America got talent final

My mom 70 (f) ex smoker non drinker. 5'7" 200 lbs and losing (down 25 lbs in a few months due to drastic diet changes) Stroke history, controlled copd, chf, more controlled diabetes, current a1c 7.2 down from 8.9 from 4 months ago, Alzheimers, vascular dementia, I believe 1 coronary stent.
Meds : albuterol inhaler and nebulizer fluid as needed (rare these days), amiodarone as of recent hospital stay, baby aspirin, atorvastatin, donepezil, jardiance, lasix, gabapentin,lantus 24 units, lisinopril, metformin, metoprolol, montelukast, omeprazole, sertraline, trelegy ellipta, warfarin (had stroke on Xarelto).
There are only 2 times in my life where I ever questioned medical care, and that was when I was told by someone on the medical team the ball was dropped. The first time was losing my brother to a misdiagnosed HAI which progressed to septic shock. He died 3 days later. I have PTSD as a result of that as well as the aftermath of with dealing with risk management’s evasiveness.
I try to be very self aware of my many irrational fears since then and do not take what happened to my brother out on any other health care professionals. Sometimes I’m triggered and will leave the room for air to avoid making a scene. What triggers me the most is vagueness and lack of transparency when important questions are asked.
Onward. The 2nd time I ever questioned medical care was a few weeks back when my mom (who I take care of) was admitted to the hospital. She currently is on her 3rd hospitalization in 2 weeks. After her first hospitalization I was told the ball was dropped on her care. It was the absolute last thing I was expecting to hear. Actually, I thought they would be extra safe in the care of my mom as a result of what happened with my brother.
She had a very faint positive home covid test, so faint I questioned if I was seeing things, low o2 levels, but no visible signs of struggles to breathe, and a low grade fever. She was also weak. After calling her PCP’s RN, we were advised to take her to the ED. They admitted her with covid and treated her with steroids and remdesivir and was discharged after 3 days.
1.5 days later she was readmitted with v tach. It was then we found out she wasn’t tested for covid at the first hospital stay, so I brought a home test and it was negative. Doc ordered a rapid test and it was negative. PCR the next day came back negative. Home covid test 5 days before faint positive was negative. She was treated for covid but didnt have covid. Her chest x-rays were clear too.
A few days later when her INR was in range they implanted a defib. We were told that this will correct any possible future v tach’s by shocking the heart back to a normal rate. When I asked what h/r range to look for on her pulse ox, they said not to worry about it, the defib will keep it in range.
She got discharged and 3 days later, last night, I checked her oxygen with the pulse ox, and her h/r was 163. I called 911 immediately and she was re-admitted again in v tach, the defib didnt shock her. Once in the ED they went to read her defib with a (wrong) reader, but it wasn’t working. They asked me which one she had, I had no clue. It took a while for them to find it in her records. They then said they dont have the equipment to read her specific defib and per the on call electrophysiologist, wanted to wait until the rep arrived so they could get a reading before making the next move. We waited for over an hour with her h/r constantly in the 150s-60s. Her blood pressure started to drop a few times, she was sweating profusely and legs were elevated up and head down. Doc was ready to make a move and shock her (with believe 200 volts) if bp got too low. He wouldn’t leave her side in a packed ED. Rep finally arrived and they ended up shocking her with 40 volts via his equipment.
Makes no sense to me (or the ED doc) why hospital would even allow a defib to be implanted if the hospital isnt even equipped to manage it. Isn't time of the essence? IS this common?
Also, we found out later that the sensitivity was set to shock at 170 h/r, hence it not shocking her at 163. That was another frustrating thing. We were told explicitly before this procedure that all future v tachs will be treated immediately with the defib. We were never told about sensitivity levels and were led to believe she would never be at risk again when v tach happens because the defib would take care of it. The lack of education and transparency continually blows my mind. Am I irrational for being upset? I have not lashed out, I am always respectful, but I literally am losing my mind. I’m not expecting perfection either. Can someone help me off the ledge or help me make sense of this? It is not lost on me that my mom has many ailments, I know things will happen, but can the delay in treatment cause more damage to an already damaged heart?

In the next week, I’ll be going to America for my holidays. I’ve been before, but I can’t shake the feeling that it will be dangerous. I’ve been before, but I’ve just got a bad feeling this time.
I’m just nervous cuz obviously Ive heard all sorts of stuff about guns and stuff over there, and I can’t really get it out of my head.
Genuinely I am a little scared that I might die cuz of how hectic it is over there, am I overthinking?

I want to fully elaborate why I do not enjoy this game series. I'm very into any kind of game, any genre I will give a chance. Zelda though, is very boring and always fails to grab my attention.
I've played all of the games except for the really old cartridge based games. I even tried the ds and 3ds games, GameCube games, wii and wii u games, and finally the switch titles. But I just can't bring myself to play it or get into it.
My wife loves Zelda, it's her favorite game series and I watch her play it all of the time. She just got tears of the kingdom and it looks ok at best. It's impressive that the frame rate and quality is high for an open world switch game, I will give it that. But the different dungeons and monsters are so boring. The only real progress I see when spending time with it is getting more heart containers or stamina bar.
I just really dislike how there are so many games that could take it's place in terms of originality. Take the switch for instance. I personally feel that pikmin should be a way bigger IP than Zelda. Way more fun to play.
This is my personal opinion but come on.... I can't be the only one who thinks Zelda is overrated am I?

I had spontaneous labor at 39+6. My doctor had wanted to induce me at 38 weeks for elevated BP but I declined because I wanted to avoid unnecessary interventions and a c section. My BP stayed stable even through birth. I made it to 10 centimeters and everything seemed great. They let me labor down for an hour and then I pushed with the midwife for a half an hour who then told me she wanted to give me a 5 minute break. She was gone for 20 minutes. When she came back she made me wait more because I was running a fever and brought two OBs in. They immediately started telling me I was nearing 4 hours and would have a c section if I couldn't get him out in the next hour and a half. I fought with them and told them I'd barely been pushing and felt abandoned. They then did get a nurse in who worked with me for an hour and a half but they did an ultrasound and said the baby was sunny side up with his hand above his head. Every time I made progress he would go back down. The first midwife before abandoning me had said he was +1 position. With the new midwife he was constantly stuck at -1. They called a c section and I spent the entire time crying. I told them my epidural had worn off and was begging for them to fix it. No one cared. They wheeled me into the ER without my husband and when they finally did try to fix the epidural it wasn't 100 percent and I felt pain when they cut into me. They put me under general anesthesia and I didn't get to see my baby for hours. Thank goodness he's ok besides high bilirubin. But I've spent the entire day crying feeling like I was failed by the medical system. The only thing I had in my birth plan was no c section unless it was an emergency, delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin. I got none of those things. I feel so defeated and they ended up giving me a private room today I'm sure in part because I'm constantly crying. Not having my baby but every 4 or so hours is also causing me a lot of anguish. I'm hoping he'll finish treatment tomorrow so I can keep him all the time and keep working on breastfeeding.
I always thought people were irrespective for having home births but I've been so traumatized by a system that seems to jump to c sections at the earliest convenience I'm going to have a hard time trusting medical professionals again. I feel like I was failed and no one cares and basically just waited around for me to have a c section when I didn't progress quickly enough for them. I also wanted 3 or 4 children and I feel like my plans have been stolen from me. I will need to wait longer between children than I wanted (I'm already almost 32 years old) and I don't know if I want to take the risk of uterine rupture with a VBAC. I'm sure my husband and the staff here is tired of hearing me crying but I feel like the future I planned is over. If I felt like it was actually an emergency I would have coped better but I feel like I was given up on by medical staff and forced into unnecessary surgery. I have never been so heartbroken or in so much pain.

Thank you for 67 responses. Here are the results for the NOC poll I did. Overall PPV is rated out of 10 and the matches out of 5 stars. (Graphic Design is my passion)
The tag match was the highest rated with 4.7 out of 5. I agree with this this was storytelling and booking at its finest. AJ and Seth's WHC match were 2nd with 4.1, what else were we expecting from these two.
Brock vs Cody disappointed me again, I really hope they have a great match next time around. Gunther is genuinely one of the best in-ring performers in the world, his match should've got more minutes and his rating would've been higher. Asuka vs Bianca was a decent match and I think a lot of people are happy to see Bianca finally drop the title. Trish Stratus impressed me looking forward to seeing more heel Trish.
The majority voted for Jimmy Uso as the star of the PPV after he imploded the Bloodline. Agree with this, great booking and looking forward to Smackdown. 2nd Sami Zayn got a massive ovation and the crowd loved him. and 3rd was the new World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, it just had to be there aren't many better than him and he won his first world title in 4 years.
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I don't understand why so many people hype up Kevin to kingdom come. It's like after they showed off how strong he was everyone was willing to take every offhand comment or scene of him in the most ludicrous way. And because I am a spiteful person, I'm gonna make a post just to disprove all that. Specifically three examples.
First: His comment on his final transformation.
His quote?
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Does this mean he could destroy the world? Not really, there's like, a lot of different ways to interpret this.

1. He can only transform into this form when the earth is literally destroyed. Meaning there's nothing left to lose
2. That also implies that if he were to do it earlier he could either endanger the world, or he has limited time in this form, and he will most definitely die after entering this state. Meaning a last last LAST resort.

And if his full powered attack against the final herrscher barely even blew up a small continent sized crater explosion on the moon, then I dunno what to tell you, but that doesn't seem like he destroyed the world.
Mei's statement afterwards that there was nothing to push him is only speculation.
2:The statement about him killing two herschers before mantis surgery.
I dunno why people take this as a testament to his power, it's not. Ya'll are acting like he sprinted in there butt naked without any clothes or weapons aside from a bat maybe and beat the two herrschers to death with his bare hands or a bat or something, and is therefore equivalent to a herrscher while still being human.
Now here's a fact that will get a bunch of fire and hate towards me:
Herrschers aren't that hard to kill
They're only humans wilding godlike power. They don't have the body of a god. They might get a power up from the Herrscher stigmata, but a honkai powered bullet to the heart or head is enough to kill one. The only exceptions are the herrscher of reason or herrscher of death, who can both reconstruct body parts. And storing their consciousness in a core is a very, very advanced technique. Otherwise, Mei wouldn't be killed that easily from a bomb to the heart which even her herrscher form was certain would kill her.
Not even mentioning that most of the previous era herrschers were akin to mindless catastrophes, with only Elysia and maybe PE HOC being able to think, the only real danger of a herrscher was how much destruction they could output in a short period of time, not how unkillable they were. Not to mention, the only two herrschers they really had trouble with killing before the final herrscher were the herrscher of fire and binding, one of which had fire so hot that nothing could approach her, and the other nullified everything in its field.
So Kevin killing two herrschers is impressive, but ya'll can't really use that as a real buffer to his strength. For all we know he just managed to sneak up on the two and did a close ranged headshot. They had the tech to do it after all.
3: That scene of him walking up to a honkai beast with a bat.
There's a bunch of ya'll thinking that just because he's about to face a honkai beast, means that he killed it. It was never stated, never shown that he killed it, I dunno where you got that info from. He's a kaslana, the only realistic explanation is that he saw someone in danger, and tried to distract a honkai beast to save whoever was in danger. NOWHERE does it say he killed it with a baseball bat.
4:conclusion
In conclusion, before he was a mantis, he was not some demigod like beyond human beast that ya'll act like he was. He was just a regular guy, someone(Yeah, gonna say it) got lucky. After that, as a mantis while he was strong, I can't say he was "Blow up a planet" strong in any sort of way.
That's it. That's all I have to say. Now you can point a gun at my head and burn me at the stake. I wrote this while half asleep, bite me.

This is a story about what I went through after taking 250mg of delta-8. I’m trying to find out the signifigance, if there is any, and what it could potentially mean. Also, tips on how to NOT go through this again, or at least mitigate the chances of such a thing happening again are quite welcome
It started out with me taking 250mg of delta-8 after a long day at work. I’d never gone that high before, highest dose I’d taken was 25mg. It started out normally, but then it got progressively worse. I could tell things were getting weird when I turned on “The Offering” by Sleep Token and I started to hear angleic choirs in the background that slowly started getting louder and louder until they overpowered the entire song. I turned the song off, because it was freaking me out, and instead started scrolling Twitter. While I was scrolling through Twitter, a green eye popped up on my phone and blinked at me. When that happened I threw my phone across my bed and started freaking out even more. By this point I could barely get up, my whole body felt like jello. My heart started beating really fast, so I tried to calm myself down by playing another song called “Seraph 1” by How To Disappear Completely. Big. Mistake. 20 seconds into the song and I had fallen into a trance-like state staring off into nothing while two voices in my head, one mine, the other some entity, were talking. I don’t remember much of what we said to each other, but I remember the phrase I kept repeating; “I talked to god.” The voices sounded ethereal, floaty, and whispery. Surprisingly kind of high pitched too. I was stuck in that trance-like state for five minutes or so, and when I broke out of it, I had another voice instantly take over and start screaming and shouting in my head, telling me to claw my eyes out. I threw myself back on my bed when the demonic voice stopped, and suddenly eyes started appearing into everything. My chair, the wall, my overhead light, everything. When I focused on a singular point, I would be sent down a spinning tunnel with pyramids that had eyes on them. And then at some point, the repeating happened. I would wake up in my bed, say “No no no wait wait wait wait I don’t like anything about this” over and over and over again,repeating the same movement pattern, speech pattern, everything. I must have repeated that a few times, then realized i needed to get my dad, but I ws ashamed of the state I was in, so I left my room, paced around the kitchen for ten to 15 minutes thinking the same thing, and when I finally worked up the courageto talk to him, I broke down at that point. I started begging on my knees for him to call 911, repeating over and over again how I’m “having a bad trip and I don’t like anything about this” for some reason that phrase triggered something in me and like a robot I started moving the exact same way I did in my room, same pattern same everything. He broke me out of it for a bit, and I started to raise my voice at him. We went outside for a walk, which was a bad idea. I ran ahead of him a lot, screaming and whatnot. Every time I remembered “I don’t like anything about this” I would revert like a robot. My dad kept repeating the same thing to me as well. It was like I relived the same moments over and over again. We got back and I woke my mom up, and she finally called 911. When they arrived, the same stuff kept happening. They kept repeating what they were saying, and we wouldn’t get anywhere. Finally I got onto the ambulance and they drove off, but I relived that ambulance ride several times as well. We got to the hospital and I relived going throughbthe front doors and hallways and whatnot, I relived vomiting on myself, I relived the IV getting put into me. I finally fell asleep and the trip was over by the time I woke up. Feel free to leave any questions below!

Jumped off the Zelda train for years but playing TOTK got me jumping back down all the rabbit holes
Idk where else to post this but if anyone wants to discuss - these are some things I’ve been thinking about regarding the timeline and other lore related stuff:
First of all - Zonai & Oocca are likely one in the same/related
If this is true there is a connection to Zonai/Birds (OoT Rauru turns into an owl BUT could also just be a reference to the animals the Zonai worship - speculation)
But if that is also true that we can see that there is definite proof of Zonai existence in all Zelda timelines:
Child Era with TP’s Sky Island/Ooccoo - I have already seen some discussions on this
Adult era with WW’s Tower of Gods - the aesthetic of this place in general which has also been discussed here already
Decline era with Zelda 2’s Fokka - bird-like warriors in the final temple of Zelda 2.
the decline timeline was harder for me to connect with the Zonai and I’m wondering if there is a reason for that
——
The official timeline shows SS followed by “Sacred Realm is Sealed” & “Hyrule Kingdom is Established” - It is Canon that Sonia and Rauru are the first King/Queen so the past events of TOTK happen after SS, likely far before MC.
——
Sheikah are the descendants of Hylian/Zonai children - this one’s the biggest reach but the coolest one to think about
What do y’all think am I onto stuff or just really nerdy about Zelda again? 😂

Apologies in advance if I break any rules for posting, I'll do my best to adhere to them; I also apologise if this turns out into a bit of an incoherent monologue, but I feel I need to elaborate on a few things in order to paint the proper picture.
I (30M) and my gf (31F) are from the middle of Europe and have been in a relationship since high school, for 11 years now. (Edit: For both of us, this is our first relationship.) At this point, there's not much of a question that we'll get married and have kids together within the next ~2 years. I love her very much and I think she'd be a great mother. We are in similar, very well paying jobs, both having started our careers ca. 15 and 8 months ago. I'm considering quitting my job to go back to university, this time abroad, for a master's degree and my gf doesn't like it. This decision would be in part for professional, but mostly personal reasons.
I'm half British, my English is good but nowhere where I want it to be - I especially don't have a proper accent. For a long time, even back when I was in school, (maybe in part subconsciously), I imagined my adult life (also as a parent) as being able to look back on having made many interesting experiences, such as spending extended periods of time abroad, such as a gap year or studying abroad in university (bear with me, this will become relevant later). I want to pass on language, accent, culture and all that comes with it to my children so that my roots don't die with my parents. My family always encouraged me spending time abroad and fortunately, money wasn't the limiting factor here.
My gf and I got together during high school, and my plan was to go to South America for 5-6 months after high school as my first experience abroad (would have probably been longer, if I hadn't been in the relationship at the time). Due to unfortunate circumstances my stay was cut short to about 3 months. During all of this time and through the whole process, my gf felt very much left alone and was very sad - we skyped pretty much every day, often for several hours or even the entire day. A large chunk of that time was dedicated to crying and being sad about being apart, and comforting her. Of course I wanted to be there for her and be a "good boyfriend" and not downplay her emotions. I felt guilty when I quite frankly just wanted to get off Skype and enjoy my time abroad - so often times I didn't go out, explore and spend time with new friends.
So after this, we both started studying the same course and moved in together in the same town. For 5-6 years, we pretty much had the same routine every day, going to the same lectures etc. I essentially skipped the idea of studying abroad with the Erasmus programme as I knew it would be difficult for our relationship (again), and also in terms of keeping our flat etc. - although I knew that if I wasn't in a relationship, I wouldn't hesitate to do the Erasmus programme for 1 or even 2 semesters.
At the very end of my studies, in year ~6, I did end up going abroad for 1 semester (3-4 months) to the country my "foreign" parent is from. I loved pretty much all of it, including all the typical aspects such as meeting new friends, getting to know the country's culture (drinks and music!), personal growth etc. In the beginning, my gf took my wish to go abroad much better this time, since we knew it would again be only 3-4 months (same as last time in South America) and she supported me. However, I felt the support didn't last long; among other things, she developed what I would describe as jealousy. I had a friend group that I myself was surprised at how quickly such a strong friendship would form. My best friend of the group at the beginning was a girl who was also in a long-term relationship and it was clear for the both of us that there'd be no issue in terms of falling for eachother, infidelity or anything. Nothing ever happened, nor did either of us hope for that or make any moves etc. However, my gf grew more and more suspicious, and when my gf visited me and met my friend group she never really liked any of them. My gf told me later that towards the end of my stay she was convinced that I was cheating on her with that girl (which NEVER happened).
Even just bringing up that girl's name with my gf would, even years later, cause massive arguments, which I would simply avoid by not talking about her or anyone else of that friend group (btw, general personal problem of mine, avoiding difficult conversations in order to keep peace in the relationship as I'm afraid of the argument they will entail). As of today, I haven't spoken to anyone out of that friend group for 3-4 years, even though back then I promised myself I wouldn't give my gf the power to decide who I can be friends with; today I feel like that's exactly what happened. From what I experienced, there were full-on ultimatums involved here.
Last year (admittedly, just very shortly (2 months) before the semester would have begun), I mentioned the idea to my gf that I might want to go abroad again in my parent's home country, this time to study for a master's degree for a whole year. I never felt like I had a "proper" "stay-abroad-experience" from my two 3-month-stints in South America and in Britain, so I would like to do a full year. From a professional standpoint, this degree would increase my value on the job market (but even this, my gf doesn't agree with). From a personal standpoint, it would mean the world to me to learn more about and be closer to my parent's background and my own roots, so that part of our family can live on. My girlfriend can't really understand that and says I don't need to go there for a year to immerse myself and that I could have the same effect if we went to that country on holidays together and I would just practice speaking with an accent to my parent (which I admittedly don't, since I've not spoken English to my father all my life and it's weird to start now). I don't agree that that will have the same effect. Without meaning to sound harsh, but my gf is rather clingy and can't get behind why I might not have as much trouble as her with staying apart for longer. She won't understand that me going abroad is not a decision primarily against her, but for myself - she believes this goes hand-in-hand.
What followed this suggestion of mine was perhaps our biggest fight yet, in which she abruptly broke up with me, only for her to come back a few minutes later apologising and saying she might have made a mistake. (This was not the first time in our relationship that she's done something like this.) She said some very nasty things that I would never think of saying to her - name-calling, screaming, telling me what a terrible boyfriend I am for wanting to leave her alone and deciding against her once again etc.
Our compromise was that I'd postpone that course for a year, that we'd start our job lives together, go on a couple of vacations together etc. Now that year has passed, and whenever I mention the topic, I feel like the whole discussions starts all over again. It's not as bad as last year; instead of her being certain our relationship would end if I went abroad, at least now she's about 60% certain our relationship would survive it, but she can't make any promises. She will try, but what happens, happens.
Her arguments are: I'd be leaving her alone once again, for a third time, and this time for a whole year instead of just 3 months like the last 2 times. Our time as independent adults is running out, since if I should go abroad, I would return at age 33, she would be 31-32. We would not be married yet but would want children, which in her (and admittedly, maybe also my own) opinion would be a bit late for her at 31-32. We would not have had a lot of time as independent adults, seeing as we both make a good living we would able to have great vacations/travels together. She also thinks the argument for a professional benefit of the degree is redundant as there's no benefit to it (which I don't agree with). I would be able to follow my personal reasons (see above) by going on trips to the UK every now and then (which I also don't agree with). She can't really comprehend my personal reasons and almost ridicules them. This hurts me. She also thinks that we may grow apart (fair enough), but more specifically grow apart in that she will have "developed further" than I would as a student. She doesn't like the idea of herself being a responsible adult making good money, 2-3 years into her first job, and possibly marrying someone who's coming from being a student to getting back into working life and possibly being broke (she has understandable issues with financial stability; in our big fight mentioned above, she said she won't say "yes" to my proposal if I'm broke and she's got money as there'd be nothing that I would bring to the table -- she has since retracted that statement. As I said, she says nasty things in fights).
I'm aware that I painted a picture here that's fairly one-sided. But I must say that I myself am also struggling with the decision insofar as at this point I can only imagine my life and a family with this person and don't want to lose her. For the event that we would break up, I dread the idea of being responsible for her never starting her own family if she doesn't find another partner before she gets too old to have a family. She's not the type of personality that would develop a strong enough bond with another person over the course of only 1-2 years to have children (which is when she'd be in her mid 30s; she said this about herself as well).
However, I'm not sure I can give up on this dream of mine of going abroad for a year just to appease my girlfriend who is otherwise threatening me with a break up. I need to get clarity for myself on whether I even want to, on an abstract level, marry and start a family with a person who expressly can't "really" support me in going abroad even if it's my dream and in the heat of an argument tells me she won't marry me if she has more money than I do.
... my apologies for the rambling!
So my question is: What do I do? Do I risk my relationship or bite the bullet to stay in it for the long run?
TLDR: My (31M) gf (30F) of 12 years doesn't support me in my dream of studying abroad for 1 year which would allow me to further explore my roots, but instead makes clear that there's a fair chance our relationship wouldn't survive it. My fear is that (1) we will break up, and in that case (2) I will feel responsible for her potentially never having a family of her own. Do I suck it up and give up on my dream to study abroad, in order to follow our dream of having a family and growing old together?

Original prompt: [WP] It was decreed that a human would bear twins. One an Angel, the other a Devil. Each would be given to the opposite species to teach them about respect and love. It's been five years and the Fallen Angel who came up with the idea is eager to know how the twins are doing. (link)
Bethany Fray looked at the assembled figures around the table and sighed. It had been months since she'd seen any of them, including her own children, and she was glad this whole... experiment was finally coming to an end.
At one end of the table was Galia the Gilded, 14th angel of the circle of brass, and Bethany's sister in law. She was wearing her finest astral silk robes, and had brought her charge to the meeting, the now 18 year old Natalia Fray. Natalia was also dressed in fine astral silk, and seemed to wear it with pride in spite of the fact that the massive jagged spikes growing out of her shoulders didn't allow the robe to rest as easily as it should. She was also utterly oblivious to the room around her as she was busy tinkering with some kind of metal object instead of watching the boring adults talk about boring legal papers.
On the other side was Tharalax the Beheader, 9th demon of the pit of ire. He was garbed in black spiked armor, and had brought along his own protege, the 18 year old James Fray. James hadn't dressed up in armor, but was instead wearing a loincloth, iron bracers, and a metal chain wrapped around his torso, which looked quite strange on his lithe angelic frame. It did show of the few tattoos etched across his chest, but as the meeting was one of business it seemed rather inappropriate. His expression conveyed mostly frustration, but it seemed more like sulking than any sort of anger directed toward anyone present.
"So we're in agreement then? All the T's are dotted and the I's crossed?" Tharalax asked.
"Tharalax, it's cross the T's and dot the I's," Galia said.
"Same difference," Tharalax said.
"Yes, I believe that's it. Now we just have to wait for the... absentee to arrive," Bethany said.
The group waited in silence for a moment, as nothing happened.
"Well, that would've been a fine time for him to show up, but my brother has never been known for his punctuality," Galia said.
It was at that moment that the door burst open, and the fallen angel Yariel stumbled in, a wine bottle in his hand. His physical appearance was immaculate, but his posture and tardiness were much more representative of his actual personality.
"Hey everyone! I see we're all doing dandy!" he said. He swayed to the side, nearly falling over before catching himself and taking a drink from his bottle. "Well, let's get this party started, eh? Find out what our kids have been up to for the past few years!"
"Yariel, the agreement was that we check in every year. It's been fourteen, and this is the first meeting you actually showed up for," Bethany said.
"Fourteen years? Ah jeez, well you know how time flies when you're having fun!" Yariel said.
"Right... Well, I guess we should summarize for my ex-deadbeat," Bethany said.
"Whoa now, who are you calling a de- wait, did you say ex?" Yariel said.
"Yes. I assume you didn't check your mail? Here, I brought a copy of the divorce papers with me," Bethany said, sliding a folder full of papers across the table to the fallen angel.
"Hey, come on, Beth, baby, we could still make this work," he said.
"It's been almost a year since I began the proceedings and almost 17 months since we last saw each other," Bethany said.
"It's just a little hiccup, I've been busy with all that business in the underworld," Yariel said.
"Our relationship wasn't that good to begin with, Yariel! I haven't been truly happy in over a decade! I still can't believe you sent our babies off just to avoid having to raise them," Bethany said.
"Hey! This was an important diplomatic project!" Yariel said.
Galia cleared her throat to cut off the argument before it heated up any more.
"Bethany, you don't need to justify yourself, five of the six people in this room agree that you're in the right," she said. "Now, since my idiot brother has been appointed, despite any common wisdom or decency, as the arbiter between the planes, we do technically need to keep him in the loop."
"Really feeling the love, sis," Yariel said.
"Young Miss Natalia has undergone the finest schooling available in the heavens. The kind of schooling which her father shirked so regularly we could almost set a clock to it, but which she has taken to like a duck to water. In fact, just a month ago we received word that she has been accepted to one of the most prestigious trade schools in the astral plane," Galia said.
"Oh, well great! So things are going well then?" Yariel asked.
"...Yes, brother. Things are going... Well," Galia said, the disgust audible in her voice. "And since Bethany has just made it clear that you are incapable of opening your own mailbox, I will deliver this notification myself."
Galia pulled an envelope out of her robe, sliding it across the table toward him, right next to the folder containing the divorce papers.
"Uh..." Yariel said.
"Since I'm not even sure you remember how to read, I will explain posthaste," Galia said, her voice speeding up, to the point of rattling off like a machine gun as she got going. "You are, as we all know, banished from the heavens, and that has not changed, so given that young Natalia will be busy at school for the next few years, and possibly remaining in the heavens indefinitely, this is something of a formality. Still, I hereby present you with this restraining order, stating that outside of these mandated meetings you are not permitted within 500 feet of Natalia. I will not be having my hard work undone by some drunken layabout who thinks holy scripture is an acceptable replacement for toilet paper."
"What? You can't keep me from my own daughter! Mom and dad would never let a form like that get through," Yariel said.
"Would you like to check the approval stamp?" Galia asked. For once, she looked almost eager as Yariel eyed the envelope in front of him.
"Nevermind. Tharalax, blood bro, come on, you're not gonna stab me in the heart as well, are you?" Yariel asked.
"Bah, it's fortunate your son is tougher than you are or he'd probably be face down in a ditch right now. As it happens, the reason for his getup is that he took 17th place in a combat tournament just before this meeting," Tharalax said.
"That doesn't sound very impressive," Yariel said.
"There were 100 competitors, it's very impressive for someone with no natural physical advantages to speak of," Tharalax said.
"I would've won if I was allowed to use magic!" James said, cutting into the conversation. His voice was a bit more gravelly than the typical angel due to growing up surrounded by smoke and brimstone, but the melodious undertone of the heavens still carried through.
"I know, Jimmy, but magic's not allowed in tournaments. Besides, purging your opponents is just bad form," Tharalax said. "But back to the point, in just about everything else he's been practically running the show. Legal trickery, mysticism, showmanship... Hell, rumor has it that his ambition is so strong that even old Luke was getting nervous about him. Kid's got a few followers as well, and he hasn't even begun staking claims on territory yet!"
"They're not followers, Tharalax, they're friends," James said. "Some people have those, you know. People they enjoy hanging out with even if they don't expect material benefits from it."
"Ha! There you go with that fancy jargon, I can hear the old traitor quaking in his boots already," Tharalax said. "But in other news, my blood debt is paid, Yariel."
Yariel didn't react at all to the news, just cocking his head inquisitively.
"Of course, you never even bothered to learn the lingo of the underworld. I'll summarize: I don't work for you anymore," Tharalax said.
"Okay? Is that relevant to me in some way?" Yariel said.
"It means if I ever see your stinking carcass in my lair again, I'll have your hide for a coat," Tharalax said. "And if I find you poking around my stash again, I'll do the skinning myself."
"Whoa, bud, I thought we were cool!" Yariel said.
"Deference in the face of one's superior is just common wisdom in the pits of hell! You're the most obnoxious guest, the worst commander, and the most disgusting creature I've ever seen!" Tharalax said. "Your boy is a part of the clan now, and these ladies are welcome to visit if they like, but if I never see your sorry face again it'll be too soon!"
"Calm down, dude," James said. "We get it, dad's the worst."
"Yes, yes. Can't believe I lost a duel to that incompetent wretch," Tharalax said.
The room quieted down for a moment, as the tensions in the air grew more strained...
"Yes! Finally finished!" Natalia said, breaking the silence. She looked up for the first time since arriving, seeing everyone arrayed there. "Mom! James!"
The demon girl ran around the table and wrapped her muscular arms around her mother and brother.
"Easy there, sweetie, I still have to breathe," Bethany said.
"Sorry, I haven't seen you guys in forever!" Natalia said.
"No kidding! Happy Birthday, sis," James said, attempting to wriggle an arm free from her grip.
Natalia let the two of them go, giving James a chance to reach for the bag he'd stowed under the table. From inside, he removed a hatchet with a rough black handle and a serrated edge.
"I was hoping I'd be able to bring the trophy from the tournament as a gift, but I lost so I had to go with my backup plan," James said.
"Oh, don't be like that! I love it, the craftsmanship is always so interesting on demon weapons..." Natalia said. She ran her finger along the edge and touched the carefully carved out nodules on the handle. "Boy, they sure love spikes, don't they? Even when spikes would be counterproductive, they end up adding things that resemble them."
"I wonder why," James said, poking one of his sister's shoulder spikes.
"Oh, and here's your gift! I finished it just in time!" Natalia said, handing her brother the metal statuette she'd been working on during the meeting. The craftsmanship was perfect, though the image it depicted was... abstract. It most closely resembled a figure of a female torso, but only vaguely.
"Ah, thank you. Just to check, is this a magical item?" James asked.
"Oh! Yes, here," Natalia said, moving her brother's arm so the statuette was held in the light. Instead of a vague metal image, the light was reflected in such a way to create an image on the desk in front of it. The image itself was of the heavenly city of brass. "I know you mentioned you wanted to see it, so I figured if you couldn't fit a visit into your schedule you could at least have a look."
"Thank you so much, Natalia. Ah! And Xantha sent this for you as well," James said, pulling a bottle containing a glowing light out of his bag. "Bottled hellfire, fun at parties."
"Ooh..." Natalia said, taking the bottle. "And how are things going there?"
"Pretty solidly, I think," James said.
"Ah, is Xantha the little harpy you've been hanging around with?" Tharalax asked.
"She's a fury, Tharalax! They're completely different!" James said.
"Bah, distinction without a difference," Tharalax said.
"What? No! Harpies are nonsapient animals! Furies are a demonic race descended from angels! The difference is very important!" James said.
"Well, there you go! See, Yariel? He's been down there 14 years and he's already teaching me things! You've been in and out of there for 50 and you can barely communicate without an interpreter!" Tharalax said.
"Yariel? Is our dad here?" Natalia asked, looking around and spotting the fallen angel throwing back wine. Given that it was the first time she'd seen him since she was small, and that she'd missed the entire prior conversation, she seemed a bit let down by his appearance. "Ah... I guess that's him?"
"What? No hug for your old man?" Yariel asked.
"I don't know, I'm a little afraid you might jinx me," Natalia said.
"What? What kind of lies is my sister filling your head with?" he asked.
"I have told no lies, brother," Galia said.
"But they do call it 'Pulling a Yariel' when someone does something stupid, and ends up breaking something important or valuable," Natalia said. "I heard it a lot when my shoulder spikes first came in... so many broken vases..."
"And Tharalax does make a point of marking out when I've beaten your record at something. It's usually not that difficult to be honest," James said.
"Not that sandbagging my brother will ever get tiresome, but what say we finally square away this business and have a proper 18th birthday for these kids?" Galia asked.
"Yes, I've got the cake ready back at the house. Since he actually showed up this time, and the kids haven't even shared an actual conversation with him, I guess Yariel can stay for the party," Bethany said.
"Oh thank god... Wait, wasn't there something about a restraining order?" Yariel asked.
"We'll consider this part of the meeting," Galia said. "At least, this time, but I wouldn't expect this to set a precedent if I were you, brother."
"Of course," Yariel said, noticeably less excited.
"If you'd been into the whole 'being a dad' thing, the last 18 years would've been a lot more pleasant for everyone," Bethany said.
"Mom! Birthday!" Natalia said, already stepping through the doorway.
With that, the group set out for the Fray household, to celebrate the twins' first day as true adults and the promising futures that await them... As well as make a few more jokes at Yariel's expense.

Its amazing what his final scene did for the character. Fuches finla decisions on screen and Roots acting made me do a 180 of my opinion of the character.
Fuches to me was always a life sucking pozer, who just wanted to control barry and manipulate him to earn money off of his talents. Fuches always wanted to thwort barrys attempts to live a normal life. I thought he did this not out of genuine love for barry, but for completely selfing reasons. Did i think he had a soft spot for barry? Of course, but mostly it was for selfish reasons he acted as he did.
But was i wrong. Fuches confronting hank about the murder of cristoball the first time was not just a bone headed fuches moment. It was intentional, as was shown when he does it again in his final scene. Fuches is genuinely shocked, upset, and horrified that hank murdered cristoball for self success. I think in fuches eyes, hank is irrideemable for his actions unless he accepts the wrongs in them
More impactful on the character of Fuches is when he states he realised in prison he truly was "a man with no heart". Thats what he thought, but what truly happened in prison was fuches was simply dealing with immenseful regret for the way he dealt with barrys life because the truth is, fuches genuinely sees barry as a son. He didnt want barry to end his life as a hitman because in fuches eyes that meant that barry would likely leave him behind as well. So yes selfish, but rooted in genuine love for barry. Thats why, when he sees john he melts immidiately, forgets about everything he went through, and hope to make things right by saving john. The raven persona dissapears immidiately and he turns back into the fuches that met a poor fucked up kid at the airport (barry after afganistan)
It makes me sympathise with fuches, he was one of the people that i thought was irrideemable, but the subtly in the humanity they gave him in the final scene redeemed him in my eyes.
Also correct me if im wrong. Was hank the only person fuches killed in the entire series?

What’s up experts? I got a question about soft shell crabs. I live in the middle of America and my only option for buying soft shell crabs is to order them online. Fulton fish market which as far as I understand is a very reputable seafood source, has them. The issue is that they sell them pre-cleaned. Everything I’ve ever heard about buying softies is that you should never buy them pre-cleaned and that they should still be fully intact. So I’m kind of at a crossroads. How big of a deal is it to order crabs that come already cleaned and dressed?

The morning count was a mere 7; perhaps we're in for another week of steady decline that gets reversed the following Monday. I suppose I could live with that. The evening count was a mere 13, so maybe that traffic cop I saw yesterday uselessly giving tickets to cars parked in the parking lane finally got around to also ticketing the cars in the bike lane. The barrels and barriers are still pretty sparse, and the final block was car-free for only the third time in recorded history (the second time was last night). My struggles with my camera rig have mostly come to an end; I take photos of illegally-parked cars to report to this website/app, and I think I've found the optimal camera position (mounted low on the stem, so license plates are in the center of the camera frame) and method (a Bluetooth shutter button duct-taped to the brake lever). The only remaining problem is that the camera app shuts off if it goes 2 minutes without taking a photo, and there doesn't seem to be a way to change that setting. So I have to manually turn the phone off and on every so often, which feels kind of dangerously distracting. But today I saw that I could be doing much worse, because I happened to pass a guy who not only had his phone mounted on the handlebars, but was actually talking on it (on speaker, to his credit) while also (I shit you not) carrying and drinking from a cup of coffee.

The morning count was a mere 7; perhaps we're in for another week of steady decline that gets reversed the following Monday. I suppose I could live with that. The evening count was a mere 13, so maybe that traffic cop I saw yesterday uselessly giving tickets to cars parked in the parking lane finally got around to also ticketing the cars in the bike lane. The barrels and barriers are still pretty sparse, and the final block was car-free for only the third time in recorded history (the second time was last night).
My struggles with my camera rig have mostly come to an end; I take photos of illegally-parked cars to report to this website/app, and I think I've found the optimal camera position (mounted low on the stem, so license plates are in the center of the camera frame) and method (a Bluetooth shutter button duct-taped to the brake lever). The only remaining problem is that the camera app shuts off if it goes 2 minutes without taking a photo, and there doesn't seem to be a way to change that setting. So I have to manually turn the phone off and on every so often, which feels kind of dangerously distracting.
But today I saw that I could be doing much worse, because I happened to pass a guy who not only had his phone mounted on the handlebars, but was actually talking on it (on speaker, to his credit) while also (I shit you not) carrying and drinking from a cup of coffee.

Where: East to West Ski Traverse from Shepherd's Pass Trailhead (Independence, CA) across the Sierra to Wolverton (Western Sierra Foothills), sometimes referred to as the "Sierra High Route Ski Traverse" or the "David Beck Route" after the ski guide who pioneered the route in the 1970s. Getting to cross the Sierra on skis, particularly with a historic snowpack, was an amazing experience.
When: May 25, 2023 – May 28, 2023
Distance and Vert: 50 Miles, 15,000' ascent (CalTopo: https://caltopo.com/m/FH2VE)
Conditions: Continuous snow from mile ~6 at 9400'. Weather varied from zero visibility clouds, scorching direct sun, precipitation/graupel, and frigid mornings.
Lighterpack: for a couple (shared sleep system and ski gear for two) https://lighterpack.com/rp5unn
Cars/Transportation: This might be one of the biggest challenges of the trip. Some people choose to stage cars at both trailheads, but that would require a six-hour drive before and after the trip. The ideal situation, which we were able to work out, is to swap cars with another group crossing in the opposite direction simultaneously, trading keys on route. However, not everyone will be this lucky. Another option is to hitchhike from Wolverton to Three Rivers, then get a ride to the Fresno airport, fly to Reno, and take the 395 shuttle to Independence. But this will add days to your trip.
Road Closure: This year, an additional complexity was that the road from Hospital Rock to Wolverton was closed due to rain damage. It is a 14-mile stretch with an elevation gain of approximately 5000'. We spoke to rangers at SEKI, and suggested they might look the other way if we rode our e-bikes outside of construction hours, which they believed were from 7 AM to 7 PM. So, one group rode e-bikes with cargo trailers we purchased on Amazon from Hospital Rock at 2700' up to Wolverton at 7400'. They locked up the bikes and trailers and headed east. When we arrived at Wolverton after our traverse, we unlocked the bikes, loaded our gear, and rode the bikes back down to the car parked at Hospital Rock. Walking that stretch would be a pain after already crossing the Sierra, particularly because you'd probably have to haul boots and skis down the road with you on your back.
Purpose of [Long] Report: I've wanted to cross the Sierra on skis for many years, but poor snow conditions had stymied previous attempts. With the historic snowpack this year, I finally got a chance to ski it. Prior to this trip, I scoured the Internet for information, but most of it was either old and lacked details or came from guide companies that lead clients across in about six days. In the interest of aiding future skiers, I wanted to put together a comprehensive trip report with some of our group's learnings. However, a caveat to future readers, our trip was much later in the year than is typical and followed the deepest winter in recorded memory in the Sierra, so your experience may differ greatly.
GEAR
Our kits were relatively light given it was a ski traverse, which was essential due to the long ski and boot carry on day one. This lighter pack is my wife and I's shared and personal gear combine. She was less egar to list out her clothing individually (she does not share our affliction) however she let me weigh it all at once: https://lighterpack.com/rp5unn
Sleep Kit: For anyone contemplating winter camping with someone they feel comfortable sharing a sleeping bag with, I cannot recommend the Feathered Friends Spoonbill enough. It is the single greatest piece of kit I have ever owned. It's absurdly light and warm and more comfortable than a solo bag because it's large enough for both people to stretch out. Of course, it only really works if you feel comfortable cozying up with your partner, but if you're a couple, like we were, it's the greatest. Just make sure that you have pad straps that hold the two sleeping pads together. When we first got the bag, we contemplated one of those double sleeping pads, but they're heavy and not as warm as the Therm-a-Rest Xtherm. Instead, I've sewn pad straps with grosgrain, similar to the ones you can purchase from Gossamer Gear, that hold the pads together perfectly. It's also nice that each person has their own pad to inflate to their preferred firmness. The Xtherm is also warm enough to eliminate the need for extra closed cell foam pads.
Skis: If you're contemplating this route, you might be tempted to reach for ultralight skimo skis, but I'd urge caution. The snow conditions you're going to encounter are wildly variable, and unless you're used to skiing sun cups with a super heavy pack down steep passes, you may want something more robust. I ended up opting for my Blizzard Zero G 105 because I wanted that additional flotation in the soft afternoon snow. It ended up being a pretty good choice, although it was pretty heavy to haul up Shepherd's Pass on my back.
Sharps Kit: We carried aluminum boot crampons and ski crampons. Both were essential. My partner had a BD Whippet to assist on some of the passes. I just opted for poles. If you're used to booting, I think crampons are probably enough, and you can likely leave the ice ax at home.
Stove: We debated bringing an alcohol stove (Trail Designs Ti Tri), but we ended up bringing a MSR Reactor, worried that we would have to melt snow for water. We ended up collecting 95% of our water, and we could've easily collected all of it. I've heard from other groups that when the weather gets cold, it can be more difficult to track down water, but we could have gotten away with an alcohol stove.
Footwear: I wore light road running shoes up Shepard's Pass. They got pretty shredded on the trip, but they were a welcome addition and served as great camp shoes too while I tried to dry by boots in the afternoon sun.
Eyewear: At the last minute, I ditched my goggles and wore Smith Wildcats exclusively. Although I did have a backup pair of sunglasses, just in case I lost the Wildcats, I'm glad I didn't bother with goggles. The descents themselves were pretty short.
Pack: We both used HMG Porter packs without the HMG ski carry mod, but our own MYOG tubular webbing contraption to hold skis in place without damaging the webbing straps. They were perfect for the trip. I do know HMG now makes a ski-specific pack, but I purchased the Porter many years ago. However, even if the new pack had been available, I'd still prefer the Porter for versatility in other activities like climbing, packrafting, general backpacking, etc.
DAY-BY-DAY REPORT
Early on the morning of May 25th, we left the Courthouse Motel in Independence, CA bound for Shepard's Pass Trailhead. With skis and poles in hand, the proprietors looked perplexed when they asked us were we were headed and we told them “Fresno.” Despite significant runoff this year, the road to the Shepherds Pass Trailhead is passable with a low-clearance vehicle. While we couldn't reach the "hikers" trailhead, we easily reached the "stock" trailhead at 5600'. Starting our traverse from there, we ascended Symmes Saddle toward Shepard's Pass in lightweight running shoes, with skis and boots on our backs. Along the way, we encountered clear evidence of the historic avalanche cycle, including massive trees blocking the trail. Crossing the creek multiple times, we devised creative ways to keep our feet dry, using pack tosses and rock jumps. At the final crossing, we bypassed a sketchy log and carefully waded through the creek with our heavy packs.As the trail steepened into switchbacks, intermittent snow appeared around 8400', soon becoming continuous. Pushing on through snow with sneakers, we reached Symmes Saddle at 9100'. There the trail transitions to a south aspect and the snow disappeared completely. After a few more miles, we arrived at Mahogany Flat, there we switched from shoes to skis, encountering consistent snow for the rest of the traverse. Our first night's camp was set above the "Pothole" on granite slabs, offering a breathtaking view of the Owens River Valley below.
The following day, we ascended Shepherds Pass using boot crampons, reaching the Tyndall Plateau. Descending on firm, sun-capped snow, we made our way to the Kern River, where we were fortunate to find a snow bridge, a crucial element of our route. Crossing without a bridge would have been sketchy. From there, we faced the grueling climb up Milestone Basin under a scorching sun. Fortunately, afternoon clouds provided relief and intermittent graupel. We ascended Milestone Pass late in the afternoon, then descended into Milestone Bowl, where again we camped on granite slabs.
On the third day, we descended the remainder of Milestone Bowl before embarking on several long traverses across massive bowls. At the end of the first ski traverse, we booted up an unnamed ridge marked by glide avalanche cracks. After briefly meeting the other party traveling from West to East and exchanging information on conditions ahead, we crossed over Triple Divide Pass. The next pass, Copper Mine Pass, presented more glide cracks and cornices that showed signs of recent collapse. Instead of taking the conventional route north of the peak, exposed to hazards, we managed to skin up just below the Copper Mine Pass summer trail, which surprisingly was melted out and allowed passage to the next drainage. We finished the day with an easy skin up Horn Col and a relaxed ski down to Lonely Lake.
On the final day, we climbed over Pterodactyl Pass below Big Bird Peak before turning north and continuing to ski into the Tablelands. Once near Tablelands Pass, we removed our skins for the second-to-last time and enjoyed a fun but gentle descent toward Pear Lake Hut. The hut was completely buried in snow, having sat unused throughout the entire winter. From the hut, we skinned up the final hump before embarking on a true survival ski down to Wolverton. The snow extended all the way down to the parking lot, but it was wet and covered in pine needles, branches, and pine duff—the type of snow one can't truly fathom without venturing beyond ski resort boundaries.
Finally, we arrived at the parking lot and found our e-bikes securely locked to the barricade, which the eastbound group had prepared for us. We assembled the cargo trailers, attached them to the bikes, and began the long and winding descent from 7400' to 2700', reaching the road closure at Hospital Rock, the truck, and very welcome warm beers.

The morning count was a mere 7; perhaps we're in for another week of steady decline that gets reversed the following Monday. I suppose I could live with that. The evening count was a mere 13, so maybe that traffic cop I saw yesterday uselessly giving tickets to cars parked in the parking lane finally got around to also ticketing the cars in the bike lane. The barrels and barriers are still pretty sparse, and the final block was car-free for only the third time in recorded history (the second time was last night).
My struggles with my camera rig have mostly come to an end; I take photos of illegally-parked cars to report to this website/app, and I think I've found the optimal camera position (mounted low on the stem, so license plates are in the center of the camera frame) and method (a Bluetooth shutter button duct-taped to the brake lever). The only remaining problem is that the camera app shuts off if it goes 2 minutes without taking a photo, and there doesn't seem to be a way to change that setting. So I have to manually turn the phone off and on every so often, which feels kind of dangerously distracting.
But today I saw that I could be doing much worse, because I happened to pass a guy who not only had his phone mounted on the handlebars, but was actually talking on it (on speaker, to his credit) while also (I shit you not) carrying and drinking from a cup of coffee.

Wanting to share my timeline because I've been glued to this reddit page like my lifeline. Hope this can help someone!
Passport was at locator 55 in Dallas, TX
My timeline: DOT - 06/03
Applied: 4/12 - expedited service
Received: 4/14
In progress since 4/14
Contacted NPIC: 05/19 - passport marked urgent and paid for 1-2 day delivery - told me to call back 05/22
Contacted Congressman: 05/19 Congressman Doggett in Austin, office was really nice but ultimately didn't do much, I also tried Ted Cruz - don't bother with that if anyone else is trying go with cornyn or your local rep. Kept calling for updates and nothing. Passport is still "in process" as of right now 05/31
Called 5/26 all day - no appointments.
Called Saturday and Sunday - Monday was closed for Memorial Day. Yesterday 05/30 I called from 7 AM CT to 11:30 PM. Seriously called over 300 times just to try and get on hold each time - keep trying you eventually will! Pro-tip, when the robot voice starts talking press one, if it takes you to the next question you're good you'll be put on hold. If not, just hang up and call again, otherwise the voice will just tell you to call back another time.
Literally could not sleep last night and was so anxious about it all - if you can, have multiple people calling NPIC, call at 6:59 CT and at exactly 7:00 like exactly press 3 to talk to representative this is how I got through right away. Then if you have help have them call at like 7:01 or 7:02 this will at least put you in the queue if there are no appointments with the first call with about a 25-45 minute wait which is what I did.
05/31 - called first thing at 6:59, no appointment, had a friend call at 7:01 and about 45 mins later got through and offered an appointment in Minneapolis - obviously not ideal, but accepted without hesitation because if you hesitate, you could lose the appointment. You're not locked into going if you accept and your passport could still be mailed even if you accept so don't be scared. Just accept anything if you're willing to travel and then worry about how you'll get there later.
05/31 - Booked a one way ticket to Minnesota from Austin, have an appointment tomorrow at 10 AM. Will post updates! Waiting to see when to book my flight back.

I had spontaneous labor at 39+6. My doctor had wanted to induce me at 38 weeks for elevated BP but I declined because I wanted to avoid unnecessary interventions and a c section. My BP stayed stable even through birth. I made it to 10 centimeters and everything seemed great. They let me labor down for an hour and then I pushed with the midwife for a half an hour who then told me she wanted to give me a 5 minute break. She was gone for 20 minutes. When she came back she made me wait more because I was running a fever and brought two OBs in. They immediately started telling me I was nearing 4 hours and would have a c section if I couldn't get him out in the next hour and a half. I fought with them and told them I'd barely been pushing and felt abandoned. They then did get a nurse in who worked with me for an hour and a half but they did an ultrasound and said the baby was sunny side up with his hand above his head. Every time I made progress he would go back down. The first midwife before abandoning me had said he was +1 position. With the new midwife he was constantly stuck at -1. They called a c section and I spent the entire time crying. I told them my epidural had worn off and was begging for them to fix it. No one cared. They wheeled me into the ER without my husband and when they finally did try to fix the epidural it wasn't 100 percent and I felt pain when they cut into me. They put me under general anesthesia and I didn't get to see my baby for hours. Thank goodness he's ok besides high bilirubin. But I've spent the entire day crying feeling like I was failed by the medical system. The only thing I had in my birth plan was no c section unless it was an emergency, delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin. I got none of those things. I feel so defeated and they ended up giving me a private room today I'm sure in part because I'm constantly crying. Not having my baby but every 4 or so hours is also causing me a lot of anguish. I'm hoping he'll finish treatment tomorrow so I can keep him all the time and keep working on breastfeeding.
I always thought people were irrespective for having home births but I've been so traumatized by a system that seems to jump to c sections at the earliest convenience I'm going to have a hard time trusting medical professionals again. I feel like I was failed and no one cares and basically just waited around for me to have a c section when I didn't progress quickly enough for them. I also wanted 3 or 4 children and I feel like my plans have been stolen from me. I will need to wait longer between children than I wanted (I'm already almost 32 years old) and I don't know if I want to take the risk of uterine rupture with a VBAC. I'm sure my husband and the staff here is tired of hearing me crying but I feel like the future I planned is over. If I felt like it was actually an emergency I would have coped better but I feel like I was given up on by medical staff and forced into unnecessary surgery. I have never been so heartbroken or in so much pain.