u/sparklesandsunsets

I hired someone for cleaning off thumbtack. She stole over 15000 worth of items from me and my sister. She also got all our credit card information somehow, I am not sure how she did this because not all the cards were physically in the house, and used them at Pizza Hut, Chinese food, McDonald’s, the movies, multiple times. This happened in Miami. The police have been slow and nonchalant in their investigation but there is a police report and investigation. I contacted thumbtack and they did not remove her from the site. We saw she blocked us but is still available for hire. Can we sue thumbtack for damages? Not sure if this is the right place to post. Thanks for any advice.

I am US-based and I admit I have poor choice in picking a spouse. Both my ex husband and current husband are similar in that they are power and money obsessed. Given my education and the field I am in, I have met a lot of men who are considered successful professionally. I never lived with either spouse before getting married. I had my doubts before both marriages and stupidly ignored them and am now feeling the urge to divorce once again.

I am disgusted by my current husbands behavior. He is completely enamored with western culture and brands and his only goals in life seems to be around acquiring material items and gaining status in the professional field. We had a big argument a few months ago because I wanted him to stop working with a certain brand that is very anti Muslim and he refused, and unsurprisingly the vast amount of money he made from the project quickly vanished and did not benefit him whatsoever. In fact, continuing to work for the brand made him temporarily wealthy but resulted in him losing almost all his assets this past year. Instead of proposing and buying a house a few years ago, he bought an extremely expensive luxury car that has now depreciated significantly in value and he no longer uses it. This purchase pushed our marriage back by some time. He constantly talks down to others and is unable to be happy for anyone. If we visit someone, he will make a negative comment about the man in the relationship, the house, their career, just about anything, as soon as we leave and are in private. He refuses to have a social life because he thinks no one is “on his level”. He has me throw events for socializing only when it involves work colleagues. Additionally, my current husband is constantly listening to rap music, talking about buying watches and cars, following and liking famous models and influencers online as if it’s nothing, all while begging me to have children. Both my current and ex husband express disdain and hatred towards other Muslims and people from our cultural background, while they ironically pray and are familiar with the religion. This is the behavior that confuses me the most. that someone is praying and fasting and knows so much about Islam but then chases the most anti-Islamic things. My ex was a serial cheater who hid a lot about his past during the courting phase. My current husband has been faithful and expresses he loves me a lot, but can be rude and make comments about other women and looks at other women when we are out in public. Ultimately, I realize that I have chosen narcissistic partners that feed on my empathetic, kind and confident nature. I am getting counseling for this issue. I believe narcissism is now a pervasive threat in all marriages and relationships across all cultures and religions.

I am seriously considering a second divorce although I know it will disappoint my parents. I am unhappy and have lost all attraction to my husband. Similar to my ex husband, he refuses counseling or to change. He is unhappy and complains daily about his career and mistakes he made, even though all the decisions were his own and I advised against ALL of them and offered him solutions that would have helped. He doesn’t allow me to work but regularly puts me down when he’s frustrated about his financial situation and then threatens to leave me when I say I want to work because I am bored and also having to dig into my own personal savings to pay for bills lately. My friends and siblings have successful careers while managing their families and some even have home-based businesses, but he wants me to stay home and cater to him and have children. I have been putting off having children because I do not feel happy or secure with the situation. He dismisses and sometimes mocks me when I speak about concepts like evil eye, keeping things private and not associating or doing business with anti Muslim and/or unethical brands and people.

I feel like we are on different paths and desire different things. I have stopped buying luxury brands and chasing vapid and soulless goals and want to live a peaceful life. I am turned off by a lot of his behaviors and his manner of speaking to me and others. I have the distinct “ick” feeling I had with my ex where no matter how much others admire them, I see them in private and see how they really are and how they really speak and I am disappointed and have lost attraction and interest. Things feel very chaotic and stressful with him and it has now taken a physical toll on my health and immune system which were already struggling and weakened from my first stressful marriage and divorce. I would like to know if anyone has ever been able to influence their spouse in a positive way and change their disposition towards life, people, money and power. Thank you for your advice.

Please pm if you are interested

This is a long story but I would appreciate some legal advice about my situation.

I bought a home in a rural area. There is one realtor company in town and the owner has the majority of the listings in this town and most of the county. He has been in business for decades. He also owns a number of properties in town and I found out recently his reputation is terrible. He and his childhood best friends who are attorneys handled the entire closing process.

This home was listed in the middle of April 2025. I made an offer, there was a bidding war, and in the end I got the house about 30k over asking about a week after it was listed. It is the average price for a house of this size in this area. The house was listed as the previous owners “vacation home”, not their primary residence, and as newly remodeled. I get an inspection, the inspector knows the realtor well, and they tell me the smell in the house is due to the previous owners having 5 dogs and 6 cats. We check the attic crawl space and see no animal excrement or dead animals. I had already planned on renovations that included replacing vinyl flooring with hardwood so I proceed to close on the house, but the closing was delayed and the buyers start to get nervous and say they wanted to close by the end of may at the latest and might want to pull out, but in the end we close in early July. The day of the closing the realtor calls me and tells me that there is a bat in the sink and he is sending one of his guys to get it. I am not used to living in a rural area and he made it seem its the same as having a pigeon fly into your apartment, no big deal and common for this area.

Fast forward a few months and I have replaced the insulation and floor down to the studs, and have repainted the entire house. The smell returns as the weather warms up a couple months ago. Two weeks ago bats and pups (baby bats) start flying into and around my home. They are coming in through wall acs, holes behind the fridge, under the attic door, through vents. I have to get a rabies shot. I call a bat company and they tell me that its clear there has been a roost living in the attic of this house for years and they return each year to have babies during their mating season in June/early July. I closed and moved in shortly after their mating season last summer. The odor I was smelling was bat guano, which is highly toxic to human health. I had to move to a hotel for a few weeks, get a costly and painful series of rabies shots, hire a company to expel the bats next month, and I am scheduled for a urine analysis for histoplasmosis as well as a chest X-ray.

I checked the documents I signed and the previous owners clearly put NO when asked if there is a wildlife or pest problem.

another thing: shortly after I moved in a neighbor came by and told me that the lawn was essentially a pet cemetery where the owners and the neighbors would bury all their dead pets and animals, some 30+ animals from dogs to rabbits to stray cats are buried on the lawn. I researched and the decomposing bodies can leach into groundwater and if they have been euthanized it is even more dangerous. The law in this county/state says the bodies need to be buried 200 ft from streams and creeks and they have buried the bodies less than 50 feet from the stream bordering the house.

Do I have a case against the seller or realtor for lying and listing the house as a vacation home when it was a primary residence or for concealing the bat issue, or for concealing the pet cemetery? I have a report from the bat company stating based on the guano outside by a chimney it is clear the roost has been here for at least several years, and I have the text from the realtor from my closing day saying he is having a bat in the sink removed. I would like to recoup the cost of remediation and also my healthcare costs. I will have to list this house and disclose that it has a bat problem, which is going to lower the value despite the extensive renovations I did. The company I hired has a 3 year warranty on bat expulsion.

I hope this was composed well enough that someone can help me, I have been extremely stressed out and feel really upset about the situation. Thank you

We moved into a house next summer and smelled a strong putrid odor on top floor and attic floor (has two bedrooms with attic in between) that we attributed to the previous owners many dogs and cats. Our realtor told us he found a bat in the sink and that it was a random bat that must have gotten in and been there for months between the listing and closing. We had a crew rip out the flooring down to the studs in the top two floors but did not go into the attic. One member of the crew fell ill with respiratory illness and felt generally unwell for a few weeks but seemed to be fine a few weeks later and to my knowledge is doing well and still working. The smell was not pronounced after October and until this past month when it became warm again. A few days ago, several baby bats were found in our house during different times. We started rabies shots and moved into a hotel. We called two different wildlife inspectors and both told us we had a colony or roost of bats living in the attic and that they have been coming to that same place for at least a few years. Legally they cannot be moved until mid august. My partner feels safe to move back into the house this weekend because one of the companies sealed up any visible holes with tape and foam. He recommended door sweeps for our doors and to keep our vents closed. He said it would be fine to move into the house. We cannot do guano removal and remediation until the bats are released. Is it safe to move back into a home and sleep on the same floor with the heavy stench? We would be sleeping on the floor beneath the bat roost. My partner thinks using air purifiers and door sweeps are sufficient. I have hypothyroidism and am generally sensitive things and quick to get sick. There are a few nights in the past month where I remember having a few moments of full body chills at night and thinking that it was strange. There is one night i felt nauseous. My partner thinks I overreact about medical issues because of my autoimmune disease, but I feel like it is impossible for us to live safely in a house with an active bat infestation and sleep on the same floor that has the guano stench, even if the ac and purifier in our room mostly masks it. Any insight on histoplasmosis and how you contract it and how it manifests in symptoms is appreciated. Would you stay in the house? I am ok with going back after remediation and will be listing it for sale shortly thereafter.

I have read the FAQ.

I am in upstate ny and as recent as two weeks ago there have been numerous bats that have tested positive for rabies. Last night i was sitting in my dining room at the table with my hands by my side as I was watching the World Cup. My partner was in the living room. I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my leg and lifted my dress but saw nothing on my leg. I did not feel anything sharp prick my hand. I moved from sitting at the dining table to sitting on the couch in the living room. My partner then saw a bat fly from the dining room into the living room. We both ran to the bathroom and called our neighbor who kindly came over and trapped and removed the bat. the bat was initially on the wall by the tv but had moved to behind the couch. Our neighbor unfortunately let the bat out quickly because he is a local and said he encounters them outside all the time, but he has never had one in his home. We think it got in through the vents in our dining room floor. We did not have any windows open. We do live in an older home. I have two tiny red dots on my hand about half an inch a part. The bat was extremely small. I called the local health department and they said they do not administer the vaccine unless you wake up with the bat in your room while you are sleeping. I am feeling intensely paranoid that I have been exposed to rabies through a bat bite. The health department wants me to go to urgent care and see if the doctor will refer me to get the shots. I was wondering if anyone has been bit or scratched without noticing or would you 100% notice if a bat bites you. Thank you so much for your help.

We have two doses of revolution left. We tried one dose but did not isolate the cat and he reinfected the relative living with him. After we go over and apply another dose, do we isolate the cat in a separate area for a certain period of time/days and then reapply the second dose? The cat is reinfecting our immunocompromised relative. Does anyone know the health consequences long term of an immunocompromised person living with bird mites or scabies for 2 years+. We can’t seem to cure her because of the cat and reinfection.

I am staying near Middleburgh NY for a few weeks and I am looking for scenic flat safe areas to walk. I have walked through the town but am looking for a longer relatively easy hike, nature preserve with trail, or walking path nearby. Something within 25-30 min if it is a drive. I would like to do it daily. Thanks

I am putting together a gift for a friend that lives in a wooded area with lots of summer bug activity, especially mosquitos and ticks. Does anyone have feedback about the effectiveness of the bug spray? Thank you

My partner wants to start filming content for a social media channel. I would like to get purchase some equipment for him as a gift. He wants to start a channel for his building/construction business. He wants a camera he can attach to some place in his car because he wants to film his scenic drives to some of the unique destinations where he builds, so he would like to capture what he sees when he looks outside his driver side window, not the front windshield. He also wants a small wearable camera that can make a good quality video as he walks through and explores the build sites.
He has the latest iPhone so his iPhone pictures and video come out well and he will use that to film his content in his shop, but he dislikes holding the camera up while filming on sites because he usually is carrying other things. I was wondering if anyone can recommend some video recording devices and/or accessories that are small and can attach to his clothes and his car so he can record hands free while he is driving to sites as well as walking through the site. Thank you for the suggestions

Budget: 500 usd for everything

Country: USA

Condition: like new or new

Type of Camera: video recording

Intended use: video or hybrid

End use: Social media

If photography: what style: landscape and street

If video what style: vlogging and documentary

What features do you absolutely need: car mounting accessory, wearable on clothing if possible

What features would be nice to have:

Portability: How portable does it need to be? Pocketable

Cameras you already have: newer iPhone model

We have a relative who contracted scabies in the hospital 2 years ago. We have treated her over 10 times yet she keeps getting re infected from scabies from her cat. We treated the cat with revolution a year ago but she was still touching the cat and the cat was still touching her shared furniture in the hours after treatment. Should we have isolated the cat after putting on the revolution?

We don’t live close to her and haven’t visited for over a year because we do not want to get scabies. There is another relative closer to her who is willing to help treat her cat and her and clean the home. How can we help her beat scabies once and for all?

Our plan is to have the relative isolate the cat and do a lime dip and then put a disposable litter pan and food and water bowls in an empty room and keep the cat isolated in the room for the day, but will the cat still be contagious with scabies the next day? How long do we isolate the cat? Is the lime dip the best option?

Get new cat bed and permanent litter box for cat

Wear gloves and bag all clothes the cat has touched, eventually wash them on high heat. Anything special we can wash them with?

Vacuum all surfaces, steam clean couches and carpets- or should we toss them and get new?

Treat our relative with permethrin once and then again a week later.

Before when we would treat her the permethrin would work and then she would return home and become reinfected even though we spent thousands on replacing bedding pillows and laundry and cleaning products and services.

We are concerned about what 2 years of scabies is doing to her body and immune system. She has lost a lot of hair as well. She does not have crusted scabies. Most bumps are on her face, neck and scalp. Occasionally a burrow will show on her arm.

Thanks for your help.