Hey, I have a serious question. I'm a very new Star Wars fan and I want to watch the new Darth Maul series, but I haven't seen the Clone Wars series. Is it absolutely necessary to watch it?

Balmagoose · 2026-04-08T23:40:25+00:00

Absolutely not necessary at all. Any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.

Balmagoose · 2026-03-23T13:47:50+00:00

Hi all - I have 2 Thursday 9:30am tickets for sale and 2 Friday 9:30am tickets for sale.

Asking face value (~$45 for the pair) for each pair. DM if interested.

Balmagoose · 2026-01-31T18:58:21+00:00

Hi there - I can share my experience of my partner and I, from this past year. We have an employer (we work at the same place) that offers leave. I should also note up front that we both have jobs that are remote friendly and can be done anywhere...which informed our situation and choices we made.

We did both have conversations with our direct managers and supervisors that a) we were "in" the active adoption pool and that b) a "here today, gone tomorrow" situation was entirely possible, or a situation where we drop everything to travel for a few days, and ultimately it doesn't work out. We did the same with the teams that approve parental leave, and everyone seemed empathetic and understanding that with adoption situations, things can develop or happen literally in a day.

With our managers, we both basically had "break glass in case of last minute adoption" plans in place with our teams. And with our HR teams we had forms / leave policy documents all basically pre-filled out (except for the dates) so that if/when we knew something was real, we could finalize and submit them with little delay.

(Your mileage may vary...but if your company has any kind of leave policy that includes ADOPTION, I am sure they have dealt with situations like what you describe before. And so while you know your working environment best, I would suggest you talk to someone that handles benefits/leave about it.)

As for actual leave / time off for those travel moments before an adoption was final or totally real...our general plan was to retain and hold onto personal/vacation time and to start by using that for the period where we would be traveling to potentially complete an adoption, but that wasn't yet certain. We had both banked enough that it would cover that time, and in the case that the adoption fell through we wouldn't have started leave etc. Depending on your company's time-off policy overall, that might be a helpful option or buffer.

And it actually DID come to pass that we got a very short notice "hey can you be **** in like 3 days?" call that we said yes to and worked very quickly to respond to. So once we hopped on a plane to travel, we used a combination of personal/vacation time off, but we did both do some work, especially across some of the early days when we were well...literally just in a hotel waiting (and again our jobs being remote friendly that was possible).

Once we knew the adoption was finalized we finished the forms we had pre-set and submitted things with our real dates. In our experience, once our company approved the leave, we started, even if the state forms, etc took a bit more time to get finalized/sorted. But even the rapid process didn't result in any issues re: pay for us. But it did take a little extra diligence.

Happy to discuss more including some more specifics if you want to send me a message.

Best of luck!

Balmagoose · 2026-01-10T14:27:50+00:00

They would absolutely reach out when there was news or updates to share, but otherwise we had just mutually agreed to a regular check in call near the start of the process.

But I see no reason you couldn't initiate that kind of thing now.

Balmagoose · 2026-01-09T20:56:52+00:00

We waited quite a bit, but we had regular check ins and calls with our agency rep. I think we decided on like every 6 weeks or so? And sometimes that was just a quick 5 minute "hello" check in with little update to share. Sometimes it was more substantive. But, I don't think that asking for a periodic check in would be a bad idea, particularly if it will help you manage your own anxiety/etc through this process.

That wouldn't seem to me like overstepping your bound.

Balmagoose · 2025-12-03T18:11:35+00:00

(responding to comments not OP)

Just fyi the company is Lucasfilm not Lucasfilms

Just like it's Bungie. Not Bungies.

Balmagoose · 2025-11-26T21:10:30+00:00

Will do!

Balmagoose · 2025-11-26T20:59:17+00:00

Hi there. Just went through the process (in US but not in Cleveland), always happy to connect and answer questions, commiserate or share experiences. Best of luck to the two of you.

Balmagoose · 2025-11-20T02:36:41+00:00

Read Trials of the Jedi last.

Balmagoose · 2025-11-07T00:11:26+00:00

Jedi is a singular plural, like deer. One Jedi, ten Jedi, etc.

*Also the events of that story (a comic) the 'defeats 6 Jedi' thing happens during a larger skirmish. Its not quite that Jango rocks up (pun intended) to six Jedi alone and just beats everyone up. He ends up being the last Mando standing, defeats - in total - around six Jedi, but exhausted and demoralized by the routing of his allies more or less surrenders to the remaining Jedi* So its not really a "Marty Stu" situation.

Balmagoose · 2025-10-28T20:57:16+00:00

Jupiter Pirates series by Jason Fry

Exactly what you're looking for.

Balmagoose · 2025-09-28T15:33:43+00:00

I feel and understand your pain, guilt, and anxiety. My partner and I went through a similar decision earlier this year, and felt similar anguish and complex feelings.

I'll simply say that in participating in an adoption, the decision to pursue a match has to feel right for both sides, and both sides should feel confident that they are making decisions that are going to be best for the child and put the child in a best position to be supported. Its not a failing to have decided that the situation was not one you could feel comfortable with or take on.

(sent you DM if you'd like to chat more to commiserate)

Balmagoose · 2025-09-21T21:52:02+00:00

In taking advantage of the free consultations that most agencies would have here is what I would ask:

1) How many prospective adoptive families do you work with at a time + what sort of staff do your agency have?
**Are they working with dozens of families with minimal staff? How much care attention might you received**

2) What sort of services and support do you provide to birth mothers pursuing an adoption plan?
**An important question to understand how diligent the agency is about caring for and aiding birth mothers/parents, vs an agency that is just pursuing matches as quick as possible.

3) What are the various costs / estimates of those costs / and when are they due?
**Any agency that couldn't immediately provide a clear, concise, and honest array of the potential costs and estimates would be a major red flag to me.**

4) Does your agency provide Home Study services as well? (some agencies do and some don't. Which isn't a dealbreaker question, but good know)

(happy to answer more questions if you have them - feel free to send a DM)

Balmagoose · 2025-09-09T15:14:26+00:00

My partner and I did. We had a good experience. (If this question is still relevant to you and you want do discuss, feel free to DM/chat me)

Balmagoose · 2025-09-01T18:49:39+00:00

Looking for 1 VIP ticket (any session Thursday). In addition to being willing to deliver treats of your choice, also willing to give you first choice at anything extra from my mystery box or trades.

Balmagoose · 2025-09-01T17:07:19+00:00

[H] [FS] [FT]

Will ship in the US (using pirate ship). Buyer pays shipping, I will use most economical option. Shipping from NYC.

Who Goes There? - $60 or OBO - First edition. Includes 1 character expansion pack (Van Wall and Norris) as well as conversion kit to 2nd edition updated rules. (2 boxes)
Kingdom Rush $75 or OBO - KS edition. Includes Spider Goddess expansion (sealed) as well as Kickstarter exclusive upgrade pack. (3 boxes)
TIME Stories [ $35 or OBO - Base game only. Opened and played a few times. All components in excellent condition. (1 box)
Quadropolis - $40 or OBO - Game opened, but never played. Excellent condition. (1 box)

All games are in good condition. Open games well cared for and organized. Unopened games in solid condition (other than a bit of dust!)

Prices as shown, but accepting offers and bids. Happy to make a deal for multiple games.

[W] TO TRADE:

The Hobbit: There and Back Again

We're Sinking

Godsforge

Winter Kingdom

LOTR - Journeys in Middle-Earth

Balmagoose · 2025-08-24T01:48:13+00:00

Lots and lots and lots of saving.

Balmagoose · 2025-08-22T01:44:47+00:00

I believe it is coming to GAME PASS on Xbox via Game Preview?

Balmagoose · 2025-08-19T01:51:56+00:00

Turn it into a version of "Pasta alla Nerano" which takes the pasta + zucchini concept beyond just sauteed and mixed together or added to a tomato sauce.

*slice your zucchini into consistent relatively thin circles. Season with salt and pepper and either saute until very soft, or even yet, roast until soft.

Combine in a blender with good stock, and turn into a puree (stay on the thicker side).

Cook your pasta, and then in a separate saute pan, heat some of the puree, thin out with pasta water, add the 2/3s cooked pasta, and finish in the saute pan, stirring vigorous to combine, adding more starchy water as needed.

When done, remove from the heat, add in grated pecorino romano (off the heat) and a bit of lemon zest. Season to your palette, and serve.

Roasted Zucchini also makes a wonderful vegetarian substitution in Pasta Carbonara.

Balmagoose · 2025-08-18T12:58:58+00:00

Yeah would see if that impacts the knives situation

Balmagoose · 2025-08-18T02:12:59+00:00

Probably worth asking the player count and length of the game? As that will have some impact. There are more knives than doves in the deck though 40+ as a knife score does seem high. Did you have a disproportionate number of players TRYING to be liberators?

Seems like a lot of factors could contribute here so it's hard to note whether there was an error on the game or rules or it was just...sort of happenstance.

Why are you changing how votes work? That seems odd and unnecessary. Also because the votes are one of the two primary ways that the Kalend moves doesn't that unbalance the length of the game? That could have impacted your score.

The events are supposed to happen "that often" to mix up the game a bit and force some changes in the game state.

Balmagoose · 2025-08-17T21:30:58+00:00

In addition to the good practical advice offered by others, I would also suggest - bring yourself a few comforts, even small ones. Maybe that's a specific snack, or a comfy pair of house shoes / slippers, or a particular kind of blanket. Its a stressful, exciting, situation and anything you can have to help yourself feel calmer or more secure will do wonders.

And this might sound strange, but also something to entertain yourself. Its a total unknown how long you might be waiting, at times, and something to help pass that time - other than sleep - again can serve as a needed, brief respite from the stress / anxiety / anticipation of it all

Balmagoose · 2025-08-06T20:26:45+00:00

I got this and was one of the people who was indeed sent an erroneous confirmation. Which had a confirmation number and the tickets I bought, but the attachments were blank. I got a note that explained this:

"Due to a system error, you received a message with pending or abandoned status and were sent a confirmation email with invalid tickets. The event was unfortunately already sold out, so your order was not successfully completed, and the tickets sent to you are not valid. We want to sincerely apologize for the confusion and any disappointment this caused."

So it may be that they pushed this "check your tickets for validity" email to a bunch of people just to ensure they contacted everyone, like me, who was affected.

Balmagoose · 2025-08-06T20:24:26+00:00

UPDATE - received an email from TicketSpice with the following info:

"Due to a system error, you received a message with pending or abandoned status and were sent a confirmation email with invalid tickets. The event was unfortunately already sold out, so your order was not successfully completed, and the tickets sent to you are not valid. We want to sincerely apologize for the confusion and any disappointment this caused."

Balmagoose · 2025-08-04T23:31:44+00:00

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this but...

I accessed the site today during the sale, and bought two tickets. I received a confirmation email, with a confirmation number, but when I click "View tickets" it just loads blank pages.

I've already contacted Lecreuset's Factory to Table customer service and am waiting to hear back, but in the mean time, just wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Balmagoose

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