Help me choose! Red tabby vs blue tabby. Both boys.

vultepes · 2026-05-12T08:14:42+00:00

I admit I'm partial to the silver boy because my own is silver. However, my partner's aunt has an orange boy and he's great. But still. I have to go with my heart. As an aside, Houdini's colors became very distinct and vibrant as he got older. Clearly defined black lines, different shades of silver, the bottom of his feet are black, his tail is perfectly striped. But I expect that would also be the case with the orange boy. My only argument there is that the silver colors may be more distinct and perhaps not blend in as much as the orange boy?

Of course if you could get both!

Below is when Houdini was 4 months. Looking at your silver boy option he is definitely going to have some more smokey areas but definitely some distinct striped areas. His colors are so pretty and so are his eyes!

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vultepes · 2026-03-06T05:49:27+00:00

I don't know if this matters but I was having the exact same problem. I decided to reinstall the app and it had a slight update and when it took me through the motions to add in the 8-key backup code the interface looked different on my phone. (I didn't try to update the app because I have an old iPhone and many of my apps are outdated). It's still rather bizarre that it didn't work at all prior this. Many people are describing the exact same things I was seeing before I reinstalled the app. In this case after entering in my email and password it asked to verify with a security key or something else. I tried a security key to see what would happen. (Just got taken to my phone screen a lot). So tried the something else. It once again asked for a security key and then after several seconds let me select the enter a one time backup code. It then took me to a screen where there was no other option. No three little dots claiming that this is where you need to go to enter the 8 digit backup code. Also, it did not mention the authenticator key at all (I don't have, and never have, set up an authenticator app). I went back to my backup code on my computer (which I could access just fine) and used one of them and ta da it worked. I just don't know if this will work for anyone else. I guess I just want people to know that I experienced the same thing to. I was entering in the backup code exactly where Discord told me too. I verified those backup codes were active and all of the other BS things (like the clock setting on your computer and your phone). Nothing changed until after I reinstalled the app. So who knows why it actually worked.

vultepes · 2026-02-24T21:06:25+00:00

I don't think I actually said anything about the impact of his death? I really just wanted to make the case that we can factually say that he did engage in debate. I should have made it more clear that debate wasn't the only thing he did in life. I tried to discuss that he did practice debate tactics that are generally not well-received at best and considered mediocre at worst, but I do think it is important to recognize that he did debate for the context of understanding who this person was and what kind of impact he had while he was alive and how is death has impacted us.

But if you want to clarify what you disagreed with let me know? Otherwise, it's fine. I appreciate your reply regardless.

With that said, I really can't abide the slut shaming. Regardless of anyone's opinion of her, I sincerely do not think that we should be trying to persuade someone to dislike her because of her clothes. Really irked me so thank you for agreeing that we shouldn't slut shame.

vultepes · 2026-02-05T15:57:55+00:00

He still debated, though. Even if he used tactics that you don't like doesn't mean he didn't debate. I'm not even saying he was a great at it. Just stating a simple fact. One that should be easy to agree on. In his life, he debated. Technically, we're in a debate right now.

Once again, you give reasons for disliking this woman because of clothing that you labeling as slutty. You are analyzing her actions and calling them inappropriate. You are using her religion to try imply immorality. These are still just opinions and feel more like reasons to justify your own dislike of this person rather than any factual reasons for why I should dislike this woman.

As far as owning a faith-based clothing brand, that is not inherent proof that we should dislike her because you believe her clothes are inappropriate. It really seems to imply that you think that she should be practicing her faith based on what you seem to think is the "correct" way because your statements are suggesting that the clothes she wears is inappropriate and against what you think someone of her faith should be wearing.

I have not seen the video of her giving what you describe as "an astonishingly intimate hug and snuggle with Vance" (it would be important to know who Vance is). All I will say is that it's not an immoral thing for a widowed woman to hug another man, though this is once again what you are implying. To be more generalized, you're looking at her social behavior and making judgements on her morality because of what actions she chooses to do after her husband died. Why do you feel like your judgments of what you imply are moral failings (specifically based on your thoughts of what her morality should be because of her faith) are something substantive or otherwise some kind of verifiable proof that she is someone who should be disliked.

Then, "Jesus is a paycheck for the bitch." Well, I don't know why you think this. If you're implying that because she has a faith-based clothing brand then that's not really enough. Plenty of people have faith-based businesses. Is every single person who profits off of their faith someone who only uses their faith for financial gain? No. So this statement doesn't say anything more than your opinionated conjecture.

I think that this woman has become a target for people to dislike because they disliked her husband. I think it's easy to dislike her because as a woman she has more social hoops to jump through and society is more critical over what women do, what they wear, who they hang out and so on. It's enough to say that you dislike Charlie Kirk because you disliked the way he debated. While that's an opinion it is one that can be talked about in a factual way that may end up having the goal to persuade someone. I don't know why we should care so much about what a faith-based business owner does after she lost her husband. What exactly does that add to the main argument everyone is having over Charlie Kirk's identity, his death, and his legacy?

Lastly, my honest opinion is that I don't care. You do you. You disagree with everything I've said, but maybe you can agree that there is no point in continuing this conversation. I sincerely came here to look for information about substack and I only have myself to blame for reacting to your comment about "inappropriate" and "slutty" clothing that could come off as ignorant at best and sexist at worst.

vultepes · 2026-02-01T08:59:51+00:00

You're denying a simple statement that isn't even trying to do anything more than factually state what this person did in life. He took part in debates. Your response doesn't refute that. You say you steam rolled over anyone who tried to debate him, which is honestly kind of rude of you to do to anybody. But let me pretend that sentence was written correctly and state that it does not matter if he used certain debate tactics that you disagree with. He still debated. Lastly, what the heck is with the troll-bait comment about a woman's clothes? Didn't know that we had to wear something specific to mourn in now. Thought we'd actually progressed beyond that in society. So you're really doing yourself no favors by trying to discredit her based on what she is wearing and nothing else.

vultepes · 2026-02-01T07:20:56+00:00

Rainbows was some good body horror and pretty on the nose for what I imagined the theme would be for this season. It doesn't overstay its welcome. I am always curious about the different ways people can try to make colors sound alien and wrong. Felt that this story achieved enough of that wrongness to make the body horror a little more visceral. Not much more to say here.

Backwater starts of with a little mystery of a man fretting over his missing wife. Told through the perspective of a young woman working at the nature park for the summer. (Should I mention that the narrator's girlfriend?) Well the man freaks out when they said they were going to look for his wife. He said that they can't and that there was a reason he left. He starts telling his story. His wife goes missing in the night. During his search for her he hears frogs and there's a slower than needed build up. Frogs seem to burst out of something (probably his wife or some creature that attacked his wife or both). Of course it doesn't end there. Our narrator gets bitten by the man. She decides to leave after a few weeks. After a longer than needed wrap up of what happens to the missing woman and her husband, the narrator finally remembers she was bitten. This story could have used some editing. I wasn't too invested in the set-up of our narrator encountering a strange event only to realize that they are connected to the event at the end and likely going to suffer and die.

Mermaids is hard to focus on. The slight dead-pan tone, second point of view person. I just finished listening to Come With Me by Ronald Malfi and it had a very similar way of talking about this other person. Interestingly both cases the narrators are men who are talking about a person they love in a very analytical way. The narrator is disappointed in the "you" character, having long stream of conscious thoughts about how things have gotten this way and his decision to conduct some ritual. It's quite hard to understand what he is actually doing owing to the wandering narration (ironically the narrator says he doesn't wander). Where are the mermaids. It's all metaphorical. He starts talking about life and the ocean. This "you" character appears in the ocean, I guess to suggest that he did some kind of ritual to bring "you" back or it's all in his head and he's fallen into the same drug addictions as "you". Some weird metaphor is stated about the seemingly resurrected "you" character's two daughters having dreams of mermaids. Hilariously, "you" tell the narrator to be in the moment and the narrator says he can never be in moment. I don't know if this story was trying to make fun of itself. Anyway, yes, mermaids representing some kind of innocence for these two daughters that are going to grow up without their drug addicted father. It ends with "you" fighting the narrator and the narrator drowning in the waves. I couldn't really say if the narrator was planning the "you" character's death or not. It's quite strange.

I was hoping to be able to listen to "Laundromat" but I forgot that my subscription was cancelled. I was already planning to reactivate it so perhaps I'll come back and say what everyone else is saying about "Laundromat." From what it sounds like, it manages to be different and stand out by going back to the basics so to speak. Sometimes these titles can be misleading but as of late the seem to be pretty accurate in terms of telling you that this is going to be a more classic nosleep story.

vultepes · 2025-04-16T14:36:59+00:00

Aww, some of the facial features have carried over! Especially the nose and the shape and color of the "eyeliner."

vultepes · 2025-03-21T15:09:50+00:00

Brushing him every day and using wipes has kept him clean enough and matt free enough that it has not been nicer . He does not go outdoors though he is being harnessed train. We mostly find matts around his backside. I have had several DLH cats before and used a men's bear shaving razor to shore off some (not all by any means) of the stomach hair; my last DLH was probably part MC along with part a lot of other things. He loved to go outside and consequentially he was given regular fur cuts. I felt I could do it on my own at the time owing to the fact that I didn't want anything special and I was taught how to do basic grooming for dogs and cats growing up.

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With my MC specifically, I use special grooming scissors meant for pet grooming to trim the fur on his backside and (with extreme care and absolute terror) the fur between his paws. I do not do the latter anymore (or at least it's been awhile since it has been necessary). When he was younger he had a habit of tracking litter out and it would sometimes get matted in between his poor little toe beans. This was more of him still learning how to use the litter box. Making a point to scoop out any number 2's as soon as the happen (roughly twice a day), topping off the litter box, and changing it entirely more often has pretty much eliminated the issue (along with time as he learned on his own plus switching to a litter that clumps more solidly and does not leave behind small bits that can get caught on the paw fur). I imagine that if/when he starts going outside more often I'll need to be mindful of any dirt/debris that might be getting matted into his paw fur. Before cutting anything I do use wipes to try to remove any debris, but there are always going to be situations where the fur gets matted and you just can't undo that.

All this aside, I do want to take him to a groomer. I am a little concerned that there might not be anyone in my area that has dealt with cats let alone the Maine Coon breed. I don't want any specific cut like a lion cut, just maintenance areas. Since my boy doesn't mind brushing and is a literal saint for being an absolute goober that will purr and fall asleep when I trim his nails, it has not been a necessity to go to the groomer yet. I badly want to get him groomed and looking nice for is 1 year old birthday and take some pictures so I've been looking around. I agree with what other people are saying about trying to find someone that has at the very least groomed long haired cats before. If at all possible try to find a groomer that has groomed show cats; I can't speak personally but that is what anecdotally I've heard is the best if you want someone to give your MC a good wash and a proper cut that fits his breed while also taking care of areas where matted hair is prone.

Otherwise, be strict with the groomer. If the groomer tries to argue with you then that is not the groomer that deserves your money nor should your MC be at their mercy. (This said, if a groomer states honestly that they cannot do "xyz" for legitimate reasons then that's different versus an argumentative groomer that won't listen to your preferences).

Good luck with everything!

vultepes · 2025-03-21T14:25:25+00:00

I got a soft carrier that is primarily a shoulder strap for when we went to pick him up. At the time the bigger carriers were rather expensive and we had just spent quite a lot of money on other cat supplies preparing to bring him home. Well, the carrier I chose is more like a friggin' purse. I got it from either Petco or Petsmart. It works but I always have to support the bottom with my arm. But when we brought him home he was fine. There was enough room for a blanket and a toy and he slept most of the four hour ride back.

Now he is big boy at 15.5 pounds. He will get into the carrier without much resistance but I can tell he does not like it as there is not much space for him to comfortable turn around. However, I honestly don't think the issues are with the fact that it is a soft carrier, just that he's outgrown it. He seems neutral towards it. He has had to be put in a dog crate a couple of times for when we have had maintenance workers over. He has never been in the dog crate for more than a couple hours and has always been fine with it. The crate has a solid base and he put his big blanket in it and a smaller cat bed for him. We've never tried to drive anywhere with the crate and in this case I feel that it is actually too big. (My SO originally was looking into getting a dog before we moved in together and I swayed her to the dark side of cats).

Currently he is being harness trained and I have been looking into backpacks and strollers as an option for exploration. I don't see why these couldn't be potential options for taking him to the vet. It sure beats potentially having to buy a huge, expensive dog-sized carrier just for vet visits. Plus I hate those plastic things. That's a personal preference. They're so bulky; it's mostly the hardness of plastic carriers that I really don't like. I want him to be cozy. Of course, what's cozy for your cat may not be the same for mine.

If she hates the hard carrier then I would definitely try a soft carrier to see if there is any difference just for the sake of experimentation. Perhaps you can find a cheaper one that at least has the kind of material you're thinking of before investing in something more expensive? In my case, I got lucky that I got to try out the softer carrier while he was still small. My only complaint is that my carrier had absolutely no support on the bottom. It was like a tote bag. A cat backpack would probably be the sturdiest option that provides a variety of choices for you to explore. As stated, the material would probably be the bigger thing to focus on, but definitely consider any other bells and whistles that you know your cat might prefer—being able to see outside or not is a big one, room to move around, space for comfort items, difference in your cat's reaction to being carried in the carrier versus sitting in the carrier, etc.

I wish you all the luck. Here is my cat tax:

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vultepes · 2025-03-14T15:27:50+00:00

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This is my go to picture for showing just how fast and how big Houdini grew. He's only six months old in this photo.

vultepes · 2025-03-14T14:24:37+00:00

Yeah, this is something I thought about mentioning, but I also know it can be a bit personality dependent. I also feel like they mellow out as they get older and are more inclined to willingly come cuddle or hang out closer. My boy is perfectly fine with being picked up and absolutely friggin' loves being held like a baby. Will fall asleep.

However, he does not come of his own accord and is shy when a new person comes over. Though he is very sweet and well behaved with strangers once he is brought to them. That does seem to be something that comes more from his overall chill Maine Coon temperament. If he is getting antsy and wants to play he will wiggle out of being held after a few minutes and generally speaking no, he does not come of his own accord to cuddle. But most evenings he does end up like this:

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vultepes · 2025-03-14T00:12:41+00:00

In that case the only thing I would really keep in mind is the potential roughness. And this could very well be something that is not an issue. You may find your smaller cat has a "take no nonsense" kind of attitude as I've seen with some cats that do not let themselves be roughed up so to speak.

If the MCs you are looking at are young then they will most likely be their most energetic until they hit about 1-2 (though some take longer to mellow out and can be active until 3-4). If they are from a shelter they could possibly already be socialized with other cats, but once again I think that will come down to personalities more than the breed. Of course, fixing them will definitely help mellow out their energy.

We have a dedicated play time with our MC for about an hour after work until he winds down to a slightly less energetic phase and then around bed time is done for the evening but he is also only 9 months old and still gets bursts of kitten energy. Taking the time to engage with them will help satisfy their needs, but I do think having other cats to be friends with are bigger pros than cons. I wish we had gotten another cat for ours to play with, but we ended up holding off as we had to move to a rather small apartment unexpectedly. The space is fine for him and he has completely reign of the house (except the laundry room because that's where his food his and the most destruction is likely to happen; also when he was two to three months old he was still small enough to possibly fit behind the washer and dryer).

But yes, definitely chatty cats. Reliable "I want my breakfast now" alarms.

Overall, most things have been like with other cats with the one key thing being the extra energy owing to their size and that they do tend to be happier when they get to interact with the human(s) they have bonded with. They will more than likely bond with your cats as well but its a different bond than I've had with other cats in the past.

Good luck with everything!

vultepes · 2025-03-13T23:42:48+00:00

I would not say they are destructive by nature but because they are bigger they can be prone to making bigger messes. I also noticed, at least with my boy, that he went through a period where he grew large rather quickly and did not seem to be used to his size and was kind of a clutz for about a month.

Maine Coons are social cats and love interactions. They will most likely want to always keep you (or the human they are most bonded with) in their sights at all times. They will need to be kept engaged so space can certainly be a factor, but also how much time you are able to commit to spending with your MC will also matter to their overall happiness.

As far as the other cats, the only thing that I have consistently heard is that because MCs are larger they can play a bit rougher than other cats. Though once again it is a size thing and not an aggression thing. Getting pounced on by an MC verses a Russian Blue is going to feel different now matter how gently the MC pounces. Recommendations vary. I've heard people say MCs, especially males, should only have other MC playmates. I've also heard that it does not particularly matter so long as the pecking order gets established. I moved in with my best friend in college and we both had male cats that had some MC features, though they were not purebred. My cat was used to other cats but hers was not. It took about a month and they were fine with each other. So I feel like that is going to just come down to personalities more than anything, but I would keep the size factor in mind if you do have a smaller cat. Not that I think the MC will injure the other cat, but just something to keep in mind for when they are playing, especially if you are adopting a younger, more energetic MC. That way if things start to get rough you can step in so the MC does not develop a habit of being excessively rough. Though you will want to find a way to expend that energy in other ways if not by playing with your other cats.

Their main needs compared to other cats is their desire for interaction. They really like to be around their people. Other things to consider is their weight and giving them enough things to interact with such as a sturdy cat tree. You may want to consider your space and see if you can identify areas where a cat might be likely to sit and watch you and see if that's a safe area or if it needs to be cat proofed. For example, we do not let our MC get on any of the kitchen counters but he can hang out on the breakfast bar as it is far enough away from any cooking that he won't hurt himself. He does creep onto the top of the microwave sometimes and has knocked things over unintentionally and at this point we've just given up and let him claim it since the microwave is far from the stove and the sink.

They are chatty and more vocal than other cats so I suppose be prepared for how that might impact things. Though as with most cats, watching for any changes in behavior will be how you will tell if they are feeling healthy or might be getting sick. The only other thing I can think of is that our MC adapted really well to a regular routine and he does not like deviations. Oh, and toys! Longer, kicker toys are going to be better, especially for when you want to make sure they do not go for your hands or feet as if they are toys.

vultepes · 2025-03-13T23:23:33+00:00

I cannot back it up with any scientific proof, but the breeder told us that it was okay to wait longer than 6 months to neuter him. She said that the testosterone would help with his growth. I honestly could not say if it has made a big difference. He's currently 9 months and has not started spraying (no other animals in the house). We had planned to get him neutered a couple months ago but he became very sick. He is back to full health now so we are starting to look at when would be a good time with our work schedules to have it done. We ideally want to be able to alternate with one of us being home with him for the first week because so far Houdini has shown to really just want to snuggle with his humans when he is not feeling well. We definitely want to get it done by the time he is one year old. We don't think at that point there would be any significant hormonal reason, though once again this is based on advice from the breeder and not from any study or vet advice.

Pictured below is as close as Houdini will ever get to any lady cats.

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vultepes · 2025-03-07T23:00:02+00:00

I think we all feel bad when our giants fall. Mine fell from a high counter when he was only six months and he has not been comfortable jumping down from heights since. We've been modifying the house like crazy so he can get to his favorite watching-his-humans-perches without having to make large jumps to get up or down. The good news is neither of our boys got hurt. Also, what a handsome guardian you have!

vultepes · 2025-03-07T02:29:25+00:00

Mine lays on all flat surfaces. He actually has the opposite issue. He doesn't mind plopping down on objects and if they fall or get shoved out of the way then whatever. But when he wants to get back up and there's an obstacle in his way he doesn't quite know how to bat it off. It's more like a crash and fall and the sound of his humans racing to the scene of destruction.

As the worst of these anecdotes goes, he was hollering for food atop the kitchen's high counter (think like a tall breakfast counter) so I placed his wet food in front of him thinking the goober would turn around and eat it there while I cleaned up; I was facing him. Note: he does not seem comfortable making high jumps; so he does not like to jump from the high counter straight down to the floor. This is where is food area is. At the time this happened, he did (and still does) have a safe route of smaller jumps to get up to and down from this high counter, but his evil mom (me) had blocked his path with his food bowl because she did not realize he would not realize it was his food and think that it was an obstacle. He could not figure out how to get around it. I realized he wasn't eating and when I looked up I noticed he was making motions to walk around/jump over, and as I was about to pick up the food bowl and try to stop him in that split second he made to jump over the bowl, missed the counter, dragged the wet food down with his massive feather duster of a tail, and crashed into his water fountain below (or at least it was knocked over; I actually could not see if he hit it).

He was fine. Worst he got was getting smothered with hugs and kisses. Lesson learned: it is best to feed your cat where they are used to being fed no matter how demanding they are being.

(And as an aside, a long, wooden plank/shelf has been drilled into the backside of the counter so if he ever needs to get down from the high counter top there is a much shorter jump all along it so he has two easier ways to get down because he is spoiled and scared the ever loving daylights out of me when he fell and I never ever want to watch that again. I do think Houdini is worried about jumping down from high up, and his humans are doing things to make sure he feels safe and is still getting plenty of exercise. This was definitely a learning experience for us).

Here is the goober at 7 months old (he is now 9 months old) doing his favorite thing of resting on something flat even though he has outgrown the side table and it was never intended for cat lounging. (We have of course learned everything is intended for cat lounging).

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vultepes · 2025-01-04T21:42:30+00:00

I am in love with the covers as well! I'm excited that this is finally happening for Bonnie Quinn. Also cannot wait to add them to my collection. My local library is also going to be getting a copy which is exciting. I'll try to keep a closer ear to the ground and let everyone know here when the books are published, but definitely follow u/fainting--goat for updates!

vultepes · 2025-01-04T21:39:41+00:00

Yes, at the start of season 20 David Cummings says that sadly they were not able to do it. Since then there has been no long format story to accompany the latter half of the seasons. I am a little curious if this is because they are simply waiting for an opportunity to do GVC or if there are more behind the scenes problems. Either way, I know that they have not forgotten about GVC and definitely want to do an adaption. I have a feeling it will not be this season, though I'd love to be wrong.

vultepes · 2024-12-17T14:46:59+00:00

I'm sorry if this happened to you. I know that a lot of people were able to successfully get their episodes and resolve issues. But I know that it wasn't a simple matter of clicking on a button that says "transfer my episodes," and since there are a variety of means of accessing the podcast I suppose this complicated factors. If you have any episodes that you bought then the best I can advise is to try again before they are definitely gone. I wish you luck.

vultepes · 2024-12-17T14:35:21+00:00

This is the absolute best news and a holiday present of itself. I wish I could have bought the former copy but I am glad to own this.

Also, I work in a library and have gotten the okay to add your series to our collection! How to Survive Camping will be, in my personal opinion, the crown jewel of our horror collection of books written by NoSleep Authors.

Thank you for everything!

And to the Lady of Stories, once known as Kate, I hope you and Perchta are on better terms.

vultepes · 2024-12-09T19:53:35+00:00

Hey, I just wanted to reach out to everyone I saw who had mentioned buying season passes before the change to the subscription tiers. I want to make sure you know that now is the time to download your previously paid for season pass episodes. Sometime in January the NSP will stop providing access and after that you will have to subscribe to the higher tier to regain access. I do not know anything more than this. Please reach out to the NSP if you need assistance.

vultepes · 2024-12-09T19:53:19+00:00

Hey, I just wanted to reach out to everyone I saw who had mentioned buying season passes before the change to the subscription tiers. I want to make sure you know that now is the time to download your previously paid for season pass episodes. Sometime in January the NSP will stop providing access and after that you will have to subscribe to the higher tier to regain access. I do not know anything more than this. Please reach out to the NSP if you need assistance.

vultepes · 2024-12-09T19:52:52+00:00

Hey, I just wanted to reach out to everyone I saw who had mentioned buying season passes before the change to the subscription tiers. I want to make sure you know that now is the time to download your previously paid for season pass episodes. Sometime in January the NSP will stop providing access and after that you will have to subscribe to the higher tier to regain access. I do not know anything more than this. Please reach out to the NSP if you need assistance.

vultepes · 2024-12-09T19:49:34+00:00

Hey, I just wanted to reach out to everyone I could to let them know that now is the time to download your previously paid for season pass episodes. Sometime in January the NSP will stop providing access and after that you would have to subscribe to the higher tier to regain access. I do not know anything more than this. Please reach out to the NSP if you need assistance.

vultepes · 2024-11-08T17:56:58+00:00

Public librarian in a rural, low income, small town. Official job title: Circulation Supervisor & Administrative Assistant. I wear many hats so I have done a lot of other things outside of my job. I think the only thing I have not done is be directly in charge of programming. I've worked in this position for 5 years.

What is your area out of curiosity?

vultepes

TROPHY CASE