Pown shop near me

I just wanted to create this post in hopes of it helping somebody someday who experiences the same problem that I had to solve. I recently replaced my motherboard CMOS battery, and the new battery upon installation was around 3.3 volts, according to HWiNFO64. But within the next 18 hours of replacing it, I noticed the battery had lost nearly a full 1.0 volt. So I assumed the battery was defective and I replaced it with a new battery, but from a different brand, to rule out in case I got a bad batch from the first brand. But after another full day, the new CMOS battery showed the same drain. I should note that I fully power down my computer every night to keep my energy bill as low as possible, even going as far as turning off the power strip it's connected to. I don't power back up again until I get home from work the next day.
After seeing the same voltage drop with the new battery, I proceeded to just monitor the voltage drops every day for about a week. What I saw each day was that the drain was a little less than the previous day, and that's when it dawned on me - the capacitor for the CMOS chip can only hold 3.0 volts, which means the excess voltage was being dumped to ground. The voltage has now plateaued around 3.102 Volts, and hasn't dropped since. I initially assumed the worst that I had an accidental static discharge while replacing the battery and now the motherboard was damaged, but it turns out I was wrong and the drain is completely normal. Thanks for reading all of this, and I hope this information has helped somebody eventually.
My motherboard brand - Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master.

Hi, I'm here looking for a partner to do one of these roles! These are roles with my partner playing a male, protecter type role. If you're more interested in playing a role where we are more equals, unfortunately, these are not for you. Perhaps another time, when I'm in the mood for a different type, but for now, these are kind of what I'm interested in. Now, this is lengthy, so please bear with me!
A little about me first, then what I'm looking for, and finally, the roles.
For now, you can call me Shortie and I'm 24. I've been roleplaying for around 10 years off and on, and I consider myself to be semi-literate to literate. Of course, I make mistakes with grammar, spelling, and whatnot like any other person, but I always do my best. Lately, I've found myself writing in third person, past tense, but I'm flexible. I like to write at least one paragraph per response, but it can change from response to response. I'll always try to at least write more than one sentence. I'll always try to respond at least once a day or let you know in advance.
I'm looking for a partner who will play a male character. All partners must be at least 24 years old and preferably no older than 28. I'd like my partner to be at least semi-literate and write at least a paragraph per response, though it can fluctuate over time. I also understand mistakes happen, so I'll try not to be too picky. I, at least, ask that you write similar to how I'm writing here. Proper capitalization and punctuation are a minimum for me. I'd prefer third person, but not required. Lastly, I ask that you respond at least once a day or let me know what's going on. Life comes first for both of us, so I'm just asking for mutual understanding there.
Okay! Now, onto my roles! Feel free to shoot me a direct chat or private message if you find one you want to talk about more. I'll be using my nickname as a placeholder until we come up with characters.
1) The Pyre
Shortie had a hard time making ends meet after college. Her parents passed just after high school, and the insurance policies went to tuition payments. She managed to graduate with her degree, but she's had a hard time finding a well-paying job she could use her English degree for. So, she started waitressing for a club near where she lived so she could walk to and from home. It was named The Pyre. She didn't know, however, that the club was owned by a well-known member of the mafia, you.
2) The Fallen
Every person has a guardian angel. An angel assigned at birth to make sure the soul lives their life until it was to meet its end. Most angels did well, ensuring that the soul did not die before its time. They couldn't interfere with anything else, no matter how traumatic to the soul. You are a guardian angel. You're tasked with watching over Shortie. Her time was coming to an end, when you decided enough was enough. You interfered, and then you fell.
3) The Deadline
Shortie was a young woman in your general education class in college. She was always silent in class, barely made it on time, and left as soon as possible. One day, she didn't show, and you seemed to be the only one to notice. You found out she had committed suicide, and you decided, out of guilt, the goodness of your heart, or perhaps something else, to go to her memorial. And there... you'll meet Death himself.
4) The Falls
Shortie recently moved away from the city and to a small town called Moonlight Falls, named for the beautiful waterfalls near the town that are most striking on the full moon. She finally got away from the big city and back to nature. She was a writer, primarily a copywriter, but she liked to write fiction as well. One night, she decided to go to the waterfalls, and there... she met you.
5) The Prince
Shortie lived in Lythos, a kingdom known for its libraries, its unquenchable desire for knowledge. While knowledge was important, it wasn't enough to protect the kingdom. Shortie was the youngest princess to the king and queen, and she was betrothed to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, Hykar, known for their fierce armies, navies, soldiers, and the warrior prince, the heir. She and the prince hadn't met until now. You have come home from a battle, and she is waiting with his family.
That's them! Let me know. And thanks for reading my long post, I know it's a lot!

So I met a kid in middle school, and we ended up becoming friends, and eventually, i would say best friends. He dated a girl and made a post on here years ago, but the post was very emotionally filled and missing a lot of facts, but regardless, he was broken. It seemed that he would never get over her. I tried for a while to help him move on. He would "love" another girl for 2 weeks and rinse and repeat. He never had a great family life to be fair, so eventually, he turned to drugs. I will not lie im a teenager, so of course, i tried it with him, but i quit after I realized how much i didn't want to mess up my own life. None of this had affected me or my friends until he started asking for money. He would ask me to pay for his food or small items, and he said "ill get you next time bro". That never happened. He then stared at the shop, lifting and stealing. When we told him to knock it off, his only response would be, "What are they gonna do about it?" We tried and tried, but he would never stop. Eventually, people from school stopped hanging out with us simply because we hung out with him. They thought we were just like him. He wanted to move in with us, and that is when we really realized we might not want to have this person in our life anymore. So i cut him off, and my other close friend sent him a long text of why this was happening. We soon blocked him after. He doesn't seem to care much he just posts pity instagram notes looking for some sort of attention. Im easily manipulated and can easily feel bad for random stupid things due to my family history. So would you guys say that i did the right thing, or is there anything more i could've done. I tried to be as nice as possible. :( Oh and by the way were all about to graduate.

Hi, I'm here looking for a partner to do one of these roles! These are roles with my partner playing a male, protecter type role. If you're more interested in playing a role where we are more equals, unfortunately, these are not for you. Perhaps another time, when I'm in the mood for a different type, but for now, these are kind of what I'm interested in. Now, this is lengthy, so please bear with me!
A little about me first, then what I'm looking for, and finally, the roles.
For now, you can call me Shortie and I'm 24. I've been roleplaying for around 10 years off and on, and I consider myself to be semi-literate to literate. Of course, I make mistakes with grammar, spelling, and whatnot like any other person, but I always do my best. Lately, I've found myself writing in third person, past tense, but I'm flexible. I like to write at least one paragraph per response, but it can change from response to response. I'll always try to at least write more than one sentence. I'll always try to respond at least once a day or let you know in advance.
I'm looking for a partner who will play a male character. All partners must be at least 24 years old and preferably no older than 28. I'd like my partner to be at least semi-literate and write at least a paragraph per response, though it can fluctuate over time. I also understand mistakes happen, so I'll try not to be too picky. I, at least, ask that you write similar to how I'm writing here. Proper capitalization and punctuation are a minimum for me. I'd prefer third person, but not required. Lastly, I ask that you respond at least once a day or let me know what's going on. Life comes first for both of us, so I'm just asking for mutual understanding there.
Okay! Now, onto my roles! Feel free to shoot me a direct chat or private message if you find one you want to talk about more. I'll be using my nickname as a placeholder until we come up with characters.
1) The Pyre
Shortie had a hard time making ends meet after college. Her parents passed just after high school, and the insurance policies went to tuition payments. She managed to graduate with her degree, but she's had a hard time finding a well-paying job she could use her English degree for. So, she started waitressing for a club near where she lived so she could walk to and from home. It was named The Pyre. She didn't know, however, that the club was owned by a well-known member of the mafia, you.
2) The Fallen
Every person has a guardian angel. An angel assigned at birth to make sure the soul lives their life until it was to meet its end. Most angels did well, ensuring that the soul did not die before its time. They couldn't interfere with anything else, no matter how traumatic to the soul. You are a guardian angel. You're tasked with watching over Shortie. Her time was coming to an end, when you decided enough was enough. You interfered, and then you fell.
3) The Deadline
Shortie was a young woman in your general education class in college. She was always silent in class, barely made it on time, and left as soon as possible. One day, she didn't show, and you seemed to be the only one to notice. You found out she had committed suicide, and you decided, out of guilt, the goodness of your heart, or perhaps something else, to go to her memorial. And there... you'll meet Death himself.
4) The Falls
Shortie recently moved away from the city and to a small town called Moonlight Falls, named for the beautiful waterfalls near the town that are most striking on the full moon. She finally got away from the big city and back to nature. She was a writer, primarily a copywriter, but she liked to write fiction as well. One night, she decided to go to the waterfalls, and there... she met you.
5) The Prince
Shortie lived in Lythos, a kingdom known for its libraries, its unquenchable desire for knowledge. While knowledge was important, it wasn't enough to protect the kingdom. Shortie was the youngest princess to the king and queen, and she was betrothed to the prince of a neighboring kingdom, Hykar, known for their fierce armies, navies, soldiers, and the warrior prince, the heir. She and the prince hadn't met until now. You have come home from a battle, and she is waiting with his family.
That's them! Let me know. And thanks for reading my long post, I know it's a lot!

I’m used to dealing with stupid people in customer service but it doesn’t happen often & has been for the past week. Last week, I went to an ice cream shop, order at drive thru & when the guy hands me my cup he says “we usually pile on the toppings but this ice cream had a lot of toppings”. I just look at him & grab it, he says have a good day and I drive off. It just irked me it’s like mind your business. Second one was this past week at a pollo tropical drive thru, order at speaker then go to window & ask him for a sauce. He looks at me & goes “you’re making me do more work”. And I said “excuse me?!” I knew I heard right but he was kind of mumbling then he repeats it again & says “ that’s making me do more work no I’m just kidding”. And I said “excuse that’s very rude remember I’m a customer I’m not your friend”. And he apologizes, I grabbed the food from him, make sure it looks right & then he hands the sauce. I then say “I’m going to your manager” & drive off. Last one was Friday at a GameStop, I’ve dealt with this specific guy before & he was pretty accommodating the last time but Friday he irked me. I call in & ask if a new game that released that day was in stock. He says there’s plenty in stock & I go to pick it up. He asked if I pre ordered and said no I called in right before coming in to see if there was any. He goes on about how he’s shocked there’s so many copies in stock for the console I was asking for. Asked if I wanted to pre order future games, said no & he suggested pre ordering to ensure I will get a new game on release day. I said I called in anyway to see if you all had it before coming in & wasting my time he said pre ordering would save me having to call in. I reiterated I’m familiar with the pre order process.
View Poll

This subreddit has allowed me to save so much money and spend more time practicing. Why, you ask? Because expensive gear does not make people better players; toan wood is a farce; there are lots of great guitars that are not made in the U.S. or a custom shop; and Gibbons and PRS (need I say more).
I'm now going to go hang out with my wife's boyfriend.

It was just another ordinary day at the construction site. I had been working on this project for months now, and we were finally nearing completion. The evening was drawing near, and the golden sun cast long shadows across the mounds of dirt and piles of concrete. There was something soothing about the hum of machinery and the clank of metal against metal, like a symphony of progress.
As I maneuvered the excavator, I caught a glimpse of something unusual in the soil. I could see the outline of a large, oblong object partially buried beneath layers of dirt. I lowered the bucket carefully, trying not to damage whatever it was. My curiosity was piqued, and the monotony of the day had suddenly become a distant memory.
I hopped down from the cab, my boots crunching on the gravel as I approached the mysterious object. It was a strange, dark stone, covered in layers of dust and grime. I knelt down and brushed the dirt away with my gloves, revealing the intricate carvings that adorned its surface. The symbols were unlike anything I had ever seen, and I felt an inexplicable chill run down my spine as I traced the lines with my fingers.
The moment I touched the stone, I heard a faint whisper in my ear, a barely audible hiss that sent shivers down my spine. I quickly pulled my hand away and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. The construction site was empty, my colleagues having left for the day. I was alone.
My heart raced, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I glanced at the setting sun, casting an eerie glow over the site. Deciding it was time to leave, I stood up and turned to walk away, but my gaze was drawn back to the stone. The carvings seemed to pulse, as if they were alive.
Unable to resist the pull, I reached out and touched the stone again. This time, the whisper grew louder, morphing into a cacophony of voices that echoed around me. They were speaking a language I couldn't understand, yet it felt as if their words were seeping into my very soul.
Suddenly, the ground beneath me began to tremble. I stumbled backward, watching in horror as the stone cracked open, revealing a yawning abyss. I felt the darkness calling to me, the voices growing louder and more insistent. My legs moved of their own accord, inching closer and closer to the edge.
As I teetered on the brink, I saw something within the darkness. A pair of eyes, glowing like embers, stared back at me, burning with an ancient hunger. I could feel their gaze piercing through me, and I knew that whatever it was, it had been waiting for me. Waiting for the moment when I would set it free.
In a final act of defiance, I tore my gaze away and stumbled back, barely managing to avoid being swallowed by the void. The stone slammed shut, and the voices fell silent. I lay there, gasping for breath, my body shaking uncontrollably.
I knew I had to leave, to get as far away from the construction site as possible. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted towards my truck, the weight of what I had uncovered bearing down on me. I could feel the darkness watching, waiting for its chance to strike.
And as I drove away, I knew one thing for certain: I had awakened something ancient, something that should have remained buried, and it would not rest until it had claimed me as its own.

Can we be friends? chat?
I am from united states and 24 year old anyway. If that matters lol. Well.. I am bored these days!
About me: I'm in business school and I work as a shop manager on the side. I like shopping, going out for dinner and drinks, reading, art, gaming a little, working out and game night with friends.
I don't care if our hobby's match, Lets go ahead and have some fun! We can start online with sharing our private photos and may be some cam calls? Lets see where it goes?

Greetings everyone,
I'm writing this post because I couldn't find any other posts on similar topics like "vision change". Last year in march, I consumed 7g of dried psilocybin truffles and had a mild trip with very mild visual effects, however, it didn't last long before things went downhill. I just would like to mention that the truffles are significantly less intense than mushrooms and they were legally bought. One package is 14g for a medium trip for one person. I and my friend have been consuming these for three months back then and did them 4 times in total. The first three trips were one of the best experiences I have ever had, filled with love, joy, and spiritual fulfillment. However, that last one was the worst day of my life. I won't go into details but at the end of it, I was grateful for being back. I want to clarify that the trip was not intense tho. My friend has tried regular mushrooms and would tell me about the visual effect but I never experienced those. I was anxious throughout the entire trip and all my insecurities that I had we going through my head. At one point I even threw up and started hysterically crying. However, after 2-3 hours, things became normal. My friend didn't have a bad trip, but it definitely was not good. The next day I started feeling anxious again and eventually started having panic attacks for two weeks until I sought help and went on pills. During this period my vision really worsened and I had floaters and Blue field entoptic phenomenon. I wouldn't say I have a static vision, but maybe some kind of a weaker variant of it( I hope you get what I mean, don't know how to properly express myself in English). I couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different about my eyesight, but it felt altered. After conducting excessive research, I stumbled upon HPPD and became even more anxious. One year later I am much better no longer on pills and with no panic attacks as of now, Unfortunately, because it happened around this time of the year I have found myself going back to it recently. It's like I can feel the anxiety, fear, and stress of my memories again. My vision is also much better but I still have floaters (significantly less than before and only occasionally). However, I find myself more sensitive to light. I am thinking of seeing an eye doctor, but at the same time, I am afraid of getting misdiagnosed. Also, do you know any doctors I can contact online, that have experience with psiolcybin since there are no near me (I live in easter europe).
Have any of you experienced short-term or long-term changes in vision or perception of reality after tripping that resolved in a few days, weeks, months, or even years? I am looking for some comfort and support, as well as advice on how to manage my anxiety. I would appreciate any personal anecdotes, especially ones related to anxiety and panic attacks after a bad trip.
Thank you in advance, and stay safe!

I (25F) have been seeing a guy (33M) for nearly a month now. We talk every day and see each other regularly every weekend. We get along super well, I love being with him, we share a lot of goals and values (in general and for relationships).
He shows a lot of care for me in his actions and his words too. He knows it's mutual since I've told him so a few times. Last week he got particularly sweeter and said some things that made my heart race. I slept over his place this weekend (so this was the 2nd time) and it was great. He wasn't feeling 100% well, he had a cold during the night and I got very worried, but even so he was the usual person he is with me: fun and caring.
Physically, also, we're very much attracted to each other and it's super great.
I could go into some specific situations to show how we've been bonding and connecting, but those are many and hard to choose. Anyways... He's told me, earlier on, the "proposal" would come (to turn this into a relationship, that is). He's like me, somewhat old fashioned, we like the "will you be my girlfriend" request. I didn't question when or anything, it didn't seem like a joke but I won't hold him accountable over a comment like that. I just genuinely asked him to not play with me. Either way, it seems we're both moving to this goal - which I'd like to make true very much.
In a way I sense we're already establishing something, but it goes unannounced. Sometimes he refers to us as a relationship (in given contexts) and I always feel warm inside when it happens.
My question here is: I'm starting to feel anxious about my feelings for him, especially as the one month mark gets closer. I promised myself I wouldn't let this drag for more than two months. I want to trust his timing, he said he has a good one for this kind of stuff, but at the same time I don't want to drown in feelings on my own. As it hits one month, next Saturday (when we'll meet again), should I talk to him about it? Maybe not a complete conversation but at least tell him how I feel more openly?
I admit I didn't want to be the first to bring this up. I don't like the idea. But I'm afraid he'll take too long or it won't happen. I'm afraid to scare him too or come on too strong. I don't know what to do now honestly. I'm really scared.
Ah for reference, this isn't our first rodeo, we've both been in two previous relationships. We have a crazy similar history when it comes to relationships and even our sex life in general.

Hi I'm really new to this game, just getting the clothes shop opened tomorrow. 🙃 Any tips or tricks/ free stuff would be sooo appreciated. Let me know if I should post a dodo code!

Maybe the title is bad bait for what I want to ask but I needed to put something there haha let me try to briefly explain
At the end of last summer I traveled to another city, met a guy there from another country, and spent a few weeks hanging out with him for part of almost every day (the other part we'd be working remotely). I went back to my city for a couple weeks then he came here for 10 days, he went back to the city I met him in, then he went back to his country. We're both 23 y/o, he's bi and I was the first guy he'd been with, he was in a relationship w a girl for maybe 4 years that ended a few months before he met me.
During that time in person he told me he loved me (also said stuff like how he got closer to me in a few weeks than he felt with his girlfriend in years and asked me to be his bf for the ten days he was in my city). I think he originally said he just wanted something casual/fwb because of him not visiting that city for super long and wanting to explore a bit in general. I also said right away that I didn't want to commit to a relationship because I didn't have high hopes for a long distance thing.
Now, I just spent a month on a vacation with him in his country so we were together 24/7. Near the end of my time there it came up in conversation that for a while he hadn't felt the same for me as he did in my country (aka not in love anymore, little to no romantic feelings). However.. we were doing sexual things frequently and cuddling daily and stuff. While his feelings for me seemed to have dissipated over time I feel like I'm really in love with him now, my feelings only grew stronger.. so in general I'm really sad but that's not the point of this post lol
My belief is that sex and physical touch grow connections, romantic emotions, and love, especially when you're dating someone or are already in love with someone. His perspective is that while he doesn't have sex with just anyone, sex is just sex.. maybe that's not a great description of his POV but the gist is sort of that he didn't feel much for me romantically when we did sexual things or cuddled recently
While this makes me feel bad, my thought about it was just that we are different types of people and even though I don't think I'd be able to have sex with someone I used to love and not continue to feel love for them, maybe that's just who he is. Even though I don't think I could love someone, then stop loving them, yet jump straight into being friends with them, while still being physically intimate..maybe he could. HOWEVER, my friend was telling me she feels certain that what he told me has happened, can't happen. Basically that if he truly loved me when he said he did in September, it wouldn't be possible for him to not have feelings for me while we have sex constantly in February...
If you've read all of this, my simple question is if you agree with my friend or if you think I can take the guy that I like for his word about what he's felt and experienced from last summer til now. Extra helpful if you can give opinions based on personal experiences of similar situations (something along the lines of felt you truly did love someone, but shortly after just wanted to be friends, yet still had sex a lot, and yet didn't feel much for them during sex. Or think this totally wouldn't be possible for you.)
Sorry long post...

Hello,
I have Shop by Brand page I created that is pretty bad. All of the Vendors (brands) are in one column and I want them broken into 3 columns. I simply made a custom liquid in collections page with the code below. Can anyone help me add to this code in order to have the list separated into 3 columns? (Dawn Theme)

{%- for product_vendor in shop.vendors -%}

• {{ product\_vendor link\_to\_vendor }}

{%- endfor -%}

Thank you!
PS: Added photos below of what it looks like now and what I would like it to look like

I have only seen 8 movies in the theater this year. Out of all those 8 movies, 3 of them had rude movie goers.
The first is M3GAN. I saw this on a Thursday night in January, and it was just all around a bad experience. Not only were there kids behind me that were talking, but three adults next to me were using flash photography. FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!!! Is it that hard to turn your phone off? What is it you need to take a photo of in the theater, asshole?
The second was Missing. I also saw this on a Thursday night, and a group of teenage girls were sitting in a row near the front. They were screaming very loud, and screaming again. Me and the entire theater had to shush them, and it was so satisfying.
Side note: Why are kids watching a movie on a school night?
The third is Shazam: Fury of the Gods. This was on a Saturday afternoon. There were kids in the front again, but they were using flash photography frequently! My friend was nice enough to go and tell staff, and I even saw a staff member talk to them. After that, no more flash photography.
But seriously, why do people think this is okay to do? It's disruptive and very inconsiderate. Did you come to watch a movie or dick around???

My husband and I have really struggled finding names we both like. He's Israeli and I'm an American that moved to Israel. I suggested so many names he shot down because they're "old man" names in Israel including Asher, Ezra, Ze'ev, etc. He also didn't like many normal Israeli names like Liron, Ziv, Noam or Raphael. He suggested many names that I think sound terrible in English like Dror (sounds like drawer), Nir (sounds like near), Sa'ar, Adir (a deer) etc.
We both liked Ron but it's close to a cousin's name. We like Doron and Oz but they're family member's names. We don't hate Ayal. He and his family like Eitan (ay-tahn) a lot but I don't love how it sounds in English. I like Ilan (ee-lahn) but his family isn't thrilled.
They keep trying to tell me to wait until I see the baby at the hospital. 🙄
Anyway I'm open to other suggestions and to hear what you think about Eitan vs Ilan in an English speaking setting.

Hi all,
I wanna ask those living alone not with their parents, i mean the students living in other cities than their hometowns or people working etc.. I noticed that the stuff I used to buy in the market with only 300 dhs are now 600 dhs.. and heard lot of ppl complaining abt veggies prices in the souk, i don't go there tbh i only shop via an app because i don't have time due to job/ramadan sleep schedule ..
So my question is did things get expensive in these first days of ramadan or it's just me?

So, currently i’m in my fourth season of high school winterguard, and in nearing in on the end of my season, then I have two seasons left.
I am extremely interested in marching for a DCI and a college guard because I am extremely interested in pursuing Colorguard as apart of my life style.
I am asking for help or recommendations that can really make me pop out so I have a chance to be in these groups and have a chance on being apart of them. If you have any recommendations on what I should work on or any warm ups, please send them to me :)
I wanna make this a big chapter in my life, and I wanna make the best of it!

Went to my first match few weeks ago against Columbus. Was visiting from abroad. I wanted to get that alternate kit, but in the club shop it was nearly $200?? Anywhere I can find it cheaper lads? It’s a lovely shirt all the same

“Anyways, that’s the seventh nightmare I’ve had about the ghost of Elvis. Pretty scary, huh?”
Jerry cocked his head back and started making some Elvis “huh ahh” noises. Other guests stared at me as I spit out a mouth full of beer.
“Easy Gary, these domestic beers cost like seven bucks. Didn’t know I was dining with a celebrity.”
I began coughing and he again replied. “Smoke ya another.”
Me and Jerry have been best friends and roommates for a long time. We met in elementary school and have been inseparable since. We do our best to go to a restaurant we’ve never been to before every other month.
“Man this new restaurant looks fancy as Hell. I’m surprised we were able to get in.”
“Yeah, I slipped a twenty to the hostess.” Jerry winked. “Anyways, I gotta go use the restroom. Be right back.” He scooted back and took off.
This restaurant sure was fancy. I took in the atmosphere. The room had a warm feel and above gleamed a crystal chandelier. The wait staff seemed so great with guests. There was some unique art on the walls. I felt out of place though. I took a moment to make sure my shirt was tucked in.
Our waiter came up to me with a smile. “Your food should be out momentarily. Would you care for another cold beer?”
“I sure would. Thank you.”
We drove an hour to get here so I’m really hoping the food would be good. We just came across it while driving around.
I suddenly had a weird feeling and looked at my watch. About that time the waiter came by and out of bowl of stew in front of me.
“Here you are, sir. Some of our famous pot roast.” The waiter smiled very wide.
“I uh….I didn’t order this.”
“It comes with everyone’s entree. It’s complimentary.”
“That’s an odd dish to have before bringing out an entree. Most places would do like a tiny bowl of vegetable or some broth stuff.”
He snickered. “Well sir, we sure are not every other place.”
“Clearly not, this place is fancy.”
“Go ahead and try it.” I had a weird feeling in my stomach.
“Why didn’t you bring out a bowl for my friend too?”
“We want to make sure it comes out as fresh as possible. Why are you checking your watch so much?”
“My friend Jerry went to the bathroom. He’s been gone for about twenty minutes. He’s never in a bathroom for more than twelve.”
“Hmmm. That’s odd. Go ahead and try your stew.”
“I’m sorry. I’m a vegetarian.” That had to work.
“But you ordered the steak and lobster.” Shit, he remembered.
My mind was racing and I felt nervous. Something about Jerry being gone so long was scaring me.
“Well I won’t beg you to eat it. But it’s awfully rude to not eat food prepared for you. Remember that the food comes from somewhere.” He picked up the bowl and walked back towards the kitchen.
Bastard, I didn’t appreciate him trying to make me feel bad. I didn’t remember even seeing anything on the menu quoting they give free stew out. I looked around and seen others eating it though. Some people looked like a bunch of hogs eating slop. It must have been really good. I about went to apologize to the waiter and explain Id try it out. My phone pinged. That was odd, I hardly ever get text messages. It was from Jerry.
“Dude, get out of their now. Start the truck!”
About that time was when the waiter stood up on a chair.
“Ladies and gentleman , thank you for coming today. I do apologize and understand many of you have seen this before. But our chef is very upset about a guest refusing to eat the food that he so carefully prepared for you all. And because of that, he is ready for the hunt.
I stood up and looked around. The guests were all looking at me with smiles on their faces. The kitchen door busted open and a man came out in his chef uniform. His eyes were pitch black.
“This is the guy?” He pulled a knife out of his stomach.
“Yes, master.” The waiter nodded. The guests responded. “Yes, master.” He dropped the knife.
The tension became heavy. It was dead quiet and my heart was pounding loudly as if a drum was gonna force its way out of my chest.
I turned and sprinted. I heard the chef let out a loud screech that pierced my eardrums. I juked around people and knocked over chairs and tables a long the way I didn’t look back.
I busted through the door and sprinted through the Parking lot. I looked up and my truck and seen Jerry sitting in the passenger.
“They took my fucking foot!”
I turned back and seen the chef standing at the door and his arms began stretching all the way towards us. I cranked the truck and tried taking off.
The chefs hands were on the truck trying to pull us back towards him. Guests began running out towards us too.
“We’re gonna die, Gary. Don’t let me go like this.”
I slammed on the gas as hard as I can and began shaking the wheel around. Jerry’s window busted open and the hand was reaching towards him. I grabbed my pocket knife out of the cup holder and jammed it as hard as I could into the hand.
The chefs arms drew back and he let out a loud screech. I ran over a few of the guests that were sprinting towards us.
“What the hell happened in there!” I shouted loudly.
“I went to the bathroom and was minding my own. Some of the staff came in and jerked the guy out of the stall next to me. I put my feet up on the toilet and hoped they didn’t think I was there, but they did. The ripped out the door and got me too.
The chef severed the poor guy up part by part. I think he was here alone. All the guests eat here pretty regularly. They got my foot. I grabbed a knife near by and jabbed that son of a bitch. I was able to hobble out and hide in a dumpster. He does something to the food or something. I don’t know. But I do know I need a doctor.”
We got to the ER and nurses and doctors worked on Jerry. I tried explaining to the officer that came by what happened and where the restaurant location was. He told me that there was no restaurant in that empty lot. He knew the place. He also said he’d Call backup to check.
But the reason I’m writing this is because I am scared. I heard him make a phone call when I went out to have a smoke. He said
“They are the hospital. I will take care of it, master.”

Hello. I haven't taken the time to write a game-related essay in years, so you can count this as keyboard diarrhea. TL:DR below.
Across three operating systems (Windows, Mac OS and Linux Mint) and the Switch version over an eight-year period, I haven't taken the time to address traffic, budgets and supply lines while avoiding excessive pollution to such an extent without having my cities fail. Well, on Saturday, March 25th, 2023, after fighting near-bankruptcy several times dues to catering to several college and professional sports teams, I finally reached the final tier for the first time (Megalopolis). For a few minutes I had a grin on my face, saying out loud "FINALLY! NOW I can join the other Skylines fans in that my lazy butt finally got the hang of the systems, knew which policies to use and/or avoid, corrected congestions, connections are solid, and the campus didn't bankrupt the city! YES!" Right after the Heavenly City achievement popped up on Steam, a little while later another achievement popped up (Distinguished Academics, meaning a five-star campus)! Thanking Heaven that the struggle and expenses finally allowed the educational money pit to still reach top-tier, I soon saved the session as two different files and exited the game.
Steam's post-game summary, which I reviewed once I quit the game, was weird...
The game just celebrated it's eighth birthday, yet only 9.5% of players unlocked the Heavenly City achievement, which requires a population of 85,000 which also unlocks monuments. At the time, I knew that there had to be more than that - after all, Colossal OrdeParadox Interactive/Tantalus sold almost thirteen million units across computers and gaming consoles. The Campus-related achievement seemed only weirder - only 1.1%?
Wait, what? Surely other people than myself and a select few have nurtured a university campus and virtual students' needs until they reached the final tier. This couldn't be right - unless gamers just didn't care. Did the majority of gamers skip the campus DLC? Were campuses just not worth the continuous investment? What does this say about other Skylines DLCs?
Then the junior accountant part of me (usually suppressed on weekends when I play games) surfaced. One-and-one-tenth of a percent of 13 million past and present gamers¹ is still a lot, right? Surely the achievements are broken, right?
It turned out to equal 143,000 players, or licenses having earned the achievement. Well (shrugs)...out of thirteen million, it would make some sense. But why so few, besides the fact that caring for a university campus can be downright PAINFUL at times, and before the Campuses DLC was available, players dropped a "generalized" university in the city and called it a day if they wanted to fill the office buildings and industrial administration openings throughout the city. The Campus DLC is also one of the "younger" DLCs (May 21, 2019)² And yet, I saw a shot of a user's campus which was built like a palace on a land peninsula out and nearly over an ocean...(this was before I remembered that the campus must have been built with the Infinite Money mod).
Okay...what about the bigger factor? Out of 13,000,000 units sold, it makes no sense that only 9.5%* of registered copies officially earned the top population-based tier. I mean, reaching that tier is part of the normal manner of playing the game. If a player doesn't screw up, they'll reach the tier eventually.
Except it equates to 1,235,000 licensed copies having recorded that goal*.
This is where the analyzing stopped and my calm, rational self took over.
1) Steam is only counting Steam-based licenses. The total number of units sold is spread amongst PS4, Xbox One S/X, Windows, Nintendo Switch (facepalm), PS5 and Xbox Series S/X, making my calculations invalid. With the pandemic bringing additional players back to the Steam version and Epic store as well as creating a larger console player base (especially now that Cities: Skylines Remastered for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is now a thing [TWENTY-FIVE TILES without mods!? AAAAARGH!!!^{3 4}). I wasn't able to pull up console sales data easily, but it doesn't excuse the fact that my numbers are off. Thus, it can be said that more gamers have achieved the goals, it's just that we can't easily see it. Then again...
2) "WHO CARES?" Maybe, just maybe, gamers are using this as a more sophisticated form of Minecraft." Knowing that achievements are disabled the minute that gameplay starts with mods enabled, players are simply finding their creativity heightened, zen strengthened and their personal goals realized without the constraints set by the developers - achievements be [expletive]. We see the large uber-metropolises (metropoles?) shown here on this subreddit and others. IRL urban planners use the game as a simulation tool. The water physics are still under constant observation and are exploited in various ways (oh man, who can forget THIS⁶?). And lots of players have the guts to play outside the rules (darn you all with your 81 tiles and enough RAM to run it!) rather than be squares (me, apparently!).
I say all of the above to say this: am I one of the few people still playing within the constraints of the game while others "mod it up" and have fun their way? All these years I've had great fun with the challenge of the game, but am I really one of the few that do so? Is this because of the game's age? After all, the past eight years saw me complete my Bachelor's, move across the country, have a heart attack scare, and stop buying off-the-shelf computers and finally learn to build/upgrade my own. Does this mean I and others who continue to play this way are "hardcore"?
TL:DR - Finally reached the Megalopolis tier after eight years of playing and see my university last long enough to reach five stars. Face fell when I saw the percentages of players who reached the same goals. Incorrectly calculated numbers for data explaining the low numbers. Decided that it's just a game, who cares, and this Reddit post may as well be tissue paper for readers' backsides.
And with that...time to launch Cities: Skylines, buy a new tile, and see if I can build an airport without going bankrupt (probably not) while listening to Christopher Titus's podcast. Thanks.
​
Sources (Reddit friendly, so no links. Search by the titles below):
1 - 12m Sales and Counting: What's Behind Cities: Skylines' Building Success? [Games Industry(dot)biz] *NOTE: I padded the number to 13m as the article was written in July 2022.
2 - Cities: Skylines - Campus DLC [Steam]
3 - Cities: Skylines - Remastered [PlayStation Store]
4 - Cities: Skylines - Remastered [Xbox(dot)com]