Kyrgizion

After the deaths of Emperors Gordianus I and II, the Roman Senate had a major problem. It had not long before declared soldier emperor Maximinus I Thrax an enemy of the people, and this Maximinus meanwhile marched with his army to Rome. In an emergency session of the Senate, Pupienus and Balbinus were then elected emperors. The people, however, did not take this lightly, and became restless. By appointing the later Gordianus III as Caesar, worse was prevented.

Pupienus, the more militarily experienced of the two emperors went to Ravenna to build up an army and take on Maximinus. This went surprisingly well, as Pupienus was able to get many soldiers from Germania, and Maximinus' supplies ran out. Maximinus was then killed by his soldiers, who otherwise kept quiet after a commutation.

Pupienus returned to Rome, where Balbinus did not control the situation. However, peace returned somewhat with the arrival of Pupienus. However, the emperors among themselves did not trust each other one bit. Pupienus therefore wanted his Germanic troops with him. The Praetorian Guard did not like this and killed both emperors. Caesar Gordianus became emperor.

The reverse of this coin bears the inscription "Caritas mutua avgg" which means "mutual benevolence of the emperors", which couldn't be further from the truth; their loathing and distrust for each other directly led to their demise. The use of coins as propaganda vehicles was, by this time, a well-established tactic in administrating the empire.

She turns 15 this year but doesn't look a day over 2. Hoping to have many more healthy and enjoyable years with her, her sister and the other kitties.

She's 6+ but kitten-sized. The coldest days are her favorite, as you can see why.

Poor Terra has an inflamed toe she can't leave alone, so the vet fitted her with a collar for a few days. The bloodtest showed that she's reacting great to her hyperthyroidism-medicine, and the doc even commented on how her kidney, liver and bone marrow values were almost perfect, wich isn't all that common in 15 yr old senior kitties.

Hoping to have my lamp with me for many more years <3.

As stated in the title. I've worked in IT for over 15 years despite having no related degree.

I've been closing tickets nonstop at my current company for almost 10 years. After several restructurings and shuffling of higher posts, it has become clear to me that while this employer isn't the worst out there, I will never be internally promoted or have my job duties changed if I don't leave.

Worse, ever since Covid I've started falling out of love with IT and computers in general. I used to be stoked to learn about all the new developments in tech, nowadays, not so much - the only "innovation" I've seen in the last 10 years was companies trying to make absolutely everything a fucking subscription model. Now I honestly don't know nor care what's in the newest tech stack, how security has evolved,... I just want my shit to work and not having to worry about everything under the hood.

So getting another helpdesk- or related job seems out of the question for mental health reasons.

What would be another niche or industry where someone with an analytical mind and a greatly developed loathing for corporate mooching could find their spot in the coming two decades or so?

I've long since accepted that I'll never be able to climb any ladders anywhere since I never had the right contacts or stayed long enough, so it would likewise have to be something I could mentally and physically endure being in the bottom rungs of for the aforementioned duration.

Was the best moment of the day by far. Thanks for the li'l boost, fluffy princess!

EDIT; I can't reply to everyone individually but thanks for all the suggestions! Opiates are out of the question, doctors here will only prescribe those in terms of absolutely extreme suffering or end of life care. I also don't particularly feel interested in developing a hard drug habit. Diclofenac and such are available but also only on separate prescriptions, I'd have to visit another doctor for that. I'm well stocked on paracetamol & ibuprofen, and apart from that, lots of ice cream, pudding & soup :)

Also, since a fair few people seem to doubt the veracity of my story, here's the 22 extracted teeth (the other 10 were already gone in previous extractions).

It took ~5 minutes and there was ZERO pain.

I even anticipated this. There was no reason to think it would be hard in any kind of way.

Why am I like this?? Why is my brain such mush when it comes to my executive functioning while several other parts of my mental being are more than fine or even slightly supercharged (when I'm not depressed or out of mania)

The kicker? The appointment isn't for a doctor or a dentist or something else that would be "normal" to dread.

It's an appointment to pick up a brand new company car. A 2023 Mercedes EQA to the tune of 50K€. Most people would JUMP at that kind of opportunity, but not me. No, I sit there contemplating whether I even deserve a car that costs twice my annual salary, and that I'm just deluding myself into thinking I'm a valued part of society, that someone will realize they made a mistake and such a car was never meant for me (or "anyone like me").

This after a double dose of 15mg ritalin, by the way. Without it I would never have been able to push myself over that limit to begin with.

Fuckin' a...

Roman coinage from the punic wars is interesting, but quite a bit rarer is coinage from Carthage before it was razed. They minted quite exquisite coins in gold, silver and copper. Below is an example of such a copper coin!

30mm, 17.4g Obverse: Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring.

Reverse: Horse standing right, palm tree in background to left, ligate Punic T and S below.

MAA 84b, Muller Africa, 154 - SNG Copenhagen 341-3 VF

AI inflicted this upon my retina, so you shall suffer the same fate.

Obv: L AELIVS CAESAR. Bare head right.

Rev: TR POT COS II / CONCORD. Concordia seated left on throne, holding patera and resting elbow upon cornucopia.

RIC 436 (Hadrian).

Weight: 3.23 g. Diameter: 18 mm.

Lucius Aelius Caesar (13 January 101 – 1 January 138) was the father of Emperor Lucius Verus. In 136, he was adopted by the reigning emperor Hadrian and named heir to the throne. He died before Hadrian and thus never became emperor. After Lucius' death, he was replaced by Antoninus Pius, who succeeded Hadrian the same year.