Hotels richmond va near i 95

Hey lads, first time here on the sub, love the poddy. I started listening around round 6 and recently went back to listen to the few that I missed, and loved hearing their prediction reasoning and then the first review round 7, now we're round 14 and I think its the perfect time for another shot at the predictions. I tried to collect most of the new guesses that the boys did but I might've missed a few as I was sorta speeding through the episode, but perhaps Tom has this sacred knowledge and will release it in near future pod.
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Do you agree with the boys? Either way, just wanted to say I think this pod is awesome and hope you find some sponsors soon. Single handedly gotten me totally invested in the footy again. Will be experiencing the MCC for the first time this sunday, keen to try some of the tips shared. up the dons and bounce that pill
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	Broden initial prediction	Tom initial prediction	ladder at end of round 6	Broden new prediction	Tom new prediction
1	Melbourne	Melbourne	St Kilda	Collingwood
2	Richmond	Brisbane	Collingwood
3	Geelong	Richmond	Melbourne
4	Sydney	Geelong	Essendon
5	Brisbane	Sydney	Adelaide		Collingwood
6	Fremantle	Collingwood	Brisbane		Essendon
7	Carlton	Carlton	Port Adelaide	Essendon
8	Gold Coast	Port Adelaide	Carlton	Adelaide
9	Collingwood	Fremantle	Geelong	Gold Coast, Richmond	Adelaide
10	Western Bulldogs	GWS	Sydney
11	Port Adelaide	St Kilda	Western Bulldogs
12	Adelaide	Essendon	GWS		GWS
13	Essendon	Western Bulldogs	Fremantle
14	GWS	Gold Coast	Gold Coast
15	North Melbourne	West Coast	North Melbourne
16	West Coast	Adelaide	Richmond
17	St Kilda	North Melbourne	West Coast		Gold Coast
18	Hawthorn	Hawthorn	Hawthorn	Hawthorn, West Coast	Hawthorn

I'm coming into town this morning to attend my sons graduation and was wondering if y'all could point me to a marijuana dispensary near my hotel. It's located off Mill Plain Blvd. Between 124th and 136th. I don't drive so something real close by would work best. Any suggestions help. Thank you.

Hello, everyone!
As the title says, I recently got ASC (anterior scoliosis correction) to treat my severe scoliosis. I’m posting this on a throwaway and will try to keep this as anonymous as possible. Anyway, I’ll share a little bit of my story.
I was officially diagnosed with scoliosis at 15. My spine was shaped like an S. My thoracic curve was ~35 degrees, and my Lumbar curve was ~45 degrees. My body, despite those curves, held itself very well, so unless you knew what to look for, there was no way to tell I had scoliosis.
I had really bad pain until I started regularly getting dry needling (a form of acupuncture) from a trained physiotherapist. By doing this, my pain went from 10/10 down to 1/10 on most days (maybe a 3/10 or 4/10 on my bad pain days).
I also did scoliosis-specific exercises (SSE) every day; its relatively the same as Schroth, but as I don’t have close contact with a specialized clinic (I could only afford to visit them once every two months because I had to travel by plane to see the PT), SSE (with my local PT) was what I did.
At the end of last year, my curves suddenly progressed (after a year-and-a-half of staying dormant). At this point, continual (and rapid) progression was most likely going to occur, so I decided to get surgery.
Currently, I’m nearly 6 weeks post-op. It’s been really difficult, but so worth it! I highly recommend that anyone who is considering surgery investigates non-fusion ASC/VBT.
Before I end this, here is some information that might save time (just some things I’m expecting to be commonly asked):
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1. How big are/were my curves? Before surgery, my curves were 50T and 60L (rapidly progressing). After surgery, the curves are 30T and 10L.
2. How much of my spine was operated on? I have double tethers from T10 down to L4, (14 screws) with a few fusion cages in between (to anchor the tether - but it's only on 2 vertebrae, so not noticeable).
3. How flexible am I post-op? I am still very flexible. I barely notice a difference in twisting, and only a slight decrease in bending (but I haven’t started doing exercise again yet, so that is probably because I’ve been on ‘No Bending, Lifting, Twisting’ for 6 weeks).
4. Did I have any growth left? I have already reached skeletal maturity, and have no growth left. I am also hyperflexible. Neither of those things prevented me from getting ASC tethering.
5. How much did it cost? My country has healthcare, so I didn’t have to pay for my surgery. The most expensive fee was finding a hotel to stay in once I left the hospital. However, if you are an American person, I've heard that ASC can be quite pricey.
6. How long was I in the hospital? I spent 10 days (in total) in hospital. 2 of which I had a chest tube, and 4 were in ICU.
7. When did I go back to university? At 3 weeks post-op (but my university allows me to study from my home).
8. What is ASC? ASC, for anyone who doesn’t know what it is, is a surgery where the orthopedic surgeon will place screws into the side of your spine, and connect them with a flexible tether so that the scoliosis is pulled into the correct position. Unlike spinal fusion, ASC/VBT allows the patient to maintain mobility and flexibility. It is a new procedure (in development over the past 20 years), but the research is very promising, and it is proving to be just as good (if not better) than full-length spinal fusion.
9. Did the surgery hurt? I won't downplay how painful it is - the recovery is very painful, but, after ~2 weeks, you’ll start to feel a little bit better. Imagine feeling as if you’ve pulled every muscle in your back, and also imagine that you’ve sprained your spine really badly, and that’s what it feels like.
10. How bad is the chest tube? The chest tube is not that bad. A lot of people say it’s ‘the worst part’, but it really isn’t. It’s uncomfortable, and it isn’t very nice, but it isn’t the worst part. Even when the nurses removed the tube, it didn’t hurt at all. Just be prepared if you want to get this surgery that a chest tube will be a requirement (you'll only need it for a few days, probably only 2 or 3).

That’s all I can think of, so please feel free to ask me anything else you’d like to know! I’ll be trying to answer everyone’s questions - and remember; fusion doesn’t have to be the only way to fix scoliosis!

I did Ironman 70.3 Victoria last month (my first tri!) I wanted to give a few tips re: logistics that I didn’t see elsewhere on reddit or on the race website. This is mostly for my fellow Americans.
Getting there:
· There are 3 Vancouvers: Vancouver, WA, Vancouver BC, and Vancouver Island. Vancouver, WA is very far away - it’s on the WA/OR border. Victoria BC is on Vancouver Island. Vancouver BC is not. Generally, you have to take a ferry to get to Vancouver Island from the US or Canada mainland.
· The “travel tips” video on the race website tells you to take the Victoria Clipper ferry from downtown Seattle. It does not tell you the Clipper is a pedestrian-only ferry (bikes OK, but no cars.) You will need a car for the race – see “Race Site” section, below. If you plan to walk-on to the Clipper and rent a car in Victoria, I recommend planning this a few months in advance. UbeLyft is not available in Victoria. Clipper tickets are $100+ and sell out very quickly in the summer.
· There is a car ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles, WA (Blackball/Coho ferry). There are currently only 3 boats per day; 8am, 12:45pm and 5:15pm. It costs about $80 each way. You’re charged a nominal fee (about $12) when making the reservation, then pay the rest when you arrive at the ferry dock. You are required to be at the dock a minimum of 60 minutes before the boat’s departure time (unless you are a walk-on). 60 min before departure, they start letting the standby cars on. 25 spots are reserved for standby cars (first come first served); then they start giving away spots of those who had reservations but have not yet arrived.
· Prior to all of this, in order to get from Seattle to Port Angeles, you need to take a WA state ferry from downtown Seattle across Puget Sound. There are several cities you can take the ferry to, namely: Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, and Kingston. When selecting a ferry and buying tickets, note that some of these boats may be pedestrian-only, so pay attention.
· Furthermore, WA state ferries are named after other cities in WA that they are not sailing to. For example: the ferries from Seattle to Bainbridge Island are called the “Wenatchee” and the “Tacoma”; the ferry to Bremerton is the “Walla Walla.”
· The WA State ferries are typically running 30-40 min behind schedule, but the website lists the precise timeframes of delays.
· Alternatively, you can (and should) drive around Puget Sound. Because you have to drive south to go north, this can take 2.5+ hours.
· I bought my Blackball/Coho ticket a month before the race. Only the Friday 8am boat had available tickets at that point. I arrived 20 (not 60) minutes before departure. Cars had started lining up to get in the standby line at 6:30am. I couldn’t get on the 8am or 12:45 boat. I barely got onto 5:15pm.
· Returning home, passengers are required to be at the ferry dock in Victoria BC 90 minutes prior to departure. If you stay in a hotel on the inner harbodowntown, it’s at least very close by.
The Race Site:
· The race site is located about 7 miles from the inner harbodowntown Victoria (which is where any/all ferries will let you off). The only realistic way to get to the race site from the inner harbor (especially at 4:30am) is to drive.
· There aren’t many hotels near the race site. You may be able to find a motel or an Airbnb, but it will still be 2-4 miles from the race site. There are exactly two houses at the race site. One of those homeowners owns a ton of acres behind his house, and sells parking spots for $100. You would have enteexit privileges all weekend. I think he can accommodate 100+ cars.
· The other house, next door, appeared to be rented out by a team.
· The only source for drinking water (for spectators) that I could find at the race site was a single water fountain near the swim start. There was also a single food truck (Greek) that was selling bottled water, but I imagine supply becomes limited.
Check-in & Race Day – Site Logistics:
· Bring water and a lunch to check-in. See notes above re: water availability.
· Ironman water bottles sold out almost immediately.
· Spectators must be able-bodied, and ideally, physically fit. A lot of walking is required, as several gates/barriers are set up all around the course. I saw some younger people hopping the gates and bushwhacking to get from point to point (e.g. from the swim start to the swim finish). Otherwise there’s lots of walking through a maze.
· The 3 parking lots are each about 2 miles from the race site. There are school bus shuttles, which require some waiting.
· Porta-potties are abundant for athletes and spectators (separate).
· The park has a new bathroom that was built this year, however, at race check-in the sinks were already completely clogged with sand from swimmers. I imagine race day was worse. Public swimming still occurs during check-in and on race day (mostly families of athletes). The public swim area is roped/buoyed off.
· Spectators should bring lunch/snacks, lots of water, clothing layers (a packable down jacket is ideal), and something to sit on. If you care about your spectator, you should prep these things for them in advance. They will be spending 5-8 hours at the park, waiting for you. If they aren't triathletes or into socializing with them, they should bring a book. Families with young children and/or dogs swam and and played on the playground (near the swimming area) all day. This probably sounds like a nightmare to most Americans, but I noticed during my whole trip that Canadian children seem more precocious and well-behaved, and the dogs more mellow. It seemed to rub off on the Americans kids and dogs, respectively.
· Check in is very time-consuming unless you are a seasoned triathlete and/or have a partnespectator who is.
· You absolutely cannot leave your car unattended while you check-in your bike. If you are alone (i.e., don’t have another driver in your car), you have to give the race officials your bike, go park your car in the lot 2 miles away, shuttle back (which involves lots of waiting), check-in, get your timing chip, bib, and wristband, go thru the expo (it's thankfully small), bring your bike to the transition, and set up your transition area. A pre-race briefing is required (offered about every 1-2 hours). I also did a swim course recon.
· I also stayed for what was listed as a “swim clinic” (optional) - which turned out to be a lecture by Lance Watson with Life Sport Coaching. This was incredibly useful and single handedly calmed all of my nerves about swimming.
The race itself
· All 3 legs of the course are beautiful.
· The run isn’t flat. There are a few little hills. There are also some significant tree roots. I tripped a few times, and saw one older athlete take a tumble.
· I wore normal race-day running shoes. One guy ran it barefoot. I'm not sure how.
· There is lots of course support for all 3 legs. I was surprised (and comforted) by how many support vehicles were on the bike course.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone who plans to do the race in the future! Thank you for coming to my TED talk;)

Thanks for your help if you can. I understand some of the days may look packed and am open to moving things around or off my list (my partner and I tend to be the busy types who like to do a lot of things each day). Some questions I have is how reliable taxis are (we like to save time if we can). Also, would a day trip to Kawaguchiko be recommended? Does anyone also recommend the Osaka Aquarium? Correct me if I am wrong and thanks again!
06/10/23
Fly out of LAX
06/11/23

• Arrive at HND at 2:15 PM
• Go through Customs
• Check in Shinjuku Hotel
• Nap a few hours
• Kabukicho
• Omoide Yokocho
• Golden Gai
• Hanazono Shrine

06/12/23
Ginza

• Tsukiji Market
• Hongaji Temple
• Enshoji Shrine
• Chuo-Dori
• Uniqlo
• Yurakucho
• Ginza Art Aquarium
• Hamarikyu Gardens

Odaiba

• TeamLab Planets at 3:00 PM
• Unicorn Gundam Statue
• Fuji Television Building
• Diver City
• Rainbow Bridge

06/13/23

• Tokyo Metropolitan Building Observatory
• Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
• Meiji Jingu
• Imperial Palace
• Pokemon Center Tokyo DX
• Akihabara
• Ueno Park

Asakusa

• Senso-ji
• Nakamise Street
• Underground Shopping Center
• Tokyo Skytree

Harajuku

• Takeshita Street
• Tokyu Plaza
• Zenkoji Temple

Shibuya

• Shibuya Sky at 7:40 PM
• Shibuya Crossing

06/14/23
Yokohama

• Gundam Factory Yokohama
• Kanteibyo
• Masabyo
• China Town
• Ichiba Dori at night?
• Ship luggage from hotel to hotel?

06/15/23

• Shinkansen to Kyoto
• Check in/leave luggage at Gion Hotel if not shipped
• Fushimi Inari
• Hike up about 45 minutes to Yotsusuji intersection for views
• Higashiyama Historic District
• Kiyomizu-Dera Temple
• Gion
• Pontocho Alley at night
• Nishiki Market

06/16/23

• Check in/leave luggage at hotel near Imperial Palace
• Nijo Castle
• Kyoto Imperial Palace
• Heian Shrine
• Philosopher’s Path
• Nanzenji
• Honen-In
• Kinkaku-Ji Temple
• Okonomiyaki Katsu
• Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
• Iwatayama Monkey Park
• Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street
• Tenryuji Temple

06/17/23
Nara

• Nara Park
• Manyo Botanical Garden
• Kokufu-ji Temple
• Todaiji Temple
• Mount Wakakusayama Plateau

06/18/23
Himeji

• Himeji Castle
• Kokoen Garden
• Engyo-ji
• Stop by Kobe for Kobe beef?

06/19/23

• Check out of Hyatt Place Kyoto
• Some place to store luggage while exploring?
• Kuromon Ichiba Market
• Osaka Castle
• Dotonbori
• Hozen-ji Yokocho
• Fly out of KIX (Terminal 1) at 6:10 PM (arrive by 4 PM)

Tourism is a small but important part of Kashmir’s economy. However, in the name of tourism, the government should not put the fragile and already-strained natural resources and public infrastructure in the region under even more pressure, lest it lead to a complete destruction of the beautiful valley, which is home to 7 million people.
Four years after India made Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) its youngest Union territory, the region is expected to receive around 2 crore (20 million) tourists this year. This was revealed by the lieutenant governor of the Union territory Manoj Sinha in April while laying the foundation stone of a medical college in the outskirts of Srinagar.
Sinha said that the number of tourists J&K is set to receive during this year would break all previous records of tourist influx into Kashmir.
Will the Union territory, especially the ecologically fragile Kashmir valley, be able to accommodate such a huge number of tourists?
What about the amount of waste 2 crore tourists will generate? Does the Union territory have the infrastructure to treat this waste scientifically, considering that the number of tourists visiting is more than twice the population of the region?
Do we have scientific waste management systems in place in Srinagar and other tourist places of J&K?
In this article I will be explaining all this with facts and figures.
Shrinking farmlands and tourism
Tourists who visit Kashmir are fascinated by the natural beauty while they move around on the Jammu–Srinagar highway (National Highway 44). They are often seen taking pictures in the saffron fields of Pampore or with the mustard flowers elsewhere in the valley (which bloom in abundance around the spring season— March to April).
Does the Union territory have the infrastructure to treat this waste scientifically, considering that the number of tourists visiting is more than twice the population of the region?
When tourists visit Pahalgam, they take selfies near the apple trees that dot the landscape on the way to this beautiful tourist resort.
Imagine what will happen if the beauty of this landscape is allowed to perish? There will be no reason for tourists to visit Kashmir. More importantly, it will become well-nigh impossible for Kashmiris to live in Kashmir.
The government’s own data reveals that agriculture landholding in J&K has come down drastically. As per a report published on 10th agriculture census (2015–16) by the financial commissioner of revenue for the erstwhile state of J&K, the total number of operational holdings in the state was 14.16 lakh, operating on 8.42 lakh hectare of land.
This was 14.49 lakh holdings operating on 8.95 lakh hectare of land in the 9th agriculture census ( 2010–11).
This means that in a mere five-year period, J&K had witnessed a decrease of 2.27 percent in the number of holdings and a decrease of 5.92 percent in the operating area under agriculture.
The average holding size in J&K during the 10th agriculture census (2015–16) stood at 0.59 hectare. This has come down further in the 2021–22 agriculture census whose final report is yet to be made public.
As per the 2015–16 agriculture census, around 84 percent of farmers in J&K were marginal farmers and 11.29 percent, 4.10 percent, 0.78 percent and 0.04 percent farmers had small, semi-medium, medium and large land holdings respectively.
Marginal farmers are those who have less than 1 hectare of land holdings, small farmers have 1–2 hectare of land holdings, semi-medium farmers have 2–4 hectare of land holdings, medium farmers have 4–10 hectare of land holdings, and large farmers have more than 10 hectare of land holdings.
In the 9th agriculture census, the average land holding in J&K was 0.62 hectare and between 2010–11 and 2015–16 agriculture censuses, there has been a decrease of 0.03 hectare of agriculture land holding.
The unofficial figures say that the agricultural land has shrunk further in the last five–six years and is now only around 0.5 hectare. If this downward spiral continues, I believe that in the next 25 to 30 years, 90 percent of the rural population in J&K, especially in the Kashmir valley, will become landless.
We will see only concrete structures on our agricultural land. It will have serious consequences for our agriculture economy and tourism will be severely impacted as well. There will be more floods as our wetlands and lakes are choked and the built up concrete area doesn’t allow water to seep into the ground.
Unscientific waste disposal and illegal mining
In future, shrinking farmlands will not only impact our agriculture and tourism but will also have a direct impact on management of our municipal solid waste.
In J&K, 90 percent of the urban local bodies, including the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and smaller councils and committees have no official landfill sites. Waste is not treated as per the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2016. Even in Srinagar city, the only garbage dump site located at Achan Saidpora is choked and emits an obnoxious smell, especially during summer months.
Enough land isn’t available in our towns and cities to set up scientific landfill sites. In hilly towns, this is even more of a challenge, especially in Ramban, Doda and Udhampur, where municipal solid waste is dumped unscientifically in forests or waterbodies.
During the last decade, the SMC has not been able to acquire even 50–60 acre of land for creating a landfill as an alternative to the overburdened Achan Saidpora site.
In 2017, the then deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh, who was also the Minister for Housing & Urban Development Department (HUDD), while responding to a question from a legislator of Srinagar, Mubarak Gul, said on the floor of the J&K assembly that a committee had been constituted under the district magistrate of Srinagar to look for land to create a new landfill site in Srinagar but the committee could not find even 10 acre of land to set up the new landfill site.
It is a well-known fact that Srinagar and a majority of the districts in J&K have small landholdings and most of the land is already occupied by shopping complexes or housing colonies and finding large patches of land to set up landfill sites or garbage dump sites is a herculean task.
This is the reason that a majority of our water bodies, such as lakes, wetlands, rivers and streams, have become waste dump sites and this author had to move a formal application before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to ensure a clean-up of the Doodh Ganga river in the Srinagar–Budgam area.
This waterbody is being used to dump solid waste at multiple locations by local residents. The Geology and Mining Department has auctioned this stream for riverbed mining with effect from September 2021 to 2026. The project proponent is mining as deep as 10 metre while only mining till 1 metre depth is allowed.
Huge cranes and JCB are also used for extracting sand, boulders and gravel, which is in violation of the J&K Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016 and the guidelines of J&K State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
In addition, the SMC and a few other government bodies have set up around 13 wastewater pump stations on the banks of Doodh Ganga, which flush out untreated water and sewage into the stream in violation of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Keeping these violations under consideration and after providing the material facts, the NGT imposed a penalty of ₹35 crore on the government of J&K in October this year
In March this year, a ₹3 crore penalty had already been imposed. The money was released from the coffers of SMC, the Department of Geology and Mining and the municipal committees of Chadoora and Budgam.
In the Poonch district of Jammu, the local municipality is using the Poonch river as a garbage dump site. In this case, too, a few months back this author had to move an application before the NGT. Notice was issued to the district magistrate, Poonch and the pollution control committee, asking for a detailed report from them. The case is listed for hearing in July.
Conclusion
Heaps of plastic waste can be seen in the tourist places of Kashmir, such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Yusmarg and Doodhpathri. The government should seriously think about banning plastic in these tourist spots.
The pilgrims visiting the Amarnath cave are littering in the high altitude mountains, which is even more dangerous because the waste does not decompose easily in the freezing weather at such high altitudes. The cave is also adjacent to the magnificent Kolahoi glacier and the waste acts like a hot knife through butter, trapping sunlight and cutting through the white snow and ice.
People visit the cave for spiritual reasons, but when they engage in anti-nature activities by throwing plastic, food and other wastes in the pristine glaciers and mountains, it leads to environmental destruction.
In Srinagar city alone, around 500 metric tonne of waste is generated daily and this quantity goes up during the tourist rush in summers. Unfortunately not even 10 percent of this waste is treated.
Same is the case with other tourist places of J&K such as Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam. When 2 crore tourists visit J&K in a year, how will authorities manage them? Do we have scientific landfill sites? What about the carbon footprints these tourists will leave?
So it is advisable that the government must first concentrate on ensuring that all tourist places have a scientific waste management system in place. Plastic must be completely banned. No food items packed in plastic wrappers should be sold at tourist resorts.
The pilgrims coming for pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave should not be allowed to carry any plastic packed food materials and the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine should also be reduced, as recommended by Nitesh SenGupta Committee report.
Tourism is a small but vital part of Kashmir’s economy. But we must not let unregulated tourism put an unbearable strain on the natural resources and infrastructure of the region. By doing so, we may earn quick bucks for a few years, but it will ultimately result in Kashmir becoming a trashbowl.
Let us not allow Kashmir valley to become a trash valley.
https://theleaflet.in/unregulated-tourist-influx-kashmir-dreads-the-final-straw-that-will-break-the-himalayas-back/

When getting a nexus letter from a medical professional, does the VA give more weight to an MD vs a NP? I'm looking to increasing my sinusitis from 0 to at least 30%. I suffer from near chronic infections now and take antibiotics at least once per month. However the person I have been seeing over the last year and a half is a nurse practitioner and not a MD.

I 16F)was always the child growing up who people would call a “social butterfly “ I would make friends really easily I could find people at parks,water parks,hotels,on vacation basically anywhere I genuinely think of myself as a good person/friend So when my friends would say I’m being a bad friend or other things it would hurt for example I was upset that my friend didn’t invite me to something and she got upset at me for being upset saying I need to grow up because she isn’t always invited to things and doesn’t complain so I shouldn’t then went on and on if I do stuff like this again she’ll slap me things like that we never really talked about it again and just dropped it but it still hurts she made my feelings feel invalid other things my fiends have done was get with someone they knew I liked and bragged about how they’re gonna “sleep together” i just ignored her for the rest of the week but once again it was dropped never talked about again there’s been times she’s upset me and we stop being friends but then within a month she’s saying she’ll change and I forgive her but she’s done messed up things to me that I forgive her for on one of my birthdays invited a few friends we played a few party games but the whole entire party didn’t even feel like it was for me or my sister were twins it just didn’t feel like anything was about us the whole entire time it was always about someone else then the next day one of my friends got mad at me for something I didn’t even do any kept getting mad at me for coming near her when it’s literally my house I can go where I want there’s been many times where I tell my friend who I like and then she goes and tells them and when I get upset about it’s I’m being dramatic it’s whatever but what she doesn’t get is I’ve been called ugly my entire life so stuff like that always ends up with me being called ugly to summarize this up I need advice on what to do about these friends do I drop them ?

Hello, I'm planning a trip with my bf (we are both 23yo) and I am looking for a feedback on my trip plan. Also I would like to know the best way to fill the blank spaces.
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Date	Location	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
23.09.23	Tokyo	Arrival at Haneda Airport	Sensoji Temple	Explore Shinjuku & spend time at Kabukicho Tower
24.09.23	Tokyo		Kokugikan Sumo grand tournament	Sanrio Cafe Ikebukuro & Fukuru Matsuri Ikebukuro
25.09.23	Tokyo	Tokyo Sea Life Patk	TeamLab Planets
26.09.23	Tokyo	Tokyo DisneySea	Tokyo DisneySea
27.09.23	Tokyo	Explore Harajuku and Shibuya	Gotokuji Temple	Shopping at Ginza
28.09.23	Hakone	Arrive to Mishima Station, rent a car, Mishima Skywalk	Hakone-jinja Shrine, Owakudani Valley	Check in hotel at Gotenba
29.09.23	Fuji	Hike mt.fuji?		Hana no Miyako Park?
30.09.23	Kyoto	Return the car at Mishima Station, take Shinkansen to Kyoto	Check in hotel	Night Walking Tour
01.10.23	Kyoto		Nishiki Market
02.10.23	Kyoto	Explore Uji	Explore Fushimi Inari
03.10.23	Kyoto	Arashiyama Monkey Park	Explore Arashiyama
04.10.23	Yokohama	Take the Shinkansen to Yokohama	Minato Mirai	ChinaTown
05.10.23	Yokohama	Check out hotel & go to Enoshima Aquarium	Explore Enoshima & Take the train to Narita Station	Stay at the hotel in Narita

Questions:

1. Does anyone know the time the Mikoshi festival in Ikebukuro on 24.09.23 will start?
2. Can you recommend any places to spend the evening near Tokyo Station?
3. I understand that climbing on Fuji off season is prohibited and dangerous, so we won't try to reach the summit. I just wanted to know if going to the 5th station in 30.09 is Okay. I also read that you can Hike to Hoei Crater (which is near 6th station) on Fuji this time of year. Is hiking to Hoei Crater safe and doable? If not, are there any good hiking trails nearby?
4. Is Nishiki Market in Kyoto open on Sundays? What else can we do on a Sunday in kyoto?
5. Where can we spend the evening in Kyoto?
6. Is a day trip to Enoshima from Yokohama doable? Is Enoshima Aquarium fun? If not, what else we can do in Yokohama?
7. Can you recommend any affordable Matcha or Sushi workshops? We are both students so nothing fancy...
8. Can you recommend on Pork-free Ramen and Gyoza? We do not eat Pork but would love to try.

Thank you for your help!

I have previously written two posts about gay (sex)adventures in Tokyo about 6 months ago, they are HERE and HERE. I just made another trip last week, this time more focused on general tourist activities, including a side trip to hike near Mount Fuji. But nothing would stop me from exploring the night and sex life of the city. Hope you'd find the additional information useful:
About bars - I started the night in Tokyo Eagle then off to Eagle Blue to see a gogo dance performance by a group called Bear Train. Both places are in the middle of Shinjuku's gay district Ni-chome and are popular with muscle bears like myself. Eagle Blue is more of a basement club than bar; it was packed full of people that night. It's a cover charge of ¥1,500 that got you one big drink up to the same value. They do serve drinks in big plastic cups so one drink should be enough for a short visit. The atmosphere was great. If you happen to be in Tokyo during the weekend go check out their Twitter to see if they have any special performances.
As it was still early after watching the show in Eagle Blue, we went to check out the nearby Dragon Men, which has a more professional troupe of muscle gogo dancers. This is a legit dance club and I read that the US singer Lil Nas X was there having fun the weekend before while on a promotional tour in Japan. I gotta say the performance there was way better than Bear Train's in Eagle Blue. So unless you, like me, have a thing for bears, Dragon Men is probably more entertaining.
A few people have asked me about "masseurs" and "escorts" in Tokyo. This is not something I usually go for but since ¥ is really cheap against USD now, I can't say I wasn't tempted. You can get a full service massage between ¥15,000 (around USD110) and ¥20,000. I was traveling with 2 other buddies this time and one of them is sort of a connoisseur of sex workers in Japan - here is what he did. There is a website that lists all the available independent "masseurs" through out Japan. You can see their basic bios there, with links to their Twitter accounts, websites, etc. The site is in Japanese and English, and you can set your browser to auto-translate from Japanese to English when viewing the masseurs' own webpages.
Most masseurs prefer to be contacted by emails first. You can use English and from what my friend has shown me they have no problem replying in English too. You should also contact them at least half a day in advance. Check their availability on their Twitter and other social media accounts first. The Japanese are very orderly this way.
My friend hired one for an afternoon session; he was so happy afterward that he is still talking about it. But please be mindful that this is a list of "masseurs" even when some are very explicit in what additional services are being offered. Use your own judgement and be respecful when setting up an appointment.
Since I was sharing a room with a travel buddy, we did decide to stay in more expensive hotels this round. The first one we stayed was in Ginza, and the second one was a "hot spring" hotel in Shinjuku right next to the gay district Ni-chome. It has a large bath in the basement with one big hot pool of hotspring water that can sit up to 8 people comfortably. There are also two smaller ones in an sealed off "outside" area. If you like Japanese hotspring-style baths this hotel is a very good deal, with the additional bonus that it's popular with gay tourists and locals alike because of its proximity to Ni-chome. All of us have encountered some very discreet cruising while taking out turns to visit the bath.
I don't encourage anyone to cruise in a public place that is not exclusively gay, but a smile and a friendly nod to the right person can definitely make your trip more interesting. I did exactly that and ended up in another hotel guest's room one evening.
Much as I wanted to visit at least one gay sauna or sex club this trip, I decided not to. Monkeypox is still a concern in Japan, and people are getting infected despite being vaccinated. This is just my personal choice, but you can still read about the 24 Kaikan sauna chain and various sex clubs in my two previous posts.
It's still really cheap to visit Japan now but its economy is recovering faster than everyone else. It may not be cheap for long.

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)
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Assets and Liabilities
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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

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Income progression- (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/)
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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.
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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

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Household Expenses (paid by P)
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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

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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/)
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I receive negligible dividends from the shares I own, lol.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Total spent today – $100
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Total spent this week – $204.50
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Spending by categories
Food & Drink – $84.50
Home & Health – $0
Clothing & Beauty – $110
Transportation – $0
Fun & Entertainment – $10
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Reflections on this week’s spending
The spending is pretty much about normal for me tbh (excluding the cake and earrings). I had quite a bit of petrol in the tank so I didn’t need to top up my tank this week. The converted US$ 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.

Hi guys!
In the market for a new Ultrawide monitor. I come from a dark matter by Monoprice 34, which has a qd filter making it slightly better looking than other usual ones (I guess?).
After a lot of thinking I've decided not to go with the qdoled monitors due to being too lazy to babysit one, worrying about burn in and having to deal with the whole return process every once in 6 months or a year.
I'm spoiled with VA with its deeper blacks and no glow and bleed. Might consider IPS if only it has good blacks. Ghosting is something I can get used to.
Currently eyeing the following:
Asus PG34VQ - one of the best ultrawide few years ago and I hear this can still hold up its reputation. Have one offer for $800.
LG 49GR85DC - Latest 49 inch 240hz monitor from LG, looks pretty promising with good features. Little over my budget but I can cough in if it's worth it.
Dell AW3821DW - IPS 38 inch from Dell aliensware. I hear everyone loved the transition from 34 to 38, having more real estate for work or games.
Or anything you suggest! I'm trying to get the best experience I can have with gaming. My go to game is League of Legends (lots of static ui so no qdoled huh) and I've been saving up a lot of single player games to play on my soon to be mine monitor. Cyberpunk, dead space, God of War, Elden Ring, etc.
My system is 4090 with 5800x3d so even 49 with near 4k should be fine. The only thing I'm concerned is the impact towards league as I don't hear anything positive.
Anything helps!

From a story perspective, some episodes are more obviously conceived on the day of shooting by producers, (like some of the American kitchen nightmares eps) while others have seemingly been more expertly crafted, with skilled writers involved. Just saw a Hotel Hell with a guy from Vermont that successfully portrayed genuine joy, along with other emotions, following the show’s makeover of his inn. If nothing else, this show participant was convincing and emotional in his portrayal. I don’t doubt he was the owner.
As for the experience of the watcher: it’s all been mildly numbing and pleasant. And ultimately the stories fade into the background as the viewer’s eye is nearly always drawn to Chef’s swagger, charisma, and hair. Oh the hair.

Messi with maxed out dribbling stats (~98) and 96 balance cannot dribble nearly as well as my Neymar with ~95 dribbling stats and ~90 balance. Even efootball points E. Hazard (built to optimise dribbling at ~96 dribbling stats and low 90s balance) dribbles better than Messi.
The difference? Neymar and Hazard both have sole control.
I have been trying to get sole control as a skill to legacy transfer to Messi, but have had no luck.
Has anyone given Messi sole control, and if so, what were the results?
Edit: Apparently Neymar doesn’t have sole control, just that his Konami-given unique animations are OP. Sole control still helps Hazard feel better than Messi to dribble with though.

I'm leaving Delhi tomorrow and have to pick up a few boxes of Ladoo for relatives back home. I will be traveling from my hotel in Gurgaon to New Delhi Railway station via cab.
Can anyone suggest a good sweet shop near by (Gurgaon Sec 54 and Paharganj) or on the route? I can make a slight detour if necessary