When unfortunate sporting historians of the future look back on the Denver Broncos 5-win 2022 NFL season there will be a lot said of Mr Unlimited’s rather limited performances and Nathaniel’s inability to hack it as a head coach and rightly so.
However, I think it’s important to at least mention the Broncos strange love affair with the medical room. 21 players took a trip to IR, multiple key starters fell victim to season ending injuries including Tim Patrick, Garett Bolles and Javonte Williams.
And in spite of all of the depressing dog doo-doo the Broncos lost by a single score an astounding 8 times. So that’s something right?
Moving into 2023, General George Paton hired his alternate namesake and former Saints Head Coach Sean Payton for the princely sum of pick 29 in the 2023 NFL Draft (Denver also sent a 2nd rounder in 2024 and received a 3rd rounder in 2024).
Only a few weeks after the appointment of Sean Payton the NFL entered its Free Agency period which led to some big changes at Mile High.
15 players were let go to sign elsewhere around the league but not an awful lot in terms of quality.
Dre’Mont Jones, DE - Seattle Seahawks (3 year, $51 Million) Dre’mont grew into a solid contributor for Denver but I’m glad the Broncos didn’t re-sign him for the money Seattle has. By far the most talented to leave the team in free agency but only a very slight miss.
Calvin Anderson, T - New England Patriots (2 year, $7 Million) Not a splashy name by any means but Anderson knew his role and performed well when called upon, A solid backup with starter experience.
Andrew Beck, FB/TE - Houston Texans (2 year, $6.25 Million) Beck is another reliable contributor who seems to have joined a number of former Broncos in moving to Houston recently. A former Salute to Service Award winner.
Mike Boone, RB - Houston Texans (2 year, $3.1 Million) Boone is a fantastic option to have for Special Teams play, however he lacks real quality when running the ball. There was optimism when he initially signed in Denver but that appears to have fallen to the wayside as he moves on rather silently.
Graham Glasgow, G - Detroit Lions (1 year, $2.75 Million) The Broncos offensive line has been offensive to watch for years. Glasgow however has been one of the bright spots, especially when he played at centre at parts in 2022.
Brandon McMacus, K - Jacksonville Jaguars (1 year, $2 Million) The last member of the Super Bowl 50 winning team has left Dove Valley. In a somewhat surprising but expected move if you look at his declining performances Denver only recently moved on from McManus. It was the right time but it sure is a sad sight to see.
De’Shawn Williams, DE - Carolina Panthers (1 year, $1.75 Million) Losing both Jones and Williams is a slight concern in terms of depth. Although Williams isn’t as productive as his former teammate he’s certainly a steal for the Panthers as a rotational/back up. He’s arguably serviceable as a starter as well and knows the defensive staff in Carolina very well.
Eric Saubert, TE - Miami Dolphins (1 year, $1.68 Million) I forgot Eric was even on the team, his receiving qualities aren’t much to go crazy for with 15 recs and 148 yards on a career best 2022 season and his run blocking isn’t fantastic either albeit it is his stronger game.
Billy Turner, T - New York Jets (1 year, $1.5 Million) Billy was a sad loss back in 2018 when he first left for Green Bay. However he couldn’t really get started and spent large parts of the season on IR.
Latavius Murray, RB - Buffalo Bills (1 year, $1.3 Million) Latavius is the biggest loss for Denver in my opinion. The only member of the team who showed passion, drive and self respect throughout his short lived time in Colorado. The Bills have a solid contributor who will definitely fit the pound the rock ethos.
Chase Edmonds, RB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1 year, $1.1 Million) We never got to see what Chase could do in Denver and maybe that’s a good thing if his seasons with Miami are anything to go by. I’m sure he’ll do well in Tampa’s pass heavy offence as a backup catching back.
Eric Tomlinson, TE - Free Agent Most of you have probably never heard of Eric Tomlinson and there's a good reason for that. He’s also still without a team after signing with the Texans for 15 days back in March.
Darius Phillips, CB - Houston Texans (1 year, $1 Million) Darius got a few snaps on defence but spent most of his time on special teams, a rather average contributor by any metric but does have a fair amount of starting experience in the league.
Brett Rypien, QB - Los Angeles Rams (1 year, $1 Million) Broncos fans love this guy. He’s not good at football in a practical sense and he’s likely not going to help the Rams secure any wins but he’s a really smart dude and most likely a future coach. Not to mention its fun to say “Let ‘Em Ryp” if he does ever play.
Corliss Waitman, P - New England Patriots (1 year, $1 Million) There is no chance this man will be playing for the Patriots in 2023. Punting for Denver should be quite easy compared to most of the league but Waitman set out to prove us all wrong on that one. Easily the worst punter I’ve seen in Denver for a good few years.
Lamar Jackson, CB - Kansas City Chiefs (1 year, $1 Million) Lamar didn’t really get an opportunity to feature in Denver, I’m fairly sure he’ll be a camp body in KC as well so there’s not much to add on this one.
Although we let a lot of players leave, I think we managed to re-sign the most important of all the players with contracts expiring.
Alex Singleton, MLB (3 year, $18 Million) I’m telling you now, this man is elite. His season started a little slow but he came to town with 21-tackles (19 solo) against Divisional Rivals the LA Chargers. He did a similar thing in week 15 vs the Rams where he totalled another 20 tackles.
Overall I think Singleton is starting to peak and turn into a real force in this league.
Kareem Jackson, S (1 year, $1.3 Million) Kareem has far exceeded the expectations Broncos fans had for him when he joined from Houston in 2019. Initially as a corner and later taking over a strong safety Jackson has been brilliant, his heavy hitting style has made him a fan favourite and I’m pleased to see him back yet again.
Cameron Fleming, T (1 year, $2.3 Million) Fleming was a decent enough back up for the team in 2022 that unfortunately ended up starting more than everyone would have wanted. He’s a great depth addition to bring back, let's hope it remains a depth option though.
With so many departures comes a long list of new faces for the Broncos. 13 new players joined in free agency and whilst some are better than others there’s certainly been a clear direction that Sean Payton is heading in. big men, very big men.
Mike McGlinchey, RT - (5 year, $87.5 Million) I’ve been a big McGlinchey fan since the days of his nasty Notre Dame O-Line, where he lined up alongside Quenton Nelson. Mike’s play for the 49ers whilst good has had some rather concerning points with his lack of success vs speed rushers being the overwhelmingly obvious. We’re reaching a point where McGlinchey is living off of his college performances much like Jadeveon Clowney is still renowned for “the hit”. I do believe mcGlinchey will look like a hall of famer in comparison to every Broncos Right Tackle of the past 10 years and I do believe he’ll be successful in what the Broncos want to do which is run the ball down your throat. Denver has stability at both tackle positions and that’s only going to be a positive.
Ben Powers, G - (4 year, $52 Million) The quickest path to the quarterback is the straightest. It’s important Wilson is protected from the interior of his pocket and Ben certainly has powers in that department. I don’t think it would be an understatement to call Ben Powers elite in pass pro and whilst his run blocking seems to be improving it's not fantastic. Nonetheless I think this is very similar to the McGlinchey situation where we’ve slightly overpaid but the team will have a massive upgrade at Guard.
Zach Allen, DE - (3 year, $45.75 Million) I like Allen but the concern for me here is this past year was a career year for him, and with such a small sample size of good but not elite play I struggle with the idea that he will repeat his 2022 success in 2023. His contract doesn’t appear to be overly friendly either with $19 Million in 2024 cap scheduled in the books along with half of his 2025 salary guaranteed as well.
I don’t think he’ll be a bad signing, his familiarity with DC and former Broncos HC Vance Joseph will be a good thing but for the 3rd signing in a row, and perhaps the most egregious the Broncos have overpaid for their man.
Jarrett Stidham, QB (2 year, $10 Million) I like this move a lot, Stidham is a high end back up who can provide enough of a threat to Russ that he can win games in Denver if called upon. In reality he’s a backup but a back up you can certainly have confidence in.
Chris Manhertz, TE (2 year, $6 Million) I liked the Stidham signing, I love the Manhertz signing. He’s not flashy and he isn’t going to show up anywhere with big stats, however Manhertz has consistently been an elite blocking tight end for years and its players like him that make the difference on short yardage situations.
Samaje Perine, RB (2 year, $7.5 Million) This seems to be another Sean Payton inspired move. Initially Perine was never thought of as a back who could catch out of the backfield but his year spent with Cool guy Joe Burrow in Cincinnati has shown he’s more than capable of being that guy. Working in a committee alongside Javonte Williams should bring success to this lifeless Denver offense in 2023.
Michael Burton, FB (1 year, $1.3 Million) Burton has played for Sean Payton before and that will be incredibly useful for obvious reasons. Burton has been a blocking fullback for most of his career but has shown the ability to run and catch when called upon. I like this move and its a clear upgrade on Beck.
Tremon Smith, CB/Returner (2 year, $5 Million) If Smith is only going to be a returner then I think Denver have once again overpaid for a player coming off a bad year in a position declining in value. I do think Smith can rebound and have the type of year he’s been having since 2018. Not to mention there isn’t a chance Smith can be anywhere near as bad as Montrell Washington had been in 2022.
Riley Dixon, P (2 year, $3.5 Million) Riley was drafted by Denver in 2016 before being traded to the Giants a few years down the line. Despite the advantageous altitude in Denver, Dixon wasn’t a very good punter for the team in his 2 seasons. However, in a move that shows how bad this team really has been Dixon will still be a big improvement over Corliss Waitman and thus this needs to be considered an upgrade.
Marquez Callaway, WR (1 year, $1.1 Million) Former Sean Payton disciple Callaway reuniting in Denver is a good thing from my perspective. During Payton’s last season in New Orleans Callaway managed to put up 6 touchdowns in 46 receptions. The Broncos have a busy WR room but its a room that is yet to be healthy together so this move makes sense from all angles.
Kyle Fuller, C (1 year, $1.1 Million) I don’t expect Fuller to see the field unless there’s another injury disaster as he’s arguably 3rd on the depth chart. I’m glad the team have started to add some much needed depth but there’s also a solid chance that Fuller doesn’t Fill out the roster in 2023.
Following free agency most Broncos fans felt the team needed some further reinforcements but with so few picks available to start the 2023 NFL Draft many were left wondering what kind of magic George Paton could cook up to fill the team with contributing players.
#63: Marvin Mims, WR (Oklahoma) I don’t think anybody foresaw the Broncos trading up in the 2nd round to take a wide receiver. And whilst it's not a huge need, especially with the depth addition of Marquez Callaway in free agency, I do think it's a very good pick.
K.J. Hamler has failed to stay fit and this all but spells the end for his time in Denver in my opinion. It’s no wonder the Broncos front office couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a player with 4.38 speed and a 2-year college average of 20 yards per reception. I can see his ability to line up anywhere coming in very handy in a high motion Denver offense.
What I find spectacular about Mims is his ability to genuinely do everything. He can take the top off a defense, take screens in space for first downs, and generally play well in the short, medium and long game. There'll be some minor concerns over a Oklahoma running limited route trees but given Payton’s creativity and the likelihood of being moved around to capitalize on speed mismatches I don’t really feel those concerns are overly warranted.
#67: Drew Sanders, LB (Arkansas) I think Sanders has a real shot of being the best player selected in the 2023 NFL Draft when we look back in a few years time. He was a 5-star recruit at Alabama before transferring to Arkansas in 2022. Nick Saban has since said last summer that Sanders “probably would have started” for Alabama in one of the deepest pass rushing units in college. Ultimately he starred for the Razorbacks where his athletic prowess, versatility and toughness helped him notch up 9.5 Sacks (2nd in SEC) and 103 tackles.
His ability to play inside and outside will delight Vance Joseph who will end up using him very heavily in blitz packages from both the edge and middle linebacker positions. Ultimately we’re relying on a player's superior athletic abilities to give him the edge until he learns the nuances of NFL football.
His tackle consistency vs the run needs heavy improvement if he wants to be a 3-down player for Denver at either the edge or inside linebacker positions. Part of his problem so far has been a tendency to bite on fakes and misdirections and although his athleticism has managed to shine through at the College level it won’t be as successful at the NFL level.
#83: Riley Moss, CB (Iowa) Moss, in theory, has everything you would look for in an NFL corner with the exception of real top end speed. He’s tall and rangey with good tackling instincts but there are some shortcomings which will likely affect his NFL future as a cornerback. Moss typically leaves a bit too much cushion in zone coverage which can lead to explosive receivers leaving him in the dust. In man coverage he’ll often leave the underneath to compensate for his lack of top end speed; his aforementioned tackling skills at least thrive here.
His run support is likely going to make him a real runner for the slot corner position in zone packages but his shortcomings may also lead to Vance Joseph wanting to move him to safety eventually. The biggest advantage he has going forward is his versatility otherwise he may end up as a special teams contributor only.
#183: JL Skinner, S (Boise State) Drafted predominantly for his size, Skinner stands at 6’4, hits hard and plays to his strengths. Against the run Skinner performs admirably and has fantastic angles when pursuing the runner. In coverage he’s equally as solid with the ball skills to force interceptions and pass breakups.
I can only see Skinner on a trajectory to the top and I'm excited to see him in Denver. Ultimately it will be his responsibility to cover Travis Kelce, Michael Mayer and Gerald Everett twice a year.
#257: Alex Forsyth, C (Oregon) I think the Broncos wanted to draft a center, I don’t believe that man was supposed to be Alex Forsyth. Whilst he’s good value for the 7th round, I imagine they would have rather had the opportunity to take John Michael Schmitz or Joe Tippmann. I’m not sure how this pick is going to work out. On one hand I can see him being part of the same dominant force that allowed his backs ro average 5 yards per play in Oregon but on the other hand he’s a penalty machine much like Garrett Bolles was to start his career.
Overall I think the Broncos did the best they could with the selections they had. It would have been nice to see a tackle for the first time in 6 years or another running back to support Javonte and Samaje.
My concerns with the class is that although they're talented they weren't all the biggest needs this off season.
I can see all of them with the exception of Forsyth becoming a contributing level talent with Denver and over the course of their rookie contracts.
Ultimately this is how I see the roster breaking down:
QB: Russell Wilson, Jarett Stidham, Ben DiNucci HB: Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine, Tony Jones jr. FB: Michael Burton WR: Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims jr, Marquez Callaway TE: Greg Dulcich, Adam Trautman, Albert Okwuegbunam, Chris Manhertz OT: Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, Cam Fleming, Isaiah Prince, Quinn Bailey IOL: Ben Powers, Quin Meinerz, Lloyd Cushenberry, Alex Forsyth, Luke Wattenberg, Kyle Fuller. DL: Zach Allen, Jonathan Harris, Eyioma Uwazurike, Jonathan Cooper, D.J. Jones, Mike Purcell LOLB: Randy Gregory, Baron Browning MLB: Alex Singleton, Josey Jewell, Drew Sanders, Justin Strnad, Jonas Griffith ROLB: Nik Bonnito, Aaron Patrick CB: Pat Surtain II, Damarri Mathis, Riley Moss, K’Waun Williams, Tremon Smith FS: Justin Simmons, Jamar Johnson, Caden Sterns SS: JL Skinner, Kareem Jackson
K: TBD P: Riley Dixon R: Tremon Smith LS: Mitchell Fraboni
There’s probably one big name missing here and that’s K.J. Hamler, who I think will get cut or traded before week 1.
Moving forward into 2023 and the 2024 off season there are a few positions Denver still need to worry about. There’s huge question marks over the ability of Russell Wilson and whether he still has the ability to play at the highest level.
We’ve also got question marks at running back with Javonte Williams coming off a huge injury. Our WR room has a lot of unknowns after Courtland Suttons failure to rediscover his form after his ACL injury whilst teammate Tim Patrick is also recovering from the same injury suffered this past season.
The offensive line still needs addressing as Lloyd Cushenberry often gets bullied in the trenches and Garrett Bolles may revert under another new offensive line coach, so far Mike Munchak is the only man to get a respectable tune from the former first round pick.
Moving on to defense and there’s less issues but still big weaknesses. I’d like to see us invest more in the defensive line and outside linebacker positions with Cooper, Bonnito, Browning and Gregory all relatively unknown in a Broncos uniform.
Ultimately if I had to narrow it down the focus going forward needs to be on center, defensive end and quarterback if things will russ doesn’t improve.
Ultimately there was a lot to like about the Broncos off season changes and everything seems to be pointing towards a more successful, creative team in 2023. We look to have added steel where it mattered across the offensive line and signing Sean Payton could prove to be the biggest acquisition of the all.
Ironically, this series is called defending the draft and that’s what I’ve struggled to do here the most. I like the class, I think there’s some high impact players there for sure, but I’ve come away wishing we’d filled some other key areas a little bit better. Ultimately you can’t always have the board fall as you want it and it’s a huge improvement from the classes John Elway managed to put together.
Thank you for reading my Denver Broncos draft/off season review. I filled in as a last minute replacement so hopefully this manages to hit the right spot for everyone.

LET’S RIDE.

I got my Covid booster at a major chain drug store The pharmacist before giving me the Covid booster shot told me that she wanted me to be aware of the possible side effects before I took the vaccine.
She proceeded to read from some sheets of paper that she had printed. The web address on the printouts said they were from a website called openvaers.com. She quoted various statistics about the vaccine killing over 30,000 people, over 100,000 hospitalizations, 60,000 people permanently disabled.
She also told me a bunch of other anti-vax talking points such as the vaccine has caused 15,000 cases of shingles because it shuts down your immune system and that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine was never tested on humans(just 8 and 10 mice)
I have a Sister who is deep in Q so I knew exactly where this garbage was coming from. I considered just walking out and getting my shot elsewhere but I feared that this would empower her to continue this behavior.
I reported this incident to both the drug store and to the board of pharmacy in the state I live in.

Age: 33Sex: FemaleHeight: 5'2Weight: 122 lbsRace: WhitePrimary complaint: Three tonic clonic seizuresExisting medical issues: Depression, anxiety, panic disorder, interstitial cystitisMedications: Zoloft 150mg, Gabapentin 800mg 1 TID, Ambien 10mg, Wellbutrin XL (ER) 300mg, Abilify 5 mgDrink/Smoke/Drugs: No
I know there won't be any answers until I get an EEG and an MRI/have my neurology appointment, but I guess I still wanted to ask here anyways as to any guesses you all might have as to what happened...On 5/27, I was touring the Luray Caverns in VA when suddenly I dropped and began having a "generalized tonic clonic seizure". That morning on the drive to the caverns, I had been feeling like I was going to have a panic attack and had taken a 0.5mg Xanax I keep on hand for panic attacks to counteract it.
Once the tour of the caverns began, I remember being a bit unsteady and stumbling at one point but regaining my balance. As for the rest of it... I have no memory. Like I said, the group heard a noise, turned around, and I was on the ground seizing. Seizure lasted approximately 30-45 seconds. EMS was called and I had another seizure in route that did not require any medication to break. Once in the ER, I experienced a third that lasted 30-45 seconds that was terminated with Ativan. I was experiencing sinus tachycardia as well, hovering around 130. ( per my notes: "sinus tachycardia with preserved intervals and no evidence of obvious toxic effect") I also remained tachy after falling asleep. Per my hospital notes, I told the ER staff my vision had been altered/my vision had been flashing at one point during the panic attack I thought I was having. I was also very nauseous and apparently vomited at some point and was given several IV doses of Zofran.
I take my zoloft at night, but take my wellbutrin and abilify in the AM. The ER doctor suspected I may have accidentally taken an extra dose of Wellbutrin. Head CT was clear, labs were unremarkable other than I was dehydrated. I was given several saline boluses. I have no history of seizures nor any family history of seizures and take gabapentin for interstitial cystitis and decided to take quite a bit of extra that day due to experiencing a flare-up. I have been on gabapentin for 14 years or so and have taken high doses before with no issues and if I understand correctly, gabapentin also works as an anti-convulsant.My memory from that day and the days after it is shot. I flew home to Florida and here I am. I'm pretty sore, my face is scraped up and my cheek bone hurts quite a bit. I've got a black eye. I'm working on getting a referral to a neurologist so I can get checked out, but I wanted to get some opinions on here. It's certainly possible I took an extra dose of Wellbutrin but...I'm so careful about that stuff. I used to be a pharmacy tech... I feel like I pay extra attention, you know? The ER gave me a script for 500mg Keppra BID. I HATE IT. I've skipped taking it a few times, as irresponsible as that is. But I feel it's making me very tired, depressed, and irritable.
I called my psychiatrist's office today and let them know what had happened. If it were epilepsy starting, it probably wouldn't have been three seizures in a row, right? Or is that irrelevant? My psychiatrist ordered me to immediately stop taking it and I'm on her cancellation list to get in to see her. I got a neurology referral from my PCP and their office will be contacting me on Monday to get an appointment set up.
Note: In case it's of any importance, I had some imaging done of my upper back/shoulder in 2007/2008 and it was accidentally discovered that I have "borderline" arnold chiari malformation. However, this was not mentioned/noted on the CT done at the hospital. I did let the doctor know about it and they seemed surprised it wasn't mentioned in the report and...well, after that I don't remember anything.

In the previous two post I compared the stubby and the warthog when it comes to single target damage, trying to show that the stubby is better single target weapon. In both post for the warthog I used the build 2-2-3-2-2 with Cycle overload, but there are other builds for the weapon. So, lets take a look, comparing them to single target subby build used in the previous post:
Stubby - 1-1-1-1-1 with EM Refire Booster
Damage per Mag: 1170
Time to Kill: 4 seconds
Can kill a Praetorian?: Yes, both Haz 5 4-player and EDD, without any other source of damage.
Reload Required?: No
Power Attack Required?: No
Notes: has a 25% chance per bullet to inflict Electric DoT, 48 damage per proc (3 per tick, every .25 seconds, for 3 seconds).
The builds have to beat these numbers if to be better. For reloads and power attacks, yes means that they can only break the benchmark with it, and no means that they can break it without such aids. If they can't either way, the answer is automatically yes. Additionally:
Breakpoints (To compare damage and time to kill)
1125 (Hazard 5 4-player praetorian)
1200 (5.5 or last stage EDD praetorian)
-Praetorians are used as they are the most common tanky enemy in the game. Also, you will see why I listed the EDD health breakpoint.
​
Warthog Build #1 - 2-2-3-2-2 with Magnetic Pellet alignment
Damage per mag: 1040 (8 damage per pellet x 10 pellets per shot x 10 shots x 1.3 weak point damage boost)
Time to Kill:
Without cancel: 7.7 seconds (fires a total of 11 rounds, 1.9 rounds per second, with 2 second reload).
With cancel : 7 seconds (fires a total of 11 rounds, 1.9 rounds per second, with 1.7 second reload)
With power attack AND cancel: 5.2 seconds (10 rounds, 1.9 rounds per second, with power attack). No reload, and no time added for a power attack.
Can kill a praetorian (in a single mag): yes for Haz 5 4-player if with a power attack, Never for EDD, unless with another source of damage.
Reload Required?: No (if with a power attack)
Power Attack Required?: No (if reloading)
Notes: Statistically, Directly Inferior to the same build with Cycle Overload. Takes longer to kill, and has worse damage per mag. Only thing better is the accuracy (50% > 150%)
Warthog Build #2 - 1-2-3-2-2 with Cycle Overload.
Damage per Mag: 720 (9 damage per pellet x 10 pellets per shot x 8 shots per magazine)
Time to Kill:
Without Cancel: 4.9 seconds (fires a total of 13 rounds, 5.5 rounds per second, with 2.5 second reload)
With Cancel: 3.8 seconds (fires a total of 13 rounds, 5.5 rounds per second, with 1.43 second reload)
With Cancel AND Power Attack: 3.8 (fires 12 rounds, 5.5 rounds per second, with 1.43 second reload) Power attack is assumed to take no time AND has the tier 2 damage boost.
Can kill a Praetorian: Never in a single mag for both Haz 5 4-player and EDD, even with a boosted power attack.
Reload Required?: Yes, in all cases
Power attack required?: Yes, in all cases
notes: Better Burst Damage, but worst sustain than before. You better hope that stun comes into effect while you are reloading.
The Final Nail in the Coffin
These tow and the ones in the previous post are all best case scenarios with damage boosted power attacks and animation cancels compared to a worst case stubby, which has none of them. Yet, they still all fall flat in comparison

I’ve been seeing my Gyno for a year and a half or so now. After careful consideration (and of course thanks to the information and personal experiences shared on this sub from users and mods), I knew getting a Bisalp was the right choice for me. I’d already tried a few BC options from the pill, to Depo, to the IUD, and was sick of my mood and being affected and other side effects (like hair loss from the Depo shot, or cystic acne from the IUD). I’m ready to stop worrying!
When I began looking through the list of doctors in Texas that will do a Bisalp, I was overjoyed to see my current gyno as one of the providers listed with a +1 recommendation! I called the office to ask for an appointment for a consultation regarding sterilization, and the receptionist asked me what type specifically, and I told her, “I would like to get a Bisalp.” She asked to place me on hold while she checked to make sure my doctor did that. When she came back, she said he didn’t do that, but would be able to tie tubes. After clarifying “only tying?” I asked if I could come in anyway to see if he could at least refer me to someone who could perform the procedure I want.
This morning, I was nervous as could be, with my notebook full of research from this sub, medical journals, and whatnot, including supportive quotes to give me confidence. I was even running through dialogue in my head for the possible bingoes, and personal reasons I just don’t want kids.
My lovely doctor walks in, friendly as always, and reiterates the reason for my visit (sterilization). He confirmed that I was the one who called two days prior asking about a certain procedure. I explained how I saw him listed as performing this procedure (and I hadn’t yet said which). He looked confused until I said, “I want my tubes removed” and his face suddenly lit up when he realized there was a miscommunication in the front office somewhere, as they had not ben introduced to the shortened version, “bisalp”.
“OH! Bilateral Salpingectomy! You want your tubes removed. Yeah, totally, we can do that! When would you like to schedule that?”
I was totally floored, he immediately and enthusiastically went on to explain how it’s gaining popularity because of the benefits of reducing cancer risk by removing the tubes, and confirming everything I’d already researched. He was totally on board, already walked me through how the pre-op appointment would go and the consent form, along with the outpatient procedure.
I felt so at ease after talking with him, knowing he does this procedure ALL the time, and someone whom I trust and respect (who also respects my autonomy) would be performing the procedure instead of anyone else.
Any nervousness I had has turned to optimism, and dare I say, a bit of excitement! Yeeting of the tubes set for June, 28th 🌴💕😎

If I count the years I spent as a student working as an assistant as well, I've spent over 10 years in retail pharmacy.
I left earlier this year for hospital pharmacy and I'm never going back... If I somehow can't stay in hospital, I'd rather retire and work at a hobby shop or something and take the pay cut. I wish I'd left sooner but at least I finally did it.
It was never a stress-free job, but my stress levels skyrocketed over COVID. The script counts went through the roof, and it was one thing after the other... At first it was just the endless calls and questions, then it was the shots (remember when we thought we'd be done after dose 2?) then the rapid antigens and PCR testing... and more shots. Finally Minor Ailments.
Constantly changing policies from the government about everything didn't help. Finding out about said changes on shift because the government would announce shit without informing the actual HCP delivering the services ahead of time was exasperating. What is the point of booking appointments online if 3 different services all get booked for the same slot, on different calendars? Why even book appointments if you're going to advertise everything as walk-in anyway?
Through it all, head office is constantly coming up with random work to milk pharmacy employees for more profit. I never ate lunch consistently at work anyway & relied on liquid calories, but with masking and the increased workload, it became the new normal to go 8, 10 or even 12 hours without any food or water.
I started developing health issues. Heartburn, stress-related diarrhea, back pain and worst of all, my mental health was taking a huge hit. I would get so angry and hold on to negative interactions. I'd rant to my spouse everyday detailing my terrible day. I couldn't enjoy my days off because I'd just spend it recuperating and being stressed about having to go back to work. Then it hit me, that it was never going to get better. I got through past 3 years of COVID just trying to get over the next hurdle, thinking it'd be better once dose 3 was over or whatever, but it was just never going to get better.
It was a huge decision for me to switch. I generally dislike change. It felt like I was being forced to throw away a decade of experience. I'd finally landed a full time position with good hours, 30 minutes from home. I was good at what I do. To start all over again in a whole new setting? I really didn't want to do it.
I told myself that if I utterly failed in the new setting, I could always get another retail position. The hours/commute might suck but I'd never be out of a job if I was willing to work retail (I don't know about elsewhere, but there's a shortage of pharmacists where I work)...
Once I got to hospital pharmacy- I was amazed. Aside from how intimidated I was by the setting, it's been a wonderful change in pace. I can't believe work can be like this. "Busy" has a different definition here. Yes, I still have "busy" days in hospital. But it's... just work. It's work without having the phone constantly ringing in your ear. There's noone being rude or sarcastic. I still get a lunch break. I still sit down and go to the washroom. I am not exaggerating when I say I'd rather switch fields altogether than go back.
I guess I'm trying to say... If you're in a similar boat and afraid of change like I was... Do it. At least try, so you don't look back even later regretting not even having tried. Good luck everyone.

Ben had never thought that he would ever be a cat dad, not since he saw his own father run over his cat when he was only five. But yesterday, history almost repeated itself when he almost ran over two stray kittens while driving himself home from the graduation ceremony.
It had happened only a few hours ago - despite the fact that in an attempt to impress his dad, who was in the passenger seat, he had tried to be extra precise while backing out of his parking spot, he missed a little something in his way.
However, before the disaster could happen, a shrill scream made him slam the brakes.
"STOP! You'll run over them, STOP!"
Shira?
He jumped out the car and ran to the back, to find Shira looking slightly wary of a cardboard box near one of his back wheels. Inside the box were two kittens.
"BEN!" she shrieked on seeing him, her arms flailing in an almost comical way, "You almost killed them!"
Ben picked up the box, and noticed that there was a small slip of paper inside it.
"You should be more mindful of how you treat animals, Ben! We're supposed to share the planet with them, not-"
"Here, hold it for a moment" he interrupted, holding out the box for her to take.
She did not comply. Instead, she scooted away with a scared look on her face.
It took every last ounce of resilience inside Ben to not roll his eyes. Here she was, lecturing him about being 'mindful' with animals, when she was too disgusted to hold a box with two tiny, malnourished sleeping kittens.
Balancing the box in one hand, he pulled out the slip of paper and opened it.
"Take care of them, please" it read.
Take care of them. Hm. Someone left them here to be found.
After a moment of pondering, he made his decision.
"I'll take them to a shelter." he told Shira, opening the car door to put the two kittens inside.
"Wait!" Shira exclaimed, pulling out her phone and positioning herself as if to take a selfie.
"Shira, I'm really not in the mood to-" Ben began protesting, but the sound her phone made told him she had refused to listen to him. She skipped away, typing what he was sure was a story about how she saved two innocent kittens.
Her followers will like that, for sure.
Still, I'm rescuing two kittens from certain death. That's a good deed.
His good deed, however, remained unfinished, because the shelter did not have any space for cats and could not take in the two kittens. Ben was forced to take the kittens home, with the reassurance that his dad would find a place for them somewhere else.
And now here he was, having cleaned and fed them with Patty, trying to figure out what variety they were while shovelling spahgetti into his mouth.
"Oh, Ben! My sweet boy has graduated!" a saccharine voice suddenly spoke.
His mother.
Vivian Gross, unlike his dad, had chosen to be absent from his graduation ceremony, where he and Devi had jointly recieved the title of valedictorian. His dad had hugged him tightly and exclaimed how proud he was of his son with tears in his eyes. Ben knew he would remember that moment and smile till the day he died, he would be forever grateful for it, but it didn't quite erase the truth - he had expected his mother to show up. This was not a PTA meeting, not a debate tournament, not a club presentation - he has graduated high school. This was important. Today, for one day, he was important.
Apparently not important enough for his mother to abandon her regenerative healing spa appointment.
He did not want to admit it, but a sinking weight had appeared in his chest when his dad had informed him that his mom wasn't coming at all, and it had only dulled slightly since then. On hearing her voice, the weight re-appeared with full force. She pulled out a chair and sat beside him at the dinner table.
"No phone! Be respectful when your mother wants to talk to you, alright?"
Ben immediately put his phone down.
"So, have you thought about college, honey? Where would you like to go?"
Ben tried his best to not let the sheer disbelief show on his face. After all, 3he should have seen this coming.
"Uh, yeah, I - I applied to Columbia. The acceptance letter arrived two months ago. I got in. I'm pretty sure I told both you and dad?"
"You did? Oh, I must have forgotten! Typical me, forgetting things all the time."
It isn't normal to forget what ivy league your son got int- no, no Ben, don't be ungrateful. Don't say anything.
Well, I'm not being ungrateful here. She should've known this.
Before Ben could decide whether or not to convey his true feelings on the matter, Vivian cut the conversation short by pulling her phone out of her purse and beginning to scroll through it. Whether she ignored or didn't hear his scoff, he did not know.
After some time, she spoke up again.
"Oh, you and your girlfriend rescued kittens today? That's so nice!"
"My girlfriend?"
"Shira! She's your girlfriend, isn't she? I'm one of her followers! Very sweet girl, understands the importance of self-care very well."
He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out for a bit.
"Mum" he began, drawing a deep breath and trying to control the quiver in his voice "Shira and I broke up two years ago, in sophomore year."
You'd know that if you knew anything.
"Huh? Oh! So you haven't had a girlfriend since?"
"No." he mumbled back, realising it wasn't worth it to explain anything to her. If his mom didn't care enough to know everything that had happened in his life in two years, then he didn't care enough to tell her either.
Ben had always thought the fault was in him. After all, he was richer than most kids in his class, he knew that - he had everything. And yet he felt unhappy. He felt unhappy despite having everything, hence he must be ungrateful.
But he had come to understand he was anything but ungrateful. His dad was the one who was always busy, but he had tried - he had become a better parent. He had been there for Ben. He had showed up.
His mother had chosen not to, and it certainly wasn't his fault. Mothers didn't behave like that - he had met Nalini Vishwakumar. He had to fight the urge to yell some sense into Devi every time she said she hated her mom.
She's ungrateful. I'm not.
This realisation had made him colder towards his mother. He realised it, but was even more hurt by the fact that she didn't notice this at all.
"Well, what did you end up doing with the kittens anyways?"
"The shelter didn't have space for them, so I brought them home. They're in my bedroom. I'll keep them until Dad finds a spot for them." he said.
The silence that followed made him look up from his plate, to find his mother staring back at him with disgust.
"You let stray animals into my house?"
"Stray - what? But you just said it was a nice thing to rescue them!"
"It is! For somebody else! If you wanted a cat we could get you whichever you liked from a breeder!"
"I don't want them! They had been left in the parking lot! They would've died there!"
"They could be diseased, you know."
"They're not. I had them checked and vaccinated at the shelter. There's a veterinary clinic right beside it."
"Still, Ben, get rid of them right away. There will be no random abandoned strays in my house."
Bold words, calling it your house, when you're never in it yourself.
She left the dining room in a huff, mumbling exasperatedly to herself.
Left alone, Ben made a decision. Sure, it was driven by hurt and anger, but he would do it anyways. She hadn't come to his graduation, had she? She hadn't listened to him. Why should he listen to her?
For the first time in his life, Ben Gross was going to disobey his parents. He was going to keep those damn cats.
----------------------------------
Ben woke up the next morning to the sounds of two kittens rolling around and yawning in a box, and realised he was a bit conflicted - taking care of a whole live animal was no joke, especially since he couldn't ask for help from Patty and his dad.
Hiding them from mom isn't really a problem.
The thought of his mother brought back some of the rage he had felt the night before.
He was keeping those kittens, for sure, but for now, he didn't know where to start.
After an hour of research, Ben had a list and a day full of errands to run.
------------------------------------
Why are there so many litter box varieties in this world?
Ben had never known such confusion in his entire life. He was the class valedictorian, had won multiple awards and first place prizes, had gotten into a freaking ivy league, and yet had never faced something so difficult.
In front of him were five tub-like containers - each of a different colour, shape and size. One of them had a transparent lid, another one had a coloured lid, one of them had all these little knobs and buttons on the side, another one had a tag that said 'CAUTION : Be careful of electric wires'
He had angrily told the salesman to leave him alone after the idiot had attempted to sell him seeds for a parakeet, and now he had no one to ask for help.
Or maybe not.
He whipped out his phone and dialled a number.
-----------------------
Ben was regretting his choice.
Paxton had been standing beside him for the past five minutes, brow furrowed and completely silent.
Ben had suddenly realised that he did, indeed, have friends, friends he could ask for help. Only, his friend seemed even more lost and confused than he was.
"I- Wait, does that one say be careful of wires? I thought litter boxes didn't need electricity!"
"So did I! That's why I called you for help!"
"Me? What would I know about this? I've never had a pet!"
"But then why did you agree to help me?"
"Dude, I thought the box was too heavy for you to carry!"
"What's too heavy to carry?"
Trent had showed up out of nowhere, but Ben was somewhat used to him appearing out of thin air.
"Nothing. We can't figure out what to do here, which one of these litter boxes should I buy?
Trent looked at him with confusion. "Bro, you know these are for, like, cats, right? You can't use them."
Ben closed his eyes while Paxton held in a laugh.
"Yes, Trent, I know. I have two kittens at home. This is for them."
"Oh!" Trent said, rolling up his sleeves "Well, none of this fancy shit. What you need is a smart, durable, and simple solution" Spinning around, he called out - "Yo, does anyone here know where the Paw-fect range is?"
A girl in an apron appeared in the aisle, gesturing at them to follow her. She lead them to a different part of the store - a section that seemed entirely dedicated to the company Paw-fect.
An hour later, they were walking out to Ben's car with three large shopping bags.
"Dude, how do you know all this stuff? I mean, you basically told us what varieties of cats there are based on hair length. Where did you find that out?" Paxton asked Trent, not being able to place when precisely Trent had become an expert on cats.
"I spend a lot of time watching commercials on youtube, bro. I know exactly how to look after bunnies and dogs too."
Ben smiled to himself, getting inside the car. He rolled down the window and bid his friends goodbye before driving off towards home.
-------------------------------
A month had passed since that fateful day when he discovered his two beloved pets in that parking lot. Now, a month into the summer, he felt he had become somewhat of an expert cat dad. Well, enough of an expert to be worthy of a 'Best Cat Dad in the World' mug, the purchase and use of which had earned him some inquisitve glances from his father, but no questions.
He had hidden the kittens away inside his room, making sure to keep it locked at all times.
So far he was managing spectacularly. He had told Patty that he would clean his own room from now on, in preparation for college, and she had not discovered the kittens yet. To his dad he had said that the same shelter they had visited on graduation day had found an empty spot and accepted them.
He had developed a routine - everyday when Patty went out for grocery shopping, he would empty the litter boxes, fill up water and cat feed in the dispensers and brush their fur. He had installed a lock on his door, and made sure to leave it locked whenever he went out.
So far, so good. Nobody knew - not his dad, not Patty, and definitely not his mom, who had only been in the house for two days in the entire span.
The doorbell rang, telling him that Paxton and Trent had arrived to meet the cats.
"Oh, welcome! Ben is upstairs!" he heard Patty tell them.
Footsteps got louder and louder till Trent finally burst through his door.
"Where are they? Where are my nieces?"
"Trent, dude, not so loud man!" Ben warned, but he couldn't stop the smile from coming onto his face.
When he had found them, the two kittens had been on the verge of death. Thin and sickly, with dull fur, they barely had any energy at all, and would stay lying around and yawning all day long. Now, Ben had nursed them back to health, and they were happily climbing up their scratching post.
The only complaint he had was how aloof they stayed all the time. They made absolutely no efforts to return his affection and made no effort to get close to him, and bolted any time he tried to pet them.
He would call them ungrateful, but they weren't humans after all. Perhaps this was just how cats behaved.
"So, what are their names?"
Ben looked at Paxton for a moment before realising - he hadn't named them yet.
"You haven't thought of names yet, have you?"
"Uh, no."
"We'll help."
They both sat down on his bed and began gazing at the cats carefully.
This went on for some time. Just before Ben was about to interrupt, Trent finally spoke up.
"The white one is Taylor and the ginger one is Sadie."
On recieving confused looks, he explained further "She reminds me of Taylor Swift and she reminds me of Sadie Sink. Name your kids after great people and they shall become great themselves."
Before Ben could say anything in reply, the cats noticed that they had visitors in the room and bounded towards Trent. Jumping onto him, they began licking his face.
"Hey! They like the names!"
"Well," Ben said, smiling "Taylor and Sadie it is."
The very next morning they had little silver collars with Taylor and Sadie engraved on them, hanging around their necks.
--------------------------------------
Ben stood as if ready to tackle, glaring at the white kitten. Taylor glared back - no one would make her take a bath if she did not want to take a bath.
A moment more of glaring, and Ben jumped onto her. Taylor let out a yowl and shot off towards the bed.
"Come back here, you little rascal! Don't get my bed all muddy!"
But Taylor refused to listen. Jumping on the bed, she left her muddy footprints all over the white sheets.
Ben had accidently left the window cracked open the previous day, and the more mischiveous one of his cats had taken the opportunity to escape out into the rain-filled muddy backyard. Ben had been trying to get her to take a bath in his tub ever since, but getting a cat near water was proving to be more difficult than imagined.
"You were fine with soaking around in the rain yesterday - what's the problem with my tub? It's still water!" he exclaimed as she attempted to run away from between his legs.
She was not succesful, however, for in that second Ben bent over and caught her.
She growled again as he held up her little kicking and squirming frame in victory.
That very moment, the door opened, revealing Patty on the other side.
Ben gulped - he had forgotten to lock the door.
"I can explain-" he began, but he was cut short.
"Oh little prince, did you really think you could keep a cat in this house for two whole months without telling me? Who do you think kept them clean this whole time? Come one, hand them over, I will give them both a bath."
Shocked, Ben handed Taylor over to her.
"Does-does Dad know?"
"Of course! He really liked your 'Best Cat Dad Ever' mug."
As Patty took the kittens away, Ben smiled to himself. So his dad did know him well enough to know his secrets after all.
-----------------------------------------
The news had put a damper in an otherwise splendid morning.
Ben had grown out of wanting his mother to return home. Now, he didn't feel anything but frustration when she was around, didn't wish for anything but for her to leave. It was better when she was away.
But that morning Patty had told him that she would be returning home for a whole week.
Way to ruin a boy's day.
He was shuffling about his room, reluctantly trying to find his jacket so he could go out and buy something nice for his mother.
Ever since the reveal that both Patty and his father were well aware of his pets, Ben had let them run free in the house. The very first day the two had run across the hall while he was they were eating breakfast, and his father had simply smiled in response.
Now he headed downstairs, calling out to them, but neither of them appeared.
Shrugging it off, he left for the grocery store. A box of chocolates would do nicely, he thought.
------------------------
Ben returned home to chaos.
His mother was apprently screaming at someone in the living room.
As he got closer, he could make out the words more clearly.
"How could you let those...those creatures stay in our house Howard? He picked them off the street!"
Of course, the very first thing she did after returning home was berating his pets. Anger bubbled up inside him, but he pushed it back down and entered the room smiling. His father was sitting on the couch, massaging his temples, while Vivian stood in front of him.
"Mom, you're back! I got you chocolates." he said, trying his best to fake happiness, holding out the box.
His mom didn't take it, and instead crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Ben, I told you to get rid of those cats."
"You did."
"But you didn't listen to me! They were in my house! I went to the fridge to get myself water and I found them rolling around on the kitchen floor!"
Ben paused for a moment.
"I wanted to keep them."
"I don't care! I told you to get rid of them! You have to listen to me, I AM YOUR MOTHER!"
Well, it's not like you ever behave like a mother.
"What did you just say?"
Did I say that out loud?
"What did you just say, you ungrateful brat?"
That was what did it. Something inside Ben's chest shattered into pieces. His eyes filled up with tears as he stared straight at his mother, having waited far too long to say what he needed to be said.
"I SAID, you never behave like a mother! You didn't show up to your only son's graduation ceremony, you didn't know that I got admitted into a ivy league, hell , you didn't even know who my girlfriend was! THAT IS NOT HOW MOTHERS BEHAVE! If only you actually had time left for me after all your retreats and spas and treatments, maybe you would realise you know nothing about me!"
Ben did not wait to find out her reaction. He did not turn around to face his dad who was calling his name. He did not look at Patty. He simply bolted up the stairs to his own room.
Locking the door, he jumped onto his bed with shoes still on, and buried himself under the covers. Trying his best to not let the tears fall, he tried to call his cats.
"Taylor? Sadie? Are you there? Taylor?"
Not one peep. They weren't here either.
For the first time in a long time, Ben felt absolutely alone. He had his dad, he had his friends, but he had never had a mom. She was right there, down the stairs, the woman who had given birth to him, but he had never had a mom. And for whatever reason, that was enough to make him feel the way he did.
He lay quietly for some time, not letting a single tear or a single sound escape. He refused to cry.
Suddenly, he felt something weighing down the bed beside him.
Taylor and Sadie both made their way underneath the blanket, finally lying down right beside Ben.
He turned to his side and tried to pat Taylor's fur. He gently touched her with his hand, afraid that she would run away any moment.
But she didn't. Instead, she let out a content purr and curled up into an even smaller ball of fur.
They were here. They were here with him.
He could not hold back the tears any more. But even through the sobs, he began to smile.
------------------------------------
"Take good care of them Patty!" Ben called to his housekeeper as he hugged both of his cats one last time.
"I'll be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas, alright?"
He finally got up to leave when Patty began hounding him about being late to the airport.
He got into the passenger seat beside his dad.
His mom hadn't spoken to him since his outburst that day. He had tried to get a hold of her, but had always come out empty handed.
Still, having let all of it out had left him feeling lighter than ever. This time, he noticed, he didn't really care about his mother's absence.
"I left all the instructions for food and water on a checklist on my desk. Vet visits every month, and -"
"Ben, relax, we got this. You're going to college, be excited."
Ben smiled and looked out the window one last time as the car started, at the two little fur balls that he had come across by accident, who had ended up claiming rather large pieces of his heart.
What's more, they had ended up healing large parts of it as well.
"Yeah, I'm so excited." he said, looking at the road ahead.
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Author's Note : I am so sorry for being SO LATE, but I have an excuse - I kept deleting and re-writing over and over again because this is the first time I'm showing something I've written to someone else. I'll be doing the other two prompts over the next two days as well.
Well, this ended up being sappier than I had thought earlier! Anyways, I always appreciate constructive criticism, but please be kind.
Thank you for reading!
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Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker

"This is my job and I'm damned good at it. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here risking my life and the lives of all the innocent prey! I'm Peacemaker... And I'll kill to keep the peace!"

The son of Austrian industrialist Wolfgang Schmidt and American author Elizabeth Lewis, Christopher watched his father commit suicide when he was five years old after his father's secret past was revealed: he had commanded a Nazi concentration camp in Poland during World War II. Witnessing his father's suicide left Christopher traumatized, rebellious, and aggressive. He began to see visions of his father in an SS uniform, urging him to hone his mind and body to be worthy of his legacy. When he turned 18, Smith enlisted in the army and fought in the Vietnam War. After massacring a village of innocent people, Smith was court-martialed and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He was granted parole by the government on the condition that he joined a secret, elite counter-terrorism unit called Project: Peacemaker. And so Smith became the Peacemaker, a government agent who loves peace so much that he's willing to kill for it, just as often operating outside of government oversight as within it. Though he apparently died at the hands of Eclipso, Peacemaker reemerged years later, seemingly having overcome his mental issues, and began mentoring young superhero Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle.
Source Key:
Vigilante (1983) Issue # = VG#
Peacemaker (1988) Issue # = PM#
Checkmate (1988) Issue # = CM#
Suicide Squad (1987) Issue # = SS#
Showcase '93 (1993) Issue # = SC#
Eclipso (1992) Issue # = EP#
Blue Beetle (2006) Issue # = BB#
Booster Gold (2007) Issue # = BG#
Handbook Entry: Who's Who: Update '87

Physicals

Strength

Striking

• Punches Micah through a stone wall^PM3
• Cracks the helmet of a reptile man's power armor with a punch^SC9
• Punches out a Reach soldier^BB25
• Beats down Vigilante^VG36
• Breaks down a door^PM2
• Punches out some terrorists^VG38
• Staggers a reptile man with a kick that no sells Peacemaker unloading a pistol into his chest^SC7

Lifting/Throwing

• Picks up a crate and smashes it on Vigilante^VG38
• Tosses aside two men with one arm apiece^CM25
• Lifts a man above his head with one arm^CM17
• Throws men through windows^CM23

Other

• Breaks Deadshot's chains^SC10
• Pulls the max on a lat pulldown machine with one arm^CM21

Durability

Blunt

• Takes a hit from mind-controlled Blue Beetle^BG29
• Takes a hit from Shade the Changing Man^SS28
• Takes a punch from a supervillain^PM4
• Takes a punch from Vigilante^VG36
• Takes another punch from Vigilante that sends him crashing back into crates^VG38
• Takes hits from Valentina Vostok^VG42
• Jumps off of a building and lands unharmed^VG42
• Flies straight through a metal wall of a dirigible^PM4
• A man breaks a stick hitting him with it^CM19

Other

• His armor is bulletproof^VG38
• Zapped with an electric attack that disables his cybernetic systems and lands in what appears to be toxic waste^SC6
• Caught in some kind of electric trap^SC9
• Went 72 hours with no sleep while performing several missions^PM3
• Overcomes Dr. Tzin-Tzin's attempt to hypnotically control him^PM4
  • Tzin-Tzin hypnotically compelled a man to tell him information about who hired him to spy^PM1

Speed/Agility

Reaction/Dodging

• Dodges machine gun fire^VG38
  • Again^PM1
• Turns to see an RPG headed for him and activates his helmet's defense before it can hit him^PM3
• Dodges an RPG^PM3
• Dodges a missile^CM25
• Dodges a blast from mind-controlled Blue Beetle^BG29
• Dodges a blast from Major Force^SS28
• Dodges a blast from a super-powered man^BB29
• Dodges Vigilante leaping at him^VG38
• Bats aside Valentina Vostok leaping at him^VG42

Movement/Agility

• Draws his gun and kills Dave Winston before he can react^VG36
• Grabs a robber's gun before he can shoot and slaps him silly with it^BB3
• Jumps between rooftops^VG37
• Practices his gymnastics^VG41

Skill/Misc

Marksmanship/Gunfighting

• Shoots the gun out of a man's hand^VG43
  • Again^PM3
• Guns down two soldiers flying back in power armor^SC6
• Shoots a Reach soldier off of its hoverboard^BB24
• Guns down a large group of terrorists^PM3
• Turns and quickly guns down a group of soldiers who ambush him^PM2
• Guns down two terrorists^VG36

Hand-to-Hand Combat

• Beats down Blue Beetle after turning off the Scarab's weapons^BG29
• Kills Micah, a highly skilled martial artist, in a fistfight^PM3
• Fights Vigilante fairly evenly before the cops interrupt them^VG38
• Defeats some reptile men in power armor^SC9
  • Again with a sword^SC11
• Defeats a plane full of terrorists^PM2
• Easily takes down some terrorists^PM1
• Manhandles some gunrunners^CM20
• Takes down Deadshot^SC8
• Uses a pressure point on Blue Beetle that makes him vomit^BB19
  • Points out pressure points on Giganta so Blue Beetle can hit them^BB19

Stealth

• Sneaks up on a terrorist while she's holding some pilots at gunpoint^VG36
• Snuck into a secret agency's headquarters disguised as a janitor^VG42
• Sneaks up on Blue Beetle on a motorcycle^BB7

Linguistics

• Speaks Romanian^CM19
• Speaks Italian^CM23
• Speaks French^CM24

General

• Selected to wield a Yellow Lantern ring^BB20
• Made anesthetic nerve gas from supplies he found in a convenience store^BB8
• Puts his guns on cave walls to detect where a monster is coming from via vibrations^BB12
• With help from Blue Beetle, overcomes the control of the Reach's Scarab amplified by a Sinestro Corps. ring^BB20

Gear

Helmet

Ultrasonic Waves

• Knocks out several terrorists, with Vigilante saying that he nearly passed out despite not being in its direct path^VG38
• Discombobulates agents after they dogpile him^VG42
• Takes down more terrorists^PM1
• Uses it to torture a man^CM24

Electronic Interfacing

• Interferes with the electronic guidance system steering some missiles, causing them to miss him^PM2
  • Makes the missiles explode before reaching their mark^PM2
• The surveillance equipment in the helmet gets through a secret agency's headquarters security so he can listen in on a conversation inside^VG43
• Taps into a phone line^CM23
  • Again^CM32
• Can remotely control his vehicles with his helmet^PM2
  • Activates a chair's self-destruct feature^CM25
• Begins to remove Bishop's power armor^CM25

Misc

• Creates a white sound field to prevent any sound from escaping the office he's in^VG43
• Creates a super-sonic defense screen to block an RPG^PM3
• Tests for radiation^SC6
• Infrared vision^CM17
• Audio sensors pick up people screaming in a different house^CM25

Firearms

• Mini nuke launcher he uses to blow up a pyramid^BG29
• Rifle that blasts back Major Force^SS28
  • In the previous issue of the crossover, Major Force no sold a point blank bazooka^CM16 and in the same issue, no sold Duchess' gun^SS28
• Submachine gun with teflon-coated bullets that shoots through power armor^SC6
• Shotgun that knocks back Blue Beetle^BG29
• Scoped pistol^VG42
  • Destroys a helicopter with one shot^VG37
  • Shoots through a man^VG38
  • Damages some concrete stairs^VG42
• Submachine gun that blasts through a woman^VG36
• Assault rifle with a grenade launcher that blows a hole in a wall^PM2
  • Blows up windows on a skyscraper^CM24
• Mows down terrorists with dual submachine guns^PM4

Vehicles

Helicopter

• Has heat seeking missiles^EP12
• Blows up boats with missiles^PM1
• Blows up a warehouse with missiles^CM17
• Blows up fighter jets with missiles^EP13
• Blows open Belle Reve's gates with missiles^SS29
• Blows up a truck with missiles^CM32
• Kills some terrorists with machine guns and missiles^PM1
• Kills soldiers in power armor with machine guns^CM32
• Shreds a supervillain with machine guns^PM4
• Mows down swaths of terrorists^PM4
• Tears up a house with machine guns^SS27
• Has radar^PM4
• Performs an infrared recon scan^CM33

Other

• Has a fighter jet called the Blackbird^PM1
  • Blasts a supervillain far away^PM2
  • Blows up a plane with machine guns^PM2
• Owns a hypersonic personal plane^CM25

Misc

• Wears a jetpack^PM4
  • Tackles a supervillain through a wall^PM4
  • Smashes through the front window of a helicopter^SS29
• Has a computer system in his secret lair^VG41
  • Automatically scans news reports^PM1
• Has a secret armory in his office^CM22
• Places a bug on a man^CM24

Respect Threads for scaling:

• Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)
• Deadshot

A lot of people say that the stubby is a weak weapon compared to the Warthog. However, I think that the warthog is weaker than the stubby, in particular with single target damage. How so? I can prove this...with MATH! Done in a two part post, this one covering damage, another one later covering time to kill a target.
Builds used for this comparison (Both aimed for single target damage)
Warthog- 2-2-3-2-2 with Cycle Overload
Stubby- 1-1-1-1-1 with EM Refire Booster
Breakpoints (To compare damage and time to kill)
1125 (Hazard 5 4-player praetorian)
1200 (5.5 or last stage EDD praetorian)
-Praetorians are used as they are the most common tanky enemy in the game. Also, you will see why I listed the EDD health breakpoint.
Comparisons: Damage (Both assume a clean shot on their abdomen)
Warthog total damage - 900 damage per mag (10 pellets x 9 damage per pellet x 10 shots per mag). Cannot kill a praetorian in a single mag dump.
Stubby - 1170 (15 damage x 60 shot per mag x 1.3 weak point damage boost). Can kill a praetorian in a single mag dump
-Ok, what about a power attack?
Warthog and power attack total damage - 1020 (10 pellets x 9 damage per pellet x 10 shots per mag + 120 power attack damage). Still cannot kill a praetorian.
-Ok, what if we took the tier 2 power attack damage boost?
Warthog and power attack and power attack boost - 1140 (10 pellets x 9 damage per pellet x 10 shots per mag + 240 power attack damage). Can kill a praetorian.
Results
So with a max damage warthog and a damage boosted power attack, it can kill a praetorian.....when a max damage stubby can do it without a power attack, let alone a powered boosted one. Not only that, The warthog still cannot kill an EDD praetorian in a single mag dump, even with a boost power attack (1140 < 1200), whereas a stubby can kill it with a mag dump and a power attack. An there is one more reason why stubby has greater damage....
The Electric DoT effect, which does 3 damage per tick, ticking once every .25 seconds, for 3 seconds, for a total of 48 damage, meaning that one proc of the electric DoT (and the stubby has a 25% chance per bullet, out of 60 bullets in this case) plus the total magazine damage can kill a max health EDD praetorian without a power attack or any other source of damage. And the more times it procs, the less precise at hitting their abdomen you have to be.
Yeah, you may say "but it might be soften up by teammates, or environmental sources, or other weapons." But the end result is clear: The warthog requires another source of damage in order to reach this breakpoint, whereas the Stubby pretty much Never requires another source of damage to do its job, and in the caves of Hoxxes, you can't rely on having another source to help you.
Part 2: Time to Kill

I was at my pain management appointment yesterday, and was asked if I minded\was able to switch from CVS (I've had my pain meds filled at the same CVS with little problem for over a decade). I was told they were trying to switch all their patients from CVS and Walgreens, as patients were having more and more trouble getting their meds filled in a timely manner, were being fed ridiculous excuses by the pharmacies, etc. So, I had them switch my pain meds to the local pharmacy closest to my house, which I have done business with on random previous occasions, though I like CVS as I can manage things in-app, and I've always had a good relationship with the pharmacy staff. I called (one of the pharmacists there used to be my pharmacist at CVS, or I would have gone in person) to make sure everything would be ordered\available on my fill date, and I seem good to go.
Just a heads-up. Nothing is going to get better\the situation is worsening with those two chains.

I recently asked my specialist ADHD nurse about switching to multiple IR Amfexa pills throughout the day or lowering my Elvanse and taking 1 Amfexa as a afternoon/evening booster instead of taking 1 singular ER pill a day (60mg Elvanse) as the Elvanse doesn't seem to be lasting longer than 5 hours on a good day and I'd much rather pick and choose when I feel the benefits of the meds throughout the day instead of being locked into a 5 hour window and thats it. I was told that he will under no circumstances prescribe any form of Dexamphetamine without me first starting on the smallest dose of Concerta and working up the dose every 3-4 weeks and if that doesn't fix the issue of Elvanse not working long enough then I can try Amfexa. I understand that they're the specialist but I'm still confused as to why I have to try a completely different drug before then trying the same drug I'm on, that I know works well and am used to (atleast for the duration it works) just in a different delivery system? Am I completely missing something here? I'm currently paying for private appointments to even ask these questions and paying for private prescriptions so additionally doesn't make sense to me to pay even more for Concerta prescriptions and multiple follow up appointments to talk about my experience on Concerta which would both add up to over £300 a month instead of just allowing me to try the compound I am already familiar with and doing well on? I'm not saying I know better than a specialist but this decision by him has left me quite baffled. Has anyone else had a similar experience with being refused Amfexa (or any instant release Dexamphetamine)?

Hey. I would like to share my current ordeal with Cowboy Support and also find out what else I can do.
My bike sometimes makes a clicking noise when I ride it. Others here in /r have had the same issue. As a result, a super friendly technician came to check my bottom bracket, lubricate it, inspect the pedals, lubricate the saddle, adjust the belt, and even lubricate the handlebar.
He told me to get back in touch if the problem persists. The problem occurred again the next day, so I contacted support. They dismissed it because I was using the Cow-Booster app. After a lot of discussion, I reluctantly agreed.
They suggested all the steps the technician had already taken. At this time I have explicitly asked multiple times for an appointment and cost for a technician for the issue. Instead, a support representative in the chat recommended tightening the rear sprocket. I sent him a picture of the external nut on the fender, and he only referred to the rear sprocket. Unfortunately, I also tightened the nut next to the cog, which was a big mistake as it cut the torque sensor cable.
I believe there is some blame on the employee's poor instructions, and I wanted to address it, but without success. After I sent a picture of the severed cable, a reasonably accurate diagnosis was made, reducing the repair costs to around €125. The part was ordered and paid for on May 13th.
On May 15th, I was informed that the replacement part is not available, and no information can be given about when it will be available.
Since then, I have been trying to clarify with support whether there is any compensation for the poor service and to expect a solution where they can provide me with a delivery timeframe or alternatives. Unfortunately, contact via chat is incredibly frustrating. Each inquiry takes several days to be answered, and in between, they forget what was already discussed.
Recently, I was advised to tension the belt, which doesn't solve the current issue of the broken torque cable. There is still no solution for the clicking noise.
Currently, I just want to get rid of the bike and replace it with one that uses regular components.
TL;DR: Cowboy bike is making noise. Due to imprecise instructions from support, I damaged the torque cable. Now, I have a defective bike with no information from support.

I've had a rough 5 years. It all started after my pregnancy in 2018. Of course that wasn't without pain. I had HG and threw up basically every day for the first few months. Sometimes 11 times in a row. After my pregnancy I had idiopathic pancreatitis. A few years later I got the covid vaccine in 2021. On vacation I developed severe chest pain that turned out to be costochondritis (I still have this issue). I then suddenly developed a debilitating migraine a month later that caused me to be in the hospital for 8 days. During this time I developed burning neuropathy in my head and spine. I dealt with that for 2 months until it calmed down a bit. It flares up every now and again. Early in 2022 I experienced my first bout of gastritis. Later in 2022, I developed immense facial pain after my covid booster shot that persists to this day (albeit not as intense). I had to deal with the intense pain for almost 2 months and no doctor knew what to do. To deal with the migraines my neurologist wanted to try aimovig, a CGRP inhibitor injection, despite the fact I've only been on amitriptyline for the past 1.5 years. I thought about it and said, well, why not just try one month and see if it helps. This drug stays in your body for around 5 months, but since the side effects aren't that horrible, I thought the worse that could happen is bad constipation for a while. Since that injection around 2 weeks ago I have had horrible, severe stomach cramps and nausea. I was even vomiting and was in the hospital for another 4 days. They didn't find anything wrong of course.
I have stomach pain every day now. I can't deal with another one of these periods of pain. I am losing weight and not eating much. I can't walk without it hurting. I lie in bed all day without any help. The doctors say they did all the could, even though a colonoscopy wasn't peformed yet. My GI appointment is in October. My husband takes care of my daughter while I cry about how this is the time I'm going to die. My body is going to give out. I have very bad feelings of impending doom when the pain gets worse. I'm starting to hope it just kills me, that my body can't handle it anymore and has organ failure or whatever else that could kill me. I don't understand how all of this could happen to me when I generally was okay besides normal childhood illnesses. Why does life have to do this to me after having a child? I wouldn't have brought one into this world knowing that I'm not going to be able to parent. I can't finish my degree, I can't even go outside anymore. My body turned against me and is not fit for society, only suffering. I can't exist like this. I'm a burden to everyone and wish one day that it would truly be the day.

This happened roughly 2 years ago but still gives me nightmares.
TW: suicide, mental health
Background info relevant dor the story:
I am an Arab and expat living in Europe and studying medicine. I speak and write Arabic fluently. At the time of this story, I was still in the beginning of my medical carreer. I have Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, an Anxiety Disorder and had multiple suicidal periods, but I am getting medicated for it.
Now the story:
I (23 - now 25 F - ) and a group of friends once went to a bar. As we started socialising, we met a person who we will call James (fake name for the sake of privacy). James (19M) says he is from Scottland and despite his mother being Egyptian, does not speak a word of Arabic. Little by little, James becomes a part of our friends group.
Fast forward a few months later, October 1st, it's James birthday. We decide to all go hang out at the local park and have a few drinks. On the way to the park, we stop at a small shop to get our drinks. I notice James taking some sort of pills and, being the curious medstudent that I am, could not help asking what they were for, if he didn't mind sharing. He says that it's some sort of pre-chemotherapy treatment he has to take. I was shocked cz I wasn't expecting that, I thought it would be something way less serious. I apologised for asking because I felt like I breached his privacy but he assured me it was okay and it's not like he "could've hid it from us since he only has a few months to live anyway" (he said he had until april to live). During his birthday party, we were all pretty perplexed because this meant that this could be his last birthday party... We would all take turns in excusing ourselves to get ourselves together and "be strong" for him. He was the one needing support, not us. At some point, James comes to me and asks me to go talk somewhere away from the others. He tells me he feels like he is about to have a seizure. Without hesitating, I ask him to lay on the floor so that he doesn't fall and hurt himself and I ask him if there is something particular I should do to make sure he is safe. He told me to time the seizure and try to limit his movement if it becomes intense. Also, he asked me not to call an ambulance. I didn't question him at the time for why he didn't want it, I just assumed he simply didn't need more medical attention and I could tell when it would be really necessary. The seizure happened, I took care of him and it went okay, in the sense that it didn't last too long. Also, it was my first time witnessing a seizure but I thought I handled it well.
A few months later, James tells us that he is having medical exams done to see the progression of his chemotherapy treatment. When the results came in, he tells us that they are not looking good and he might even have less time than we tought. To preserve his privacy and knowing how difficult it is to deal with such a thing, I obviously did not ask to look at the test results. I have, however, prior to this, asked if he wanted me to accompany him to chemotherapy sessions because he lives away from his family and thought he could use the support and he doesn't have to face it all alone. He politely declined and I never asked again because I didn't want to be so insistant on something so private. But i digress. Test results. After hearing the news, I rush to his place with a friend of ours and we bring some food and decide to cook all together so that he doesn't feel alone in this tough moment and to change the mood. It went as well as it could go considering what was going on.
Here's where things start getting strange...
Some time passes and a friend of ours tells us that James said he had slept with Maya (who is my best friend and I would know if something had happened between them). When Maya hears this, she is very weirded out as this is not at all true. That day, there was a party at James' place that his roomates were throwing and had invited me and Maya. Being weirded out by what James said, we decided to still show up to the party but limit our interactions with him until we're in the right head space to do so. It wasn't that hard actually as he decided not to come out of his room. I eventually get worried about him because that is unlike him, so I go to his room to see what's going on. He sits me down and tells me about his plans to off himself, shows me the kitchen knife he had and a couple red marks on his neck. My mind goes blank our of fear because I too was suicidal at some point and that just gave me flashbacks. I tell him exactly what I wish someone told me in moments like this, I take away the knife and I sit by him and ask him to fight this at least a little longer and to sleep it off for now and that I will be back the next day after I get my covid vaccine shot that was booked for me by my university and i could not move.
So it's the next day and I'm in line waiting to get vaccinated. I had recognised that yesterday was a cry for help otherwise he wouldn't have talked about it or even allowed me in. So I started thinking of ways to help him. I also needed to get my mind to calm down a little so I opened Instagram and to my surprise, he had posted stories. It was a sequence of photos of him with friends and after the sequence of photos, a quote. The quote insinuated that this is goodbye. I freaked out and called him immediately. He didn't answer to my million calls so I texted and he answered. He said he is not feeling well and that he has had enough and basically all the things that someone would be saying when they are on the verge of unaliving themselves. I got terrified and texted his roomates about the situation and asked them to spend time with him or to check on him just to make sure he will be okay before I arrive. While his roomates are taking care of him, I call my psychologist and update her on what's going on and I ask her for advice. She tells me to inform the "police" or "equivalent of 911" so that they can send help his way. I make the call, give out his information, name, surname, date of birth, country of origin, and address. The "police" shows up at his place and his roomates tell me that he was very angry when he knew I sent them to take care of him. I, then recieve a call from the "policeman" who was with him, he puts me on speaker and asks me to confirm to him and James that I did in fact send them and to confirm the data I gave them about James (name surname...). I found it odd but thought nothing of it. They ended up taking him to the ER for an emergency appointment with the psychiatrist and a possibility to be recovered.
I was relieved. Finally, he was getting the help he needs.
Then I get a call from the hospital, that I missed because I was still getting vaccinated. When I finish, I call immediately and they inform me that if I received a call, it means that it's about an in-patient so they asked the name and I gave it only to hear back "I'm sorry but we have no records of someone under that name". That was super strange but okay? Then James calls me and it was the doctor on the phone telling me that they are dismissing him but they are putting him on antidepressants and anxiolitics. I wasn't all that happy with this because theg should have admitted him if he is a harm to himself or others and in that case he could be a harm to himself. But I went with it.
I picked him up and on the way home, I glance at his phone as he was texting someone. It was in arabic. I was surprised as he told me when we first met that he doesn't speak the language, let alone write it. So I tell him that I saw that, he then comes up with a half assed excuse that he knows a few letters of the arabic alphabet and can only write his name. I obviously don't buy it but decide not to dig too deep into this.
Something wasn't clicking anymore... He lied about sleeping with Maya, he lied about not speaking Arabic (and for what?) and the hospital didn't have his name on record? Something wasn't right. I deduced that the hospital didn't have his name on record because he lied about his name to me. Why would anyone lie about their name? Maybe to hide an identity? Or to move on from a terrible past and start over? I got scared. So i dropped him off at home and went to my own place.
I bawled my eyes out and I decided to tell Maya everything. We both got creeped out and I decided, after consulting my psychologist and psychiatrist, that it would be most beneficial for my own mental health to protect myself and so I blocked him on all platforms... I forgot telegram though so when he noticed, he begged me to explain to him why so I did and i told him I think he lied about his identity to which he said the classic "I can explain". I didn't want to hear anything anymore because I didn't feel safe to see him or talk to him even. I cut him off...
From that day on, I was terrified of leaving my house because he knew where I live and I didn't know what to expect anymore from someone who hid his identity from me and others. I was scared.
A year later, a friend of mine saw him on the streets. So he is very much alive and not dead by april. So he lied about the cancer too? I'm not so sure... I don't know...
I still feel like crap though for having "abandoned" a person who is in clear need of help... I just felt like I needed to protect myself...

Hello all. I am new to reddit. I am a 24 year old who has been on T (ftm) for about 2 years. I would have been content never having started T except I was unable to receive an insurance-covered double mastectomy if I wasn't on Testotserone for 1 year prior where I am and with my insurance. I have, thankfully, had said procedure and could not be happier. All of the changes have been WONDERFUL, however, I was almost killed by a complications exacerbated by testosterone. I had a terrible reaction to the second dose of the Pfizer Vaccine and had myocarditis. I was hospitalized for days and was in critical condition. I had the most medically horrifying experience of my life. I nearly died, had to have a cardiac catheter, had countless tests and machines and morphine and medications hooked up and in me for DAYS. I even internally bled during a procedure and had unbearable heart pain from the swelling heart walls and abdominal pain from the blood in my cavity. My doctor told me, a wonderful cardiologist who was immensely supportive, that the reason a lot of the myocarditis cases for the Pfizer Vaccine was in young boys was due to their hormone levels, as high T is directly correlated to viral induced mycocarditis (the kind of myocarditis associated with the bad reactions to the shot). As you can imagine, this was terrifying. I was in perfect shape, still am, athletic, lean, hike for hours on end, run, climb, jump, eat clean (I have celiac disease and cook all of my meals on my own with clean ingredients), haven't had blood pressure issues, haven't had any problems with, well, anything related to T until that point. I spend months in recovery, amd I had to be off of T for a few weeks about 2 months before I could start again as the T would (according to the cardiologist at the hospital) cause the inflammation again. I have since recovered but have to take it easy. I THANKFULLY can be athletic again but for safety reasons take it very lightly and listen to my body.
With all of that out of the way, I have had my mastectomy, I am comfortable in my appearance pre-T (I don't need comments telling me what to expect with appearance, as that isn't my concern).
My problem lies here: my ONLY concern is my long term health. If in only 2 years I've nearly kissed death (granted a freak occasion, but not one I am happy with), I am uncomfortable continuing this treatment. It is not meant for me anymore and that's fine. That said, when I bring this up with my endo, he keeps telling me if I'm on T forever I will be fine-- which... isn't what I ask him. When I ask about weaning off he does not know what to do, amd just dances around it and instead insists I will be on T for life. He seems to not listen to me, and I am about to move states. I'm going to be over 800 miles away from the practice come August. I want to stop T but he won't tell me ways to wean. I have a final appointment with him end of July, but until I find another endocrinologist in my new state that might take months...
I was wondering what medical research or anecdotal experiences anyone else has had stopping T, how you did so SAFELY, how long it took, and how your health is now. Any help would be immensely appreciated, thank you in advance for anything in response. I greatly value the time in reading this. Thank you.
Edit: I do weekly sub-c injections. Has 2 years been long enough to damage the ovaries? I fear boneloss.

Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information, or go online at vax.rchd.com.
The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free vaccines for COVID-19 and more at the following locations:
Saturday, June 3, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. - MLK Middle School’s Health & Literacy Fair, 1000 Mosby St., vaccines for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDAP), Meningitis and HPV. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.
Wednesday, June 7, 2 to 4 p.m. - Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, Bivalent Moderna boosters for ages 6 and older, Bivalent Pfizer boosters for ages 5 and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older, JYNNEOS shots and Moderna/Pfizer baby bivalent boosters. Walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.
People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh.virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682).
VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.
People who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received.
RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 205-3501 to schedule appointments.

This is very long- so thank you to anyone who takes the time to actually read it all.
Currently, my husband and I are living with his parents with our 3 children. My MIL is from hell and has been abusive the entire time we have been living with them. I work in healthcare- my husband works from home. I can’t obtain a full time job where we live because I won’t get the covid booster shot. I have already gotten both doses of the Moderna, but had a serious reaction to it and my doctor refuses to allow me to get another shot. I have had my doctor write letters and I have submitted medical exemption requests to the occupational health and HR departments of 3 hospital systems in the state and they have all denied me employment. Because it is a state regulated mandate, private organizations have the right to either terminate employees or deny medical/religious exemptions if they choose to do so. I have consulted with an attorney and my lawyer said that I can sue these companies but it’s not going to help me get a full time job out of them once I slap them with a lawsuit.
So it leaves me unable to work. I have been offered jobs in other states where this requirement no longer exists. After a long period of time, I have finally found a way to come to terms with the fact that I am going to need to move away. That’s fine - but here is the problem.
I have been sucking it up and living with an abusive person and literally tortured my life for MONTHS. It got so bad that my one child threatened to commit suicide and is now in intensive treatment/therapy. Before you say anything about me keeping him in this environment, there is a reason for my madness. Living with them has finally offered me the ability to save $ for the first time in my life with 3 children. Since I have only been able to rent in my life, I finally have enough $ to afford a down payment to buy my children their own house. We have lived in 10 different houses over the course of the past 12 years of our marriage, due to always being kicked out of our rental. It was never our doing (we always paid our rent on time). It was always either the owner wanting to occupy the house again or then wanting to sell it. That is why we have been living with my in-laws, to begin with. We got kicked out of our previous house due to the owner wanting to sell it. Ofcourse, again. My kids need a stable home, and so do I. I just can’t live like this anymore. I want him to have some level of stability and not be told that they haveto go to a new school again because we have to move. AGAIN.
I have been looking for houses with my husband in this new state so that I can start one of the job offers and the deadline is quickly approaching. We have put in many offers on houses and haven’t won a single one.I have started searching for a rental, but I have a big issue with this. Let me try to explain it in a way that others can understand…
I have put up with the torture of an abusive individual for nearly a year just to save money to provide my children with stability. Every single time we have gotten a rental, they require close to $10,000 for the deposit, and we never get all of it back when we have to move out. These scum bag landlords find “reasons” to always keep the $ and not haveto return the security deposit. Out of the 9 houses we have rented, we only got a partial refund of our security deposit from one of them, and that was only because we took the dude to court and we won! We didn’t have the $ or the time to sue each of them, one by one. But the last one, we did actually follow through with and we won the case.
Being that I have put up with so much agony just to save this little bit of $, I am extremely overprotective of it and I don’t want to let it go so easily. I saved all of this $ on my own by going to work while living here, before the booster shot became a mandatory requirement and just kept working to put it away. That is how we are now affording housing. I know that it’s not a lot of $, but I worked REALLY hard for it and I am proud of myself for enduring such a horrible living situation but doing it for the best interests of my children.
So now I need advice on what to do. I really don’t want to turn this $ over to some landlord and never see that $ again. But, we haven’t won any of the offers on the houses we have found. How can I keep this job offer and start the job in the other state without having to spend every single penny I have saved and blow it on a rental? It doesn’t help that my husband has been super picky about the house as well and won’t budge on many of the ones I have found that were decent. Would you suggest that I consider the other job offers in other areas that might possibly have better housing options available? Would you give up on this particular job offer (the one that I really want to do the most) and look for housing near the others? It’s not like I don’t have other job offers available. I do. It’s just that this particular one is giving me a really good sign-on bonus ($40k) that I intended to use for future investments. I have to commit to working there for 2 full years to receive all of the funds as they are broken up into payments. The other two job offers are giving me $15k and $5k, respectfully. These are commitment bonuses to retain medical staff in facilities. The offer for the $5k one really won’t be much after taxes, so it’s not going to help much towards savings. The $15k one is in a state that I am not too keen on living in because there is literally that one hospital and then no others in the surrounding areas. So I feel it limits my options should I not really like that facility too much. I’ll kinda be stuck there with no alternatives and I won’t be able to move again.
I guess what I am trying to figure out is do I need to give up this offer and consider other ones because I can’t find housing? Or should I find a way to accept that I need to get a rental and be “OK” with giving over all of the $ I have struggled so hard to save? I just know my luck and I never get any of it back. I also don’t want to go through moving again. I want my kids to finally have a permanent home that they can count on me to keep them in and finally have us all, as a family, feel safe and happy.
Thank you to anyone who has read this. It really means a lot and I appreciate the help. Thank you so much!

This is very long- so thank you to anyone who takes the time to actually read it all.
Currently, my husband and I are living with his parents with our 3 children. My MIL is from hell and has been abusive the entire time we have been living with them. I work in healthcare- my husband works from home. I can’t obtain a full time job where we live because I won’t get the covid booster shot. I have already gotten both doses of the Moderna, but had a serious reaction to it and my doctor refuses to allow me to get another shot. I have had my doctor write letters and I have submitted medical exemption requests to the occupational health and HR departments of 3 hospital systems in the state and they have all denied me employment. Because it is a state regulated mandate, private organizations have the right to either terminate employees or deny medical/religious exemptions if they choose to do so. I have consulted with an attorney and my lawyer said that I can sue these companies but it’s not going to help me get a full time job out of them once I slap them with a lawsuit.
So it leaves me unable to work. I have been offered jobs in other states where this requirement no longer exists. After a long period of time, I have finally found a way to come to terms with the fact that I am going to need to move away. That’s fine - but here is the problem.
I have been sucking it up and living with an abusive person and literally tortured my life for MONTHS. It got so bad that my one child threatened to commit suicide and is now in intensive treatment/therapy. Before you say anything about me keeping him in this environment, there is a reason for my madness. Living with them has finally offered me the ability to save $ for the first time in my life with 3 children. Since I have only been able to rent in my life, I finally have enough $ to afford a down payment to buy my children their own house. We have lived in 10 different houses over the course of the past 12 years of our marriage, due to always being kicked out of our rental. It was never our doing (we always paid our rent on time). It was always either the owner wanting to occupy the house again or then wanting to sell it. That is why we have been living with my in-laws, to begin with. We got kicked out of our previous house due to the owner wanting to sell it. Ofcourse, again. My kids need a stable home, and so do I. I just can’t live like this anymore. I want him to have some level of stability and not be told that they haveto go to a new school again because we have to move. AGAIN.
I have been looking for houses with my husband in this new state so that I can start one of the job offers and the deadline is quickly approaching. We have put in many offers on houses and haven’t won a single one.I have started searching for a rental, but I have a big issue with this. Let me try to explain it in a way that others can understand…
I have put up with the torture of an abusive individual for nearly a year just to save money to provide my children with stability. Every single time we have gotten a rental, they require close to $10,000 for the deposit, and we never get all of it back when we have to move out. These scum bag landlords find “reasons” to always keep the $ and not haveto return the security deposit. Out of the 9 houses we have rented, we only got a partial refund of our security deposit from one of them, and that was only because we took the dude to court and we won! We didn’t have the $ or the time to sue each of them, one by one. But the last one, we did actually follow through with and we won the case.
Being that I have put up with so much agony just to save this little bit of $, I am extremely overprotective of it and I don’t want to let it go so easily. I saved all of this $ on my own by going to work while living here, before the booster shot became a mandatory requirement and just kept working to put it away. That is how we are now affording housing. I know that it’s not a lot of $, but I worked REALLY hard for it and I am proud of myself for enduring such a horrible living situation but doing it for the best interests of my children.
So now I need advice on what to do. I really don’t want to turn this $ over to some landlord and never see that $ again. But, we haven’t won any of the offers on the houses we have found. How can I keep this job offer and start the job in the other state without having to spend every single penny I have saved and blow it on a rental? It doesn’t help that my husband has been super picky about the house as well and won’t budge on many of the ones I have found that were decent. Would you suggest that I consider the other job offers in other areas that might possibly have better housing options available? Would you give up on this particular job offer (the one that I really want to do the most) and look for housing near the others? It’s not like I don’t have other job offers available. I do. It’s just that this particular one is giving me a really good sign-on bonus ($40k) that I intended to use for future investments. I have to commit to working there for 2 full years to receive all of the funds as they are broken up into payments. The other two job offers are giving me $15k and $5k, respectfully. These are commitment bonuses to retain medical staff in facilities. The offer for the $5k one really won’t be much after taxes, so it’s not going to help much towards savings. The $15k one is in a state that I am not too keen on living in because there is literally that one hospital and then no others in the surrounding areas. So I feel it limits my options should I not really like that facility too much. I’ll kinda be stuck there with no alternatives and I won’t be able to move again.
I guess what I am trying to figure out is do I need to give up this offer and consider other ones because I can’t find housing? Or should I find a way to accept that I need to get a rental and be “OK” with giving over all of the $ I have struggled so hard to save? I just know my luck and I never get any of it back. I also don’t want to go through moving again. I want my kids to finally have a permanent home that they can count on me to keep them in and finally have us all, as a family, feel safe and happy.
Thank you to anyone who has read this. It really means a lot and I appreciate the help. Thank you so much!

It’s the little things of that sort that made life on Earth…life. I swear, if I weren’t keeping my journal of observations, I would completely forget that I was still enrolled in a doctoral program gaining what might potentially be one of the most important degrees in the galaxy.
I’d very much… what the humans say ‘gone native’. Which is the whole point of studying like this, to immerse yourself in a people and learn to appreciate their ways on their terms.
I just never expected when I began that it would be… something more, something so much more, to me or to so many others. But now here I was… and before I go into the days after Michael’s return, I hope you’ll forgive me for a little self indulgence… trust me, it will make the near future far clearer.
By this point, even though I’d only been on Earth for about ten percent of my intended time, by now my degree was going to be a given. I could have returned to University now, with just the work I’d done thus far, presented my findings, and gotten my degree to become ‘Doctor Bailey Walker’ and been done with it… if the rules allowed for that kind of thing.
Because I’d gotten into the various…shenanigans, that I did, because I’d been so heavily involved in so many important events in one way or another from the day of the battle of Waterland Park…as it was so ridiculously and melodramatically called to this day, (much to both my and Fauve’s annoyance), all the way up to the present, I was in a unique position.
I had ties to the highest levels of both governments through two ambassadors, and ties to the leaders of commerce and industry thanks to controlling one of the largest gambling and sporting enterprises on the planet…both of which by dint of my ties to xenomedia expansion in the Barnum Cooperative, meant I was building ties to other planetary governments.
In short… If I didn’t know the right person, I probably lived with one who did. William’s control over my space station project and the display of human engineering was drawing attention from potential allied worlds, while the Methuselah Initiative his wife was a leading researcher for was drawing global attention as the first gentle strides proceeded.
Incidentally… My big sister was on excellent terms with Rebecca Walker and had put her in touch with the D.S.A. the Dlamias Science Academy, where our finest genetic researchers worked… given that Bau was nominally a fugitive, I can only imagine she did this surreptitiously. But once the chain was forged, further cooperation was inevitable.
My people seem to be unable to help ourselves when it comes to humans, if we’re not man’s best friend five years from now, I’ll eat my hat. And if I do not have a hat, first I will buy one, then I will eat it.
All that is to say in long form that, out of all the students on Earth, and out of all the Dlamisa who were now visiting or residing on Earth, out of all the other aliens who were expressing interest in the rising power…I had stumbled my way into being the best known, best positioned, the absolute wealthiest, and the most intimately connected with all the right people.
So… with all that out of the way, let me continue.
Weeks came and weeks went, and I? I enjoyed them. William and Rebecca returned from their work, the Methuselah Initiative continued to progress and the space station continued to expand while the first vessels were built.
Fauve returned from her trip to Japan and we were up late enjoying coffee while the rest of the house slept.
I’d been apart from my human for longer than usual, but we slipped back into our routine without missing a beat.
It was rich, strong stuff that we drank, something she brought with her from her trip. The light was dim and the house was silent save for the little sizzle of coffee dripping down for our inevitable refills. We still had a relatively modest, ‘middle class’ home. Strange for me to say it that way, since I was saying ‘we’. But they were family, now, and it felt right even if legally I owned none of it.
Some have remarked that it was strange that Fauve still hadn’t moved out, when it was not uncommon for humans to leave their homes as they enter adulthood. But the reality is simple, departure is typically undertaken because of stress, a clash between the adult parent and the adult child and the former wanting to continue to rule the latter, while the latter wants to do things their own way.
But that contesting dynamic did not exist between the Walkers. William and Rebecca didn’t press their daughter to let them control anything, they would offer advice, and she did pay a little ‘rent’ to contribute to household expenses. A nominal sum that was more a symbol of independence than anything else. But she otherwise controlled everything about her own life. As they loved and cared for one another and considered their family to be a singular unit, a ‘team’ such as it were, they saw no need to separate themselves.
I like to think she also didn’t want to move since she’d miss me and I was more or less obligated to maintain a single residence for the next fifty years… but that’s just speculation on my part.
Regardless, here she was and so was I, and we could enjoy the comfort of one another’s presence. We simply sipped our first cups, and savored the moment. And for the first half of the cup, we were silent, just enjoying each moment in our amiable existence.
That was our custom, to just enjoy presence for a little while, it was a chance to gather our thoughts and consider what, if anything, there was to say.
Sometimes there wasn’t, we’d just sit in quiet company until our cups were empty, content that nothing need be said and mutual presence was enough.
It’s funny how much humans can say while saying nothing at all. In a very real way, they may be the most competent communicators in the galaxy.
But… tonight would not be a silent night.
When the coffee maker clicked off on the dim light of the kitchen, Fauve chose to speak. “So I got an offer for a diplomatic job.” She said it as if she were mentioning it might rain… this human of mine is the most unflappable person I’ve ever met…I swear.
My tail started to wag and I took a quick sip before saying, “Tell me about it.” She launched into a full story of touring Japan, first, which was to be expected, and I thoroughly enjoyed the recounting before she got to the part I asked about.
“You know how I’ve been handling all these media deals… and… remember how we spent that year on The Red Spark, during the Silent Civil War?” She asked.
I looked down my snout at her. “Tell me that’s rhetorical.”
She cracked a smile, “Well, one of the guys I used to eat lunch with was appointed to the Department of Interplanetary Relations. He was in New Kyoto for a conference on Interplanetary Tech… forget that, it’s boring,” she waved a dismissive hand and went on, “Anyway we were at the same hotel on the day I closed a deal for distributing your league broadcasts…” she paused and tilted her head, “Did you know that the Leonids have a reputation for stubbornness?” She asked.
I nodded. “Worse than ours.” I agreed, and it was no exaggeration. On Dlamias we said that you could convince a mountain to move before you could convince a Leonid to do so.
“They’re not so bad, I just had to keep reframing things until I found what worked, but we got a deal. So I told Marcus about it, and he said he needed someone like me on his team.” She should have smiled, but she didn’t.
“What?” I asked.
“Bailey, listen…”. Fauve’s voice became grave, “Marcus had a few more than he meant to and he let something slip… the Praeda species are a lot more afraid than anyone thinks. If what he told me is true, media relations will be the least of my concerns… a real war is a very clear possibility.”
“Shouldn’t you have led with that?” It was a stupid thing to ask, but still…
She sat up straight, “It wouldn’t be more or less likely, based on where I put it in conversation, and this way you heard good things first. if I waited, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy those properly.”
It was as absurd as it was practical.
“So then the job is…?” I prompted.
“There’s going to be an attempt at diplomacy first. The Rogue World is a long way off, and everybody is going to start gearing up for war, but in that span of time we have a shot at deescalation.” She looked at me for a very long moment.
“I’ll talk to my world’s ambassador. He won’t be happy that word slipped out, even to a reliable resource. Maybe we can create a joint envoy?” It was a tentative thought. More likely it would set the Rapax class species on edge if it looked like we were negotiating a separate peace…
I could see the wheels spinning in her mind when she said… “Maybe suggest we think bigger… anyone left out might feel like a target.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I’ll reach out to him in the morning. In the meantime… one more cup?” I asked.
She handed me hers as I stood, “Yes, please.”

i’ve posted my experience on here a couple times. long story short when i was getting it done they had lied to me and over multiple things saying the shot wouldn’t hurt and the whole process would go by quick. i had told them i’m prone to fainting and vomiting when i got shots and see blood. but they didn’t believe me and treated me like any other patient. then acted all surprised when i did exactly what i told them would happen. it was honestly a pretty traumatic experience. if u want the whole story go to my page.
anywayyyyy today is the day i get it removed and i’m so scared. after what happened getting it in i’m just scared they are going to lie to me again and hurt me. i have been prescribed valium to help with my anxiety over it. but i’m still so so nervous. can y’all ladies let me know how y’all’s removal story went to call me down a bet. my appointment is at 10:30 and it has just turned 9:00. thank you.