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miyaniacs · 4 years ago

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Mafia AU - Bokuto x fem!reader

Chapter 6 - Unexpected Events

Chapter 5 - You are mine. ; Index ; masterlist

warnings: mentions of death and blood

Tuesday, 7pm

Ushijima left about an hour ago, he stayed quite long after last night. Strange enough you had a feeling that he felt bad when he saw all the bruises he left on your body and how you frowned with every movement.

You sigh and fall down on your sofa, pulling your blanket over your legs.

Why have I chose this life again? You sigh and look over at the plush owl.

Yeah why have you? At first you could say it was as if you were forced. Ushijima saved you this one night, that still hunts your dreams. Until that night you’ve always been naive, walking around the city at night, partying until the next morning or waking up in some strangers bed.

That night you got into the car of those two guys, they told you they just needed to ‘talk with some of their guys’. You got out of the car with them, the ‘other guys’ already waiting for them, but as soon as they saw you something changed. “We got something for us to have some fun” the one next to you said and pushed you forwards, you stumbled on the hard ground. The other got closer and you knew what was going to happen to you, but then he came. You still remember his words: “You’re here to work and not to take advantage of some innocent girl. GET THE FUCK OFF OF HER NOW!”. Then a shoot, and the guy who was feeling you up just seconds before fall down next to you. Blood running put off the wound on his head. The next thing you felt was his arm around your waist pulling you up, protectively pushing you against him, the gun in his other hand. You can still feel the warmth that filled your body in that moment. You never felt so save before.

Ushijima took you home that night and stayed until you felt asleep. The next morning you woke up finding some fresh croissants in your kitchen together with his number, saying that you should text him. And so you did.. and he asked you for one small favour. This favour was 2 years ago. You got used to all the money, the adrenaline and the fun.

“I’m so sorry Bokuto.” You say and pull the owl into your chest, feeling the tiredness taking over your body you closed your eyes.

Wednesday, 2am

Your eyes shoot open. What was this noise? Is someone at your door? Yeah there is definitely someone banging on your door.

You grab your gun and walk over to your door.

“Y/n.. please tell me you can hear me.” Wait you know this voice, but it sounds different?

You look throw the door viewer and you see exactly what you feared to see.

Quickly you open the door and help Bokuto in. Blood dripping out of a wound on his arm, his right eye is swollen and all in all he doesn’t look good, probably due to the blood loss.

You guide him to your bathroom and he sits down on your toilet.

“Can you take off your shirt?” You ask him and he nods, taking off his shirt. You grab a long tweezer and some bandages. FUCK your disinfectants are empty. “Bo, I’m sorry but I need to get vodka, I forgot to stock up on my disinfectants.” You look back at him, “Take that towel and press against the wound.” Hurrying back to your kitchen you grab the vodka and come back into the bath only to find Bokuto passed out. “FUCK!” You exclaimed and quicks check his pulse.

Okay. Everything is alright. He just passed out. You quickly clean up the wound with the vodka, which eventually gets him back to reality. “SHITT” he groans. “I need to get the bullet out. Here bite on that towel.” You hand him the towel he was originally supposed to press on his wound.

Carefully you remove the bullet with the tweezers and sew the wound together. You’re really glad you volunteered for the ambulance when you were 18. After putting on the bandage, you finally look into his eyes.

“Bo, what happened?” Your eyes filled with sorrow.

“Nothing major, one of the gangs that worked for us though it was a good idea to act up.”, He took a sip out of the vodka, “but don’t worry, I took care of them.” He lazily smirks.

“Bokuto - “ you start but he interrupts you. “It’s fine really, I can go now if you want. Your apartment just was the nearest and I needed somewhere to go and you told me that you volunteered for the ambulance so, sorry if I caused trouble.” He gets up, his face twitched in pain.

Why do all of them have to act so tough. You can’t even count the times Tosh stood in front of your door, with several wounds barley able to walk - all the convincing it took you to made him stay, it was ridicules.

“Bokuto, please stay.” You stutter. He turns around and looks down at you. “Do you really want that?” He asks. You nod and take his hand leading him to your bedroom, gesturing to your bed. He hesitates at first but then took off his shoes and lays down.

“Do you need anything?” You ask him and he smiles. “Just you in my arms.” Your heart arches and you slowly walk towards him. You sit down next to him and he wraps his non injured arm around you to pull you down on his chest. After a few seconds you shift and wrap one arm around his waist, your head rests on his chest while you throw one of your legs over his.

“Who caused them?” He asks, his fingers tracing the marks Ushijima left on your collarbone and neck. You gulp, already looking for an excuse. “Wait never mind, just tell me if it’s something serious with this guy?” He mumbles his fingers now run through your hair. “I really don’t know, it’s mainly sex but I-“ you sigh, you’ve actually always been confused about what this thing between you and Tosh is. “It’s fine, that just means that I have to take more effort in now to make you mine.” You feel your cheeks burn at his words - ‘To make you mine.’.

As if you’re in trance you look at his eyes and push yourself up, to kiss him. Finally you feel his soft lips again. Switching the position you’re now sitting onto of him, deepening the kiss. You don’t know how much practice he got, but you’re melting in the kiss, both of you not wanting to break it. Soon after you need air, he gently stokes your cheek and gives you a perk on your lips. “We should sleep okay?” You whine in response. “No baby, we sleep now, we are not in the right state to get this more heated.” He chuckles as you mumbles something not understandable and cuddle back up on him. His arm pulls you tighter onto him, his face nuzzled in your hair, as you fall asleep to the steady beat of his heart.

Wednesday, 7 am

You wake up by someone calling your name.

“Hey, y/n.” Bokuto whispers in your ear while planting kisses on your temples. “Baby, I know you’re awake.” He laughs softly and you groan. “Just a few more minutes..” You mumble and cuddle closer to him, hiding your face in his chest, shielding your eyes from the morning sun.

“Baby.. You need to get up. You have a class at 9am.” He stokes your hair and looks at you lovingly. You move your head, eyes fluttering because of the light and place a kiss on his jawline.

“I’ll just skip it.” You close your eyes again but Bokuto takes away the blankets and now you’re freezing. “OMG BO?!” Your eyes are now fully open and you look at him disgusted. “You don’t need to care about my education” you huff. Yes, you’re grumpy in the morning. Especially with the lack of sleep and your needed caffein. “Go and get ready, I’ll make some coffee grumpy.” Bokuto laughs. “Wait, let me check your arm first.” You look at the bandage on his arm, which has a light red sport showing. “No, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He lies, and clearly you know that he does, but you don’t have the energy right now to discuss this topic any further with him so you just sigh and make your way to the bathroom.

Wednesday, 7:50 am

“Here.” Bokuto places the cup in front of you, while you scroll through your phone checking your messages. “Thank you Bo.” You smile, not lifting your eyes off your phone. “Should I drive you to your campus?” He asks and lifts his own cup up to his lips. “Would that be okay for you?” You now look at him. His hair is still messy, he has dark circles under his eyes, one of his eyes is still some colour of purple, his shirt isn’t buttoned up completely, leaving the upper buttons undone. “You look like shit.” You state. “Oh you were the one putting vodka on my wound, how do you expect me to look?” He rolls his eyes in a joking way before he adds ”besides I’d put on a different shirt if I were you. There is quite some discolorations showing.” You groan, remembering the mess Ushijima left on your skin and get up to put on a T-Shirt with a higher collar.

Wednesday, 8:40 am

You get out of Bokuto’s car after saying your goodbye and promising him that you won*t ignore his messages and be save and most importantly text him if you’d feel uncomfortable.

Walking towards the building your class is held in you receive a massage from Ushijima.

From: Tosh

Wait for me in the room after the lecture ends. We need to meet Kags at the Casino afterwards.

You reread the message for five times and the ‘wait for me in the room’ won’t make any sense.

“Hey Y/N!” Your best friends walk up to you and you great them putting your phone away. It’s Ushijima after all who knows why you need to wait there for him.

Wednesday, 9:15 am

The door opens and your faculty director walks in. “I’m sorry to announce that Professor Bernstein died.” All the student immediately start to whisper, all the crazies theories about his death coming up, “YET we quickly found someone who will take his place for the rest of the semester. Please welcome -“ you stop listening. You already know who he is, and now you know why your old professor has died all of sudden. You roll your eyes as Ushijimas lock with yours.

Wednesday, 1:30 pm

You told your friends that you need to talk with the Professor because of some essay you had to do. They just smirked at you “You don’t have to lie, we have eyes. He is hot as fuck, shoot your shot babygirl.”

Sadly you weren't the only one staying in the room. Around 10 other female students are circling the desk Ushijima leans against asking him question after question - or more likely flirting with him. You huff. As if anyone of them would have a chance with him. The black hair one with this extremely deep cut shirt takes a step forward and - puts her hand on his chest?

The more you watch her touching him, the more annoyed you get. You sigh loudly, getting attention. He smirks and tells the other girls off, which still try to stay ,but quickly run off as his presence changes, showing that that he was not kindly asking them.

He slowly walks up to you. “Why?” You just ask him. “It was the Boss’s idea. We’re all worried about your safety since this Bastard picked you up on the campus and also came to you last night.” By now he reached the sport you’re standing, hovering over you. You open your mouth to say something but he’s faster “Don’t worry, I know you’re just playing your role babygirl.” He gently stokes your cheek. “Shouldn't we go now? I bet the others are already waiting.” You grumble and add “You took long enough answering those questions - about what? If your muscles are real?” If you could take back your words you would. The last part was supposed to be your thoughts only. “Is my baby jealous?” He smirks. Yes, yes you are jealous. You’re not used to see other girls flirt with him that offensively. Usually when the two of you are around others it was visible for everyone that he was with you. “Now you know how I feel, when I see you with Bokuto. So just imagine how you’d feel if you know one of them spends the night at mine.” He whispers the last part in your ear. Your stomach twists simply by the thought of some other girl sharing a bed with him. Your lack of answers is enough for him to smile softly. “Exactly baby. But don’t worry. I don’t want anyone else than you.” he gently kisses the soft skin behind your ear. “Now let’s get going, the boss is waiting”

taglist ( open ) : @kageyamasbraincell , @theduvetpirate , @tendouthighs , @lilacshouko @softhourswithseb @theperksofcoffee @cuddlesslut @chromaticstudio @shhhlikeme, @kynyta @yammmers

#haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x y/n #bokuto imagine #bokuto x reader #bokuto headcanons #ushijima x reader #ushijima headcanons #hq headcanons

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lockdownuk · 4 years ago

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Lockdown Diary Part 7

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 181: Typing on day 182. I received an email from someone at DSM who had got my CV from Helen Proctor (she was the manager that interviewed me along with the founder) and wants me to interview for a IT business consultant role for a shoe firm (Loakes) in Kettering. I called the chap and had a quick chat and arranged it for Wednesday.

A few beers, as it’s Friday, and caught up via video chat with Foggy and Irish Mike (Foggy’s on quarantine having holidayed in the south of France). It was a late one and they were both pissed, but nice to chat. Andy and Ham were meant to join but were no shows - Ham had his sister’s funeral this week - might explain it.

Day 182: I messaged Ham - he went round his folk’s house after work last night as his two sisters were there. I have to admit, I am ignorant of all of Ham’s brothers and Sisters so he may well have meant one was Preaya in an urn.

Someone on the Oundle Chatter FB group asked about Google Hangouts (on behalf of her son who is attending college and they have online classes using it. I am now about to look into it for her. Why did I get involved. It’s 8pm on a Saturday, ffs!

Update, I researched it and messaged her - seems I hit a nail on the head and she seemed suitably grateful. Booze and pizza coming right up (at 9:15pm)

Day 183: Up at just before 2pm - I drank shed loads last night and went to bed after 4am. Faffed about but did manage my stair climb, a 10km walk and I am now making a roast dinner-ish tea (chicken breast stuffed with red leicester and wrapped in bacon) with all the veg and yorkies (I am trying to empty the freezer as it needs defrosting).

Day 184: I posted on FB that today was half a leap year of lockdown (that’s wrong, should have been yesterday). Rachel replied that it isn’t lockdown anymore. I replied that it is for me but that got me thinking - are we officially in lockdown still? Checked, and we are. Posted that on the same thread and Badger replied that the current level of lockdown has been uprated to level 4, whatever that actually means. Rachel’s post worries me - 1. ‘cos it’s indictative of the far-too-relaxed attitude and, 2. I wasn’t even sure even though I’m still observing the same lockdown behaviour that I was before Boris made his announce on March 23rd. Scary how facts bleed into fiction.

Jim contacted me today, asked me to call. I did so, he says I’ll be asked to return to work (from home) on the 5th October (two weeks). Shirley from HR will be in contact. I’ll believe when I see the email from her!

Day 185: Boris announced a tightening of the relaxed lockdown including pubs shutting at 10pm. None of it really affects me since I’m still in as full a lockdown as when it started.

Received an email from John Morton at DSM for an interview at Loakes tomorrow (Wed) at 09:30am.

Received a Facebook message from the editor at Oundle Chronicle - he wants to do a short article about the photos I take and post on the Oundle Chatter fb group.

Day 186: Interview went ok.

Called Dad and Rita to let them know that I received an email from RCI confirming that I will be back at work on the 5th of October.

In the evening, Facebook had posts concerning somebody walking round Creed Road with a knife in his hand, and the police getting involved!

Day 187: Spend spend spend. Paid my speeding fine today £357, my water bill £147, bought two new duvet cover sets and two new sheets £58, a new pair of walking boots (my relatively new Hi-Tec are leaking and falling apart) £75. Oh, and the car insurance renews day after tomorrow, £230. Thank fucking fuck I’m being taken off furlough!

Day 188: Friday and I’m going to have a few beers and watch a couple of films. I’ve been trawling through Seinfeld and am most the way through S3, and it’s brilliant. The Kramer character is mentally good. One episode had the actress who played Janice in Friends - that episode is a classic - which also included an scene whereby the cast are all exclaiming ‘Saturday night’ similar to the Friends TikTok trend. Got a call this morning about a service delivery lead role for EPM, a education service provider, based in Huntingdon. It’s a good role, very involved, reporting directly to the head of IT. But it’s only £32k pa. I replied to the email the recruiter subsequently sent to say I am interested but that salary is less than £5k pa than I am on now as a 2nd line support techie! Lastly, I am well on my way to doing 500,000 steps in September!

Day 189: I was woken by the doorbell - a delivery of one of the duvet cover sets. On the door mat was a missed parcel delivery note from Ryal Mail (I have to get whatever it is from Warmington PO) and a note from next door (No. 34) asking for me to turn my music down at 10.30pm. That’s fair enough but....10.30pm! What are they, 80 years old? I have felt low today. There is no rhyme nor reason as to my moods suffice to say I am not of the happiest dispostion on a permanent basis, resigned to being alone. In fact, I have come to terms with the fact I’ll die alone but, it seems, some days I cope with it a lot worse than others. On that cheery note, it’s 8.45 pm on a Saturday night so, I am about to launch into some beers, weed and pizza. I think tonight I’ll seek out the second John Wick film - watch the first last night - so fucking good. You gotta love Keanu!

Day 190: Hopefully the last Sunday of having an enforced no-work-on-Monday so I’m going to have a beer or two (it’s now 8:20pm - just cracked open a Bud), watch American Sniper and eat Chilli and naan bread and onion rings. I did a 12 km walk today - I recall a time when 40-45 minuts walking was enough. Today’s walk was 2 hours! I know it’s only walking but I feel fitter than I have for years; still unfit, but fitter. Day 191: Well, I enjoyed the decadence of boozing last night but it meant getting up at after midday! Still managed two walks, trip to Tesco’s in Hampton after picking up the mystery parcel from Warmington PO. It was two unknown bottles of beer for a marketing campaign I entered a few days ago! I have to not open the beers until I receive instruction whereby I’ll be joining in with other drinkers in video chat! Day 192: Smahed 500k steps for September with one day to go! Cleaned the kitchen - I’m going to do the whole house over the next few days while I have the free time since I’m back to work on Monday. The lad from next door called round this eveing to ask if I got the note. When I said yes, he told me they (he and his partner) can still hear music. FFS! I asked where their bedroom was, it’s along side mine, so I guess it’s the TV sound that is travelling up and disturbing them. Great, fuck knows what I should do if I want to watch anything after 10:30pm. I suppose going back to work is good timing..I shall be going to bed around that time myself, especially if I want to get up early to get a walk in before starting at 09.00 am.

Day 193: Typing on day 194. Only managed one walk today, before 9.00am. It made a great change walking that early. I then set about doing housework (which I started yesterday) - I want to clean the house from top to bottom before going back to work. i.e. while I have time during the working week. I did the Kitchen yesterday and the whole lounge today. It’s fucking knackering. I managed 519k steps in September, works out at 9.6 miles per day, which is good and, also, annoying. I have taken delivery and laundered all my new bedding. It’s brushed cotton lushness, can’t wait to try it. Last ‘happy hour’ of (this current) furlough, so I had beers (and a fucking spicey sausage casserole)...hence penning this a day late.

Day 194: I didn’t get out of bed until nearly 2pm, FFS. Spome with Ricky Roberts about kayaking, it sound sliek something I could take up but, I would need to join the boat club to have somewhere to get in and out!

Day 195: Sueanne from work called to let me know she’s taking over from Jim ‘til new yer and that the team are looking forward to my return - lovely. Dad called, he and Rita are fine as usual - lovely.

Day 196: Got up fater 2pm. I was seriously fucking wasted last night. Had a video chat with Fog - just checked, it ended at 02.04am and I did a lot more drinking and smoking after that. I still managed a 9.7km walk and am now going to settle down to a few (just a few!) beers, shepherds pie and watch Casino. Day 197: Quiet Sunday with some bizarre results in Super Sunday in the prem. Man U lost at home to Spurs 1-6 and Liverpool were thrashed at Villa Park, 7-2. Work tomorrow, feeling a little apprehensive, not sure why. Got to go to the office (to reset password) at 09.00am

Day 198: Back to work. It went OK. I had to go to the office so that my a/c could be enabled and password reset and t get VPN working. There were a few problems but I was back home and logged in OK in the afternoon. Saw Mark in the office - he’s lost weight and was telling me about a cycling accident - I knew about it, but I didn’t realise he had been in hospital and had a plate put in his shoulder. He also has the exact same issue with codeine as me! I am pleased to be back at work but it’s different - no Jim and Sueanne in charge is the main thing. I’m just going to keep my head down; it’ll be for the best.

Day 199: Second day back at work and I’m (trying to) crack on with it. It’s all coming back... New walking boots arrived today (I have them on as I type); I reckon I’ll be OK to walk in them with no breaking in. That’s just as well as my evening walk took me by the marina and the path between the lock, the small bridge and, especially, the larger bridge into the field at the bottom of Basset Ford Road was flooded, no way my boots will be dry for tomorrow. I did my stair climb before work, 3.5 km walk at lunchtime and then a long, second one, as mentioned, later. I want to try and do a short walk before work in future, hopefully. On the way back from the lunchtime walk, I saw the lad from next door who thanked for me keeping the music down as per the note he left, so, that’s all good.

Day 200: I’ve started a work diary, à la ENDC....nowhere as urgently required but I just think it’s a good idea.

I wore my new boots for the lunchtime walk (3.6km) and they’re fine. However, I didn’t use them in the evening, they niggled the left foot a bit, so some breaking in is required. My usual ones were just about dry enough having been sat on the radiator! Day 201: Popped into the office today to pick up my full headset dongle, did a quick shop at Asda. So, only one walk today. I have not yet managed to get a walk in before work, just the stair climb, so missed out on a lunchtime walk today since I was shopping. Did 8.5km in the evening. Bought a card online for K’s birthday. Not sure why, we seem not to be communicating - I haven’t heard from her for over a month now which, as mentioned before, I shouldn’t find as hard as I do. The card’s pretty cool though, a quip about just getting a card as a present would involve non-essential travel. Now I am back at work, I want a to do loist app. I recall a smart one that was a linear/curved affair that I saw on Producthunt but, fuck me, I couldn’t find it after over an hour looking. Then I checked Google apps and there it was (Lightpad.ai) - I was chuffed and relieved. The lad from oundle School has been trying to get hold of me via Messenger (he tells me by email) so he can interview for the article in the Chronicle. He has pencilled in Saturday at 6pm.Fuck knows if it will go ahead, the whole thing is sketchy. Day 202: First week back at work over and done. I ordered some stuff from Amazon (slippers and socks) and they offered a free trial of Prime, which is the norm, but, seeing as I have had a free trial under that a/c, I assumed it would error, as I have seen before. This time it didn’t! So, tonight, I just about to have some beers, eat pizza and watch The Gentlemen,. It was suggested by Miles on FB when I asked for recommendations. It’s been on my to-watch list since its release. I need some cheering up, I’m having a low ebb today.Day 203: Typing on day 204. The Gentlemen was pretty good. I had lots of beers and smoke and went to bed fucking late, gone 4am. Up at lunchtime. I was meant to be going up Foggy’s for a few beers and to listen to Cobblers vs Posh but I sacked that off. I went for a walk at tea time when it got dark fucking quick and pissed down. I didn’t mind ‘cos Posh won 0-2. I watched two films in the evening: Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Official Secrets. Both excellent. Day 204: Another late night, so up at just before 2pm. 12.64 km walk! I’m going to make stirfry and watch Knives Out...taking advantage of Amazon Prime.Day 205: I didn’t watch Knives Out last night, Amazon Prime was playing up. Tonight, however, after uninstalling and reinstalling the LG app, it’s working again. But, rather than a film, I have started watching The Boys series. 3/4 through the first episode and I’m kinda hooked. Another long walk tonight (I didn’t go out before work or at lunchtime), over 5 miles. My new boots are a marvel...they’re still new - I can tell I’ve got a little bit of wearing in still to do, but, pretty much from the off, I can walk long distances in them. I’m impressed. I think, because they are so light, they may be susceptible to the cold, especially now I can walk for longer periods without hypo-ing. The snow and frost will be the test.Day 206: Bit of a frustrating day at work. I am pleased I have a diary of events to update, that’s all I will say on this potentially public diary. Had a chat with Mark about certain aspects of the day, it was a good chat whereby he agreed with some of my gripes. In the evening I took part in a Ipsos marketing test of two beers with a whole bunch of people online. Ultimately, you have to choose one of two beers you prefer and answer questions why. It’s then revelaed which beer you chose. The beer I iked best was Stella but 4.6%, I think that’s the next product iine for them. You don’t get to find out the other beer. I shoudl recieve a £15 amazon voucher for partaking. If that actually happens, I’m going to buy a pair of gaiters. My new boots are fab (although I did turn my ankle last night) but their insides don’t half attract gravel and debris.Day 207: A productive day incorporating ToDoist with work and GCal, I have sacked off Lightpad.ai (it was too cumbersome moving tasks between dates) - so I managed to tick a few things off the task list as a result (responding to Jo Broom’s voicemail, chasing an eye appointmen, for example). Tim came round and did the garden, nice chinwag. I saw little Derek the other day, as well, he’s not coping great with the whole pandemic atm, certainly now lockdown has relaxed, he’s not as social as before. Day 208: Had a chat with Sueanne today, which is not unusal, and I was asking about creating KBs...she remarked how well, and quickly, I getting up to speed. It pleased me. I am having battered fishcakes, potato wedges and peas for tea. I am looking forward to it the most ridiculous amount (it’s cooking as I type). I shall eat as I watch more of the rather excellent The Boys. Seinfeld is on the back burner atm. Day 209: Emily Folgate’s room mate at uni has tested positive for Covid19! Marc’s avoiding the pub and I am glad I didn’t pop up there last Saturday! Bumped into Ash and Dee when i walked past the vets, chatted for 5 mins, it was really nice to see them. The lady next door (38) stopped me outside to say she recently realised that it was me who posts photos to FB, and said they’re ‘amazing’! End of week 2 back at work. As I type, I’m on my first beer, about to have many more and a smoke, half way through The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. Living the dream! Day 210: Things got messy last night. Sugar levels were a mess. I couldn’t even make it upstairs at one point, laid down on the long rug nursing a big bottle of coke. Got up at around 1pm and did usual shit, now having a beer, spicy sausage casserole in the oven (and it is fucking spicy) and I’ll pick a film to watch in a bit. Posh won, 2-0 at home to Oxford, up to 4th, one point behind Lincoln.

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #covid19 #lockdownuk

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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525

This survey is literally called Adult Survey so let’s see just how bad I am at being one 👉😎👉 What grocery store do you shop at the most? My mom does most of her shopping in SM supermarkets, but sometimes she’ll stick with Freshto.

Which stovetop burner do you use the most? Uhhhh I haven’t used the stove in a while, especially since it almost exploded in my face the last time I used it – but I used to go with the rightmost one since it was the largest, and it fit the pan that I typically used. Do you use a dishwasher or wash dishes by hand? We wash dishes by hand here. I can’t name you anyone who actually bought themselves a dishwasher here in the Philippines.

What color is your favorite laundry basket? Idk, I don’t have a favorite. What color was your first car? White. If we’re talking about the car bought by my parents.

What was your first job? Never had one yet. What is the best job you've had? What is the best pharmacy near you? Not sure about the best, but we have one right across the village that we head to. Do you use public transportation? NO. Public transport in this country is an embarrassment, a joke, and one of the reasons I’m hell-bent on moving out entirely. If you ever needed a country that has trains regularly break down every week (forcing its passengers to walk to their destinations even when they’re nowhere near), trains with poor air conditioning, smoke-belching jeepneys, buses driven by murderous drivers, and public transportation that all in all will force you to wake up 3 hours earlier and STILL end up late to school/work, the Philippines is for you. Which bank do you use? I don’t have any sort of card yet.

Do you have a credit card? ^ What is your favorite fast food restaurant? As questionable as every branch of theirs smells like, I have to give the crown to KFC. What do you want to name your kids? Olivia and Mia are pretty much locked in for me. Still clueless about boy names. How many tattoos do you have? No tattoos. What year did you graduate high school? 2016. Three years, but it’s felt like forever ago. What chore do you hate the most? I haaaaate washing dishes. Thankfully Gabie loves doing it, so it’ll be easier for me when we move in together haha. What is your favorite shampoo to use? Dove is fine. How do you remove stains from clothes? Water and tissue usually do the trick. Do you carry pepper spray? I don’t. I really should. What highway do you drive on the most? Marcos Highway. I live on it and have to go through it if I want to go anywhere. Do you like driving? It’s convenient and I like being out on my own time without the pressure of tiring out/going overtime on a personal driver; but being stuck in traffic for hours all by yourself can be very draining. What is your favorite radio station? I listen to 93.1 in the morning for my favorite radio program, but for the rest of the day I’d switch between that, 99.5, 94.7, and 87.5. What do you use for an alarm clock (phone, stereo, actual clock, etc.)? I use my phone and I have like 5 alarms set everyday because I’m pretty difficult to wake up. Which department store do you shop at the most? I don’t shop for stuff a lot; most of my money goes to food haha. Which dollar store is your favorite? Do you shop at the dollar store often? We don’t even use dollars, sis. What is your favorite gas station? I don’t have a favorite but I like going to Petron just out of habit. Do you burn candles often? I never burn candles. How do you relax? It depends on what I feel like doing. I can choose to watch YouTube videos, watch Friends, take a survey, take a nap, or binge-eat. What's your favorite app on your phone? Twitter or Reddit. What do you cook the most? I can’t :( When was the last time you relaxed in a hot bath? Over a year ago? I dunno, I don’t get to do this a lot. Do you take showers or baths normally? Showers. What is your favorite candle scent? Whatever smells like food, like a bakery or cinnamon. Floral scents make me gag. How much does it cost for you to laundry (if you use a slot machine)? Do you make your bed every day? Yes. It feels so much nicer coming home to a fixed bed. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a dog. Do you have kids? Nope. Are you married? Also nope. Do you save receipts? Receipts from important dates, sure. I like keeping the little details. Do you use re-usable bags at the grocery store? I think my mom does. What color is your carpet? We have a big brown carpet in the living room, but other than that the rest of the house isn’t carpeted. Have you ever burnt yourself with the glue gun? No and I am too scared to know what it feels like so I’ve never held a glue gun before. We actually had to use one fairly recently to make props for an org event, but I told my orgmates I wasn’t gonna help in that department and I could work anywhere else I was needed instead. Do you write checks? Nah. I’ve had my parents ask me to pay with one, though. Ever had a garage sale? My parents never held one, but we’ve been to several. What have been some of your best garage sale finds? I don’t think we bought anything from them. What time do you wake up in the morning? Depends if I have something to do that day. Are you a morning person? God no. I hate having to report to school early and I usually need an hour or two to adjust to the surroundings. I have a 7 AM class on Wednesdays and Fridays and my brain just refuses to cooperate every time.

Are you more of a morning person now than you used to be? Haha I don’t think I ever was a morning person. Do you like to read? I used to. Nowadays I’ll read something every now and then, but it’s not my favorite hobby anymore. What was the first election you voted in? 2016. Who is on speed dial in your phone? We don’t have speed dial. Do you play games on your phone? Sure. I used to have no games at all cos I thought it was a waste of storage, but now I have like 10 games on my phone because of all the advertisements I see hahaha. What phone do you have? I have an iPhone 8. What was your first phone? I keep forgetting the exact model, but it was the iconic Nokia one that had a green screen and early versions of Snake and Space Impact. What kind of computer do you have? I was too young to ever pay attention to the brand and the model, tbh. I did reach the era where connecting to the internet meant weird sounds and not being able to use the landline, so there’s that. Wall calendar or desk calendar? Phone and laptop calendar. If you read a daily devotional, which one are you using currently? I don’t. What is your favorite book? I’ve read a lot of books but I don’t think I’ve encountered my favorite yet. What is the strangest food you've had? I absolutely love Indian food and would do anything for it, but gulab jamun was pretty horrid. The taste confused me so much and the wet, sticky texture didn’t help either. What do you do when the power goes out? Curse out Meralco on social media, especially if it was an unannounced outage. Then I’d stay with my dog so that he doesn’t get scared. Does your home have a basement? Nope. How often do you clean? My mom likes to be in charge of general cleaning, and she does so once in a few months. How often do you go grocery shopping? An hour or so seems like it. Ever bought a lottery ticket? Nah, I don’t want to grow obsessed with it hahaha. Do you gamble? Nope. What does your purse look like? My *wallet has several essential cards/IDs, my savings, and old receipts and papers I never got around to throwing away. Do you ever sleep on the floor? No. I slept on the floor a lot as a kid and I hated it, so I stay away from the possibility completely now. Which room do you stay in the most? Mine? What is your bedtime? I don’t have one, but I always strive to be in bed by 10 or 11 PM. Ever worked two jobs or more at once? This hasn’t happened to me. Do you live in an apartment, condo, house, or dorm? I live in my parents’ house. What does your dream house look like? Modern, minimalist, square-shaped, lots of glass, white. Describe your dream wedding. I haven’t figured out what location I want, but I wouldn’t want it to be in church, at the beach, or in a barn. I want an all-white (or at least almost all-white) motif, a laaaaarge guest list (I’ll only get one wedding so I’m making it huge lmao), free flowing drinks, cupcake racks, and I wouldn’t want it to be too formal nor too casual. That’s like 6 elements out of the hundred I’ll probably end up thinking of, but it’s a start. How often do you go on vacation? As often as my dad is home, so like a few times every 4 months. What is your favorite type of weather? Rainy/stormy, dark, and bleak. What do you do when you have a sore throat? Hate myself. And continue eating whatever because a sore throat isn’t gonna stop me from eating delicious food. How often do you go see a doctor? When it’s required lol Do you have acid reflux? I don’t. Do you snore? I snore only when I’m ridiculously exhausted after a day. And when I do it’s only like once then I stop. Are you on birth control? I’m not. I don’t need it currently. What kind of toothpaste do you use? A normal one? Idk, I just use Colgate. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I have glasses. How often do you wear make-up? Only when I go to parties, which isn’t often. Do you put on make-up in the bathroom or the bedroom? Gabie usually puts makeup on me in her room. Do you have a swimming pool? Nope. What is the first site you go to when you turn on your computer? It differs, based on what I feel like doing/have to do. Typically, though, it’s Twitter. Which email service do you use? Gmail. How often do you check your email? Everyday, because I guess I’M AN ADULT NOW AND I HAVE TO SUCK IT UP. How old were you when you got your first phone? I was 7. I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t want to get it for me, but I was 7 in a private school, everyone was getting their own phones (and this was when phones was starting to get big among kids), and I was feeling pressured to get my own. What was your favorite boy band back in the 90's? I wasn’t conscious for most of the 90s. Did you own a Britney Spears album? Nope.

#survey #surveys

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sea-anon · 6 years ago

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I’m on the edge of a total mental breakdown.

Lemme break down my weekly schedule for you

Sunday: 11 am: go to work. 8 pm: go home. 8:30 pm: clean until mother is satisfied. 11 pm: go to bed.

Monday 7 am: wake up. 8 am: get dressed and ready for school. 8:30 am: go to school. 4 pm: go home for two hours, in which time I have to clean as much as I possibly can while at the same time getting ready for 6:30 pm: go to rehearsal. 9 pm: go home. 9:30 pm: take a shower and nightly routine. 10 pm: bed.

Tuesday: repeat

Wednesday: repeat but in pink

Thursday: repeat

Friday: repeat.

Saturday: 11 am: go to work. 8:30 pm: go home. 9 pm: take a shower. 10 pm: go to bed.

Most days if I want to eat, it’s while I’m in the car or walking from place to place.

I haven’t had a day off in weeks. I’m on the verge of a breakdown and I don’t mean “oh I’m crying in the bathroom at work” I mean I’m going to jump off a fucking cliff or check myself in to a psychiatric hospital.

I have no time for recreation. At all.

I have even less time for homework so my grades are slipping. Oh, what’s that, mr boland? You want a take home essay, how much in class time will I have to work on it? Oh, none you say? Well then I guess you’re not getting an essay from me.

I’ve cried multiple times a day in the past week. I’m about to completely lose my mind and there’s nothing I can do about it.

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aesthetic-productivity · 2 years ago

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September 10, 2022

Good afternoon guys!!

I am finally back, Sat. 10, after a long week. It was a very stressful and harsh week. I feel like I have failed in all aspects this week. In other words, I feel like I have worked and worked but have gotten no information retained. Let me explain why I am feeling like this:

• Monday September 5, 2022: Labor Day! Meaning I had no class and no teacher expected us to be working because we deserved a rest time. I decided I should just rest and not worry about anything as I KNEW I would have a hard study week. I told myself I had already worked so hard enough that I just needed a rest.

• Tuesday September 6, 2022: A regular school day (my class online + 2 in person) where I did my best to learn and obtain enough information. I also decided I could go ahead and start my Chemistry assignment for the week to study for my exam on Thursday.

• Wednesday September 7, 2022: I went out on a coffee date with my friend🫶🏼☕️ and we studied together for our chemistry exam. *by study I mean we worked on our assignment and tried to teach ourselves the content as we didn’t understand anything from class time* Then I went home and decided to keep working on the assignment and get through more sections. I also studied a LITTLE bit for Psychology by using some quizzez she had prepared for us. I went through them a couple of times to retain the information a bit more.

Thursday September 8, 2022: Exam and Quiz day…🫤🫥 This is the Day…THE DAY THAT TOOK ME OUT…it was like those memes that are like “that’s when she knew she ….**” you get the point. Here was how I knew things were going to get bad. First I told myself I would review my Chemistry ch. 1-3 notes and assignments to try to see if I remembered most of the info. Yeah no that didn’t quite happen. I woke up 1 hour late!!!! I was supposed to get up at 6:30 am but I got up at 7:30 am😓. I only had an hour to study☹️ I told myself “you’ll be fine you got this”. When I tell you I got into the class and saw the paper my mind went blank. I started telling myself “this is what you get for not punishing yourself more.” After a couple, I told myself “keep going, if you get some answers wrong it is okay; try finding an answer or make your own process and keep it going. Having something is always better than nothing.” After the exam I was completely drained. Which was also not a good sign as I had psychology quiz left. I went back home and tried to study for psychology. Like I said I went over her quizzez and tried to learn as much as I could, but when I SAW THAT QUIZ!!! My mind forgot everything…sadly I did tell myself “girl you just failed yourself.” Here is my thing, I know for a fact I didn’t put enough effort into Psychology because I didn’t think I needed too. I thought this class would be easy and I wouldn’t have to take notes or anything. Clearly I was wrong and it is frustrating that I can’t return or go back in time to fix my error. I wish I could’ve put enough or even more effort. This way I wouldn’t have thought I got two L’s in one day.😔☹️ Then again this wasn’t the end of my day. I went home disappointed thinking how could I let this happen. I told myself I needed a break so I went to the field, which then I remembered I had a homework assignment due for chemistry. It was the same assignment I had been working on for 3-4 days straight! 🙁 I got back home at 9:00 pm and started to work my butt off as I still had 4-5 sections left. The assignment would shut off at 11:55 pm. I only didn’t finish one section which I was okay with because I had been through a lot already. I wish I could’ve done it all, but at least I got a 90+++ on the assignment. It was just annoying to have to do more after that morning. I just went to bed after so exhausted…

•Friday September 9, 2022: The day after the stressful day… I woke up relieved? I would say that is the perfect word. I realized I didn’t have to study and worry about looking at an exam or quiz. Everything was over for now. Til whenever I get another exam or quiz. I decided to just relax and take some time for me. I made sure to just do one assignment and let myself have a movie night. Everything was relaxing. I needed the rest. Like a set back you know?☕️🧖🏼‍♀️

I’ll give more updates on my other post!* all in all for this post: I wanted to give an example that not every week will be the week. There will be positive weeks and negative weeks. Just always make sure to give your best. Even if you were like me who felt like I wasn’t getting anything out of it 🙁 always remember that you are human 🫶🏼 we have mental breakdowns and we can’t always be at a 100% but at least we try✨☕️

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tizzabianca · 6 years ago

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Study Tips That Work!

For me, at least..

My study habit has changed since I actually cared enough to have one. Back in high school, I was the “study the night before the exam” kind of student because unlike some, “cramming” works for me. In college, I just know I couldn’t survive with that kind of routine and so I modified it. Come first year med, I made big adjustments with it as well. From first year to third year, I reinvented my study habit and so far it’s the most efficient one for me.

Just a disclaimer that we all have different personalities and what works for me may not work for you. I’m a night owl and I work best from late night to early morning. Nonetheless I hope this could help as a “base” while you figure out yours.

1. Attend and listen to class. Though this is a no brainer, we all know there will be instances where we’d rather catch up on sleep in class because we stayed up late the night before studying for an exam, or not go to class at all because we have a due paper on the same day. I cannot stress enough how important listening to class is because it serves as a “first read” on the lecture. It helps to study the topic in advance if you have the luxury of time but giving your attention to the lecture is sufficient enough as a background knowledge before you expand your learnings by studying the textbook. No, I don’t always read the book, even if I want to, because of time constraints.

2. Take down notes. In med school we have this thing called “transes” which are basically transcription of the lecture with added information from the books. Though it is efficient, you can’t solely rely on the group of people making it because some information verbally said by the lecturer are not included. As a student, it is your responsibility to make sure you get those answers to tricky questions in the exam from your lecture notes.

3. Discover your peak hours. As I have mentioned, I work best at night from 10 PM to 6 AM. After class, I usually work out, take a shower, eat, then list down the things I need to do for the night. When I’m not that tired, I try to do the school works I can until I start feeling sleepy already. I usually sleep at 8 PM, then wake up at 12 AM and study until it’s time for me to prepare for school (around 6-6:30 AM). There are days when I sleep at around 10 PM then wake up at 2 AM, or at 12 AM and wake up at 4 AM. It really depends on how tired I am on that day and the amount of things I need to do for the next day. But I always make sure I get at least 4 hours of sleep on non-evals week.

4. Advance read. Again, this is not always feasible when you have other school works to prioritize. But it makes listening to class more easy because you sort of know what the topic is about and when there’s something you didn’t understand from your advance reading or there’s a concept that is contradicting what the lecturer discussed on, you know and can clarify it.

5. Colored pens over highlighters. I used to be an avid user of highlighters. I used to have every color and I make sure I stock up on it because I tend to finish one in just one evals wave. At some point, it was efficient for me. But as I continue with my med journey and get heavier loads, I found it time consuming and inefficient. Sometimes a too colorful reviewer only confuses me and so I switched to colored pens instead specifically red or pink ones. This technique also made me underline or encircle the most important details rather than underlying/circling everything. I noticed I study faster and whenever I need to look back on something, it’s easier for me to find it. Though I broke up with highlighters years ago, I still use some but in two colors only. Any pastel color + banana yellow. I’m not picky with the brand as long as it’s pastel (I used to use the neon ones but it only gave me headache).

6. Write a summary/outline of what you read. I’m both a visual and verbal learner so I need to write down what I’m studying, especially the most important things. It’s useful especially for last minute reviews while walking from the dorm to school. I used to use index cards but now I compile the “must knows” in my notebook. It’s more organized and you can use old, unfilled notebooks.

7. Don’t settle for one reading. If you can go for three, go for three! In med school and in my case, repetition is the key. It makes me more familiar and confident with what I’m studying. Some can take the exam with just one reading but not me. Though there are times I’m only left with a few hours before the exam to go over my reviewer in one passing. What I do is I really absorb what I’m reading and focus on the must knows instead of passively going through it. In this way, I retain the information better. This is actually a fancy way of doing the better way of cramming. We tend to panic when we cram which leads to poor retention that is why you need to be “calm” while cramming. But I highly suggest going over what you’re studying for 2-3 readings if you can.

8. Drink coffee, tea, sleep. Personally I need coffee and water to function. Some needs to sleep before studying or taking an exam but for me, I’m more productive when I sleep first before studying. What everyone can agree on, I think, is the importance of “napping” especially when you can feel yourself starting to get burned out. It’s not helpful to force your body and brain to learn something if it’s already screaming for a break.

9. The “reverse study schedule” technique. I actually learned this from Doc Ja Amistad during my first year in med school and you can trust my words that it 100% works. It means studying the subjects of the last exam day first, a week before the actual exam week. For example:

Exam schedule:

Monday- internal medicine + pharmacology

Tuesday- pediatrics + community medicine

Wednesday- ophthalmology

Thursday- surgery + legal medicine + orthopaedics

Friday- OB + psychiatry

Study schedule:

Monday- OB + psych

Tuesday- surgery + legal medicine + orthopaedics

Wednesday- ophthalmology

Thursday- pediatrics + community medicine

Friday to Monday night- internal medicine + pharmacology

In this way, the subjects for your first exam day are still fresh and you get to focus more on it. As for the succeeding exam days, it’s gonna be more a review or 2nd read on the subjects because you went over it already once.

10. Do what keeps you motivated. Here’s a little confession: sometimes I put on a red lipstick before I study even when I’m just in my dorm. It gives me that confident and motivation that I’ll conquer and own the exams I’m studying for (but of course I take it off once I’m done studying! Lol). Sometimes, I wear my stethoscope while reading to feel a legit *almost* doctor. It really depends on your personality and that’s the fun part!

#lifestyle #study habit #study tips

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seoulfulcity · 6 years ago

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July 12, 2018: We’re Halfway There

안녕하세요,

I am finally halfway through the summer program, and the words my friend Valentino once said during the first week is starting to become reality: "Once we reach halfway through, it's going to go by fast". Now, I'm dreading the last half of the program knowing that I will be on a plane ride back to Los Angeles in a blink of an eye.

Happy three weeks here in Seoul! It's been an eventful week so this is how it went down. This blog recaps the events from Monday to Thursday only. A lot happened on Friday which necessitated a post on its own. Happy reading!

Even though I'm already halfway through, I still have not taken the time to explore the city and visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites or even done any touristy things like visit Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) or even the Namsan Tower (N서울타워). I hope that it doesn't become one of my biggest regrets during this trip, but my mindset is that the bond I have with my friends right now is not something I could experience ever again but I can always go back to Seoul as a tourist in the future.

Monday, July 9, 2018: Florence messaged me on Kakao back in July 3 if I wanted to go to Super Junior's Ryeowook's fan meet since he was being discharged from the military on July 10. Being broke as we both were, we decided to just visit the cafés that were supported by Ryeowook fans: Café Ego, Café 333, and Andy's Coffee.

We decided to visit Café 333 and Andy's Coffee since they were both located in Hongdae.

Café 333 was our first stop and the place was decked out in Ryeowook's pictures. The counter had a welcome sign for his discharge, and tables were decorated with pictures of the idol. We ordered mocha and chocolate lattes and received a Ryeowook banner and two photo cards on top of the Ryeowook sleeve that came with our lattes.

Then we headed to Andy's Coffee just down the street from Café 333 where we ordered coffee and strawberryade. The coffee place gave us Ryeowook transparent fans and another cup sleeve with our orders.

After our trip, we walked around Hongdae and found the place where they filmed a scene in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Yeokdo-yojeong Kim Bokjoo/역도요정 김복주) where Joohyung (Nam Joohyuk) was feeding Kim Bok Joo (Lee Sungkyung) with barbeque from the money he "found" on the floor.

We returned to Anam-dong a few hours after we started our day and I realized I have not eaten either breakfast or lunch yet, so I treated myself to one of my favorite places, once again. Remember that bossam (보쌈) place called Ssago (싸고)? I came back there for the third time since I arrived in Seoul, and even then, I was still learning new things such as Koreans actually referring Sprite here as cider (사이다). Odd.

It rained again that day, but it was not as humid as it usually is - the rain was freezing and I was out in Hongdae in a t-shirt and shorts. So, Florence and I went to Spao and bought myself a nice breathable summer sweater that's appropariate for Seoul's humid weather.

I also found out that Singaporeans call umbrella "brolly" thanks to Joyce. I am learning so many new things from Singaporeans, especially coming from being clueless about the culture just three weeks ago - I did not even know what a Singaporean accent was!

In Korean class, I told my professor that I was going to an event hosted by ISC to watch SBS's "The Show" rehearse and perform, so I will be missing class together with two other students, Andrea and Aubrey. The South Korean series is hosted by CLC's Yeeun, NCT's Jeno, and JBJ's Longguo. I got the line up on Monday which consisted of Apink, fromis_9, UNB, Golden Child, ONF, Kim Dong Han, MYTEEN, Jessi, Yoon Mirae, among others. KCON LA recently announced the lineup for this year's event which includes both fromis_9 and Golden Child, so I'm basically saving myself from spending an extra $100 to go both concert days to see the same groups I'm seeing here in Seoul for free.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018: SBS's "The Show" begins at 6:30 PM KST, so I had the whole day for myself - as expected, I did nothing. We were supposed to meet at the SBS Prism Tower lobby at 5 PM, and it takes about 40 minutes to get from Anam Station (안압역) to Digital Media City (디지털 비디아 시티); so I left at 3:30 to gave myself some extra time just in case I get lost.

There was a long queue outside SBS Prism Tower for ONF and MYTEEN fans. I was told that these fans don't have tickets and are hoping to go in to see their favorite groups perform, while I was in the lobby researching about the groups performing because the only thing I know about everybody was that they were Korean.

Heck, I thought fromis_9 was a boy group.

I was honestly only looking forward to see Jeno and Longguo with my own eyes.

My friends start slowly arriving and one of them went to a coffeeshop nearby that had Longguo on the cup sleeve, which made me more excited for the show to start. Salli and Carolina arrived and I didn't know they were even accepted to go to the show, so I spent the rest of the time until 6:30 with Andrea (Guatemalan), Aubrey (Chinese), Salli (Puerto Rican) and Carolina (Brazilian) teaching each other different Spanish dialects, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese words.

We were seated at 6:17 PM and the show started on time until 8 PM. BABA performed first, then TARGET, fromis_9, elris, Kyungri, Golden Child, MYTEEN, Kim Dong Han, Migyu, Jessi, ONF, The East Light, UNB, Gugudan SEMINA, Yoon Mirae, and Apink. Apink ended up winning that night - no surprises there.

Salli, Carolina and I took the subway back to Anam-dong together where Carolina told me about the Hanyang University Cruise Party - a booze cruise with unlimited drinks for an hour and ending the night at one of Gangnam's most revered clubs - Octagon - famous for being very selective with its guests. Octagon rejects most foreigners and men who are not up to standards with its rich beautiful image. Koreans usually get in for free and foreigners pay ₩30,000. The booze cruise was only ₩30,000 if we buy it before July 11 at 10 PM as a group of more than six people. One individual ticket is ₩45,000, and the tickets get cheaper the more people in the group.

Well, we managed to get more than six people within ten minutes and we bought the tickets together thanks to Wendelyn's credit card.

The three of us were starving when we reached Anam-dong, so I introduced both Salli and Carolina to, you've guessed it, bossam (보쌈) in the same place called Ssago (싸고). As you might have known by now, I am becoming obsessed with it.

After dinner, we went ahead to the Baskin Robbins place where I told both of them about the cute worker I saw last week. We checked the place out and no luck - though we ended up getting Pus in Boots cups and milkshakes to end our night.

I could not sleep later that night and I was still awake until 3 AM just in time for Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) to get ready and meet up at Chicken Bus to watch the World Cup semi-finals with France competing against Belgium. I was awake already anyway so why not, right? I met with them downstairs. Matt and Sophie joined with us in front of Frontier House before going down the stairs to Chicken Bus. Later in the night, Wendelyn and Florence met with us at the restaurant itself while the game was playing.

Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) were betting for Belgium to go into the finals, while Matt and I placed our money on France. Matt and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) made a bet to pay for the winner's entire alcohol consumption for that night. We watched the game Korean-style with chicken and maekju (백주), or chimaek (치백), until the game ended at 5 AM, just in time for daylight to break.

If you've watched the 2018 World Cup finals, then you know that Matt and I won the bet.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018: I slept in until 2 PM that day and had no other plans besides updating my Blackpink blog. I went to the nearby PC bang (PC방) to play around and edit my Tumblr page and my past blogs in the late afternoon. I type my blogs on my phone and the Tumblr app has very limited options on setting up my page and my posts. I did not know the culture around PC방 prior to arriving, so I had to do some research.

1. PC방 are ubiquitous in Seoul - meaning that there is a PC방 in every corner of the street, almost as many as noraebang (노래방) places. Some PC방 are membership only, so you need to sign up and make an account to use the computers. Some, such as the one I go to, would hand you a card with a number on it and you log in using that card number.

2. They're insanely cheap! The PC방 I've seen can go from ₩500-₩1,500 per hour, so sometimes whenever I have nothing to do during the day and all of my friends are in class, I hang out in a PC방 and scroll down Tumblr or watch Are You Human Too? (Neodo Inganini?/너도 인간이니?) in DramaCool since both Viki and DramaFever are not working here in South Korea.

I logged out and caught up with Matt, Florence, Sophie, and Minki-hyung (민기형) at Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe (설빙) just next to Chicken Bus and Seorae Korean Barbeque. They ordered Green Tea Snowflakes and Mango Snowflakes, while I got the Chocolate Brownie snowflakes.

Sophie asked me what I ordered and after telling them, everybody started laughing. Minki-hyung (민기형) made a guess earlier what I would be getting and he guessed right - I was becoming too predictable.

And when I got my order, I did not realize how humongous the portion was.

I keep forgetting that I am in South Korea and not America - the portion sizes here are way bigger since most of the cafés and restaurants are catered for couples (again - couple culture dominates Seoul).

Going back to our dorms, we bumped into Valentino and Cara where we stood in front of the cheap street food restaurant everybody constantly buzzes about (Goreun Aetsal/고른 앳살) for a good hour.

Thursday, July 12, 2018: It was exam day for me, and it was my first one too. So as the good student that I am, I decided to dedicate my whole morning studying - in Donghae's Haru & One Day Café.

I planned to spend a few hours studying for my Korean exam on basic conversational sentences while sipping on Donghae's drink then head to the nearby Kondae (건대) shopping and food district to eat out.

I ordered a glass of lemon juice, took advantage of Donghae's Wi-Fi, and studied.

For ten minutes.

Then I sat there for the next hour looking at fans come and take pictures with the giant Audrey Hepburn portrait hanging on the wall. I was very distracted that day and decided to just walk around Kondae (건대) and look for something to eat.

I scoured through the whole place under the 96-degree weather and found nothing - I was craving pork or beef that I did not have to cook and was within my ₩10,000 budget, but to no avail. Most of the restaurants I've found served pretty much all chicken or meat you have to cook yourself and other menu items I was not craving.

Kondae (건대), the area surrounding Konkuk University, has plenty of Japanese restaurants, which is very lacking around Anam-dong, the area surrounding Korea University. Sometimes, I just want to take a break from Korean food and stuff myself with something different - Japanese, Mexican, Vietnamese, you name it.

I went back to Anam-dong to try out the cheap street food restaurant by the campus to see what was the hype about. The menu was all in Korean, but luckily I know enough for me to differentiate ramen (라면) from tteokbokki (떡볶이).

The prices were very cheap - regular kimbap (원조김밥) was ₩1,500, tteok-ramyeon (떡라면) was ₩3,000, and Busan fish cakes (Busan eomuk/부산어묵) was ₩2,000. Having spent some time around Myeongdong and Hongdae, I knew these prices were within range. One stick of fish cake in Myeongdong was about the same price, so I expected to be eating a plate of kimbap, a bowl of tteok-ramyeon, and a stick of eomuk.

Bad idea - I really keep forgetting that I'm not in America anymore.

The portion sizes were humongous and the three plates took up the entire space of my whole table.

It looked like I was about to film a mukbang video.

I messaged my friends who were nearby to crash at the place and help me finish my food - Florence, Matt, Lina, and Wendelyn came to rescue.

Florence and I ran out of the restaurant to catch our 4:50 Korean language classes right after the rest arrived.

We took a different route and entered the Media Hall where they had a TV situated at the hallway leading to Woodang Hall - and they were playing the K-Pop flash mob dance we filmed a week prior.

The class was starting in a few seconds and my professor wanted us to be on time for the exam since she was not extending the exam time for us if we come late.

Well, the exam was easy - it was actually a quiz. I was mentally preparing for a midterm-type exam since everybody else was studying for midterms.

I finished it in six minutes and lecture continued per usual.

After class, I invited my friends to go to Dongdaemun with me to walk around and maybe buy some clothes and souvenirs - Joyce, Valentino, Matt, Sophie, Wendelyn, and Cara joined with us and took the subway together to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (동대문 역사문화공원). We walked up and past the LED Rose Garden and met up with Thai and Davy, who just came from eating live octopus at Gwangjang Market, then we headed to eat street foods by the Migliori Mall.

We took the bus from Dongdaemun back to Anam and met up with Minki-hyung (민기형) for some makgeolli, rice alcohol famous for its hangover headache, at Tosokjumak Makgeolli House (토속주막 막걸리) just under Monaco Bar. I have never had makgeolli before, but I had an understanding that makgeolli is sipped from a bowl with both hands, but I did not know that it was actually served in kettle pots! The ahjumma (아줌마) serving us placed two kettles next to me and I did not know what it was for - I asked the group if they ordered tea and Minki-hyung (민기형) laughed and told me that it was the makgeolli.

We played drinking games for the rest of the night - such as taking a sip if we say the word "you", rotating our names and responding to the name of the second person to our left, placing everything on the table with two taps, and removing the little man from everything we picked up and called him Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠).

We left the makgeolli place at almost 2 AM and I bumped into my drunk friends from my Korean class - Darren, Peter, Angela, Cindy, and Sharon. Peter, Cindy, and Angela had too much soju for the night and we walked them back to Frontier House and Anam Global House. We spent a whole hour outside the CU Convenience Store just under the hill from CJ International and Frontier House trying to get Peter off of the streets and back to his dorm.

Darren and I managed to get him to his room and back to our dorms by 4 AM and Darren messaged me that he was treating me with a drink sometime for my help - earlier in the night, he was lightheadedly telling me how high his alcohol tolerance was and I wanted to challenge him since my tolerance is also in the higher side.

So, I'm looking forward to the night when we actually find out whose tolerance is actually higher - hopefully we find out this week.

My week 3 blog ends here, and I will be starting on my Friday blog hopefully today.

It's Monday of week 4 and I am looking forward for this weekend since this Friday is the booze cruise - I invited other people for the event, those I haven't had the time to hang out with or the people I met for a few minutes but want to get to know better.

I am dreading the end of this summer program. I have noticed that I've been taking my time absorbing every moment, looking at the faces of the friends I've made here and the buildings that have been part of my daily walks to school and realizing that I only have two more weeks to go to make the best out of this amazing chapter of my life. I really hope that one day, I will find the time to reunite with each and every one of them and relive these moments together.

It would be very easy to reunite with the Singaporeans since their country is so small and more than half of my friends are Singaporean.

This gives me the biggest incentive to visit Singapore very soon since I expect it to be one big reunion. Until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I will not miss the 112 steps going up the Frontier stairs and the neverending hills around this campus. Oh, my God! I will not miss it at all.

P.P.S. The couple and PDA culture here is still insane.

#abroad #international summer campus #isc #ku #study #summer #korea university #seoul #korea

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stephenremedios · 4 years ago

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My experiments with Covid-19

Day 1 - 23rd September 2020:

Consistent with my morning routine, I returned from a game of tennis to discover that Dylan was feeling tired and fatigued after his morning soccer game with other kids in the community. He washed up and sat through his online classes. It was the third day of his first cumulative assessment. The boys had all begun their first term examination on Monday. It was a new experience for them, but they seemed to enjoy the new format much better! Aidan was of the view that the questions made him think more and write less. By lunch Dylan was spent. He went to sleep and woke up in time for dinner.

We all sleep in the same room, with Dylan at one corner and me on the other side. Aidan, Ethan and then Ray. I ended up giving his aching limbs a short massage as he struggled to go to sleep. He tossed and turned for a bit, but finally fatigue took over. Ray suggested I take his temperature. It was 98.1F

Day 2- 24th September 2020:

Dylan woke up feeling normal the next morning. We historically associate these bouts of fatigue and fever with a growth spurt. Dylan stood next to our Thomas height scale and I measured his height – he had grown 2 cm since the last time we had taken a reading, two months ago.

Known for being the paranoid person in the house, I insisted the boys take a break from soccer as a matter of abundant caution. I had a tennis date at 6:30 that I regretted – I was feeling fine, but I decided to play it safe.

It was this same paranoia that had me list all the potential sources of infection when the pandemic first emerged. After looking at our lifestyle we decided to do away with a driver and a maid. We retained a gardener with the caveat that no one would work with him in the garden at the same time. We switched to shopping online to minimize exposure to many people in a mall or supermarket.

These measures had been effective over the last six months so there was no reason to think we had contracted the dreaded Covid-19.

At about 6:00 in the evening I started to feel itchy at the back of my throat. I hadn’t had a cold or cough in over 7 months. Raynah suggested I do a Betadine gargle before I went to sleep that night, which I did.

Day 3 - 25th September 2020:

I woke up with a high fever, intense body pain and a sense of having no energy whatsoever. It was a new feeling; unlike anything I had experienced before. It was like I had gone from a 100% to 5% in 24 hours. I woke up well past my usual wake time of 6:00 AM. The boys told me that their normal morning visit to Villa #10 to visit my mother and play with the kittens hadn’t fructified because she wasn’t answering the doorbell.

I proceeded to Villa #10 to see why she wasn’t answering the bell. Like the boys had reported, she wasn’t responding to the bell or to my calls to her window right below the garage. Spotty, the mother of the three kittens was pacing up and down the entrance of the house while the hungry kittens were scaling the curtains in desperation on the inside of the house. Clearly something was amiss.

I used the duplicate key we have to the house to let myself in. Spot edged into the house before I could retrieve the key from the door. The kittens mobbed her desperate for their early morning feed. I made my way up to the bedroom.

Opening the door, I found my mother looking like she had been on an IV drip for the last week. She had a bad night too. We proceeded to exchange notes on our symptoms. We were both in awe of the speed of the onset and the extent of debilitation in such a short while. We agreed it was a bad flu.

We resolved that the best way to fight it would be to sleep as much as possible, to allow the body to recover from this nasty bug. Aidan meanwhile complained of a mild cough but didn’t have any fever or any other symptoms. Dylan rebounded like he always does and asked if he could go and hit against the wall in the tennis court for a while. He settled for a game of indoor squash with Ethan instead. I slept 13.4 hours of the 20 hours I spent in bed that day.

Day 4 - 26th September 2020:

A much better night after two torrid nights. I had begun a course of antibiotics the previous night and my cough was on the mend. I woke up feeling much better. The tennis gang was starting a little later today given the overnight rainfall had rendered the courts unplayable at our usual 6:30 AM start time.

A notification on my phone asked “Are you good to play @8:00”. While I fancied a few sets of low intensity doubles I decided to play it safe again. The conversation ended with advice to do steam inhalation to overcome the cough.

Raynah woke up later than usual, with a slight fever and body ache. She didn’t have a cough though. She pushed through the fatigue rustling up a special weekend meal. I could smell the aroma of the meal from the bedroom as she rustled it up in the kitchen. I reassured myself that it wasn’t Covid-19. After all I hadn’t lost my sense of smell.

The boys do athletics and fitness classes on the weekends. Raynah and I decided it made sense to keep them back from classes. We deliberated on whether to send Aidan and Ethan since only Dylan had been ill on Wednesday. We decided it wasn’t worth the taking the risk no matter how insignificant it seemed at the time.

Day 5 - 27th September 2020:

I had a restless night, struggling to find any periods of deep sleep. My body was still fighting the infection and I was convinced that this was a strain of flu that I hadn’t experienced before. Ray continued feeling a little unwell so I let her sleep an hour longer and fixed the boys cereal for breakfast.

Later in the day we all came together to record a short concert for my sister’s son, Neil in the US. We had forgotten to call on the 26th (his birthday). We usually all jump on a call and sing LIVE! This time we would have to settle for a recorded message.

All in all it was an eventless day and it seemed like everyone on was on the path to make a quick recovery from the flu. If Dylan had indeed been the one that brought it in, then surely we should make a speedy recovery just like he did.

Day 6 - 28th September 2020:

With the antibiotic kicking in, my throat was on the mend. It felt like my energy levels were inching back up. The fever was on a downward trajectory. The worst was behind us. Raynah continued to have mild flu symptoms and my mother hadn’t shown any signs of a fever the previous night. She had recovered sufficiently to make food for the ‘patients in #145’ she joked. Her main movements over the next 48 hours would be to deliver food to us since both Ray and I continued to be under the weather. Ray began to experience breathlessness when she climbed the steps that evening. I was concerned but concluded it was probably just the fatigue of having cleaned the whole house that day. The larger picture suggested that we were all progressing in the right direction.

We would have gone to sleep that night without having considered for a moment that we might be Covid +ve.

We are early sleepers. Lights go out by 9:00 and everyone is usually asleep by 9:30 after some bedtime banter. A little past 8:45 PM Ray read out an email from the Ozone Kovid Kare team – The live-in help at one of the houses of the boys who play soccer with Aidan and Dylan had tested +ve for Covid (It is a separate matter that he turned out to be a false positive when he was re-tested!).

In that moment, the odds of us having contracted Covid increased from 0% to 1% in my mind. It was now possible that the boy got it from his house help, Dylan got it from the boy, that my mom and I got it from Dylan and then the rest of the family got it too! (It is a separate matter that Aidan, Dylan, Ethan and all the boys and their families tested negative and we still haven’t figured out where we picked the virus up from).

It was playing out like the closing sequence of the movie Contagion in my mind! Dylan picking up the virus as he rubbed his nose after touching the ball while playing soccer. My mom inhaling the virus as Dylan recited a poem later that evening while he was doing his studies with her. Ray interrupted my rampant imagination. “What should be do now?” she asked.

Given that there was now a 1% chance that we might have Covid, Ray and I decided that we should get tested. We were still sure that it was just a flu since the only person still feeling a little ill at that time was me. I’m intrinsically risk averse, and most of my reading suggested that people were dying when they were taken to hospitals too late in their fight with the virus. To save time it made sense to get tested along with the boy’s family.

After a few late-night calls and assistance from the very resourceful Ozone Kovid Kare Team we were all set to get tested the next day along with the family whose domestic help had tested positive.

Day 7 - 29th September 2020:

Our hall room has furniture on the sides with a wide-open space in the middle. The boys have spent hours during the lockdown hitting shuttles and table tennis balls against this wall. A broken light fitting that we decided not to replace after it was repeatedly broken by the boys tells the story of many hours of fierce combat with the wall. The wall also doubles up as a green screen for Aidan’s live streams and as a film screen when we run home movies.

When the lab technician arrived in full PPE to do the tests, our hall room looked more like a operation theatre than the usual improvised squash court it normally is. Today that expansive wall framed a single chair under the lights in the center of the room. We took turns to sit down on this chair while the technician first sent a swab up our nostrils and then down our throats. The technician did a thorough job, swabbing both nostrils till tears were streaming down my eyes. For the throat probe, he went deep enough to stimulate an involuntary cramp in my neck. If you experience discomfort during the swab collection, chances are that it is being done effectively. The technician told us that it takes 24-48 hours to get the results and that we should expect a call any time after 4:00 PM on the following day.

The boys meanwhile recorded the proceedings on their iPads with great excitement, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation. They demanded to be tested as well fearing that they were missing out on this once-in-al-lifetime adventure.

My sister in Oregon, US had been anxious. Her husband was up late and received the pictures of the testing event. He assured her that all was well and that we would have the results the next day.

My mother and Ray looked to already be on a recovery path. The boys were fighting with us to allow then to resume their normal morning soccer routine. We asked that they be patient and hold on for one more day. The results would be here tomorrow, and they could return to their normal routine.

As we went to bed that night, I apologized to Ray for not having done anything for her birthday! I joked that a -ve Covid test certificate might be the most original, unique, quirky and memorable birthday present she would every receive.

Day 8 - 30th September 2020

I had an unusually high fever the previous night and felt lethargic and was exhausted when I woke up. Despite multiple doses of paracetamol my temperature had hovered between 102F & 103F without any signs of going down. My resting heart rate had also jumped from a normal 56 bpm to 69 bpm. My body was still fighting this virus. My mom walked over in the morning to deliver a cake for Ray and to drop a card in the mailbox. We were keen that that we cut it in the morning and start the day on a positive note.

Ray received a call from the laboratory at about 11:00 AM. He was very apologetic as he informed her that all three of us had tested positive, while the entire family of person who had initially tested positive were all negative!

It took about a minute for the information to sink in.

We were all Covid +ve.

My first reaction was to suggest that we all get tested again… this couldn’t possibly be true. After all, the house help had gone from being +ve to -ve in 24 hours. It might well be the same with us.

We hadn’t discussed the plan in the event of testing positive, so the first big decision was to figure out how to get my mom to our house given we now knew she was positive. Would we have to get an ambulance?

In the hour after the call to confirm our infection a variety of worst-case scenarios flashed through my head. I am wired like that. My mother and wife would be taken in an ambulance to a woman specific Covid Care Center. The boys and I would be whisked off to a gent only center. Our phones would be taken away.

Given the shortage of beds in general, how would they have 6 beds if all of us took ill? How was it all that four of us were symptomatic and I had moderate to severe symptoms when most people seem to have been asymptomatic? From all the metrics that I was tracking I knew there was something wreaking havoc on my vitals. Was I going to be admitted? Was I going to need oxygen? Was I going to end up on a ventilator? Was I going to die?

My mother meanwhile decided she wanted to quarantine by herself. She is an iron willed woman and I wasn’t in any shape to have a disagreement with her. It was particularly difficult for me to have her spend the next 14 days in isolation because she was at the receiving end of an acrimonious accusation relating to the cake she delivered for Ray’s birthday that morning. I absolved myself of the guilt I was experiencing at not being able to be there for my mom and got on with more pressing matters.

I reined my thoughts in and determined that this crisis called for some affirmative action. With tremendous help from my assistant Freeda, we were signed up for a home care Covid Care package within 4 hours of our positive result being known to us. At 5:30 that evening we received all our medication along with a digital thermometer and Oximeter neatly packed in a box.

The magnitude of the disease stuck me when I opened the box and saw the number of pills within it. I have never ingested so many pills in a single sitting ever. We all began our course of anti-viral medication that evening. I struggled to sleep that night. It was a combination of fear and a difficulty with my breathing that kept me awake and restless. I discovered the next morning that my fever had been well over 101F for most of the night.

Day 9 - 1st October 2020

While Ray and my mom seemed to be making good progress, my downward spiral continued. The chills had returned, and I spent most of the day covered from head to toe in bed. I had read that sleeping in the prone position helps the lungs in the fight and recovery, so I began to experiment with that. From time to time, the pulse Oximeter would show an initial reading of 93 and 94 before deep breathing would bring it to a more acceptable 95 or 96. I would feel breathless after climbing the dozen steps to get to our bedroom.

My temperature remained high through the day hovering between 103 F and 104 F. I decided it might be a good idea to speak with another doctor.

The first thing that the doctor did after a barrage of questions and giving me a patient hearing was to assure me that I was not going to die! He said that he had seen over 2000 cases in his ward, and that there was no need to be alarmed. It seemed like a silly thing, but the conviction in his voice when he said it made me hopeful and positive.

The second thing he told me was that all the current medication I was taking was 'candy’, and that none of it had cleared clinical trials. The medication was essentially in his reckoning, a placebo. It wouldn’t do any harm. It wouldn’t help either. He told me to continue my course of anti-biotics and use paracetamol to manage the fever.

That conversation left me hopeful and distraught at the same time. How could I be taking so many pills when there was no evidence to conclusively say they worked? We resolved to continue our medication and see how our bodies responded.

Antivirals are dosed in an interesting way as I discovered. The first two doses are monster doses (1800 mg) and then it drops to smaller doses (400 mg). It does not help that these tablets are manufactured in 200 mg shots. It is quite daunting when you have to put down 9 of them! By 10:00 PM that night I had 4000 mg of the anti-viral in me and I wasn’t feeling any better. I was starting to feel worse.

Earlier in the day, Shanthi, a doctor resident in our Community offered her research and findings as an alternate way to combat and inhibit the progress of the disease. She referenced the work of Dr. Paul Marik and suggested that we add a few common medications that had proven effective in helping fight the virus in some trials. She cautioned of course that these weren’t 100% proven but reduced the odds of fatalities.

From where I was both physically and psychologically, I would have taken any medication that reduced the odds of my death by as little as 1%. We went all in. I was now on three prescriptions desperately hoping that one would work and that I would start to get better.

Within minutes of us confirming that we would go with Dr. Shanti’s line of treatment, her husband Pravin dropped off all the medication for the three of us in neatly labelled Ziploc pouches. We promptly took our first doses before going to bed that night.

That night was the toughest night. My body wasn’t feeling good at all. I had now lost a sense of smell and taste completely. Repeated bouts of coughing incessantly made me feel like throwing up all the time. I had no appetite. I had lost 4 kgs in the week since I first felt an itch at the back of my throat. I struggled to sleep in a prone position since it isn’t how I normally sleep. I considered what I might pack if my Oxidation dropped and I needed to get admitted the next day. I had carried an Oximeter to bed that night. I wanted to stay on top of my oxidation levels should they drop suddenly.

I had read enough about a condition that afflicts some Covid patients called ‘happy hypoxia’ and it had scared me sufficiently to make me even more paranoid. I took my Oxidation over a dozen times through the night. On a couple of occasions, it began at 93, but with deep breathing in a prone position rose to 97 within the minute. I didn’t sleep much that night.

Day 10 – 2nd October 2020

I woke up feeling fatigued. I hadn’t slept much; my fever had been high, and my cough continued. The cough was particularly severe when I woke up and I would have these bouts where I would cough incessantly for 2-3 minutes. It felt like there was a significant amount of phlegm at the bottom of my throat, but the cough was a dry one. I also began to notice that I would feel breathless when I spoke a couple of sentences at a time. Raynah and my mother had stopped logging a temperature and their oxidation levels had been healthy throughout. It was particularly frustrating that the virus had singled me out for this special treatment.

I remember counting the pills I took that morning. I had 6 before breakfast and 12 after. I was throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at the problem. After downing all of them, I returned to the bed to try and sleep. I forgot to have my paracetamol that morning. The BBMP came to test the boys that morning.

I woke up at about 2:00 in the afternoon sweating profusely. My head was dripping with perspiration like it might after a lung busting rally on the tennis court on a summer morning. I hadn’t taken medication and my fever had broken. Surely that must be a good sign.

At 4:00 that evening I received a call from the hospital. I expected it was our usual doctor checking on my progress. It was a psychologist. I have never spoken to a psychologist in my life up to this point so I am not quite sure what to expect. From everything I have seen in the movies, I expect to do most of the talking.

Her first question explores my anxiety levels. I tell her that I am extremely anxious given that all six of us contracted the virus and I was the only one who got a knock out punch.

Her next set of questions explore my history of stress and hypertension. I assure that I don’t have any such conditions despite a family history of these ailments.

She offers me medication to handle my nightly ruminations as an SOS if I am unable to sleep. I am also advised to wear a rubber band around my wrist which I am to pull and release every time I notice I’m having negative thoughts.

I slept for the rest of the day and my fever dropped from its previous highs. I had recovered enough by the evening to enjoy a cup of tomato soup without fearing that I would throw it up.

Day 11 & 12 – October 3rd and 4th

Two very similar days. It felt like things were in the balance and could go either way.

The boys test results came in, and miraculously all three tested negative. A large number of people in the community including all our primary and secondary contacts tested negative as well. I didn’t know what to make of this. From everything that I had read, it was well past 10 days since the boys first got infected. Given they were asymptomatic with the exception of Dylan’s one day sickness they were probably virus free by the time we tested them. That’s the only plausible explanation for their negative tests.

None of us wake up hoping to spread a virus.

As a family we heaved a collective sigh of relief that we hadn’t inadvertently infected anyone else in the community. Looking back we are glad that we erred on the side of caution.

My fever continued to hover between 100F & 101F. I was measuring my blood oxidation almost every hour to stay on top of any potential drop. I had begun to take melatonin but that wasn’t helping me sleep any better. My respiratory rate had been closer to 19 per minute, above my normal 17 per minute rate in the run up to the sickness.

The cough continued though I was now regaining my sense of small and taste. My appetite also began to return in a big way and I had a hearty meal after a long time. It wasn’t that the food wasn’t tasty over the previous week, I just couldn’t get myself to eat more than the bare minimum to be able to take all my medication.

Day 13 to 18 – October 5th to October 12th

What a tremendous relief it was to wake up without a fever finally. I concluded that the body had fought the virus successfully. That closed one potentially dangerous chapter and opened another equally threatening one – would a cytokine storm follow? An excessive immune response can also do damage to your body in several ways. While the cytokine storm begins in the lungs it can quickly spread to other parts of the body leading to a variety of complications.

This period was also filled with anxiety waiting to see if there was any googly along the recovery path. While the fever was gone, the residual dry cough was now being treated with a steroid. The doctor’s view was that the lungs would take between 3 to 6 months to repair the damage the virus had done. I would have to do an X Ray a month later to make sure that the repair was headed in the right direction.

As a matter of abundant precaution, I continue to track my blood oxidation every few hours. I know for certain that I’m no longer Covid +ve, but I’m not out of the woods yet. A statin and a blood thinner will hopefully cut the risk of a heart attack and a stroke (both run in the family!). A battery of other supplements like Zinc, Vitamin C & D etc. will reduce the internal inflammation and help the body recover faster. The path back from this disease is a slow one and I’m learning to be patient with myself. In a strange way, I am more aware of every breath that I take.

Day 19 - Today 13th October 2020

I still haven’t accepted that the risk level we signed up for resulted in the whole family getting infected. Worse still, the failure to identify the source and the limited immunity that you have even after contracting it means that we live in fear of the family getting it again. Looking back, I ask myself what I would have done differently!

1. We should have gotten tested earlier: It helped that we quarantined as a family as soon as Dylan experienced tiredness for a day, but we all should have gotten tested earlier. The assumption that our limited contact with the external world made it impossible for us to contract Covid was a wrong one. If anyone in the family gets a fever or cough going forward, we will test at once.

2. We should have prepared better from a knowledge perspective: Raynah did a great job preparing for Covid. We have had the sanitizers, household disinfectants, plastic gloves, disposable masks etc. for over 6 months before we got sick. We weren’t prepared however with the right knowledge. It is very disorienting to get different directions from well-intentioned doctors and choose a course of action when you can’t look after yourself! We were very fortunate to have Shanti share literally the latest research (published on the 28th of September!) in the US with us. We will have a small Covid medication kit at home updated for the latest clinical trials going forward.

3. We should have had a plan in the event of testing positive: I was in denial even after the test results came in. I still spend a lot of my waking time retracing everyone’s movements in the run up to the first instance of fatigue in the family. Thinking through what you will do should you test positive is easier when you aren’t positive. We have a plan of action should anyone test positive again in the family.

We are grateful that we didn’t infect anyone, and that the limited set of people we had contact with all tested negative as part of the contact tracing protocol. Without knowing for sure who got infected first and where the infection came from, there is no way of knowing anything for certain.

Having been through this ordeal, what advice would I offer you?

Take this virus very seriously. For many it might pass without them even realizing that had it. For a few however it can literally mean a life and death situation in a matter of a week if you ignore it. Take all the precautions you can. I saw this Swiss Cheese analogy on the internet from Dr. Ian M Mackay that made a lot of sense to me. We took all the precautions but the virus still reached our respiratory tract!

As I lay awake one night struggling to breathe, coming to terms with the new prone sleeping position I asked myself what kind of gambler I might be if I was gambling with my life.

If someone gave me the chance to roll a wheel with a 2% chance of dying, would I take it?

The answer is a resounding ‘No’!

If there’s one piece of advice that you take away from reading this piece let it be this – go to great lengths to protect yourself and your family from this virus. The only thing you have any control over is the risk level you expose yourself to. Once you contract the virus you are pretty much at the mercy of the virus and no one can predict what happens next. It is entirely a matter of chance!

It can pass without you even noticing you had it. Ask Aidan and Ethan.

It can knock you out for a few hours. Ask Dylan.

It can be no more severe than a common flu. Ask Ray and my mom.

It can leave you breathless, with damaged lungs and a residual pneumonia. Ask me.

It can kill you. Ask anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to the disease.

The science is still approximate with new cocktails and regimes of medication being added to clinical trials every day across the world. Do everything you can to minimize the odds of getting the virus, cut every possible surplus contact. Mask up and maintain physical distancing.

#covidquarantine #covid_19 #covid

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northeastern-alyssalukpat · 7 years ago

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Day in the life of a Northeastern second-year

8:01 AM: My first alarm goes off. Gotta love Mondays. I hit snooze.

8:28: My second alarm goes off. I hit snooze. I like to set alarms at random times.

8:40: The first thing I do when I finally get out of bed is boil water in a kettle. I make peppermint tea every morning. I used to drink a lot of coffee, but I try to sleep at least seven hours every night so I don’t get addicted to caffeine.

9:00: I pour my tea in my Swell bottle, put some grapes in a bag, and head out the door to my 9:15 class.

9:10: I arrive at Cargill 97 for Database Design with Professor Amor. I take out my notebook and chat with my friends for a few minutes. A lot of my friends from orientation are in my class, so we have a good time :)

9:15-10:20: I learn all things database and mySQL (coding language). I also drink my tea and eat my grapes for breakfast.

10:20: I pack up my stuff, say bye to my friends, and walk to the fourth floor of Hayden for History of Journalism.

10:28: I arrive at History of Journalism with Professor Fountain out of breath. Climbing four flights of stairs is no walk in the park, man. There’s an elevator in the building, but it’s slower than the stairs and I might as well get a little bit of exercise.

10:30-11:35: I learn about famous figures in American journalism history, such as Horace Greeley and Benjamin Franklin. Professor Fountain’s enthusiasm shines through in his lecture, or as he calls it, “conversation.” This class always flies by, and I spend a good amount of time thinking about what I’ll make for lunch after class.

11:35: I head back down the stairs and steel myself for the wind tunnels of West Village.

11:45: Back in my apartment and done with classes for the day! I only have two morning classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I decided on Italian sausage pasta for lunch today, so I cook pasta and pan fry an Italian sausage.

12:05 PM: Lunch is served! It’s about time because I’m starving after class. I don’t work during lunch because it’s important to take breaks during the day. I might eat some Hot Cheetos too because that’s how I roll.

12:45: Time to work. I read two chapters of my History of Journalism textbook at my desk.

2:00-4:10: I do homework to prepare for Law of the Press and Journalism 1 tomorrow. I also review my notes from my two classes today to make sure I understand everything. Usually I work at my dining table.

4:30: I meet with a professor to talk about taking an investigative journalism course in the spring focused on data visualization. Neat stuff. This professor was a member of the Spotlight team who uncovered the priest sexual abuse scandal in 2002, which was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2015. I’m not starstruck, you are.

5:00-5:40: I do my reading for Database Design and review scripts we wrote in class.

6:00-7:00: I take a group fitness class in Marino every Monday with my friends called Cycle/Abs. Our instructor, Katie, is a boss. After 45 minutes of cycling and 15 minutes of arm and ab exercises, I am ready to eat.

7:30: After a quick shower, I prepare a frozen meal from Trader Joe’s. Today I’m having butter chicken and rice, which cost less than $4.

8:15-11:00: Work, work, work, work, work. Also, procrastinate and check social media. Procrastination = blog post, so lucky you!

11:00-11:20: Call my family. I’m from California, so I call around this time when they’ve finished dinner and are done for the night.

11:30: I pack my backpack for tomorrow and go to bed. I have Journalism 1 at 8 AM tomorrow so I try to go to bed ~early~ tonight.

Today was a pretty relaxed day. I didn't have many classes or activities to do. Sometimes I’ll lead a tour after I’m done with classes or eat lunch and camp out in the library for a few hours after class. Next spring I’ll be applying for co-ops so that should keep me pretty busy. Stay tuned...

#lifeatNortheastern

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san-missouri · 5 years ago

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MENGQI JI | ELLEDGE CASE REVIEW/UPDATE

Anyone who would like to receive email or text alerts for the criminal proceedings against Joe Elledge can do so through the links provided for his felony abuse case (here), or here for the murder trial.

#SpreadAwarenessNow first broke the news of Mengqi Ji's disappearance online October 11 at 6:46 PM.

Since that time much has happened, most recently Elledge was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of Menqi Ji, who was last seen Oct. 8. Joseph Elledge is also facing charges of felony child abuse and endangerment. Judge Jacobs has set a trial date of April 6 for that case which will begin with jury selection in Warren County selecting from 100 potential jurors. Once that process is completed the jury will be brought back to Boone County and opening arguments could begin that night. Please use the links provided above to receive notifications from the court on these ongoing case developments.

We have followed the case closely, being the first to provide you with comprehensive, interactive, and content-rich posts and flyers focused on the facts of the case and missing evidence, and providing you including exclusive photographs, stimulating content, and critical links to resources including the authorities working the case! We have posted searchable versions of both of the probable cause documents as well as information explaining some of the case law surrounding Corpus Delicti in our files section. We have previously posted the route that Elledge claimed to have taken, and we still encourage members to look out for those missing items, or other signs of evidence that may potentially have been dumped in the Missouri or Lamine river, or in wooded areas along the route he is said to have taken.

“The suspect drove to the Jefferson City area on one trip and drove back to Columbia. During a second trip, later on that afternoon, he drove down to Ashland, over to Guthrie and back to Ashland and over to Fulton and back up to Columbia and then over to Rocheport. Those are locations where the defendant said he had gone.” -Dan Knight

Both trips described by Joseph match the location of his cell phone until the end of his second trip. Joseph told officers he drove home after leaving Rocheport, however records prove that Joseph's cell phone instead went west. Location data showed that Joseph's phone traveled to Boonville and then later the area of Highway 41 and the Larnine River. The cell phone was in the area of Highway 41 and the Lamine River for approximately 4-5 minutes. Joseph's cell phone then returned eastbound on I70 and back to the area of 2607 Eastwood Drive Apartment 58.

Police used two cadaver K-9 units as they searched the Lamine River in the area of Highway 41, with both dogs alerting to the presence of human decomposition in the river.

In our effort to completely cover the cases of Mengqi Ji and Joseph Elledge we have covered a lot of information that may provide important context to those just learn about this case, and for those of us who have been following it from the beginning, so please keep reading and check the links to find out more about this important and developing case.

MENGQI JI ELLEDGE

WAS REPORTEDLY LAST SEEN AT HER RESIDENCE IN THE 2600 BLOCK OF EASTWOOD DRIVE ON OCTOBER 8 AT 11:30 PM, HOWEVER JOE FIRST CONTACTED COLUMBIA POLICE DEPARTMENT ON OCTOBER 10, 2019 AT 3:30 P.M., AFTER HAVING BEEN CONTACTED REPEATEDLY BY MENGQI'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO WERE CONCERNED THEY COULD NO LONGER REACH HER.

Tuesday, October 8—9:30pm

Joe asserts that Mengqi was laying on the bed and despite their cantankerous relationship he gave her a back massage hoping it would lead to sex, which it did not. He states he then went to the living room afterwards to watch Youtube videos. He claims she went to bed then, and at 11:30 p.m. he went to bed. His mother Jean turns off wechat, then on October 9 - Jean's birthday— Joe claims that gone at 5am when he woke up the baby was crying and Mengqi gone.

He said her car keys were there with cell phone and wedding ring. He fed their child the same way he had·seen Mengqi do it, since he had never done it before, and went back to bed until at 8am he woke up again with Anna. Joe then wished Jean Happy Birthday via text but claims he didn’t tell Jean on October 9 that Mengqi was gone. He asserts that he did not have any further contact with his mother until 10/10/2019 when he texted her that Mengqi was gone. Shortly after sending this text, at 10:30am on October 9 he says he took their infant daughter in Mengqi’s car to Jefferson City, but then because he was not familiar with Jefferson City he got turned around; taking a wrong road and ended up going up 54 North then over to I-70. He said at 6:30 pm he said he did research on google maps to find some walking trails so he could relax, focusing on a large forest area. Sunset this night was at 6:40 pm. He then drove to Ashland, Guthrie, then back to Ashland before going to Fulton.

He stated he had a friend in Fulton and he had never been to Fulton, but then drove on 54/I70 to Rocheport. At this time he drove down to the MKT Trail at Rocheport, saying he left at 10:50pm to come back home- but we know now this is when he went on to first Booneville and the Lamine River access point.

On his mothers birthday, October 9—the day of disappearance Joe texted Jean Happy Birthday, and also texted Enyard Robert he couldn’t make it to campus, but made no phone calls. His mother Jean later testified at the bond reduction hearing that she knew Mengqi was gone when Joe told her at 8:50am on October 10. That same day at 09:06 hours he again texted Robert and told him "I'm kind of stuck at home and busy with my daughter." Again, Joseph did not tell Robert that his wife had gone missing. Around that same time friends arrived looking for Mengqi. Joseph stated the friend had Mengqi's mother on a video call and that is when Joseph first told her that Mengqi was missing. He then on October 10 at 10:51am texted his mother Jean—Have you heard from Mengqi? Then he spoke with her almost immediately thereafter at 10:51 am. Jean testified at the bond reduction hearing that “I don’t remember” what he told her during the 3 minute phone call they had at 10:51 on October 10, but that she came to the Columbia apartment immediately from her Blue Springs home because “We need to deal with this” because he was upset. Jean testified that she was in Columbia entire time from October 10-25. Additionally, during the bond hearing Dan Knight asked Jean “The defendant told you that he put Mengqi somewhere, didn’t he?” To which Jean smirked, then said “No”.

Later at 3:30 pm on October 10 Joe reported Mengqi Ji missing to the Columbia Police Department. Then at 8pm he texted his brother Richard; asked first if he knew that Mengqi was gone; then said he wanted to play games online with his that night, which they did.

On October 11 Jean turns wechat back on.

During his interview with police on 10/15/2019 (six days after Mengqi went missing) Joseph was asked where he believed Mengqi was. Joseph stated he did not want to think about it because he had class; he was in his last semester of school before graduation, and just wanted to focus on school and his child. In his full nine minute interview he repeatedly complains about the challenge of caring for his daughter, and refers to Menqi Ji in the past tense, despite the handwritten document located in Joseph's bag that showed outlined tips for interviews and included a reminder to refer to Mengqi in the present tense when speaking about her.

Many pointed out his repeated use of past tense when talking about his wife in this interview, as well as his odd mannerisms, his mention of Carthage Missouri, and even the strange discourse on his mother’s Facebook page on which (among other things) she referred to Mengqi as her son’s wife, and directed people to bring leads on the case directly to her, and refused to answer any requests for additional information from the public – choosing to either ignore requests or attack individuals with the assistance of her sister Becky Karst Jung. This oddness continued to be on display during her testimony at the bond reduction hearing which followed on November 6, 2019. It was during this hearing that the prosecution played excerpts of the audio recordings that Joe himself took on his own cellphone which clearly documents over multiple days and months his own verbal abuse of Mengqi, which his own mother is heard participating in front of the couples infant daughter. We exclusively feature the full audio of this November bond reduction hearing on our YouTube, but we warn you the incriminating recordings are hard to listen to at times.

Officers examined data from Joseph's cell phone during the course of the investigation into Menqi Ji's disappearance, and were able to locate recordings of conversations between Joseph and Mengqi. In those conversations Joseph is openly hostile and at times threatening to Mengqi. During a recording in June 2019 Joseph stated to Mengqi, "I'm ready to be done talking to you forever. " During a recording in August 2019 Joseph stated to Mengqi that he wanted a divorce but he was concerned about spending a lot of money to get the divorce. Joseph made the statement "I would like to discuss our relationship and I am kind of ready to discuss the end of it as well. " Joseph made statements about being eager to break their ties and be done. Joseph stated "I'm open to joint custody if you're staying in America." Joseph further stated, "Anna's not leaving America, I can tell you that." This statement took on a threatening tone. Joseph also threatened to stop sponsoring Mengqi for citizenship and to have her deported back to China. Joseph stated that Anna would stay with him in America while Mengqi was deported.

Officers examined data from Mengqi's cell phone and located a recording from October of 2018. In that recording Joseph and Mengqi are having and argument and Joseph stated

"Do you want me to fucking break shit? Do you want me to hurt somebody? . . . You know how I conquer nature I fucking kill it, I grab its head, break its fucking neck, that's how you conquer fucking nature. Yeah I'm.trying to be sophisticated, trying to help you guys, yeah I'm not going to live with you very well ... you 're being very unsophisticated, you're being like the natural evil bitches seriously you think you're so empowered because of this society well don't forget that nature exists. You're still just a woman and there's nature in that. There's nature in your brain ... You' re poking the bull. Don't poke the bull"

This tone is consistent with what we uncovered in his bigoted, nationalist, and racist Twitter rants which Joe defended before deactivating his Twitter. We felt his tweets offered us insight into his personality beyond his questionable smirks, odd remarks, and waggling brow as his ignorance was on full display, as he frequently ridicules people on the basis of race and ideology, and degrades women in his self-speaking tweets. Our post regarding the tweets also drew his Aunt out of the woodwork, where she engaged our community in a verbal assault, all the while defending her racist conduct, insisting that social media does not define character after we had explained at length in the comments how legal precedent says otherwise.

While much of the comments have been removed from the live page, and Joe deactivated his Twitter subsequent to our post, we have preserved them both for posterity, online and on other secure devices. Since posting an update which again included these tweets, we have again begun seeing Elledge relatives active in our Facebook group, from as far away as South Dakota, and they have begun a campaign of reporting our group ironically for "hate speech" on account of displaying the same racist tweets they once defended!

October 18 at 10:30am the Elledge's had their first appointment with defense attorneys. Jean’s sister Becky Karst Jung said on the 20th in our group that she knew more than the public did and was already calling Joe a suspect. They then hired their criminal defense attorneys on October 21. This was before Joe was arrested on the child abuse charges and before they even knew about the child abuse charges..

October 25-We later learned from the probable cause statement that at the time of his arrest he was found to be attempting to leave the area with his mother Jean and daughter Anna (this is likely why the motion was later made and granted on 11/1/2019 to prevent Jean from lawfully removing Anna from the state of Missouri), and from the cab driver we learned that Jean was left with Anna in her custody at that time of his arrest. Jean was sitting in the back of the car to go to Blue Springs with Joe and his infant daughter. When asked why they weren't looking for Mengqi she then said that they were going to put up flyers in Kansas City that weekend. She asked to talk with her attorney.

Joseph Elledge has been in the Boone County Jail since October on child abuse and child endangerment charges. The abuse was uncovered as detectives were looking for clues in the disappearance of his wife. Officers examining Apple IPad located pictures of bruising on a child's buttocks that were sent via email on 02/18/2019 at 11:44 by Mengqi. She sent three different photographs of bruising via email. Other photographs of injuries on a child were located on the IPad but were in a thumbnail format that was too small for detail. The normal accompanying full size image was not present which is normally due to the photograph being erased. Joseph had access to the IPad for approximately one week prior to officers gaining control of it. Officers examining laptop computer located two pictures with two accompanying videos of bruising on a child's buttocks. The photographs were located in a folder used for backing up photographs from an IPhone. The photographs were taken on 02/12/2019. On 10/25/2019 Joseph advised, post Miranda, that he did bruise approximately 7 to 8 months prior while trying to get his daughter to stop crying. The bruise in the picture covers one side of the buttocks and is purple blue and yellow.

His bond is set at $500,000 cash-only in that case, which most recently had a hearing in the child Thursday morning and is set for trial April 6.

Information about Mengqi Ji

Last Known Location Map

Height: 5' 1" (61 Inches)

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Head Hair Description: Shoulder length, usually worn in a bun.

Piercing: Both ears

Accessories

BLACK PURSE WITH WHITE STARS

Footwear

BLACK NIKE SHOES

Case number: 2019-010707

You can subscribe to get press releases from the Columbia Police Department by email here.

If you have any information please contact:

Columbia Missouri Police Department Phone: (573) 874-7652 or CrimeStoppers - Columbia/Boone County, MO or Submit an Anonymous Public Tip

Verify active missing status here. From your desktop see others missing from Columbia See other cases: click here on mobile to return to units

See other cases: click here from your desktop to return to Units

Did you know that Spread Awareness Now is available across social media platforms?

Be sure to like, follow, and subscribe to us on Here, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

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cosmosogler · 7 years ago

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hello. last night i had a lot of trouble falling asleep, and a lot of trouble staying asleep, and then a lot of trouble getting up. i got up an hour late.

i woke up feeling like i’d forgotten something really important. i never remembered quite what it was. just half images that i can’t describe. a business suit with a fractal of colors. a very plain office. a decision.

i got up and got ready fairly quickly... i took 20 extra minutes to make some pasta salad for lunch for a few days this week. i cleaned up snoopy’s food and water area. i did some dishes. i looked at my to-do list. i finished up the last of my laundry.

so i got up at 8:30-ish. not QUITE an hour late, i guess? but definitely not enough sleep at all. i was so drowsy today. biking was real hard.

i left for the office right at 11 and got there before 11:20. so i sat down and had my lunch until 11:30 and then i got to work grading. i graded until 8:40 pm with an hour off for dinner with jennica and soham. i took about 7 of my 9 10-minute breaks.

i only graded (not quite) two sections, out of the eight that were remaining. not to mention i didn’t even touch my classical homework. the professor moved the due date back to 5 pm tomorrow instead of 9:30 am because it is apparently too hard.

i haven’t started it yet, except writing down the first question and looking over all of them on wednesday-ish. and i have class for 3 hours, and my office hour, and the appointment with the care area for an hour or so. i will be busy from 9:30 (when i get to campus) through 12, and then from 3 to 5. i DO NOT have ANY time to do this homework assignment if i want to get literally any more grading done. there are nine sections of the lab due tomorrow and i’ve only got done 2 and 9/10ths.

they are the longest 3 sections, sure. but it’s still 6 more sessions that i have to grade. suzanne and luis and jennica told me to stop making comments on the labs. i don’t make any comments on the labs any more!!!

i was just having so much trouble focusing that i’d end up reading an answer five times before i figured out if it was right or not. and half of the people’s handwriting was giving me a headache to try to decipher. i started taking off points if i couldn’t make out what they were saying within five seconds of seeing the sentence.

well, “started.” i’d been doing that in the first section a bit too. i just got more liberal about applying the penalty.

so that’s what i did for nine and a half hours today. i biked home and it was so cold that i wore the sweater i’d brought to campus back in september (since the ac was chilly back then). when i checked my mail i found someone else’s package in my box. at least half the mail i get is addressed to someone else. i took the package to the room it belonged to. the guy seemed grouchy that i’d knocked on his door twice but brightened when he saw i had his missing mail. i really didn’t want to just leave it out in the hallway and i don’t have time to take it to the front office.

when i got home i crammed one of my frozen dinners in the microwave and petted snoopy. i signed up for grocery store coupons since i hadn’t done that before... it’ll save me a few dollars. the employees said it was automatic but the web site doesn’t seem to agree with them. i also bought 25$ worth of steam games for the sale, since gramma sent me 20 bucks in the mail. five games is a good haul.

then it was 10 so i started writing. and that was my entire day.

i sent my supervisor an email... i know he probably won’t accept “i have crippling depression” as a reason i didn’t get the work done so i told him i’d been hit by a motorcycle while biking. which is entirely true, but not the only reason. just the most acceptable one.

my fingers and ankles are feeling better today. my foot’s still a little stiff and my thumb knuckle hurts when i bend it but other than that it seems like i will recover fine. just bruised. and tired. and grouchy.

i can’t tell if “too depressed to move” counts as taking a day off or not. like, it’s taking a day off from working. but it’s not resting or recovering really. even if it did count, i haven’t taken a full day off... since the hurricane a month and a half ago? i think. and i don’t really consider that a vacation. i did listen to like 40 episodes of the adventure zone i guess. is that a vacation? it didn’t feel great being stuck in my apartment for several days with no chance to go outside. that was more of a hassle than a vacation. the podcast was just to have something to DO.

ok it’s bed time. i want to get enough sleep tonight since i can’t do much else right now. and i am also just completely exhausted mental energy-wise. focusing on one job for 9 hours is draining. the breaks helped... at least my eyes didn’t die. the reading glasses helped.

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okidenshi · 7 years ago

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Hey I've been kinda absent so here’s a run down on What’s Up With Oki

So, today was my last day at work- and i just sort of realized i haven’t ever talked much about my work at all since i started working. Actually, the reason i’ve been so absent from tumblr & social media in general has been because of work, so i apologize for that :’D

But yea for those who don’t know i was a dog boarder- like i worked at a place that kept dogs over night and they also provided daycare. I supervised them in the play yard(s) and did about 1000 other things that you need to do to take care of them (80% of which is cleaning lmao) and while i’m usually exhausted by the end of the day (looking after 25+ dogs at a time sounds great until you actually do it) but I really did enjoy working. I usually work 8 hour shifts- rarely i’ll work 3 1/2 hours, but 90% of the time it’s 8 hours- so yea. But today was my “last day” until i come back for Christmas break. Bitter sweet, but thankfully m

Tomorrow I have off obviously, but i’ll be running to some stores to get some last minute things, and then i have to pack my clothes and a few other stuff and start packing the car... then Friday i leave :’D I’ll be abuot 4-5 hours away from home. in a city. like, IN the city. So yea, it’ll be interesting adjusting to that.

I have family that lives about an hour away from were i’m at tho, so if i start dying, i’m not screwed :’D And for orientation, they’ll be taking us around parts of the city, so i’ll learn to navigate a little bit atleast.

However, i’ll be working in my college’s cafeteria (4 days a week for about 3 hours each day, not bad at all) and my dorms are connected to the school so like, theoretically, i never have to leave the college :P ofc i will, we’re actually like, right in front of a fountain & sidewalk place that’s nice for walking so yea i won’t be a total hermit :’D

My REALLY busy days are Wednesday & Thursday- like i’m schooling/working from 8 am to 6/7 pm those days- and yea Friday i have a 7 hour class but i’m done by 3. I have no classes monday, however i work all three days, but its from 10-1 so. Yea :’D

If it’s too much, i might drop my 4-7 shift on wednesdays. I’d like to keep it so i’m working over 10 hours each week, but yea i don’t wanna overwhelm myself. My boss seems suuuuper nice, so i’m sure if i have to do that, she won’t murder me :’D

Um... yea that’s about it i think. Oh yea- my younger brother’s actually leaving home too. He’s a very big hockey player (he’s very very into it, his team this year made 3rd place in nationals- they were 3rd in the entire country). So, he had the chance to go play for a couple teams that are very far away from home. He deceided to play for a team out in NY. He’ll be staying with a billet family anddo cyber school in order to do all this....

My main point is, my mom & dad are loosing two kids- and like, i know they were prepared for me, but my brother leaving was a very... last minute thing. And not only am i worried for them (just for adjusting from going to 3 kids to 1) but i’m worried for my sister... I’ve mentioned this before, but me & my family think she might be... depressed/something of the like. She’s 9, almost 10, so it’s hard to tell wether she’s.... y’know, just growing and all that stuff, or if something’s seriously wrong. My dad told me to talk with her and i did- i sort of just made her cry (i don’t think she likes to talk about whatever is bothering her is why) but i did reassure her that if she ever felt she couldn’t go to mom or dad about something- come to me. And a bunch of other sister-to-sister stuff as well. Idk, i’m really protective of her and i hope she find a way to communicate what she’s going through... like the big problem is that she won’t talk to us about what’s wrong- like i’d love to say “maybe nothing’s wrong!” but.... she sits in her room from wake up till bed time and is on her phone all day and lets dishes and cups and food pile up in her room and refuses to shower... that’s not exactly normal for a 9 year old to be doing and it just worries me cause i don’t want her to go through what i did is all.

ANYWAY that’s a run down on Oki’s Life... i might try to set up my queue again since i might be... busy :’D

I feel really bad i wasn’t as active on here this summer... time really went by after getting a job & handling college stuff. But ye here’s to a new adventure!!!!

#okidenshi randomness

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aroihkin · 7 years ago

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So my current registered schedule for Fall is:

MONDAY: 1:15P - 4:05P Ceramics Beginner a little under 2 hours free, 1 if going home 6:00P - 8:30P Arc/Gas Welding

TUESDAY: 11:20A - 2:05P Acr/Oil Painting Beginner a little under 4 hours free, 3 if going home 6:00P - 8:30P Arc/Gas Welding WEDNESDAY: 1:15P - 4:05P Ceramics Beginner

THURSDAY: 11:20A - 2:05P Acr/Oil Painting Beginner FRIDAY: 9:40A - 3:05P Watercolor Painting Beginner That’s pretty fucking chill, right? Nothing before 11 AM except the watercolor class on fridays. Some of them have short breaks in the middle between lecture time and lab time but I simplified it to single blocks for this post.

In the multiple hours gaps I can either catch up on any assigned work or, if I’ve got nothing to do and don’t think parking twice will be a nightmare, I can go home for an hour or three. I may end up defaulting to that because my gear for welding is going to be so different than what I’ll be packing around for the art classes, down to a difference in shoes and pants. I live only a ten minute drive from the school. I factor it into an hour difference round trip here just to be ultra fucking safe. IDK how much of a bear parking is going to be, or traffic to and from and around the school in specific during a major semester.

Acr/Oil is acrylic or oil, both taught in the same class. I’ll probably go for acrylic, and try to recreate my MS Paint opaque and sharp style. Taking two painting classes in different styles from different teachers ought to be interesting, hopefully in a good way. I might finally learn color theory on an intellectual level, instead of just picking colors I think look good and fumbling forward with that all the time! Between two different teachers trying to explain it, paint in hand, I might finally crack that barrier. Reading about it and even youtube hasn’t been able to help me much. We’ll see if they allow this with a stated goal of automotive repair certification. Welding can easily be a puzzle piece toward being super mega trained in it, so it was suggested I declare automotive for now to make the pell grant happen. (And for all we know, I may yet end up doing auto repair for a career instead.) I haven’t registered for any automotive classes this semester though because they’re all monday through friday, 8 AM to 12:30 PM or 1:30 PM. And it’s only worth four credits while all these others are worth three each. Like, damn. I need 12 per semester for full financial aid. With welding all being on the evening side and automotive all being on the morning side, I think I want to not do both very intensive things for the first semester while I try to straighten my health out. Unless they insist that I need to, in which case this whole schedule is going to get changed other than welding. lmao Otherwise I figure I’ll dabble in some artsy shit I kinda want to try out / learn the basics of (or more of, in ceramics’ case, I only know how to coil build and this teaches more than that, plus kiln access, maybe I’ll make my own fucking plates and bowls and shit lmao some of it is wheel).

This isn’t stuff I’d learn so easily through youtube or whatever for free. I don’t want to waste money on shit I could learn online, like languages or math -- plus I don’t want a ton of thinky-thoughts homework shit from my other classes when my real focus is welding. Hopefully these art classes don’t pile on a shit ton of essays or something. Like, I should have plenty of time for them, but I want that processing power for welding if I can. I haven’t done the final financial aid paperwork yet because we have weeks before it’s needed anyway, waiting on the IRS, and I’ve been struggling with sleep and light issues for the last few days.

Lots of time to do some part time work to boost my moneys, if I think I can get away with it health-wise. Probably merchandising since that tends to be pretty fucking flexible... and short on hours. I'm already doing the on-boarding with one company that doesn't promise to always have any actual work for me in the region, but I won't be relying on it.

#mah welding tag #mah posts

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amnachil · 8 years ago

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The High School Game part 4

Sam DAY 30 Thurday

This week, there were plenty good news that drove him happy. First, Shirley seemed loving him more than ever. She provided him snacks, donuts and some extra food at noon. Plus, she offered her help for the studies, and came at his home Thuesday and Wednesday instead of the gym class, until diner. Sam was persuaded they were ready to have sex. She was becoming closer than ever. She even cuddled me last night... And he found her hotter than ever, obviously. He had hard times hiding his dick, pushing against his tight jeans every fucking time she was around. Also, his mother Nadia outdid herself to please her son's girlfriend. Because he got a 12 in mathematic, he asked her to bake every night a real diner for him, and Shirley when she came. Okay, not because he got a 12 in mathematic... I lied a little... Raphaël, last year, told him he needed to cut off his alimentation and make at least 30 minutes workout every day to be in shape. But right now, with only 2 gym class and soccer, Sam managed to keep his toned muscles and took advantage of the time saved to see his girlfriend. He won on all fronts.

"Dude, keep concentrate on our work please."

The young lad raised his head. Tobias, sat in front of him, stared at him, annoyed. They were working on a group composition since 1 hour. Well, to be honest, Raphaël did the whole essay, and both of them had to make a short introduction.

"Don't worry, I'm with you. Let's do it."

The bell rang, spared him this task. Raphaël would do it tonight, after gym class. To be honest, Sam had no idea how his friend could manage to do that. He had been waking up at 6:00 am, been getting ready in 15 minutes and then had been making 1 hour of workout every day. At 7:15 am, he had been taking a shower, and then has been reaching the school for 8:00 am. And the afternoon, he had been doing class gym until 6:00 pm, and then hab been managing to make his homework, plus playing some videogames and soccer, and then he hab been sleeping at 11:00 pm. Every fucking day, like a clock. This is so creepy. And the rumour said Raphaël's little brother was even worst.

The break allowed him to join Shirley and Big Pig. He greeted this one with a large smirk.

"Hey buddy. I call you buddy because you're with my girl, okay ? Is it me, or have you gained weight since the last time I saw you ? Like, 2 kg (4.4 pounds) ?"

Finn frowned angrily. He wore a large pullover, hiding pretty well his potbelly, and a baggy pants, loose enough to fit. As usual, he was eating a donut or two for the break. Tobias, standing next to Sam, whispered :

"Maybe he gained even more. See this fat ass ?"

Their teammates laughed.

"True buddy." added Sam. "He is fattening up by all this junk food and without any exerise."

Again, the group laughed. They are too funny. Sam himself considered this kind of humour as the best. Finn was a loser, and it was natural for winner to remind him that from time to time. But Shirley, who was a naturally empathic person, faced them, suddenly furious.

"Guys, let him go." she ordered. 'You just are fucking bullies with no balls, attacking a poor guy and taking advantage of the crew of brainless teens you are."

A heavy silence came after her word. Oh wow... Sam knew she got her period (since Monday, that's why she could not be too keen for now), but just wow. It was a joke babe, a joke... He had not the time to express his thought, because Raphaël was faster.

"Damnit Sam dude, you will let your girlfriend speak like this to me ?" he smiled. "Did I count for nothing to you, and she just can insult me ?"

He is true. The lad could not let her disrespect his bestfriend, and humilate the whole team.

"Shirley, babe, apologize to Raphaël please. You just assulted him without any reason."

She glared at him, enraged, and muttered :

"I don't give a fuck about Raphaël. He is a fucking stupid cow."

She yelled :

"You heard me BUDDY ? You're a freak, and an asshole. A fucking motherfucker, a jackass without any consideration for anyone. Go fuck yourself. And you too Sam, go fuck yourself too. Just go."

The anger seize of Sam, but Shirley took Finn with her and left the place and went in class. Who the hell she thinks she is ? How could she says that ? He did not understand. And he was angry now. Really angry.

"I probably overestimate your couple." whispered Raphaël at his ear. "Because it seems like she doesn't like you that much."

Sam felt instantly miserable. His bestfriend was right, she just throw him like a trash to protect Finn the Big Pig. And that was rude. So rude.

Shirley DAY 31 Friday

More than 24 hour after her argument with Sam and Raphaël, the girl still felt devastated. On one hand, she was angry against her boyfriend and his crew, because they were fucking bastards. In the other hand, one day without Sam made her thought about her feelings for him. The brown guy, despite being such an idiot, was kind and respectful of her decisions and choices. Plus, he became cuter as he lost muscle definition. But right now, she was alone, depressed and mad at him. Locked in her bedroom, she did more push-ups than ever to evacuate her stress, and skipped the family diner. What the hell is happening to me ? After three weeks being captive of an imposed relation, she was free to throw everything out, but she was not capable of. Sam cheerful face always came to her mind. They got well, 1 week before thankgivings holidays, and she was not able to imagine this week without him. This bastard... how can I even consider staying with him ? Under Raphaël lead, those motherfuckers made fun of Finn, like always. But this was unfair. Her friend, behind his physique, got a wonderful personality and he did not deserve thoses bullies. Not to mention that girls in the class were saying bad things about him behind his back. Boys are motherfuckers, girls are cowards... She heard someone knock at her door and opened, in hope of being distracted from her issues.

Her brother Dan came in, smiling prudently. He sat on her bed, and she saw a tiny roll of fat hung over his jeans. But she had other concern in minds, and sat next to him wordlessly.

"Sam feels guilty, you know ?"

As she expected, her brother already knew. She could not hide a secret from him with this fucking Raphaël telling anything.

"He deserves that." she replied. "For being such an asshole to my friend Finn. Why he and his crew have to make fun of an overweight guy ? Did Raphaël hates fatty boys or what ?"

Dan put a hand on his tummy and smiled.

"He doesn't. Otherwise, I would not be his friend."

"You're not fat."

"Well, I gained some weight you know ? College life, with party, all-you-can-eat buffet and less time to exercise made me add 3 kg (6.6 pounds) to my body, upping to 73 kg (160 pounds). I have some extra flesh around the waist now. But Raphaël doesn't mind at all you know. He doesn"t even notice, I think."

"Because it's barely noticeable." she assured. "Regarding Finn, he has a large gut, and Sam, Raphaël and their teammates are making fun of it."

"Is it your real problem, or have you an other concern to discuss ?"

Of course Dan was not an idiot. He probably knew she was fighting against her own feelings about Sam. Shirley did not answer for all that, because she did not want to talk about it. I hate Sam, and I want to avenge Finn. She knew it was not the only reason of her plan. Even worst, she knew the horrible true.

"Do you remenber when I had a crush on this girl, in 10th grade ? I told everyone I hated her because she was chubby. I lied to myself for like 3 month, before she left the town with her parents. Remember how sad I was ?"

She remembered. A despicable story, because Dan was in love with her, but he missed this story. He cried a whole day whe he learnt she left...

"Are you sure you want to live the same experience ? without you and Raphaël, even today I would still miss my crush. When you love someone, don't let anyone put a stop to your story. Even the devil himself."

Well... Lesson is clear. Shirley had, before all, to accept the truth. She was in love with Sam, as nasty he was. But to made up with him, she first have to talk with the devil as Dan unconsciously said.

Sam DAY 35 Thuesday

Last week before holidays started badly. Shirley, still mad, ignored him and his crew, staying only with Finn. He could see the whole class staring at her, and girls making fun of the situation. Jessy, who had a crush for him, was happier than ever, but he did not care. I want Shirley, nobody else. Depressed, he has been waking up at 7:15 am, taking two large bowls of cereal, getting ready and leaving the house two days in a row. He had been eating donuts alone, in memory of better days, before joining the class. And he had skipped gym class yesterday to reach his house, where he only played videogame while snacking, without any willpower for training or anything else.

"Man, I'm speaking to you." complained Tobias. "Can you listen ?"

Sam focused on his friend, ignoring Raphaël glance. Tobias repeated :

"I was asking you if you would come tomorrow for the party at my home ?"

"Sure, of course I will."

"I invited Shirley too, and she said yes you know ? You will handle this ?"

"Of course I will, who the hell do you think I am ?"

"Well, she decided to brought Finn, so I count on you to be polite and to not trigger a mess."

"I think Sam understood." whispered Raphaël. "You can back off Tob'."

It sounded like an order, and their mate just left, as requested. The brown lad thanked his bestfriend. Standing at 183 cm (6'0'') and weighting 76 kg (167.5 pounds) at the last check-up, Tobias was as passionate as them by workout and soccer. He always tried to become closer with Raphaël, without any success yet. Brown, with brown eyes, a lot of people said he looks like Sam, but this latter was not convinced. Part of him hated Tobias's smug attitude.

"According to Dan." stated Raphaël. "Shirley feels guilty you know ? She disrespected you by insulting me, and she realized that. She probably will beg your perdon tomorrow."

"You don't know her dude. She is too stubborn to do this. I'm convinced she expects me to apologize."

Raphaël rolled his eyes. He wide pullover shiver when he shruged.

"Man, you're one of the best guy here. Look, you're handsome, faithful, respectful, kind and smart. You have a body worthy of magazine. Stop being so uncertain, and just act like the amazing boy you're. She will come to apologize, and if she don't, she just prove to you she is not worthy. Understood ?"

Embloden by thoses words, Sam acquiesced.

Later this day, after the lunch (when he surprisingly not teased Finn), Sam felt sick. He probably ate his two burger (because Shirley did not give him her leftovers, he preferred take two) too fast. The first class, he stomach gurgled painfully. He asked the permission to left the room and see the nurse. Holding a belch back, he entered Ms. Lovely's office an hand on his tummy. The nurse, as beautiful as the first time, ordered him to lay down and examined him.

"Seems like a little indigestion because you ate something perished. I will speak to the canteen chef."

"What I'm supposed to do ?"

"Just rest, and nothing more. You will felt a little hungry tonight, after you evacuate the bad food."

Ms. Lovely was leaving the room when she added :

"Oh and Sam, I know you grades are improving, and as far as I can say, you are still perfectly shaped."

Shirley DAY 36 Wednesday

The hardest ordeal of the girl life happened tonight. In order to make up with Sam, she decided to come to the party organised by Tobias, and brought Finn with her. She knew her friend loved buffet, and he rushed this one as soon as they went in the manor. Everywhere, 11th grade students were partying, having fun and drinking differents alcohol. But Shirley was here with one goal. According to Dan's advice, she had to make peace with Raphaël. I called him a fucking cow and some other pleasant words... I don't know how he will take it. She glimpsed the devilish blond guy upstairs, talking with Jessy. Shirley joined them, and waited behind the lad. He wore a wide shirt, but unbuttoned the last three buttons, unveiling his strong chest and arms.

"Please, put a word in for me with Sam, I beg you to." was insisting Jessy. "I'm sure I have my chances now she insulted you. And I really am a good girlfriend."

"Sam doesn't need my permission, you know ? Otherwise, he would never have dated this lovely Shirley. And by the way, I think she wants to talk to me, considering she is behind me listening."

Nice start... Raphaël turned towards her, ignoring Jessy dirty look. This one left them angrily, and Shirley ended up alone with the devil. She diplomatically smiled.

"You look fine, Raphaël. Sad you don't show yours perfect abs, I'm sure a lot of girls would love that."

"But not you, I guess." he replied. "What do you want ?"

Well, he get to the point at least... Cautious, she smiled again. She wanted to keep Sam for her, but she needed Raphaël's approbation (despite what he said to Jessy). Plus, she was aware of his reaction. Did he knows about my plan ? He certainly saw Sam changes... But maybe he doesn't care... Or he is oblivious, like Dan said.

"Apologize to you." she confessed. "Look, I love Sam. More than I thought at first. And I really want to make a success of our relation. I realised you're his bestfriend, and he care about your opinion. So do I."

She paused, keeping a close eye on Raphaël reaction. Sadly, he was impassive, waiting the development. Jeezus, this guy scare me.

"That's why I'm sorry." she continued. "I don't know you well, although you're a friend of my brother, and I think I have to give you the benefit of the doubt. You probably are better than I thought at first."

He smiled. That smile... There was not warmth in it.

"I didn't get how funny you were Shirley. You know, everybody in this class is obliged to me. They all love me except you. Well, excepted you. I wonder how have you fallen in love with Sam ? How the fuck he found the balls to ask you out, and how you and him are living the perfect love together, implying everything you want to ?"

She open her mouth, but did say anything. She realized what he has hinted. Since the beginning, he just had controled everything in order to make her respect him. The only thing he wanted... Make me conform. Worst, he probably noticed the changes in Sam body, but did not care, because he just used the love of the boy to his plan. And Shirley, now in love for the young lad, was subject to Raphaël's law.

"Don't ever assault me again, and you can have a perfect life with Sam. I know, this is hard, because you will betray Finn's faith in you, but it's the only way to get back your boyfriend."

I can't decline... She realized slowly she had no choices. In order to make up with Sam, she had to play Raphaël's game. And Finn... Finn did not listen to the devil, that was why he was bullied. Teased by everyone. You are the most devilish man I ever know... And I'm poverless... Seriously, fuck you Raphaël.

"You know, when you try to play a game you don't understand, you loose sooner or later." he whispered. "But I'll be nice : I let you two weeks after Thanksgiving to submit Finn. Otherwise, he will suffer, and you will let him alone. Deal ?"

Feeling miserable, she approved with a reserved signal. It was time to take her part of the deal, and make up with Sam, for at least felt less spiteful.

Her boyfriend was playing beerpong with some teammates under the puppy-dog eyes of Jessy. The girl, quite drunk herself, was trying to attract his attention. She was taller than Shirley, measuring 172 cm (5'6"), and quite lean. She got two big boobs desired by all the male population, and a beautiful face with black hair and blue eyes. According to the last check-up, she weighted 61 kg (134.4 pounds), 1 more than in october. However, Shirley intended to keep her boyfriend, and she bump into the girl to catch Sam's shoulder. He turn towards her, and she smiled.

"Honey, we need to talk."

She ignored the stares while climbing the stairs with him. She brought him in a room, and sighed. He was gazing at her, to impressed to speak. She could notice his boner under his tight jean. For the first time since she know him, he was not wearing a belt, and his bloated belly (from the beer he drank) expanded freely. His white shirt hid the thing efficiently, but she knew where to catch sight of this.

"Okay, let's go. I'm sorry Sam, I overreacted to your jokes about Finn. I want to make peace with you."

He blushed. His hands tried to cover his hard-on, and he answered softly.

"I need to apologize too. I didn't want to hurt your feelings babe."

She smiled. Her body was hot. The fuck, Tobias can't switch the air con. on ? She could not resist but stare at Sam body. His once muscled stomach was stuffed.

"I think you're cuter than ever." she whispered.

For real ? What the fuck did she just said ? What was happening to her ? Sam blushed again.

"You are pretty handsome too. As I always told you."

Her brain did not control what happened next. With passion, she kissed him, and pushed him on the bed. She could feel his belly, hard as a rock, against her abs, and his cock, even harder, pressing against her thighs. She undressed him while kissing, and he started to stroking her boobs. To be honest, she probably will always remember what happened next, in this dark room, during the third party of the year.

To be continued

/!\ New character coming /!\

Raphaël looks like a real bad guy, and I had fun during this part, because he’s quite evil :D However, Sam is still oblivious, and this is the best part for now !

#hsg #the high school game #Shirley and Sam #part 4 #Raphaël the devil #my story #wg #chubby

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