Hi everyone,
I went to a specialist (dermatologist) and saw a nurse practitioner while there. She said I had blocked sweat glands on my feet and keratin buildup so she removed the spots via a razor blade (ended up really hurting me with it, but that’s another story…) and she also removed a funny looking mole and sent it off to pathology to check it out.
While at the Derm’s office, I paid $32.86 as a copay and would find out from customer service with my insurance that my copay should’ve only been $15. I paid the copay using a flexible spending account while there and when I had to submit an itemized bill to the FSA people, the Derm’s office said I didn’t owe them anything else and the bill said that I owed $0. I have not reached my insurance deductible of $500 yet.
I later get notification through my insurance that 2 claims have been made. One where I owe $222 and another where I owe $82. The $222 was originally $426 (matches the itemized bill that originally said I owe $0) and lists both procedures as in office surgery.
Am I being overcharged? Do these procedures really count as a surgery? I’m asking here instead of calling the Derm’s office directly because honestly they seemed very unprofessional and I want an idea of how to approach this and make sure I’m informed first.
Thank you

Hi all,
Just wondering is the seige mechanics broken more than usual?
I have been defending against a 1500 strong val army, with only 500 troops, I've managed to defend 4 times and only have 370ish left on my side.
They somehow still got 1000 troops....
They recover so quickly.....
I'm getting to the point where I might leave the city to the wolves, I've maxed my throwing and athletic skills in this one town...

Probably not gonna happen for awhile but I wanna do more preparation. What do you guys do or plan to do with your budgie's body when they pass away? Burying isn't really an option for me, we don't own any land, as in we don't have a backyard or what not. Landed property isn't the norm here and is extremely expensive. People are either really rich or inherited it.
I mighttt get away with burying because budgies are small and there are actually people who bury their hamsters in non-private land but it's just kinda odd and not part of our culture + what if i move, I don't want my budgie's body to just be left there.
Is there something like cremation? I have no idea where to get that done + not even sure I can afford it when the time comes.

I am a contractor, mostly electrical. I received a text message yesterday from someone who claims to have purchased a new home near where I live and work, they say have a decent amount of work to be done and will pay 70% upfront (their idea not mine) I did the estimate and the 70% came out to just under $2000. This morning they texted me explaining that they would be mailing me a check for almost $8000, and that upon receipt I would be responsible to get the money to a material supplier through wire transfer or cash deposit. I verified that the house was just purchased by checking Zillow. He has said the supplier would be the one who granted me access to the property which seems weird to me and when I asked him why he wouldn't just pay the supplier directly he said it was because the supplier doesn't accept checks (weird). Hoping it's legit because I could use the work... Any thoughts?

I recently had my first consult, and the bariatric center said it'd be a 6-month process before surgery. I know this is pretty standard, but I also know that my insurance, Aetna, only requires 12 total visits for the program with no specified time concerns, just that they happen within the 2 years prior to surgery.
I've got my sleep study, labs, EKG, and upper GI appointment all scheduled for this month - theoretically, all of those insurance requirements will be met by the start of month 2. I don't have any weight loss requirements, I just can't gain above my starting weight by the time surgery comes.
I've seen many others in support groups with Aetna that were able to do an appointment per week and wrap up their program in 3 months as opposed to 6, so I know it's doable.
But has anybody been in a situation where 6 months was mentioned as the length, but lowered it?
I know in the grand scheme it's not that long, but I'm motivated and eager to get going. I'm staying on top of everything to make sure my insurance obligations are all handled, and they will be very soon - except for the 12-visit portion. If I could attend a support group on the weeks I'm not meeting with a dietician and have it count (Aetna says it does) I could get this done in half the time.
Even just a month or two sooner would be great so that I don't run the risk of my deductible resetting before surgery happens.
I'll probably have to just suck it up and ride it out, but a part of me is hopeful that if I show I'm committed to getting my stuff done, following the dietician's advice, etc., it'd be clearer that I'm ready and don't have to wait an extra 3 months just because.

Hi there. Content spoiler : love story. Also English isn't my mothertongue, so sorry by advance.
This will be a bit long but I just feel the need to talk to someone. I have no friends nor anybody that might understand this because I'm not close to them enough and I'm quite used to keep my thought for myself (not a good idea, I know).
So where's to start? 10 years ago was my last year's to school. I won't be much original by telling you I met someone there for which I deeply fell in love. It was instantaneous. Back this time, I was depressive, unexperienced and I was a teenager. Anyway, I found any stupid excuse to talk to her. This began a long and classical story of "two teenagers messaging for hours everyday". What I felt instinctively did confirmed : she was what I expected on every matter. She has a creativity like no one else, I love her humor, we got a lot in common and my sensibility was so close to her's.
We were both kind of "dreamers" so we started writing texts, poems, things like that together. This might sounds ridiculous, but the thing is, our creativity was like.. Enhanced by the other. As if dreaming was only doable together.
Obviously, it didn't took long for me to tell her how I felt. But because reality isn't made of dreams, she told me we'd better to stay friends. It hurted me like hell. But I managed to keep in touch with her. I would never ever want to loose her. But the thing is, at multiple times, I couldn't hide my feelings and it led to many "long talk". In fact she always told me I was like, the perfect dude, a real pearl. Everything to be loved. But she just couldn't. She many times admitted to hate herself because she wanted to love me, she really wanted because she knew she would be the happiest if it was the case. This was even more hurting. When you know someone actually do want to love you, this is.. I have no words.
All of this happened on a 3 years period, I was way too emotional and this was a bit suffocating to her, which didn't helped on the situation. After that she met some other dudes and even though she did not felt quite happy with them and had bad experiences, she never came back to me. She wanted to stay friend with me, talk to me, etc. But at a certain point, I couldn't bare it. The pain was like, way too hurting.
So I agreed to listen to my friends. I ignored her, started to push her away of my life even though I was dead inside by doing so. I focused on studies, met other people and had a GF for 8 years. I completely changed my behavior. Younger, I was like that dude at the back of the classroom, always daydreaming, over creative, completely unaware of its surrounding. I became utterly "rational", I graduated in economics, got a job on economics statistics. I met my GF and it's been 8 years. She's an adorable person, etc.
But. I'm just wearing a mask. I'm not feeling myself anymore. I feel like I just jailed myself into a grey and "common" life, one night out of two I'm dreaming of that girl I met 11 years ago. And I awake as if my entire week had been demolished. I miss her, I frequently cry at night because.. I just want to speak to her, write with her, idk. From times to times, she sends me some messages just to get in touch, even to see me, but I always refused or found excuses.
Recently, I heard my school is organizing kind of a "10 years anniversary" in like 20 days. you know that kind of things. Of course, she goes to it.
Having heard about this event and remembering those times made my heart completely explode some days ago. I couldn't hold this situation anymore. I hate what I became, I hate my situation even though I should be the last to complain. And I still deeply love her, so deeply.
I wrote to her because fuck it, I can't support ignoring her, I love to talk to her and I should never have put her away. Biggest mistake of my life, 8 years wasted on the wind. She said she had no more hope of me to come back, and that she missed me too so that was a surprise. So we're talking again.
But I fear to come too late. After all this time, I've grown, I made mistakes I would never do again. And she may have done her life? And now I just want.. A chance? Lot of time did go, and I would like to ask her to meet again. I know I shouldn't never ever tell her I still have feelings because it's too early. But I want to speak with her at this famous "school anniversary", asking to see her again but with nothing on my mind. Just letting the future decide. Maybe things will go well, are maybe not and we can stay friends? I'm quite sure, just seeing each other again, having some nice time would be a nice second chance because I changed by a, lot now, as she did too obviously. I also want to retake the time I lost with her. I'm so ashamed to have ignored her for years I think I might cry when I would see her again.
But I have a lot of fear. I realize that wathever I can do in my life, everything always makes me go back to her again. I cannot describe how I feel we would be together. I'm not religious nor a believer. But gosh. This makes me doubt. I know you can forget people you loved, that love can go away. But I've never ever been able to forget her nor diminishing what I feel, even after 10 years.
Honestly, I don't know what advices I could get. I just want some emotional support, idk. I'm feeling lost. Am I the only one who felt I've been in the wrong dimension for so long? As if I deviated from a path were I would be someone else, as if I would be with her but I managed to somewhere, do a mistake?
I'm just crying for days now, feeling like shit and I don't know how to manage the situation. I need to tell my GF that out of nowhere I wanna leave, I need to do my best to cope with my "renewed" contact and I don't know how to proceed, I hate everything in my life.
I just wanted to share this with someone, just a common story I guess. But I'm so devastated right now, I just rely on miracles she does not reject me.

Introduction

I am an experienced game master looking for one additional adult player (21+) to join an existing D&D 5e Midgard campaign in the Woodbridge / Dale City area. We will be meeting from 6 PM to 11ish every other Saturday (Next Session is June 17th). The game is a local tabletop game hosted at my home.
I will be making my final decisions by the 9th of June.
It is very likely with all of the stupidity Hasbro has been doing of late that our campaign will transition to the Tales of the Valiant 5e variant being created by Kobold Press once it becomes available. This will be discussed as the campaign continues.
As a way to keep things interesting, I like to have a short adventure that is not related to the campaign when the characters hit a level milestone. We generally have a two or three session experience with a different system each time. This includes a homebrew system we are creating and playtesting.

Rules & Expectations

I hope to have a laid back and inclusive game where all levels of gaming experience, genders, cultures, races, and sexuality are welcome. All that I ask is that you are polite to each other, engaged in the campaign, and try to be proactive. If you are not LGBTQ+ friendly, please do not apply.

• We are a non-smoking household with a young child, so there is no smoking in or around our home. This includes vaping and all other tobacco products.
• We are a drug free home so please no illegal substances nor marijuana.
• Alcohol is allowed in small quantities for those of legal age. Please do not become intoxicated and absolutely no driving under the influence. I am the final judge of intoxication.
• We have no pets to be concerned with if you are allergic.
• There is on-street parking, but please be considerate to the others on our cul-de-sac
• Once our child has gone to bed profanity is allowed. Please be considerate beforehand.
• Outside game chatter is welcome in a balanced mix, but please don't let it get too distracting. We are here to have fun, socialize, and create a collaborative story. That works best when everyone participates.

Requirements

We will be using D&D Beyond for character creation and management. You will not need to purchase any of the source material as I have an account that will share them with you, once you have joined the campaign. If we do transition to Tales of the Valiant, we will be changing this management to Demiplane as their 5E nexus becomes available. They will have the same sharing ability as D&D beyond , so don't worry.

• My games are always free. I don’t mind donations to help defray costs, but they are in no way expected. Just appreciated.

Setting & Campaign

The setting will be Midgard from Kobold Press, but the themes and goals will be player and character oriented. My play style leans towards plot and narrative driven gaming, with an entertaining amount of puzzles, exploration, and combat. I love getting player input and creativity to help shape and propel the campaign forward. My games have a solid narrative thread that binds them but I never have any qualms about improvising or allowing players the freedom to make the story their own.
The campaign so far deals with an evil book called the Umbral Codex which was split into three parts and hidden away. So far one villain has a third, and a former player character was corrupted when she found the second. Now the third is up for grabs and the party must fight two villains to keep the Codex safe until they can destroy it.

• I have the Kobold Press books in PDF to share with players once you join the campaign
• The characters are currently at 5th Level.
• We already have a Kariv Griffon Knight, a Half Elf Wizard, and a Trollkin Priest of Thor. That leaves a lot of other species / class options available.
• Good and neutral alignments are preferred and will work best with the story. Other alignments are allowable if the character retains a compelling reason to continue working with the party. Once that reason ends, expect the character to be retired from play.
• A well written character will not be at odds with the rest of the party
• Character materials from the official 5E line and Kobold Press’ Midgard line of books are allowable. Other third-party materials are not allowable.
• There will be a mix of premade adventures and homebrew adventures leaning on the side of homebrew

Optional Rules

• Magic items should have a greater mystique, so we are removing the ability to identify the properties of a magic item during a short rest, and require the identify spell, experimentation, research, or a combination to reveal what a magic item does. A short rest may give hints as to the nature of the item from a visual and visceral level of magical understanding.
• Flanking gives combatants a simple way to gain advantage on attack rolls against a common enemy. A creature can't flank an enemy that it can't see. A creature also can't flank while it is incapacitated. A Large or larger creature is flanking as long as at least one square or hex of its space qualifies for flanking.
• Reaching zero hit points will inflict a level of exhaustion.
• Story Based Advancement (DMG pg. 261)
• Feats, although this hardly seems like an optional rule.

Experience

I am experienced in quite a few games including D&D (Classic Boxed, 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, 5th Edition), Fate Core, Dresden Files, Alpha Chronicles, FFG Star Wars, World of Darkness (oWOD & nWOD), Aberrant, Palladium Megaverse, Cypher System, Cyberpunk 2020, Shadowrun, Hackmaster, Top Secret SI, and quite a few others.

Contact Info

Please feel free to contact me on discord ( FangGrip#7572 ) if you are interested in joining or if you have any questions. I would like to have a conversation with all prospective players. This conversation does not guarantee you a slot in the game but will help keep you in mind in case a player chooses to resign or ghost us. There is no impersonal form to fill out, but I will need some basic information.

• Name
• Your age (21+)
• How far away you are from Dale City Virginia
• Experience in gaming, D&D 5E, and the Midgard Setting
• Types of characters you like to play most
• Any character concept you may have
• Style of play you prefer
• Goals and hopes for a campaign
• Things you don’t like in a game
• Why do you think you would be a good match?

​
Thank you for reading this post. I know it's fairly long, but I want to save people time by giving you all the information I can think of to help you determine if we are right for you.

I have treatment resistant depression and although I do the work literally every day via meditation, mindfulness, affirmations, journaling and redirecting my thoughts I can’t get past my logical and monkey mind. I see so many posts and accounts where people are micro dosing but literally how or where do I start? I’ve tried to get into various studies with no luck and even a current study in Sydney advises they don’t provide the psylicybin so how is everyone doing it? Is it just friends of friends dealing on the side, just trying your luck online or harvesting your own? I’m so desperate to find myself again and feel like I have the best of intentions for bettering myself for me and my kids but honestly feel like it’s impossible. Any advice on where or how to start?

Hey so I have never playde a Diablo game before and I don't like games where you have to min-max according to a specific guide, otherwise your build will be completely obsolete.
I've been watching some streams of Diablo 4 and it seems pretty cool but I don't know if this game would be anything for me. I do love the entire theme of the game with angels and demons and stuff.
Is it easy to get into for new players and would you recommend it?

To start off I'm 26. I spent 6 years in the military, got out, and now living off of disability. Im so so thankful for the disability because its allowed me to live while I figure things out of what I want to do next.
Finding what I want to do with my life has proven to be so stressful that I get chest pains when Im dwelling on it too much.
In the military I worked maintenance for a specific part of one aircraft. It was for radiation detection equipment. I was good at it, but the only place I can utilize those skills is that one job and it just isnt for me.
Working with my hands is where I feel most comfortable. And I feel most fulfilled whenever I know Im directly helping someone. Helping people fix the cars for free so they can get to work has always made me feel better. I also am really really interested in biology and always seem to be mesmerized by whatever is going on in the couple college courses I've taken. So where Im leaning, is either some sort of maintenance or healthcare.
I've tried my hand as an electrician and an appliance technician just to get my feet wet and they weren't for me.
So my question is, is there anyone thats been in a similar situation that has any recommendations? Im currently looking into a CAA or certified anesthesiologist assistant. They work in the OR and their work seems up my alley but I'd like to hear from others too.
TL;DR: Looking for career paths for someone that likes working with their hands and helping others.

Howdy, I go by Cal online, pronouns he/him, and I'm 28 years of age! I've got 100+ sessions of D&D 5E under my belt! So you can be assured I have *some* idea of what I'm doing. I quite enjoy coming up with non-standard characters that push the envelope, and am an absolute sucker for redemption arcs.
I'm not exactly a voice actor, nor a method actor of any flavor. But I quite enjoy both the roleplaying and mechanical sides of the game. I won't lie, I do get a little stir-crazy if it's been several sessions without a combat encounter, I quite enjoy rolling dice!
I'm searching for a game where I can really lose myself in the world, as I'm the type to really throw myself into anything I do. This means a lot of banter, theorizing, and chatting about the game even outside of regularly scheduled sessions!
My discord username is Calibraptor, but you can also post or DM me here on reddit!

My dad recently got a promotion. Now he oversees the operations of our entire region which is the one that produces the most. It’s a very high level job and with it comes perks like a driver, an assistant, a receptionist, etc.
On his first day, he drove himself, parked and went to where the drivers stay on the garage. He talked to them about how their job was and if there was anything they’d like to change. He asked about their day, made small talk and joked around. Then he did the same with the assistant, the receptionist, the janitor, basically anyone who worked for him that he met on his way to his new office.
His employees were shocked and someone told the big brass. He received a call from an executive above him. The guy basically said that he needed to “be firm” and “make them respect him”, and that being friendly with the “low level personnel” would make them not respect him. He needed to “impose himself”.
My dad was pretty pissed and said that he was chosen to be the boss so how he treated those under his care was his choice. And asked them to not meddle again on his management style. They wanted results, he would give them results. His way or no way. He didn’t even want that promotion, they pushed him to accept it. Later on the day, the CEO called to say he was right and to keep doing what he was doing. The whole thing rose a big, pointless ruckus.
I feel so proud of him. He stood up for himself and I know how hard that was. He doesn’t want us to make a big deal about it. But I’m so proud to be his daughter. He is such an inspiration to me.
His childhood was so tough. From days of being hungry, to working at farms and selling food in the street. He moved to a big city when he was 16 to study and find better opportunities. Since I was born, we went from sleeping on the floor of the living room because of shootings and the risk of stray bullets to living in a penthouse with a swimming pool by the beach.
All because he worked hard. Our relationship is a bit strained because of the hours he put into getting us a better life but moments like this remind me that he is a good person. He has flaws and shortcomings, but he only wants what’s best for those around him.

So I finally won the battle at home. My wife is was a lifelong ND fan and I got her to decommit from them and join us on Rocky Top. After the 'Bama game last year she looks at me and says "we're going to a game next year."
After looking at the calendar the UGA game makes the most sense (big game and timing of it is perfect with our work schedules). Now, I need someone tell me what is the best avenue to get tickets and where to stay. I haven't been on campus on in 15 years, so I don't know what has changed.
I'm assuming that stubhub/seatgeek is the best avenue for tickets (I know they'll be expensive, that is fine) and the hotels near campus are super expensive that time of year. Is there something I'm missing? Looking for any and all relevant information.
TIA!

Does anyone know where to get Cuban cigars around town?

It was in the playground next to the football goalposts that the robot that George keeps in his front pocket said:
‘Wow, that Trisha girl is cute.’
George had never heard his robot have an opinion about anything beyond the way George treats other technology. Throwing his phone around, slamming the fridge door, screaming at his television and video games controller. George tried explaining to his robot companion - he was yet to think of a name - that technology doesn’t have feelings. Thinking about it now however, he thought he might have been a bit callous.
‘What did you say?’ George asked.
‘Trisha - she’s cute.’ The robot beamed.
Its voice was robotic but inflected with charming affection. Its face, though static, seemed to move as he spoke; the lights and inflection doing all the work.
‘Robot, why are you saying that?’
‘Why wouldn’t I?’ It raised its eyebrows metaphorically.
It was nearing the end of lunchtime and the bell would sound at any moment. George tucked in his shirt and asked the robot kindly to hide in his pocket. Drawing its arms, neck, and legs in, the robot shrunk to the size of a box of matches; and George made his way to class.
That night, sitting at his desk, George asked again.
‘Robot, why did you say what you said before?’
The robot was sitting on a roll of duct tape on George’s desk, next to various metal robot parts: half cylinders, LED eyes, a cup-shaped hand or two that wouldn’t go amiss in a lego set.
‘About Trisha?’
‘Yes. About Trisha.’
‘Well, I like the way she looks and does things.’ The robot gesticulated.
‘Right.’
George scratched his head of blonde curly hair and rested the blunt end of a pencil on his bottom lip. He designed the robot as a passive companion. A thing that was always with him wherever he went. It got pretty good at back and forth-ing ideas that George came up with.
‘George,’ it asked innocently, ‘why don’t I have a name?’
‘...’ George opened his mouth just a touch.
‘I mean, I don’t mind. But the other day I heard a man call his motorbike a name and I wondered if that could be something that you do for me?’
‘I’ll uh… think about it.’
‘Ok. Thanks.’
George noticed that his school clothes were a bit clammy after a hot day and full week of school, and so he stood up and went to get changed. The robot just sat idle, watching his human companion move around in the room. It watched as George picked up odd pieces of clothing and smelled them, before throwing them aside. The robot had zero frame of reference on bedrooms, but looking at the bedroom in front of it, it couldn’t help but think about the cleanliness of the kitchen and living room. Though, it knew exactly why George’s room was messy, without knowing why it knew.
It watched George approach dressed all in black, a hoodie and jeans, and held on to its human’s hand as it ascended onto George’s shoulder.
‘Where are we going?’ It asked.
‘Out.’

First I want to say, thanks to everyone that helped me 1. decide on using LoRA instead of fine-tuning the model 2. helped me navigate the steps to get it working.
I successfully trained a LoRA using OpenLLaMA 8-bit mode in Oobabooga. It's working great.
Only problem is, now I don't know how to proceed on merging my LoRA with the base model. That's an essential parts, as my project requires CPU-inference. I need to merge them, and then quantize it to 5_1.
I tried using this script, but it threw a bunch of errors:

 File "C:\Users\User500\Documents\llama\export_hf_checkpoint.py", line 5, in  from peft import PeftModel ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'peft' 

And that's where I'm now. So I kindly ask for assistant yet again, because as usual, I'm stuck.
I'm using Windows if that information helps.

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So im currently reading through the Horus Heresy series and ive made it upto Legacies of Betrayal but im suffering from real burn out and just want to get to the Siege of Terra. So my question is should i just skip to the Siege of Terra or are their any must read books between where i am now and SOT?

Anyone here ever get a CT scan because the doctor offered it to you to rule something out but wasn’t concerned about it being life threatening?
Might have the opportunity to check the box on neck discomfort I’ve been having for 7 months but I’ve had a C spine MRI that is normal. Want to reduce radiation where I can since I’ve already had two MRIs this year (abdomen/pelvis and sinus)

I beat the men again :) This was a super fun and well-run meet.
photo for cover

Background and training

I compete in USAWA, the US All-Round Weightlifting Association, best known for its many wacky odd lifts. This meet had just two official lifts, the Hackenschmidt Floor Press (a floor press done with the bar at 15" off the ground) and the Dinnie lift (weights in two stacks with ring handles, one heavier than the other, to mimic the famous Dinnie Stones of Scotland). After the competition was over, the organizer held a "record day" where lifters can pick anything they like from the rulebook and attempt to set or break records.
I've been competing in USAWA since 2019 and have been the undefeated women's champ at all the in-person meets I've done--although in many cases I was the only woman competing. Usually men and women are scored separately, but I asked ahead of time if the HackenDinnie organizer would be able to use a formula that combines men's and women's scores. Because, I told him, I'm competing to win. (He said yes.)

Meet prep

The first time I tried the floor press, I was only able to move 75 kilos (about 160 pounds). u/BenchPauper suggested using the Gillingham bench template to train it, which involved one day each week with a heavy single and backoff sets, and a second day with lighter lifts. After a few weeks I figured out the right grip width and bar placement and was able to hit 85 kilos (about 185 pounds). This remained my 1RM for the rest of training. I deviated from Gillingham in the last few weeks, but it was a solid structure to keep me in practice for most of my training time.
The Dinnie lift I've done before. Back in 2020 I got up to 503 pounds with straps. But in USAWA, no straps are allowed, nor even thumb tape. You just chalk up your hands and go for it. My best without straps had been 418 pounds.
When I trained the Dinnie lift, I kept getting little tweaks and aches and pains. One time I took two weeks off of Dinnie lifting because I was convinced I'd sprained my left ACL. (That's the ACL I tore and had reconstructed many years ago, so it kind of spooked me.) Later I had an issue with my hip. I was kinda bummed about all of this and didn't train this lift as heavy as I would have liked. Fortunately, by the time the meet rolled around everything was feeling better.
I had a total of 11 weeks between my last big weightlifting meet (Masters Nationals in olympic weightlifting) and the HackenDinnie. I did 3 days/week of normal weightlifting training, and 2 days where I practiced these two lifts and a few other lifts that I selected for the record portion. I pulled my last heavy Dinnie lift 8 days out, at about 440 pounds. My heaviest in the whole training cycle had been a hook grip PR at 470. On u/just-another-scrub's recommendation I bought a pair of Versa Gripps to get in more volume without worrying about my thumbs, but in the end my lower body injuries (or fear thereof) limited me more than my grip.

Meet day

I drove down to Kentucky for this one. The meet was held in Clint Poore's very nice garage gym and he put on an extremely well run meet. I refereed when I wasn't lifting.
The guys at the scoring table called me over to ask what my opener really was on the floor press--maybe it was my handwriting, or maybe they weren't expecting me to open at 180 pounds. Out of 11 people there, I was 4th to open on the floor press. And of 9 people who did the Dinnie lift, I was second-to-last to open. One lifter bumped up his own opener to match mine (430).

The lifts

Hackenschmidt floor press

• 180 pounds - good lift, and set a record in my weight class.
• 185 pounds - had to follow myself. Good lift and an all-time women's national record.
• 190 pounds - I believe I followed myself again. I didn't quite wait long enough for the down command, but got white lights and a warning.
• 200 pounds - 190 moved so easy I knew I had more in me, so I went for the big 2 hundo for a 4th attempt for record. Looking at the video I think I may have even had a bit more.

(This lift is not eligible for world records in our international organization, IAWA.)

Dinnie lift

Had to wait a while to open this one. My hands began to slip on my last warmup at 400, so I made a note to chalk the heck up and to believe in the magic of the taper.

• 430 pounds - good lift and set a record in my weight class.
• 480 pounds - good lift and beats the record in the 70kg weight class. (I had chosen to be in the 75 to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about whether I could beat this number--but here I am beating it anywaay.)
• 500 pounds - good lift and a women's all time national record.
• 510 pounds on a 4th attempt - good lift at a poundage that beats all the IAWA women's world records as well. Sound on for this one!

There are several women who have either lifted the real Dinnie stones or the Rogue replicas, at 734 pounds, so it's not a world best lift. But 510 is higher than any woman's Dinnie lift in our record books.
I also had the second-heaviest Dinnie lift (by raw poundage) of the 9 of us. The only person who lifted heavier than me was a highland games athlete who said he had planned to do 500/550/600 but bumped his attempts when he saw mine. He did 550, 650, and broke 700 off the ground but didn't get a complete lift. I pointed out that a 300+ kg lift is all you need to book an appointment to lift the actual Dinnie stones, so even though the competition was over at that point, everybody supported him to get his qualifying lift in. We loaded 671 pounds, weighed it out and documented the scale weight, and he pulled it to massive cheering.

Results

When age and bodyweight were taken into account, I had the 4th best total on points. Our international org, IAWA, uses a 1.33 multiplier for women when they combine men's and women's scores, so we did the same to determine the overall winner. That turned out to be me.
Honestly, I believe several of the men there were strong enough to beat me, but they weren't as familiar with the lifts and/or underestimated themselves when it came time to choose attempts. I, meanwhile, had been able to train on very similar equipment (I have Dinnie rings at home) and had a strong sense of what attempts would be strategic and doable for me. What can I say, I came to win!

Record portion

One of the first things the meet organizer showed me when I arrived that morning was a foot press he had just gotten. Sort of like a primitive leg press, but the idea is that you just need to break the weights off the supports (no need to fully lock out your legs). I almost couldn't reach the footplate, but with my heeled lifting shoes on I was able to participate.
The foot press had 350 pounds on it when I first gave it a try. I lifted that, and so did a bunch of other folks. Then four more plates got piled on, and we all did 530. Next up, a bunch of the guys did 580. When it was my turn, I said...well, why not 600? So that was my third. And I finished up with a 4th attempt at 700. Felt that one in my shin bones (ew), but no problem lifting it.
I also did a clean rack Sots press (James Lift is the USAWA name). 75, 80, and set a record and a small PR at 85 pounds.
I had planned to do a snatch, but there were no weightlifting bars in the place, and I forgot how weird it is to have a bar without your usual landmarks and to have so much knurling. I scraped up my legs enough on the Sots press that I scratched the idea of snatching with it.
Somewhere in there I took a first attempt at a normal bench press (IAWA/world lift but not USAWA lift). Did 150 pounds, then got distracted and never bothered to come back for more.
It was kind of chaotic, okay? At some point I stumbled across an axle loaded with 275 pounds. Pulled that for a beltless deadlift, because I didn't have my belt on when I impulsively grabbed it and told a ref to watch me. One attempt one record. Moving on.
Last one was an Apollon's Lift, which is just an axle press anyhow. I have not attempted to clean an axle in years and kind of forgot how. I no-contact power cleaned it and then did a split jerk at 115 pounds. Easy. So I went 135 next, couldn't remember how to clean it, managed to get it up to my shoulders continental style, then shit the bed on the jerk. I'm for sure good for more if I practice this someday. But the record book had a blank space on that, so 115 was good enough.

Aftermath

I'm working toward getting into the Century Club of people with 100 or more records. (We love our records in USAWA. The Century Club has many members, in part because you can keep setting different age group records as you get older.) I'm on track to make it this year.
Next meet is USAWA nationals in Missouri in three weeks, so once I recover I'll jump right back into training. I've actually taken two whole days off from training so far, which is weird for me. Stay tuned for the next meet, which includes a Steinborn squat and a hip lift, among other things.
I'm not always sore after meets, but mannn is my body feeling this one. Everything hurts, including some bruising on the back of my leg and a superficial skin tear on top of my thumb from hook gripping so hard. Still have never torn a callus on my palms or fingers. File those suckers down, kids.
PS. I'm lifting the real things someday. Only 224 pounds to go.
Happy to answer questions about joining us at USAWA meets. They're for everyone (my daughter even lifted at Nationals at 6 years old) and are always a blast.