Infuriating that you had that house sniped by someone you should’ve trusted, but if the agency was jerking you around like that, it was probably for the better. House hunting is a frustrating experience even in a good market, so expect more shit like this to happen. I would contact the agency and inform them that you’ll be taking your business elsewhere and why, and leave it at that. Speak with a manager or owner if you can.

Sure, but also having non-instanced housing heavily favors those with more time and/or money. I played Arche Age during its initial launch, but I had to work during the time they released housing plots. By the time I was able to log on, the only available plots were out in the middle of nowhere, which sucked with the limited fast travel options. You also have FFXIV with its instanced housing districts, where on many servers, good luck trying to get a plot. Sure, you could join a FC who has a house and claim a room, but that’s pretty lame compared to being able to design the whole house + surrounding yard.

Because helping others around you and “doing good” helps build community, which you are a part of.

If you want to look at it from a selfish perspective, doing good and helping others builds goodwill towards yourself, and sooner or later, you may need to rely on others doing good for you. It’s much easier to get help if others think highly of you.

As far as being manipulated, you probably shouldn’t just blindly help people who request it. Keep your eyes open and your guard up when dealing with people you don’t know or trust.

It’s an… experience, having a cold jet of water spray your nether regions, and also a hell of a way to wake up in the morning. Having a clean butt after you do your business is worth it, though. I know they make them with warm water hookups, but mine isn’t that fancy.

I bought some clippers and no-guard clipped my hair for a couple years during covid. It was so much nicer to have one less thing to deal with. When I started to grow my hair out again, I noticed it was thinning quite a bit, so now I have to grow it out a few inches on top to hide that. If my hair gets too thin at some point, I’ll have no problem going back to the clippers.

Not sure I would call it a weapon, but I carry pepper spray when I take my dog on walks. It’s mainly in case any other dogs decide to mess with us, but it’s something.