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Viable claim for clinical negligence?
2023.06.08 11:53 AfterAdviceMH Viable claim for clinical negligence?
I appreciate this is a long post; all info is directly related and necessary for full understanding.
Throwaway account as main account could be identifiable. Also on mobile, so I apologise for formatting.
Additional info: I initially had a diagnosis of depression, given around age 13/14. I experienced a hypomanic/manic episode after starting sertraline in 2020 (age 27), after which I was given a diagnosis of Bipolar (Jan 2021). An additional diagnosis of BPD was given in Apr 2021, which I was never officially informed of and do not remember being assessed for. I am currently in specialist treatment for BPD. I contacted a MH solicitor to ask for advice, and was told I would unlikely be successful in a claim (I will give the reasons below), but details have been referred to a clinical negligence specialist to look over.
Background: I spent most of 2021-22 in and out of acute wards all, bar one, under section. During this time my risk increased exponentially, I was actively suicidal, and suicide attempts and self harm incidents increased in frequency and severity. Admissions ranged from 6 days to 8 months, with 3 weeks being the longest I stayed in the community. This was my third admission, first under S.2 and then on S.3, that lasted approx. 3 months (Jul-Oct 2021). I have read my RIO notes and risk assessment, so I will answer questions as best I can, from my point of view and/or anything relevant from notes.
Reasons I believe they were negligent: The ward manager believed I was “competing” with another patient in incidents, and had attempted unsuccessfully to transfer me to another ward on several occasions.
The focus was placed on the BPD diagnosis, leading me to believe they saw all incidents as attention-seeking/impulsive/disingenuous (personal opinion, no evidence). The majority of incidents, from my POV, were planned and/or opportunistic with the intention to harm myself and/or die. Only a few were reactionary or impulsive.
The fact that I was repeatedly able to harm myself implies, to me, that my risk was not effectively managed.
I was assessed as high risk for absconding and circulated to police as a “high risk misper” whenever this happened.
Reason for discharge given was that the hospital environment was not helping and I would do better in the community, despite noting of my disengagement with therapy/community services. (Note: the patient they believed I was “competing” with remained under section for a further 18 months, with regular incidents of severe self harm).
1-2 weeks before discharge I attempted suicide on the ward, requiring emergency services (paramedics and air ambulance attended) and surgery. I absconded from gen hosp while waiting for surgery and made a further attempt.
I was most often on 1:1 obs, and 2:1 in gen hosp. When not on 1:1 I was on 15 min obs, changed to min. 4x per hour irregularly because I would often attempt/self harm after a check when I knew I had at least 15mins until next check.
There is no evidence in notes of referrals to specialist units or wards with a higher level of security.
I had repeatedly requested discharge which was refused; assessment for S.3 notes that continued detention was necessary given high risk to self and the likelihood I would engage in risky behaviour with suicidal intent.
They were aware of my suicidal intention upon discharge, and informed this was not a reason to keep me detained (this is noted).
Discharge notes rate my risk to self (suicide/self harm) as Low/Moderate, despite a lengthy record of incidents.
I was discharged as a “red zone” patient on 1:1 AL until I stepped through the doors.
I was not offered S.113 after care, and didn’t have an updated care plan. Nothing was put in place in terms of support apart from crisis line etc and mandatory 48hr contact appt with care-co. HTT was offered, and I refused input having not found them helpful in the past.
Reasons from solicitor as to unlikelihood of success: Argument for discharge based on failure to improve following medication changes and a, apparently direct, correlation between worsening of symptoms and time in hospital (this decline had been occurring for several months, and I would have been attempting/self harming whether I was hospitalised or not, evidenced by repeated attempts/self harm in the community).
Evidence pointed to the unpredictability of incidents that had grown in severity, culminating in the incident requiring surgery, which occurred whilst I was in hospital.
They will also argue that attempts to minimise risk of further incidents were frustrated by my refusal to engage with psychotherapy in hospital or the community, further undermining the necessity for continued detention.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to argue that discharge was premature, as no benefit was derived from continued detention, or that there is a causal link between discharge and events that followed.
Please note that I would not be arguing that discharge was premature, rather that they did not exhaust other options that may have been beneficial therefore failing in their duty of care. I also would not be arguing that discharge caused events that followed, rather that it enabled my ability to act on my plan which would have otherwise been much more difficult.
Further info: immediately following discharge I absconded to Paris and attempted suicide, requiring intubation at the scene and 24hrs on mechanical ventilation due to coma. Following medical stabilisation I was sectioned on a French ward for 4 weeks before repatriation to UK. A week after arrival home I attempted suicide and was detained under section for 8 months. I continued to have incidents in hospital, at least one of which required stabilisation in resus, and attempted to abscond multiple times with suicidal intent. One absconsion resulted in 3-4 days in resus and a further 7 days on a medical ward while a bed was found.
Can anyone advise on my rights and/or whether I have a basis for claiming negligence?
submitted by AfterAdviceMH to LegalAdviceUK [link] [comments]
Throwaway account as main account could be identifiable. Also on mobile, so I apologise for formatting.
Additional info: I initially had a diagnosis of depression, given around age 13/14. I experienced a hypomanic/manic episode after starting sertraline in 2020 (age 27), after which I was given a diagnosis of Bipolar (Jan 2021). An additional diagnosis of BPD was given in Apr 2021, which I was never officially informed of and do not remember being assessed for. I am currently in specialist treatment for BPD. I contacted a MH solicitor to ask for advice, and was told I would unlikely be successful in a claim (I will give the reasons below), but details have been referred to a clinical negligence specialist to look over.
Background: I spent most of 2021-22 in and out of acute wards all, bar one, under section. During this time my risk increased exponentially, I was actively suicidal, and suicide attempts and self harm incidents increased in frequency and severity. Admissions ranged from 6 days to 8 months, with 3 weeks being the longest I stayed in the community. This was my third admission, first under S.2 and then on S.3, that lasted approx. 3 months (Jul-Oct 2021). I have read my RIO notes and risk assessment, so I will answer questions as best I can, from my point of view and/or anything relevant from notes.
Reasons I believe they were negligent: The ward manager believed I was “competing” with another patient in incidents, and had attempted unsuccessfully to transfer me to another ward on several occasions.
The focus was placed on the BPD diagnosis, leading me to believe they saw all incidents as attention-seeking/impulsive/disingenuous (personal opinion, no evidence). The majority of incidents, from my POV, were planned and/or opportunistic with the intention to harm myself and/or die. Only a few were reactionary or impulsive.
The fact that I was repeatedly able to harm myself implies, to me, that my risk was not effectively managed.
I was assessed as high risk for absconding and circulated to police as a “high risk misper” whenever this happened.
Reason for discharge given was that the hospital environment was not helping and I would do better in the community, despite noting of my disengagement with therapy/community services. (Note: the patient they believed I was “competing” with remained under section for a further 18 months, with regular incidents of severe self harm).
1-2 weeks before discharge I attempted suicide on the ward, requiring emergency services (paramedics and air ambulance attended) and surgery. I absconded from gen hosp while waiting for surgery and made a further attempt.
I was most often on 1:1 obs, and 2:1 in gen hosp. When not on 1:1 I was on 15 min obs, changed to min. 4x per hour irregularly because I would often attempt/self harm after a check when I knew I had at least 15mins until next check.
There is no evidence in notes of referrals to specialist units or wards with a higher level of security.
I had repeatedly requested discharge which was refused; assessment for S.3 notes that continued detention was necessary given high risk to self and the likelihood I would engage in risky behaviour with suicidal intent.
They were aware of my suicidal intention upon discharge, and informed this was not a reason to keep me detained (this is noted).
Discharge notes rate my risk to self (suicide/self harm) as Low/Moderate, despite a lengthy record of incidents.
I was discharged as a “red zone” patient on 1:1 AL until I stepped through the doors.
I was not offered S.113 after care, and didn’t have an updated care plan. Nothing was put in place in terms of support apart from crisis line etc and mandatory 48hr contact appt with care-co. HTT was offered, and I refused input having not found them helpful in the past.
Reasons from solicitor as to unlikelihood of success: Argument for discharge based on failure to improve following medication changes and a, apparently direct, correlation between worsening of symptoms and time in hospital (this decline had been occurring for several months, and I would have been attempting/self harming whether I was hospitalised or not, evidenced by repeated attempts/self harm in the community).
Evidence pointed to the unpredictability of incidents that had grown in severity, culminating in the incident requiring surgery, which occurred whilst I was in hospital.
They will also argue that attempts to minimise risk of further incidents were frustrated by my refusal to engage with psychotherapy in hospital or the community, further undermining the necessity for continued detention.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to argue that discharge was premature, as no benefit was derived from continued detention, or that there is a causal link between discharge and events that followed.
Please note that I would not be arguing that discharge was premature, rather that they did not exhaust other options that may have been beneficial therefore failing in their duty of care. I also would not be arguing that discharge caused events that followed, rather that it enabled my ability to act on my plan which would have otherwise been much more difficult.
Further info: immediately following discharge I absconded to Paris and attempted suicide, requiring intubation at the scene and 24hrs on mechanical ventilation due to coma. Following medical stabilisation I was sectioned on a French ward for 4 weeks before repatriation to UK. A week after arrival home I attempted suicide and was detained under section for 8 months. I continued to have incidents in hospital, at least one of which required stabilisation in resus, and attempted to abscond multiple times with suicidal intent. One absconsion resulted in 3-4 days in resus and a further 7 days on a medical ward while a bed was found.
Can anyone advise on my rights and/or whether I have a basis for claiming negligence?
2023.06.08 11:10 InterestingJennifer The Happiest Day of My Life
One fine California evening last fall, I was working in the study on my PC when it suddenly dawned on me how quiet the house had become. I pushed back in my chair and listened to the silence. From the hall I could hear the ticking of the old grandfather clock and faintly the refrigerator humming in the kitchen. But aside from that, it was silent. Since the kids had grown up and moved out, I had become used to the quiet, but this was unusual. I got up and wandered throughout the house and eventually came to the back porch. As I stepped out onto the porch, I saw my wife sitting contentedly in the porch swing, a comforter wrapped around her as she gazed into the sunset. It was a beautiful California sunset with rays streaming though gold colored clouds, and purple shadows from the mountains beneath. A warm wind blew with the faint smell of burning mesquite. My wife was calling to the dog to stop digging in the garden and he looked up, tail wagging, then went right back to work. It was useless to try and stop him. I walked over to the swing, the porch door creaking to a close behind me. She looked up at me with a gentle smile and said,
“What was the happiest day of your life?”
For a moment I almost responded with a flip answer like, “Why, every day I’ve spent with you dear,” but from the quiet expression on her face, I could see that she wanted a real answer, one that I thought through. So I gazed out at the boiling, red, and orange clouds, ran one hand through what’s left of my hair and thought about it. What was the happiest day of my life.
Well, I remembered the day I graduated from high school and how my dad came up and shook my hand and said, “I’m proud of you son,” and I remembered the day I got married and lifting my wife’s veil for that kiss, and the expression on her face, those dazzling eyes. That was a happy time. I remembered that time in high school when I decked a guy with just one punch. I know now it’s not something to be proud of, but he had said something about my girlfriend and it seemed the thing to do. And I remembered those hot rods we put together and how they beat the rich kid’s cards in illegal street races at 4 AM and how much fun that was. That was a real happy time for me. And then I remembered about the time, years after he came home from Vietnam, my brother smiled again for the first time. And I remembered how I went to see my newborn son that first time and counted ten fingers and ten toes. It would be hard to be that elation.
And as I thought about those happy times, I climbed down off the porch and into the yard to the rope swing I had put up for the grandchildren last year. I sat on the swing, my old bones creaking, and swayed in the breeze, still thinking about the happy times of my life. Of the awards, my first job, my first book sold, the promotions, and grandchildren. And the more I thought about it the more memories came upon me until I realized in surprise that the sun was no longer setting in the west. It was rising in the east. I had spent the entire night pondering the happy times of my life. I dragged myself out of the swing, with some cramps and not a little pain, after all, I’m too old to be spending the night in a porch swing…
And I walked back up to the porch. My wife was sleeping on the swing, still wrapped in the comforter, the dog at her feet, his head on his paws. The creaking of the floorboards woke her up and she smiled softly as I approached.
“Well, did you do it?,” she asked, “Did you think of the happiest moment of your life?"
“Yes,” I said calmly, “I have.”
“And what is it?” she asked.
“The next one,” I replied.
submitted by InterestingJennifer to Marriage [link] [comments]
“What was the happiest day of your life?”
For a moment I almost responded with a flip answer like, “Why, every day I’ve spent with you dear,” but from the quiet expression on her face, I could see that she wanted a real answer, one that I thought through. So I gazed out at the boiling, red, and orange clouds, ran one hand through what’s left of my hair and thought about it. What was the happiest day of my life.
Well, I remembered the day I graduated from high school and how my dad came up and shook my hand and said, “I’m proud of you son,” and I remembered the day I got married and lifting my wife’s veil for that kiss, and the expression on her face, those dazzling eyes. That was a happy time. I remembered that time in high school when I decked a guy with just one punch. I know now it’s not something to be proud of, but he had said something about my girlfriend and it seemed the thing to do. And I remembered those hot rods we put together and how they beat the rich kid’s cards in illegal street races at 4 AM and how much fun that was. That was a real happy time for me. And then I remembered about the time, years after he came home from Vietnam, my brother smiled again for the first time. And I remembered how I went to see my newborn son that first time and counted ten fingers and ten toes. It would be hard to be that elation.
And as I thought about those happy times, I climbed down off the porch and into the yard to the rope swing I had put up for the grandchildren last year. I sat on the swing, my old bones creaking, and swayed in the breeze, still thinking about the happy times of my life. Of the awards, my first job, my first book sold, the promotions, and grandchildren. And the more I thought about it the more memories came upon me until I realized in surprise that the sun was no longer setting in the west. It was rising in the east. I had spent the entire night pondering the happy times of my life. I dragged myself out of the swing, with some cramps and not a little pain, after all, I’m too old to be spending the night in a porch swing…
And I walked back up to the porch. My wife was sleeping on the swing, still wrapped in the comforter, the dog at her feet, his head on his paws. The creaking of the floorboards woke her up and she smiled softly as I approached.
“Well, did you do it?,” she asked, “Did you think of the happiest moment of your life?"
“Yes,” I said calmly, “I have.”
“And what is it?” she asked.
“The next one,” I replied.
2023.06.08 10:17 PocketFMofficial Cathy betrayed Alex, but will she come back after knowing the truth that Alex is Millionaire? How will Alex heal his heart?
 | submitted by PocketFMofficial to u/PocketFMofficial [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/b0hdg0g72r4b1.png?width=764&format=png&auto=webp&s=01edc76d82e3fac73fec90874bed55003526c60d https://preview.redd.it/giq2idpd3r4b1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=04d4577af13a07dcc5659931fa9ba9410c03a6af Chapter 1 "Hello. Heavenly Lion Convenience," Alex Ambrose answered the store phone. "I need a box of condoms and two packs of tissues delivered to room 1302 of the Sheraton South River Hotel. Hurry!" The caller hung up. Alex shook his head. People never seemed to be prepared. He packed the required items, put on a raincoat, and rode his electric bike toward the Sheraton Hotel on the southern side of the river. It was nine o’clock in the evening and raining heavily, and his pants and shoes were soon wet and filthy. Luckily, the merchandise was still dry, but he didn't dare delay any longer, so he hurried toward the hotel. When he arrived at room 1302, he knocked on the door, and it was opened quickly. "Hello, here’s your—" Alex was stunned into silence. The woman in front of him was none other than his girlfriend, Cathy! She was dressed in a white robe, with her long, dark, wet hair draped over her shoulders. The scents of shower gel and shampoo assaulted his nose. "Cathy? What are you doing here?" He stared at her in disbelief, still feeling dazed. "What are you doing here?" Cathy asked. Her heart skipped a beat, and she took a small step back into the room. Her mind went blank and then started to spin. "What's wrong?" Another guy walked up to the door, wearing a robe and slippers, and Alex immediately recognized him. "You! You dare to touch my girl?" Alex couldn't suppress the anger welling up inside him, and he started moving toward Billy, determined to teach him a lesson. "Stop!" Cathy stepped in front of Alex. After a brief burst of panic, she had managed to get back a bit of control. Since her boyfriend had already discovered her betrayal, there was no point in trying to hide it now. She looked directly at him. "Alex, we need to break up." "Break up?" Alex was stunned. He stared at Cathy with wide eyes. "Cathy, we've been together for more than a year. Are you going to break up with me now?" "Yes. We need to go our separate ways." She kept steady eye contact with him and spoke with a strong sense of resentment. "Are you surprised? You have no money, Alex. You can only barely afford the cheapest essentials. We never have anything nice. As long as I’m with you, people will always be laughing at me, and that just isn't the life I want. I’m too good to be living in poverty like this. I was too naive when I was in my freshman year, and I let myself get tricked into being with a loser like you!" She hugged Billy's arm and said to Alex, "Billy is my boyfriend now. From now on, I want nothing to do with you. Don't bother me again!" "Well, seems like you’re just her good-for-nothing ex now!" Billy looked at Alex with a provocative smirk. Alex, standing there in a raincoat and with mud stains on his pants and shoes, felt like Cathy was right. He was a complete loser. Billy took the plastic bag from his hand and took out the box of condoms. He waved it at Alex and laughed as he said, "I’m staying in a nice hotel, having my girlfriend’s ex bring me condoms. And you’re single. Sure was good of you to help me out." "Why are you still here?" Cathy scolded Alex. "Nah, it's good that he didn't piss off. Maybe you want to see me beat him down, huh, Cathy? Gotta give a lady what she wants," Billy sneered. Alex felt utterly defeated. He slowly turned around and walked out of the room. "Bro, you're not even taking the money? Heh, nice. I get a girlfriend and a gift." Billy felt great watching Alex's slumped, dejected posture as he closed the door behind him. When Alex left the hotel, it was raining even harder than before. He took off his raincoat, allowing the cold rain to drench his entire body and help clear his head. Cathy had discarded him because she believed he had no money. Losing such a materialistic woman should be something to rejoice over, so why should he be sad? [Buzz buzz!] His phone vibrated in his pocket. Alex took it out and glanced at it, but when he saw the number, he stopped walking. His entire body was shaking as he read the text. [After a review, the Ambrose family has decided that their son, Alexander, has met the conditions required for entitlement to his inheritance. From today onward, control of his property will be returned to him.] The bean-sized raindrops plopped onto the screen, causing the text message to gradually become blurry. Alex's mind began to spin. If not for this message, Alex would have almost forgotten his identity as a super-rich kid. Over the last seven years, his family had been assessing him, withholding his fortune until they were satisfied he met their draconian conditions. And now, finally, it was over. Everything that rightfully belonged to him was finally his to claim. ** Alex woke up early the next morning and drove to the city. In a great mood, he got out of his car and went straight to Metro Sky Bank, right in the heart of the wealthiest part of the central business district of New York. Various luxury cars were parked around the bank. The people walking in and out of the surrounding plaza were all rich; it was obvious from their clothing and demeanour. Alex strode to the door of the bank and pushed it open. "Ouch!" The main door could be opened both inward and outward, and Alex had been a bit careless when he pushed it open from outside. As a result, the door had bumped into a long-haired young woman who had been heading out of the building. He quickly apologized, "Sorry. I didn't see you." "What do you mean, you didn’t see me? What am I, invisible?" She held a hand to her forehead and glared at him. The bank’s assistant manager, Karen Young, had noticed the incident and hurried over. She checked on the woman first, and then looked at Alex in disapproval. When her gaze swept over him, a trace of suspicion appeared on her face. Metro Sky Bank was different from most banks, as the clientele were almost exclusively high-end businesspeople. Karen knew the young woman was there with her father, but she didn't know why Alex was there. Judging from his appearance and age, he wasn't their usual type of customer. "Sir, can I be of assistance?" she asked with a polite but forced smile. Alex simply said, "I’m here to withdraw money." "Withdraw money?" the sullen woman asked, sneering at him. "Do you have a card?" Karen asked, continuing to smile politely. Getting a Metro Sky Bankcard was not easy. A million dollars of savings was the minimum requirement to qualify. Karen felt certain that the man in front of her couldn't have much experience with the bank and wouldn't know their rules. Perhaps he had thought that other banks' cards could also be used here. "No," Alex replied, shaking his head. The woman he had accidentally hit with the door couldn't help but giggle when she heard his honest reply. He wasn't worth any more of her attention. "Let’s go." Her father had walked up, still arranging the documents he was carrying. "My dad and I are leaving." The woman shook Karen's hand, and then looked over at Alex. "Ms Young, having someone like this around could damage your bank's image and upset your customers. I hope this will not happen again." With that, she took her father’s arm and opened the door. "Take care, Mr Scott." Karen followed them out a few steps, watching as they got into a car and left. Turning around, she headed back inside, having made up her mind to encourage Alex to leave as soon as possible. There was no one standing where Alex had been. Oh! Where’s he gone? she wondered. Was it possible that the kid had been embarrassed and had quietly slipped away? She felt relieved at the thought. Then, just as she was about to go back to work, she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye. There’s the brat! No wonder I didn’t see him at first, she thought. He had already reached the entrance to the VIP lounge, and a pillar had blocked her view of him. The VIP room was only for high-status customers who were worth at least thirty million dollars, and this young man had admitted that he didn’t even have a card. If she let him get through, she would be in trouble with her boss. "Stop! Don't move!" Karen yelled, feeling desperate. The other customers all looked around at her, obviously annoyed by her shouting. She could only smile apologetically as she walked quickly toward Alex. But he had already walked through the lounge, opened the door to the VIP room, and stepped inside. https://preview.redd.it/bgp24qcv3r4b1.png?width=764&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9c3c1ed5397d6b4d312662e698e5847873b36ab Chapter 2 Does he have no shame? Karen hurried after Alex with a look of chagrin on her face. She tried to open the door to the VIP room, but it had been locked from the inside. ** "Hello?" Inside the VIP room, Robert Miller, the bank manager, was leaning against the sofa, looking at his phone. When the door suddenly opened, he quickly sat down and hid his phone away. Normally, when a VIP was coming in, Karen would notify him in advance. As the customer manager, he was responsible for thirty-one VIPs, and he knew them like the back of his hand. He immediately began to launch into his normal professional greeting, hoping to undo the poor impression he’d made by slouching against the sofa, but when he saw Alex, his expression froze. He was certain that Alex was not one of his VIPs, nor was he a relative of one. "May I ask who you are?" Robert asked, looking at the young man, who appeared to be around twenty years old. Robert had no idea who he was. Alex got straight to the point. "I'm here to get my money." "You have one of our cards?" Robert asked, suspicious of Alex's calm expression. "No," Alex admitted frankly. Robert was relieved to seemingly be proven right, but even more confused. Access to the VIP room required a minimum worth of three million dollars, but this man didn't have any money. Why was he so composed? "I'm sorry, sir. We can't give out money without a card. Do you require anything else?" He's crazy, Robert thought. Why on earth did Karen let him in? I’ll have to speak to her about this at Monday’s meeting. "You have fingerprint recognition here, right?" Alex suddenly asked. The fingerprint ID system at the bank was for the wealthiest families and businesses to use. Only a few people had their fingerprints recorded in the system, at least in the New York branch, and no one had used it to access their holdings yet. "You want to use it?" Robert could no longer bring himself to call Alex "sir." "Yes." Alex nodded. Robert was feeling more confused by the second. Why would someone who wasn't even a customer request to use a fingerprint ID? To be honest, even though he was curious, Robert felt that it was barely worth humouring the request. But after considering for a few seconds, he finally decided to let Alex make the attempt rather than risk making him angry. He opened the safe and brought out the fingerprint identification device, which he had never used before. "Place your thumb here." Robert indicated the verification area to Alex, who placed his thumb on the sensor. [Beep!] The device lit up with a glaring red light, and the LCD screen displayed the words [Fingerprint not recorded]. Immediately, Robert’s expression turned hostile, and he glared at Alex. He picked up his phone, ready to call the police. "Wait, wait!" Alex said quickly. "Maybe that was the wrong print. I'll try using my index finger this time." Robert smiled coldly. "What’s your plan here? Your thumb doesn’t work, so you’ll try your index finger. Then, if your index finger doesn’t work, you’ll try your middle finger. When you run out of fingers, will you try using your toes?" But Alex had already pressed his index finger on the verification area. Robert resolved that if the man’s fingerprints weren’t accepted this time, he would immediately call the police and have him arrested. [Beep!] A green light appeared on the device and new details flashed up on the LCD screen: [Verification successful. Family account: 01. Verifier: Alexander Ambrose. Account: 01104.] Robert gaped at Alex in disbelief for a moment, and then hurriedly squeezed out a smile. "Mr Ambrose, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I'm Robert Miller, the customer manager for the New York branch. Please allow me to assist you." "It's fine," Alex said lightly and stood up. "Can I see how much money I have left in my account?" "Please wait a moment." Robert sat in front of the computer and typed away for a while. On his instructions, Alex provided a few more fingerprint scans as authorization. "It's done, Mr Ambrose." Robert clicked the "OK" button on the screen, and Alex's account appeared. Robert pointed to the computer screen and said, "Mr Ambrose, the balance of your account is currently eighty-six million dollars." Robert couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. This young man had an enormous fortune. It placed him in the topflight of the one per cent. Most people would never be able to even dream of that much money. Alex felt strange as he stared at the numbers on the screen. He reminded himself that he needed to get used to his status as a rich kid as soon as possible. "Oh, and you have other assets as well. Let me show you now." Robert clicked through to check several pages in a row. Finally, he clicked the "OK" button again. The computer brought up a 4 x 4 grid of display screens. "This surveillance screen displays all the physical assets that you hold elsewhere," Robert explained. He clicked on the upper left corner of the screen and brought up the feed from the bank's branch at The Hague, which revealed a sports car. In the lower right corner, it said, [Ferrari Pagani Huayra]. Robert opened up other screens for Alex, one after another. The Hawaii branch displayed a Dominica blue pearl bracelet and four stacks of gold bars. The feed from the French branch in Nice revealed three original Picasso paintings and two Rodin statues. And the Cape Town branch had fifteen 10-carat diamonds, ten pieces of ivory, and another couple of stacks of gold bars. Robert's eyes almost popped out as he looked at Alex's assets. He had never seen anyone so rich. Maybe not even one-tenth as rich. "All right, I’d like a card," Alex said before Robert could collect his thoughts. "Yes, I will see to it right away. Please wait a moment." Robert immediately started to make the necessary arrangements. Within ten minutes, a Supreme Card was produced. Robert looked at the Supreme Card and thought about Alex's assets. This card wasn’t good enough for Alex’s status, but it was the highest grade of card they were authorized to issue at the New York branch. Robert presented handed the card over. "Mr Ambrose, your card." "Thank you." Alex took the card, stood up, and went to walk out of the room. "Mr Ambrose, please wait." Robert didn't dare to appear to be neglecting such an important customer. He should see him out personally, but the asset checking system on his computer had not been turned off yet, and the fingerprint verification machine, iris recognition apparatus, and other sensitive equipment had not been returned to the safe. The monitoring system in the VIP room was connected to the district manager’s office. Karen was anxiously waiting in the hall. What's been going on in there for so long? she wondered. Could that brat have murdered Mr Miller in the VIP room? The more she considered it, the more scared she became. She was on the verge of banging on the door and demanding a response when Alex walked confidently out of the room. "Stop!" Karen shouted. She walked quickly over toward him and grabbed at his coat. "You can't leave. You broke into the VIP room. Once we confirm that nothing is missing, I will call the police and have them hold you for questioning." "What are you talking about?" Alex asked. "Let go!" Karen grappled with him for a while, but she couldn't manage to search his pockets. What’s wrong with this woman? Alex thought. He wasn’t even arguing with her, but she was manhandling him. "What is this?" Karen spotted the Supreme Card that was peeking out of Alex's pocket. She quickly pulled it out and looked at him triumphantly, as if she had found evidence of his guilt. "Oh, you stole a card. This is a crime, and I have to call the police." It didn't even cross her mind that the card could belong to Alex. She imagined he had entered the VIP room, pretending to be there by mistake, and had then distracted Mr Miller with questions and stolen the card when the manager wasn't paying attention. "Let go!" Alex was sick of this woman. "Don’t you feel guilty about being a thief?" She was even more determined. With the two of them creating such a scene, other customers started to walk over toward them, intending to help Karen keep Alex from getting away. Just then, Robert, who had finished tidying up, strode out of the VIP room. Having seen Alex's assets, Robert now knew he was the most important customer the New York branch of the bank had ever had. He had also noticed that the system listed Alex's was listed as just one of multiple accounts attached to a family group, labelled 01. If that single account was so lucrative, then what about the rest of the family? It was rare to meet such important people, so Robert knew he had to be careful to curry favour with Alex. If they got along well, it would be a tremendous success for Robert, and the potential benefits were huge. So, when saw Karen struggling with Alex, he was enraged. Karen's expression was hostile, and Alex was becoming very angry. Karen was an idiot who was playing with fire, and she might drag Robert himself down with her. Of all the bank’s many, many customers, why did she need to pick this one to try and remove? A simple flick of Alex’s finger could be enough to end both their careers. https://preview.redd.it/ibiq0o324r4b1.png?width=764&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a99b27610b71dd123f69c6780b81a8f489cd0a4 Chapter 3 "Stop!" Robert dashed between Alex and Karen. Before Alex could speak, Karen waved the Supreme Card in the air. Her eyes flashed with triumph as she said to Robert, "Mr Miller, look! He stole a card from the VIP room!" She smiled at him, her expression a little smug. Surely, Mr Miller would be happy with her for preventing theft. He had a lot of authority in the eastern district of Metro Sky Bank, and when he had arrived at headquarters, he had seemed impressed with her, so she was hoping for a promotion. Her imagination began to run away with her as she dreamed about her possible future. Mr Miller's face had always been a little glum, but as she watched, his expression grew darker and darker. Before she could figure out why, she was startled by his explosive roar, leaving her entire body trembling. "Let go of Mr Ambrose!" As he yelled, Mr Miller knocked the Supreme Card out of her hand, and she was so scared that she let go of Alex. Mr Miller pushed her aside and bent down to pick up the card. "Mr Ambrose, your card. I'm very sorry. I haven't trained Ms Young properly. I do apologize." Mr Miller's expression showed a mixture of respect, embarrassment, and unease, as the bank's customers looked on in amazement. Karen was stunned. Could the Supreme Card be his? she wondered. Her eyes widened. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make sense of it. If this man had a Supreme Card, then he had at least three million dollars, yet he appeared to only be around twenty years old. A poor, lower-class loser with that much money? No, it was just too unlikely. "It's not your fault, Mr Miller," Alex assured him, slipping the card back into his pocket. "Thank you, Mr Ambrose." Robert dipped his head and paused briefly before straightening up and shouting at Karen, "Why are you just standing there? Apologize to Mr Ambrose immediately!" How could Karen still not understand? Robert thought. The young man standing in front of them was seriously rich and needed to be treated with respect. Karen immediately bowed her head at Alex. "Mr Ambrose, I'm very sorry for my rude behaviour. I made a mistake, created a fuss over nothing, and put my hands on you. It was my fault, and I will reflect on my behaviour—" Alex ignored her and walked away. "Mr Ambrose," Robert called after him. "If you ever need anything, just give me a call, and I'll do my best to help." Robert was excited by this opportunity. It was rare to meet someone as important as Alex, so he shamelessly tried to charm him. "Okay, Robert." Alex smiled faintly. Robert had come to his defence, after all. The use of his first name made Robert feel quite emotional. The wealthiest customers called him by his first name, and now so did this poorly dressed young man, who displayed not even a hint of arrogance. Alex strode out of the bank and hailed a taxi to take him back to Preston University. ** As Alex entered the university building, he accidentally stepped into a puddle, splashing a lot of mud on his legs. He checked his watch then rushed toward the classroom, where Mr Morgan was already standing at the podium, lecturing. He spotted Alex out of the corner of his eye and a hint of disappointment flashed across his face. Feeling guilty, Alex lowered his head. Of all his teachers, Mr Morgan was his favourite. The other teachers tended to ignore Alex because he had no money, and some even openly mocked him. Only Mr Morgan treated him like any other student. Alex slipped quietly into the classroom, aware that all the students were staring at him, and he could hear them whispering. "He isn't usually late. Hell must have frozen over." "Look at his pants! They’re filthy. Doesn’t he have any clean clothes?" "Are you joking? It’s not like he’d have the money for new ones. It looks like he's just thrown on whatever he could find." Some of the boys continued to talk, and the girls in the front row covered their mouths with their hands as they joined in. Their eyes flashed with contempt when they looked at Alex. "Stop talking!" Mr Morgan said loudly. "And pay attention." Throughout the lecture, Alex noticed that Mr Morgan kept glancing at him, his eyes full of disapproval, as if Alex had failed to live up to his expectations. Eventually, the lecture was over. "Class dismissed." Mr Morgan packed up his textbooks and left. "Cathy." The voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw Billy walking through the door and going straight to Cathy, who was sitting by the window. She stood and hugged him, both of them were in love Many of the students turned to stare at Alex. Everyone thought that he was Cathy's boyfriend, and they weren’t aware that she had broken up with him. Alex watched in disgust. He’d heard that Billy had taken at least five different girls to stay at that hotel. Cathy was just the latest in a long line, and Alex had no intention of fighting for her. Billy strutted past Alex with his arm around Cathy's shoulder. "Darling, wait a minute," Cathy said to Billy as she stopped in front of Alex and held out her phone. "Since we've broken up, I don’t want to owe you anything. Here's the phone you bought for me a few weeks ago. You can have it back." Alex glanced at the Samsung Galaxy phone and then took it. "Hah, you would have to work part-time for six months to afford one of these!" Cathy took a brand-new phone out of her pocket and showed it to Alex. "This is the latest iPhone, and it’s much better than your phone." "Of course, it's far too expensive for a loser like him." Billy raised his chin and looked at Alex. "Cathy told me that she kept asking for that phone for six months before you finally bought it for her. Do you think you can pick up a girl so far out of your league? You're just embarrassing yourself, so give up. And I'm warning you now: don't even think about her. If I find out you’ve gone anywhere near her, you'll regret it!" "Don't waste your breath talking to a loser like him. Can we go to De Luca’s for lunch?" Cathy had already dismissed Alex. "Call me baby," Billy said, smiling at her. "Baby, let's go." She flirted with him right in front of Alex. "Cathy!" A petite girl stood up, glaring at her. "You're taking it all too far. I never thought you'd break up with Alex, and I'm ashamed of you." "Emma, why do you care?" She scowled. When things had been going well with Alex, she’d been on good terms with Emma, who was a decent person. Sometimes, when Cathy had been fighting with Alex, she had asked Emma’s opinion about who was in the right. "You gave up Alex for someone like Billy?" Emma asked. "How could you treat Alex like this? When you were sick and couldn't even get out of bed, Alex sent you lunch and dinner every day for a month. And when you were walking in the mountains and twisted your ankle, he carried you on his back for miles down the mountain. Don’t you remember that? You know he doesn't make much money from his part-time jobs, but when you wanted a phone, he worked hard for months to save enough money to buy it for you. And this is how you repay him? By breaking up with him and ridiculing him?" Cathy scowled. "I never forced him to do anything. If he was stupid enough to go along with it, that's his problem! And so what if he bought me a cell phone? It was only a Samsung. And why would I want a Samsung when I can have an iPhone?" Emma shook her head. "Cathy, I don’t understand you. Do you only care about money? Will money get you everything you want?" "Yes!" Cathy barked out a laugh. She stared at Emma and said, "I admit that I like money. Is that so wrong?" She took Billy's arm and said, "Come on, baby, let's go. These two poor people disgust me." She glared at Alex and Emma and then swept out of the classroom with her head held high. https://preview.redd.it/frxe4na33r4b1.png?width=764&format=png&auto=webp&s=3d014c775a06fca57c3c49baecf79a44adee3800 |
2023.06.08 10:00 sharewithme Word of The Hour: bolt
English: bolt
Translations
Fill in missing translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/translations
submitted by sharewithme to Word_of_The_Hour [link] [comments]
- the portion of a lock which is shot or withdrawn by the action of the key
- a shaft or missile intended to be shot from a crossbow or catapult, esp. a short, stout, blunt-headed arrow
- a sliding catch, or fastening, as for a door or gate
Translations
- Catalan: emperna
- Chinese: 门闩，箭头
- Esperanto: bolto
- French: vis
- German: der Riegel, flüchten, die Flucht ergreifen
- Hindi: चटकनी
- Italian: bullone
- Portuguese: parafuso / raio / trinco
- Spanish: rayo,cerrojo
- Swedish: bult
- Welsh: prenio
Fill in missing translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/translations
2023.06.08 08:46 MummyCroc I am a government employee in Zimbabwe and I turned 34 this week (TW: Mentions of suicide)
Occupation – Government employee
Age – 34
Location – Zimbabwe
My salary – $500 (paid monthly)
Side Gig Income – $0
Other income – negligible amounts from dividends received from my stock portfolio that I re-invest
Housemates – 4 (husband P, 6 year old L, 4 year old E and nanny F. My nephew M is around and makes appearances too)
Assets and Liabilities
Income progression- (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/)
Expenses
This year, my husband and I decided that he would take on the bulk of our expenses since I do most of the domestic work/childcare. Expenses I pay will be indicated. My salary is now for my expenses, my investments and my savings, and spoiling the kids. Husband caters for the family basics. There was a point last year when I felt my husband wasn’t as invested in the family because he barely did anything financially. By having him cater for all expenses, he is now definitely involved and invested. My husband’s income is just about the same as mine, slightly higher at some times.
My Expenses
Household Expenses (paid by P)
Previous MDs - (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/) and (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/yc801g/i_am_33_years_old_and_i_just_graduated_with_my/)
MD Q&A
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I have a BSc in Accounting, a Masters in Accounting, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. My parents both have Masters degrees, and in my family, the bare minimum acceptable for education was getting a Bachelors. My mother paid for my undergraduate degree, and I paid cash for my postgraduate studies.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
My parents divorced when I was very young. My dad is the wealthier of the two, my mum has always been middle-class. My mum brought me up with very little financial help from my dad, he only covered tuition and healthcare until I turned 18. My mum catered for everything else. My mum taught me how to look for bargains, how to save and invest, and also how to sometimes enjoy your money.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?
I would say I moved out at 26 when I got my current job. I had moved out when I got my first fulltime job, but moved back home when that contract ended
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
At 26 again. That's when I earned enough to cover all my bills without needing help. My husband P covers some aspects of my financial life, and my mum occasionally helps out with stuff for her grandchildren.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked as a receptionist at my mum's law firm after finishing my A Levels (age 18) while waiting to start university. My mum gave me the job to keep me occupied and out of mischief, lol.
Do you worry about money now?
I worry about building generational wealth for my children. I want to make sure they will be set for life as adults. I do worry about money because hyperinflation is eroding my earnings and retirement dramatically. This is my second time losing my retirement. My mum and in laws are losing their retirement for the third time, so honestly our old age looks bleak if we do not invest outside of work pensions.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I receive negligible dividends from the shares I own, lol.
Day 1
0430 – I’m woken up by loadshedding. I sigh, rollover, and sleep some more
0600 – Alarm goes off. I turn it off, enjoy cuddles from P and finally get out of bed. Our water tanks ran out 4 days ago, and council has not yet deigned to give us water, so we rely on P’s parents and friends to give us water. I get my water that was warming up on the stove, and take a quick bucket bath. I moisturize, do my brows, throw my lace wig on (I cut my hair in January, and I’m at a really awkward stage where my hair looks bad when I wear it out all day) and get dressed. It’s cold in the mornings so I put on winter stockings and a black and white chevron patterned dress, nude ballet pumps plus my warm jacket. I get E from the couch where he was watching Cocomelon and my lunch bag out of the kitchen and we head off to his school. After dropping off E, I go to the office. No electricity means no elevator, so I go up the stairs. I see my boss’s boss and greet him as we do the ZESA (local electricity company) sponsored workout. I log in to the work register, fill up my kettle, and settle down to check out my work email. Nothing urgent came through overnight, so I go into my personal email. The wig company I patronize has given me a code for my birthday, and I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger on my cart. I decide to do a report while thinking this through.
My mum is currently working out of the country, so I am managing her local finances/obligations while she’s away. I remember I have to buy the prepaid electricity token for my childhood home as well as for the house she lives in when she’s working in the country. I spend $23 on electricity for both houses (mum’s money so doesn’t count)
1030 – After doing some firefighting and office gossip I have my breakfast. Today its rice, peas and 2 fried eggs. I sprinkle some peri-peri Aromat on top since I don’t have a sauce/gravy ad I have been craving spicy food lately. I also pop my multivitamin and supplements. I check my team’s work and send back anything that needs correcting. I also generate the multiple reports my boss expects from me. I suddenly remember I need to claim my allowance for performing a role that is higher than my actual position at work. I quickly complete the form, and send it to my boss for his signature. The extra money from this is what I use to fund my stock market investments. I also remind my team to send a report to me for consolidation by noon.
12.00 – I do a major push of all my work due today so I can relax after lunch. I compile my reports and set them ready to send. I also finish my first 2 litres of water of the day, and cue up the next 2 litres
1300 – Its lunchtime, and my work bestie and I head out around town**. I find shorts that L would fit and buy 2 pairs for $10**. We head back to the office and I have caramel popcorn for lunch. Then I remember I forgot to have my afternoon meds, oops. Anyway, more work before heading to an audit meeting
1630 – The audit meeting is finally over, and I rush to shut down my computer, pack up my things and go home. I have an agreement with my manager that as long as I make up for the hour, by either coming early or skipping lunch, I can leave work at 4pm. I had a total hysterectomy end of last year so I still can’t manage driving in heavy traffic. I arrive home, make the bed (P had not made it when he went to work), and harvest chilies from our garden that have ripened. I also harvest a local herb used as a flu remedy and lemongrass, so I can brew up a tea/tisane for the flu affected people in my house. I also pack L’s lunch for tomorrow, a pie, a naartjie and juice. It’s also F’s payday, so I give her US$80 (P gave me this money).
E says he is hungry so I feed him sadza and sour milk by his request. I multitask covering L’s school textbook while supervising his homework and watching Married to Real Estate and the Great British Bake Off. I then have my dinner of sadza, greens and beef. I have a chat with the kids about their day at school. P gets home.
1900 – P and my nephew M go to fetch water from P’s friend’s house. The city council still hasn’t opened up our water supply. I do some French on Duolingo while the boys wreak havoc in their playroom. I read L and E their bedtime stories and put them to bed. I decide to do my hair in cornrows while watching Masterchef Australia. They get home and I help them carry water indoors. I remember that when power comes back I need to boil tripe on the stove, so I cut it up, put it in the pot with water, salt and garlic, and place it on the electric stove. We have serious loadshedding these days, so we have a gas stove and solar power to tide us over. I take a quick bath and change into my pyjamas. While P watches TV, I read Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins and continue to do my hair in cornrows.
2200 – My arms are tired and I’m only halfway through with the cornrows. I give up and go to bed with P.
Total spent - $10
Day 2
0600 – I hear crying. E is in a bad mood today. I turn off my alarm, and go to see what’s wrong. E does not want to get dressed for school. I sigh, and help F dress him while he throws a massive tantrum. E is dressed, so I go do my morning routine of shower, moisturize, contact lenses, and eyebrow makeup. Today, I wear a green dress I took from my mum, black tights, nude ballet flats and a black and white coat. E gets put into the car by F, and starts crying for porridge. We are already late, so he learns that the consequence of refusing to eat his porridge on time is to go to school without having his porridge. It’s not a big issue though, as he gets fed at school. So I lock the doors and windows and drive him to school as he throws a tantrum for the entire 10 minute drive. I shove him into the school gate and head to work.
It’s another ZESA sponsored stair workout today. I log into the register, and fill up my kettle with water. I switch on my computer, check my work email and send off client emails to my team for their response. My personal email has an annual report from one of the companies I have shares in so I check out if there’s a dividend this year. I own a negligible number of shares in the company though, but 28c per share is quite impressive. I check to see if my stock exchange wallet has been credited with the money I transferred there so I can buy more shares. It still hasn’t so I send a follow up email o the enquiries desk at the stock exchange. I do have a stockbroker, but I prefer doing my trades myself. I also do some French on Duolingo before 8am.
0830 – Our HR is in a tizzy because people are late for work. I don’t make a big deal out of it usually, because salaries are shit and people are demotivated. As long as my team shows up and does some work, I’m ok. I approve some work, and warn my team about coming in a bit too late. I also tell a teammate that she will have to cover for me on Monday as I am taking the day off. Our internet connectivity is shit so I can’t log into our system to check some stuff. My work bestie gives me avocados from her house. I almost cry because I have been craving avocados, but been too cheap to buy them.
1000 – I have a really bad sore throat. I am also hungry since I haven’t had breakfast yet. I jot down my shopping list for the weekend and head to Pick ‘n’ Pay to buy carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, lemons, cheese, polony and bread. I also buy my breakfast/lunch, which is rice, beans, ox liver and egg salad**. It all cost $10**. I leave my shopping in my car, and go to the office to wolf down my food, and take my multivitamin and painkiller. I also receive my wigs that I bought in May. Perfect timing, as I want to wear a new wig tomorrow for our girls’ day out.
I do some more work, and remind my team to send me the information I need for my daily reports.
1300 – I go out to buy a few items I didn’t find in Pick ‘n’ Pay earlier**. I go to Spar and buy peas, eggs, soft drinks for the outing tomorrow and a sausage roll. Total cost is $10**. The outing has been deemed kid friendly, so I needed drinks for the boys to have tomorrow. I get back into the office, and spend the rest of the lunch hour working.
1600 – It’s finally time to go home. I send my email to handover work issues for the person who will take over my role on Monday while I am on leave. I also send my out of office email, and head home. The kids are at their grandmother’s, so I take a leisurely bath, put on my pyjamas and eat dinner. Then I watch Masterchef Australia until P and E get home. I also get in some French Duolingo practice
2000 – P goes out with his friends, so I snuggle up on the couch with E and watch TV. I put E to bed, read him his bedtime story and kiss him good night. I finally finish season 13 of Masterchef Australia, and move on to My Kitchen Rules Australia. I love Australian reality shows, ngl.
2200 – I go to bed P gets home and tells me some bad news about a friend of ours. I feel very sad for him. He cuddles me and we sleep.
Total spent - $20
Day 3
0700 – I wake up feeling like a truck ran me over. I get out of bed, and get ready to hand-wash our laundry. We still have no running water so we can’t use the washing machine. I play music while doing my laundry to keep me motivated
0900 – Laundry has been hung out to dry. F has cooked potato curry, so I boil eggs and water. I have my breakfast of potato curry, egg, multivitamin and coffee. Once I’m done, I give E a bath and dress him. I also bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt today as my friends and I ae supposed to take our kids out for a playdate. Then I receive a message that the outing is cancelled since one of our group is really sick. I try to think of something I can do with E, since L is out having fun with his grandmother. I do my Swahili Duolingo practice.
1100 – The welder comes to do some work on our garage door. I monitor the work for a bit, and then my nephew takes over. E starts really bugging me to go out. So I put on my headband wig and sneakers, and pack a cooler bag with snacks and drinks. We head into town and I buy myself some ciders for $9. These are for me to drink when the mood strikes me. E wants to go to a resort by the lake so I oblige him. We pay $8 for our entrance. He goes to play on the swings, and I take pictures of him having fun. Another family turns up, and one of his classmates is among them. He’s so happy, and goes to play with his friend. I watch him running around.
1500 – I get a call from my friend that she’s in town with my cake. This cake was meant for the cancelled outing. I pack up our stuff, hustle E into the car and drive back into town. I let out some colourful swear words when I realise I forgot to get our change of $2. Anyway**, I meet up with my friend and get the cake, and pay her $30**. It’s so pretty. I call my MIL while still in town to find out what time she will be there so I can pick up L. She says it will be an hour, so E and I head home to drop off the cake so it doesn’t melt in my AC-less car.
1600 – We are back in town waiting for L and MIL. E wants an ice cream so I buy him one for $0.50 using money I had in my Innbucks wallet. MIL calls and asks me to head over to where she is to pick L up since she can’t leave yet. E and I get there. MIL gets me sadza and goat tripe stew, which I eat a bit of to be polite even though I am not hungry. When I’m done, I pack up the kids and drive home. I bath and change into my pyjamas.
1800 – I feed the kids, and we play until their weekend bedtime of 8pm. I read them their bedtime stories and tuck them in. I watch TV and iron my morning laundry while having a gin and juice until 9pm, and head to read in bed. P and my nephew arrive home from their amateur soccer league match and subsequent outing with the boys. I fall asleep soon after.
Total spent - $49.50
Day 4
0700 – I’m woken up by L demanding that I come and play with them. I am still sleepy so I fob him off.
0900 - F knocks on the door and tells us she is off to church. I finally get out of bed and get dressed. I see the boys playing relatively peacefully so I let them continue with their antics. In the kitchen, I find F had cooked breakfast, and since I’m starving, I heat up water for coffee. L surprisingly isn’t hungry so I serve up breakfast for P and me. I have my daily multivitamin. P heads out to go fetch water, while I bath, change and hang out with the kids. I also do my French Duolingo practice for the day
1200 – I have played with the dogs and kids, and I am exhausted. I collapse onto the couch and watch MKR Australia. P gets home, and naps on the couch. I give the kids haircuts and baths.
1700 – L is hungry and really wants cake, so I feed the kids a dinner of sadza and sour milk. Then some cake for dessert. I also pack L’s school lunch, which will be a polony sandwich, a cupcake and juice. The kids play until its bedtime at 7pm. The usual routine, bedtime stories and tuck in is done
2000 – P and I watch a movie while having some alcoholic drinks.
2200 – Bedtime for us
Total spent - $0
Day 5
0600 – It’s my birthday today. I am going all out celebrating myself since TW I tried unaliving myself twice in the past year. L wishes me a happy birthday before he goes to school. I get birthday messages from my mum, dad, SILs, and friends. I also get a call from my brother, his wife and their son, and they sing to me. I feel very loved today. P goes to drop off E at school today so I can sleep in
0800 – I am finally up and hungry. I cook a quick breakfast of boiled eggs, and a bean curry. P takes my car to get serviced, while I bath, moisturize, contact lenses, do a full face of makeup and get dressed for the day. Today I wear a tie-dyed cutout mini-dress and sneakers, and my wavy headband wig
1300 – P is home and he drives me to a hotel outside town near a renowned tourist site in our country. We have a platter of fried fish, chicken strips, pork strips, fries, and a salad to share and multiple Savannah Drys while there. It’s really nice getting to reconnect after a very tumultuous year in our marriage. P pays.
1700 – We drive around the area, before heading home. Once we get home, P and my nephew go on a hunt for water, while I feed the kids. P and I head off to take our showers. I remember why I don’t do a full face of makeup when it take a long time to get the makeup off my face.
1900 – The family sings happy birthday, and we eat cake. Birthday gifts were gin and chocolate. I hustle the boys off to bed. No story today, as they went to bed later than usual. P watches TV while I read my novel.
2100 – Bedtime for the grownups
Total spent - $0
Day 6
0530 – I wake up and lie in bed for a bit. Then I read my novel some more.
0620 – I am up, and take my bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. It’s cold this morning, so I wear a yellow dress with black polka dots, black tights and ankle boots. I pack up the cake I’m giving to my colleagues, as well as my water bottle. E and I head out. I drop E off at school, and go to the office. I log into the work register, turn on my computer, and check my emails. There are a few pressing issues I need to get up to speed with. One of my colleagues gives me $50 as a birthday gift. I also hand out the cake to my team.
0900 – Work is pretty quiet today, so I update my MD. I also receive news that one of my nephews is getting married. He is not that much younger than me, and could be my younger brother, but it makes me feel so old.
Note on my family: In our culture, even distant relatives are given close relationships so the large number of nephews/nieces is from those relationships. It’s a big thing done to maintain close family bonds. I have 4 actual (in a Western sense) nephews and nieces who are all under the age of 6.
1000 – I head to the supermarket and buy bread, onions, carrots, pork chops, pork trotters and my breakfast and lunch. This costs $25. The meat is the main cost driver here. I have a sausage roll, my multivitamin, supplement and milk for breakfast. I remember that I need to check if my stock exchange wallet was credited, ugh. The website is refusing to load and I’m very frustrated. I finally log in and see the amount is still not credited. I email and send a tweet to the stock exchange. Hopefully the tweet will get them to start moving.
1200 – My boss is mad. One member of my team left his desk without informing me and there’s an urgent matter. I was about to go downstairs to give P the groceries, so I stick around for a bit before committing the same offence as my subordinate, lol. I quickly get back into my office and check on work, sign some papers and letters, and clear out my emails.
1300 – My work bestie has to run other errands at lunch so I decide to stay in the office. I check my personal email and see I have received a dividend of $0.27, lol. The share price will probably drop soon, so I will buy more shares in this counter if I can get them to increase my shareholding. My goal for this year is to breach the 10,000 share mark for one counter. I suddenly remember I have work to do, so I use my lunch hour to do the work, and then take a quick break to eat my lunch of fries and a sausage and do some Swahili Duolingo practice.
1500 – I am thinking of going home when one of my team members calls me to deal with an angry client. I go to the office, and find out it’s a surprise birthday party from my team. I am so happy, lol. We have more cake, and there’s also fruit and juice. I head home feeling so appreciated with even more cake.
1700 – P and my nephew go out to get water. I warm up my bath water, and give the kids their dinner. Today its rice and croc meat. I make L’s lunch for tomorrow, a toasted polony sandwich and juice. I also pack my lunch, rice, a fried egg and peas. And some cake for my work bestie’s kids. I take my bath; change into my pyjamas and hound E to eat his food. If we let that kid be, he would probably live on the bits of our souls he sucks out daily by being stubborn. I am feeling nauseous so I have plain rice with a bit of avocado. The kids watch cartoons, while I do some more Swahili on Duolingo.
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. Today, there’s no demand for a bedtime story, so I just tuck them in and tell them I love them. I read my novel as increasingly feel more nauseated. I end up going to hurl my guts out. P comes home and finds me lying limply on the bed. He gives me a cuddle, and goes to eat his dinner. I get up but smell fish, and run back to throw up. If I hadn’t had a hysterectomy, I would be doing a pregnancy test ASAP.
2100 – I go to bed, and lie in bed for a bit, before finally drifting off.
Total spent - $25
Day 7
0500 – I wake up feeling nauseated again. Ugh, this reminds me of having hyperemesis while pregnant. I put my water on to heat and get back in bed to read some more.
0600 – E comes to lie on our bed. I get out of bed, and go throw up. I get my bath water, take my bath, moisturize and put my contacts in. I look like a reanimated corpse this morning. I do my brows to try bring a bit of life to my face and get dressed. It’s very misty and cold today so I put on warm brown tights, a long black dress, my warm jacket and ballet flats. I grab my lunch and the cake, pop E into the car and head out. Visibility is extremely low, so I drive slowly. I don’t know why people like surprising other drivers by having their cars pop out of the mist without switching on their headlights. I successfully avoid the drivers who hate life and drop E off at school before heading to work.
0700 – I am in the office, and I log into the register, before turning on my computer and checking my work email. Not too much in there, so I check my personal email. My stock exchange wallet has finally been credited with the $100. I also ponder whether I should pull the trigger on a V-part wig.
I do my weekly report, and start doing some boring work in the system. I realise I didn’t save the work I did yesterday, so I have to re-do it, so I can have the list of error messages to send to ICT.
0830 – Everyone is in the office, so I do some reshuffling of duties, so that essential areas are covered while one of my colleagues is on leave. I give the cake to work bestie, who tells me how much her daughter was excited over the cake yesterday. It’s now time for me to put my head down and really focus on knocking out the system work today. I also log into an online training, and I listen while doing my work. My mum also deposits money for my birthday gift and to spoil her grandkids.
1000 – I log into my stock exchange account and buy shares for $99.14 (doesn’t count as spending, as the money was moved before the MD started). The deadline for other departments to submit their weekly reports to me for consolidation has passed so I start following up. One department is a big problem as they always send their report late. Le sigh. I draft a very passive aggressive email to them. I also decide not to buy the wig and instead ask the person making me my custom earrings that I got myself for my birthday to bill me the rest of the money so I can pay and move the remainder of the money in my account into savings. Our currency has taken an enormous hit in the last week, and is free falling dramatically. I’d rather keep USD cash than money in my account at this point. The training finally ends.
1100 – I’m getting hungry so I go warm up my lunch, sprinkle on peri peri Aromat and dig in. Yum. I also have my multivitamin and supplement. A lady who sells local snacks comes in. She persuades me to buy maputi (corn nuts mixed with roasted peanuts) for $0.50. I buy them for my afternoon snack. I end up sending the report with missing statistics, and tell the department to send directly to the compiler, as they were late. That was a very aggressive email tbh. I’m still hungry, so I munch on my maputi, leaving the peanuts because I don’t feel like eating them lately.
1200 – I see a missed call from a number I don’t know. I call and it turns out they had sent money to my mobile wallet mistakenly. I check the mobile wallet and it shows it had an extra $11. I send the money back to the person. Times are too tough to keep people’s money
1400 – I snack on a few skittles instead of having more food. I just want something to entertain my mouth, I’m not hungry at all. I review more work and drink more water. The jeweler has sent the payment request for the earrings. I pay $100 (total spent on the earrings comes to $200, which is worth it for sterling silver custom made Jewellery. I use $50 of the birthday money from my mum to cover for part of this expense)
1600 – Finally time to go home. I shut down my computer, and drive home. Once I’m home, I put on my bath water, and help L do his homework. Then I do some Swahili Duolingo practice and pack L’s lunch for tomorrow. He requested maize (corn on the cob), a boiled egg and a naartjie. His wish is my command for once. I also pack my lunch, a boiled egg, peanut butter sandwich and a bit of birthday cake. The jeweler sends pictures of the final product. They are absolutely gorgeous. Happy 34th birthday to me!!!
1800 – I serve the kids their dinner, and go to take my bath. P sends a text that he will be home late as they are working late today. I have my own dinner while persuading E to eat his food
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. I read them their bedtime stories, tuck them in and tell them I love them. Then I go to watch TV. I’m catching up on Married to Real Estate, Food Factory and Man Vs Food. You can tell that reality TV is my jam.
2100 – I decide to have some decaf black coffee and cake as my bedtime snack. P and my nephew arrive home. They are later than they thought they would be because nephew dropped his phone in the middle of the highway and they were searching for it. Because nephew’s ancestors were on the job, they found it intact. It’s a big deal because this is a major highway and huge trucks use that road constantly. I chat with P as he has his dinner and takes his bath.
2200 – Cuddles and bedtime for us
Total spent today – $100
Total spent this week – $204.50
Spending by categories
Food & Drink – $84.50
Home & Health – $0
Clothing & Beauty – $110
Transportation – $0
Fun & Entertainment – $10
Reflections on this week’s spending
The spending is pretty much about normal for me tbh (excluding the cake and earrings). I had quite a bit of petrol in the tank so I didn’t need to top up my tank this week. The converted US$ prices are a bit inaccurate since our currency had a big drop this week, and most of my spending is in local currency. I could reign in my spending a bit, and focus more on investing. However, I do enjoy using my money to bring joy to my kids and myself. Particularly myself after the absolutely shitty year I had.
submitted by MummyCroc to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]
Age – 34
Location – Zimbabwe
My salary – $500 (paid monthly)
Side Gig Income – $0
Other income – negligible amounts from dividends received from my stock portfolio that I re-invest
Housemates – 4 (husband P, 6 year old L, 4 year old E and nanny F. My nephew M is around and makes appearances too)
Assets and Liabilities
| Equity | $60,000 fully paid off | |
|---|---|---|
| Retirement Balance | ?? | I contribute monthly, and employer matches fully. But because of changes in currency and hyperinflation, I don’t really count this as an asset |
| Savings | $1700 | (went down due to travelling trying to get my passport done since it expired) |
| Current account balance | $660 | Includes my mum's money since I'm managing her financial affairs while she's abroad |
| Loan from employer | $130 | I took a personal loan from work, because the interest rates are lower than rate of inflation and repayment is over 18 months. Loan was used to make improvements on our house, and what wasn’t used, I bought shares on our stock exchange, due to hyperinflation, the amount I owe in US$ has gone down |
| Investments (shares in various counters on our local stock exchanges) | $1,186 | |
| Car | $4,000 | Based on current resale value. Car was bought secondhand for cash |
Income progression- (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/)
Expenses
This year, my husband and I decided that he would take on the bulk of our expenses since I do most of the domestic work/childcare. Expenses I pay will be indicated. My salary is now for my expenses, my investments and my savings, and spoiling the kids. Husband caters for the family basics. There was a point last year when I felt my husband wasn’t as invested in the family because he barely did anything financially. By having him cater for all expenses, he is now definitely involved and invested. My husband’s income is just about the same as mine, slightly higher at some times.
My Expenses
| Expense | Amount /period | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Car insurance and licensing | $300/annum | This is due in March, and I pay for the entire year |
| Petrol | $60/month | |
| Electricity | $10/month | |
| Airtime/data | $20/month | |
| Groceries | $60/month | This is for additional groceries such as bread, veg and fruit bought during the month |
| Kids’ clothes | $40/month | I’m trying to build up their winter wardrobe so I try to buy them something each month |
| Makeup/clothes/toiletries/ supplements/hair | $30/month | I do not us this much monthly though |
| Water | $15/month | Based on last bill received in April. We do not get water consistently so bills are infrequent |
| Donations | $20/month | Ad hoc donations to a soup kitchen, and maternal health fun |
| Stock market investment | $50/month | May invest more or less, but I do try to buy shares every payday |
Household Expenses (paid by P)
| Expense | Amount /period | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $200/month | Bulk grocery shopping of staple food items and toiletries |
| LP Gas | $30/approx. every 2 months | We buy when it runs out. Usually every 2 months depending on how bad the power supply is |
| Medical | $15/month | For OTC meds (painkiller, cough syrup, antacid stocked for emergencies) and any prescriptions |
| Pet expenses | $60/ twice a year | For vaccinations and checkups for 4 dogs. Pet food is covered under groceries |
| School fees for the kids | $347/ term | One kid has fees paid every month, the other every 3 months |
| Nanny | $80/month | Less than before as both kids are now in school fulltime, and nanny is there to get them ready for school and care after school for 3 hours. |
| DSTV subscription | $37/month | |
| Transport for kids to/from school | $60/month | L gets picked up and dropped off at home daily, E is dropped off after school |
Previous MDs - (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/) and (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/yc801g/i_am_33_years_old_and_i_just_graduated_with_my/)
MD Q&A
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I have a BSc in Accounting, a Masters in Accounting, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. My parents both have Masters degrees, and in my family, the bare minimum acceptable for education was getting a Bachelors. My mother paid for my undergraduate degree, and I paid cash for my postgraduate studies.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
My parents divorced when I was very young. My dad is the wealthier of the two, my mum has always been middle-class. My mum brought me up with very little financial help from my dad, he only covered tuition and healthcare until I turned 18. My mum catered for everything else. My mum taught me how to look for bargains, how to save and invest, and also how to sometimes enjoy your money.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?
I would say I moved out at 26 when I got my current job. I had moved out when I got my first fulltime job, but moved back home when that contract ended
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
At 26 again. That's when I earned enough to cover all my bills without needing help. My husband P covers some aspects of my financial life, and my mum occasionally helps out with stuff for her grandchildren.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked as a receptionist at my mum's law firm after finishing my A Levels (age 18) while waiting to start university. My mum gave me the job to keep me occupied and out of mischief, lol.
Do you worry about money now?
I worry about building generational wealth for my children. I want to make sure they will be set for life as adults. I do worry about money because hyperinflation is eroding my earnings and retirement dramatically. This is my second time losing my retirement. My mum and in laws are losing their retirement for the third time, so honestly our old age looks bleak if we do not invest outside of work pensions.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I receive negligible dividends from the shares I own, lol.
Day 1
0430 – I’m woken up by loadshedding. I sigh, rollover, and sleep some more
0600 – Alarm goes off. I turn it off, enjoy cuddles from P and finally get out of bed. Our water tanks ran out 4 days ago, and council has not yet deigned to give us water, so we rely on P’s parents and friends to give us water. I get my water that was warming up on the stove, and take a quick bucket bath. I moisturize, do my brows, throw my lace wig on (I cut my hair in January, and I’m at a really awkward stage where my hair looks bad when I wear it out all day) and get dressed. It’s cold in the mornings so I put on winter stockings and a black and white chevron patterned dress, nude ballet pumps plus my warm jacket. I get E from the couch where he was watching Cocomelon and my lunch bag out of the kitchen and we head off to his school. After dropping off E, I go to the office. No electricity means no elevator, so I go up the stairs. I see my boss’s boss and greet him as we do the ZESA (local electricity company) sponsored workout. I log in to the work register, fill up my kettle, and settle down to check out my work email. Nothing urgent came through overnight, so I go into my personal email. The wig company I patronize has given me a code for my birthday, and I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger on my cart. I decide to do a report while thinking this through.
My mum is currently working out of the country, so I am managing her local finances/obligations while she’s away. I remember I have to buy the prepaid electricity token for my childhood home as well as for the house she lives in when she’s working in the country. I spend $23 on electricity for both houses (mum’s money so doesn’t count)
1030 – After doing some firefighting and office gossip I have my breakfast. Today its rice, peas and 2 fried eggs. I sprinkle some peri-peri Aromat on top since I don’t have a sauce/gravy ad I have been craving spicy food lately. I also pop my multivitamin and supplements. I check my team’s work and send back anything that needs correcting. I also generate the multiple reports my boss expects from me. I suddenly remember I need to claim my allowance for performing a role that is higher than my actual position at work. I quickly complete the form, and send it to my boss for his signature. The extra money from this is what I use to fund my stock market investments. I also remind my team to send a report to me for consolidation by noon.
12.00 – I do a major push of all my work due today so I can relax after lunch. I compile my reports and set them ready to send. I also finish my first 2 litres of water of the day, and cue up the next 2 litres
1300 – Its lunchtime, and my work bestie and I head out around town**. I find shorts that L would fit and buy 2 pairs for $10**. We head back to the office and I have caramel popcorn for lunch. Then I remember I forgot to have my afternoon meds, oops. Anyway, more work before heading to an audit meeting
1630 – The audit meeting is finally over, and I rush to shut down my computer, pack up my things and go home. I have an agreement with my manager that as long as I make up for the hour, by either coming early or skipping lunch, I can leave work at 4pm. I had a total hysterectomy end of last year so I still can’t manage driving in heavy traffic. I arrive home, make the bed (P had not made it when he went to work), and harvest chilies from our garden that have ripened. I also harvest a local herb used as a flu remedy and lemongrass, so I can brew up a tea/tisane for the flu affected people in my house. I also pack L’s lunch for tomorrow, a pie, a naartjie and juice. It’s also F’s payday, so I give her US$80 (P gave me this money).
E says he is hungry so I feed him sadza and sour milk by his request. I multitask covering L’s school textbook while supervising his homework and watching Married to Real Estate and the Great British Bake Off. I then have my dinner of sadza, greens and beef. I have a chat with the kids about their day at school. P gets home.
1900 – P and my nephew M go to fetch water from P’s friend’s house. The city council still hasn’t opened up our water supply. I do some French on Duolingo while the boys wreak havoc in their playroom. I read L and E their bedtime stories and put them to bed. I decide to do my hair in cornrows while watching Masterchef Australia. They get home and I help them carry water indoors. I remember that when power comes back I need to boil tripe on the stove, so I cut it up, put it in the pot with water, salt and garlic, and place it on the electric stove. We have serious loadshedding these days, so we have a gas stove and solar power to tide us over. I take a quick bath and change into my pyjamas. While P watches TV, I read Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins and continue to do my hair in cornrows.
2200 – My arms are tired and I’m only halfway through with the cornrows. I give up and go to bed with P.
Total spent - $10
Day 2
0600 – I hear crying. E is in a bad mood today. I turn off my alarm, and go to see what’s wrong. E does not want to get dressed for school. I sigh, and help F dress him while he throws a massive tantrum. E is dressed, so I go do my morning routine of shower, moisturize, contact lenses, and eyebrow makeup. Today, I wear a green dress I took from my mum, black tights, nude ballet flats and a black and white coat. E gets put into the car by F, and starts crying for porridge. We are already late, so he learns that the consequence of refusing to eat his porridge on time is to go to school without having his porridge. It’s not a big issue though, as he gets fed at school. So I lock the doors and windows and drive him to school as he throws a tantrum for the entire 10 minute drive. I shove him into the school gate and head to work.
It’s another ZESA sponsored stair workout today. I log into the register, and fill up my kettle with water. I switch on my computer, check my work email and send off client emails to my team for their response. My personal email has an annual report from one of the companies I have shares in so I check out if there’s a dividend this year. I own a negligible number of shares in the company though, but 28c per share is quite impressive. I check to see if my stock exchange wallet has been credited with the money I transferred there so I can buy more shares. It still hasn’t so I send a follow up email o the enquiries desk at the stock exchange. I do have a stockbroker, but I prefer doing my trades myself. I also do some French on Duolingo before 8am.
0830 – Our HR is in a tizzy because people are late for work. I don’t make a big deal out of it usually, because salaries are shit and people are demotivated. As long as my team shows up and does some work, I’m ok. I approve some work, and warn my team about coming in a bit too late. I also tell a teammate that she will have to cover for me on Monday as I am taking the day off. Our internet connectivity is shit so I can’t log into our system to check some stuff. My work bestie gives me avocados from her house. I almost cry because I have been craving avocados, but been too cheap to buy them.
1000 – I have a really bad sore throat. I am also hungry since I haven’t had breakfast yet. I jot down my shopping list for the weekend and head to Pick ‘n’ Pay to buy carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, lemons, cheese, polony and bread. I also buy my breakfast/lunch, which is rice, beans, ox liver and egg salad**. It all cost $10**. I leave my shopping in my car, and go to the office to wolf down my food, and take my multivitamin and painkiller. I also receive my wigs that I bought in May. Perfect timing, as I want to wear a new wig tomorrow for our girls’ day out.
I do some more work, and remind my team to send me the information I need for my daily reports.
1300 – I go out to buy a few items I didn’t find in Pick ‘n’ Pay earlier**. I go to Spar and buy peas, eggs, soft drinks for the outing tomorrow and a sausage roll. Total cost is $10**. The outing has been deemed kid friendly, so I needed drinks for the boys to have tomorrow. I get back into the office, and spend the rest of the lunch hour working.
1600 – It’s finally time to go home. I send my email to handover work issues for the person who will take over my role on Monday while I am on leave. I also send my out of office email, and head home. The kids are at their grandmother’s, so I take a leisurely bath, put on my pyjamas and eat dinner. Then I watch Masterchef Australia until P and E get home. I also get in some French Duolingo practice
2000 – P goes out with his friends, so I snuggle up on the couch with E and watch TV. I put E to bed, read him his bedtime story and kiss him good night. I finally finish season 13 of Masterchef Australia, and move on to My Kitchen Rules Australia. I love Australian reality shows, ngl.
2200 – I go to bed P gets home and tells me some bad news about a friend of ours. I feel very sad for him. He cuddles me and we sleep.
Total spent - $20
Day 3
0700 – I wake up feeling like a truck ran me over. I get out of bed, and get ready to hand-wash our laundry. We still have no running water so we can’t use the washing machine. I play music while doing my laundry to keep me motivated
0900 – Laundry has been hung out to dry. F has cooked potato curry, so I boil eggs and water. I have my breakfast of potato curry, egg, multivitamin and coffee. Once I’m done, I give E a bath and dress him. I also bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt today as my friends and I ae supposed to take our kids out for a playdate. Then I receive a message that the outing is cancelled since one of our group is really sick. I try to think of something I can do with E, since L is out having fun with his grandmother. I do my Swahili Duolingo practice.
1100 – The welder comes to do some work on our garage door. I monitor the work for a bit, and then my nephew takes over. E starts really bugging me to go out. So I put on my headband wig and sneakers, and pack a cooler bag with snacks and drinks. We head into town and I buy myself some ciders for $9. These are for me to drink when the mood strikes me. E wants to go to a resort by the lake so I oblige him. We pay $8 for our entrance. He goes to play on the swings, and I take pictures of him having fun. Another family turns up, and one of his classmates is among them. He’s so happy, and goes to play with his friend. I watch him running around.
1500 – I get a call from my friend that she’s in town with my cake. This cake was meant for the cancelled outing. I pack up our stuff, hustle E into the car and drive back into town. I let out some colourful swear words when I realise I forgot to get our change of $2. Anyway**, I meet up with my friend and get the cake, and pay her $30**. It’s so pretty. I call my MIL while still in town to find out what time she will be there so I can pick up L. She says it will be an hour, so E and I head home to drop off the cake so it doesn’t melt in my AC-less car.
1600 – We are back in town waiting for L and MIL. E wants an ice cream so I buy him one for $0.50 using money I had in my Innbucks wallet. MIL calls and asks me to head over to where she is to pick L up since she can’t leave yet. E and I get there. MIL gets me sadza and goat tripe stew, which I eat a bit of to be polite even though I am not hungry. When I’m done, I pack up the kids and drive home. I bath and change into my pyjamas.
1800 – I feed the kids, and we play until their weekend bedtime of 8pm. I read them their bedtime stories and tuck them in. I watch TV and iron my morning laundry while having a gin and juice until 9pm, and head to read in bed. P and my nephew arrive home from their amateur soccer league match and subsequent outing with the boys. I fall asleep soon after.
Total spent - $49.50
Day 4
0700 – I’m woken up by L demanding that I come and play with them. I am still sleepy so I fob him off.
0900 - F knocks on the door and tells us she is off to church. I finally get out of bed and get dressed. I see the boys playing relatively peacefully so I let them continue with their antics. In the kitchen, I find F had cooked breakfast, and since I’m starving, I heat up water for coffee. L surprisingly isn’t hungry so I serve up breakfast for P and me. I have my daily multivitamin. P heads out to go fetch water, while I bath, change and hang out with the kids. I also do my French Duolingo practice for the day
1200 – I have played with the dogs and kids, and I am exhausted. I collapse onto the couch and watch MKR Australia. P gets home, and naps on the couch. I give the kids haircuts and baths.
1700 – L is hungry and really wants cake, so I feed the kids a dinner of sadza and sour milk. Then some cake for dessert. I also pack L’s school lunch, which will be a polony sandwich, a cupcake and juice. The kids play until its bedtime at 7pm. The usual routine, bedtime stories and tuck in is done
2000 – P and I watch a movie while having some alcoholic drinks.
2200 – Bedtime for us
Total spent - $0
Day 5
0600 – It’s my birthday today. I am going all out celebrating myself since TW I tried unaliving myself twice in the past year. L wishes me a happy birthday before he goes to school. I get birthday messages from my mum, dad, SILs, and friends. I also get a call from my brother, his wife and their son, and they sing to me. I feel very loved today. P goes to drop off E at school today so I can sleep in
0800 – I am finally up and hungry. I cook a quick breakfast of boiled eggs, and a bean curry. P takes my car to get serviced, while I bath, moisturize, contact lenses, do a full face of makeup and get dressed for the day. Today I wear a tie-dyed cutout mini-dress and sneakers, and my wavy headband wig
1300 – P is home and he drives me to a hotel outside town near a renowned tourist site in our country. We have a platter of fried fish, chicken strips, pork strips, fries, and a salad to share and multiple Savannah Drys while there. It’s really nice getting to reconnect after a very tumultuous year in our marriage. P pays.
1700 – We drive around the area, before heading home. Once we get home, P and my nephew go on a hunt for water, while I feed the kids. P and I head off to take our showers. I remember why I don’t do a full face of makeup when it take a long time to get the makeup off my face.
1900 – The family sings happy birthday, and we eat cake. Birthday gifts were gin and chocolate. I hustle the boys off to bed. No story today, as they went to bed later than usual. P watches TV while I read my novel.
2100 – Bedtime for the grownups
Total spent - $0
Day 6
0530 – I wake up and lie in bed for a bit. Then I read my novel some more.
0620 – I am up, and take my bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. It’s cold this morning, so I wear a yellow dress with black polka dots, black tights and ankle boots. I pack up the cake I’m giving to my colleagues, as well as my water bottle. E and I head out. I drop E off at school, and go to the office. I log into the work register, turn on my computer, and check my emails. There are a few pressing issues I need to get up to speed with. One of my colleagues gives me $50 as a birthday gift. I also hand out the cake to my team.
0900 – Work is pretty quiet today, so I update my MD. I also receive news that one of my nephews is getting married. He is not that much younger than me, and could be my younger brother, but it makes me feel so old.
Note on my family: In our culture, even distant relatives are given close relationships so the large number of nephews/nieces is from those relationships. It’s a big thing done to maintain close family bonds. I have 4 actual (in a Western sense) nephews and nieces who are all under the age of 6.
1000 – I head to the supermarket and buy bread, onions, carrots, pork chops, pork trotters and my breakfast and lunch. This costs $25. The meat is the main cost driver here. I have a sausage roll, my multivitamin, supplement and milk for breakfast. I remember that I need to check if my stock exchange wallet was credited, ugh. The website is refusing to load and I’m very frustrated. I finally log in and see the amount is still not credited. I email and send a tweet to the stock exchange. Hopefully the tweet will get them to start moving.
1200 – My boss is mad. One member of my team left his desk without informing me and there’s an urgent matter. I was about to go downstairs to give P the groceries, so I stick around for a bit before committing the same offence as my subordinate, lol. I quickly get back into my office and check on work, sign some papers and letters, and clear out my emails.
1300 – My work bestie has to run other errands at lunch so I decide to stay in the office. I check my personal email and see I have received a dividend of $0.27, lol. The share price will probably drop soon, so I will buy more shares in this counter if I can get them to increase my shareholding. My goal for this year is to breach the 10,000 share mark for one counter. I suddenly remember I have work to do, so I use my lunch hour to do the work, and then take a quick break to eat my lunch of fries and a sausage and do some Swahili Duolingo practice.
1500 – I am thinking of going home when one of my team members calls me to deal with an angry client. I go to the office, and find out it’s a surprise birthday party from my team. I am so happy, lol. We have more cake, and there’s also fruit and juice. I head home feeling so appreciated with even more cake.
1700 – P and my nephew go out to get water. I warm up my bath water, and give the kids their dinner. Today its rice and croc meat. I make L’s lunch for tomorrow, a toasted polony sandwich and juice. I also pack my lunch, rice, a fried egg and peas. And some cake for my work bestie’s kids. I take my bath; change into my pyjamas and hound E to eat his food. If we let that kid be, he would probably live on the bits of our souls he sucks out daily by being stubborn. I am feeling nauseous so I have plain rice with a bit of avocado. The kids watch cartoons, while I do some more Swahili on Duolingo.
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. Today, there’s no demand for a bedtime story, so I just tuck them in and tell them I love them. I read my novel as increasingly feel more nauseated. I end up going to hurl my guts out. P comes home and finds me lying limply on the bed. He gives me a cuddle, and goes to eat his dinner. I get up but smell fish, and run back to throw up. If I hadn’t had a hysterectomy, I would be doing a pregnancy test ASAP.
2100 – I go to bed, and lie in bed for a bit, before finally drifting off.
Total spent - $25
Day 7
0500 – I wake up feeling nauseated again. Ugh, this reminds me of having hyperemesis while pregnant. I put my water on to heat and get back in bed to read some more.
0600 – E comes to lie on our bed. I get out of bed, and go throw up. I get my bath water, take my bath, moisturize and put my contacts in. I look like a reanimated corpse this morning. I do my brows to try bring a bit of life to my face and get dressed. It’s very misty and cold today so I put on warm brown tights, a long black dress, my warm jacket and ballet flats. I grab my lunch and the cake, pop E into the car and head out. Visibility is extremely low, so I drive slowly. I don’t know why people like surprising other drivers by having their cars pop out of the mist without switching on their headlights. I successfully avoid the drivers who hate life and drop E off at school before heading to work.
0700 – I am in the office, and I log into the register, before turning on my computer and checking my work email. Not too much in there, so I check my personal email. My stock exchange wallet has finally been credited with the $100. I also ponder whether I should pull the trigger on a V-part wig.
I do my weekly report, and start doing some boring work in the system. I realise I didn’t save the work I did yesterday, so I have to re-do it, so I can have the list of error messages to send to ICT.
0830 – Everyone is in the office, so I do some reshuffling of duties, so that essential areas are covered while one of my colleagues is on leave. I give the cake to work bestie, who tells me how much her daughter was excited over the cake yesterday. It’s now time for me to put my head down and really focus on knocking out the system work today. I also log into an online training, and I listen while doing my work. My mum also deposits money for my birthday gift and to spoil her grandkids.
1000 – I log into my stock exchange account and buy shares for $99.14 (doesn’t count as spending, as the money was moved before the MD started). The deadline for other departments to submit their weekly reports to me for consolidation has passed so I start following up. One department is a big problem as they always send their report late. Le sigh. I draft a very passive aggressive email to them. I also decide not to buy the wig and instead ask the person making me my custom earrings that I got myself for my birthday to bill me the rest of the money so I can pay and move the remainder of the money in my account into savings. Our currency has taken an enormous hit in the last week, and is free falling dramatically. I’d rather keep USD cash than money in my account at this point. The training finally ends.
1100 – I’m getting hungry so I go warm up my lunch, sprinkle on peri peri Aromat and dig in. Yum. I also have my multivitamin and supplement. A lady who sells local snacks comes in. She persuades me to buy maputi (corn nuts mixed with roasted peanuts) for $0.50. I buy them for my afternoon snack. I end up sending the report with missing statistics, and tell the department to send directly to the compiler, as they were late. That was a very aggressive email tbh. I’m still hungry, so I munch on my maputi, leaving the peanuts because I don’t feel like eating them lately.
1200 – I see a missed call from a number I don’t know. I call and it turns out they had sent money to my mobile wallet mistakenly. I check the mobile wallet and it shows it had an extra $11. I send the money back to the person. Times are too tough to keep people’s money
1400 – I snack on a few skittles instead of having more food. I just want something to entertain my mouth, I’m not hungry at all. I review more work and drink more water. The jeweler has sent the payment request for the earrings. I pay $100 (total spent on the earrings comes to $200, which is worth it for sterling silver custom made Jewellery. I use $50 of the birthday money from my mum to cover for part of this expense)
1600 – Finally time to go home. I shut down my computer, and drive home. Once I’m home, I put on my bath water, and help L do his homework. Then I do some Swahili Duolingo practice and pack L’s lunch for tomorrow. He requested maize (corn on the cob), a boiled egg and a naartjie. His wish is my command for once. I also pack my lunch, a boiled egg, peanut butter sandwich and a bit of birthday cake. The jeweler sends pictures of the final product. They are absolutely gorgeous. Happy 34th birthday to me!!!
1800 – I serve the kids their dinner, and go to take my bath. P sends a text that he will be home late as they are working late today. I have my own dinner while persuading E to eat his food
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. I read them their bedtime stories, tuck them in and tell them I love them. Then I go to watch TV. I’m catching up on Married to Real Estate, Food Factory and Man Vs Food. You can tell that reality TV is my jam.
2100 – I decide to have some decaf black coffee and cake as my bedtime snack. P and my nephew arrive home. They are later than they thought they would be because nephew dropped his phone in the middle of the highway and they were searching for it. Because nephew’s ancestors were on the job, they found it intact. It’s a big deal because this is a major highway and huge trucks use that road constantly. I chat with P as he has his dinner and takes his bath.
2200 – Cuddles and bedtime for us
Total spent today – $100
Total spent this week – $204.50
Spending by categories
Food & Drink – $84.50
Home & Health – $0
Clothing & Beauty – $110
Transportation – $0
Fun & Entertainment – $10
Reflections on this week’s spending
The spending is pretty much about normal for me tbh (excluding the cake and earrings). I had quite a bit of petrol in the tank so I didn’t need to top up my tank this week. The converted US$ prices are a bit inaccurate since our currency had a big drop this week, and most of my spending is in local currency. I could reign in my spending a bit, and focus more on investing. However, I do enjoy using my money to bring joy to my kids and myself. Particularly myself after the absolutely shitty year I had.
2023.06.08 07:36 FrostByt3MethOD I wanna ignore my dad when he calls or texts. I often do.
I can’t help but get irritated whenever my dad calls me. It’s like every other day that he calls. It may sound messed up that I react this way to his calls but it’s the truth. My life is pretty messed up due to DUI I committed a few years ago. I’ve been busy working and paying off fines, going to counseling, doing community services, etc. As soon as I get off my shift at my primary job, I do some DoorDash. My schedule isn’t very flexible at all. Yet my dad keeps calling me everyday asking “what are you doing?” Or “do you work today?” “Maybe sometime next week we can go hang out”. I’m glad he wants to hang out with me but I hate hanging out with him. Confusing right?
He just got through a 2nd divorce and is all lonely so he starts contacting people he suspects got nothing better to do. I’m single too but I’m working pretty much all day, everyday. Most people don’t wanna hang out with him because he has anger issues. He LOVES to be angry. So every time we go out to restaurants or the grocery store he starts a scene over something petty.
One time the cashier at Costco at self-checkout told my father that he had to remove his grocery bags off the bagging scale to start a second order and he got all angry with the lady even though she was just explaining how the machine worked. My dad assumed the worst and thought she was just trying to give him a hard time so he gave her “the look” 😡 and went to a different self checkout register to start a new order. He told me to just wait at the self checkout register while he waited in line again to use a different one. The whole 6 minutes my dad was mean mugging the employee like he was Shrek or something. Meanwhile I was stuck looking like a dick for holding up the line.
He overanalyzes every situation and assumes the worst about people so he’s always getting offended. The energy he gives off is always negative. I have to get drunk just to cope whenever we hang out. My body can only take so much alcohol before I get alcohol poisoning. I only hang out with him because I pity him. I feel a sense of guilt if I decline his invitations to hang out even though I know I shouldn’t. I feel kinda shitty for saying this but there’s a reason why nobody wants to hang out with him and there’s a reason why my mom left him. If ANGER was a species of human, that’s him.
What’s worse is that he tries to get me to believe that me and him are alike. We’re no where near alike to each other besides in genes. My idea of socializing and having a good time don’t involve road raging, starting drama scenes eat restaurants and criticizing everything and everyone in sight. He used to offer me rides home after work because the walking distance was like 7 miles. Any time I accepted he’d do nothing but criticize every decision I made. He’d spend the whole ride back home explaining to me how foolish I was for whatever decision I decided I’d share with him. It sucks because when we talk, it’s not really talk. When we talk, he’s questioning me like he’s some kind of detective. Whatever I say is met with anger and ridicule.
Dad: “How many hours did you work today?” Me: “4” Dad: “Only 4?!…..you better stop letting your boss step all over you like that” Me: “🙄”
Dad: “What did you eat for dinner?” Me: “I don’t remember” Dad: “what?! You don’t remember?!” Me: “no I don’t, why is that a problem?” Dad: “most people with a brain know what they ate for dinner” Me: …😒 Me: “I think it was French toast” Dad: “FRENCH TOAST?!!” Me: “yes”
Dad: “Why’d you buzz your hair off?” Me: “because I wanted to” Dad: “not a smart move, people are gonna think you’re a skinhead…..again, you need to start thinking with your head”
By the end of the trip I would feel like shit. I eventually decided that I’d rather walk 7 miles instead of putting up with him. I truly don’t understand what the hell my dad gets out of spending time with me. I definitely don’t get anything out of it except for when my little half brother comes along.
submitted by FrostByt3MethOD to abusiveparents [link] [comments]
He just got through a 2nd divorce and is all lonely so he starts contacting people he suspects got nothing better to do. I’m single too but I’m working pretty much all day, everyday. Most people don’t wanna hang out with him because he has anger issues. He LOVES to be angry. So every time we go out to restaurants or the grocery store he starts a scene over something petty.
One time the cashier at Costco at self-checkout told my father that he had to remove his grocery bags off the bagging scale to start a second order and he got all angry with the lady even though she was just explaining how the machine worked. My dad assumed the worst and thought she was just trying to give him a hard time so he gave her “the look” 😡 and went to a different self checkout register to start a new order. He told me to just wait at the self checkout register while he waited in line again to use a different one. The whole 6 minutes my dad was mean mugging the employee like he was Shrek or something. Meanwhile I was stuck looking like a dick for holding up the line.
He overanalyzes every situation and assumes the worst about people so he’s always getting offended. The energy he gives off is always negative. I have to get drunk just to cope whenever we hang out. My body can only take so much alcohol before I get alcohol poisoning. I only hang out with him because I pity him. I feel a sense of guilt if I decline his invitations to hang out even though I know I shouldn’t. I feel kinda shitty for saying this but there’s a reason why nobody wants to hang out with him and there’s a reason why my mom left him. If ANGER was a species of human, that’s him.
What’s worse is that he tries to get me to believe that me and him are alike. We’re no where near alike to each other besides in genes. My idea of socializing and having a good time don’t involve road raging, starting drama scenes eat restaurants and criticizing everything and everyone in sight. He used to offer me rides home after work because the walking distance was like 7 miles. Any time I accepted he’d do nothing but criticize every decision I made. He’d spend the whole ride back home explaining to me how foolish I was for whatever decision I decided I’d share with him. It sucks because when we talk, it’s not really talk. When we talk, he’s questioning me like he’s some kind of detective. Whatever I say is met with anger and ridicule.
Dad: “How many hours did you work today?” Me: “4” Dad: “Only 4?!…..you better stop letting your boss step all over you like that” Me: “🙄”
Dad: “What did you eat for dinner?” Me: “I don’t remember” Dad: “what?! You don’t remember?!” Me: “no I don’t, why is that a problem?” Dad: “most people with a brain know what they ate for dinner” Me: …😒 Me: “I think it was French toast” Dad: “FRENCH TOAST?!!” Me: “yes”
Dad: “Why’d you buzz your hair off?” Me: “because I wanted to” Dad: “not a smart move, people are gonna think you’re a skinhead…..again, you need to start thinking with your head”
By the end of the trip I would feel like shit. I eventually decided that I’d rather walk 7 miles instead of putting up with him. I truly don’t understand what the hell my dad gets out of spending time with me. I definitely don’t get anything out of it except for when my little half brother comes along.
2023.06.08 07:32 SnooSketches1610 Which brand of refrigerator do you use? Recos!
Our 14 year old Godrej eon finally gave up on us and we are looking for a replacement. Since the old one was lasting pretty long, we are thinking of going with Godrej again. We are looking at the 260L inverter double door model. They go for 25k.
What brand of refrigerator do you guys use and how long are you using it? Any recos would be highly appreciated!
submitted by SnooSketches1610 to Chennai [link] [comments]
What brand of refrigerator do you guys use and how long are you using it? Any recos would be highly appreciated!
2023.06.08 07:16 critical_courtney [A Bargain for Bliss] — Chapter Eleven (sequel to The Fae Queen's Pet)
![[A Bargain for Bliss] — Chapter Eleven (sequel to The Fae Queen's Pet)](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/2lScdiolOaeBJLVCNy4XrjAWx__pQBs4WRQyIzalYSI.jpg "[A Bargain for Bliss] — Chapter Eleven (sequel to The Fae Queen's Pet)") | submitted by critical_courtney to redditserials [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/8bgezt09aq4b1.jpg?width=1410&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a98c000b9146bca947211aa35dd3e253e45f1e4c Previous Chapter Chapter Eleven: Walking into a dimly lit basement, I looked down at the cracked concrete floor. The room smelled of old drainage and expired cleaning products. I turned around to see the mirror I’d just crawled out of and caught sight of the Intrinsic Pathways chamber fading back into my reflection. A simple white plastic border surrounded the glass surface. The thing was barely big enough for me to fit through. Barsilla didn’t have any trouble, though — the benefit of being a piskie and only a few inches tall. She darted up to my shoulder and hid herself in my hair. “I’m glad you’ve been growing your hair out,” she said. A moment later, the piskie stuck her head out of my hair and added, “And I’m also glad you switched to the pineapple and raspberry shampoo.” I rolled my eyes. Today I was playing carriage to the queen’s left-hand lady in the human world. And I could already tell it was going to be a test of my nerves. I’d never spent an extended time with Barsilla before, primarily because she was a bit scolding and judgmental. But today came with an important mission before we left for Kilgara tomorrow. We needed to make contact with a powerful fae that lived in the human world. “How can a fae live in the human world full-time? Wouldn’t that be a death sentence with all the iron and the lack of glamour?” I’d asked my queen. “You’ll see,” was all she said before sending me here to accompany Barsilla. And by accompany, she meant carry. The piskie looked around the little room we’d appeared in. It was a small space with concrete walls and floors. Against one wall a shelf of cleaning supplies stood, along with a mop and a janitor’s cart on wheels. “Where are we?” I asked. A grimy voice from the ceiling made me jump. I looked around to find the source. “You’re in the basement of Ssorc Insurance Arena,” a masculine-presenting fae said. When I finally found him, my eyes widened. In one of the ceiling corners hung a spider-like faery about a foot tall. When I got a closer look, I saw he had the body of a tiny man but a thorax and four narrow legs behind him that clung to the wall. His front arms were crossed as he looked down at us. Eight brown and black eyes spread across his forehead kept a close watch on us. “Hello there,” he said, waving a tiny hand. “Name’s Jello. Welcome to Portland.” I raised a finger and opened my mouth to speak. “Because he likes to eat Jell-O,” Barsilla said from inside my hair. I lowered my finger and closed my mouth, nodding. That made plenty of sense. Maybe I could change my name to Chicken Nugget. “You’re not going to come out and say hello to your old friend, Barsilla?” Jello called with a grin revealing two fangs and additional mandibles. Her voice called out from in my hair. “I’m quite good here, thanks.” I raised an eyebrow. Barsilla sounded a little scared, which was a first for me. I’d always been put in my place by the tiny creature so long as we were in the palace. Here, her voice wavered, and she grabbed my hair a little more tightly than when we first arrived. Truth be told, I was torn. Part of me wanted to rub it in, maybe jokingly hand her over to the spider dude. And the other half of me wanted to show mercy, because even when I get a chance to show vengeance. . . I’m not good at taking it. It took me years to destroy my abusive father, and he hurt me daily. So, I decided not to push the issue. “Alright, Jello. That’s enough,” I said, laughing. To his credit, the spider didn’t exactly seem upset with me pushing back. He rubbed one of his mandibles and looked me up and down. “You must be the queen’s new pet I’ve heard so much about,” he said. “That’s me. Werewolf extraordinaire,” I said. He nodded. “It’s almost too difficult to believe. Your kind is so rare that for the queen to have ensnared one. . . I’m just left impressed,” he said. My. . . kind, I thought. Aside from Mom, I’ve never met another like me. And does she even really count? She died when I was a kid. All I could do was shrug. Maybe we were rare. But the fact that he wasn’t the first fae to mention such a thing did stick out in my mind. The queen had emotional attachments to me. Of that much, I was sure. But to other fae, ones I’d see at Kilgara. . . I’d be a token — no, a specimen. It’d be like those videos of rich people who own tigers or lions and just let them roam around the house, lying on the couch and shit. In that case, I’d just have to be all the more threatening to keep their minds off such imagery and more focused on preserving their own lives. Of course, that’d be up to my inner wolf. And I had no doubt she’d be up to the task. Unlike me, she didn’t take shit from anybody. “Well, Jello. If you come by Featherstone when the Raven Queen holds court, you can see my more visceral self on full display,” I said. “But until then, I’ll ask where we’re supposed to go from here.” The spider chuckled and looked into my hair, trying to find a certain piskie with his eyes alone. When he didn’t have any luck, Jello rolled his eyes and pointed to a filthy door covered in dust and mold. “Out that door, up the cement stairs to your left, and outside by the garage. That’ll spit you out onto a path the humans call Free Street,” Jello said. I thanked him, and we left without Barsilla saying a word. Once I’d started up the stairs, she poked her head out next to my ear and said, “Just for the record, in Faerie, his kind prey upon piskies. They find the best hiding spots in the forest and then drop on any little fae that happens to be hovering over the ground, looking for nuts or fruit.” This was a tender confession from the tiny person who’d left me paralyzed on the floor during our first meeting. So I put all that aside before I spoke. “I figured it was something like that. But it’s not like I would have let him do anything to you,” I said. “Afraid of how your mistress might react?” Barsilla asked. Shaking my head, I sighed. “I just know what it’s like to be a tiny thing standing before a giant monster that wants nothing more than to hurt you. You try to shrink yourself down so that the monster doesn’t see you, but it’s never small enough. I always hoped someone would come along when I was trying to shrink myself and snatch me away. So I guess today I just wanted to be the person that would snatch you to safety,” I said, finally spotting a metal door with sunlight streaming in. Varella’s left-hand lady didn’t say anything for a moment. But right before we got outside, she spoke. “That’s actually how her majesty found me, you know? I was in the web of someone like Jello, crying out for help. Most faeries ignore such cries since the forest can be filled with them at times. And if you anger a spider, there’s always the chance they’ll scurry off to a Gohma to have her curse you.” “A Gohma?” I asked. Barsilla placed both hands on the back of my ear to steady herself as I climbed the last few steps. “Queens among the spiderlings. Some of them are quite powerful, and once in a while, they’ll curse anyone who causes trouble with their underlings. That is, they’ll curse anyone. . . except for the ruler of a court. Varella happened to be flying by, heard my cries, and for reasons I’ve never been able to figure out, plucked me from the web. The spiderling that was savoring me was too frightened to say a word. He just hid under a bush, waiting for the Raven Queen to fly away. I’ve served her loyally ever since,” the piskie said. Holy shit. Am I bonding with the piskie? I thought, again squashing the temptation to say something mocking of the little fae which could and would get revenge when we returned to Featherstone. At that moment, Lady Bon-Hwa’s words came back to me. She said I craved legitimacy from beings that wore many masks. Had Barsilla just dropped hers? “How you felt when she plucked you from the web, Barsilla?” I started. She gripped my ear a little tighter. “That’s how I felt the day I struck the bargain with my mistress. Like she’d pulled me out of the jaws of death or something.” I heard the piskie rub her chin. “So when you submit to the queen, it’s about more than a simple pleasure for you. Immense gratitude is also mixed in there somewhere,” she said. Clearing my throat, I felt heat rush to my cheeks. Barsilla was the last person I wanted to discuss submissiveness with. I’d talk about it with Ceras before her. And even they weren’t high on the list. Walking outside, I heard the cries of gulls above us and heard a couple boys laughing as their mother walked by with a shopping bag that said “Remys” on it. Now that was a store I remembered. My father dragged me there more times than I could count. And it was always a long haul down to Bangor to visit. The sky above us was cloudy, and a chilly wind gusted by occasionally, bringing with it smells of a harbor not too far away. A normal person wouldn’t smell it from this distance. But I could smell boat fuel and seafood. “Do you remember the address?” I asked Barsilla. “I remember the way from here. The last time I came to the human city of Portland it was through a different pathway. But if you walk down a block and turn left, it’ll spit you out on a path called Congress Street.” Doing as I was told, I found myself on what appeared the be the busiest street in downtown Portland. Barsilla guided me with whispers to continue onward past the downtown square where a statue of a large woman stood overlooking dozens of people shopping or visiting restaurants or coming out of the public library. I read a message on the side that said, “To her sons who died for the Union.” Barsilla whispered, “I’ve never understood that message. What’s the Union? Some kind of human court?” Sighing and shaking my head, I tried to figure out the easiest way to explain this particularly bloody piece of U.S. history. “A couple centuries back, this country tore itself in two. There was the Confederacy and the Union. People from Maine, that’s where we are now, fought for the Union, which tried to put the country back together again.” “Did the Union succeed?” I nodded. “They won the war, but a lot of shit happened afterward I don’t want to get into. And when I left this place to move into Featherstone — well, let’s just say I’d rather live in Faerie than any part of this world,” I said. With the guidance of Varella’s left-hand lady, we continued walking down Congress Street for at least a mile before she told me to make a turn. We walked past an old Italian grocery store, turned again, and finally arrived at a dentist's office. “Big Smiles? What kind of name is that?” I asked, looking inside. “The name of a business where mortals go to get their teeth fixed because they don’t have glamour to do it for them. Consider yourself fortunate the palace healers make this place unnecessary in Faerie,” Barsilla said, tapping on my ear for me to go inside. Sighing, I did as I was told. . . again. Unlike most dentist’s offices I’d been in, this one was immaculately clean and polished. Behind two receptionists stood a wall covered entirely in ivy. And it was real. I smelled its vegetative scent from where I stood. To my right stood a glass wall with a water feature running underneath the reflective surface. A little transparent refrigerator sat next to some uncomfortable wooden chairs, and it was filled with bottled water. “Hi there!” one of the receptionists said. He appeared to be freshly graduated from college and wore a button-down shirt and black pants. His nametag said “Jace,” and had “He/Him” pronouns listed underneath. “Uh, hi,” I said, trying to remember the coded message my mistress taught me before leaving Featherstone. “I need to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. I’m trying to get the shinest teeth in all the land.” I resisted the urge to slap my face in embarrassment. What kind of stupid code was that? This receptionist was just as likely to throw me out as he was to find me a nightmare fae by the name of Dramyra. Jace snickered a little and said, “Well, who doesn’t love shiny teeth? And we’ve got a great new polishing technique our dentists just started using this month.” An older woman’s voice spoke from behind me. “That won’t be necessary, Jace. I’ll see her now.” Jace looked surprised. “Are you sure, Dr. Murphy? I think you’ve got an appointment in 15,” he said. The voice behind me waved off his concern. “Just have Melissa take care of that one. This is important.” Jace scratched his wavy brown hair and nodded before punching something into his keyboard. I could only assume he was editing an appointment at the last minute. When I turned to see who’d been giving orders to the receptionist, I spotted a woman who appeared to be in her early 50s leaning around a corner. She wore a long white jacket and had eyes the color of jasper. As I stared, she blinked horizontally instead of vertically like every other human I’d met. As my eyes widened, she smiled, and I noticed an inhuman pointedness to her teeth. . . all four rows of them. “Why don’t you come this way, and I’ll get you settled?” the fae said. I gulped and nodded, suddenly getting the heebie-jeebies from this person I was going to follow into a private area. Dr. Murphy led me past an X-ray room, a couple rooms with kid-sized dentist seats and small televisions mounted on the roof, and an employee bathroom. At last, we came to her private office, and she opened the door, motioning for me to enter. When I hesitated, she said, “Oh come now. I wouldn’t be so foolish as to harm one hair on the Raven Queen’s pet. Few would be that dumb.” Walking inside the surprisingly plain office, I was greeted by a tiny sofa, a mini fridge, a marker board, and a skylight. The walls were painted beige, and a desktop computer sat over in the corner on a screensaver with fish swimming by. I took a seat on the sofa, and our faerie host closed the door behind us, locking it, which caused me to gulp again. As soon as the door was closed, the fae dropped her glamor, and before me stood a five-foot-tall woman with pointed ears, turquoise skin, and a shaved head. When she smiled, I saw those four rows of razor teeth and two tongues, one purple, one red. Her eyes now blinked vertically every few seconds, and they were the color of sand. Black curled horns hung down from the back of the faerie’s skull, wrapping around her ears and ending in spiky white tips. The faerie leaned against her door and stared down at her claws, which were painted a shade of crimson. “Dramyra,” Barsilla said, flying out from my hair and bowing her head. “It’s been some time.” The fae did not seem very impressed at the piskie’s sudden appearance. “Well well. . . if it isn’t the Raven Queen’s left-hand lady. I don’t recall receiving a letter warning of your arrival.” Now I spoke up, bowing my head. “Apologies. The queen has been busy preparing for a trip to Kilgara. She didn’t mean to offend by sending us without an announced arrival,” I said. I shivered when Dramyra’s sandy eyes looked me over. It felt like. . . like it wasn’t just her eyes watching me, but her shadow’s eyes as well. And I didn’t like that one bit. She smelled of vetiver and leather. It was a strange combination that seemed to whisper much more was hiding beneath the surface. “First time seeing a nightara?” Dramyra asked, watching me shiver for the third time in the last hour. It wasn’t like the room was cold. Rather, it felt like her glamor kept brushing up against me and light scraping over my arms. “What’s a—” I started, rather stupidly. Barsilla cut me off. “Dramyra is a nightmare faerie. Her sister rules the Nightmare Court.” “Well just give her my life story, why don’t you, Barsilla?” Dramyra sassed, folding her arms and locking with my eyes. The room fell silent. I sure as hell didn’t know what to say, so I did what I always did in that situation. . . asked a dumb question. “Excuse me, Dramyra?” She smiled at me. “Yes, royal pet?” I do not like it when she calls me that, I thought. In fact, I don’t like it when she calls me anything. Taking a deep breath as Barsilla turned to flash me a look that said, “Be careful, puppy,” I raised an eyebrow. “My mistress said you lived here in the human world permanently. I was wondering. . . how you survived here in a world of iron and without any glamour?” Dramyra ran a finger down one of her arms. “Well, for starters, all of my tools here in the office aren’t made of iron. They’re custom designed from silver. Not an ounce of iron here. And I assure you, I have all the glamour I need.” I must have looked like I had more questions because Dramyra pointed a finger at me. “You must not have a solid grasp on how glamour works. Glamour isn’t something that just exists naturally in this world or Faerie. Rather, fae produce glamour by feeding. Different fae feed in different ways. Your queen feeds off your affections as well as the power of her throne itself. And I. . . well, I feed off the fear of others.” That sounded pretty damn terrifying. . . which I’m sure was exactly the effect Dramyra must have intended because she just laughed when I slunk down into the couch. “Oh relax. It’s not so bad. I learned a few decades ago that there are some things mortals fear collectively as a species. And one of them?” It clicked in my head. “The dentist! I fucking hated visiting the dentist. Growing up, there was no place more terrifying. With every visit, I was petrified that I needed yet another filling or maybe even a root canal.” Dramyra looked pleased with my figuring it out. “Exactly. So, knowing this, I disguised myself as a dentist, opened this business, and the mortals bring me their terrified children every single day. All I have to do is walk up and down the hall with a mask on my face, looking at paperwork, and nobody suspects a thing. The entire office fills with fear, which I devour, and then I can produce all the glamour I need.” When I realized this, it was kind of ingenious. This was like. . . the ultimate business model for a nightmare fae like Dramyra. And if this place went belly up, she could always disguise herself as an IRS agent. Though that might get her more anger than fear. Barsilla cleared her throat. “Oh, yes. You were getting ready to explain why you showed up without warning. Well, go on, little piskie,” Dramyra said, her smile fading as she turned her attention back to Varella’s left-hand lady. Pulling out her little clipboard and an even smaller pencil, the piskie looked over a few things as if she was steadying herself for what had to be said. “Queen Varella is officially calling in her favor. Decades ago, she hid you—” “I know why I owe her,” Dramyra snapped, her sandy eyes glowing orange. “You can skip that part.” Barsilla quickly crossed something off on her papers. “Right, well, she wants you to make a request to your sister, the Nightmare Queen. Her majesty informed me Queen Trylla will grant you anything you ask of her.” The nightara rubbed her chin as she leaned against the wall even more. “It’s true. My little sister adores me. Though I don’t know what the Raven Queen would want from her.” I looked back and forth between the fae, finding myself wondering about how my mistress hid the nightmare fae before me. What were the circumstances? Was it a witness protection kind of thing? Did faeries even have need of that? It’s not like they can call some vacuum store and vanish to Alaska, I thought, scratching the back of my head. Barsilla looked down at her notes, not meeting Dramyra’s eyes when she relayed my mistress’ request. “The Raven Queen wants you to ask your sister for her vote in Kilgara.” Silence filled the room again as I heard Barsilla’s tiny heart beating like that of a hummingbird. She was sweating a little, too. But Dramyra’s mood changed almost instantly. She laughed louder than I’d heard before and threw her head back. “Ahahahaha! So, Queen Varella is making a move for Bliss. How interesting! Not in a thousand years would I have guessed such a thing. That ought to make for a very interesting summit with the other courts. Suddenly this mission of great importance made more sense. My mistress sent us to cash in a favor so she could try and stack the deck before we gathered with the other rulers of Faerie to decide who would host Bliss. The nightara locked eyes with me, and I felt more gooseflesh crawling over my arms and thighs. I really wished she would stop doing that. “Very well, piskie. I will do as the Raven Queen asks. It’s not like I have the power to refuse a favor when I’m in her debt. So you may scurry back with the young wolf here and tell her at least one vote is safely in her corner,” Dramyra said. “As for you, Sierra, I hope you're ready to meet folks even scarier than me. And I’d stick real close to that mistress of yours once you leave the halls of Featherstone. You have no idea just how many lords and ladies of Faerie would love to have themselves a pet werewolf. You’re quite—” “Rare,” I finished for her. “I’ve heard it before.” I sounded agitated, but I was just trying to mask my fear. I’d happily submit to my mistress a thousand times. But I was no fool. I knew there were cruel immortals all through Faerie that would find worse ways to hurt me than my father ever could have. And we were off to a summit where they’d all be gathered. As we left the dentist, I hoped and prayed my inner wolf had gotten at least a few memories of today and would understand she needed to carry the visage of an absolute killer. I didn’t want to end up in the clutches of a nightara. . . or worse. |
2023.06.08 05:44 Blue_october42 Does anyone else’s Nparent act like they can’t remember anything?
Hi all,
Does anyone else’s parent act like they can’t remember anything?
My mom (60s) tells me things and then asks me what she said five or so minutes later. Instead of writing a list for grocery shopping, she tells me what she wants to buy and then asks me what she wanted once we actually start shopping. When I suggest she actually make a list (I put a pad and a pen on the refrigerator door just for the purpose of writing things down as we run out of them), she says that’s too much work and “that’s why I tell you, so you can remember!” When I tell her I won’t be here forever so she needs another way to remember, she gets angry.
But she always seems to remember things she wants to remember. She remembers her grandchildren’s birthdays, she remembers Mother’s Day, she remembers other random things. But remembering to make a grocery list is too much work?
She says her memory is like a sieve and laughs about it. Her grandmother died of Alzheimer’s and her mother is currently showing symptoms of dementia. She says she’s sure she’ll get it too (because according to her she gets every ailment her mother gets). Yet she laughs about her “spotty” memory. Why isn’t she terrified? I’m terrified of getting any form of dementia; I certainly wouldn’t be laughing about it.
I give her ideas to improve her memory, but she doesn’t listen. She says that doing any of the things I suggest is too much work.
Does/has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for reading.
submitted by Blue_october42 to raisedbynarcissists [link] [comments]
Does anyone else’s parent act like they can’t remember anything?
My mom (60s) tells me things and then asks me what she said five or so minutes later. Instead of writing a list for grocery shopping, she tells me what she wants to buy and then asks me what she wanted once we actually start shopping. When I suggest she actually make a list (I put a pad and a pen on the refrigerator door just for the purpose of writing things down as we run out of them), she says that’s too much work and “that’s why I tell you, so you can remember!” When I tell her I won’t be here forever so she needs another way to remember, she gets angry.
But she always seems to remember things she wants to remember. She remembers her grandchildren’s birthdays, she remembers Mother’s Day, she remembers other random things. But remembering to make a grocery list is too much work?
She says her memory is like a sieve and laughs about it. Her grandmother died of Alzheimer’s and her mother is currently showing symptoms of dementia. She says she’s sure she’ll get it too (because according to her she gets every ailment her mother gets). Yet she laughs about her “spotty” memory. Why isn’t she terrified? I’m terrified of getting any form of dementia; I certainly wouldn’t be laughing about it.
I give her ideas to improve her memory, but she doesn’t listen. She says that doing any of the things I suggest is too much work.
Does/has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for reading.
2023.06.08 02:16 Dazzling-Ad-9949 Thoughts on this French bedroom door ?
 | My condo has these doors as the bedroom door . submitted by Dazzling-Ad-9949 to homerenovations [link] [comments] Many of my family and friends think I should keep it because of its value and aesthetic instead of replacing it with a classic modern basic door from homedepot . What would you do? |
2023.06.08 02:12 Phallus_Maximus69E My review of The Chinese Army 1937–49: World War II and Civil War
3/5 stars
The Chinese Army (KMT) was an important allied contributor in the war against Japan, mainly as a punching bag. The KMT had just emerged victorious in the warlord period and was hopelessly outclassed by the more sophisticated Japanese. This book is supposed to give visual structure to the KMT in this period, and in this regard achieves only marginal success due to poor plates and a bloated subject matter - why include the civil war in such a tiny book?
After being advised by the USSR, the KMT received a Nazi German military mission which formed ten élite divisions equipped with the famous M35 German steel helmet. Those divisions would be destroyed in Shanghai and Nanking; a trend for the KMT during the war: armies would be continually raised and crushed throughout the war, ending 1945 with a seemingly strong and well-equipped force that would be routed by the Communists in the final showdown of the civil war.
The greatest problem with this book is "Show, don't tell". The author tries to present the KMT soldier as a salvagable case but the text does not convey this view properly - especially by the ill-judgement of including the civil war. Even fighting the Japanese in Shanghai 500,000 to 200,000 the KMT still managed to lose; with élite German-trained troops notwithstanding.
The armoured forces are discussed this time, with the author claiming the US-trained ones could-maybe-luckily-perhaps be almost an equal to their Japanese enemies, but I am not convinced. Not mentioned is the fact the KMT had 15 Panzer I light tanks for the fight in 1937; it didn't make them much good, but still. The KMT paratroops got only one single photograph with the description hammering yet again the trope and nothing else. Something that could have been mentioned is that some of those paratroopers would hijack a ship from Taiwan and defect to mainland China in the early 1950's.
There is a cronology at the beginning of the book and I was surprised to see the Chinese did manage to beat the Japanese back a few times - even if unskillfully and at great cost. The more manageable time frame was mostly wasted in repetition and a poor grasp of visual representation; making this one of the few Osprey books where photographs are better than the plates. The book also suffers from lack of proper proof-reading, with many typos, lack of spaces and bold where it is due.
The plates are ugly, underwhelming, disproportionate and very repetitive; showing pretty much the same thing over and over again. The style is bad and many figures are just too small to present the bagdes and ranks painstakingly described in the text - sometimes not even present in the illustration - and some of the plates are almost exact copies of others simply to show a badge you can barely see. The author again places the KMT ranking system (half the page) already showed in the previous book (and again in the next) and another half-page written description of the old and new shoulder straps. Those lenghty and overlapping explanations should have been visually represented in the plates, with the actual colors and shapes. Some plates should have depicted only the bust of the soldiers with the head gear and rank insignia - show, don't tell.
The core value of this book is the discussion about the KMT strengths and weaknesses. The KMT units ranged from adequate to very poor (to the point of being useless). The brutal military culture in China gave no reward for victory beside the opportunity for pillaging, and the Chinese peasant soldier had no emotional stake beyond his own immediate unit. Very little changed from the peasant levies of the medieval periods and their mindset is also interesting: courage and endurance were not the qualities looked on to, but rather caution and cunning in an environment riddled with feuds and constant betrayals.
The Chinese soldier was always in trouble and when he wasn't chased by the Japanese soldiers and Chinese puppet troops, he had to contend with the Communists and with his own paucity of resources in a squalid country. It was also common for Chinese soldiers to be absorbed by the victorious armies when defeated (the cadres could be killed, though) and the KMT also lost many men that way, especially in 1948. Not mentioned in the book is that the long suffering peasant soldier of the KMT would still be braving enemy fire as far as 1953 against the UN forces in Korea.
The narrative is very laborious to read, plagued by repetition, padding and a narrow focus on uniform details - how many times do we need to read about puttees and shoes? I got it the first time. Might as well just make a footwear section of one paragraph. The constant repetition left out far too much, such as the US-KMT relation, the KMT occupation of northern French Indochina and the island battles up to 1950.
The lack of unity would be the KMT's undoing, especially with their abusive relationship with the Americans. The author describes the incompetent General Stilwell as "the logical choice", which is ludicrous. He was awfully unfit for the job, having served behind a desk up to that point and lacking strategic vision; he and his second in command (who was recommended sacking and court-martial by Stilwell's successor) would have been easily banished from commanding even a cleaning working party if they were in North Africa or France. Stilwell also kept holding Lend-Lease material from the Chinese as blackmail and used the Chinese as cannon fodder throughout the war against the KMT's best interests.
The KMT also had the problem of taking cities in Manchuria that were stripped clean of industrial machinery by the Soviets; sort of karma really, since the KMT occupied the Tonkin in French Indochina and refused to leave until reaping the profits of the poppy production there. Not to mention that the KMT also interned the French forces that shot their way through the 800km of jungle from Tonkin to China, in a running battle with the Japanese, as if the French were enemies and not allies. The KMT march to occupy the Tonkin was also painfully slow - they took three months to march on foot - and the Viet Minh had time to build their cadres, terrorize the population and to capture Japanese weapons. All of which they kept doing with the KMT there, with the addition of buying weapons from those very troops.
The subject is interesting and the author is knowlegeable on the subject matter, but the true "face of battle" endured by the KMT soldier remained elusive amid constant detours to appease modellers. The author devotes adequate space for weaponry and tanks (albeit wasted in those awful plates) and the discussion of the motley supply the KMT had. Thankfully, the author sticked to Wade-Giles, so the reader can more easily follow through the narrative. The photographs are high quality and the first half of the book is compelling. The author also published longer books on the subject such as "Soldiers of the White Sun: The Chinese Army at War, 1931-1949" (208 pages) and "China's Wars: Rousing the Dragon 1894-1949" (400 pages).
submitted by Phallus_Maximus69E to books [link] [comments]
The Chinese Army (KMT) was an important allied contributor in the war against Japan, mainly as a punching bag. The KMT had just emerged victorious in the warlord period and was hopelessly outclassed by the more sophisticated Japanese. This book is supposed to give visual structure to the KMT in this period, and in this regard achieves only marginal success due to poor plates and a bloated subject matter - why include the civil war in such a tiny book?
After being advised by the USSR, the KMT received a Nazi German military mission which formed ten élite divisions equipped with the famous M35 German steel helmet. Those divisions would be destroyed in Shanghai and Nanking; a trend for the KMT during the war: armies would be continually raised and crushed throughout the war, ending 1945 with a seemingly strong and well-equipped force that would be routed by the Communists in the final showdown of the civil war.
The greatest problem with this book is "Show, don't tell". The author tries to present the KMT soldier as a salvagable case but the text does not convey this view properly - especially by the ill-judgement of including the civil war. Even fighting the Japanese in Shanghai 500,000 to 200,000 the KMT still managed to lose; with élite German-trained troops notwithstanding.
The armoured forces are discussed this time, with the author claiming the US-trained ones could-maybe-luckily-perhaps be almost an equal to their Japanese enemies, but I am not convinced. Not mentioned is the fact the KMT had 15 Panzer I light tanks for the fight in 1937; it didn't make them much good, but still. The KMT paratroops got only one single photograph with the description hammering yet again the trope and nothing else. Something that could have been mentioned is that some of those paratroopers would hijack a ship from Taiwan and defect to mainland China in the early 1950's.
There is a cronology at the beginning of the book and I was surprised to see the Chinese did manage to beat the Japanese back a few times - even if unskillfully and at great cost. The more manageable time frame was mostly wasted in repetition and a poor grasp of visual representation; making this one of the few Osprey books where photographs are better than the plates. The book also suffers from lack of proper proof-reading, with many typos, lack of spaces and bold where it is due.
The plates are ugly, underwhelming, disproportionate and very repetitive; showing pretty much the same thing over and over again. The style is bad and many figures are just too small to present the bagdes and ranks painstakingly described in the text - sometimes not even present in the illustration - and some of the plates are almost exact copies of others simply to show a badge you can barely see. The author again places the KMT ranking system (half the page) already showed in the previous book (and again in the next) and another half-page written description of the old and new shoulder straps. Those lenghty and overlapping explanations should have been visually represented in the plates, with the actual colors and shapes. Some plates should have depicted only the bust of the soldiers with the head gear and rank insignia - show, don't tell.
The core value of this book is the discussion about the KMT strengths and weaknesses. The KMT units ranged from adequate to very poor (to the point of being useless). The brutal military culture in China gave no reward for victory beside the opportunity for pillaging, and the Chinese peasant soldier had no emotional stake beyond his own immediate unit. Very little changed from the peasant levies of the medieval periods and their mindset is also interesting: courage and endurance were not the qualities looked on to, but rather caution and cunning in an environment riddled with feuds and constant betrayals.
The Chinese soldier was always in trouble and when he wasn't chased by the Japanese soldiers and Chinese puppet troops, he had to contend with the Communists and with his own paucity of resources in a squalid country. It was also common for Chinese soldiers to be absorbed by the victorious armies when defeated (the cadres could be killed, though) and the KMT also lost many men that way, especially in 1948. Not mentioned in the book is that the long suffering peasant soldier of the KMT would still be braving enemy fire as far as 1953 against the UN forces in Korea.
The narrative is very laborious to read, plagued by repetition, padding and a narrow focus on uniform details - how many times do we need to read about puttees and shoes? I got it the first time. Might as well just make a footwear section of one paragraph. The constant repetition left out far too much, such as the US-KMT relation, the KMT occupation of northern French Indochina and the island battles up to 1950.
The lack of unity would be the KMT's undoing, especially with their abusive relationship with the Americans. The author describes the incompetent General Stilwell as "the logical choice", which is ludicrous. He was awfully unfit for the job, having served behind a desk up to that point and lacking strategic vision; he and his second in command (who was recommended sacking and court-martial by Stilwell's successor) would have been easily banished from commanding even a cleaning working party if they were in North Africa or France. Stilwell also kept holding Lend-Lease material from the Chinese as blackmail and used the Chinese as cannon fodder throughout the war against the KMT's best interests.
The KMT also had the problem of taking cities in Manchuria that were stripped clean of industrial machinery by the Soviets; sort of karma really, since the KMT occupied the Tonkin in French Indochina and refused to leave until reaping the profits of the poppy production there. Not to mention that the KMT also interned the French forces that shot their way through the 800km of jungle from Tonkin to China, in a running battle with the Japanese, as if the French were enemies and not allies. The KMT march to occupy the Tonkin was also painfully slow - they took three months to march on foot - and the Viet Minh had time to build their cadres, terrorize the population and to capture Japanese weapons. All of which they kept doing with the KMT there, with the addition of buying weapons from those very troops.
The subject is interesting and the author is knowlegeable on the subject matter, but the true "face of battle" endured by the KMT soldier remained elusive amid constant detours to appease modellers. The author devotes adequate space for weaponry and tanks (albeit wasted in those awful plates) and the discussion of the motley supply the KMT had. Thankfully, the author sticked to Wade-Giles, so the reader can more easily follow through the narrative. The photographs are high quality and the first half of the book is compelling. The author also published longer books on the subject such as "Soldiers of the White Sun: The Chinese Army at War, 1931-1949" (208 pages) and "China's Wars: Rousing the Dragon 1894-1949" (400 pages).
2023.06.08 01:49 IceQueenWeiss Selling epic games account + coupon 25% expire june 15
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2023.06.08 00:48 Just-Impression-4547 Exterior French Door Finishing
submitted by Just-Impression-4547 to u/Just-Impression-4547 [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 00:38 BowLit Customer comment my girlfriend sent from work.
submitted by BowLit to EntitledBitch [link] [comments]
2023.06.08 00:32 sophia333 Help figuring out how to make a glass door with nonstandard height
I want to add French doors or glass doors of some kind to the back of my 7x16. It has a cable ramp door so this would need to be set inside the trailer a bit as I want to keep the ramp door also. Problem is the people that insulated the trailer before I bought it did so in a way that shortened it. The height in that area is like 65". I can't find doors that size and my husband isn't likely to fabricate something that requires cutting glass so what are my options? I see that shower doors come in this height. That isn't ideal as they are probably not super strong but would that be doable?
I'll add a comment with examples of what I'm hoping to do.
submitted by sophia333 to traveltrailers [link] [comments]
I'll add a comment with examples of what I'm hoping to do.
2023.06.07 23:43 MellifluousManatee Kitchen Nightmares Hall of Shame – Season 1
👎Martin from Dillon’s: The general manager of an NYC Indian/American restaurant. Aside from socializing and playing on his phone, Martin doesn't seem to do much of anything.
The dining room walls are draped in hospital linens, creating an unappealing ambiance. After praying the meal will not kill him, Gordon finds meat in the vegetarian appetizer sampler and is served lamb in place of beef. He summons the chef responsible for the abominable burnt salmon and potato dish and makes him eat it.
Gordon inspects the kitchen and quickly discovers it is infested with vermin. He also finds moldy meat and rotten produce. Shocked and repulsed by his findings, Gordon shuts down Dillon's. He hires steam cleaners to sanitize the restaurant and disposes of the rancid inventory. Gordon takes the owner and managers to his restaurant London to show them what a kitchen should look like.
Gordon chastises Martin’s odd demeanor, preoccupation with his phone, and lazing about at work. When a server tells Gordon his criticism of Martin is angering her, he explains that his issue is with Martin and requests that she stfu and mind her own business.
During service, Martin is awkward and befuddled. The kitchen gets backed up and customers complain about the food; Martin does fuck all about it as usual. His ineptitude frustrates everyone around him, yet his nonchalance persists.
Gordon tells owner Mohammad that Martin is manipulating him. Incensed by the allegation, Martin accuses Gordon of slandering him. He then quits his job, saving himself from further humiliation. Martin unsuccessfully sued Gordon after the episode wrapped.
👎Michele from The Secret Garden: The overconfident Michele seems to believe that being French is synonymous with being a great chef. His menu is comprised of bizarre dishes that have failed to attract customers. Michele’s staff is not shy about pointing out his shortcomings, calling him arrogant and temperamental.
Gordon is appalled at finding mold and maggots in Michele’s filthy kitchen. Michele is unconcerned by his unhygienic practices, telling Gordon he once worked for renowned chef Thomas Keller. Gordon retorts by asserting that Thomas Keller would be embarrassed by the state of Michele’s kitchen. Michele claims his business is lucrative but fails to give Gordon an answer when asked about his annual profit. Gordon has the staff clean the kitchen from top to bottom.
At dinner service, Michele abandons his post to fraternize with customers in service of his ego. Gordon accuses Michele of being more in love with himself than he is with the restaurant. In an attempt to get Michele to see the light, Gordon boards up the premises with plywood and closed signs. Michele is enraged by the stunt and worries it will lead potential patrons to think the restaurant has gone out of business.
Gordon’s new specials do not impress Michele, who claims Gordon is not a great chef. Despite Michele’s disapproval, the specials prove popular with customers. A lack of communication between the front and back of the house results in long wait times and dissatisfied diners. Michele responds to the crisis by comping many orders. Server Jane becomes fed up with Michele’s constant disrespect and leaves the restaurant.
Gordon criticizes the aesthetics of the dining room, which is filled with tacky antiques; Michele calls it charming. While the staff is delighted with the updated look, Michele is anything but. Gordon replaces Michele’s crusted and stuffed dishes with modern fare, but Michele worries that customers will long for his culinary creations.
At relaunch, a food critic is served over-seasoned tuna. Michele declares the new menu is not up to par and attempts to win over the food critic with his stuffed fillet of beef, much to Gordon’s horror. In the heat of an argument, Gordon loses his temper with Michele and calls him a lazy cunt. Gordon screams at Michele to clean his kitchen, but the Frenchman steadfastly refuses.
Gordon convinces Michele to serve a proper dish from the new menu in place of Michele’s disastrous dish. The food critic is pleased with her meal, but Michele does not believe customers prefer Gordon's dishes over his own. After Michele learns the restaurant made $3000 that night, he finally seems convinced that Gordon’s changes are for the better. After Gordon left, Michele claimed that customer demand for his dishes resulted in him bringing back the old menu.
👎Sebastian from Sebastian’s: Owner Sebastian is obsessed with his complex menu concept of gourmet flavor combinations, which he believes is his establishment's claim to fame. Gordon finds the menu needlessly complicated and is flabbergasted when Sebastian reveals that in addition to the 20 combinations on the menu, he has come up with 20 more.
Sebastian lies to Gordon about the calamari being fresh and whines to his parents on the phone after Gordon disparages his pathetic food. He tells Gordon his aspiration is to become an international franchise; an exasperated Gordon attempts to reason with him to no avail. Gordon then catches Sebastian bragging that he won the argument and calls bullshit.
Gordon conducts a kitchen inspection and finds nothing but frozen food. Sebastian comps $300 worth of food due to customer complaints and abandons the restaurant to hang out with his friends. He tells Gordon that regaling customers with his presence makes up for the substandard food. Gordon asks Sebastian if he's happy being a fake chef; Sebastian says he doesn’t believe he’s a fake chef and restates his desire to become a global brand.
Although the ridiculous menu confuses staff and customers alike, Sebastian is devoted to it above all else. Gordon's first order of business is getting rid of Sebastian's menu, much to the latter's distress. Sebastian claims the new menu lacks uniqueness and remains fixated on his crazy concept. A frustrated Sebastian retreats to his office and complains that the staff are shirking their cleaning duties.
Despite the new menu being a hit with customers, Sebastian reinstates the old menu, saying he will never forsake his flavor combinations. Gordon tells Sebastian he has never met someone he believes in as little as him. After an outburst in front of staff, an unhinged Sebastian confronts Gordon, who calls him an ungrateful, nasty, vindictive joker.
After taking a breather outside, Sebastian sees the error of his ways and returns to the restaurant. Despite his teary epiphany, Sebastian immediately reverted to the old menu after Gordon left, and the restaurant closed its doors a few months after the episode aired.
submitted by MellifluousManatee to KitchenNightmares [link] [comments]
The dining room walls are draped in hospital linens, creating an unappealing ambiance. After praying the meal will not kill him, Gordon finds meat in the vegetarian appetizer sampler and is served lamb in place of beef. He summons the chef responsible for the abominable burnt salmon and potato dish and makes him eat it.
Gordon inspects the kitchen and quickly discovers it is infested with vermin. He also finds moldy meat and rotten produce. Shocked and repulsed by his findings, Gordon shuts down Dillon's. He hires steam cleaners to sanitize the restaurant and disposes of the rancid inventory. Gordon takes the owner and managers to his restaurant London to show them what a kitchen should look like.
Gordon chastises Martin’s odd demeanor, preoccupation with his phone, and lazing about at work. When a server tells Gordon his criticism of Martin is angering her, he explains that his issue is with Martin and requests that she stfu and mind her own business.
During service, Martin is awkward and befuddled. The kitchen gets backed up and customers complain about the food; Martin does fuck all about it as usual. His ineptitude frustrates everyone around him, yet his nonchalance persists.
Gordon tells owner Mohammad that Martin is manipulating him. Incensed by the allegation, Martin accuses Gordon of slandering him. He then quits his job, saving himself from further humiliation. Martin unsuccessfully sued Gordon after the episode wrapped.
👎Michele from The Secret Garden: The overconfident Michele seems to believe that being French is synonymous with being a great chef. His menu is comprised of bizarre dishes that have failed to attract customers. Michele’s staff is not shy about pointing out his shortcomings, calling him arrogant and temperamental.
Gordon is appalled at finding mold and maggots in Michele’s filthy kitchen. Michele is unconcerned by his unhygienic practices, telling Gordon he once worked for renowned chef Thomas Keller. Gordon retorts by asserting that Thomas Keller would be embarrassed by the state of Michele’s kitchen. Michele claims his business is lucrative but fails to give Gordon an answer when asked about his annual profit. Gordon has the staff clean the kitchen from top to bottom.
At dinner service, Michele abandons his post to fraternize with customers in service of his ego. Gordon accuses Michele of being more in love with himself than he is with the restaurant. In an attempt to get Michele to see the light, Gordon boards up the premises with plywood and closed signs. Michele is enraged by the stunt and worries it will lead potential patrons to think the restaurant has gone out of business.
Gordon’s new specials do not impress Michele, who claims Gordon is not a great chef. Despite Michele’s disapproval, the specials prove popular with customers. A lack of communication between the front and back of the house results in long wait times and dissatisfied diners. Michele responds to the crisis by comping many orders. Server Jane becomes fed up with Michele’s constant disrespect and leaves the restaurant.
Gordon criticizes the aesthetics of the dining room, which is filled with tacky antiques; Michele calls it charming. While the staff is delighted with the updated look, Michele is anything but. Gordon replaces Michele’s crusted and stuffed dishes with modern fare, but Michele worries that customers will long for his culinary creations.
At relaunch, a food critic is served over-seasoned tuna. Michele declares the new menu is not up to par and attempts to win over the food critic with his stuffed fillet of beef, much to Gordon’s horror. In the heat of an argument, Gordon loses his temper with Michele and calls him a lazy cunt. Gordon screams at Michele to clean his kitchen, but the Frenchman steadfastly refuses.
Gordon convinces Michele to serve a proper dish from the new menu in place of Michele’s disastrous dish. The food critic is pleased with her meal, but Michele does not believe customers prefer Gordon's dishes over his own. After Michele learns the restaurant made $3000 that night, he finally seems convinced that Gordon’s changes are for the better. After Gordon left, Michele claimed that customer demand for his dishes resulted in him bringing back the old menu.
👎Sebastian from Sebastian’s: Owner Sebastian is obsessed with his complex menu concept of gourmet flavor combinations, which he believes is his establishment's claim to fame. Gordon finds the menu needlessly complicated and is flabbergasted when Sebastian reveals that in addition to the 20 combinations on the menu, he has come up with 20 more.
Sebastian lies to Gordon about the calamari being fresh and whines to his parents on the phone after Gordon disparages his pathetic food. He tells Gordon his aspiration is to become an international franchise; an exasperated Gordon attempts to reason with him to no avail. Gordon then catches Sebastian bragging that he won the argument and calls bullshit.
Gordon conducts a kitchen inspection and finds nothing but frozen food. Sebastian comps $300 worth of food due to customer complaints and abandons the restaurant to hang out with his friends. He tells Gordon that regaling customers with his presence makes up for the substandard food. Gordon asks Sebastian if he's happy being a fake chef; Sebastian says he doesn’t believe he’s a fake chef and restates his desire to become a global brand.
Although the ridiculous menu confuses staff and customers alike, Sebastian is devoted to it above all else. Gordon's first order of business is getting rid of Sebastian's menu, much to the latter's distress. Sebastian claims the new menu lacks uniqueness and remains fixated on his crazy concept. A frustrated Sebastian retreats to his office and complains that the staff are shirking their cleaning duties.
Despite the new menu being a hit with customers, Sebastian reinstates the old menu, saying he will never forsake his flavor combinations. Gordon tells Sebastian he has never met someone he believes in as little as him. After an outburst in front of staff, an unhinged Sebastian confronts Gordon, who calls him an ungrateful, nasty, vindictive joker.
After taking a breather outside, Sebastian sees the error of his ways and returns to the restaurant. Despite his teary epiphany, Sebastian immediately reverted to the old menu after Gordon left, and the restaurant closed its doors a few months after the episode aired.
2023.06.07 23:27 folgersbadger Advice for baking macarons in a gas oven?
I’ve tried rotating the macs, using the convection setting, and cracking the door open with a spoon, but I can’t find the right temp and duration to bake the macs evenly. Lots of them crack and have an uneven rise, and in general the batch bakes very unevenly. I’ll get just a few from each batch that bake properly. My oven thermometer is accurate. I usually use the French method and have tried varying temperatures without success. Any advice or am I doomed not to make good macs in this oven?
submitted by folgersbadger to Baking [link] [comments]
2023.06.07 23:21 Rennilon Exterior French Door Finishing
My basement remodel project is nearing it's end. I had a guy replace a sliding glass door with French doors but they didn't do any of the finishing. They mentioned caulking and painting.
How should I trim/finish this exterior part of the door? Having the wood down there under the door looks like it will eventually get wet and rot/expand. Is there something I should do with that or seal it up somehow?
Any advice appreciated!
Pictures:
https://imgur.com/a/VpFZkbH
submitted by Rennilon to HomeImprovement [link] [comments]
How should I trim/finish this exterior part of the door? Having the wood down there under the door looks like it will eventually get wet and rot/expand. Is there something I should do with that or seal it up somehow?
Any advice appreciated!
Pictures:
https://imgur.com/a/VpFZkbH
2023.06.07 23:18 Longjumping_Ad9391 **Duplex for rent- Charming and secluded-Redwood City on border of Atherton**
Duplex 1 BR 1BA, 630 square feet. Interior just completely remodeled, will be first tenant to enjoy! New windows, doors, cabinets, floors and all new finishes throughout.
Quietly located on the Oakwood Oval in Redwood City. Near the Atherton border in the heart of the Redwood Oaks neighborhood.
Bright and large living room. Large windows with pool and backyard views. Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring, Ceiling Fan, Recessed Lighting.
Eat in Kitchen with ample storage and pantry. Vintage / Modern feel with tile flooring, brick accent wall and vintage hood. Under counter lighting. Built in Microwave. Brand new appliances include (all stainless): -Gas Cooktop with griddle. -Gas Oven with rotisserie. -French Door Refrigerator with ice maker. -Dishwasher / Garbage disposal Quartz counter tops Marble herringbone mosaic tile backsplash Designer light fixtures
Beamed Ceiling bedroom with attached full bath and walk in closet. Luxury modern texture carpeting with tile flooring in bathroom and closet. Bedroom has 3 mirrored pocket doors. Bathroom has tiled shower, Quartz vanity top and skylight.
Shared detached Laundry Room with new front loading washer and gas dryer. Laundry Room includes shared storage.
Additional storage space available.
Rent includes all utilities.
Off street parking.
Huge shared backyard with 40,000 gallon pool. Plenty of room for gardening, gathering and relaxing.
Minimum 12 month lease @ $3695per month.
Please message with inquiries. Thank you!
submitted by Longjumping_Ad9391 to paloalto [link] [comments]
Quietly located on the Oakwood Oval in Redwood City. Near the Atherton border in the heart of the Redwood Oaks neighborhood.
Bright and large living room. Large windows with pool and backyard views. Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring, Ceiling Fan, Recessed Lighting.
Eat in Kitchen with ample storage and pantry. Vintage / Modern feel with tile flooring, brick accent wall and vintage hood. Under counter lighting. Built in Microwave. Brand new appliances include (all stainless): -Gas Cooktop with griddle. -Gas Oven with rotisserie. -French Door Refrigerator with ice maker. -Dishwasher / Garbage disposal Quartz counter tops Marble herringbone mosaic tile backsplash Designer light fixtures
Beamed Ceiling bedroom with attached full bath and walk in closet. Luxury modern texture carpeting with tile flooring in bathroom and closet. Bedroom has 3 mirrored pocket doors. Bathroom has tiled shower, Quartz vanity top and skylight.
Shared detached Laundry Room with new front loading washer and gas dryer. Laundry Room includes shared storage.
Additional storage space available.
Rent includes all utilities.
Off street parking.
Huge shared backyard with 40,000 gallon pool. Plenty of room for gardening, gathering and relaxing.
Minimum 12 month lease @ $3695per month.
Please message with inquiries. Thank you!
2023.06.07 23:14 themikesem What to do with newish old appliances I'll be replacing?
Hi All, purchased my home in 2018 which came with a new fridge, range and hood. They are all GE Adora brand. We're redoing our kitchen now and looking to replace the appliances (Gas -> Induction + French door fridge).
What's the best way to get rid of newish old appliances? I've seen people mention Craigslist/FB Marketplace, but not sure I want to deal with that hassle. Don't care a whole lot about how much I get as long they are gone.
Location is North Jersey if that matters.
submitted by themikesem to homeowners [link] [comments]
What's the best way to get rid of newish old appliances? I've seen people mention Craigslist/FB Marketplace, but not sure I want to deal with that hassle. Don't care a whole lot about how much I get as long they are gone.
Location is North Jersey if that matters.
2023.06.07 23:12 MelonM420666 Looking for a fridge part!! (On a semi budget)
Due to an accident we’re now out of two of our bottom Bin drawers, it’s a Frigidaire Refrigerator Door Bin Shelf Part# 240323000 and I’ve been looking but I can’t seem to find anything cheap am I better off finding a generic one? Or going all out for the exact one? My family will be annoyed if it doesn’t fit exactly so I’m just wondering what’s the best route to take/ what my options are since there’s not a lot of listing out there… any help would be great!
(The fridge is from 2005 if that helps and is a French door)
submitted by MelonM420666 to Fridge [link] [comments]
(The fridge is from 2005 if that helps and is a French door)
2023.06.07 22:56 LurkyLooSeesYou2 BS batch system
I use Instacart frequently. I tip well and this is the second time in a row that my stuff is supposed to be cold from being refrigerated or frozen has arrived at my door, not cold, because the system has stacked orders and they’re delivering other stuff to the point that mine isn’t Appropriately temperature. Now I realize I can go see their support and they’ll refund me but that doesn’t really get me the missed items and it’s really frustrating. Is there anyway to like opt out of being grouped when placing an order? It’s also really not fair that they’re stacking these small load shipping orders with mine when I tip and they don’t and I am the one who’s getting inappropriately temperature items.
submitted by LurkyLooSeesYou2 to instacart [link] [comments]