I joined an accelerated nursing program last month and for the first few weeks I’ve been okay, I’ve been on top of my work but now I am at the end of the first month and I have had 2 anxiety attacks today and cried 3 times. I don’t want to drop out but I’m losing my fucking mind. I live alone and pay all my bills myself, so it’s not like I can just quit my job and focus primarily on school. This “time management is key” is bullshit. All I ever do is homework, class, and school. If I decide to give myself a mental break for one day I have multiple assignments I’m behind on, and end up staying up an entire day to get them done. How do they expect us to manage 28 assignments a week, work, and maintain other obligations? I don’t know if that’s normal for nursing school but in my school every week I am usually assigned 28-32 assignments a week. I’m so overwhelmed! I started my homework once I got home from class and I feel like I’m not even taking information in anymore I just look at the screen and cry. It’s only the first month and I feel so weak, I don’t want to drop out I do want to get through this but I’m already mentally breaking at month one. It’s physically taking a toll on me too. I don’t eat much anymore because I don’t have time, I’ve lost 7 pounds in only a month. I can’t take it anymore please help me this is horrible there has to be a more reasonable way to get a BSN.

Going to share my experience with you all as I have found reading in this community so useful throughout the anticipation of my own MA.
I found out I was pregnant around 10 days ago (21/5) and me and my partner both immediately agreed that we would not like to proceed with the pregnancy. I phoned around the usual UK services (BPAS/NUPAS/MSI) but eventually self referred to a local hospital.
I have felt like absolute garbage while knowing I was pregnant. The headaches, breast tenderness, constant nausea, chills, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, aversions to smells etc has been awful - some of these could also be signs of my anxiety I guess.
I went to my appointment on 31/5 and had a failed stomach ultrasound so had to have an internal ultrasound which revealed I was 5 weeks and 5 days pregnant.
I had to take the first medication (mife) while sat in the nurses office - she was lovely and very reassuring to me. I was fine after taking the mife and drove myself home around 45 minutes. My nausea actually went away after taking the mife for a short while.
Timeline of Meds 3:30pm - Took mife in nurses office 4:00pm - Drove myself home 6:00pm - Nausea comes back 7:30am - I wake up with morning sickness (as I had been doing previously anyway) 8:30am - I throw up
I am taking my miso at 2pm so will update here my experience as I take the medication - I am scared!

10 years ago, I was severely beaten and choked until I was unconscious by my boyfriend. When I gained consciousness, I made it to the hospital and learned he had broken two of my fingers. I was devastated. I thought about suicide. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I felt sorry for him.
I kept saying, I must have done something horrible for him to beat me. In reality, I just told him, I wanted to break up.
While I was in the hospital, several detectives came back to discuss pressing charges. I pressed charges and he was arrested immediately. His family reached out to me and asked for me to drop the charges. They were so kind and loving.
I came to court and told the judge, I wanted to drop the charge. She initially refused saying- he choked me until I passed out and he only stopped because he thought I was dead. I still dropped the charges. Immediately afterwards, his family called me a slut who had ruined his life.
My family didn’t support me. They said I should just forget it. I couldn’t just forget. After my cast was off, I had to go to physical therapy to learn to use my hand and write again. I tried to block the incident and the person out of my mind. I moved to another state. I was fine or I thought.
Several weeks ago, my father died and I returned to my home state. I am outside of the funeral home and the person walks over to me. He says, “ I am here, if you need me.” I have never been so scared in my life. When my family goes to the repast, he is there. He is constantly talking and walking near me. I am so afraid that I can’t talk.
Last week, I saw him at a party. I could feel him watching me but I figured because there were so many people that he wouldn’t talk to me again. When he is super drunk, he comes over to me and says, “ the reason why we got into it was you would never listen, 10 years ago. We need to talk.”
I leave with him. I honestly thought maybe he would apologize or express remorse. I always fantasized that he would give some grand apology and grand gesture of love and I could forgive him.
He tells me I am a slut who made up lies that ruined his life. He says he never hurt me or broke my fingers or choked me. When I tried to say something, he said “ shut up” and I did. He says, “ tell me what I did to you” but I couldn’t say anything.
I hated myself for what I said next - I wish we could be friends. I wish you could forgive me.
He says, “ I have to tell everyone I lied about him attacking me. He says I have to write a letter saying he never did anything to me. I said no. He says, “ I have given women black eyes but I never blacked your eye. I didn’t hurt you and you know it.”
Now, a week later, I am struggling. I know he did abuse me but I don’t know. I think I am crazy. I am starting to question what happened to me. I know my fingers were broken. I am losing my grip on the reality of what happened to me.
I went to Domestic Violence court to read my case file. The file was gone because he was able to get it expunged years ago. I don’t know what to do. I thought I had forgiven him but I hate him. I hate he was able to get the case file deleted. I hate he is now a rich, powerful, successful person while I am stuck with a crippled hand.

We are all working a seasonal job right now. That means our company houses us for free but it also means the roommate situations are pretty crowded/less than ideal. My boyfriend of 10 months and I came here together and share a room in a house with four other women and two other men.
Our house is pretty close. We all hang out almost every day and talk regularly. Because we live in such a small space and share bathrooms, kitchen etc. it’s impossible to avoid each other and any kind of conflict would make a big wave in the entire house.
One of my roommates is really starting to bother me. I noticed twice in the past week that when she would say hello/goodbye to my boyfriend and I at parties, she would hug him for a long time and literally hold onto his fingers…and then just give me a peace sign or wave. Which is odd because she’s just as close with me as she is my boyfriend (which, in the grand scheme of things, is not very). I shrugged it off because I trust my boyfriend and maybe it’s just a coincidence.
Tonight enraged me though. It was my birthday and we were having a party at our house. The party was winding down and while almost everyone was outside me, my boyfriend, and my other roommate [20F] were sitting in the kitchen and he was eating spaghetti I heated up for him.
The roommate in question pranced in and literally put her face in my boyfriends and at the spaghetti off of his fork as he was holding it up to eat. Like made him feed her. The other three of us laughed uncomfortably and I didn’t say anything because I was just shocked. She walked away and then maybe two minutes later came back and DID IT AGAIN. This time my other roommate gave me a look of WTF and my boyfriend was clearly uncomfortable. Then she made some weird joke about how our younger roommate thought my boyfriend was hot and she also got visibly uncomfortable and even told her to stop. I just got up and went to our room at that point as we were about to go to bed anyway…and I was really upset she pulled that and especially at MY birthday party.
My boyfriend followed me after a minute or two and he was extremely uncomfortable with how touchy and borderline flirtatious she has been with him. I am uncomfortable at this point as well. I know he would shut her down should she try to go any further but he doesn’t deserve to feel uncomfortable in his own home.
He wants to say something to her but he can tend to be a bit abrasive, I want to say something but I don’t want to come off as just an insecure girlfriend so I think that he should.
Should one or both of us say something? And how to say it without causing conflict and ruining the house dynamic?
Tl;dr: Roommate is getting touchy with my bf and it’s making him and I uncomfortable. Not sure how to bring it up without causing drama.

Does anyone have any recommendations for some extra side money as an RN?
I started working bedside as a new grad RN Jan 2023 & while I’m making more than I was before nursing, I’m not making as much as I would like. I feel like after taxes & bills I’m not left with very much “fun” or spending money and I am hoping for an extra line of income.
Background: I’m an new grad with 4 months on MedSurg, I have my BSN & I live in MN. My current position is .75FTE or 60hours/2 weeks. I already work nights so I have that differential. My monthly take home base pay after taxes/ins/401k is around $2,500. After paying back my student loans, bills & necessities each month there’s not much left for me to save or spend on things that actually make me happy.
I pick up in my current position a lot, probably 12-24 hours per week but I don’t think it’s sustainable. I already feel like I’m burning out from being there too much & always working with the same people.

Hey everyone so here’s the just of it:
I dated a girl in college (about 3 1/2 years ago) and we broke up after a year and a half of dating. We broke up because I essentially thought wanted to join the military and that wasn’t the life she wanted, so we broke up. The break up wrecked me as I love this girl.
Fast forward I never joined the military. She moved back home about 3 hours away. We haven’t spoken since the break up. But I have some friends that live in the same town as her. Anytime she sees them, they tell me she asks about me. She has a stable job as a nurse and I have a good job that I love. However, I think I’d be willing to move and get a new job if that’s what I would take to be with her.
Long story short, I love this girl. Truly the kinda girl I could see myself growing old with. I think I was just young and stupid and didn’t know what I wanted in life when we broke up. I didn’t know what I had when we broke up. She’s amazing, intelligent, and funny. The thought of her marrying someone else is hard for me to think about.
I know what I want in life now that I’ve gotten a little more mature. I’d like to have a family and grow old with someone I love.
My question is: Do I try to contact her again and see if it’s something we can make work? I’ve been thinking for about a year what I would want to tell her. I’m so scared to pull the trigger though, and I’m not sure why.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and any advice would help.

Ah, Eurovision season. The time of hype, music, unity – and a shit ton of drama. This year’s winner is maybe one of the most controversial we’ve ever had, and that’s saying something considering we've had broadcasters straight up end a broadcast because they didn't like the winner (don't ask).
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from the basics:

What is Eurovision?

Eurovision (or ESC) is an annual song contest originating from Europe, organized the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It’s been held without fail since 1951 aside from 2020, when it was cancelled for truly mysterious reasons. (COVID, guys, it was COVID). Originally incorporating only European countries, the contest has grown in its scope since its early days, nowadays having almost 40 countries participating (including some decisively non-European countries like Israel and Australia) and reaching a viewership of 150+ million, making it measure up to live events the likes of Super Bowl.
The concept of the competition is simple: each country sends one original song to compete. Aside from the biggest sponsors of the contest (UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France) and the winner of the previous year (Ukraine in ESC 2023) each entry participates in a semi-final, from which 20 countries are selected to advance to the final via voting. The winner of the competition is the act that gets the most votes in the final, who then gets the right to host next year’s contest and enjoy the tourism money. This year, UK took over the hosting duties from Ukraine for reasons (the war, guys, it was the war).
The voting system is important to understand for context: each country gives two sets of points, both equal in value and weight. Points are given to the top 10 entries, 10th getting 1 point, 9th two points and so on. Third place gets 8 points, second place gets 10 points and first place gets 12 points to make the top two positions more valuable. The two sets of votes come from professional juries and the televote. Countries can’t vote for their own entry, naturally.
Juries are 4-5 member teams consisting of music professionals (artists, producers, managers, vocal coaches, music reporters, radio DJs, choreographers etc.) who appraise each entry based on the following criteria:

• Composition and originality of the song
• Performance on stage
• Vocal capacity of artist(s)
• Overall impression of the act

Televotes are collected by having viewers vote via the official Eurovision app, or by calling/texting. A person/device can give a maximum of 20 votes and each vote costs money, the amount depending on each individual country, but it usually hovers somewhere around 1€/vote. Yes, I blew 20€ on the grand final. Yes, I blew another 20€ on the semifinal I was allowed to vote in (there are two semifinals and you can only vote in the semi your country’s in).
This year's Grand Final was held on May 13, but things start happening way before that. Each Eurovision season typically starts with countries selecting their representatives. Some use internal selection (as in, broadcasters decide who goes all by themselves) but most host national finals, competitions where the winner is granted the golden ticket to Eurovision. These national finals are keenly followed by eurofans (passionate fans of Eurovision).

Ready Player One: UMK 2023 and the Launch of the Dark Horse

In January 2023, UMK, the Finnish national final for Eurovision, started revealing its finalists. Seven finalists were announced, and their songs were released one by one on a once-a-day schedule. Finland’s journey in Eurovision has historically been poor, having only managed to secure one win (granted, there are many who have never won) and often finishing on the back end of the results.
Since 2020, however, UMK went under new management and did what was pretty much a 180: in a few years, it became one of the highest quality national finals around, and because of that, many eyes were on Finland when UMK started. The overall quality of songs in 2023 was very good, but one emerged as a clear frontrunner.
Käärijä, a Finnish rapper who was virtually unknown even in his home country, entered the competition, as the kids say, guns ablaze and mad as hell. His song Cha Cha Cha, a rap/metal/techno fusion song that does a complete tonal and genre shift halfway through, immediately became the fan favourite to win. When the time came, Käärijä absolutely landslided the national final, getting more points than the three runners up put together.
Hopeful buzz started amongst the eurofans; would this finally be Finland’s time after seventeen years (Finland’s last and only win was in 2006)? Finland is by means not the most beloved country in Eurovision, but many see it as an underdog that’s finally catching up to speed. Many wanted it to do well. Some were cautiously optimistic.
That was, until Sweden entered the competition, as the kids say, guns ablaze and mad as hell.

Ready Player Two: Melodifestivalen 2023 and the Awakening of the Sleeping Giant

Sweden, by all possible metrics, is one of, if not THE most successful country in Eurovision history. Before 2023, they’ve raked in a massive six wins (second only to Ireland who has seven), two of which during the last 11 years alone and the last one as recently as 2015. Additionally, on years they don’t win, they place in the top 10 almost without fail. They have only failed to qualify from the semifinals once, and it was largely seen as a national disgrace.
Sweden takes Eurovision VERY seriously, and it shows in their results. Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s national selection, started gathering curious eyes even before it started, because rumours were murmuring of someone very remarkable returning on stage. These rumours turned out to be true.
It’s hard to overstate how iconic Loreen is to the Eurovision community. She won the competition back in 2012, with a song that’s widely regarded as the best winning song of all time. She’s beloved and for a good reason. Known as a passionate, skilful vocalist and a world-class performer, the moment her participation was confirmed, many considered Melodifestivalen 2023 a done deal.
It must be mentioned that Loreen did attempt to return to Eurovision once between her win in 2012 and entry in 2023, but failed to win Melodifestivalen. However, this year’s entry was not here to play. She entered with Tattoo, a pop epic crafted by some of the best songwriters Sweden has to offer, with a staging so impeccable it could pass for a music video.
Critics and audience alike were raving. She was back, more powerful than ever. Expectedly, she won Melodifestivalen and earned her place in the line-up of 2023. In the community, the buzz was immediate, but not all of it was positive.

Sweden and Eurovision: A Turbulent Relationship

I think it’s fair to say that Sweden is, for the lack of a better term, suffering from success. Lately, there has been a somewhat anti-Sweden mentality brewing in the community, stemming from a few key criticisms Sweden regularly gets

• Genre loyalty: Swedish entries generally all fall under the umbrella of “radio friendly pop”. They’re well composed, well produced but seemingly leave the fandom cold. “Generic”, “soulless” and “safe” are terms often thrown at Swedish entries
• Jury bias: For a while now, Sweden has done better with juries than the televote, the difference once notoriously being as massive as 220 points, or 2nd place (jury) vs 22nd (out of a possible 26) (by the public). That being said, it’s disingenuous to say the televote hates Sweden as they regularly rank in the top 10, but it’s hard to deny that their point tally routinely consists of more jury than televote points
• Same songwriters: Melodifestivalen has been quite frequently criticized for having a large chunk of its songs written by the same core group of ten-ish people. In Sweden’s defence, a country of 10 million does not have that many active songwriters, but it’s hard to deny it’s a striking detail. For instance, in this year’s final, Melodifestivalen didn’t have a single entry that didn’t have at least two of these songwriters credited

This has led to things souring between Sweden and eurofans. To sum it up concisely: many eurofans feel like Sweden never takes risks, sends ungenuine lab-crafted jury baits and is always rewarded for it no matter what the viewers do because the juries always have Sweden's back. There's a lot of intricacies that go into this and there's nuance to this criticism, but for the sake of keeping things concise, I won't go into them now, all you need to know is that this is something that's going on.

“I love Loreen, but…”

Because of this sentiment, while Loreen undoubtedly had her fans, a sizeable section of the fandom started being critical of her. People started negging. Her song was called generic and soulless, the fact it was written by a huge group of the “regulars” in Melodifestivalen was brought up. People said it was too similar to her 2012 winning song, a 2.0 or carbon copy if you will.
As soon as Loreen was announced as the Swedish representative, the competition took on a narrative of its own. It was widely seen as a race between Finland and Sweden. While Loreen definitely had her fans, the overall mentality was leaning more towards Käärijä. He was seen as the underdog from the country that has a winning chance once every 20 years, if that, going up against the Eurovision powerhouse Sweden who wins so often the fandom is getting tired of it.
That’s not to say no other entries were ever in the talks: Spain’s artsy fusion flamenco song was seen as a potential jury darling. France’s sassy chanson was seen as a potential sleeper hit. Norway’s TikTok viral Viking techno banger was seen as a potential televote magnet. Ukraine was still a big unknown given that the previous year, they had received the largest televote tally in the history of the competition and many thought sympathy votes would keep pouring in this year as well. And then there’s whatever the fuck Croatia was doing (okay, they never had a chance of winning, I just wanted any excuse to subjugate people to this chaos).
But the overall sentiment was heavily leaning towards this being a neighbour war between Finland and Sweden. As the press and pre-parties (fan arranged concerts where artists are invited to perform to get their first interactions with the fandom) started, eyes were undeniably on Loreen and Käärijä.
During his Eurovision journey, Käärijä became somewhat of a crowd darling and went moderately viral on TikTok. A little guy with a bowl cut and a thick accent who had quickly gotten the reputation of being both funny and extremely friendly, coming to the competition with an out of the box and blatantly flamboyant genre fusion banger, walking around in a green bolero with no shirt. It's hard not to feel endeared. (Not that Loreen was unfriendly or anything, she’s perfectly nice by all accounts, but her off-stage personality wasn’t as much of a focal point as it was for Käärijä who became so beloved he was locked in as an icon even before the competition began).
Finns, they, well… Rallied behind Käärijä like crazy. Their government officials sent tweets wishing him good luck. The state owned railway company dressed its statues as Käärijä. The Helsinki tram got a Käärijä makeover. Cha Cha Cha topped the Finnish charts for ages (and still does AFAIK). The Finnish press was going gaga, broadcasting how only Loreen stood in the way of Käärijä’s victory.

“Just Ignore Everyone”: The Main Event That Undeniably Shaved a Few Years Off Of Graham Norton’s Life Span

The main event came about at the Liverpool Arena. As expected, both Sweden and Finland qualified for the final (later revealed to have come second and first, respectively). As the grand final came about, what was supposed to be a fun event (ironically carrying the slogan “United by Music”) turned into a rather tense occasion. Sweden performed 9th whereas Finland performed 13th. Both of their performances went largely well.
During Finland’s performance, the crowd went so crazy some commentators even said the whole building was shaking. People shouted Cha Cha Cha at the top of their lungs. The audience was on his side. Not that Loreen’s performance was poorly received either, she clearly had a lot of friends at the arena, but Finland got the audience by the balls.
After all of the 26 acts were done performing, the time for vote announcements came. The structure of vote announcements goes as follows: first, each country gives their jury points one by one, their spokesperson saying out loud the country that got 12 points, the highest one possible. After that, the total televote points given by all countries are given to each act one by one starting from the country currently at the last position.
Very soon, it became obvious that the juries had taken an immense liking to Tattoo.
Loreen got 12 points after 12 points, and the atmosphere at the arena shifted. The audience got more and more agitated with each 12 points Sweden received, and cheered very loudly whenever Käärijä (who was expected to do significantly worse with the juries thanks to non-mainstream genre and his lesser singing abilities due to being a rapper first and foremost) got any points. It got to a point where they responded to Sweden getting 12 points by chanting Cha Cha Cha.
The hosts (Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham) were getting visibly uncomfortable and had to calm the crowd more than once. Hannah Waddingham eventually gave the exasperated yet iconic one-liner “just ignore everyone” when the chanting wouldn’t calm down. In the end, Sweden was comfortably in 1st place, having raked in a massive and historic 340 points, almost double that of the runner up Israel (who got 177 jury points). Finland ranked 4th with the juries with a total tally of 150, nearly 200 points behind Loreen.
Once the time for televotes came, everyone’s eyes were on Finland. Käärijä was expected to do well, but no one could quite gauge how well he’d do. Turns out, very well. He raked in a massive 376 televote points, getting the full marks from 18/37 countries and not placing lower than 5th with any country. To put it in perspective, this is the 2nd highest televote score ever (by percentage of available points), the highest being Ukraine from the year prior, and the circumstances were quite unprecedented.
By then, it was obvious the two-horse race had become true. Loreen would need 189 points (roughly the 3th-4th place in televotes) to secure her win, a tally that wasn’t a walk in the park, but was very doable with her popularity.
The following sequence is still very bizarre to me. Loreen’s points were announced. She got 243 points, making her the televote runner up. Which in turn meant Käärijä had lost to her by about 50 points despite outdoing her televote score by 133 points. As the winner was announced, Käärijä buried his head in his hands, clearly devastated. Loreen was immediately guided back on stage for her winner’s reprisal.
Footage from backstage shows many contestants beelining for Käärijä to comfort him. They’re seen hugging him, chanting Cha Cha Cha like he’s the actual winner and trying to cheer him up. All the while, Käärijä himself was obviously heartbroken. The crowd wasn’t happy, to a point where when Loreen accepted the trophy, she asked if anyone even wants her to perform again.
While Loreen’s fans were ecstatic to see her win and perform again, a portion of the audience reportedly walked out, disappointed. That was the end of the main competition. Sweden had won its 7th Eurovision trophy, catching up to Ireland for most wins ever. Loreen had become the second person (and first woman) in history to win twice.
The fandom, while disappointed, quickly got over themselves and accepted the outcome- yeah no one’s buying this lmfao. The dust was up in the air and wouldn’t settle for a good while.

Let the Shit Slinging Begin: Conspiracy Theories, Petitions and the Media Fight

The outcome received immediate backlash. Loreen’s winning performance and grand final performance were mass downvoted on YouTube. Loreen’s victory post on Eurovision currently has 0 upvotes and over 6500 comments. Social media posts by Eurovision about Loreen were spammed by people proclaiming Käärijä was the real winner. Some contestants (namely Slovenia, Estonia and Serbia) outright said Käärijä was their winner. Finland’s grand final performance views also surpassed that of Sweden’s.
There was a lot of shit slinging. Conspiracies started rearing their heads. Some were convinced Sweden had rigged the jury in order to host Eurovision on the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s victory (yes, ABBA is Swedish, yes, they won Eurovision with Waterloo, no there’s no proof of this conspiracy). A petition was started to remove the juries and it reached 60 000 signatures in two days. Loreen was accused of plagiarizing at least two different songs (not that I personally think the accusations have any merit, the melody line is just incredibly common). The Norwegian delegation outright said the juries should be overhauled (Norway got screwed over massively by the juries, being placed 17th, only to be pulled to the 5th overall position by the televote).
When detailed televote results came out, it turned out Sweden had not placed 1st in a single country. It also had less 2nd places than Finland, and its average position was 5th (which coincidentally was the lowest score Käärijä got in any country). People were pissed. Some proclaimed spending money on voting is a waste of time if the 2nd highest televote score in history isn’t enough to win because a group of 200 or so people said so.
People started going through the jury credentials, soon discovering that they were overwhelmingly pop professionals (55% to be exact) while rock pros were nowhere to be seen (they made up 3.8% of the jury to be exact). To be fair, people weren’t only pissed for Finland, they were pissed for other entries that seemingly ticked all the boxes for the juries just to get a minimal result because Sweden vacuumed all the points like it was time for spring cleaning. (I feel like I must mention that a lot of televote magnet entries also flopped hard because Finland suckled up most of the televote points leaving the rest to fight for scraps.)
With the televote results also came a peculiar detail that kicked the drama between Sweden and Finland to a whole new sphere. Turns out, every country gave Sweden televote points, except one. Yep, you guessed it. Finland blanked Sweden, while Sweden’s televote gave Finland the full 12 points. (Finnish and Swedish juries gave each other 12 points.)
This was seen as unsportsmanlike and the Swedish media latched onto it. Think pieces started coming out. One infamous Swedish Eurovision podcast episode hosted by a Swedish newspaper consisted mostly of ranting about how Finland is a "country of idiots", how it's impossible Finns could genuinely have thought 10 other songs were better than Tattoo and how it was a testament to their lack of taste that they voted for Germany and not Sweden (Germany came in last, Finland was one of the only countries to give them points. Germany sent a metal entry so I’m not sure why this was a surprise, Finns LOVE metal).
Swedish newspapers also widely reported that the Finnish Eurovision commentator had told Finns not to vote for Sweden, furthermore adding fuel to the fire. This seems to mostly be lost in translation/a cultural miscommunication, the commentator in question read a joke out loud from the stream chat that essentially said “you’re allowed to vote tactically but not for your own country”, joking about the general elections held in Finland just months prior, where a lot of people voted tactically for the largest left-wing party to prevent the large right-wing party from taking over. It didn’t work but "vote tactically" became a nation wide meme. Said commentator also simultaneously came under fire by Finns for stanning Loreen too much during his commentary. Man just can't win lmao
One Swedish newspaper article evoked strong backlash in Finland by referring to Finland as “östra rikshalvan” (“Eastern part of the Kingdom”, roughly translated) which was the term used for Finland when it still belonged to Sweden. Many Finns saw it as colonialist and like Sweden was implying they were entitled to their former vassal using their money to give them points. However, it’s difficult to deny this lack of points likely was tactical from Finland, given how they’ve given Sweden points every other year except this one. The Finnish media also did broadcast heavily that Loreen's win depends on the amount of televotes she gets compared to Käärijä, so it's not far-fetched at all that Finns were aware of it and voted for something else.
Finnish press wasn’t silent either. A widely publicized clip from a gossip radio show hosted by the teen targeted state-owned radio station Yle X3M heavily criticized Loreen’s entry, calling it “shit” and making a tasteless joke implying Loreen was on drugs the whole night thanks to her somewhat ethereal demeanour. One of the hosts also seemed convinced the results were rigged. Newspapers also eagerly reported about the plagiarism allegations against Tattoo, even if they never went as far as suggesting there’s any merit to them.
Perhaps the saddest part of this is the contestants themselves. Loreen and Käärijä both have consistently praised each other. They reportedly get along great and there are numerous clips of them hugging, laughing and joking around. Despite taking the loss heavily, Käärijä congratulated Loreen and emphasized he loves her and wishes her all the best from the very first interview he gave after his loss. (He did however say he feels like the jury system might need a reform.) Likewise, Loreen said in an interview that she wasn’t bothered by the crowd chanting Cha Cha Cha because she thinks Käärijä is awesome and authentic.
They’re still in contact and are planning to meet up for coffee when Loreen’s next in Helsinki. The abuse Loreen herself received reached downright disgusting proportions, crossing from general trashing to misogynistic and even racist territory (because of her Moroccan heritage). It got to a point where Käärijä had to address it on Finnish morning TV, emphasizing that the results are not her fault and that he feels horrible for her when people insult her because he knows her and knows she’s a lovely person. By all accounts, there’s no bad blood between them (or any contestants for that matter, this year was remarkably cordial).
So, where are we now? People have mostly calmed down (mostly) and accepted the results. Many still push for a jury reform, demanding larger juries with more diversity and knowledge of non-mainstream genres, a shift to a 60/40 voting split in favour of the televote, and many other things too numerous to list here. EBU has not addressed the controversy in any shape or form (and they likely won't), and we’ll likely have to wait until next year to find out if the jury system will be overhauled. Loreen and Käärijä fans are still bickering amongst each other but the general public seems to have moved on.
Here’s to hoping Käärijä’s invited to perform at Eurovision 2024 as an interval act and regardless of jury reform (or lack thereof) people can bury this hatched and Nordic unity can blossom once again

I feel really tired and confused. It feels like my body is shutting down under stress but the craziest part of that is that I don’t really have anything to be stressed about in my life. I am stable enough financially right now, I have a caring partner and a caring family, I live in a beautiful place. I have so much to be grateful for and I am grateful everyday. But this past month has been hard. I came back to my hometown and it feels like I was hit with a bus full of trauma. I rekindled my relationship with my dad that was estranged and I have been navigating a complicated relationship with my mom as well since being home. My boyfriend is here with me and he has been supportive but also going through a lot of stress because we live across the world and it costs less money where we live than here in America, and he has not a lot of connections on the east coast so has been very lonely. Holding space for all of this has been really overwhelming for me, to the point where I have had two freelance illustration jobs I’ve had to pay others to pick up for me from upwork so I can get them in to the clients but I haven’t even gotten them in on time. I don’t know why it’s hitting me so hard that I feel immobile. But I feel like I’m under layers of sand and I feel like I don’t really have a support system right now. My mom was calling me a lot in February, because my stepdad was in and out of the hospital after two falls. After the falls he wasn’t acting like himself and my mom switched from being a girlfriend to being a caregiver. I thought things were in a state of emergency but when we got here is seemed to calm down.
When we first got here we spent time with my dad and we’re recovering from the flight and my mom starts to call me upset that I’ve spent so much time at my dads house, I try to schedule some plans with her about spending time at her house and she invited me to a gallery opening. Before the opening she called me and said we are ready to pick you up now and I said I wasn’t ready and asked where it was so I could get a separate ride and then she got really angry at me saying I don’t care about her at all and that I don’t care about spending time with her. It really hurt because I came across the world for her. and echoed a lot of other times in my life hen she had said worse. From this point on in the trip our relationship frayed. I put up boundaries but also started losing sleep over some guilt for not being there for her.
After this my dad had a concert and while I was listening to his band play I started to feel really negative about how I felt my relationship with my dad had been estranged by my mom. Then I ran into my school nurse from high school who used to listen to me talk and let me sleep through classes when my parents were getting divorced and who was nice to me when I was sexually assaulted at my highschool. I saw the history teacher I told about the sexual assault in the grocery store.
On top of this I have been also feeling like I am the more emotionally stable one in my relationship, (I have anxiety like crazy but otherwise I’m pretty solid) and so I haven’t been able to occupy the space of calm I normally do or hold space in my relationship the right way it seems lately. My partner has been getting extremely stressed out over small things and having strong reactions , I don’t have the capacity for a lot right now for some reason so I’ve just been doing all I can.
On top of this I feel like I have been really flaky with my mom and it’s hurting her I haven’t been very even or showing up on time and I feel immense guilt
I miss my routines I miss my cat I want to understand what’s going on with me and I want to believe I am not just irresponsible jerk but I just don’t know how to unpack right now or how to start.
Throughly inundated, Thank you for reading

So I adopted a rescue kitten from a litter when he was 12weeks, desexed, and now in the past few days (13-14weeks) he has started to nurse on his own tummy.
this wasn't a behaviour when we first adopted him. he was incredibly comfortable in our home right off the bat - slept in our laps, didn't hide at all and slept with us all night etc.. super confident and loving, lets us pat his tummy etc. he only showed nursing behaviour on his first morning, as he was cuddled right up to my chest and started kneading on me.. but that was it
nothing has changed in this time except for that when he gets super cuddly and cozy with us, he has started to curl up and suck on his own stomach + kneading. no attempt to stop him succeeds- he simply pushes his head back through your hand etc. he doesnt get aggressive and just purrs super loud and keeps going no matter what you do to try and stop him as if hes magnetically attached to his own tummy, or in some weird trance.
I read something that this can become obsessive compulsive and im concerned about him getting rashes on his stomach as he does this for 20-30 minutes and his stomach is soaked afterwards.
however I have since read that its totally fine and normal?
just want to check and see if anyone here has had any experience like this because im glad the kitty sees me enough as "mum" to want to nurse but i dont want him hurting himself.
kitty pic bc i love him :((

Many people are not aware that humidity can have a profound effect on the tuning and performance of your piano. Humidity is a measure of how much water vapor is in the air, relative to the maximum amount of water vapor it can hold (that’s why it’s called relative humidity!). Your piano is subject to wide swings in humidity. This is particularly true in the Hudson Valley, where the majority of our clients live. In the summer, humidity levels can go as high as 100%, while in the winter, your heating system can drop the relative humidity in your home into the single digits.
What does this mean for your piano? When the humidity is high, the soundboard and bridges absorb moisture and swell, increasing the tension of the strings and forcing the piano sharp. When the humidity is low, the opposite happens - the soundboard and bridges release moisture and shrink, reducing the downward pressure of the strings and forcing the piano flat. This is why almost all piano manufacturers - and your piano technician - recommend that your piano is tuned twice a year. In addition to forcing your piano out of tune, increased humidity affects the action parts, swelling the wood and increasing friction, which can make your action respond sluggishly (a major cause of “sticking” keys).
How can you mitigate the effects of humidity on your piano? There are several options. The absolute best solution is to have your whole house humidity controlled. This involves either attaching a humidifier to your HVAC system or installing a separate humidifiedehumidifier system in your home. While this is the best solution, it can be very expensive to install and maintain, and is usually cost prohibitive.
The next, and we think best, solution is to install a humidity control system directly in your piano. The Dampp Chaser company, makers of the Piano Life Saver system, is the only company making these systems. Over the past 74 years they have perfected their system and adapted it to work in all pianos. This system maintains the relative humidity of your piano within a few percent of the ideal level of 45% Relative Humidity. A humidistat regulates the humidity, similar to the way your thermostat regulates temperature. If the humidity is high, the humidistat activates low power dehumidifier bars to dry out the piano. If the humidity is low, the humidistat activates a humidifier - a gentle version of that which you might put in a room. Periodically, you must fill the humidifier tank with water. This can be disconcerting the first few times, pouring water into a tube that disappears into your piano!
In grand pianos, the system is installed underneath the piano, in direct proximity to the soundboard. An under cover will aid in the effectiveness of these systems. A dehumidifier bar is installed at either end of the underside of the piano, and a humidifier tank is located in the approximate middle.
In vertical pianos, the system is installed in the lower half of the piano, inside the knee board. There is one dehumidifier bar which runs the width of the piano, and the humidifier tank generally rests on the bottom board. A watering tube extends from the top of the knee board to underneath the key bed.
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I'm fed up with my girlfriend of 5 years. We've been together for five years and she is a wonderful person. She's kind, intelligent, and caring. However recently she changed into another person. She can get scary angry, and throw and break things. Generally she is so sweet but recently she's been like a ticking bomb ever since She started nursing school 6 months ago. I'm super supportive and I go out of my way to make sure she's successful in nursing school. For example, I started leaving work early every day to make sure there is food for her when she comes home. I started doing all of the domestic and financial work that is needed for our apartment. ( before we did a 50 /50 split of chores) so that she would be able to maximize her study and focus on school . However When she comes home it's like an angry tornado strikes. She yells at me for silly things, insults me and throws a tantrum when things don't go her way and she'll break glasses when she's upset. I've tried speaking to her about how I feel about the whole situation, but she falls back on the " I'm so stressed bc of school" excuse.I told her I understand that school is stressful however she cannot act the way she is acting, and it is unacceptable. She literally spat in my face and said I'm being a misogynistic pig and it's disgusting that I would talk to a woman like that. At that point, I got up and started walking away and She responded by throwing a textbook at the back of my head. I'm at a loss and don't know how I am supposed to proceed. In the span of a few months, she changed from my dream girl to the literal devil. on the one hand, I've been with her through everything. I lost my virginity to her, she is the only woman I've ever been with. I've had almost 5 amazing years with her. She is the only person I've ever been emotional to and opened up to. I feel like I shouldn't just give up on her when she is going through a rough time, and maybe I should just grin and bear it and things may iron themselves out. Also, i feel like she really needs me now and I don't want to break up because that will really hurt her. But On the other hand, I feel like this is not a healthy or safe environment for me right now. I'm at a loss and I don't have anyone to discuss this with. How should I approach this situation? (Sorry for the long post)

Hello, my name is Jess and I got a job right next to grand central that starts in mid June, and I'm looking for a bedroom for preferably June 18th move-in but late June or July 1st is also okay!
About me: 25F, East Asian. I cook for a living so I might come home pretty late at night but I've lived with housemates before so I'm quiet and respectful. I like going to the gym, cooking, painting, playing the guitar (though I won't have mine with me ;_;) & watching anime.
Important: I don't have US credit & proof of income since I'm an international worker just starting work in the US, but I can provide proof of hire along with the translation of my country's bank accnt. as well as a guarantor statement if needed.
Preferred location: Any neighborhood that has access to 4,5,6 trains or maximum 30 minutes away from Grand Central Terminal (preferably in NYC, Astoria, Long Island City, and Bushwick, East Harlem)
Budget: Under $1,200/mo (utilities included)
Preferred flat: Furnished apt/bedroom with 4 or less roommates with 2 full bathrooms, in-unit laundry or laundry a block away, A/C, coed roommates/female roommates preferred that are clean and respectful!
Thank you so much, message me if you're looking for someone to move in! I'm more than happy to talk more.

There is nothing wrong with not working for 3 months. Stop pressuring people to divulge irrelevant personal information or craft a palatable excuse for existing outside of a corporate environment for a few months.
In the grand scheme of things, a few months or even a year is an incredibly short amount of time when compared to the average 40 year life-span of a career.
What’s everyone’s thoughts on resume gaps? Stay at home parents, how do you address the gap on your resume?

I didn't go to pre-K, I did go to a morning class but I never went to pre-k. In 1st grade I went half days, and my mom would take me out in the afternoons. I did go to a homeschooling teacher for a little while, I can't remember how I did. Then 2nd through 4th grade I went normally. Then, she took me out to homeschool me, it didn't work out so she stuck me back in later in the year.
I surely fell behind because I couldn't stay focused on my schoolwork at home, that's why my mom put me back in public schooling. Which I'm thankful for. I missed a lot of school through my education years, due to an illness I had which had me vomiting quite frequently. They took me out of class for math because I fell behind, and I had comprehension issues due to my ADHD. I have attention deficits. But, now it's gotten better. In 5th grade towards the end of the year they brought up to my mom they would like to place me on an IEP due to falling behind in a few subjects; Reading and Mathematics.
Fast forward to current time, given I was in an IEP I feel like I'm intellectually or developmentally delayed. I feel like I'm slow, I currently live at home and work in the hospital as a certified nursing assistant. I work full time, but I feel dumb. I pay rent at home even though I'm so bad with money it's insane. I'm impulsive with money especially, I prioritize things badly. I know I'm doing it too, it's just like impulsive. It's weird. I have bad anxiety, social anxiety as well.. anxiety for every situation it seems like. I've gone to therapy for it, because I feel like I'm existing... not living. My therapist says that given that I was able to pass my CNA state certification I'd have to be average or above average in intelligence to even pass it.
I feel like everyone around me knows something is "off". Even though I haven't heard it, I'm sure they talk? I don't really care about anything else anyone has to say BUT the thought of them thinking that I'd be slow or intellectually delayed bothers me. As a kid I walked and talked on time, and passed my childhood milestones. It wasn't ever indicated I was intellectually delayed.
I got employee of the month 2 months being in the hospital, but I've made big mistakes no one got hurt. I've been a CNA 4 years prior. These nurses are my age and younger and they seem so mature. I feel like sometimes I feel dumb and inadequate. I'm quiet, but I want to be smart and an intellectual. They always say how a hard job I do. These nurses hangout and are friends with each other. I feel out of sorts here. There's been times where they come sit by me cause I sit away from them. Do you think they think something is off? They seem to like me and keep me included. THEY are articulate, I think I'm articulate online but offline it's bad.
I don't know if I'm overthinking this?
There's patients that come in with cognitive deficits or intellectual disabilities. I don't act like them, but everytime I hear something along those lines I panic. I worry people think that about me. I worked with adults with intellectual disabilities and it triggered something in me. I had to quit because of it.
I got drunk the other night and said to my friends "I think I'm slow" and they were like "No you arent!" But idk if they say they cause they didn't want to hurt my feelings.
The CNA test is common sense but my therapist said that I'd have to hold an average intelligence.
I still live at home, I'm 26, needing dental work done and now I have to get insurance on my own because I don't have any now. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Is this just anxiety? My one friend said socially I probably have anxiety over. I do have bad social anxiety and I'm quiet. I spend money and sometimes go into overdrafts, I'm bad with money but I know I am and it's an issue. I spend money to be happy, because I'm so sad a lot. I am paying off my car to my mom, I pay rent everyday check to my mom. It's not like I'm living here for free. I would love my own place but I can't afford it.
I feel like at work I'm slow, even though they tell me I do amazing. These nurses are younger and my age and they are so assertive, confident and I more so go with the flow.
I'm pretty quiet, I'm opening up now. I feel like I do stupid shit all the time... and I've been a CNA for a long time.

So I scraped my knee on some rusted aluminium sheet, it wasnt too bad, but the wound did draw some blood. After cleaning up and putting some ointment, I went to office. There is this big hospital near my office. It is a posh chain of hospitals and head quartered in Karnataka. I wont name them.
I show the wound to the nurse and tell her I need a tetanus injection. I am told I need a prescription and for that I have to make a hospital book and pay about Rs 500, besides waiting in queue to see the doc. So I came back to office and on my way home, I went to St Philomena's Hospital.
They had a duty doctor who immediately told the nurse to give me the injection without any payment reciept. After the shot I was told to go to the next room which was the cash counter and pay the large bank breaking sum of Rs 80/-. I came back to show them the receipt and they just glanced at it and told me to keep the would clean. They did offer to dress it, but I waived it off. Guess who was concerned about me and my well being and who was not. No prizes for guessing. End of the tale of two hospitals.