscious about my size I just take the opportunity to start going down her. Something I know I am good at. But after a few minutes she wants me inside her. So I climb on top and slide my dick in and start pumping. “Grab a condom first” she says. “Don’t want any surprises”
I jump off run across the room grab a condom and by the time I get back she has rolled over on her stomach and is staring at the picture again. I don’t waste any time though. I hop back on and take her from behind. But as I pump my dick in and out of her as she is staring at another cock is more than I can take and I cum with seconds.
“You done already?!” She says with a bit on disappointment in her tone.
“Sorry,not sure what I got over me. But let me go down on you.”
“No. It fine” she sighs and rolls over and starts chatting on her phone.
The next morning I woke up and she was already out of bed. I found her down stairs not on her phone and I could tell right away she was in a grumpy mood.
“Sorry about last night” I said “it was my fault.”
“Yeah. It’s was. You know I barely felt you after you grabbed the condom last night. It’s just seeing what I have been missing….”
“Wow that stung”
“Come on are you going to sit there and say the two cocks compare to each other. You know I have never asked what’s your measurement anyway?”
“I don’t know”‘I lied.
“Don’t do that. I know you have measured it.”
“It’s four inches, what is his?”
“He has told me it’s 9.5…..You know I am just a little pissed and I need some space. I don’t need you messing this up for me?”
“What does that mean?”
But she had already walked away.
She spent the next few days really angry and I tried my best to fix the situation. Doing all the cooking and cleaning. Keeping up with the laundry. After a while of the silent treatment I think it started working. She started to open back up a bit.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“You know there is something we need to talk about…”
Ping!
Her phone light up. “But it’s going to have to wait. Sorry” And she got up and walked away.
But her mood did improve after that even though she was always on the phone. She was on it so much that I started to think it was a problem. We could even make it through a meal without going off and taking her attention.
“You have been talking to him for a while now. Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”
“Just trying to get all the details in line.”
“You know maybe this isn’t the best idea anymore”
“No way. Don’t you dare say that. This was your idea. And now that I know what I am missing. There is no going back on this” she said in an angrier tone than I was expecting.
“Well can you at least fill me in on the details of when our threesome is happening?”
“I am not so sure that threesome is the right word anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well after talking to him and seeing what he is bringing I think I am going to need most of the time.”
“Aaaa…”
“You’ll still be there if course.”
“And what you just want me to stand there?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that it looks like he will be able to give me something you can’t “
“Hey”
“Now come on. You saw it.”
“Yeah”
“ and you want me to be happy right”
“Right”
“So this is what I want”
“Ok”
“Great! He is coming over tomorrow”
…

Everything begin with in late-2019, where I first installed Instagram with my sister's advice. And I become the most annoying person imaginable. I logged every day and created multiple accounts (about Harry Potter frachise btw). My grades were so low but all I did was ridicule everyone thats not has the same opinion as me. That become worse when quarantine began. I was even more critically online and even more bully. My sister were born in mid-quarantine and she cried evertime she saw me. Because I WASN'T talk to her. My sister didn't knew me and I didn't do anthing for fix it. I didn't read a single book at the time. Still I was telling myself, I am not like these people because I read the Harry Potter books. And I was huge asshole to anyone who liked Snape/disliked Ginny (my former role model). And I didn't even thought, I was hurting people I never met because of fictional charcters. Then It came Tumblr then Reddit then Twitter then Wattpad even Pinterest.They are bad as you can imagine. I wasn't huge film buff at the time. I prefered tv shows. I always acted I am better and smarter than these people because of my opinions. Then I read themes of racism/feminisim/homophobia and I refered myself as an ally after reading some texts. I even called a Snape fan sexist incel for it. And I also thought being non-white/woman/LGBT+ makes you cooler. My eyes got even worse (I use glasses). My brain melted. I was angry all the time. I argued with my parents all the time. And After reading a text in tumblr. I told them narcisstis. I wasn't going library like I used to. I acted like going outside talk to other people is the worst thing ever. I wasn't talking with my friends. Me, My sister, and our common friend used to be go to the a lady's house in every saturday. She is a former math teacher also really sweet lady. I somehow passed the school and got my grade. I had to wait like 3 months to make a internship but with a little paycheck. I was in home. I was deleted majority of social media sites but still was so online and depressed on reddit. I was a member of moviescirclejerk (literally worst place you can imagine). I hated Marvel movies even I didn't watched majority of them. And I thought liking older (I mean with older is 70s -90s not that older) movies that made me smarter. Or liking movies made by women/minorities made me better (I am a woman btw) And I discovered letterboxd with that way. People generally my age/same taste as me. I was excited. I made an account started looking. I even one-linear's funny at the time (earlier 2023). I also checked out this subreddit. Attidude against some people in both this subreddit and letterboxd made me realize It was reflection of former me. This was the time, I realized, I legit trashed 2-3 years of my life with being snob and getting angry at people who meant nothing to me. This was the time that I knew, I needed a change.
Thankfully I began my intership at the time. Now I working there with 3 months at there. And I have a healthy relationship with my family and I spend more time with my baby sister who is literally 3 now. I still faithfully watch movies in generally twice a week. I started to reading books again. And I go sports nearly every day. Today My family and I have a plan to go plantation to pick up strawberries. And without you guys, that would never would happen. So Thank you very much.

Whataburger has had the absolute best crispy onion ring batter for many years. Last couple of weeks at least 3 locations near me have switched to onion rings with a crunchy, granulated, Burger King like batter. What gives?! i want my crispy onion rings back PLEASE!

Things were exactly how they were described when Anina and her team landed on Zeroria. They had taken two days to prepare for this journey. They spent the first-day watching videos of the first settlers, the Reformers, and how they thought it was survivable for months. After that, they had all the details of how things went back then: Each day, the people of Eligius 2.0 documented their experience on the planet and sent the video to an Alpha station until one day — three months after they first landed — the people began to die. According to the last videos, the possible cause was the air.
Anina took a deep breath before she unstrapped herself from the seat. The other shuttle had landed four hours ago, and the team was waiting for them. Now that the second shuttle, Elegius 098, had landed, the Team A members were coming down off their shuttle and waving at them.
Their shuttle was called Eligius 098, and the other one was called Eligius 099. There were ten of them on each of the ships.
It was designed to survive an alien attack and move fast when chased. It was designed for exploration, too. It had a medical bay, a kitchen, a conference room, the flying patch where everyone would get strapped for flying, and bedrooms that could fit about a hundred people if they used bunk beds but fewer if a person had a room to themselves.
Anina smiled as she watched Candace get out of their shuttle. She was the medical practitioner on Team A, and Dr. Muhammad represented Team B. They had their simple instructions. They need to explore the planet, locate the ship used by the first humans, extract the resources they had with them, and return to Adventurer within seventy-two hours.
“Listen, up,” Parker said. He was standing already and holding a map on a piece of leather in his hand. “Our team is going to find the location of the Eligius 2.0, and we will return with everything we can find. I need the doctor and everyone else to come with me.”
Anina nodded to his instructions. Anina was the only one left to step out of her seat. Piloting the ship wasn’t a joke, after all. Her legs were still jerking. This was her first time landing a ship. Though she had Jerry as her partner, the experience was still wild.
“Anina,” Parker called. “You remain here, and we will go get the items.”
Anina frowned. She had come here to babysit the ship. “No, I’m coming,” she said.
Parker turned to face her fully. “We have two engineers on this ship. We can’t afford to let the two of you out there. It’s too risky.”
Anina glanced at Jerry and felt sad. First, it was because she was a woman. It was because she was still an amateur at piloting the shuttle.
“I will stay,” Jerry intervened. He sat back down and nodded. “You go,” he said to Anina.
“Thank you,” she managed to say with a smile.
Parker glanced at both Anina’s and Jerry’s faces. He wanted to protest but changed his mind and shrugged. “Now listen up,” he said, “Confirm your suits are intact. Your oxygen tank. Before we head out there, you should be sure you are not open to breathing….” As he spoke, he checked himself, looking at all the signals on his wristwatch.
Anina checked her watch, too. Each of the things she needed to check was displayed. The device’s main screen showed the state of her oxygen and mask. When she clicked the button on the side, the watch showed another interface, displaying her location and temperature and what direction would lead to a drop or an increase in temperature.
The temperature inside the shuttle was average at 27°C.
Anina glanced at the inner corner of the Space Shuttle, which showed the outside temperature as — 184 °C.
After the checking, they all joined three cars. Parker and Christian first walked out to see the exterior, then returned to the ship’s garage and stepped into the cybertrucks.
The cyber trucks were cars with super-powered engines. They mainly relied on solar energy from batteries. As said in the years before, they were designed to survive alien attacks. So they were bulletproof. Throwing heavy objects wouldn’t produce any worse damage besides the sound of a heavy object hitting the stainless steel used in creating their bodies.
Anina sat in the back seat of the first car that led the way out of the shuttle with four people in it — Parker, Hernandez, Anina, and another man called Christian, who drove the vehicle. They went in the north direction. First, they would check the ship that had been abandoned for a hundred years. The last humans had a home, too. They would check it and make videos of the situation. Then, they would fetch everything they could get into their cyber trucks. They were meant to bring back parts of the Eligius 2.0 machine, deposits of extracted minerals, recorded research on the extractions, and possibly plant samples. Anina extremely doubted there would be foodstuff, but it could be possible if they were well-preserved and the solar power had kept the machine working for that long.
On the other hand, Team A headed south of the spot they had landed while Anina’s team headed north. Christian was driving while Hernandez and Anina were in the rear seat.
The landscape was a vast plain land of snow and smoke. In the distance, you could see large or tall walls of snow. Some were long and giant and hid the landscape behind them. Parker held onto the map and read it, holding onto the iPad, which had the same video of the first humans on this planet, the same video everyone watched before starting this journey.
After some minutes of driving, Parker got up, opened the top of the cyber truck, and launched a drone. Anina brought out her Ipad from my bag and watched the drone’s direction on the screen.
Everything looked the same. There were hills and mountains all covered in snow. No sign of plants or trees. This place could have been a desert in previous years. But according to the stories, it was the snow that changed everything. The plants and trees would die in the winter and return in the spring. It would only take a week or less for a land area to be filled with trees and bushes.
They continued for an hour or two, driving up and down hills, navigating around rocks and frozen waterscape. They went between gorges and under dark tunnels.
“We are close,” Parker announced two hours later.
Anina stared at the screen again to see what he was talking about, but she couldn’t see anything that showed they were close. There was nothing to show signs that humans ever existed here. The only movement was small blocks of snow falling off from the top of giant or snow-molded rocks. She looked up at Parker and saw him holding onto a telescope.
“Turn left and maintain the lane,” he commanded.
Anina glanced at the front of the car. There were metal pegs with white and yellow and white colored bottoms. These were the ideas they used years back to guide people on which parts to follow and which ones were dangerous. Yellow and white bottom pegs were signs to show it was safe to follow this part.
The cyber truck kept going and drove past the first peg. Then, they came across the next one on the other side of the car. Great. It meant they were on track. The longer they moved, the more pegs they came across. Then gradually, they came to the location of the first humans.
An abandoned ship was there; some feet away was a cave with the USA flag under the entrance.
The cyber truck stopped, and Anina and the other occupant exited the vehicle. It was the first time she stepped out of the car and set foot on the ground. She wasn’t expecting it to be this smooth when she looked down. It wasn’t snowing anymore. Instead, it was like walking on a smooth, slippery, hard glass floor. She was tempted to kneel and tap on it. But this was expected. Everything could freeze this hard if the temperature were slightly above -200 degrees.
Parker came down, too, and the other cyber trucks parked around them in a circle. The occupants of the other vehicles descended, too, and came around in front of the spaceship.
“Listen. Two of us will go into the spaceship to see what’s inside. You wait for our command,” Parker said.
Anina nodded. They all lined in two lines and waited for some feet away from the ship. Its name was Elegius 2.0. It had been abandoned for too long and looked out of shape. It probably used old systems, designs, and machines. Even if it worked, no one could fly it in this group. Not Jerry, not herself. They would need another tutorial to understand it.
Most of the body was covered in heavy snow. Unless they could melt those things, there was no way they could move this ship with the load of ice on it.
“Team A, come in,” Parker commanded through the radio.
Anina started walking into the spaceship that second. She got to the entrance and climbed in through the stairs. She walked through the corridor and some doors and headed to the cockpit. As she went further, it became a lot darker. She turned the lights on on her suit. The light on her glass helmet turned on so she could see better. The suit had other sources of light behind and all over the body. It was a brown colored suit, but with the lights on, it was glowing with yellowish lights.
She got to the door of the pilot control area, pushed the door open, and there, she saw dead devices with cracked screens. She saw abandoned clothes hung on the side of the chamber with name tags. She walked carefully and towards the front. She had read about Eligius 1.0 and 2.0, but it was brief. When she was learning about spaceships, her tutor taught her about Eligius 2.0. She could sit in one of these machines and try her hands at it.
She strolled around the front. She noticed a red light indicator, which showed the red blinking light. The battery was in good condition. She smiled, moved her hand around, and read each button’s description. It differed greatly from their modern version, the new Eligius 098. But it was a lot bigger and required more skills. The modern version was programmed and could maneuver itself when the weather was calm, stable, and predictable, but the Elegius 2.0 wouldn’t.
But who knows? She hadn’t tried one.
She knew the start button, the one in red. It was a lot bigger than the others, and the power sign was on it. She knew it. She wanted to press it.
She did.
The light came on everywhere on the ship.
She smiled, feeling proud of herself. Then, she looked around as the area became bright and lit; everything with an electronic screen came alive.
“Welcome to the Eligius 2.0,” a female voice said, “Please ensure all safety precautions are followed.”
Anina scoffed and stared at the ceiling as if expecting to see the face behind the voice-over. “You are not dead after all,” she said.
The sound of her radio cracked, and she glanced to wait for what Parker had to say. “Thank you for showing you know this ship more than we do. We really need the light. But get your ass down to the store. We have a lot of items to move.”
Anina kept quiet. She was still smiling at herself for keeping the light on.
Parker’s voice broke out of the radio again. “Anina, are you there? Anina, come in.”
She answered her radio. “I’m on my way, Sir.” She turned around and walked off the cockpit.
Then, she heard a loud noise, like something massive falling in the distance. The noise continued for a few seconds, ten or more seconds, before a heavy crash came. It shook the whole place; even the Elegius bounced for a second or two.
​
***
Part Two
If you like Mafia romance, check out Saved on Amazon Kindle.

My ex-wife is moving to Arizona and my kids (S13 and D10) are going with her for the summer. They're leaving on June 12th. They will then come back for the school year and hopefully they'll be back for a trip to NYC with me in July.
I've accepted the best that I can that this change is happening. It's the end result of conversations and lawyers and everything else.
I can't tell myself not to feel sad, because the sadness is very real. It's an overall sadness that they are going. There are singular points of sadness: that next Sunday will be their last day with me (we currently share custody/placement 50% - so they're here a lot) or that my son will be playing his last baseball game of the season on Thursday.
There is also another kind of sadness. Their bedrooms will soon be silent, with no more dirty clothes or dishes to be gathered up. No more sounds of their friends coming over.
I've never gone more than a week away from my kids. I have always been a very engaged dad.
I know I will manage my time without them, but right now the sadness feels so heavy.
I just sent an invite to my family to get together next Sunday to see the kids off. It was a hard invite to write and even harder to send.
I know things could always be worse, but I can't deny how hard this all feels right now.

I see alot of people on here with high salaries. Are there any average earners on here who Fired?
What were your circumstances and journey to FIRE?
At the moment I'm 37 with around 200k equity in a tiny house nearly paid off (which I guess doesn't count towards FIRE as me and my family will need the house to live in)
Around 30k in cash and 30k in stocks.
I feel like I'm not really going to retire at this rate, as my salary is only around 45k and there seems to be no room for real salary growth in my field of work. After paying off my mortgage I will have an extra £500 another to play with but that's no doubt going to get eaten up by inflation.
I plan on sinking in as much as I can in my SnS ISA.
Any other plays I should explore?