Go kart dealers near me

Hey there :)
I would love to meet some new people and see how it goes so I felt like it’s a good idea to post here.
A bit about me: my name is Pascal, I’m 30 years old and from Germany. I work as a software engineer and in my spare time I like reading, going for walks, cycling, yoga and recently started meditation too.
I hope I can find someone to chat with on a regular basis and maybe even get into a LDR if we get along well. I don’t really mind about the distance or anything ☺️
If you’re curious what I look like, that’s me: https://imgur.com/a/wAJm0J7
So, if you’re interested in getting to know each other please send me a message, preferably also with a picture included 🤗

Looking for some general knowledge, advice, help, support, and just a post getting my feelings out.
My husband and I have a beautiful 3yo daughter. We got married in 2019 (after 10 years together) and quickly got pregnant (much wanted and loved!) After our wedding. My husband wasn't officially diagnosed with crohns until after conceiving and after my daughter was born.
I was able to convince him to finally go to the hospital the week after our wedding due to extreme weight loss and loss of appetite.
I am pregnant with my second! (Again much wanted and loved!) But part of me goes back and fourth as to whether this is fair to my children who could potentially be passed down the crohns disease. I know it's all a gamble and that you can't always wait for the "what ifs" but has anyone else felt this feeling of guilt for having children?
Any advice to what I can look out for for my daughter and future baby.
Thanks in advance.

A friend, who had been held on a 5150 some years ago, told me he was eligible to purchase firearms because,"it's been over five years... and a 5150 isn't considered an involuntary hold..."
He claims he checked with the CA DOJ, and received a letter stating he's eligible. The way I read the federal background check form, he'd have to disclose he was involuntarily held, which would make a purchase a no-go. Again, he claims a 5150 is not legally a commitment. That would be a 5250.
I'm concerned because he isn't the most stable individual. What should I tell him?

My (33F) coworker (40sM) doesn't like new changes...
I work in retail/customer service. I very much likey job, which is surprising these days. My job just had a change in management. With the changes, our new GM (30s. F) is trying out some new ideas to make more profit and minimize waste. The old GM had been there for going on 10 years and decided he was done. Out of the blue he put in his 2 week notice.
With the changes we are no longer allowed to sit down during slow times (we weren't supposed to in the first place), there's a little more work for us I'm regards to putting out specific food items, but it's really not bad at all. I've had way worse jobs. The atmosphere is really laid back, there aren't really any cliques and everyone gets along. Our GM is probably one of the best people I've had the pleasure of working for. They are very understanding and os a human, like the rest of us. They understand that things happen and is willing to work with us. They are the definition of a 'leader' and not just a boss.
Personally, I don't mind the changes. I haven't been there for very long (3 months) and I just do what I'm told and show up when I'm told to. My coworker on the other hand has been there longer. He's been there approximately 6 months.
I asked him a question about the new food items today and he looked at me as if I had a second head. He knew about them from the meeting we all had last week. It was mentioned. He's started making comments about our GM and newly appointed assistant GM (whom I will mention worked very hard for the position and deserves it, imo) about being corporate stooges and that they're sell outs. He also complained that we have more work than the other two shifts now but I think it's justified because we work overnights and get a premium by an extra 40¢.
I'm not sure what to do. I did my best to curtail the complaints with "I'm just doing what I'm told to do, don't shoot the messenger" but I'm really not wanting to listen to any more of it. I also get that it's common to want to complain but it's really not that big of a deal. How should I navigate? The comments do make me uncomfortable because while I like this coworker when we work together, I also respect my GM. They have been nothing but good to us and very understanding.
TL;DR: I (33F) am not sure how to navigate around my coworker (40M) complaining about more work and that the changes the New GM is making being corporate sell outs/stupid changes. It makes me uncomfortable.

Two animals that have impacted my life to this day was my great aunt’s cat, Taz. And my grandmother’s dog, Lucy.
All my life I’ve been around my family and they had animals, I never really had a pet for myself at all. And I’m not really a cat person thanks to a lot of unprovoked cat attacks when I was very young, but Taz was a different cat.
He would protect me from the other cats in my great aunts house, he never hissed or scratched me, and overall was just a sweetheart. He really helped me find my love for cats again. Well, when I was 7-8, we found out he had a tumor in his stomach and he wasn’t going to make it either way because of how large it was. I had begged my great aunt to let me see him before he was put down, and she did. I stayed the night and I was at Taz’s side the entire night and morning before he was taken to the vet.
We ate breakfast together, played with his favorite toy, cuddled as we watched Spongebob together, and an hour before he had to go, we sat outside in the backyard near the pool and just enjoyed the fresh air. I remember I started to cry, and he licked my face. I think he knew he was dying, and he just wanted to let me know I would be okay too.
Then my great uncle took him and he never came home. I remember BEGGING them to let me go, but I’m thankful they said no. I don’t think I could have handled that so young.
The second animal was my grandma’s dog Lucy. I was actually there when they went to adopt her, hell at first they didn’t want to chose her. But I ended up convincing them because I just really loved her. Ended up being the perfect choice. She ended up living to about 20 years, and they had to put her down due to her just not being able to eat at all anymore.
I didn’t get to say goodbye to her because I live in a different state. Which I’m not mad at, it just couldn’t happen.
I know this is probably dumb, but even though they weren’t my pets at all is it really my right to grieve? Honestly I’m crying while typing this all out, I will never forget those animals at all. RIP Taz & Lucy💗🖤

Hello friends! This weekend, a friend and I will be making a little drive down from Rochester to catch a Mets @ Pirates game on Saturday. We’ll be here Friday-Sunday. I know there’s an arts fest to check out, and we planned on having a casino night on Friday, but if there are any other must-see things going on, please let me know! :) Also, would love restaurant/bar recommendations. (We eat everything and I, for one, love lighting my money on fire lol.)
Side note: please pray to whatever deity you see fit that the game doesn’t get rained out. I got totally screwed on Labor Day last year. My heart cannot handle 2 rained-out games in 9 months. :(

To keep it short, me and my boyfriend had been dating for a couple months at this point. We go on a little weekend get away to Georgia and spend some time at the beach. Tell me why this grown ass man decided to wear his Rick and Morty slippers out in public? Walking in the sand and the boardwalk in them, it just gave me extremely bad ick and ruined my whole mood for the rest of the date. I’m not a snob or anything, and rarely dress to impress but I still give some thought into what I’m wearing when I’m out with him. I wouldn’t have minded at all if they were just plain slippers, but since they were so ugly I got angry. I told him that it was embarrassing to be seen walking around with him in those things. I think why it made me so mad in the moment, to the point where I genuinely consider cutting him off, is because he had regular shoes with him or he could’ve went barefoot, but decided to wear those instead. It just seemed so ridiculous to me. And I was so happy to hear that his dog destroyed them, and I’ve told him that he shouldn’t buy a new pair again.

Hi all! I wanted to ask about budget friendly SQE resources everyone used to study and also, if you are self studying how to go about it (how many months you took to study, where to do mock exams, how to get access to UoL books etc.). I'll be paying for the entire thing myself and don't have to take SQE2, as it can be waived for me. I want to get studying and am looking for recommendations on how to proceed and where to get the materials from. I was thinking about QLTS school for my study prep, buy as I said before it's kind of expensive and I wanted to make sure is self study is a doable option. I usually don't do well on Multiple Choice Questions so am slightly worried.

Hello! I hope this post does not go against the rules. If it does, I sincerely apologize!
I am seeking information about Pitt's Pen Submission School -- specifically the location that was in Leonardo, NJ. I was hoping somebody here might know something, or might be able to point me in the right direction. It's nothing serious, it's just been an area of personal interest to me for a long time, and it's related to a personal project I am working on.
Thanks for your time!! 😊

I mean the scene in s1 where kaz calls inej and jesper “his crows” felt out of character to me And how he let Alina go cuz of Inejs belief And how he refers to Alina as a saint I felt like thats something the Bastard of the Barrel woudnt do What do you think?

On Sunday I got some bad sunburn at a lake (wasn’t much hotter than 20c but we were there all day).
Uncomfortable to sleep on but I thought nothing of it. I knew it was bad sunburn as I’m pale and the burnt regions (shoulders, chest, stomach) all stuck out. I rubbed aloe vera aftersun lotion on it a couple times without issue. My clothes irritated it a bit so I was careful putting clothes on.
Then…2 days after burning. I’m on a work trip to a seaside town. Me and my colleague are sitting by the coast having lunch.
I feel a certain tingle across my pecs and my eyes widen. I start jabbering to my colleague about how it’s ‘happening again’ like the giant from Twin Peaks.
I rip off my shirt, and in a blind panic, I spray after sun with aloe Vera onto the area and rub it in.
It’s only then that the most traumatic memory from my childhood hits me with the full force of an acid/PTSD flashback/Freddy Krueger going ‘remember me?’
I was a kid. I stayed in the hotel pool all day. I was burnt but fine until 2 days later when I collapsed onto the floor of an Irish bar my parents were in, writhing and clawing at my back. They thought I’d been spiked.
They took me back to the hotel, put me in a cold shower then rubbed aloe vera lotion on my back. It didn’t take long before I was screaming and begging for it to stop, thrashing about trying to escape my own body. I hadn’t thought about it for a long long time, but as soon as it woke up in June 2023 I realised it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.
Panicking, I left all my stuff with my colleague and staggered along the coast, with tourists watching me slash at my skin non stop, doubled over like the hunchback of notre-dame.
A lot of people describe it as the worst pain of their lives. For me it was different to pain. It’s an itch with such urgency and such depth that you’d drop your newborn baby to scratch it. Only for you to find out that sorry, your nerves are malfunctioning and you can get no relief.
Having that cycle of irritation, relief, irritation, relief that you’ve known your whole life be completely blocked is an eye opening horror that a lot of people must only experience during terminal illness or torture.
Your brain flashes up a sentence. ‘This is different. This is a foe I cannot fight’.
If you have not experienced it, FUCK YOU. If you have experienced it, welcome to a dishonourable club. You will get through this with your mind intact with some simple steps.
For me, this has helped a lot, less than 24 hours into Hell’s Itch as I type this.
-Antihistamines
I took 20mg Loratadine and that got me home from my cancelled work trip without screaming.
-Painkillers
I took a 30mg cocodamol tablet that doped me up good and stopped the fear. Doing the same again today.
-Water
I was quite dehydrated when it started. Chug it. Your skin needs the resources to regenerate faster and get you past nerve irritation.
-Weed/CBD
Fights inflammation, takes your mind elsewhere, but only smoke weed if you are not panicking.
-Slight pressure from clothing
My gentle dressing gown against my chest seems to deaden the feeling compared to cool air against bare skin.
-Peppermint oil
I bought some. Haven’t tried it yet but will if there’s another wave. Dilute it in a little water and dab on the HI areas.
Best of luck.

In the summer of 2002, my friends and I had just seen Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, and we were entranced by it. It was all we could talk about for the rest of the week, wishing we could have his amazing superpowers.
It wasn't long before Carson suggested the Spider Cave. Carson was the oldest of us, with him being eleven, he knew the most about the legend, if you could call it that. The Spider Cave is a cave that's about a ten-minute walk from our small town. It was aptly named, as everyone avoided it for one reason. The sheer amount and size of the spiders inside.
Near the entrance, which most people around here have passed, but never set foot in, is covered with small ones scurrying around the ground or hanging from the roof. They're all pretty shy, retreating deeper into the cave if anyone got too close, but then again, most people didn't.
Chuck told us that his uncle, Rick went into the cave when he was our age with a couple of his friends. They got pretty far into it too, but they claim to have found an old bicycle covered in spider webs, which spooked them enough to send them running.
So, with all of this stigma around the cave, none of us wanted to follow Carson inside. Excluding myself, none of us were afraid of spiders, but we were either told by our parents to avoid the cave, or just aware that we wouldn't find a radioactive spider in there.
We all went home, but Carson was determined to get superpowers. And after being sick for two days, he showed up on the last day of school, and it looked like he got them. Quickly, he showed us his right hand, and the big, ugly spider bite on top of it. We were all disgusted by it, but changed our tune when he flipped his hand over.
You know that scene in the movie, where it zooms in on Peter's hand and you see the barbs sticking out of it that he uses for wall-crawling? Carson had those barbs all over his palm and fingertips. His arm also looked larger, a far cry from Peter Parker getting buff overnight, but it was enough to convince us to go to the cave and get spider-powers of our own.
After school, Carson led us deep into the cave, and I was trembling all the while. I was the oldest, behind Carson, but I was deathly afraid of spiders. The only thing that kept me going was fear of humiliation and my desire to get superpowers. Still, I had to stare at the floor, I couldn't handle looking up at the countless spiders dangling from the ceiling.
Eventually, we were led into an open area of the cave, with a beam of sunlight shining in from a hole above us. I remember Carson saying something about this being the spot, and then I saw them. In the corner, there was a dozen or so spiders, except these were big, really big, with gleaming white fangs and hungry eyes. Carson said they were the ones that gave him the superpowers though, so Chuck and Tyler tentatively stepped forward.
Then, two of the spiders, each about the side of one of our hands, crawled forwards. Chuck was giving instructions to Chuck and Tyler, but I didn't hear them. I was sweating like a pig, and my breathing was growing rapid. Then, Chuck extended his right hand and a spider crawled onto it.
The spider on Chuck's hand bit into it, and stayed there with its fangs pulsating for what must've been ten seconds, until the fangs had turned from white to black. Then, it scurried back into the corner. Tyler asked if it hurt, and after Chuck, now grinning like an idiot, told him that he felt nothing, Tyler extended his hand and the second spider repeated the process.
A third spider had began to make its way towards me, and it was at that moment, I got sick, and as my friends went to ask if I was alright, I bolted out of the cave. I sat outside the cave entrance for a while, until my friends stepped. Carson began trying to convince me to go back in, saying something about how lame it would be to be the only one without powers, when I noticed something strange.
The barbs on his palm were now on both side of his hand, but not just there. They had spread all the way up to his elbow, and it almost looked like they were twitching. I was going to point this out to him, but then Tyler and Chuck begin bombarding him with questions.
"How long did it take for you to start feeling sick? For how long did it last?"
"You've were bitten over two days ago, what powers can you use now?"
Chuck pointed out that Carson had spider webs dangling from his wrist, but after a minute of Carson waving his arm, the web just fell to the ground, causing them to shrug and pass it off as taking more time to develop.
I'll never forget what I saw after that.
Carson muttered "My arm feels kinda heavy."
"That's because you have super strength, I think. Now show us some wall-crawling." Chuck replied eagerly.
Carson put his left hand on the cave wall, but it wouldn't stick. Then he tried it with his right hand, but the wall of the cave was rough, and suddenly a large piece of skin on his right palm ripped away like it was paper. Carson didn't scream, or show any signs of pain though, he just stumbled backwards a bit, then looked at his palm. Then he screamed.
It wasn't barbs for wall-crawling that were sticking out of his palm. It was legs. It looked like the spiders had eaten all of the meat off of his bones, to make room for their webs, eggs, and the spiders themselves. The spiders immediately began to swarm out of the hole in his hand, while he shrieked and waved it in the air.
As soon as the spiders touched the ground, they scurried into the cave. Carson's entire right arm looked deflated, and as the Chuck and Tyler realized what awaited them, they began to panic too. We all ran home, and my friends were promptly taken to the doctor soon after.
Carson was hospitalized, of course, and after Chuck's parents saw what had happened to Carson, they made the decision that their son's arm had to be amputated. And allegedly, as the arm was severed, there was very little blood, but a horde of spiders that scurried out of the window and, wouldn't you know it, in the direction of the cave.
Tyler's parents were going to have the same done to him, but after it was discovered that Tyler had as many as five more bites, two on his left leg, three on his right, his parents became indecisive. By the end of the week, the "barbs" had spread to most parts of his body. He didn't make it.
Nothing really was done about the cave. People said there was no point blocking it off as it had more entrances than they could count, and nobody wanted to go near it. The older generations wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, and everyone our age knew not to go near it after what happened to my friends.
So, why am I talking about it? I decided to visit my hometown this week, and decided to pass by the Spider Cave. Near the largest entrance, I saw one of those big spiders, looking like it had been stomped repeatedly. Its fangs were black.
I heard a new Spider-Man movie came out recently. I hope there aren't any dumb kids who got the same idea that we did.

Ok so, first of all let me state that yes, I Desk, am underage and the other person involved who we will refer too as Klax (first thing that came to mind) is also underage but I do not know if im doing the right thing. So this story starts 2 years ago when I stayed at Klax's house for the first time from then on I would stay at his house more and more often. And then one night we got a 8th of medical grade weed instead of street weed we started off smoking medical grade so it felt like we were (or however you spell that word) comfortable with weed again and would then at that point have someone buy for us.
Fast forward about half a year into late freshman year Klax's consumption along with my consumption tripled essentially but the weed was making Klax's mental health keep going down and down along with certain family things that wouldntve bothered him before this point. And I am not going to say I didnt have a hand in the weed consumption because I was the stoner friend who knew the people who would let us smoke for free sometimes, I also have a bad history with the law (not with weed but for speeding and other things like unregistered vehicles like quads and bikes and running from cops) so I am definitely a contributing factor as a bad influence.
fast forward a little ways farther we enter sophomore year as basically brothers but now since its summer I dont want Klax to keep smoking and Klax also picked up the habit of vaping (because of me this will play a part as im still thinking what I should do because ive tried everything to try and get him to stop but it seems like ive really just enabled him?). fast forward to now we are like a coal train in a cartoon everytime we smoke and its not healthy for Klax mentally and his parents even though they allow him to smoke theyve been pushing him to stop but Klax keeps brushing it off and saying he's fine.
I definitely think because I am a bad influence think I should distance myself but im planning to grab all of his vape and weed stuff so he doesnt smoke and I do not know whether or not this is a good idea so im turning to you guys in the weed community and the aita community for a little guidance

I was out on the Santa Cruz east side today and I think I may have been bumped by a shark? Details:
A big set came through, I was on a 9’6 log and barely made it over. Readjusted on my board and about 1 min later feel my leash get pulled and then a strong bump at the tail of my board. My partner saw a splash near the tail maybe 8in to 1 ft in diameter. I screamed and paddled over to the peak to be closer to the crowd, maybe 20 yards away.
Once there I tried to just remain fully arms/legs on my board and calm to not make any splashing but within 30 seconds another strong bump at the tail of my board. At this point I decide to paddle in, and paddle the 300ish yards to the exit. My partner didn’t ever see what bumped me and never saw a fin, but spoked none the less. We stayed and watched from shore for 45 min, and didn’t see any seals or otters (or dolphins but let’s be real that truly hopeful thinking).
What do we think? Shark bump? Big fish?

See em. I sorta kan remember meeting you but you annoyed me n stuff. I don’t really remember I wuz too buzy SLAyin my whatevers on DND then I parachuted some ps5 with my ass up in the air. THEN! I went back and got some mor idyll hounds and blak n moldies….. then our little eye contact romanz happened I was liek human INTERAKSHIONZ FREAKING ME OUT like my fave Joker…like…but he’s cool N stuff cause he DESTROYS ALL DARK LIEK me!!!! Uggh then I had to seez u again getting my lazer beers and getting fisted by Minecraft. And then a drank a jug of liek idk whatever’s and hit the cluuubz cuz I’m sooo shy! Ooh world so skarrry for dark SkarresNinjaTHEASSGETTA. I have to slay you (M) cause u liek Navi. Always buzzin round killin’ my buzzes, bitch. AND THEN! Me and joker did some COKER AND I DNT relly remember maybe we rawved the bank or sum . Or crash my car like I told you and got BIG MADZ AT YEWW. Just gimme my BLAK N MOLDIES& go away or joker will get dat ass. After we go collect all the manicPIXIEDREAMHOES OFF TINDER CAUSE IM SO KEWL AND SO IS JOKE. Not the last you’ll hear from me! SkarredNinjaTheAssGetta. Too skared to type a msg but I just like your taste in musics dumb bitch! Cue Zelda music as I ride out on EPONA with Batman into the triforce and suck fleetwood maK tiddies! Cause I get a lot of those ! TIDDIES CUZ IM KEWL
GOD I LOVE YOY, yeah hi five gotta go play assassins creed peace out weirdo.
C❤️

I stared up at the magazine cut out of a Maxim model that was crudely pasted on the underside of the top bunk. Her pert breast shimmied ever so slightly as Pete tossed and turned above.
She was platinum blonde with legs long enough to wrap around me twice. Or so the camera angle made it seem. I felt a stirring below, that yearning for a woman’s touch… which I hadn’t felt in six years, three months, and eleven days.
I rolled to my side, stifling it. It was the wrong time to seek out an orgasm, and I knew after the release I’d just spiral into self-loathing anyway. I focused on a crack in the cinder block until my eyelids became heavy.
Static pushed the thought of women from my mind as I slipped into sleep. The smell of cigars and oil flitted through my mind in a memory. My dad’s repair shop. The one I was meant to take over, before the arrest…
------
“Aaaarrgghh!”
A cry echoing from somewhere deep within the prison startled me awake. My heart thundered in my chest like a rabbit thrashing against its cage.
I rolled over to see Pete crouching low, his face pressed against the bars.
“What’s going on?” I croaked.
“They’re taking Benny.” He whispered.
“Fuck, really?” I pulled myself to the top corner of my mattress, just enough to peer around the edge of the bars.
Two guards wrestled the young latino onto a gurney as a man in a lab coat watched from a distance. He fought against them but it was futile. Once the straps were locked in he screamed once more, pleading for help.
Dozens of eyes watched from dim lit cells, none of which stirring to offer assistance in the slightest. We knew there was no helping him. We knew what happened next…
His cries were muffled as the doctor jammed a syringe into the base of his neck. Benny’s muscles tensed and pulsed in the fit of a seizure, but then lay still. The cell block was silent once more as they wheeled him down the hall and into the catacombs.
I did a cross over myself but didn’t bother to pray. Once they took them, they never came back.
“A damn shame…” I muttered.
“Yeah, he was a good kid…” Pete stood and leapt back onto the top bunk.
A fire burned in my chest. I wanted to say something. To cry out about the injustice of what was happening to us. That committing a crime shouldn’t damn a man to whatever terrible fate they had instore for us below three feet of steel and a quarter mile of dirt.
But I didn’t… What good could it do? Other than drawing attention to me in a very negative way.
Once they took you to the lab, you were never seen again.
All you could do was hope that your number was never called, and that you got out of here before they visited your cell late into the night.
—-----
87…88…89…90…
My chest was on fire as sweat dripped from the tip of my nose. I couldn’t go back to sleep last night. Kept thinking about Benny.
91…92…93…
So began the push-ups. It was the only way to clear my head.
94…95…96…
My therapy.
97…98…99…100.
I rolled to my back, out of breath.
Three years, six months and change.
So much time left to go.
Benny had only been here for a little over a year. It made no sense…
None of us could figure out exactly why they took who they took. There seemed to be no method to the madness.
Just a couple weeks ago they took old man Tom Finch. He’d been here longer than any of us. A lifer on the account of premeditated murder back in the 70s. But they didn’t come for him until he’d served most of his adult life behind bars.
The red beacon suddenly swirled above. A buzzing sound hummed as the cell doors clicked and slid open.
Breakfast.
—----
I pulled my tray along the bar to be loaded with oats, powdered eggs and bread.
Meager rations.
I grabbed a small carton of milk and made my way over to sit with Pete. He was already nibbling on his toast while perusing a crossword puzzle.
We exchanged nods and I went to devouring the entirety of my plate.
Calories build muscle after all.
Which was something Pete had no interest in. He was a bookworm through and through. Rail thin too. When we’d met, I’d assumed it was from the drug problem he’d had on the outside, which ultimately landed him in incarceration. But come to find out it was just his metabolism and general lack of appetite.
“John…” He whispered.
I looked up from my feast.
He was looking to the corner of the cafeteria and I followed his gaze to see two men in lab coats surveying the crowd.
I grunted and squeezed the handle of my fork until my knuckles went white. The impulse of burying it into their throats was almost overwhelming.
“Their activity has been ramping up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been seeing them much more frequently as of late. They must be close to a breakthrough.”
“Breakthrough of what?” I furrowed my brow.
“Who knows? Whatever it is they are doing down there. They’ve been taking us more often as well.”
Pete sighed at the twist of confusion on my face.
“Think about it… Benny last night, then Tom two weeks before that. Then Eric ten days before that, and Deonte maybe three weeks prior. It’s never been that close together. Until recently, they only came perhaps once every other month. Sometimes only once a season.”
Shit… he was right. I hadn’t realized it before.
“So what does that mean?” I asked, shoving another hunk of egg into my mouth.
“I have no idea. But I’d say our odds of survival have been reduced dramatically.”
—-----
Pete might as well have been an oracle, peering into our grim and desolate future.
Over the next several months we started seeing the lab coats weekly. Sometimes even more often than that.
The prison yard felt empty. Sure there were still plenty of us left, but our population had been noticeably trimmed. One gang in particular only had two members left, which didn’t bode well for them. The others slowly circled them like sharks. I had no affiliation with any of them and kept to myself. But still, I could see their fate a mile away.
Although, despite the business as usual dog eat dog atmosphere, there was an undercurrent of fear rippling through the general pop. You could smell it, like a scent of decay and desperation. Hard faces that had once promised violence, now almost flinched around every corner and jumped at each shadow.
The energy of a couple of hundred men that felt like an animal backed into a corner was palpable.
But what could we do?
I didn’t know but I sure wish someone would tell me… I threw myself into my workouts and Pete hardly ever looked up from a book. Escapism was our only reprieve.
I went to bed with a prayer on my lips, hoping I wouldn’t hear those iron bars moving in the late hours of the night.
—-----
A loud clanking followed by footsteps pulled me from sleep.
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut hoping it was the cell next to mine.
But it wasn’t…
Three guards hovered behind a fourth that was unlocking our cell. The bars clicked and began to slide open.
I jumped to my feet and backed up against the wall. I pulled my fists up into a boxing stance, I wasn’t going to go without a fight. My muscles tensed and flexed like coiled steel.
“In the corner inmate! We’re here for your cellmate.” A short and stocky corrections officer barked with his hand gripping the baton at his waist.
Pete squirmed into a ball at the corner of his mat and looked at me with wide, pleading eyes.
I put my face in the opposite corner as instructed. A mixture of fear and relief roiled in my gut, and I hated myself for it. It made me feel like a coward.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I heard Pete squeal from behind as guards flooded the cell.
I peaked over my shoulder and watched as they pried him from the top bunk. Pete tried to resist, but there was nothing to him. A bag of bones that they easily wrestled down.
That same fire ignited in my chest. Anger washed over me, cleansing away the cowardice. For God’s sake, he was my only friend.
All I could see was red.
I spun around bringing the back of my fist across a guard’s face, shattering the bridge of his nose. Blood spurted from it as he dropped Pete’s legs.
With a giant step forward I brought an uppercut into the portly officer’s abdomen, dropping him like a ton of bricks.
I shoved a third into the corner, pinning him there as I screamed for Pete to run. He scampered out the opening and the last thing I heard were his footfalls as a baton smashed across the back of my skull. Everything went black before I even hit the ground.
—-----
I spent a month in solitary.
The room was so small it should have been inhumane to house a human being inside of it.
Still… I made the best of it with dips, pushups and situps. Countless reps of them. It was all I could do.
Some mornings I’d wake up with horrible migraines. I assumed it was a slight concussion from the impact of the baton.
I only hoped Pete could have somehow made it out. But somewhere deep down I knew that would have been impossible. Hopefully he at least gave them some hell before they took him below.
I stopped praying before bed. It didn’t seem like it did any good.
If there was a God, he didn’t exist inside these walls.
We were abandoned.
The unheard.
—-------
When I finally got back to my cell it had been emptied of everything. Pete’s books, artwork from his niece and even my Maxim cutout.
Just like he’d never existed. My heart sunk at the sight.
Later that day I’d learned from others that he had been captured just moments after escaping the cell.
But our actions weren’t wasted in vain.
We were the first to fight back against the abduction and it sparked something in the others.
They started talks of an uprising a few weeks back. A prison riot.
They even had a guard on the inside. C.O. Matthews. He was a very religious man and was just as horrified by what was happening as we were and had been looking for a way to help.
“It’s going down tonight John, just before lights out. Be ready.” Jerry whispered at the picnic table.
I gave a nod that I understood and headed off for my daily jog around the courts.
It wasn’t about getting out. Getting free. That wasn’t going to happen. It was about sending a message.
I let my mind go blank, filling with static as I enjoyed what could be my last day outside.
—------
The beacon swirled overhead in the common area.
“Inmates to their cells. Lights out.” The intercom buzzed.
There were over fifty men in cell block B, and not a single one of us moved.
The voice on the intercom repeated himself angrily as guards began to shuffle in closer. Nods passed like dominoes from one inmate to the next. We were ready.
“Get to your cell inmate.” a guard growled as he clamped his hands down on my shoulders.
I threw an elbow behind me into his groin, he howled in pain as he hit the floor. The other inmates sprung to their feet and flew off from their leaning places to join in the brawl.
Fists, feet and batons flew wildly across the cell block as we engaged in war with the uniformed officers.
I grappled with one until I was able to submit him in a choke until he went limp in my arms.
I stomped another in the face, spilling blood and brains on the concrete floor.
It had looked like we were winning until they sent the special response team in. We formed a line, many of us battered and bloody, in front of the row of riot shields.
We waited for their charge for what felt like an eternity.
But suddenly they backed out from where they’d come and slid the cell block doors closed.
What the hell…
The red beacon swirled once again overhead as a clicking sounded out behind us.
The rear entrance that the lab coats had always used swung open. I spun around to see…
“Mary, mother of God.” I gasped.
It was Pete…
But there was something horribly wrong with him.
His skin clung loosely to his body and had a terrible jaundice looking hue to it. His eyes almost seemed to glow and his hands… they were impossibly large like contorted branches.
I held my hand up to my mouth in disbelief.
A scientist stepped out from behind him.
“As you can see, we have a few kinks left to iron out, but we are making great progress. Would you all care to see what he can do?” He looked into each of our eyes inquisitively.
“If you don’t, head back to your cells now. You have ten seconds and then I shall release him.”
It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. But a violent and hungry energy filled the room, emanating from what used to be my friend.
Suddenly, over half the remaining inmates bolted for their cells out of fear. Not that I could blame them, my knees wobbled and threatened to buckle just at the sight of him.
But I stood my ground, as did a handful of others.
“Very well then. Specimen 3-1-0, engage.”
A growl reverberated through the cell block.
“Everyone rush him at once! It’s our only shot.” I hollered.
And we did, but it didn’t matter. It happened so fast. It was over before I could even comprehend it.
He moved like an animal, picking each of us apart almost in unison.
I lay on my back, unable to feel my legs as I watched Jerry be disemboweled. He was trying to shove his intestines back inside the tear in his abdomen before the creature came back to finish him off.
I did a cross over myself but didn’t bother to pray.
As Pete stood over me, with dead eyes, I knew there was no God.
He didn’t exist inside these walls.
We were abandoned.
The unheard.

When I (20m) was younger, i had absolutely no issues with bathroom use. I went normally and was rarely ever constipated.
Then one day I went for an entire week without using the bathroom as, at the time, I was staying with a friend and felt super awkward about going at his house. When I finally did go it hurt like hell and took about 2 hours to squeeze out. Ever since then I have never been able to have a normal or natural bowel movement. Immediately after this event I went another 2 weeks without the bathroom, not for lack of trying, but because I physically couldn't.
I ended up downing 2 bottles of magnesium citrate in order to get things moving, and have been on a daily dose of miralax ever since. It sucks. I find that as long as I am consistent with the medication things work OK, but if I miss even just 1 day I will be backed up for a week again. I have a relatively normal diet with plenty of fiber and I drink a lot of water. All the doctors I've been to have basically just told me to eat better and exercise. I suspect there might be something wrong with me beyond my lifestyle choices but nobody seems to care.
Any thoughts? Sorry for the long post I just really needed to rant about this

i just finished university; somehow i got through it despite hitting my lowest at the beginning of second year (ended up studying in treatment for months). but i did it; i survived university.
the thing is, i hated the whole experience. studying while UW sucks and my memory was like a sieve. i hated going on campus because i’d rather feel safe at home, where food wasn’t everywhere as a threat. i never made any friends, people stopped inviting me anywhere because i’d always say no (out of fear food would be involved), i don’t drink so i never went drinking, and people get really bored of you when all you find interesting is food, diets and compulsive exercise.
i feel like anorexia ruined the whole experience for me. i’ll always look back on my uni years and think “yep, i spent those three years alone in my study hell hole, just trying to get by”.
writing this now makes me worry that this will probably just continue, and anorexia will continue to strip the joy out of the rest of my 20s, then my 30s, then my 40s, forever until the end…

We always fight. Nakipaghiwalay siya "ulit" nung isang araw at di ko na pinigilan. Tapos biglang bawi kinaumagahan.
Then after work i was expecting na pag-uusapan namin yung nangyari. I asked him wala ba kami pag-uusapan kasi ayoko lumipas yung issue na hindi inayos nang mabuti. Then he told me we can talk after he hangout with his friends. So nainis ako like parang di muna unahin ayusin yung samin bago siya lumabas kasi hello im left here crying and not okay.
So ang nangyari nag-away lang ulit dahil ngayon lang daw ulit sila iinom nung friend na yun.
Was i bad for wanting to talk it out first instead of letting him go out?
Kaya i wanted to end it na lang. Kasi parang tuwing may away di naman niya inaayos. Kaso narealize ko ang hirap din pala mang-iwan. Kasi pag ayaw pumayag e nakokonsensya ka