u/Unique_Importance910

I was in DC yesterday with a friend to go out together and we took a route I am familiar with. It typically costs me about $4.40 from where we started to my home destination on a single trip. However, we got out earlier on the journey to go to this place and I was charged $2.25 okay. Let's say that there about 8 stops in the normal trip (this is along the same exact route), here we stopped right in the middle, so only 4 stops left to my usual last destination. Then we got back and then re-entered the same station we used to exit for the hang out, I was charged for those 4 stops from that station to my usual end destination $3.55. I was genuinely confused as I did not travel that far of a distance. I assumed that I would be charged the difference. It may seem small, but this really discourages me from heading into DC for these kinds of things too often.

TW: Has some patterns similar to ED's

During college, I had no issue cooking for myself everyday because I well, didn't have much of a choice actually. I don't really like consuming fast food that often and I couldn't afford to either. So, every week I would haul myself to the grocery store and buy whatever I could. I guess what I got was fairly diverse but due to a tight budget everything became a routine and it soon felt like slop.

Fast forward to now, after graduating, I can't even bring myself to cook a simple meal half of the time. 90% of what I eat is rice and potatoes because I don't have too many options, especially living in a food desert. I live with my mom who does in fact fill the fridge all the time but she adjusted her cooking methods to fit a dietary requirement that she developed and the food isn't always...let's say the most tasty. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it and I absolutely have no issue with her cooking for her health but it's just mot stuff I want to eat everyday.

I can cook for myself but the only thing I can bring myself to cook is rice and maybe chicken. I guess I was so strapped for cash during college that I got used to these 2 options because they were cheaper. However, my cooking became bland and food became bland to me too. I have learned a number of recipes over the years but that too doesn't help. To make things worse, I am quite depressed and also struggle with laziness tbh. The result is, I have developed a bad relationship with food.

Upon getting a job, I began focusing my prep energy towards my work lunches amd nothing else tbh. All I ever really eat is that. Whatever fits in that small dish. I come from an "ethnic"home so I often think twice before taking certain foods to work because I am afraid of being judged. I often don't get to eat breakfast because I typically have to rush out the door to catch the bus that will start my long commute. Because of that commute by the time I get home, I am too wiped out to cook and sometimes even eat. I do meal prep some things but I don't want to eat the same thing I ate at work again several times a week.

I think my relationship with food tanked and the only thing that I really like doing is baking these days which I am often berated for because I might get diabetes for too much sugar. I try to just cook what I am craving healthy or not because I know I need to eat, but I am really struggling.

Any tips?

I work for a relatively big organisation owned/funded by some big money, big ticket people. On paper the company should align with my values. But with everyday I show up to work the more I feel like my brain is melting. It's a big company but I merely just work in a regular degular blue collar quarter that is apart of the bigger project (think a gifting or coffee shop in a confrence center or something) but nothing like a supermarket or whatever comes to mind. When customers say "this place is so cool, you must love working here" my brain melts before I put on a barely forced smile and let them know that I like that it is not as stressful as working in a grocery store. I wish I had worked just an inch harder at university to get a better chance at getting my foot in a better door. I wish I had applied more aggressively for roles. I have read a lot about the founders and while they profess good values they have done a lot to contradict it including being repeatedly being caught out by the government. The company culture is so weird because we have the pleasure of corporate being right in house and therefore we get to deal with those kinds of work politics too. If an intern from the corporate department shows up, we all have to go up in a frenzy and act all perfect like an inspector has come. Our boss, worships their boss who worships their boss and the list goes on. The fun result of this is we are expected to have undue loyalty and respect for the powers that be. Don't get me wrong, I am sure those people worked hard to get where they are but it's always do X so that Y won't be mad or think we are slacking.

They profess purity to outsiders and are desperate to show that they are an equal and just work environment but everything is about plastic smiles and ensuring everything looks good so that our supervisors look good not because it makes sense or benefits our work. The work is grueling because you are constantly under pressure to do something but at the same time a lot of it is like watching paint dry. I hate it here. I highly dislike the company culture and all the fakeness and just wish I could live my life in any other way. Sadly not even McDonalds will return my calls in this job market...don't forget the insane commute. I feel like trash atp.

Yes, they did mention "we are a family" in the job description. I had no idea that was an issue.

Hi, I am looking to update from my almost if not already 2 year old original budd fe. They work fine but I think age is starting to show. I would just get the newer buds fe but I was really put off by the new designs having stems. I like stemless earbuds. I know there are tones of brands out there that do something stemless like sony or google, but what is the best one to get if someone really liked the orginal buds fe.

I play music but also use my buds a lot for calls. 2 negative things I noticed about these buds fe were that they would pull in anything close by like a tap running (I had people I was on calls with complain about this) and that they couldn't pick up my voice easily as I have a soft voice, so it would be nice if the newer ones could migitate these issues.

My other complaint about the original buds fe is that they are kind of big in the ears and stick out in a weird way sometimes. I am personally not a fan of earbuds that have something that go around the ears to hold them in place because I need maximum anc but you could suggest those too as I work out quite a bit. Good music sound quality would be nice too.

My budget is a bit modest around $150 max, so feel free to suggest less new models going back as far as 2022.

Thanks in advance

Long read ahead but I promise that it is worth it!

About a year ago, I was preparing for a trip and got some nice funali braids for it. The issue? Only a day or 2 after my scalp would turn completely white like it was suddenly irritated by something violent. For a couple of days I battled with what were supposed to be my aesthetic braids only winning a small battle using some olive oil (the literal cooking type) before going for the trip but little did I know this was only the beginning.

At first, it appeared like just some midly aggressive dandruff that would go away with some head and shoulders and that would be it. However even after briefly fixing my situation (perhaps only masking it really), the problem only worsened down the line. To be completely honest, this wasn't the first time I had noticed it but I had always had bad dandruff so I figured it was just a bad flare. At that point it was May (last year, 2025) but by August, my dandruff was flaring up even just a day or 2 after washing in full force! Every damn time! Even my mom who thought I was just being dramatic admitted that it was peculiar.

Of course my first steps were to run to the internet and reddit as I couldn't afford to see a dermacologist but the first battle was understanding what it actually was. My scalp would be mad itchy and be covered in full soft ultra white flakes that wouldn't go away with oil or a good shampooing. I would wash and it would return regardless. I never really firgured out exactly what it was but at first I figured it must be the infamous seb derm (Seborrheic dermatitis), so I followed advice pertaining to that. I also at some point it time started it think that it was psoriasis due to how relentless it was but I think it was probably just seb derm because well, it did eventually go away and that would be much harder to achieve with psoriasis because it is an autoimmune disease with no proper cure or as far as I can tell over the counter treatment.

The first step I took was due to a brief observation where I noticed that my scalp would be slower to flake if I used twists as opposed to flat twists or cornrows as my night protective style for my natural hair. You see my hair has always flaked more in cornrows or flat twists so I didn't think much of it. However, if you are just out of the shower, putting oils and then conditioner and then laying all that on your scalp while wet and moist, it won't dry as quickly and all that oil is in direct contact to your scalp feeding the flare up. I stopped making flat twists and cornrows especially when doing hair care just after washing and the difference was really day and night. Twists allow air flow and lets your hair dry firster avoiding that kind of festering that would happen otherwise if you had a sensitive scalp (sorry I don't have a better word for it).

I also seized applying any kind of oil including conditioner or especially essential oils to my scalp. For some reason the jajoba oil someone bought for me only worsened my flaking. Only coat the strands and ideally not with an oil that will drip down to your scalp, typically the liquid type. For a long time the only thing I put on my hair was a thick conditioner not a liquid one and not anywhere close to my scalp, just the strand and this was useful.

This still wasn't addressing the main issue. So the flares kept coming but at least not as frequently. At some point though it got worse again, now I could see red patches forming at any point I would wash or even just scrape off and with the scales came off some of hair too forming patches and this was my breaking point. I had a new job coming up and interviews and I couldn't live with the idea of presenting this to my future coworkers at all for much longer. In fact, I couldn't really go outside because of the feeling of shame at this point. It was destroying my self confidence.

So I did some digging again and saw people recommending shampoos like Nizoral due to its Ketoconazole (1%) content and for a short time it worked but it wasn't perfect and the (now even less but still fairly frequent) flare ups continued well after the 4 week period where one should see it sort of disappear. Heck even after 2 months.

After some time, I read about using vinager. While most people recommend apple cider 5% vinager, I actually only had white vinager (5%) and was on a tight budget so I locked in. I didn't use like a full cup every time, maybe just a half a or even a third cup in a 1:1 (I was really just eyeballing it) and pouring it onto my scalp before washing. I would tie a plastic bag around my hair for about 15 minutes and then rinse it out thoroughly and then shampoo. This absolutely did wonders! It heavily dialed back the red patches and now I could comfortably go a week without needing to wash my hair. To be frank for the first time, I could clearly see my scalp after washing and keep seeing it for several days after word! To be safe I washed my hair like 2x a week for some time for more than a month like this or waited until the flaring began again (normally just under a week). I was even able to braid use some vinager spray to help manage the flakes as I wouldn't be able to maintain my braids for long if I washed it everyday. Unfortunately, it was in the dead of a harsh cold winter that I got those braids and it kind of rencouraged the flakes and patching so I would avoid braiding at such a time or until you are sure the flakes are gone.

Now I know some people would be concerned about the smell but I would just rinse my hair throughly and use a very light amount of vinager in water from my spray bottle for the braids. For the smell I was used a light shampoo (YU by Tia moisturizing shampoo watermelon + hemi15) with my nizarol to help combat both the smell and stripping nature of nizarol (will make your hair dry as hell). I used to do 2 washed at a time with nizarol but now I did; vinager --> nizarol --> clarifying shampoo with a nice scent. I actually think that second shampoo might have helped too. I would like to point out that you shouldn't marinate your hair in vinager for too long as when I tried this, my scalp stated to flair badly again.

The last piece in the puzzle was sulfur 8 moisturizing conditioner/oil (orginal medicated formula). It says it's a conditioner but really it's more of an oil. Someone bought it for me but I was reluctant because I haven't always heard good things about sulfur 8 and I didn't want to risk applying any oil to my scalp but this has been a life saver. It absolutely cleared the last of the flaking from my scalp! In fact, I haven't seen any dandruff since I began applying it (about 2 months of use now). Sure it smells kind of strong but it works great and that's all that mattered to me at that point. I actually got it right before I felt comfortable enough to braid again and I applied it to my scalp before going to the braider (being as careful as can be to avoid caoting my strands in oil) and it worked great. I only applied before as to ensure the hidden parts of my scalp that I wouldn't be able to completely after braiding were covered and my braids were good for 5 weeks. I also washed inbetween at about 2 or 3 weeks in to ward of any chances of flares!

Now I feel safe enough to say that I am free of the flaking issue. I know it's a long wall of text but I just wanted to share what worked and what didn't and the timeline for other people who are in the same situation as I was in but also had trouble finding a solution. I actually posted about my issues here on an older account and the advuce given here really helped me along the way. While the S8 oil worked really well, I don't think it works on it's own so I would do a combination that works for you. I also now use apple cider vinager but I think either works, however I am under the impression that white vinager is stronger but maybe it just a bias. The most impactful changes I made in my opinion were doing twists, using vinager and the S8 oil.

For maintaining my natural hair, I use S8 on the scalp, apply a light amount as oil (for LOC method on my strands) and then a light amount of conditioner to my strands. Thanks for all the help I received here and I truly hope this can help other people dealing with similar issues. The main thing is you have to be consistent and not shy with the products you use. I wish I had started with the S8 and might try their shampoo in the future. While Nizoral did help, it wasn't perfect and I am sure there might be better products out there.

Please let me know what worked for you and share any further tips that may help me or others below this post. Ciao!

Hi, as the title says, I am looking a good lens hood for my canon eos rebel t7 Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and have checked around sites like Amazon but many reviews seem to point out that a tulip hood (the most commonly available type) is not great with a rotating barrel lens as it becomes counterproductive the minute your barrel beings to rotate. Perhaps I am not even pointing to the right element as I believe the barrel is what you use to rotate the top element/adjust your lens length (I am a total beginner). I am looking at amazon because I need a lens hood by monday for something I have planned. Any suggestions? Should I just get a cylinder lens hood?

edit: thank you for all the advice. I am aware now that the lens hood for this is the Canon EW-60C Original Lens Hood but was also curious as to if it would be an issue if I had a tulip lens hood? I check my camera and the part that attaches to the lens hood does in fact rotate while focusing!

Hi, as the title says, I am looking a good lens hood for my canon eos rebel t7 Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and have checked around sites like Amazon but many reviews seem to point out that a tulip hood (the most commonly available type) is not great with a rotating barrel lens as it becomes counterproductive the minute your barrel beings to rotate. Perhaps I am not even pointing to the right element as I believe the barrel is what you use to rotate the top element/adjust your lens length (I am a total beginner). I am looking at amazon because I need a lens hood by monday for something I have planned. Any suggestions? Should I just get a cylinder lens hood?

Let's call work friend A and the other person B.

I started this job last year before both A and B joined. A couple of weeks later B would be hired. Me having been trained and helped out immensely by other coworkers, I felt the need to try and be friendly with the new hires and help orient them too since the person who trained me pointed out how hard it was when they started. B was hired alongside some other people but I quickly came to the conclusion that they didn't want or need my help, which I accepted as a fair thing because maybe they already knew what to do.

However, B in particular was strange. The other person hired alongside then, let's call them C, was generally cordial regardless of this and has remained cordial since then. B on the other hand, never greats me or responds to greetings in a work environment where everyone does this (let alone to anything that I say that isn't an emergency). One time I found something at work that directly related to my culture which is super rare as I am far from home so I shared it to B and C who were the closest to me physically when I found it and B shrugged like I was bothering them and just pushed past me like I didn't exist. C followed but didn't react. Mind you banter like this etc is normal very normal and consistent in my place of work. While I admit it could have seemed strange, I didn't expect to be treated that way. B has never really changed much and I quickly found myself drawing a very negative profile of them after multiple incidents which included making me look bad to our bosses.

Fast forward A joins work a couple of months later and weirdly enough we belong to similar cultures so we hit it off on this. It's not that often you get to connect with people like that where I work/live. We became close quickly and I would say A 100% likes me the same I do with them. The problem is A also became super close with B, maybe even more close with B than with me.

I know B is practically hostile towards me and perhaps even looks down upon me and idk if this throuple is sustainable with B being so rude and mean towards me. B is also closer in age with A than to me (I am significantly younger than both, early mid 20s, they are close to or are in their 30s). I also get the vibe that B will probably get in the way eventually as they seemed to have competed with me (for attention) even before A began when it came to work friends and I am a quiet person who wasn't constantly being talked to.

I have made mistakes in the past and cut off people who I shouldn't have because something small didn't add up quite right and regreted it. I had really felt this special connection with A, but it kind of dawned on me that B is a big problem and I don't want to have to deal with them or get hurt. I get friends of friends don't have to like each other but the thing is I personally have never been hostile to B and treat her with respect but she never has done the same for me and continues to act like I am doo doo to her. Maybe my issue is that I haven't had any good (adult) or long lasting relationships since highschool so I am a bit desperate I guess.

Edit: I forgot to add that my biggest fear is that they could be birds of a feather (kinda thing ya know?). That one thing instantly put me off the friendship but idk if it is worth it.

Hi, so I got sick with the flu and it is really bad for me because of the fever...my workplace requires us to stand all day and prove every cent in our salary is being well spent. I do think they are probably reasonable about illness but I also get the vibe that it makes you look really bad to call out. I have seen people work super sick even when they clearly should be home on multiple occasions. At home I have an adult who insists it's a work ending event for someone to always just take time off when ill. I am an adult and have acquired sick time off hours. I don't believe it is right to push yourself like that. What are your opinions on this? How bad does it have to be to justify time off paid or unpaid? What would you say outside of our own personal values and perspectives, what is best for an employee who doesn't want to get fired to do in this situation?

I recently read an article about a young woman who passed as a result of working with a cold/fever. You can look it up it's quite recent. I even had a coworker slyly imply that I would be faking a cold for time off when I asked about how the sick time works at the organization.