Rocket league shutting down

This is probably going to be a bit long so I'll try to format it in a logical way. The main question I want to address is:
Did Trent's article turn Roy into the person he is today?
​
Firstly, we can reasonably assume he wasn't always the scowling beast we know and love. This is evidenced by the fire scene, where he describes his relationship with his Grandfather, and has held on to "Blankie" all these years. Clearly he was, at some point capable of an emotion other than yelling and swearing. Now, he does still display emotions other than pure rage, naturally, on two occasions I can think of: His retirement speech and in the locker room after seeing Jamie's Dad. The latter, without reading too much into it, we can probably guess he didn't have the best relationship with his Dad (he's a bit racist, and he wasn't the one to drive him when he got scouted), but the former, I think we should look at a bit more in depth.
His retirement, though his own decision, marks the end of a huge part of his life. Remember he's been at this since he was nine years old when he got scouted. It's the only time we really, truly see him break down. Most of the other characters have had their moments (Ted panic attacks; Rebecca with Rupert and at the funeral; Jaime punching his Dad), but the thing that makes Roy truly break is saying goodbye to playing. Keep that in mind.
Two quick notes to address before I continue. People deal with trauma differently, and a 17 year old with little support network is not really emotionally equipped to handle it well. Often people will harden themselves so as not to get hurt, some people throw themselves into their work, some people just develop unhealthy habits. Also Nate's pregame speech:

"Your speed and your smarts were never what made you who you are. It's your anger, that's your superpower, that's what made you one of the best midfielders in the history of this league. I haven't seen it on the pitch at all this season. You used to run like you were angry at the grass. You'd kick the ball like you'd caught it fucking your wife"

So, with all that in mind, imagine this, and feel free to use whatever is important to you: You're 17, you're doing what you've lived and breathed your whole life, you're stepping up to one of the greatest accomplishments anyone can achieve in that field, you are so fucking excited. You finish, and you know there will be a piece in the paper about you. You wait and wait, and finally get the paper, eagerly turning, looking for your name, and you see the article Trent wrote about you.

That fucking broke me.

Would the Roy Kent we've seen over the last two seasons admit to something like that happening today? Maybe to Keeley, but nobody else. He's literally more comfortable discussing shitting his pants on the bus than emotions. And it's not like it's an article he read, cried a bit, then went on with his day. He has literally carried it with him every day since. It's a big fucking deal to him still, so we know that he really means it when he says "broke". It's not hyperbole.
So here's what I think happened. He reads it, doesn't process the trauma he's just experienced, the destruction of the joy he should be feeling at this accomplishment. He bottles it up, because after all he's with a new team of people much older than he is, he doesn't have the support network he has today, so it festers. He throws himself in to football, works to be the best he can, but he still can't let go of the anger of what Trent said. So it becomes his life. He thinks about it daily, and slowly becomes this rage filled beast that's determined to be the best.

So, as I've mentioned, my wife was diagnosed with severe BPD after d-day and it's taken awhile for us to find her an IC who can treat her. Many of the behaviors that led to her affairs were related to her undiagnosed BPD. The splitting, the attachments to all of her male friends, self harming behaviors, etc. Like many BS who try to reconcile, I placed boundaries and conditions on her to rebuild trust, and to give her therapy time to help her adjust to having BPD. My boundaries and conditions are:

• She must communicate with me on how she feels
• She must let me know where she's going and keep the Life360 app on her phone
• She must always be honest with me
• She must keep her phone, apps and emails available to me whenever I want.
• She cannot interact with any men if I am not around.
• She had to go NC with her APs ‐ She must go to IC for her BPD and MC for R

While these are the boundaries and conditions, I rarely check her phone and, I don't really watch her on Life360. I don't push or get invasive. The other ones she has to strictly follow. So her IC asked her to have me write a list on how I think her BPD is still poorly controlled. I point out the she still splits, still instigate fights to make me the bad guy, love bombs me one minute and isolates me the next, becomes unreasonably emotional with the slightest trigger or even when there isn't one. I gave some examples for each one. She told her IC who told her that her BPD issues were more my problem than hers. And that my boundaries are toxic and controlling. Apparently, my WW got the impression from her IC that I'm the one who's hanging on to the affair and should let it go. That because it happened so long ago, she's not the same person today and I'm holding over her head. Her IC is making her feel like she's a victim. I asked my WW if she told her IC why I placed the restriction on the male friends on her, or that she just told me about her affairs a year and a half ago, or that she was still friends with her APs when she confessed and that while her affairs may have been 11 years ago, her lies lasted until d-day. The affair was only half the betrayal. The lying was the other half. And that part is very fresh.
This puts me in a position that I know she desperately needs therapy but i dont think her IC is going to work for her. It took her forever to get an IC after our insurance bounced her around and it may take months to even find another one. I also don't want to tell her to get a new IC because it would just feed into what her IC told her. Our previous MC thought my boundaries and conditions were reasonable as does my IC. But having an IC who vilifies me to her doesn't help with her BPD where she'll see that as justification for her thoughts. Of course, she could be gaslighting her IC, which you would think her IC would be aware of as she knows of her BPD diagnosis. Oh, and her IC told her she thinks she may be bipolar as well. That's a lot of crazy in a 5'5" frame.
I don't think I'm being unreasonable or controlling. I think I just want to keep my sanity and prevent my anxiety from getting worse. And because I have to deal with her BPD issues, it makes R slower because it's a1 in 3 chance I'll get the version of her who will talk and not the one who gets angry and shuts me out for weeks while living in her fantasy bubble or the one who emotionally breaks down and needs consoling because she's in a downward spiral. Oh, while doing our intake today with our new MC, because the VA seems to like changing them out every several months so we have to relive the trauma by rehashing everything, the MC asked if there was a history of infidelity and my wife told her she had physical and emotional affairs. That hit me hard because it's the first time she's directly said out loud that there was an emotional component to her affairs. I knew there was, but hearing it come out of her mouth felt like d-day all over again. Rough day.

First Issue!

• Author's Note: Hello once more! Someone gave the writing gobbo a cookie, they didn't have a name so I wanted to say to that person plainly, thank you. He very much appreciates it and he told me to say this. He just finished his chicken scratching on paper which now translates to this story. Have fun with it and if you want to give my writing gobbo a snack you can do so here! Donate a coffee and a cookie to my writing goblin here, if you wish! Enjoy!

Azail had just arrived back in the cockpit with Gab'el. On the floor in front of them, they saw Ashi'in patching up some cuts and bruises on her while an already patched up Lukin was looking with sparkling golden eyes upon a screen.
"What have you done, you idiots?!" Azail yelled as she sat Gab'el done.
Ashi'in startled by the sudden yelling, got to her feet. "I-it was hurt and the doc and I couldn't keep it alive, we-... I CHOSE to save its life, so I gave it the suit." The assistant said at first hesistant and then simply decided to own up to her decision.
"You CAN'T just give an RF Suit to a lower ranking intelligence sentient! You are an absolute amateur and I WILL have this put forward with the Council, I will make sure you and Lukin both get to study alien single cell organisms for the rest of your lifespans!" Azail said nearly frothing at the mouth, well... if her biology would allow for that.
"You will do, no such thing." Lukin stated from the back of the room, still facing the holographic display that seems to show a live feed of some sort.
This comment and the way Lukin spoke, got both Ashi'in's and Azail's attention. "Oh! I will! Because you just put us at risk with a decision that was approved by NOBODY!"
"WE WERE AT RISK OF DEATH YOU DAFT ORDER FOLLOWING DRONE!" Lukin said with a fervor as if he didn't protest himself against this, not long ago. He slammed his fist on the console and then turned, the glint in his golden eyes accompanied by a wide smile, which for Anghelons is quite literally and unnervingly from short pointy ear to short pointy ear, showing off their teeth in entirety. "That simpleton had just clued us in on the proper usage of the archaic Gen 1 RF Suit. The suit is connected with the ship's network to record during use and provide a live feed. I have watched its fight and oh... how glad I am that I did." Lukin said clasping his palms together, the four digits on each hand crossing between each other.
Azail got quite for a second as she listened to Lukin, his behaviour bordering on unhinged cutting her anger slightly short. "W-what are you talking about? ... Ashi'in help Gab'el with his wounds..." Azail said as she began approaching Lukin, but being wary of him.
Lukin's wide smile went to a near neutral expression, showing just a small smirk, as his digits danced across the console the video file got rewinded, pausing to the very beginning. He turned the volume up slightly and then simply he let the figurative tape to roll, making the viewing window bigger and stepping aside.
Azail and eventually Ashi'in and Gab'el too got to witness their primitive ally's rampage, its yelling, the way the suit apparently reacted to its words and how it used the suit's features, how it... changed the way the suit's features worked."H-how is it doing that? How is the suit even understanding it?! We do not have any other language installed in those besides our own... hell most Gen 1s still use older versions of our language, they are basically ancient." Azail said as she kept watching.
"Ashi'in had the suit integrated with it. When it got shot the kinetic round pierced its heart. Now the suit's core itself is its heart. Once vitals were stable, the suit plunged conductive nano filaments to connect and merge into its nervous system. It is now an EXTENSION of it." Lukin said as he pulled aside the video another window which showed biometrics of the human and the suit which worked in tandem with it. A digital x-ray image of the creature showed the suit had rooted in through its entire body, the core of it sitting in its chest with synthetic veins connecting to the main blood valves that would connect to a heart usually.
Azail turned to face Ashi'in to just finished disinfecting and wrapping up Gab'el's stump. "Y-you integrated the s-suit into it?!"
"It was to save its life!" Ashi'in yelled back exasperated.
"You could have just had it wear it for life support!" the pilot screeched back nearly headbutting Ashi'in due to how close she got in her face.
"IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO SLOW, YOU DIMWIT! If you had any IDEA of how the Gen 1s work is that when initiating integration upon boot-up it will start life support during the integration process, otherwise it boots up systems in a different order and it processes slower. A second could have meant its death!" The assistant explained annoyed.
"In the end, I have come to be glad about Ashi'in's choice. Because of that, I have just witnessed the forgotten potential of the Gen 1 suit. No wonder older data pads were speaking of its potential so highly. Due to forgetting the true knowledge we had on it and our kind's tendency to look down upon the smarts of others and also our predecessors, we are now the fools who have become the laughing stock out of all our generations." Lukin stated with a humbled tone as well a boiling frustration.
"So you are saying that dusty old armor is better than our current Gen 2s?! Pfft, like hell it is." Azail said crossing her arms.
Lukin looked at her with an unimpressed expression as he then glanced up at the video from the xeno's point of view and he grinned once more. "You remember how our Gen 2s whole body shields can withstand about five to six consecutive Rail Rifle shots before being disabled and needing to recharge?"
"Yes, it was one of our major improvements compared to the Gen 1s whole body shields which would withstand about two and then it would let rounds pass through it. The shield itself wouldn't shut down, but it was thinner than our kind's first layer of skin, so therefore useless if it doesn't do its job." Azail said confidently. She didn't know an extensive amount about the Gen 1 suits, but she knew what the military taught her and that is the improvements the Gen 2 suits have over their predecessor.
"Who actually said Gen 1s had full body suits?" Lukin said with a snort and chuckle. "One of the complaints of newer generations about the Gen 1 suits was that the shield it generated was usually initiated as a flat surface shield almost like a wall that moved with you, but soldiers complained of the time it took them to morph it into the shape they wanted, which usually was a dome that they would wrap over themselves." Lukin stated in a satisfied tone. "Due to those complaints, code was written into the suits to allow for the shield to simply cover the body and morph with it."
The xeno biologist then pointed at the recording which now showcased William as he just made his arm mounted shield. Azail's eyes widened as she witnessed the xeno in the suit block over 9 Rail Rifle shots and then deflecting an over charged one, the shield's energy surface not wavering or weakening once. "H-huh?!" Azail uttered in confusion.
Lukin simply laughed like he had just heard the best joke in the whole universe. "The reason the shielding was failing was because it wasn't meant to be flexible and to bend with the user's movements. It was made to be a constant shape and deformed when needed." Lukin said as he sucked on his teeth. "I welcome you three as you are now part of the side of our race that... knows how truly stupid we are. All I told you just now... I finally figured out after watching an UNTRAINED creature use our tech."
Azail and Gab'el simply stared on stunned, now watching the native chop, with a short sharp weapon, into the face of the Daemar that melted his gun to bits in a final attempt to kill the silvery armored creature.
"Hah. Oh~ this'll be fun to look into." Ashi'in said as she watched in awe, at the recording.
Soon enough the recorded video ended and a prompt on the side of the screen announced it returning to the Live Feed.
William was chasing down the last demon. It tried to employ smoke screens, but the tracking intent of the knight made the suit activate thermal vision. His eyes always being afixed on his running target, the suit locked an outline on it and using that along with trajectory data it would also correctly highlight its foot prints, which William was looking for if he lost sight of his fiendish enemy. "COME BACK YOU SPINELESS CUR! YOU DISGRACE YOUR DARK LORD AND SHOW YOUR KIND'S COWARDLY NATURE! TAKE THINE DEATH BY GOD'S WRATH AND SHOW SOME BRAVERY BEFORE YOUR DEMISE!"
"This thing has been moving so much. How the hell is it not tired, yet?!" Gab'el said as he watched on William's chase.
"Its kind are endurance hunters. They aren't fast, nor impossibly strong, but they have evolved with quite a bit of endurance. We had observed some hunters from a different region. They had struck a creature using a primite shafted projectile, a herbivore of sorts, and they let it run off. They simply tracked it using the trail of blood and keeping an eye on it from the distance. Then... they just walked it to exhaustion and killed it. As long as it is intent on getting you... it eventually will, even if it has to slow down to conserve energy. Huh... funny... it is almost like death, isn't it? No matter where you run from it, it will just come after you." Ashi'in said with a chuckle as she kept her gaze glued to the screen.
"It is the perfect creature for a long distance marching infantry. If vehicles wouldn't be at our disposal and we had to run from one of those... we'd be screwed..." Azail stated matter of fact like, her hands balling up into tight fists from frustration at this realization that on equal footing this creature might be stronger.
William's chase began to come to an end as he caught up to the Daemar captain. He was getting into a ship, foul looking thing. While the Anghelon Empire's ships had a more oval or sphere like design, the Daemar Union used more triangular or arrow tip like designs for their ships.
The knight had charged towards the ship as it began roaring to life, its engine lighting up.
"Oh~ I can not wait to witness this... what will you do now, primitive? Show me... show me what will you come up with." Lukin said as he seemed to then hold his breath, his expectations rising.
William looked a bit perplexed as the ship was about to take off. *"It took refuge inside the innards of this metal beast. Tis a dragon?!"*
The knight made his sword form once more in his hand and with both hands he thrusted the tip of the blade against the ship's hull and after a second thrust it pierced through.
As the ship began lifting more, William hung from his blade with a grunt of effort. He looked down at the ground that he was now being lifted away from. In his off-hand he made a dagger form, which he then jammed into the ship's hull along the longsword's blade. The knight then grunted and growled as he began attempting to widen the gap he made.
"FOUL BEAST YE STAND NOT A CHANCE! CEASE YOUR ASCENSION TO THE SKIES AND SPIT OUT YOUR MASTER, LEST I AM FORCED TO TEAR APART YOUR BELLY AND CRAWL THROUGH THINE INNARDS TO RIP OUT YOUR HEART AND TAKE HIM BY FORCE." When the metal behemoth didn't stop or reply in any way, the knight simply began to pry its hull apart.
He pulled more and more with little progress, but ceaseless, each little bend in the metal seemingly encouraging him to push himself. "GOD WILLS IT! I OBEY! G-GOD WILLS IT! HNNGH! I... OBEY!"
"Initiating Adrenal Glands stimulation." The suit coldly stated into William's ears as well as back at the ship through the live feed.
"Glands?!" Lukin and Ashi'in yelled out in a chorus of surprise, both of them approaching the console and going over the x-ray simulation of William's insides.
"Oh my-... yes! It is true! It has two! It has two fucking adrenal glands!" Ashi'in said extatic at this discovery, her expression turning a lighter blue due to flustered awe.
"HAH! Oh- I fucking love this thing, already. Ho ho~ so much to study, so many experiments come to mind." Lukin said as he looked back at the live feed after examining the x-ray.
The hull got bent more and more, enough for William to get his hands in there, his weapons retracting into his armor. He pulled, bare handed as he now yelled at the top of his lungs, the strain being incredible on him. He could feel his muscles burn as he took deep breaths of air and just kept pulling. The metal cried and whined as it got forced to deform.
"RR-R-...RHAAAA! RGH- GOD W-WILLS I-IT! G-... GRHHD-... DHMMNG- D-DEUS VULT!" He yelled as he ripped the metal apart even more, just enough to crawl through.
"He got inside the hull's walls... he could short circuit the whole ship if he knew h-..." Gab'el began saying only to then facepalm when seeing the native start to rip through the wires and pipes impeding his path.
With two hand axes at the ready William began to rip through the beast's guts, sparks flying every and each way.
Inside the Daemar ship's cockpit, the squad captain piloted the ship alone as he just managed to get on comms. "Star Hopper - D733, do you copy? This is Captain Tessix, of the recon group D733/092. I am returning after failing to neutralize an Anghelon science vessel. They have sent... something after us. It is wearing one of their older model suits, but it isn't an Anghelon... it is a native of Plan-..."
Noises of loud echoing pounding and the cry of metal bending echoed from behind the cockpit. Just as quickly an alarm blared showing that ship pressure is leaking and the hull has been compromised.
"R-D733/092 we copy you. What have the Anghelon research crew employed? Over." A voice replied back through the comms just as another dull and loud sound of impact rung like a bell from the ship's insides.
The captain silently stared back in disbelief, at the closed cockpit door, in shock. He quickly snapped out of it when another louder impact resounded through his control chamber.
Tessix quickly turned back to the comms. "I-it's inside the ship. H-ho no... All Mighty Creator... P-PLEASE HELP ME! IT PUT ONE OF MY SOLDIER'S HEAD ON A SPIKE! IT IS RELENTLESS, PLEASE HAVE TROOPS READY AT THE HANGAR AND MOVE CLOSER TO THE PLANET!" The captain pleaded desperate.
"Negative, 092. If it is an ally of the Anghelons we can't compromise our position. We are not exiting cloak or approaching until we are certain that you aren't being tracked. Over." The voice over the comms stated plainlu and coldly as another boom resounded inside the ship.
"I CAN'T, I AM STUCK IN THE COCKPIT YOU IMBECILE! I. AM. TRAPPED." Tessix yelled with his voice quivering.
The comms were silent for a bit too long for comfort until the sparked up to life again. "We thank you for your service and we will inform your family of your passing."
That was the last thing Tussix heard before the communication line was ended... by the other side.
Silence to that akin of a tomb reigned supreme, no more distant sounds of metal wailing or echoes of impact neither.
Tussix continued navigating the ship up until he felt his long spine lock up with terror. Despite the silence he just had a most horrendous feeling. He glanced back at the closed twin sliding doors and his void like eyes widened as he saw their lips quiver as they began to be pried apart, a dim blue light shining through the widening gap as silvery digits crept through it as well.
"I KNOW YOU ARE IN HERE, DEMON! DEATH COMETH IN MY WAKE TO CLAIM THINE WRETCHED SOUL!" William shouted from the other side of the door as if possessed.
Tussix quivering in sheer terror, took out a small data pad and tapped on it until he came to a picture of his significant other and his six children. Pulling his kinetic pistol from his wholster he shook with fear as he could hear the doors open ever so slowly.
"I-... I am sorry dear... kids... I love you... p-papa will miss you..." Tessix said as tears dripped from his black eyes while lifting his pistol.
When William managed to loudly pry the doors a second loud bang echoed the sound of the doors being slammed open and right after a dull thud of impact on the floor followed.

I have an HP Pavilion 15 running windows 11 whose screen flickers a little and then goes completely black after startup. I have to force shut it down and start again each time for the issue to stop. This issue has started after I setup OpenCL on my laptop, even though I've removed it now, it hasn't helped in any way.

I have an HP Pavilion 15 running windows 11 whose screen flickers a little and then goes completely black after startup. I have to force shut it down and start again each time for the issue to stop. This issue has started after I setup OpenCL on my laptop, even though I've removed it now, it hasn't helped in any way.

I dated an avoidant introvert for a few years. She had deeply rooted childhood trauma that she failed to recognize, acknowledge or work on healing. No father, emotionally absent mother and repeated sexual trauma. She was so secretive about her past that it took me a while to even gather this information. She would only ever give me breadcrumbs.
I was extremely patient, gentle and supportive of her during our time together. But at the expense of my own mental health. I was addicted to her but not in a healthy way. Her close then distant attitude really hooked me.
I should have set boundaries but I did not. When I was sad or upset, she just didn't know how to comfort me. She wouldn't touch me, wouldn't say any words of empathy etc. She would usually just leave the room. It made me feel even more lonely.
She had many great qualities but there was an extreme lacking of emotional intimacy between us as she could just not go there. She would just shut down and disassociate if stress, conflict or emotions arose. It was all so surface level. I was starved for a deeper connection. Once I knew it was never going to happen, I had to let her go. This was a year ago.
I guess my ongoing fear and or anxiety is that her next partner is going to get the greatly improved/healed version that I was always after. I would always see this improved version of her when she drank alcohol because that wall she always kept up would momentarily come down.
Of course, I want the best for her but also don't want to feel like a stepping stone and that I went through all that odd, awkward and strange behavior she had just so she can blossom with the next guy.
Her and I share some of the same friends and I occasionally hear about how well she's doing from them and or see pictures of her. She looks so normal and "healthy" in the pictures. It plays with me.
From my understanding, avoidants that do not seek outside help (therapists) do not usually change by themselves, correct? And even if they do seek treatment, it is a long road, correct?

Hi all, I'm new to this sub and just reaching out for some support with a possible (N)dx. I have been with my bf (37M) for a little over a year now (with a short break in between due to overwhelm in his personal life.) I have often battled with the thought that he may be avoidantly attached, because he definitely has an avoidant stress response and finds conflict hard to communicate through etc.
However, in recent weeks there have been certain things that he has shared with me about his struggles that have led me on a search to understand, which has more often than not ended up pointing towards ADHD. For example:
> He has had a couple of random shutdowns where we'll have been texting and all of a sudden he stops communicating for a couple of days. He doesn't come online, basically shuts down. He has explained that he starts feeling like everything is 'too much' (has emphasised that he's not saying I'm too much) but that he just feels like he wants to shut to world out and be by himself. He doesn't know how to get out of it, feels bad for ignoring everyone, which then leads him to feeling more guilt because he knows he's being unfair, he just can't will himself to contact.
> He explains that he often feels preoccupied/unsettled/distracted. When I asked more on this, he said that he feels like he is constantly thinking about everything and then in between is trying to work his job and trying to manage it all makes him feel unsettled.
> He has very poor time management, which he has admitted himself. He cannot prioritise tasks or plan things out in advance. He ends up procrastinating everything until it all builds up and he realises he hasn't accomplished half of the tasks he wanted to. This was the reason we ended up taking a break last year, although at the time I had put it down to a loss of interest. But looking back now, it's clear he got overwhelmed trying to balance making plans with me, getting his own tasks done, family commitments etc etc.
> He is regularly late to dates, not overly so but he's never there for the time we set.
> He often leaves me on read & when I occasionally send a follow up text, he apologises saying he forgot/got distracted etc.
> After work, he says he feels closed off and doesn't want to do anything or meet anyone unless he has to, just comes back to his apartment and isolates. He then says he starts to procrastinate and avoid making the move to contact people at home too (he works abroad every few weeks)
I won't lie, recently it's been extremely difficult on my self esteem and has brought up a lot of anxiety. He has assured me it's never personal, that he hasn't lost interest in me. Just that he is preoccupied with things and that's what's causing him to be more distant. I want to believe him and I go for therapy on my own anxiety, but it's hard not to feel like he's drifting away from me. It's difficult to express my upset too, although I do, but he starts feeling a lot of guilt and shame that he's causing me upset. Any advice?

I am on vacation and took my S5 with me. It has to stay outside and it is quite rainy here. So I came bake and wanted to go for a ride. I wasn’t able to unlock the bike with the buttons. By using the app it worked. Then the bike shut off itself, it ringed the bell without any pressing of the buttons, turned on and off… the flash mode took off and didn’t stop. I had to shut down the bike by pressing the buttons on the smart unit and rolled the bike by hand. I thought that the problems with leaking buttons had been solved but sadly it is not. Very unpleasant experience for me. Any one of you had the experience aswell?

6 months ago, 343i developer Sean Baron claimed that "Competition is in Halo's DNA". This statement, for me, tells me that 343i, despite their claims to want to bring back traditional Halo, does not understand what made Halo special, of what really was in Halo's "DNA". Competition was only a "side effect" of Halo, but it was never its core.
Let's take a trip back to November 15th, 2001. Halo Combat Evolved has released. You go to your local GameStop or wherever it was you got your games from and picked up this game with an awesome looking space marine on the cover and you couldn't wait to get home to try it out... and you were not disappointed. From the moment you hear the opening theme of Halo in the title screen to the moment you're racing through the Maw to beat the timer before the Pillar of Autumn's engine core explodes and destroys the Halo installation, Halo CE changed the way we looked at FPS games. Halo did what it promised to do, it was combat evolved.
Once you were done with the campaign, which had rocked your world, you saw another option underneath it. It said "Multiplayer". "What's this?" you'd think. So, you'd call your friends over, hook up 3 more controllers to your Xbox and fire it up. The next think you'd know, you and your buddies are on Hang em High blasting away at each other with the rocket launcher, the magnum, sniper, grenades, everything you could get your hands on. It was insane, it was loud, it was... fun.
No competition, no intense, white knuckle, sweaty, "I gotta be the best!" mentality. It was just... fun. You and your buddies hanging out, blasting the hell out of each other and having a good time. Whether it was just 4 player local or big old LAN parties, this was Halo at its purest, just a fun shooter where you could mess with the game setting and come up with all sorts of insane game modes for you and your friends to enjoy.
Skip ahead 3 years to November 9th, 2004. It's 11:55 PM. You and your friends are camped out at your local gaming store. The hottest, most anticipated game of the year is about to release and you and your buddies cannot wait to bring it home. This game... is Halo 2.
You get that bad boy home, slap it in your Xbox, fire it up and are blown away with an epic guitar riff that blows you away... and then comes the gameplay itself. Halo 2 took Halo CE and, once again, evolved the combat to a new level. Smoother gameplay, new vehicles, new weapons, a new protagonist in the Arbiter, engaging story and a cliff hanger ending that left you begging for more. Halo 2 was a mind-blowing experience that was only made more amazing with the advent of a little thing called Xbox Live. Online Multiplayer took Halo to a new level, one that drew in millions of players worldwide. No longer were you limited to having to play strictly on your Xbox or on a LAN (though we all still did it lol), but now you could connect with your friends online and play matches, either private or in public matchmaking. It opened up a new world to so many players, it was incredible.
However, even with a ranking system and the beginnings of E-sports, the majority of the player base didn't play competitively. The majority of the players on Halo 2 played for fun. They played for the passion of Halo's engaging gameplay. They played for the friends they would make and the memories they would have. Halo 2 wasn't just a game, it was an experience.
3 more years would pass. During that time, Halo 2 was the king. Thousands of hours of gametime logged, millions of players world wide, an expansion in the form of the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, a phenomenon that captured the hearts and minds of millions. There was no way Bungie could top it...
...or so we thought...
September 25, 2007, the day that Halo entered into a bright new era, one that gave players even more control over their game and to express their creativity in games. On that day, the Halo universe received one of its greatest gifts. It received Halo 3. What was quite possibly one the biggest and most successful launches of a video game in all of gaming history happened. Halo 3 brought everything that Halo 2 did, but did it better. Rock solid game play, collectables in the form of the modifier skulls, score attack for replay value, 4 player co-op online or local, multiplayer with a plethora of various modes and gametypes, unforgettable maps and something that drove the player base wild... The Forge.
For the first time players could control and remake (albeit limited) the multiplayer maps to make even more wilder versions of them to suit their various custom gametypes. This was the pinnacle of FPS gaming. Halo 3 was a sensation.
On top of this, Halo 3 had a fair and rewarding progression system in the Multiplayer that gave players a sense of accomplishment. Whether it was the vidmaster challenge for the coveted Recon armor to finding all of the skulls to get Hyabusha and the sword on the back, Halo 3's progression was simplistic and fun and kept players coming back for more.
During this time there was Halo MLG going on, but it was mostly background noise to the overall success of Halo 3. What did players talk about? Was it the latest news on which teams were dominating the MLG leagues? No. It was what new forge maps were the best to download, what new player made gametypes were the best and when you all were going to download them to try them out.
Ask any Halo player what their favorite memory of the game was about, and it'll be about those things. Forge maps, memorable campaign moments, cool gametypes from the developers or from other players, chilling and having a good time, playing for fun. That is what players will remember the most... Fun.
With Halo Infinite, however, 343 doesn't seem to understand any of this. They took what made Halo, the fun, the simplicity, and flipped it on its head. They replaced fun and simplicity with sweaty competition and convoluted complexity. It started with Halo 4 and carried on into Halo 5 and now in Infinite. With each iteration, Halo drifted away from what made it good and into what would make it COD. Now we are left with a game that is, essentially, the very antithesis of what made Halo: A F2P with heavy microtransactions, no progression system, an over concentration on competition what neglecting the majority of the social playerbase and everything locked behind paywalls, even armor colors, with little to no replay value for the campaign or even the MP beyond the "season passes".
All of this was done in the name of chasing money, trying to copy the "industry standards" and "flavors of the month". Instead of staying true to what made Halo so special, so unique, they grafted on aspects of other games, aspects that conflicted with Halo's core, all so they could try and force the proverbial square peg into the round hole and chase after the Apex or Fortnight or Warzone hype trains.
343 either forgot, or never understood, what truly made Halo special. It was never competition, it was never hype, it was never chasing what other games were doing. Halo set and raised the bar in gaming. It didn't do it with microtransactions, F2P, gimmicks, Twitch drops, or any of this other nonsense. Halo made its mark with pure, masterful gameplay that kept players hooked.
If they are truly devoted to restoring Halo, then they need to utilize their greatest resource: the players. We remember. Many of us have been playing since 2001, 22 years. Halo has been a part of our lives, our culture. Halo is how many of us made lifelong friends and many memories. Listen to the people who love Halo, not hire those who hate it. To restore Halo, the mentality must be thus:
Fun, not competition
Simplicity, not convolution
Passion, not greed
Creativity, not mimicry
Because those 4 tenants are what made Halo special. Those are what is Halo's true "DNA".

A recent discussion has inspired me to write this. It won't be eloquent, or may even seem ridiculous to some, but I hope it can help at least one person. I know when I started out, I needed to hear anything and everything!
To spare you the gory details, I started blacking out at 18 in college, had my first seizure at 27 (had ZERO clue what withdrawal was, and I consider myself somewhat intelligent) and am now approaching 15 months of sobriety at 33 (two and half rehab stints, one dropped dui charge, two totaled cars, three seizures, billions of tears, and a few lost jobs/relationships later).
If I could tell somebody that is struggling, wondering where to start, I would say LOVE YOURSELF. I know most of you don't right now (I didn't), but it's imperative. I have no clear cut answer on how to do so, other than reminding you that you are stuck with yourself now, tomorrow, and forever. You might as well make the best of it. Start getting brutally honest with yourself, because while it may be hard and cringey to accept the worst parts of yourself, you can't change them if you don't acknowledge them. What motivates you? What scares you (REALLY scares you)? What do you like/dislike (about everything, including yourself). Literally get to know yourself again, or for the very first time. You HAVE to be your biggest fan, best friend, and biggest advocate because at the end of the day, nobody is going to change you or do it for you. You owe it to yourself to love yourself enough to stop feeling like shit all.the.time. Nothing changes if nothing changes, and you don't know what you don't know, so get curious and ask questions (including asking for HELP).
Do things you don't want to do, and get uncomortable. I can't tell you how many times I said "that won't work" anytime someone suggested something to me (read this, watch that, go to rehab, go to AA, pray, etc. etc. etc). Mind you, I said "that won't work" before even trying it, or at the very least, half-assed it. I never thought of myself as an arrogant person, in fact I despised arrogant people, but I can see now that that was pretty damn arrogant of me. I thought I was smarter than the professionals, the science, the people that came before me, and the addiction itself. I could just stop on my own. WILLPOWER! It just got worse every single time, including the consequences and repercussions. You can't grow as a person if you don't do hard things, try hard things, and get uncomfortable. Not every program or method or book will work or resonate with you, but you won't know until you TRY! Don't be arrogant (it will cost you a lot). Keep an open mind (you might already think you're open minded, I did, but if you're shutting suggestions down before trying, or only trying once, you are being a stubborn ass). The more you do this, the easier it becomes, and the more confident you become overall (who knew? I thought alcohol was supposed to do that for me).
Try your hardest to embrace it. Sobriety, and just the journey of healing in general, can be INCREDIBLY empowering. It's hard, emotional, annoying, monotonous, scary, long and any other negative word you can think of. But that leads to strength, growth, possibility, adventure, excitement, PEACE and any other positive word you can think of! Life will always be life, that's just the cold hard truth. The alcohol may fix it for a few hours or days, but then what? You're left bloated, and in some sort of disaterous rut. Making the choice to feel everything and face life head on can truly make you feel like superhuman. You'll find yourself thinking "holy shit...I did that, and I did it sober, I'm fucking awesome" (bc you are). Remember, feelings and emotions are fleeting. You won't feel like this forever UNLESS you continue to pick up. You've got to WALK THROUGH IT. With that said, give yourself grace. This is fucking hard, and mistakes will happen (whatever that may look like to you). Don't dwell on it, or on your past in general. It's done and gone. The best amends is getting better and doing better. Some days your biggest accomplishment may just be making your bed, or going to work and making it back home wirthout stopping, and that is and will be enough.
When I was feeling sorry for myself early on and like "why is this not working? I'm sober and still miserable/life still sucks", my therapist at the time asked me how long I had been drinking. I answered about 12ish years and she just looked at me (and then it took me a few seconds or minutes to be like "oooooh" bc, you know, brain fog). It took me 12 years to get me in her chair that day, so I certainly wasn't going to be HEALED in 12 weeks. It's a journey, but such is life. There is very little you can control in life. A FEW things you can is your attitude, mindset, discipline, and willingness. You can choose to sit in despair and look at it as "I can never drink again", or look at it as "in this moment, I CHOOSE not to drink because it no longer serves me". That's taking your power back, and that is truly loving yourself. I hope this helps at least one person.
PS. everything you think you need alcohol for-you don't. Literally nothing in life requires alcohol (it was a fun "ah-ha" moment when I realized that, I SUGGEST giving it a try).
PPS. I'm still a hot mess and figuring this all out. Turns out, you don't graduate on your one year and there isn't a finish line (except death)...news to me. Life is far from perfect, certain relationships still not healed, not a billionaire (or thousandaire for that matter), etc. but some pretty GREAT things have happened, doors have opened, minds have changed (including mine) and I am the most confident I have ever been. Still lots of work to do, but everyday that I (and you) am sober is a day where quite literally ANYTHING is possible!

As the title says. Is there any way I can do this? My PC shuts down when my GPU reaches 102 Celsius atm (yes I’m aware going above this will damage the gpu. I’m conducting an experiment that requires me to do this.)
I’m running on windows 11, if that matters. I checked my mobo bios but didn’t see it there. Am I missing something?

We (23F & 25M) plan on getting married this upcoming October. I originally had planned for three bridesmaids but had to cut one do to her toxic behavior. She is my husbands sister (28F) and I’ve known her personally for about year. My soon to be husband and I are both family oriented and wanted to have her take part in it. But shortly after getting hitched we started running into some issues.
About 11 months before the wedding date…she had invited me out to go shopping. First stop was Hobby Lobby. She quickly went over to the wedding decor and started asking routine questions. (When is it, what theme, etc…) My fiancé and I are both into gothic kind of ascetic. After explaining some ideas of ours…she quickly shut them down and tried to talk me into a farm style wedding. When I explained that it isn’t what we would want; she started to throw a bit of fit. Making comments like “it’ll look like a Halloween party…not a wedding.” I simply brushed them off because I know it’s not for everyone’s taste and that’s okay!
More recently, she has started trying to gas light me into making decisions I don’t like/think what’s best. To name a few…
The color orange for MIL dress…”Well, MIL won’t wear orange. I would change it. It’s going to be impossible to find two dresses that’ll match. Plus they’ll look like pumpkins….Just know she’s going to talk b hind your back for it.”
Having cleaned animal skulls for table decor…”That’s going to spread disease. People will sue you for it.”
Black table linens…”Black is for funerals. Are you really trying to make your wedding look like that?”
I started to get frustrated and decided that I needed to explain to her that this isn’t her wedding. I understood that she’s upset she’s the last single sibling and this may be difficult for her. But negative comments like this where causing unnecessary stress. She sent me the following… “I thought that I could confide in you, and that you could understand what I was feeling without judging me. I love you, and im very excited to have you in my life. However, right now I am very hurt.”
So after that, I just explained that it would be best for her to no longer be a bridesmaid. But I can’t help feel like an asshole. So I ask…am I the asshole?
P.S. I did review the idea with my fiancé and he is supportive of my decision. He believes that she has a tendency to make everything about her and understands my frustrations regarding her behavior.

Hello! I'm looking for some people to play games and hang out with. Now I play an assortment of games but ill get to that in a minute.First I would prefer if you were around my age 16-19 and within a couple of hours of MST for convenience, but the timezone/region can be whatever because of my sleep schedule when I don't work. I'm also looking for people who are willing to message each other. I also would prefer if you had a mic because it makes communicating a lot easier.
Now on about myself, I enjoy lots of anime and have seen enough to where I can have long conversations (a little too much lol). I've seen A LOT of it so I would be down to watch or even rewatch some. I like a lot of genres of games such as Fps, survival, space,rogue-like, automation etc. I'm a night owl when I don't work so ill be on almost the whole day. I also can have a dark sense of humour at times and don't mind if you have one as well.
Here are just a few that I have been playing or would possibly want to play
Stardew Valley
Valorant
Terraria/Modded
Valheim
Risk of Rain 2
Starbound
Guilty Gear Strive
league (main game still)
Lost Ark (basically at the beginning)
and possibly Maplestory (idk looked interesting)
and many other parties or games of the genre that I mentioned. (also your skill level in gaming doesn't really matter to me, as long as you can have a good time while playing)
I'm also down to just be on a call and talk while we play different games or if you want to vent about your day.
That's about it for this post! Just be around my age and timezone and it should be good. message me your discord and an intro about yourself (age, name, likes, whatever you want).
also don't be shocked if it takes me a while to respond sometimes, I get swamped with work quite often!

It's been ages since my TF and I seperated completely, I've done a bunch of growing as well. As recently as last night I even made another breakthrough on healing my inner teenager and finally verbalising to myself that what happened to me was something I didn't deserve. I'm seriously loving the people I work with & where my career is headed too, and if things keep going the way they're going I don't think I'll work a day in my life. I've totally had a glow up & I see another guy kinda casually who's nice, but I'm also fine with being alone. Things are good.
But ever since he moved back to our town from being abroad, I've been seeing angel numbers fucking everywhere. I appreciate the idea that these are reassurance which I've totally asked for, but obviously everytime I see them I think of him so I've been trying to just shut down the thought when I see a 111 or 222.
Well today I had a fucking nightmare of a morning where nothing was going quite right & I was feeling just a little sensitive about it. That's fine, it happens, just keep going. Until I was driving home and I took a route I don't really take, genuinely for no other reason than just trying to see if I could beat traffic. Which was when I saw his car model a bit in front of me at the intersection, and then his license plate.
Dude I seriously need to move to the smallest island in the Pacific Ocean and just befriend the coconut crabs at this point. I legit need to be somewhere where there's no numbers, no internet and no him. I just feel like my peace keeps being compromised. I don't want to keep being confronted about it and crying over him. And I'm really only writing this to complain because the reminders are literally everywhere in ways they never have been before. And when I can't have him, what do I do?

I was just reading an article from the Idaho press detailing some of the claims made by those who testified against the library in Meridian.
Apparently one person said this childrens book, The Dirty Cowboy, was literal pornography. Their kid went and picked up the book, probably laughing, and said that this guy doesn't have any clothes. Now this person grabs the book, distracts the kid, and brings it up front, saying that the kid will never unsee that. She didn't even look at the book, rather she claimed it was inappropriate and that it was pornographic.
Curious about the book I decided to look it up, cuz I don't believe that any library would actually have porn inside its walls, unless some dumbass actually brought it in, and tried to frame the library or something.
Now the book itself is actually pretty funny, detailing a cowboy that decides he's so dirty he needs a bath, sets his dog to guard his clothes, and then ask to negotiate with his dog when his dog doesn't smell the cowboy quite right. It is honestly hilarious and you should all give it a read. And if you're too lazy for that I did find a YouTube video of this librarian that read this book. https://youtu.be/nzr39dZCjiA
Now this is honestly the strongest case against the library so far as I know, which is pretty dumb considering that the book was never read to begin with, rather it was used as a prop to say the library should be shut down. Now thankfully I have only seen a strong and positive feedback from the community, right, left, or moderate they have pushed back against this absolute foolishness of this small group, and I fully believe that these evil groups will fail to shutdown our libraries.

Apologies in advance, but this is probably going to be long.
I started working at ABC recently and I can't quite put into words how I feel about them as a whole or how I feel about my center itself, so I made the executive decision to come here and put it all on the table to see what other people have to say about them, what others think, and to see if my worries/ concerns are valid or if I'm just overthinking things.
I've been in ABA for 6 years now. I've worked in clinics, schools, in the community, and in home. I've gone through the process of getting my RBT and BCAT and I'm almost finished with the necessary schooling to be a BCBA. In my time, I've worked with dozens of kids, from infants to adults. I love the work that I do, I love the kids, and I love ABA, so much so that I use it in my daily life to help with issues that I have- and it truly does make a difference. My point is, I've been around the block a time or two and I'm in this for the long run. This is my career. It's basically my life. However, I don't know if I can see myself advancing in my career with ABC, as much as I initially wanted to. For starters, though, I was attracted to ABC from the jump just based on the perks/ benefits that they offer: bonuses, flex days, health benefits, guaranteed hours, consistent support and growth opportunities, etc. Those were all things that I hadn't actually been given at any other ABA company I've worked for, and I worked for a big national company that shall not be named. I was also attracted to ABC because they are primarily clinic based, they're advocates of assent based practices, they don't make you sign any contracts to work with them, and because of their BAT program (BCBA training program). Those are all things that I believe every quality ABA company should offer when possible, especially guaranteed hours and benefits, if nothing else. Anyway, from the outset, I was excited to start working for them and everything sounded perfect getting into it. When I started, I had to do their 8 day training program (my RBT expired lol) and my OM told me that we'd be using APF for the training, which was fine because I've done their training before and they're decent (plus, they're free), but when I got there I was informed that we'd be using Afirm. Of all the training I've had to do over the years, by far, by LEAGUES AND MILES, Afirm is the worst. I hated every second of it and I truly believe that it does not prepare ANYONE to be an RBT. I won't get into it too much because of length, but, if you've never had the pleasure of doing Afirm, I will tell you that there is so much that they don't cover that they should and they don't actually explain how to do anything, they just break down the basic concepts and mash 'em up and say "hope you learn something." They don't actually explain the why's and how's that are necessary to understand what it means to be an RBT and to actually be able to implement what it is that they're talking about. It was more focused on implementing ABA in a classroom/ school setting than implementing ABA as a whole and certainly as a whole RBT. It was a literal mess. But, I digress. The supplemental training that we were given on top of the modules was also very lack-luster and was more policy based than actually preparing us to be RBT's and I really don't think that the training alone would actually benefit anyone having to take their RBT exam. I think, however, this is the part where I say that I'm biased because of my experience and maybe I'm being a tad overcritical. I can honestly say, though, that I did not feel prepared to sit for my RBT exam after going through that training and that genuinely feels like a red flag to me.
Now, starting at my center, I went through the basic overviews that most companies have and got the run-down of most of what they do, and, of course, I started shadowing. Let me say now that I made it known to the people I was working with that I have ABA experience, which I thought was fair to do and the basic consensus was "awesome, I don't have to work as hard to train you, then," but it was a big red flag that these people, who had been with this company for about a year or so by this point and already know the kids, are asking the new guy for clarification on how to run programs and implement PECS procedures and asking for an explanation on a kids reinforcement schedule. That was all on my first day; within 20 minutes or so of meeting these people. I mean, yes, I'm sure I can provide some insight and guidance, but I don't know these kids yet, I don't know their BCBAs, and I've only had a few minutes to even look at their programs. All I said was that I have experience, not that I was an expert. I didn't make a show of it nor did I brag about my experience, I just mentioned it in conversation with everyone and that was it. I don't fault any of them for it one bit, but I do fault the training that they were given and immediately began questioning what was up with the BCBAs, which was a huge concern because of past experiences with not-so-good BCBAs. However, on that note, I noticed very quickly that it was not a BCBA issue, as they are always out with us and are always willing and ready to help with anything we need or to answer questions. The issue was with those particular people and either a lack of confidence, a lack of understanding, or an unwillingness to seek out clarification for one reason or another. These are not bad people, by the way, nor are they bad BTs, but from what I've gathered so far there is a consistent lack of confidence and genuine passion/ understanding for the job itself. There is no "bigger picture" of what we're doing and why it's so important. I'm so used to having conversations with my BCBAs and fellow BTs and the parents about what it is we're actually doing, why we're doing it, what programs would be good to put in for the kids and why it's important for them, where we want the kids to be in the future, how this skill or another will benefit the kids in the future, how we hope the kids will be when they're older and how what we're teaching them and what they're learning will do for them in the future, and none of that is happening here. There are no conversations or reminders about how important it is to build rapport with the kids, about how crucial it is to truly pair with the kids, or about the impact it can have on a kids treatment and time with you when you spend time actually getting to know them and treating them like an actual kid versus treating them like a patient at a health clinic. We spend hours and hours and days and weeks and months and years with these kids and no one even seems remotely compelled to actually value spending time with them over the perceived value of making sure to meet the data quota we're required to adhere to. There is a noticeable disconnect between the BTs and the kids. The BTs like the kids on the surface, but they don't actually LIKE the kids that they're working with, and it's plainly obvious from observing and experience that none of the kids actually like any of the BTs they're with. None of the kids are excited to be with any of the BTs, they only interact when interacted with, there's no initiation on their part, there's really no consistent joy from them, only short bursts of "oh, this is fun," then it's gone. The kids have learned that we will do whatever they want us to do versus having learned that we are reinforcing to them, that we're fun for them to be with. Across the board, the kids challenging/ maladaptive behaviors are maintaining and/ or increasing. Across the board their behaviors are escalating and I've noticed a stark increase in instances of physical aggression and elopement from all of the kids, even the kids whom (I'm told) never had these behaviors before coming to our center. If that's not an indication that there's an underlying systemic issue, then I don't know what is. Honestly, it feels like I'm working on an assembly line of checked boxes and data points. It's disingenuous and dispassionate. It feels very robust and overtly clinical rather than fun and inviting, like any place with kids should be. The center itself is bare-boned, not enough toys or activities, bare walls, no pictures or paintings or learning materials on the walls (which would be beneficial for NET/ tacting programs); there's just really no life to it at all. It's very straightforward- get in, get out, and move on to the next thing. Besides that, there's the programs themselves. Let me just state for the record, that in all my years this is the first time I've ever used Central Reach and I passionately dislike it. It's not user friendly, I shouldn't have to worry about losing my data completely, it's layout and design is terrible, and it's just a mess to navigate efficiently while trying to run programs. I could go on for days about CR, but I won't for the sake of length. On top of that, it's literally like the BCBAs are just going through a list of programs and choosing the ones that they think the kids can do rather than the ones that they should be starting out with. I can't say that the kids aren't picking up skills, because they are, but there's no rhyme or reason given beyond an overtly clinical sense on why we're running a particular program with a particular kid. There are no conversations about what the families want to work on or what they want to see from their kids or how what we're doing is preparing them for the next stages of their lives. There's no conversations on how this skill can translate into other skills or how learning a particular skill/ behavior can help them learn skills/ behaviors in other areas. These are all conversations I've had everywhere I've ever been and it's just so jarring that it's not happening here and that there's really no interest in having those types of conversations at all. Then there's their approach to assent. Assent as a practice is truly powerful when done properly, however, there is a fine line between honoring assent and inadvertently reinforcing maladaptive behaviors. I've so far seen if with every BT where a child engages in maladaptive behaviors and it immediately turns into a molly-coddling session with them where they're literally being told that it's okay to engage in that behavior rather than implementing either the antecedent modifications before it even occurs or implementing the actual behavior interventions outlined in the BIPs. 9 times out of 10 the BTs aren't even following through with whatever they were doing before the behavior started because the kid engaged in behaviors and that in itself is reinforcing those behaviors, particularly the escape maintained behaviors. As a whole, there is no emphasis on addressing their challenging/ maladaptive behaviors because engaging in them is seen as assent withdrawal rather than a behavior that needs to be addressed. A kid engaging in aggression to escape a task is going to continue to do so in the future because you allowed them to escape the task when they did engage in aggression because you are viewing it as assent withdrawal rather than escape maintained behavior! Please explain to me how that kid is going to be able to go to school and stay in school if that is the behavior we've continued to reinforce rather than teaching the alternative behaviors we should be? On that note as well, I've had it happen to me and noticed it across the board that whenever a kid is engaging in behaviors, even if they are not extreme behaviors that warrant assistance, the BCBAs or even other BTs immediately step in and take over the session rather than allowing you to work through it with the kid when it is happening and it makes it far more difficult to address those behaviors with the kids when those people aren't around when they happen again. I understand the willingness to help out when needed and appreciate the support when it's needed, but that is a huge thing to not allow a BT to handle themselves, in my opinion and experience, and can actually make it harder to run quality sessions with the kids because they will eventually learn that if they engage in that behavior long enough, then they'll be able to get what they originally wanted from that behavior from someone else rather than getting it from you. Taking away that stimulus control is truly frustrating as a BT.
I feel like I've reached the point where I'm rambling, so I'm going to stop here. There are more things that I can discuss that I've taken issue with, but at the end of the day I'm trying to gain some perspective on this as a whole. I want to do my best at ABC and I want to give it some more time to see if things change or if these are things that I can address with my leadership to see what we can do or maybe even get the guidance and insight that I'm looking for. Honestly, I'm really stuck on the thought that this isn't the place for me despite all of the good things that they do have to offer. I'm concerned about everything that I've talked about above and how it'll affect the kids and how I'll affect the kids. I'm worried that their practices may negatively affect the kids in the future and I really don't want to be a part of that if that's the case. None of what I've experienced here has ever happened anywhere else I've ever been and I'm wondering if it's really just culture shock or if my thoughts, observations, perceptions, concerns, and worries are valid. Frankly, the more time I spend here the more passion I'm losing and I don't like that. I'm even more concerned that they're just going to become the next CARD and I definitely don't want a part in that. With all that said, thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any insight that I can be given.

I know people mean well, but good god it’s soul destroying to have so many people ask about my livelihood and the likelihood of me being able to continue to do it. Everyday I’ll have 3+ people loosely asking me about the profitability of my hospitality business and it’s sucks.
My prices haven’t changed since pre covid, but my costs have doubled since then. Add that onto the economy stressers of households having less money to throw around and small businesses going belly up every day, no assistance from state or federal governmen, record high CoL…. Yeah bro I’m struggling. All businesses are. Sales are down, costs are up, and my confidence is in the fkn gutter with every rate increase.
Bit of a rant, but I notice it non stop even when I’m not working at other locations. Owners shouldn’t have to lie to customers about their profitably to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, and owners also aren’t able to brush off these conversations with the fear that we’ll lose yet another customer. Also just using my business as an entry topic to say “hmmm they did say it wouldn’t be easy under Albanese!!1!1!1!”. Shut up.

You ever feel like, over stimulated by end users and need some alone time? The other day I was feeling exactly like that, so I do the usual, go into the server room, set up my hammock, change the settings on the main Ac unit so it's less cold and just take a seven hour power nap.
But the servers are so loud man. I text the boss "yeah, I'm gonna be doing DB maintenence, there might be some issues and and shut down the whole server rack, and get on the hammock. Not three hours later I get frantic calls from the sales drones, screeching cause it's inventory and they need their precious data. Then the warehouse people. Then the boss.
OK now I need to make something up fast.
"We were targeted by a ransomware attack, I'm scrubbing the production environment clean and restoring from backup, please be patient." And go back to sleep.
So yeah, not only did I come out as the good guy, I also got the budget for the firewall and mini-fridge I wanted. Told them it's to freeze our hard drives.
Working with non tech people is great