Hey fellow Product Management professionals,
We are currently facing a challenge in our data engineering request process and would appreciate your valuable insights and suggestions to improve it.
Currently, we use ClickUp forms to gather requests for our data engineering team. The form includes fields such as name, description, department, and priority. However, we have noticed that the majority of requests we receive are categorized as "high" priority. This lack of granularity in prioritization makes it difficult for our data engineering team to effectively prioritize and fulfill requests in a timely manner.
We believe there is room for improvement in our requirement-gathering process, and we would love to hear your suggestions on how to enhance it.

• Do you have any suggestions for creating a more comprehensive and objective prioritization framework that captures the urgency and impact of each request or any other way apart from Clickup forms?
• What additional fields do you recommend we include in the request form to gather more specific and actionable information from the requesters?
• How can we better involve stakeholders from different departments or teams in the requirement-gathering process to ensure their needs are accurately captured?

We value your expertise and experience in product management and believe that your insights can help us streamline our data engineering request process.
Please share your thoughts, ideas, or any successful approaches you have implemented in your own organizations. We look forward to an engaging discussion and appreciate your contribution.
Thank you in advance for your support!

-A Pokemon with the Sand Stream ability are immune to sandstorm damage.
-Weather turns are reset upon use of a weather changing move or switch in from a Pokemon with a weather changing ability, even if the weather isn't being changed.
-Good As Gold does not block the hazard removing effect of Defog.
-Mechanics like Mega Evolution, Terastalizing and Dynamax can be activated while switching in and switching out; When switching in, abilities that a Pokemon possesses before Mega Evolution such as Intimidate do not activate; Mega Evolution while switching in is functionally identical to Primal Reversion[Option is not available when sending said Pokemon out after a teammate was KO'd]
-Taunt wears off mid-turn like confusion; Taunt wears off when the Pokemon attempts to use a move on the next turn after the 3rd/4th turn of being in the taunted state, not at the end of the 3rd/4th turn[Prevents infinite taunt traps]; If you pick a status move while taunted, the Pokemon will randomly select an attacking move instead if it has one; Encore follows the same mechanics.
-Last Respects caps at 200 BP.
-Rage Fist caps at 200 BP.
-The boost that Terastalizing gives to STAB moves is reduced to 20%.
-A Pokemon that is hit by an attack while asleep has a 50% chance of waking up that turn; This effect doesn't apply to Dream Eater.
-Rest puts your Pokemon to sleep even at full HP.
-Pursuit is reduced to 8 PP.
-Rocky Helmet damage is reduced to 12.5%.
-Defog clears hazards even if no opposing Pokemon are on the field.
-Rapid Spin clears hazards even if the user faints due to damage from contact abilities and items; it also clears hazards even if the move itself cannot hit the enemy.
-Gravity boosts the power of weight based moves and removes priority from positive priority attacks.
-Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Hydro Cannon, Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, Roar of Time, Meteor Assault, Eternabeam, Prismatic Laser & Rock Wrecker make the user go last on the next turn instead of making them not move at all; Switching is also negated on the following turn; Description: The user attacks by XXX and moves slowly on the next turn, which also prevents it from switching out.
-Psyshock is reduced to 70 BP.
-Heatproof has the additional effect of preventing burns.
-Sacred Sword is reduced to 70 base power.
-Keen Eye allows the user to bypass substitute.
-Fissure, Guillotine & Horn Drill are 20% accurate if not used by Pokemon of the same type.
-Dragon Tail & Circle Throw instantly destroys a substitute; HP lost when creating a substitute is also rounded up.
-Baton Pass does not pass on Ingrain
-Knock Off is reduced to 50 Base Power; If a Pokemon with the Sticky Hold ability is hit by Knock Off while holding an item, the power of Knock Off is not boosted.
-Pokemon with the Pickup ability remove hazards from the field upon entry.
-Truant only activates if the last move was successfully executed[Prevents cheese via protect]
-Bad Dreams damage is reduced to 6.25% of a sleeping Pokemon's HP every turn.
-Morning Sun, Moonlight & Synthesis restore 33% HP during Sandstorm, Hail & Rain.
-Behemoth Bash uses the Defense stat in damage calculation instead of the Attack stat; Dauntless Shield increases both Defense & Special Defense by 1 stage; Intrepid Sword raises both Attack & Special Attack by 1 stage.
-Volt Switch, Flip Turn & U-Turn have their PP reduced to 16 and their power is reduced to 15.
-Emergency Exit activates at the end of the turn.
-Berserk always activates if a Pokemon's health drops below 50% for any reason.
-Dark Type Pokemon are immune to Dark Void & Hypnosis; Psychic Type Pokemon are immune to Hypnosis.
-Water Compaction provides immunity to Water type moves.
-Defeatist activates at 30%.
-In Singles, if a Pokemon on your team has just fainted, a Pokemon with the Power of Alchemy ability copies the fainted Pokemon's ability if sent out directly afterwards.
-Slow Start lasts for 3 turns; Being hit by an attack incites the user and makes Slow Start wear off immediately.
-Illuminate reduces the accuracy of opposing Pokemon by 25%, but causes enemies to target this Pokemon exclusively.
-Run Away allows Pokemon to switch out against trapping moves and abilities.
-Poison Heal heals 1/16 HP each turn instead of 1/8th.
-Gale Wings gives +1 priority to Flying type moves as long as the user is above 75% HP.
-Life Orb takes 10% of a Pokemon's health upon usage of any successfully executed move including status moves; Life Orb damage is also rounded up.
-Arena Trap & Shadow Tag only trap opposing Pokemon for 2 turns.
-Last Respects, Rage Fist, Precipice Blades, Origin Pulse, Tail Glow, Attract, Substitute, Taunt, Swagger, Cotton Guard, Quiver Dance, Yawn, Hypnosis, Dark Void, Sing, Lovely Kiss, Shell Smash, Stored Power, Power Trip, Spore & Sleep Powder have their PP reduced to 8.
-Stats drops decrease the Base Power of Stored Power.
-Stealth Rocks damage is reduced to 4% damage per switch-in for neutral targets, 8% for 2x weak targets and 16% for 4x weak targets; The damage is 2% for 2x resistance and 1% for 4x resistance.
-1 layer of spikes reduces health by 4%, 2 layers take 8% and 3 take 12%.
-Leech Seed only drains 10% of the targets HP per turn.
-Frozen Pokemon have a 30% chance of thawing. Any Fire type move used by a Frozen Pokemon will thaw it. Harsh Sunlight will thaw frozen Pokemon.
-The chance to not move while Paralyzed is reduced to 10%.
-Toxic does not always hit when used by Poison type Pokemon; Toxic poisoning doesn't increase in damage after the 6th turn, capping it at 37.5% damage.
-Core Enforcer suppresses the targets ability regardless of the user moving last.

Henlo! I'm looking for someone to hang out with and do some fun stuff together.Watch movies on Discord, play video games, or just chat about deep things like aliens, death, and the meaning of life. I'm not into small talks, so let's skip that and get straight into the good stuff!
About me:
I'm a 29-year-old horror fan who loves indie/underrated music and works in the creative field. I'm pretty small (around 5'3"), but don't let that fool you, I'm quite huggable! I've got cute curly hair and fair skin, and I look a bit younger than my age. I'm from the South pala (Cavite represent!)Oh, and I'm a singer, so if you're into music too, we could even record a song cover together!
About you:
I'm hoping to find someone who's taller than me and maybe even a "chinito" (weird, I know, but it's a thing for me!). It would be great if you're into gaming, too, so we can talk about our favorite horror, RPG, or childhood games.
Basically, I'm just looking for someone who can carry a conversation, has a good sense of humor, and knows their SOGIE. I prefer someone who's non scene (more masc) but if you're someone who's a softie, I've dated some guys who are like that in the past so it doesn't really matter.If that sounds like you and you're 23 or older, hit me up!
Let's distract each other from the world and have some fun!Pass po sa dense kausap.*If you're interested send me your Enneagram type, your favorite Horror film or your favorite video game.*

This is a sort of Part 2 of my grand theory of "Ancient Zonai", and you can read Part 1 here:
https://www.reddit.com/tearsofthekingdom/comments/13rdwog/the_zonai_have_been_in_the_story_this_whole_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Strap in, because this is a long one! Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom, Breath of the Wild, and Skyward Sword.
I'm a believer that the lore in Zelda isn't just slapped on. They've said at least since 2001 that they have documents written about how each game connect, and when they put so much work into describing symbols and potential backstories for small things in THREE different books, I think it's safe to say that the connected lore is important to Nintendo.
But, before I go on with my theory, it's important to establish something I've just recently started to think about: The Legend of Zelda are LEGENDS in the games. I believe each game shows what really happened in those times, but because each game is so far apart, the events of other games are merely myths and legends within the world of Zelda, as many games explain many times. Aka, what happens in the games is true, but the stories told within the games are legends. How the world was created, who the godesses were, what happened i previous eras, etc. that are explained in-game are how the residents of the world at that time interprates history, because it's all (again) legends and myths.
One of the major head twisters in TOTK is "Where is anything taking place?!". Is TOTK's memories between SS and OOT? Or in the distant future, before BOTW? Where is the Great Calamity 10 000 years before BOTW taking place? Does it happen before all other games, and that 10 000 year gap is our timeline of games? Etc.
BOTW is confirmed to be far, far into the future compared to all other games, which means the same for TOTK. Wether the timelines have merged, or if only 1 is canon and the others are legends within this world, or if all are canon and this is still in one of the timelines, is unknown. But where is TOTK's memories taking place?
I believe they happen in the distant past, even before Skyward Sword.
There are several things that goes against this, I know; Hyrule was established after SS, not before it. Demise was the origin of Ganondorf, so it can't take place before SS. They talk about the Master Sword, but that wasn't forged until SS.
Well, let's begin (and keep in mind, this is purely FUN for me to do! I love lore that is very hidden and subtile like in the Zelda universe. Weather it's correct or not, I'm still having a blast, so don't shoot me for getting certain things wrong or for disagreeing with me haha).
​

THE SECRET HISTORY BEFORE SKYWARD SWORD

The world was created by Din, Farore and Nayru, and the godess Hylia is said to be the protecter of the Triforce. I believe she wasn't a spiritual pure godess so to speak, but a human with goddess powers, aka like Zelda, and her family protected the Triforce for generations as the Triforce is hidden in the Sacred Realm. Through legend and myth, she was believed to be a goddess as she was the first one to show magical powers.
The Zonai was one of the very first races to exist alongside humans, and they were living in islands in the sky. They were blessed with technological knowledge to help and serve the gods. They decended upon the land, and people thought they were gods at first due to their appearance, magic, and highly advanced technology.
The world flurished, and the Zonai created the ancient robots seen in Skyward Sword, and later the Temple of Time in Lanayru seen in both TOTK and Skyward Sword. Why and how, you ask? In SS, we learn the robots were active thousands of years prior to the game, meaning an advanced civilization lived thousands of years before SS. The robots' body parts are connected with energy just like Zonai constructs. The robots' ship, the Sand Ship, has the Zonai swirl symbol on it, which even is confirmed in one of the 3 Zelda lore books to be the clear symbol for the Zonai.
https://preview.redd.it/yk85sjfbzd3b1.png?width=728&format=png&auto=webp&s=45d3a957ea367fbf8130370c6bfbf1ab5b380200
Aka, this Sand Ship is a Zonai ship, and those ancient robots are Zonai robots. There is no question. Why else would they choose to use this symbol in these places? Now, what were the robots mining in the Lanayru Mining Facility? Probably Zonite. As we see when using Timeshift Stones, Lanayru was once filled with green fields of grass in the ancient past.
And what's right next to the Mining Facility? The broken Temple of Time. And what is almost directly blow TOTK's Temple of Time? The Abandonded Central Mine. And what do we see in TOTK's memories? A fully in-tact Temple of Time, in green fields, built with very similar white-stone material to the one from Skwyard Sword:
https://preview.redd.it/xbic4jxozd3b1.png?width=1343&format=png&auto=webp&s=66a274e358ad8c9a4c0935d9ceb589a77022061d
https://preview.redd.it/jhtoqtx20e3b1.png?width=1427&format=png&auto=webp&s=85ea6251b78232dbe865cf8fca35b6abdfce5271
In other words: Both in Skwyard Sword and TOTK, we see the first Temple of Time, and both have mines next to them. It's the same temple. The ONLY thing I cannot figure out, is that the TOTK temple is said to have been sent to the sky as a hero was destined to awaken there. So if the SS and TOTK temples are the same, but the SS temple has decayed, when did it rise back into the sky as a fully constructed temple again? Here I need your help.
Now, Rauru, the sage of light from OOT, is written to have built "the second Temple of Time", meaning this one in SS is the first one. King Rauru built the first Temple of Time, and light sage Rauru was named after him and built the second temple thousands of years later. It all makes sense.
Rauru has Secret Stones, perhahs he made them himself or they were gifts from the Gods.
Years passed after the temple and robots' creation, and the Zonai tribe became less and less (not sure how, but probably due to marrying and breeding with humans). The Sheikah tribe who protects the Royal Family is taught the technology from the Zonai. Rauru married Sonia (a decendant of Hylia who thus posessed magical powers), and the two of them finally united all the lands and created Hyrule.
So to sum up so far: The world was made. The advanced Zonai race decended from the skies, taught the Sheikah their tech, built robots to mine Zonite, built the Temple of Time, and eventually Raru and Sonia founded Hyrule and became its first king and queen.
Ganondorf was then born and did not want to bow down and be united with Hyrule. But a demon lived inside him. He killed Sonia, took a Secret Stone, and his demon inside came out, and Ganondorf became known as the Demon King. Yes, this happens before Demise. Stick with me. A war breaks loose known as the Imprisoning War, and Rauru gathers sages and, through sacrificing himself, Rauru seals Ganondorf deep underground, warning Ganondorf (or the Demon within him) that a hero with the blade to repel evil will one day come for him. How can this be, when the Master Sword wasn't forged yet?
Because Rauru's decendants made the Goddess Sword.
We know Rauru and Sonia had a child, as Sonia is a blood relative to Zelda. This means this child is part Zonai, part hylian and has the blood of the original "Goddess". Because the Royal Family now has blood of Zonai as well as the Godess, it explains why Zeldas in the future has both the power of light and time. Rauru and Sonia's child may very well be named Hylia, renamed after that first Goddess. I believe Rauru knew, and was even responsible for, the creation of the Goddess Sword. Look at its design - its neon-green color is perfectly Zonai in nature:
​
https://preview.redd.it/cie84sm12e3b1.png?width=319&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce572c999b39d1f03f575e7441c1135009aa165a
The legends in the games says the "Godess Hylia made the sword", but that's the legend. The fact is that one of the first Hylia's long decendants made the sword, or Rauru himself did - or, Hylia the decendant made it, which fits. This is also why the ancient robots protect a Sacred Flame on the Sand Ship, because the Zonai constructed them too. This explains how Rauru knew a hero with this very sword would one day defeat Demise/Ganon's demon, because he knew of the sword's creation.
Thousands of year pass, and the Zonai are almost no more. Only Rauru and Sonia's long, long decendant named again Hylia of the royal family, as well as sages and the Sheikah who has kept the Zonai technology and knowledge, are alive. Perhaps a few Zonai are left, becoming more like savages and develops into their own branch... Keep that in mind.
Then one day, the demon within the Ganondorf who was sealed deep underground, leaks out through cracks in the earth.
https://preview.redd.it/hz0aqqdgee3b1.png?width=1427&format=png&auto=webp&s=51e63d6dd070302b7069088157505b6779cbf303
The demons, and Demise himself (the Demon King as he's also refered as), literally comes out from where Ganondorf is sealed. The Demon has left Ganondorf's body and is now in his pure form. Demise is the true form of the demon that resided within Ganondorf all those years ago during the Imprisoning War, and he has now ascended from Ganondorf's body and up to the surface. And as we see, the scar from the Tear that Ganondorf used can still be seen in Demise's forehead:
​
https://preview.redd.it/2v3kfcq53e3b1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=5477922f92f233d6914949efbf411a9a3b5c6611
Hylia and the rest manage, through their Zonai technology, to lift the land into the sky just like her ancestors of the Zonai could. She then keeps fighting, uses the Triforce, and seals Demise.
Thousands of years pass, and the ancient Hyrule on the surface fade into legend. Only Gorons and other species are left down there, and the ancient Rito are now exctinct. Skyward Sword happens, and at the end of the game, Demise finally unleashes the never-ending curse upon Link and Zelda. THIS explains why there is no Link or Master Sword during TOTK's memories - because Demise's curse isn't active yet. SS doesn't show the origin of Ganondorf, but rather the origin of the curse. From THIS point on, a boy with a hero's spirit and the godess' blood are reborn anew alongside Demise's incarnations.
People later start to learn of the Sacred Realm and the Triforce and conflict came from it. Rauru, most likely a long decendant from Rauru and Sonia, thus built the second Temple of Time in history, made that the only entrance to the Sacred Realm and sealed it behind the Door of Time. Even though the Zonai who served the gods are long gone, there are a few humans remaining who were long decendants of the Zonai and thus still posess their magic. Due to their dangerous magic and evil intentions, they are banished to a different world called the Twilight Realm, and their ancient magic are sealed within what's called the Fused Shadow. Why is the Twili the same as the Zonai?
Because first of all, it's never stated WHO got banished, only that they were interlopers who were skilled at magic. And they are shown as hylians, but they have Zonai blood (just like Zelda has Hylia's blood and thus her magic). The Zonai blood still remains in certain hylians after mating with them for eons. These hylians, now transformed into the Twili after being in the Twilight Realm for so long, still posess their ancient ancestor's magic, seen through their green magic, their anti-gravity magic, and Swirl Symbols. The Fused Shadow is filled with Zonai Swirls and even has serpants breathing fire, another very common Zonai symbolism. And hell, even Zant's throne is filled with Zonai Swirls identical to the ones we see in BOTW and TOTK... and, at the top of the throne, we even see a big Zonai Eye symbol...
​
https://preview.redd.it/8ty2t8lv7e3b1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=6710347bfcf561f113735e900c9e45f9ca6fc419
There is literally more evidence of the Twili being long decendants of the Zonai than evidence that contradicts it.
Zelda and Link's decendants later brings all lands together and founds the new Hyrule once again.
A civil war breaks out, and from there, Ocarina of Time occurs, and events repeat themselves in an eerily similar matter as they did all those thousands of years ago; Ganondorf is born and does not want to be under Hyrule's regime. Yet, at this time still, the ancient corpse of Ganondorf is trapped deep, deep underground. People say two Ganondorfs cannot exist at once. But why not? The Ganondorf from deep underground is essentially dead, and the Demon powers aren't in him. He's basically kept on ice through countless thousands of years. The very first Ganondorf is sealed deep below the Earth throughout all of the Zelda games.
After all the games, X amount of years pass and we end up with the Great Calamity, where this malice from the ancient Ganondorf finally leaks out, and the Sheikah (who still has the technological knowledge they learned from the Zonai all those years ago) constructs the Divine Beasts and Guardians. Coincidence that Sheikah's protectors (Guardians) are called the same as the presumably Zonai-constructed Guardians from SS?
The Sheikah are then "banished" by the king for being too dangerous (again, that happened to the Zonai, only more dramatic back then). The Yiga Clan that forms here is similar to what happened to the Zonai. Zonai and Sheikah became the Twili and Yiga Clan. Again, history mirrors itself. Master Kogah of the Yiga Clan? Crazy and unpredictable? Sounds familiar to Zant, doesn't it?
And even though the pure Zonai race was gone long before Ocarina of Time, their remains can still be found throughout the series - as seen with the Twilight Realm and the symbols and magical similarities. If these are built by the Zonai when they were still fully present, or if they're made by hidden decendants in the present times, is unknown.
The Tower of the Gods share the same dot-connected pattern as both the Fused Shadow and the Sheikah Technology in BOTW. Tower of the Gods is also filled with Zonai square swirls, especially in the boss arena and the boss itself. The boss (Gohdan) is even designed like a Zonai construct with its mask design, eye symbols and the blue-green colors and yellow top.
​
https://preview.redd.it/rzt5jhzeje3b1.png?width=1499&format=png&auto=webp&s=5fa4e75c11a44ed1a37c9759267194219efc85ca
As you see in BOTW and TOTK, there are 2 main swirl designs the Zonai are known for: The square swirls as seen in the pics above, and the rounded ones with a little tail at the end. This may represent different lineages of the Zonai, where the square ones represent the original good ones, and the rounded ones represent the lineage that evolved into being more barbaric and eventually become the interlopers.
The Earth Temple from the Wind Waker shares a fun similarity to BOTW's barbarian armor. HIGHLY probably a coincidence, but fun to think about nontheless:
​
https://preview.redd.it/5qgsp9qxje3b1.png?width=291&format=png&auto=webp&s=a94c1f2f5a137354a18534e5045ff12337d49b6d
https://preview.redd.it/gslkjox2ke3b1.png?width=1416&format=png&auto=webp&s=c97222afc078ce7f14bd95ae6477f13d30f379e4
Both the doors in the Earth Temple and the Barbarian Armor set have skulls and pink-purple hair or spikes. May again be a coincidence. However...
​
https://preview.redd.it/7yrgp57fke3b1.png?width=1429&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fa1986cd32e8bcc24d1331c97a7b86a00fa0393
The temple also seem to be filled with ancient symbols that are not Hylian. And, most importantly...
​
https://preview.redd.it/zy8php1ske3b1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=3286dc53f59556b640c5d7891d13fee5922fee83
The boss of the temple seem to have the Zonai swirl on his belly, alongside the swirls all along the arena walls. This one is a long reach, but it's fun to theorize if the Earth Temple is an ancient Zonai constructed temple. It's worth noting that the boss wears a mask, a staple among the Zonai... It is possible that the Earth Temple has acted as a prison for the savage Zonai at one point.
​

THE SUMMARY

World was created. Zonai served the gods in the beginning and were highly advanced. Hylia was the first woman who posessed godlike powers and she was a human. Sheikah was a tribe who protected her and her family, aka the royal family. The Zonai decended to the lands and created the ancient robots, a ship for them, and had them mine Zonite in the Lanayru Mining Facility. They taught the Sheikah their technology. They married with humans and the races started to merge. Various structures were built, including Tower of the Gods. The original Temple of Time was created close to the mine, and Rauru the Zonai and Sonia the human brought the lands together and made Hyrule. Ganondorf was born and had a demon inside him, and he killed Sonia and took one of the Secret Stones, bringing out the demon within him. Rauru created, or started the process of creating, the Goddess Sword. Ganondorf was later sealed deep underground by Rauru and the sages he chose. The pure Zonai race faded into legend but blood relatives in form of humans remains.
The demon within the deeply sealed Ganondorf leaked through the ground and escaped thousands of years later. This demon was known as Demise. The scar on his forhead comes from Ganondorf's earlier Tear placement there. Hylia used her ancestor's technology and/or magic to once again raise islands into the sky. Demise was sealed, and Hyrule became forgotten and only certain races survived and lived on the surface. Demise broke free, Link (the first hero) was born and found the old Zonai Goddess sword, forged it into the Master Sword, and defeated Demise. Demise's curse was created, binding the 3 of them together for eternity. The old, deceased corpse of Ganondorf was still sealed deep, deep below the Earth.
Generations pass, decendants of the Zonai who has become power-hungry and dangerous in magic, was sealed to the Twilight Realm. Rauru, a decendant/relative of Rauru and Sonia, built the second Temple of Time and blocked it off with the Door of Time. Hyrule was once again united and founded.
A civil war broke loose and the Hero of Time was born. Ganondorf was born again with the power of the Demon King, while the ancient first Ganondorf was still sealed deep below the ground. The timeline split. Various artifacts and structures from the ancient Zonai can still be found.
In the distant future, the sealed ancient Ganon has his powers leak through the depths and into the world as Calamity Ganon. The Sheikah, having passed down the ancient Zonai knowledge through all generations, makes weapons to defeat it. 10 000 years later, Calamity Ganon comes back, and is eventually defeated. Link and Zelda then finds the very first Ganondorf from eons back, sealed deep below Hyrule Castle. The war depicted on the walls is the very first war. The first war against Ganondorf and the demon Demise.
Hyrule has been founded many times throughout history, and the Zonai Rauru and the Hylia decendant Sonia founded the very first one, way before Skyward Sword.

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Since childhood whatever I did I always wanted to go beyond the limits and just not stay average at things I really love to do. Computer Science is one of them. I really love this field but I always wondered what is the difference between an average programmer and a brilliant programmer?
​
I am asking this question because I feel having role models is good but having anti role model is very much underrated. Anti role models are the people you don't wanna be ever.
Looking forward to the replies (:

Hey all, currently a first year medical student considering a complete 180 in my life into engineering. Medicine just really isn't my passion like it once was, and I've been considering pursuing a career in engineering. Of course, I would have to go back to school, so with that in mind, I just wanted to pick the brains of whoever would listen (i.e., general thoughts or words of wisdom that could be shared for this situation). To preface, my dad is a civil engineer, so I did grow up around the field, and environmental engineering is something I've always wanted to do.

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Supplemental Health Care	OR Registered Nurse	Jacksonville
Home2Suites St John Town Center	Hotel Executive Housekeeper	Jacksonville
The CSI Companies	LPN Clinical Supervisor	Jacksonville
ATP Flight School	Flight Operations Specialist	Jacksonville Beach
Aledade	Medical Assistant	Jacksonville Beach
Fairfield Inn by Marriott Jacksonville Beach	Front Desk Agent	Jacksonville Beach
Wireless Vision	Retail Store Manager	Jacksonville
Courtyard Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront	Hotel Night Auditor 3rd shift	Jacksonville Beach
Best Western Oceanfront	Front Desk Agent	Jacksonville Beach
Wolfe and Associates, Inc.	Warehouse Material Handling Laborer (AM and PM)	Jacksonville
Wolfe and Associates, Inc.	Shipping & Receiving Operations Lead - CSR	Jacksonville
Nivel	FIRST SHIFT Warehouse Associate - Pick, Pack, Ship	Jacksonville

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in jacksonville. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

This is what I have so far. I absolutely love my Kasrkin + Chimera combo so far, but I have no clue on what to get next. I think I need some more infantry and maybe some tanks. I'm also thinking about getting more flyers. What do you guys think?
 
++ Arks of Omen Detachment (Imperium - Astra Militarum) [90 PL, 12CP, 1,710pts] ++
 
+ Configuration +
 
Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
 
Detachment Command Cost
 
Game Type
 
Regimental Doctrine: Born Soldiers
 
+ HQ +
 
Cadian Castellan [3 PL, 50pts]: Chainsword, Laspistol
 
Cadian Command Squad [10 PL, 165pts]
. Astropath
. Cadian Commander: Chainsword, Laspistol
. Cadian Veterans
. . Cadian Veteran w/ chainsword: Chainsword, Laspistol
. . Cadian Veteran w/ Master-Vox: Laspistol
. . Cadian Veteran w/ Regimental Standard
. . . Lasgun and Regimental Standard
. Master of Ordnance
. Officer of the Fleet
 
Lord Solar Leontus [9 PL, 170pts]
 
+ Troops +
 
Cadian Shock Troops [3 PL, 65pts]
. 9x Shock Trooper: 9x Lasgun
. Shock Trooper Sergeant: Laspistol and Chainsword
 
Cadian Shock Troops [3 PL, 65pts]
. 9x Shock Trooper: 9x Lasgun
. Shock Trooper Sergeant: Laspistol and Chainsword
 
+ Elites +
 
Kasrkin [5 PL, 100pts]
. Kasrkin Sargeant: Bolt pistol
. 9x Kasrkin w/ Hot-shot Lasgun: 9x Frag & Krak grenades, 9x Hot-shot Lasgun
 
+ Fast Attack +
 
Scout Sentinels [3 PL, 40pts]
. Scout Sentinel: Militarum Multi-laser
 
+ Heavy Support +
 
Field Ordnance Battery [6 PL, 130pts]
. Ordnance Team: Malleus Rocket Launcher
. Ordnance Team: Malleus Rocket Launcher
 
+ Dedicated Transport +
 
Chimera [5 PL, 85pts]: Chimera Multi-laser
. Heavy Flamer
 
+ Lord of War +
 
Baneblade [25 PL, 470pts]: 2x Lascannon
. 2 Twin Heavy Flamers
 
Marauder Destroyer [18 PL, 370pts]: Hellstrike Missile Rack
 
++ Total: [90 PL, 12CP, 1,710pts] ++
 
Created with BattleScribe

This is possibly the final update to my series of previous posts, "$500k the boring way", “$250k the boring way”, and my original post, "$100k the boring way". Those older posts have all the details but I will attempt to summarize. Also I just wanted to say that I really wanted to make the title "$1000K the boring way" but didn't have enough confidence.

Summary

Reached $1M net worth from a starting point less than -$100k in roughly 11 years, mostly through consistent saving. Net worth chart included below. All salary numbers are gross.

Quick^ish Recap

My wife and I are both 34 and live in the Pacific Northwest. We met when we were 24 and I estimate at the time that we had a combined net worth of close to -$120k. I’m an engineer (EE) and my wife is a public school employee.
On our journey to $500k net worth we:

• Both got graduate degrees.
• Found new jobs and moved from Midwest to PNW to be closer to family.
• Progressed our careers and salaries: $67k to $126k for me and $54k to $90k back down to $70k (part time) for my wife.
• Bought a house and refi'd it twice.
• Received $18k of student loan forgiveness.
• Had two babies.

Updates

It's been a while since my last post - it was definitely weird going back and reading through these previous snapshots of our life. The $500k update was posted in Dec 2020 and even though the pandy had been going on for a bit, (as we all know) we were in for a much longer ride than anticipated.
 
2021: I think it's telling that I had a lot of trouble trying to remember things that happened this year. I hate to call it a lost year because I'm extremely grateful for the extra time I got to spend with my young kids - we really just didn't do much due to having said young kids and an abundance of caution. I went through my phone photo highlights from 2021 to try and jog my memory and they all were geotagged at our house or a nearby town.
I actually found this pretty interesting from a financial perspective - on one hand, sure, there were less opportunities for spending on things like restaurants and social activities, and in the comments of my last update I had noted that our cash had built up really quickly basically on accident. On the other hand, the unknowns and challenges surrounding the pandemic and parenting really shifted my mindset around spending. I found it much easier to justify all types of purchases and spending because "well, whatever it takes to get us through this". I wouldn't say we went overboard or anything like that, more like we accepted a healthy amount of lifestyle creep into our lives. We bought the ridiculous inflatable kiddie pool (no it didn't last long), we started adding more "fun" stuff to our cart at the grocery, paid for little subscription services here and there, etc. For my own mental health, I basically completely stopped tracking spending, stocks, our accounts, bills, and most things finance-related (including this sub^{I'm so sorry}). Ultimately I think doing less during the pandemic plus our increased spending was more or less a wash financially.
At work, I officially maxed out on my salary band, so effectively I didn't get a raise. I'm pretty sure the COLA was also nonexistent this year which they blamed on Covid. I got to work 100% remote with no pressure to bring people back, which I really appreciated. With working a bunch of on-call nights and weekends I ended up at $136k for the year. My wife completed her first full year of part-time work which dropped her from $90k to $60k
We did end up buying a new car shortly after my last post in Dec 2020. Went with a Subaru Ascent (sorry to all the minivan fans from the previous comment section) and it turned out to be really lucky timing because we got it for insanely cheap and 0% interest and then the car market went crazy.
Our youngest joined our oldest at daycare in the fall for a total of $2,150/mo.
 
2022: At my job, I was feeling kind of stuck. At this point I had found that some side projects that I took on for "fun" (I did have a genuine interest/passion) had become basically additional full-time positions. I was getting a ton of recognition and accolades for the work I was doing, but no promotion or raise. The culture at my workplace was to protect/gatekeep the top engineering title at all costs, so my successes were constantly met with "you're doing great, just be patient" or "the optics might not look good to the other engineering departments" or various other BS. Ultimately, it made me start to resent my job that I really loved. I let my supervisor know early in the year that my patience was running low and eventually I would be forced to look elsewhere, which he understood.
On one frustrating day in the fall I decided to just have a quick look at the other similar companies in my area and happened upon a job posting that was kind of my dream role (essentially getting to do some of the extra work I had taken on as my full time job and drop the day-to-day stuff). It all happened very quickly after that: I got a call the morning after submitting my resume, then a week later I got a job offer 20 minutes after my interview had concluded. I asked for as much time to decide as possible, gave the offer to my current employer, and they made me wait a long time before coming back and saying they wanted to but couldn't match right now. So I left ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There's a ton more to say on this topic but probably too much for this post as it is so happy to continue down in the comments if people want. The CEO ended up requesting to do a personal exit interview with me, so that was cool.
Otherwise, 2022 was pretty uneventful financially. Obviously the market was down so not a lot of action or visible progress in our net worth journey. Was one of the first "extended" downturn-type period of time I've experienced in the market. I didn't change anything.
We took a much needed family vacay south of the border. Daycare raised prices by a reasonable 5% to $2,250/mo.
 
2023: I started my new job in late Jan, going from $135k total comp to $160k plus a $12k signing bonus and I no longer have to be on-call overnight. I heavily engineered my start date to make sure I was still able to receive a one-time payout my old employer did at the beginning of the year to make up for freezing the salary schedule during Covid. I also had something ridiculous like 700 hours of PTO paid out (RIP my taxes this year).

Side note: I do not recommend saving up as much PTO as I did, go live your life. I was saving aggressively to prep for us having kids, and then the pandemic happened so barely used any for a couple years. Happy accident that my banked PTO ended up getting much more valueable over the years as my salary was increasing rapidly.

Our house is great but as the kids are growing we are thinking it would be nice to have some extra space. We've talked to our realtor and lender to get the process moving but not in any specific rush. We will have to do some upgrades to the house like exterior paint, possibly the roof, deck upgrade (finished ourselves) but those are needed either way so just going to do them in case we decide to enter the market. The idea of getting a new mortgage right now seems so wild to me, but I know you can't time these things. It definitely would hurt to go from 2.875% to 7%. I'm considering exploring just adding on to our current house, but not sure if that's really feasible at this point.
Daycare is now $2,900/mo lol (this is even with our costs going down slightly as our son has aged into the older classroom). It was actually hilarious to me that they sent out a "We won best daycare in the region" announcement followed very shortly by a 30% price increase. It is what it is though - I think this is pretty solidly reasonable for the area.
We took a family trip to Disneyland a couple days before our son turned 3 so that his park entry would still be free. My mindset going into trip planning was "Disney is expensive, so if you want to go, just accept that". We used a few different little tips and tricks for saving money here and there but overall tried not to worry too much about complete optimization. With that attitude we had a great trip and to me at least the memories and moments with my kids were totally worth it. Do the princess breakfast.

Chart

Here is our entire financial journey summed up in one line. Apparently they don't do the thing anymore where it changes color when crossing over from negative to positive, that's a bummer (the first line on the y-axis is $0, not the x-axis). I really thought it would look like more of an exponential curve by now. There aren't really inflection points anymore besides the Covid 2020 drop, when the app would get confused, or accounts would stop updating from time to time, so here are the relevant dates in list form:

• 7/2/15 began tracking net worth.
• 3/29/16 crossed $0! We are worthless!
• 5/24/17 crossed $100k net worth.
• 8/10/18 crossed $200k net worth.
• 6/11/19 crossed $300k net worth.
• 1/17/20 crossed $400k net worth.
• 8/25/20 crossed $500k net worth.
• 12/3/20 crossed $600k net worth.
• 4/7/21 crossed $700k net worth.
• 8/27/21 crossed $800k net worth.
• 3/26/22 crossed $900k net worth.
• 5/1/23 crossed $1M net worth.

I enjoyed watching the time between milestones get shorter and shorter, and then 2022 happened.

Current Finances

• $100k in cash as an e-fund/new house downpayment savings, $6k in an HSA.
• $550k of investments, mostly lazy index 3-fund portfolio.
• $370k equity in our home
• -$10k of student loans remaining

Our savings rate was 40% from 45% one baby and 55% no babies. Now? I have absolutely no idea. Past me and part of current me thinks that's both hilarious and terrifying - who even am I?? I believe it's likely around the 40% mark still. I think part of me doesn't want to figure it out because it might be lower than I was hoping for and stress me out unnecessarily.

Now what

I told my wife the news that we were officially millionaires (that sounds so stupid typing it out) a few days ago and she asked "what does that mean". I said "literally nothing, lol". We are definitively in the "boring middle" phase of retirement savings, and so I don't expect any substantial changes.
When is enough, enough? I really don't know. I still want to retire early, but as I've grown into my career (and very much^mostly enjoyed the work) I've found myself less eager to leave. I think working from home has had a huge impact on this. It's probably time for a sit down with my wife to talk about our next 5-10 years and maybe map out a number that we would feel comfortable with.
It's for sure time to update the budget soon and get that back on track. My oldest will attend kindergarten in the fall, so that will be nice to cut our daycare bill in half. We may never see that money if it ends up going towards a larger mortgage, but I need to get an updated picture of our finances before we can figure out exactly what sort of house we want to afford.
Our student loans are what initially set me down this path of aggressively saving and investing. I find it kind of funny that despite all of our financial accomplishments, we still have not officially paid off our student loans. I'm holding out hope for the student loan bill to go through, so until there is interest being charged again, the last $10k will just sit there.
Not that I think anyone would remember this, but if you read the last post you know I was planning on making a will and getting some life insurance. It's been 2.5 years and I've made zero progress on those fronts, which I realize is terrible and I really need to get on that. Likewise, I still don't have a specific plan for the kids' college beyond "let's just generically save money and we will cash flow college or figure it out".
For my career, I've got one last level to go as an individual contributor in my field. If I stay at my new company, I'm probably a couple years out from achieving it, but I could probably get it as soon as the end of this year if I go back to my old job. That would allow me to end my career in the $200k range which I think is a solid goal.

The End End

Is this my last update ever? Maybe, who knows. Maybe a retirement update is in order many years down the road, but really I don't expect our path to there have anything new or interesting that I haven't already covered (wasn't that the whole point of this series of updates?).
Looking back on this, I like to think that I successfully made our journey to being millionaires as boring as possible. I was inspired at a young age to learn that the possibility of retiring early could be simple and didn't take an overwhelming amount of skill or knowledge. You just had to be as consistent as possible. I'm not to retirement yet, but I believe in the path we are on and I'm hoping someone will find similar inspiration by me just showing the receipts.
Finally, I want to sincerely thank everyone for reading and commenting over the years. As a loooooong time lurker on this sub I was so nervous for my first ever post and the responses I've received since then have been so uplifting and personally motivating. It means a lot. Back to saving and living our life now. See you around!^maybe

>be a purple fluffy with a yellow mane named Max
>you remember having a daddy. he was a nice man.
>then the herd came... the meanie herd.
>the unicorn that was in charge... he told you all sorts of things
>he said there was a magical place called Spaghetti Land where you could eat and play all day
>Daddy told you yes... there is a Spaghetti Land but he couldn't afford to take you there
>you didn't know what that meant, but the herd promised to take you
>they said he was a meanie daddy and a dummy
>you listened.
>you left home with them... but soon it was clear the unicorn, Spanky, didn't know where Spaghetti Land was
>you missed daddy
>the herd had wandered for many yellow sky balls.
>people would chase the herd from their places, no matter how much Spanky threatened them
>one day you ended up in a place with many good nummies. some you remembered from daddy's house. tomatoes, carrots, beans...
>but there was so much more! nummies everywhere! it wasn't spaghetti but it was food! and it was GOOD!
>the herd started to stuff themselves as Spanky bragged how smart he was
>then THE MAN came
>he was mad that the herd was there. he told you to leave.
>Spanky said it was your land now and said he'd give big hurties if THE MAN didn't go away
>THE MAN didn't like that at all.
>he took a stick and beat Spanky over and over. Spanky howled and cried and finally stopped moving
>you don't know if he took the Long Sleep or if he just had really bad hurties
>then THE MAN started to come after the other fluffies
>everyone ran in a different direction
>that was how you came to be with Diamond
>Diamond is a pretty filly. she seems too young to have babies but Spanky said she was ready
>she cried when Spanky gave her the good feels but when her belly started to get big she was happy she would have babies soon
>that was... a bunch of yellow sky balls ago
>Diamond can barely walk now. you have to roll her most of the time. sometimes she gets dizzy and makes mouth yuckies
>still, Diamond seems to like you and thanks you for taking care of her
>you've wandered through the Big Green. there were many trees... more than you had ever seen
>but now you see fields stretching far into the distance. some have big tall plants with green things growing in them
>it sort of reminds you of corn, but thats not what corn looks like... is it? corn is yellow!
>other fields have short plants... you dig some up and find sweet red round roots
>you've never had them before but they're yummy!
>"muh... max... max... dimun haff big poopies!"
>why is that your problem? make big poopies, whatever. you're more interested in these red things...
>"eeeeeeeeee! hunnnggghhh!"
>you hear a plop and then diamond starts squealing in joy!
>"babeh come! babeh come! max hewp wiff babehs!"
>oh! babies! you hurry over and pick up the foal with your mouth and place it next to diamond's head
>it doesn't taste pretty but you know it's what you have to do
>she starts licking it clean. the tiny foal starts to chirp. you know what that means... it's hungry
>diamond places him at her teat and it drinks hungrily
>"eeeeeee! notha babeh!"
>this one seems to get a little stuck coming out, tangled in diamond's dirty fluff
>you carefully pull little bits of fluff from the baby's sticky body and manage to pull it out all the way with your mouth
>like its sibling, diamond cleans it and places this one, a filly, on her teat
>"haff bootiful babehs, dimun!
>"dimun wuv babehs..."
>she starts to sing some sort of song as they nurse silently. you look down at them and smile. it's like your own little family!
>"hunnnngghhhh! eeeeeeeee! notha babeh come! max hewp!"
>this one slides right out... and it doesn't seem right
>this babeh doesn't have legs. just tiny nubs that move back and forth
>it's smaller than the others, too. a little gray thing
>still, a baby is a baby, right? you place it next to diamond's head...
>"NU! dat dummy babeh! nu wan!"
>"buh... is babeh! wub babeh!"
>"nuu! dat dummy babeh!"
>diamond kicks at the little foal, striking it and making it roll through the grass
>it starts chirping, hungry for milk, for love.
>okay. if diamond won't clean it, you will
>it does not taste pretty at all, but you eat one of the red things and it makes your mouth taste good again
>diamond stares angrily at the tiny foal the entire time as it flops around helplessly in the grass
>"max cwean babeh... now feed, pwease."
>"nuu. dummy babeh nu haff miwlkies. dat onwy fo gud babehs!"
>"juss giff miwlkies! dun be bad mumma!"
>"AM NOT BAD MUMMA! DAT BAD BABBEH!"
>now you're getting mad. it's a baby. it needs love. it needs milk.
>you do the only thing you can think of
>you smack diamond in the mouth
>"OWIE! why huwt fwuffy?"
>""yu bad mumma! yu giff babeh miwlkies NAOW!"
>"NUUU!"
>you sit down on diamond's chest, pinning her down
>"get off fwuffy! get off or giff big owies..."
>"DUMMY MUMMA! YU SHUDDUP AN STAY DERE OR GET BIG BAD POOPIES!"
>diamond looks anxiously at your poopie place, positioned right in front of her face
>she stops struggling and remains silent
>you pluck one of the foals off her teat and put the legless one on instead
>you turn to see diamond grimacing, frowing... she doesn't want this baby to have any milk
>tough. this one gets milk. whether she likes it or not.
>the tiny baby finally finishes drinking and burps. it spits a little milk up.
>you lick its face clean and the baby chirps happily, trying to snuggle into its mother's fluff
>"naow get off dimun! nu wan babeh!"
>you pluck the baby off her belly and place it on your own back. it chirps momentarily but then snuggles deep in your fluff
>"yu meanie fwuffy!"
>"yu dummy mumma!"
>"yu go way!"
>"i wiwll go way! dun wan be wiff dummy mumma! you BAD MUMMA!"
>you turn and lift your tail. a single poopie pellet pops out of your poopie place and bounces off diamond's face
>"NAOW YU POOPIE FACE! HA HA HA HA!"
>you blow a raspberry at diamond and start waddling through the big fields
>it's been quite a while now. your leggies are really starting to hurt.
>the baby snores slightly as it sleeps buried in your fluff
>you have to... have to rest. can't walk... any more.
>wait... is that a building? it is! the yellow sky ball is disappearing in the distance... the dark is coming. the cold.
>it has been getting very cold at night
>you don't dare go near the human place... not yet. not until you can check it out
>aha! a big pile of... what's it called? hay? straw?
>you barely remember long ago when you lived with other fluffies that's what mister tom put down on the floor
>sometimes it would smell bad from poopies and bad wawas but it was comfy, too
>it will do for tonight.
>you slowly dig your way into the big pile of straw, careful not to knock the baby from your back
>you finally get to the center of the pile and pull the baby from your back, placing it the fluff on your side
>it nuzzles against you and starts to chirp
>"nuu babeh... nu haff miwlkies... dun cwy..."
>the baby chirps a bit more but thankfully it goes back to sleep
>you sleep as well. for a long time.
>"MOOOOOOOOOOO!"
>you startle awake. what was that? a monster?
>you poke your head out of the straw pile. you see a big black and white thing nearby
>strange... it looks sort of like it has... four teats. like a mumma fluffy.
>did it see you? is it a monster?
>no, it just makes another low, deep sound and eats the grass, flapping its tail
>then you see a human coming! you slowly pull your head back into the straw so he can't see you
>the human puts a little chair down and sits on it next to the black and white thing
>he squeezes its teats into some sort of metal thing - MILK! YOU SEE MILK! LOTS OF IT!
>there's enough for an entire HERD!
>the human picks up the metal thing and his little chair and walks away
>you wonder...
>if that's milk...
>you look at the foal laying on the straw underneath you. it starts to chirp again. it's very hungry.
>you have to try.
>you pick up the foal with your mouth and carefully walk over to the black and white thing. it doesn't seem to notice you
>you lick your lips... maybe... maybe just a taste. to make sure its okay for the baby, of course
>you suckle on the big creature's teat. it makes another low, loud sound and flaps its tail but doesn't try to give you hurties
>you taste fresh milk flowing into your mouth... it's SOOOOO good, it reminds you of when you were a baby
>you... just barely remember mama. she was a good mama but mister tom took you from her. mama cried...
>enough. you know instinctively milk isn't good for adult fluffies.
>you hold up the baby with your front hooves and let it drink
>it suckles hungrily from the big creature's teat. coughing up some milk after a short time
>"dun dwink too much babeh... dwink swow..."
>as if understanding you, the foal peeps once and goes back to drinking, taking its time now
>finally it burps and licks it tiny lips
>now... to see if this is someplace you can stay
>its a big red building. you hear the sounds of more of the black and white creatures inside
>you walk around the outside of the building... aha! a loose board!
>being careful not to shake the baby loose you pull the board out and make a fluffy-sized hole
>it's warm in here. you can see some sort of metal thing in the middle of the place that is making heat
>there are big containers of water and lots of straw for a bed
>and best of all... there are other black and white creatures. plenty of milk!
>it's perfect!
>you spend the next couple of yellow sky balls feeding the baby and letting it nestle in your fluff
>when its light out you go to the big field and eat the sweet red things
>at night you sleep in the warmth in the human building
>it's almost too good to be true
>it's been four yellow sky balls since you arrived. but the baby has barely grown.
>that doesn't seem right to you... don't babies get big when they have milk?
>you lick the baby a little. it wiggles its tiny nubs and chirps at you, its eyes barely open
>shouldn't... shouldn't a baby be able to speak by now?
>"Well, well, what have we here..."
>the human! you were so focused on the baby you didn't hear him come in!
>no... this is more important... you have to take care of the baby... you have to!
>"All right, let's go..."
>the human approaches, reaching out to grab you
>you shrink away, crying at him
>"pwease nu! babeh haff huwties! somefing wong wiff babeh! pwease nu take way!"
>"Baby?"
>the human kneels down and gently picks up the tiny foal
>you place your hooves on his leg, reaching for the foal desperately
>"pwease nu huwt babeh!"
>"Easy... I won't hurt it..."
>the human looks the baby over and places it back down into the straw
>he strokes the fluff on your head
>"It's not healthy, fella... it's sickly. How long have you had it?"
>"dimun haff babeh fo o fifve yewwow sky bawl ago! she nu wan babeh! max take cawe of babeh!"
>the human listens intently
>"Another fluffy had this foal a few days ago and didn't want it? So you took care of it? Your name is Max?"
>"ya! dimun meanie mumma an nu wan babeh!"
>"Well, it's a runt... that's why. You did a good job taking care of her but... it's sick. It's not going to make it."
>"max dun unnastan! babeh get huwties?"
>"It's... dying. Do you understand dying?"
>you nod sadly. "da wong sweep."
>"The long sleep. Right."
>"buh... buh is nu faiwr! widdle babeh du nuffin wong! babeh juss need miwlkies and huggies and WUV!"
>you feel tears starting to drip down your face
>the baby chirps and starts coughing. it spits milk up and gags.
>"nuuu! babeh! nuuu!"
>you jump down from the human and pick the baby up, holding it against your chest
>"pwease babeh... dun take wong sweep! max giff mo miwlkies! giff huggies! giff..."
>the baby gags one last time and stops moving.
>"giff wuv..."
>the baby doesn't move. you silently place it back in the straw and sit there, tears pouring from your eyes
>"babeh juss wan wuv..."
>"You gave it love, Max. You gave it more love than its mother. You did a good thing. You were a good daddy."
>"gud dada? if max gud dada den why haff huwties inside?"
>"We all hurt inside when someone we love goes away... takes the long sleep."
>"huwties go way?"
>"Sometimes... it helps if you just try to remember the good and forget the bad."
>you nod. "foget bad..."
>"You hungry, boy? Want some food?"
>"haff some wed fings fwom field but yah... still hungwy..."
>"Like the beets, huh? Then you'll love my corn cakes."
>"wut bout babeh?"
>"Let's get you something to eat and then we'll bury the baby. Okay?"
>"buwy babeh..."
>the human picks you up and strokes your soft fluff, carrying you to his home
>you sadly look over his shoulder at the baby laying in the straw
>you whisper to it "sowwy babeh" and bury your face in the human's chest
>you were a good daddy... even if just for a little while
​
​
Source

This month there are local elections in Texas, and we know the best way to win the state is to start with the smallest races!
 
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Texas

 

Canvass

Dallas - Local Elections - Thursdays and Saturdays
Houston - Chris Hollins for City Controller - Saturdays
Killeen - Bell County Candidates - Various Dates
McKinney - Stacey Donald and Scott Coleman for Collin College Board - Saturday, June 3
Pasadena - Ignacia Garcia for City Council - Saturday, June 3, Sunday, June 4, and Saturday, June 10
 

Phone Bank from Home

Bell County Democrats - Weekdays
Chris Hollins for Houston City Controller - Sundays and Thursdays
Scott Coleman and Stacey Donald for Collin College Board of Trustees - Various Dates
 

Voter Registration Training from Home

Battleground Texas - Wednesday, June 7
 

Register Voters

Alamo - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Friday, June 2
Dallas - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Sunday, June 4
Denton - Friday, June 9
Denton - Friday, June 9
Denton - Sunday, June 11
Fort Worth - Saturday, June 3
Harlingen - Friday, June 2
Houston - Thursday, June 1
Houston - Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2
Houston - Thursday, June 15
McAllen - Saturday, June 3
McKinney - Saturday, June 10
Mission - Thursday, June 1
San Antonio - Saturday, June 3
San Antonio - Saturday, June 10
 

Volunteer at the Polls

Plano - Plano Area Democrats - Saturday, June 10
 

Write Postcards in Person

Austin - Texas Blue Action Democrats - Tuesday, June 13
Pasadena - Harris County Democrats - Thursdays
   
You can also find volunteer and donation links for the candidates in upcoming runoff and special elections listed below. Elections are sorted by date.
 

June 6th

 
Mike Johnston is running for mayor of Denver, Colorado. You can donate or volunteer. Visit his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.
 

June 13th

 
Wendy Pieh is running for Maine House of Representatives District 45. You can donate via the Maine Clean Election Act Service! Sign up to canvass! Visit her website, Facebook page, and Instagram!
 

August 3rd

 
Justin Jones is running for Tennessee House of Representatives District 52 after his unfair ouster! You can make a donation, visit his website, Twitter, and Instagram!
 
Lori Love is running for Tennessee House of Representatives District 3. Make a donation! Visit her Linked in, Facebook, or Twitter.
 

November 7th

 
Andy Beshear is running for re-election as Governor of Kentucky. Please donate if you can, or sign up to volunteer! Visit his website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Instagram.
 
Pamela Stevenson is running for Kentucky Attorney General. Please volunteer or donate! Take a look at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.
 
Charles “Buddy” Wheatley is running for Kentucky Secretary of State. You can donate or visit his website or Facebook page!
 
Michael Bowman is running for Kentucky Treasurer. Please donate if you are able, or become a volunteer! Check out his website, Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.
 
Kimberley Reeder is running for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts. You can visit her website or donate.
 
Sierra Enlow is running for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. Please donate, volunteer, or attend an event. Visit her website, Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter.
 
Daniel McCaffery is running for Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If you are able, please make a donation or become a volunteer. Take a look at his website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
 
Jill Beck is running for Pennsylvania Superior Court. Please donate to her campaign, or sign up to volunteer. Check out her website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
Timika Lane is running for Pennsylvania Superior Court. Consider making a donation. Visit her website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
 
Matt Wolf is running for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Check out his website!

Join VoteDEM, our permanent subreddit, to learn more!
This month there are local elections in Texas, and we know the best way to win the state is to start with the smallest races!
 
Keep checking our volunteer from home spreadsheet! It’s been updated with opportunities to volunteer for important races! As always, important events are bolded, and it is being constantly updated
 
Donate to the Expand the Senate Fund to keep the Senate in 2024!
 
Take our survey so we can update you on volunteer opportunities near you!
   
 

Texas

 

Canvass

Dallas - Local Elections - Thursdays and Saturdays
Houston - Chris Hollins for City Controller - Saturdays
Killeen - Bell County Candidates - Various Dates
McKinney - Stacey Donald and Scott Coleman for Collin College Board - Saturday, June 3
Pasadena - Ignacia Garcia for City Council - Saturday, June 3, Sunday, June 4, and Saturday, June 10
 

Phone Bank from Home

Bell County Democrats - Weekdays
Chris Hollins for Houston City Controller - Sundays and Thursdays
Scott Coleman and Stacey Donald for Collin College Board of Trustees - Various Dates
 

Voter Registration Training from Home

Battleground Texas - Wednesday, June 7
 

Register Voters

Alamo - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Friday, June 2
Dallas - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Saturday, June 3
Dallas - Sunday, June 4
Denton - Friday, June 9
Denton - Friday, June 9
Denton - Sunday, June 11
Fort Worth - Saturday, June 3
Harlingen - Friday, June 2
Houston - Thursday, June 1
Houston - Thursday, June 1 and Friday, June 2
Houston - Thursday, June 15
McAllen - Saturday, June 3
McKinney - Saturday, June 10
Mission - Thursday, June 1
San Antonio - Saturday, June 3
San Antonio - Saturday, June 10
 

Volunteer at the Polls

Plano - Plano Area Democrats - Saturday, June 10
 

Write Postcards in Person

Austin - Texas Blue Action Democrats - Tuesday, June 13
Pasadena - Harris County Democrats - Thursdays
   
You can also find volunteer and donation links for the candidates in upcoming runoff and special elections listed below. Elections are sorted by date.
 

June 6th

 
Mike Johnston is running for mayor of Denver, Colorado. You can donate or volunteer. Visit his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.
 

June 13th

 
Wendy Pieh is running for Maine House of Representatives District 45. You can donate via the Maine Clean Election Act Service! Sign up to canvass! Visit her website, Facebook page, and Instagram!
 

August 3rd

 
Justin Jones is running for Tennessee House of Representatives District 52 after his unfair ouster! You can make a donation, visit his website, Twitter, and Instagram!
 
Lori Love is running for Tennessee House of Representatives District 3. Make a donation! Visit her Linked in, Facebook, or Twitter.
 

November 7th

 
Andy Beshear is running for re-election as Governor of Kentucky. Please donate if you can, or sign up to volunteer! Visit his website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Instagram.
 
Pamela Stevenson is running for Kentucky Attorney General. Please volunteer or donate! Take a look at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.
 
Charles “Buddy” Wheatley is running for Kentucky Secretary of State. You can donate or visit his website or Facebook page!
 
Michael Bowman is running for Kentucky Treasurer. Please donate if you are able, or become a volunteer! Check out his website, Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.
 
Kimberley Reeder is running for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts. You can visit her website or donate.
 
Sierra Enlow is running for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. Please donate, volunteer, or attend an event. Visit her website, Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter.
 
Daniel McCaffery is running for Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If you are able, please make a donation or become a volunteer. Take a look at his website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
 
Jill Beck is running for Pennsylvania Superior Court. Please donate to her campaign, or sign up to volunteer. Check out her website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
Timika Lane is running for Pennsylvania Superior Court. Consider making a donation. Visit her website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
 
Matt Wolf is running for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Check out his website!

Company Name	Title	City
Hampton Inn & Suites North Park Dallas	Guest Service Representative	Dallas
Maëlys	National Field Sales Manager	Dallas
Excelon Associates	Core Faculty, Occupational Therapy Program	Dallas
Brightview Landscape Services	Business Developer	Dallas
Inverted Earth LLC	Stage Hand	Dallas-Fort Worth
Med-Security Inc.	Unarmed - Security Guard	Dallas-Fort Worth
UnitedHealth Group	Coding Quality Analyst - National Remote	Dallas
UnitedHealth Group	QA Analyst	Dallas
The Joule Dallas	Spa Supervisor	Dallas
Riata Corporate Group	Treasury Analyst	Dallas
Ustc	Logistics Technician I	Dallas
Hilltop Securities	Regional Sales Representative	Dallas
Red Lily Senior Home	CNA (No College degree is required)	Dallas
Planet Fitness - Legacy Fitness Holdings	Member Services Representative	Dallas
Foxtrot Aviation Services	Working Operations Manager - Night Shift	Dallas-Fort Worth
Mhr-christian Care Hospice	Part Time Registered Nurse	Dallas-Fort Worth
Serenity Healthcare	Revenue Cycle Manager	Dallas-Fort Worth
Prestige Couriers	Delivery Drivers Drivers Needed Weekends!	Dallas-Fort Worth
Abacus Solutions Group, LLC	Survey Technician - ENTRY LEVEL	Dallas-Fort Worth
Kimrad Transport, LP	Class A Owner Operator	Dallas-Fort Worth
Nomad Solar	Solar Energy Consultant	Dallas-Fort Worth
Envoy Air Inc.	Full-Time Customer Service FIS Agent	Dallas-Fort Worth
BankFinancial	Senior Underwriter C&I Portfolio Management	Dallas
Retail Power Group LLC	Commercial Account Executive	Dallas
Access TeleCare	Compliance Manager (Credentialing, Licensing, Privileging)	Dallas

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in dallas. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

I have a marriage based green card and I’m still married. I filed my I-751 in Dec of 2021, got my biometrics done March 2022, and no update since. When I call the automated line it just says they are reviewing my case and will let me know if they need any additional information. I filed an expedite request 3 months ago and it got denied after 7 days. Ive also reached out to my congressional representative back in 2022 and they have not been able to get an answer from USCIS since September 2022 either. Back then USCIS said (in writing) I should have my adjudication by the end of 2022 but that never happened and they have not answered to any emails since. I’ve been eligible for naturalisation since December 2022, but I have no plans to file that in the foreseeable future. (I would lose my German citizenship) Anyone else with similar filing dates and if so, have you gotten your 10 year card yet? And does anyone have any advice on how to maybe expedite this process? Field office is Dallas, Texas.

Please don't report this and mods please don't delete this, I am only trying to raise awareness for this issue because many people are in the same boat as me and maybe something could be done in the future to prevent this, this is not a cry for help or attention, it's just a rant that I had to get off my chest.
Throwaway for a reason, also please I'm only here so I could share this with people of this subreddit to raise awareness because I'm sure many people feel the same way as I do and there's no need to say that I should contact 147, and keep the whole you're still young and seek help from certain places because it won't work and it doesn't matter anymore.
I am a 19 yo international student at EPFL and simply put, I want to die. I am most certainly failing this school year, and I am not allowed to retake it. My dream from a very young age was to be a computer scientist, I used to write and publish code from a very young age (12) at android development websites like XDA developers. It was my dream to pursue a career in this field.
When I first started high school, I discovered this one university in Switzerland and fell in love with it, it didn't have absurd tuition fees like the US or the UK, plus the entry requirements weren't that hard because you were only required to get a good mark in your last year of high school, and I did just that, I also applied for a school in another european country and my father paid a hefty deposit to the school because it was a private institution. When I committed to Switzerland, the school refused to repay the deposit whatsoever. But then all the pressure was on my shoulders to succed in the swiss university, I was required to succeed this year because you have no other option if you fail, you can't even retake the year. I passed my first semester, but then the coursework of the second semester got really ugly and I messed up the first round of tests, really messed them up and now it's impossible for me to pass the year.
My family has invested so much into me, Switzerland is an expensive country, and they require me to succeed, and I failed them miserably, I've wasted all their money, heck even the hefty deposit that was blown into thin air just because they wanted to secure a good education for me. But I failed miserably, and I don't see myself living with the failure.
My family would literally hang me if I come back failing this year, they would scold me everyday, tell me I'm a failure and just make me feel shitty every single day, now do I deserve it? Absolutely! But do I want it? No, and there's no way to escape it right now, and no I am not exaggerating and if you think I am it's probably because you don't know anything about my culture and the way we generally handle these problems. And no we are not even remotely rich.
I myself also can't live with the failure, feeling worthless for the whole semester now, and trying to kill myself in every way possible, heck I even tried to hang myself one day but chickened out, I also try to cross the street in the most unnatural ways hoping for a car to run me over, I even ate rotten food including raw chicken that was sitting for days but my body always seems to recover, I couldn't find a reliable solution to kill myself.
I don't wanna go back to my home country, as it will just mean endless pain for me, I also failed to mention that my older sister also nearly died after a suicide attempt because she failed med school every other year for the first three years, my family doesn't want this kind of offspring, and they would just torture me for it, heck I don't wanna live a life when I can't do anything. My sister is still struggling with mental health because of the constant shit she endures with the family's pressure, I don't wanna live like her.
Since I can't retake this year, it is basically a gap year, and my national diploma is rendered useless now, do you realize how fucked up that is? I can't do anything related to sciences because even if I wanted to retake the national high school exams and get a fresh diploma to apply to local universities I can only do "Letters" specialty which wouldn't get me anywhere near a STEM field. My life is basically ruined, it has no meaning anymore.
I don't wanna go back to my home country, not that I like it here in Switzerland, it's just that I will be rotting there with no studies to do, no job, scolded everyday, being called a failure and just keep enduring forms of torture I cannot and I am not willing to bear, all for nothing, I can't even work a job because the country is such a mess too and even qualified people don't get jobs.
But I have found a way, a reliable way to go out, painless too, I won't disclose it, but I am going to end my life this night, I'm just trying to leave a good mark on my "friends" and raise awareness.
I won't give out any info because I'm scared, and you can keep your mean comments away because I won't read them, don't bother to say anything, just read this post and do whatever you want with it. I'm not blaming anyone for my failure even if I sound entitled
And yes my parents do know that I am failing this year, and what they have done is just basically cut contact with me, they haven't called in ages and they didn't send money for living expenses, this alone can tell you a lot.
Thank you for reading this.

Company Name	Title	City
Life Flight Network	Ground EMT	Aurora
VICTRA (ABC Phones of North Carolina)	Sales Consultant Part-Time Verizon RetaileVictra (OR-Baker City)	Baker City
FlexIT Inc	Business Systems Analyst - Accounts Payable	Beaverton
Nike	Lead Project Manager, Stores Brand Marketing	Beaverton
Caring Places Management	Noc Shift Caregivers	Bend
Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette	Retail Cashier	Bend
Emerald Fields Farm	Cannabis Farm Worker	Central Point
Pear Valley - Central Point, OR	Medication Technician-Medication Passer	Central Point
Autism Spectrum Therapies	Behavior Therapist, Autism (ABA) - Entry Level!	Clackamas
Monarch Hotel and Conference Center	Bellman/Shuttle Driver (PT)	Clackamas
Jon-don Llc	Field Sales Representative - Concrete	Clackamas
RV Country	Customer Service - Parts Department	Coburg
Bayside Terrace Assisted Living & Memory Care	Medication Technician Assisted Living	Coos Bay
North Bend Medical Center	Hospitalist - Internal Medicine	Coos Bay
Robert Half	VP/Director of Finance	Coos Bay
Ziply Fiber	Commercial Sales Account Executive	Coos Bay
Willamette Valley Cancer Institute & Research Center	Pharmacy Admix Tech	Corvallis
Timberhill Place	Medication Aide/ Caregiver (FT)	Corvallis
Swire Coca-Cola	Merchandiser	Corvallis
Corvallis Clinic Business Office	Claims Accounts Receivable Processor	Corvallis
Radiant Medical Staffing	Certified Medication Aide (CMA)	Corvallis
Sunset Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing	Dispatcher	Dallas
Chalice Brands Ltd.	Chalice Farms Product Specialist Budtender - Dundee	Dundee
Indulge Distribution	Brand Representative	Eugene
Kendall Auto Group	Lot Attendant	Eugene

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings , feel free to comment here if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

Part One: What it's All About
We must slowly build on my first post, Space Military Structure, which gave a very rough overview of militarism in general, and the types of overarching warfare you might want in your space opera (which I call the four spatial forms, or modes). Now, it's time to actually dig a little deeper on some of the points. I shall gift a strong bias towards WWII. Not because there is nothing of use or import, or importance, from old warfare -- but because it requires too many words, and is not closely related enough to typical space opera. WWII also sets the stage for (almost) everything that came after it, and also saw the height of military leadership under George C. Marshall (U.S.). Although this is biased towards the Americans (U.S.) and the Nazis (Germany proper), you can borrow and alter such systems, doctrines, tactics, leaders, and so on as you require for your own setting/story/military, etc. Just warning you of the primary focus.
Note: I may write on the Communist/Soviet and Japanese side of things in the future. But, beyond a few worthy connections, I cannot possibly detail out the entirety of WWII! I shall just say that some great sources/places in this way would be the Soviet Union (circa 1922-1950), Japan (circa 1931-1945), the Ba'ath Party, and the Hutts (Star Wars; fictional). These have some things in common, actually. More so, the latter. Namely, they are generally what you might call 'Persian style ruling'. They are hyper-wealthy kings or king-type figures, literally living 'like kings', as they enslave everybody else. That's a bit harsh on the Persian Empire, of course, but you get the general theme/motif here, as it did apply to a number of Persian Kings (Darius III comes to mind as a bad ruler). This sort of direction also moves much more in line with classical empire-building and kingdoms, in that it's hereditary (i.e. ruling family, by blood). So, the exact source you focus on depends on the type of setting/story you have, and the governance thereof. (Of course, Stalin's Russia had the feel of Imperialist Russia whilst actually being much more in line with Hitler's Germany, at most levels, so it's quite a complex machine -- likely given its Catholic, nationalist roots, fused with the modernist, secularist Communism.)
In the Nazi context, of course, this was seen through the lens of a 'realm' (Reich), a kind of 'secular empire' which was not built upon a royal family, but a *personalist dictator (*with major focus on both militarism and propaganda; thus, the people themselves), where the 'blood' concept was shifted from 'ruling family' to 'the nation itself' (the Germans or 'German body' (singular)). This was also felt in a number of other nations, but Hitler's Germany is primary, and the direct source for most major space opera since 1940, so it's highly relevant for our purposes (almost always taking the side of the villains/evil empire, of course -- either in a simple-minded sort of narrative, or a more complex one (a la Star Wars (1977)).
The Americans, of course, had the President. I heard, from Douglas Murray around the time of King Charles' Coronation, that there is an innate tendency of humans towards a hereditary structure (this seems possible enough). We are obsessed with families. This makes logical sense. With this in mind, he defended the existence of the symbolic royal family of England, as a way to 'release' all of that feeling and desire at the national level.
He contrasted it with the American system, and looked to modern America to show its possible faults in this way. America became heavily obsessed with the 'first family', such as 'the Clintons'. Clearly overlaying this older framework onto the American system, which is innately unwise and unhelpful. Not only was the original idea that the President would be rather small, in terms of both power and interest -- but that his family would mean little. Hence, they took the title of president -- as in, 'president of the golf club' or, 'president of the school board'. This was not to replace 'king' or 'emperor' in any sense at all. Quite the contrary. A truly remarkable, and rare, shift in human governance. But, since the 1920s or so, this system seems to have fallen into a more European, kingly form (i.e. big government, and hyper-focus on the president). Just something to consider, if you're aiming at a generic democratic, republican type system. You need to be aware of what is likely to happen, and why, and what is required for X (pre-1920s American system) or Y (post-1920s American system). Of course, globalisation was a factor post-WWI, so you have to take your culture in relation to the wider setting (assuming you have different cultures and peoples trading/living with one another). - But, what is war all about? My understanding would be that war is about five things (in random order): (1) Defence/peacekeeping/protection (both in-country and overseas, etc.); (2) Expansion/general stability and growth -- often greed and akin to totalitarianism); (3) Emotional regulation (at the individual level); (4) Conflict resolution (religious wars, wars over land, etc. -- not that all of these are just); (5) National unity (not always positive -- and closely related to emotional regulation, among other factors and traits, and sub-traits; often (but not always) bleeds over into racial unity and purity)
Obviously, this is quite a simple picture, and war is very complex. But, this is good enough for writing space opera. Every single one of these is key; however, we (likely) want some kind of evil empire to fight, which means all of this needs to be nested in the framework of total war or the Nazi Lebensraum concept. This is primarily under (a) emotional regulation; and (b) expansion. Although Germany had major internal, and some external conflicts and issues circa 1870-1918, this alone was not enough to justify the birth -- and growth -- of Nazism for purely defence or conflict resolution reasons.
Part Two: Hitler's Total War
The primary focus must be on expansion (growth; primarily, beginning around 1927 due to mass starvation, etc.; coupled with totalitarian notions), emotional regulation, and national unity, in relation to Nazi Germany. The only other key element to throw in there would be the requirement to actually solve their major internal problems, but this did not innately require Nazism. But, by the fate of history, it was highly likely to be dealt with by either the Nazis or the by-then Stalinist Communists (which had become quite popular by 1932, at the height of the Depression in Germany).
To quote a German (long after the war): 'It was not a question of whether we were going to become a dictatorship [circa 1932], it was a question of the kind of dictatorship we were going to get: a Nazi dictatorship or a Communist dictatorship'.
Sadly, then, due to the state of affairs at this time, there was no hope for Germany to ever become a non-dictatorship through the 1930s and 1940s. The stage was already set for so many complex, interesting, confusing reasons. A primary problem, noted by Hitler himself, was the general state of Germany itself by 1920 or so (which had actually been a growing problem, and many-faceted since 1870). He writes about this in Mein Kampf (1925), and calls it so: Weimar Republic. This became the normative term by the 1930s. To translate Hitler's thinking: he meant it in the context of, 'the Ally puppet republic -- broken, weak, anti-German republic -- of the city of Weimar, not at all speaking to Germany or the Germans'.
Hitler was mostly correct about that, and many Germans agreed with him (including many pro-German socialists; hence, the name. In the first place, there was a major socialist arm of the Nazi (National Socialist) Party). He was able to weaponise this, and demand radical governmental change to solve some of their internal issues, including the Depression itself.
We should step back a moment. By WWI, Germany was already a fragmented, confused nation -- and there was a rapid growth of pro-war actors and groups by 1914, including Hitler himself. By 1920, Germany was crushed into the mud (quite literally), which gave way for Hitler and others to become seriously radical actors. One issue across Germany at this time was the basic governmental system itself, as the old President, Paul Von Hindenburg, was not up to the task of a modern Germany: but, he had one theme through him -- he hated Hitler. Now, Hitler had learnt from his failed Putsch back in 1923. He learnt to play the system (which he simply called 'the System', not an uncommon theme for a revolutionary group). As a result, he had the idea to take Germany, not so much by force, but by popular vote. And, that's what he did.
However, the Nazi Party's growth was slow, only reaching great power by 1927 or so (more so, 1932), due to: (a) The Depression; (b) Superior propaganda tactics; (c) Positive vision for the future (the Communist were rather unhelpful and depressive -- note, this does not mean that the Nazi vision was objetively positive, it was merely what they were handing to the Germans, in a pro-German context); (d) Extreme street-level violence (akin to the Communist side); (e) Trans-classist outreach (i.e. they tried to reach just about everybody, across the classes and groups, including (1) women; (2) working classes; and (3) the middle/upper classes; and (f) Hitler's remarkable oratory skills, and modern campaigning (i.e. travelling to every town and city he could, speaking directly to the voters, which was quite rare back then, believe it or not)
Shockingly, however, the Communist side was also hyper-popular, and used many of the same tactics and methods by 1932. Hitler saw major victories across this period (1928-1932), almost becoming President (yes, he ran for President). It was not until the famous, and final 'true' German election in 1933 that Hitler won out and became ruler of Germany. But, again: the race was quite close, but the numbers spoke for themselves. By now, Germany (tens of millions of voters) were not voting for the generic socialist or even German parties as they had done back in 1927, but only the two most extreme: Nazi and (semi-pro-German/Stalinist) Communist.
Almost instantly (around two months) did Hitler begin his process of Germanisation (Nazification). We already know from his early speeches and writings that he had such plans in place as early as 1921, give or take (with certain scholars claiming that Hitler had such visions in mind, back in 1914 or prior). The other major view of Hitler's Germany is that it was more of a co-op effort between the Party and the Germans, and that Hitler slowly came to his ideas and policy choices as time went on. Since there is great evidence for both of these visions, I must take a combined view, and say that Hitler had certain ideas/goals from the beginning, with others being later creations and plans.
Regardless, we know one thing for certain: Hitler aimed at total war, and he -- for a short period -- achieved it. Although notions of 'total war' reach back into Prussian and French history (among others), the real birth of it is Nazi Germany, by the mid-1930s (though both the Soviet Union and Fascist Italy may be of note), followed by Japan (more so under the singular ruling Party circa 1942).
We take such things for granted today, even confusing 'war' (as such) with 'total war'; however, we know the differences, and they are profound. First of all, Hitler's shift towards total war is clear by quite a rare notion: the total removal of the law of war. The singular 'law of war' can be understood as the 'fairness of war' or 'moral of war' (not to be confused with the 'art of war', which often speaks to an overarching theory of warfare by a given figure (such as de Saxe or Sun Tzu), which may or may not include core elements of fairness).
The second primary element at play, which you do not see in generic cases of war, is the total militarisation of the nation, of the people.
You likely understand all of this more in the fictional context, than the historical. I could mention the Empire from Star Wars, or the Klingons from Star Trek. They are, in a sense, low-resolution images or caricature of the Nazi machine. This is because the Nazi machine itself is a sort of caricature and is almost impossible to believe. That is how innately anti-human the system was and how anti-Western in its fundamental formulation and doctrines.
But, if you want to your evil empire justice -- or, indeed, want to create a more 'neutral' military empire, then you need to really understand the origins, doctrines, feelings, and core mechanisms and utopian goals of Nazi Germany, beyond the surface notion of, 'evil Fascists'. That's just not enough.
Part Three: What is Enough?; How Did Nazi Germany Function, if at All?
Well, you have to try and put yourself in the shoes of a typical Germany citizen during 1932, first of all. Imagine that you're naturally pride of your nation, history, and people/culture. Imagine that you're on the street without work or food. Imagine that you're being attacked, literally and symbolically, from the Russians/Communists from the north, and the French/Americans/British from the south and west.
Then, imagine you are filled with shame over the horrible defeat of WWI, and forced shame from the Allies, and the massive war tax, keeping the Germans poor and unfit. And, imagine that you're seeing a very arrogant, powerful, free, wealthy France take more and more of your land, and build up its own army around you. That would make anybody not only angry but extremely desperate and confused, with a burning desire for nationalism and the end to this state of affairs. Throw in an unhealthy dose of pro-German/anti-French (and anti-British and anti-Jewish) propaganda, complete with the already extreme anti-Semitic notions in the air (since at least 1880), and you have set the stage for such a shift of power.
After all, the Jews had their own sub-cultures and wealth, and were not deemed to be 'part of the German body' at all. On top of this, they were deemed as the murderer of God himself (from the Christian view), so it was not a leap for them to shift the blame from the Germans to the Jews, in relation to WWI. Being blamed for WWI and held in the mud by the French was too much for them to handle, once you throw in mass starvation and a broken internal structure.
It's not so much a question to me, that Nazism became the state power, but that it didn't happen sooner. This shows the primary strength of the average German through the 1920s, to still believe in some generic system and free Germany -- not to fall into Communism or Nazism so easily. Sadly, by 1932, this was too much -- and Hitler had his own large paramilitary force by this stage (early on, known as Stormtroopers (I'm sure you know this term from Star Wars)), so shutting down citizens was an easier task.
At that stage, you are likely capable of creating your own sturcture of this sort, for your own space opera wastory. You can really understand how such a system could be created; and why the average man would possibly vote for it.
This is also required to understand military thinking in general. Indeed, a lot of what was going through the average German soldier's head applied to America and almost every other nation, as it spoke to basic values and rituals and doctrines: honour, duty, nationalism, family, and freedom.
(See Christopher Browning's book, Ordinary Men. Jocko actually talks about it on his podcast at one point. Here, Browning goes through a pretty average, pre-Hitler German police unit, which was compelled into Hitler's Germany by the late-1930s. Mostly, older, generic German men. It goes through their journey from perfectly normal policemen into insane mass murderers. How? The same way you reach hell: one, small step at a time. This book single-handedly removes any notion that only special men can be evil, only special men can be killers. Much more difficult to factor into your moral framework is the reality that these are often not special at all -- but ordinary.)
In the case of Nazi Germany itself, this is made much more complex by its bedrock structure, which largely remained until 1942. As I alluded to earlier, one Prussian concept that remained was the idea of going above your superior's head. This came from the time when captains and such had some real power as mid-ranking officers, yet were filled by noblemen and such, that had no idea what they were doing. As a result, the actual soldiers and thinkers below the rank of captain were able to go around said nobleman, to complain to the higher-ups, or to actively take over the nobleman's duties. Hitler ultimately kept this system in place, and even played on it, to create major internal rivalry. This was a fairly decent method in some cases, for a short period; however, it became an unworkable mess by 1942, which is when Hitler finally solved the problem. The problem was, he solved it in a very foolish way, mostly under the KHO (high command), leaving the army disconnected, and hardly paying attention to the other branches by this time. The KHO was not up to the task, due to lack of size and talent.
The other major change he made was utter obeisance up the chain of command. This brought a new problem, however: now, instead of a local officer of mid-rank going over the head of a slightly higher-ranked officer (either to Hitler or otherwise), he now had to obey every order of said commandeofficer, without question or fail. No matter what.
Thus, we now enter the final primary stage of Nazi Germany circa 1943-1945. This is the 'downfall stage', and also the infamous stage of 'just following orders' (as noted as the primary defence plea at the trials). When a Nazi said, 'I was just following orders', what he really meant was, 'I'm not to blame the crime, because I was demanded, almost by divine command, to follow the order, no matter what that order was'. The trials took this into account, and understood the concept well enough, since it was fairly in place in America and England, though this saw a generally less extreme form, and most orders were actually decent from the American command during WWII. Nonetheless, this led to the almost impossible reality of the trials ending with a fair number of either free Nazis, or at least short prison terms. Of course, all top-ranking Nazi Party members were found guilty, regardless of their plea (which ultimately placed all blame on Hitelr himself, at the top of the chain).
Be mindful of such a framework in your own space military structure. One negative outcome of this by 1943, was that the high-ranking Nazis handed most of their duties down the chain of command; thus, forcing lower and lower ranked officers to perform more and more duties. At times, this led to the failure to complete said duties/tasks, or poor judgement. It also gave supreme power to the mid-ranking officers, as they de facto took on the role of the higher-ups. Since these high-ranking officers were many in their numbers and were widespread at all levels (location, ability, plans, etc.), it led to the complete confusion of the Nazi machine and war effort. Of course, this was somewhat the case since 1939, anyway. But, it became even worse by 1943, as Hitler fragmented everything to ensure his own position of power (after all, his worry was, having an actually functional system, like the Americans, would gift far too much power to the generals and other Party members; thus, they could easily overthrow him).
Either way, despite Hitler's supreme focus on his 'singular vision' for Germany (which he also stressed in Mein Kamf), he made some very foolish mistakes, and was dealing with such an innately broken, evil system that he couldn't possibly ensure such things. For example, as early as 1940, we saw major differences in how the generals and leaders of the Gaue, etc. treated their subjects and tasks. For example, when Germany invaded Poland, there was mixed understranding as to how to treat the Polish and others, and how all of this should proceed. It became such a confused mess that some of the leaders wanted to pretty much Germanised the existing Poles, take their land, re-educate them, and take them in as new Reich Citizens (more so, if they were found to be German in any way, at the level of blood). On the other hand, other leaders of the now-annexed Poland wanted to outright murder all the Poles, regardless of their German blood or other considerations.
This sort of cross-purpose working was almost the norm by 1942 across Nazi Germany: again, partly enforced by Hitler himself with his 'rough orders' sort of leadership. Hitler also had the notion that by forcing in-fighting, he would sit back and see who came out on top; thus, ensuring that the best man did the job/task. But, this was a heavily incomplete theory, to say the least.
Back to Star Wars, for a moment: there is some indications that this is how the Empire ran, as well; hence, the horrible leadership of the Empire and its ultimate downfall.
To end the thread of Nazi Germany (for now), I shall point your attention towards the utter secularisation, utopianisation of the society. By 1937, Nazi Germany was not only one of the most powerful cultures on Earth, with one of the greatest standing armies in history, but it had one of the most 'modern' (i.e. post-WII) social systems in place, which included the likes of cheap cruise trips and holiday sites and entertainment items (radios, etc.), primarily aimed at the working classes. Of course, most of this was only possible due to literal blood money and was primarily geared towards propaganda and total Nazification.
At the same time, Hitler began to re-shape Germany in his own image: removing all Jewish (and then Christian/Roman) elements from society... and history. He even tried to re-write the Bible with a so-called Fifth Gospel, as to replace Jesus (a Jew) with a Germanic figure. This failed as the people largely rejected such; however, atheism and secularism in general were radically enforced through the late-1930s and 1940s, and classical faith dropped massively.
At the level of government, Hitler crafted a semi-centralised system, with local rulers (of a district or Gau) that had near-total imperium (meaning, power over their area and subjects). This massively unified Germany and the flow of the culture, come the fragmented, hyper-localised system of the old Germany. Of course, this itself was a struggle to put into place, and by 1942, it was also clear that it's not so easy to control people: they have social networks and sub-systems of their own, and these are the primary driving forces behind settlement structures and otherwise.
Hitler had some sense of this, more so at the border to France, but like with many other fundamental problems of Germany (such as the large anti-Nazi Christian movement), he wanted to put it off until victory.
This is an unwise tactic, if the problems keep growing, as they did. It reminds me somewhat of the Japanese tactic of winning through, 'faith in victory'. Well, victory does not magically appear: you have to actually work towards victory in a stable, logical way. Of course, as I alluded to earlier: the Nazis had major problems in place as early as 1939, so entering/creating the war itself was a grave mistake (as the generals told him at the time). Keep this in mind. You need to actually create a real, functional, multi-faceted system, and a core generalship. You need all the branches working with one another. And, you need to maybe not take over the world, because that's a horrible idea and very difficult. It also helps if you don't waste money and time killing all the Jews and Poles, etc. as you're losing the war. That's just illogical. Then again: the Nazis are not very logical, even Hitler as logical as he was at times. The failed invasion of Russia was also a major issue, but was likely not as big an issue as the other combined factors, actually!
Part Four: Good Generalship
Speaking of generals and the failure of Hitler's leadership, for a more stable evil empire -- or for your other faction/'good guys', you might want to look to America during WWII. Not perfect, of course, and I cannot defend all of its choices or systems or reasoning, but it's certainly one of the best systems that we saw (and there is every indication that America's generalship and army leadership has only become worse since 1945). I also recall some stories of the Navy having some major struggles, too, and just overall downfall of its culture and traditions (begininng as ealry as the 1970s). For example, drinking mostly died out in the Navy by the 1990s, and so the bars were shut down on bases, etc.
One problem with this was the lack of 'telling story' (as they say). This is when the men would meet in the bar, tell stories of war, of the great heroes -- get inspired, and wiser, with any luck. Not sure how widespread this is, but the storytelling and social meeting element of this seems to come back somewhat since then. This is just one example of something deeply important to sailors, and you remove such at your own risk. You need to 'tell story', you need to be inspired, you need to have naval heroes to look up to. The same logic applies to the soldiers of the Army, too.
It's almost like the soul was ripped out of the American military in the 1950s, and it has struggled to put it back in ever since.
So, what did the generalship of WWII look like? What can we learn from it? Well, we have to turn to one George C. Marshall. But, first, let's go back to 1939. America had a standing army of about 200,000 men: pretty standard for peacetime. Very small. By 1945, Marshall stood down a force of over 10 million. Beginning around 1942, America went from a fairly minor military power with relatively little spending, to the greatest military power in the world -- likely, in history.
It all began in WWI, as it turns out. In the first place, the Americans shifted to a more European system by this time, which largely remained through WWII. This is where they got their division system from, and all their numbering systems and such.
Despite popular belief, the Nazi military was not great, logistically speaking. They were good, and tried very hard to fight dozens of nations at once, and deal with tens of millions of people -- but their systems and talent were just not up to the task. It's often noted that the Nazis could not even out-do the Polish counter-intelligence by 1940!
The U.S. military, on the other hand, was elegant beyond measure. You can get a sense of this via its Navy, paying close attention to its ID system, almost impossible turn-over of Victory ships, and its battleships and otherwise major vessels. These are iconic for a reason, and still command and defend the waters of the world today (along with the British submarines and others).
Well, it's worth noting that the Americans were actually fighting for freedom, not just food or world control, like the Nazis and German citizens were. The Americans were also not really forced into battle, unlike the Germans. On top of this, the Americans -- largely thanks to Marshall -- had a profound merit-based system. Nazi Germany, on the other hand, was so racially biased as to be almost self-defeating. Often, for example, high-ranking civil positions, such as a factory chief, would be a Nazi member, regardless of his abilities. On the other hand, if a great worker looked 'too Jewish' he would never be hired (this was mostly done by photo ID, and was understood via big noses and otherwise features).
Although America had its own major racial issues at this time, and was not wonderfully fond of Jews, it had enough wisdom and goodness to primarily focus on merit and ability.
Returning again to WWI for a moment, Marshall himself noted that there was a complete failure of the system. It had hardly moved on for over 100 years (which is to be imagined, as a military system innately requires stability and a lack of change). But, this was too much... the world was changing, and the military was not. Marshall had the wisdom and ability to fix this during WWII as Chief of Staff with extreme power and focus. First of all, he outright fired any general or otherwise not up to the task of WWII. Not even joking. He literally walked up to them, and fired them on the spot. He fired them if they were (a) too old; (b) too aggressive; (c) not aggressive enough; and/or (d) too illogical/stupid.
He would entirely remove them, or relocate them to other positions, where they were either of use, or out of the way.
So, by 1942, Marshall rallied for great action from America, and began his process of re-shaping the American generalship. He did so across a few dimensions. First of all, he understood that America was not Prussia or France or England. He understood that America had its own values and rituals: he lent into that and used it. This was the birth of the American military we see today, to the degree that it's functional and proper. Most of all, this bled down the ranks, to the soldier himself. This is where we get the 'cocky, arrogant American soldier' from. This actually began as a very good thing, showing supreme faith, bravery, and optimism. He made it really easy for us... he wrote a list! I do love a good list...
The four qualities (well, really, about seven) a good general or leader requires, according to Marshall, circa 1920 (in a letter). Clearly, written just after WWI and everything he saw therein:

• Optimism
• Bravery and dutifulness
• Extreme loyalty
• Hopefulness and resolve

Note: An added bit of interest might be that we can blame Marshall for why America has a 'General of the Army' instead of a 'field marshal' (like Europe, etc.). They thought it would be unthinkable to have a 'Marshal Marshall', so by luck of the gods, his name was entirely the wrong name for the job when it came time, in late-1944, for the first ever modern rank of 'marshal', or General of the Army). This is a five-star rank, just above general (full general/four-star general).
(In theory, the six-star general rank would be 'General of the Armies' (plural), though this rank no longer exists in any real sense, though it does apply to Washington, since 1976. In a German context, this is 'Reichsmarschall' (Reich Marshal; which applied to Goring only), one rank above 'field marshal' -- which is also known as 'marshal', 'general field marshal', or 'field marshal general'. Interestingly, Hitler had wanted Goring to take command, if anything should happen to him. But, Goring asked Hitler directly for command towards the end of the war, which made Hitler so angry as to call for his death. I guess, he hurt Hitler's ego, to say the least.)

Starting off by saying my dog is a great dog. She’s easily trainable, listens well, and loves everyone and everything. That being said I don’t know HOW to fix a few things.. hoping you can help.

1. Squirrels and rabbits take her past threshold and I can’t figure out how to make progress with it. I had a trainer who trained me in using an ecollar and it’s helped tremendously with recall and all that fun stuff. I can have her off leash now (for the most part, in areas I trust and know - it’s still a relatively new tool for me (~6mos)) and usually walk her off leash in a big soccer field complex near my house where I can always see her even if she were to run off, which she never has. Today I was walking her off leash in a house development and she saw a rabbit and bolted after it and I couldn’t see her because she went into a backyard. Because i couldn’t see her I didn’t know where to direct my recall to and I was just calling into oblivion. Eventually she reappeared and I was able to recall her with the ecollar once she got into my sight. SO main question is - how do I neutralize her around squirrels and rabbits so that I can trust her?!? The trainers I’ve had have given me tactics that have maybe helped a little bit, but not completely
   
2. People outside my house. I live on a quiet street so not often are there a bunch of people outside my house but people like neighbors, FedEx, etc. she barks extremely loud at them. No clue how to get it to stop. I try redirecting, I try a leave it command, etc. it’s gotten a little better with some of that but again, would like it to stop. She’s clearly an anxious dog and I haven’t had a trainer help fix that as the root problem yet.
   

Thank you!!

Looking to meet some new people to hangout with online and/or maybe meet in person down the road. Or maybe just message throughout the day and be office buddies, talking about the latest shows, movies or games if you're working from home completely or hybrid!
If we do end up meeting up, can probably go to the dog park (if you have dogs), eating out at cafes/restaurants or checking out the local activities like archery or the queens night market (I do drive!)
Don't want to include too much here as I'd rather leave that for conversation starters but here's some basic info:

• 34 year old male Asian male (March birthday)
• Single
• Local to Queens
• Vaccinated
• Has a car
• Works in the IT field - Specifically systems/infrastructure/virtualization/cloud/IAM
• Plays video games/board games. Currently playing Fire Emblem Engage and Star Rail
• Listens to all types of music
• Tech enthusiast
• Enjoys eating new food/desserts
• Trying to play some tennis again
• Used to do photography as a hobby with my d750 DSLR. But with iPhones and such being easy access with high quality, started doing it less

You:

• Female
• Asian preferred but open to others
• Around my age, give or take though I'm not too picky.
• Maybe works in the IT field for more relatable work chats
• Initiate conversations from time to time
• Loves to try new food
• Prefers/loves dogs - I have two Australian Shepherds

I hope this question is related enough to stay on this subreddit. I'm a 21 year old student currently in a linking course (schakelprogramma) to start a master's programme next year.
I've been thinking about FIRE for a few years already, I doubt it's really healthy for someone my age to be worrying about this in all honesty. The thought of having to live paycheck to paycheck living an average life, falling for the trap of working a comfortable 9 to 5 job and not daring to get out of my comfort zone while not earning nearly enough money to even dream about FIRE gives me the shivers.
I finished my professional bachelor's last year and it went pretty much flawless and wasn't that much of a challenge. This year though, my linking course has made me absolutely miserable. It is definitely a challenge although not impossible but the work that I have to put in to something for at least another 1 and a half year has made me feel for the first time in my life that life is passing me by. Everyday I need to make myself look forward to things so that the studying (and the student lifestyle that I've started getting tired of) makes me feel less miserable. I don't want the majority of the time to be something that I need to drag myself through because that's exactly what I feel like living a braindead 9 to 5 job is. I need something that makes me feel energetic and like I'm working directly towards my goals instead of thinking 'this will pay off in 20 years'.
I haven't seriously thought about it but the thought of quitting and making a career off my bachelor's has gotten in my head. Another option is to choose another master's without maths (which is one of the reasons why my current linking programme is a pain in the ass) but one that also doesn't interest me as much. Just for the sake of obtaining a master's. The working field has evolved, l know that less than before you need a master's to build a career. Still, it helps opening doors and giving you a head start and I'm afraid of regretting not obtaining a master's when it's too late and I fall for getting too comfortable with a 9 to 5, no growing opportunities job. One of my main worries is that my bachelor's (business management, finance and insurance) guarantees few interesting starting jobs and too many jobs without growing opportunities. I'd love it if some people could tell me that this is in fact not reality.
I know this is a choice that in the end I will need to be the one to make it but I feel like advice from people with more experience and more or less the same goals is a good way to nudge me towards the right decision. Even if the advice is something I won't like to hear.