Posts by Thomas Martinez

How far in advance should I book the desserts? 🤷 I know there was some discussion about this a few pages back, but I’m wondering—when you're ordering from a professional bakery rather than someone making them at home, what's the lead time? Also, is it safe to just budget for about 25 servings per person for the reception, assuming guests will take some treats home? My plan is to set up a single "sweet station" featuring a chocolate fountain and these pastries, so everything will be centered there... Just for context, we're expecting 120 guests at the wedding.

Charles Gomez4 said:Smith has gone MIA 😕

I sent him an email—he just gave me this short reply saying he's busy. I actually asked him about the summer of 2012, too. I've heard whispers from a few sources that his studio was shut down, though I'm honestly not sure if there's any truth to that.

Does anyone have any updates on Smith?? I was actually planning on booking him, but then I realized his website and Facebook page have both completely vanished?? Does anyone know what’s going on?

Does anyone happen to know how much Isaac Matic charges? I just saw some photos posted by a fellow member—honestly, they completely blew me away.

Anonymous said:It's crazy how animals treat their offspring. Like with hamsters, a mother might eat a sick pup just so it doesn't jeopardize the rest of the litter, or most mothers will just kick their young out of the nest the second they become independent.😁

Man, how old is this guy even? How is it possible that you can't take him to a psychiatric facility to get an official diagnosis? If it turns out he's truly incapable of looking after himself, it's only logical that he stays hospitalized. 🤷
I mean, hospitals shouldn't be allowed to just dump someone with a diagnosis like that back onto the streets. That seems pretty messed up to me...

He's 30. We actually tried to trick him into going to the ER once, but he caught on immediately when he saw the psychiatric ward sign; he started threatening everyone and refused to get out of the car. We went looking for hospital staff to help, but they told us they didn't have the authority to intervene outside the building—apparently, we need the police for that. So, we filed a report, and the cops even showed up once, but since his "mother" works at the local precinct and everyone knows her, she just politely sent them home, claiming it was all a misunderstanding and asking them not to come back and bother her.

We're just stuck—there's absolutely nothing we can do to get him in front of a specialist for an evaluation.

Anything at all!! My younger brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia by a general practitioner. It all started about 12 years ago when he completely shut himself away—refusing to leave his room, neglecting all hygiene, and just withdrawing from everyone. He basically spiraled for five years. Then, after those five years, the auditory hallucinations kicked in; he’d claim voices were answering him, or he'd spend hours staring at a wall talking to someone who wasn't there. His behavior shifted overnight—sudden fits of hysterical laughter, rage, and this unsettling look in his eyes. He started making strange facial expressions, making threats against the family, and developing these odd physical tics... chasing delusions that have zero connection to reality.

I should mention—he lives with our mother, who insists he’s perfectly fine and just ignores everything he's going through. She’s completely neglected him; she's entirely self-absorbed, mostly worried about how his condition reflects on her. Honestly, it's disgusting. She's too ashamed to admit her son is struggling because she doesn't want her coworkers at the office to know. For years, we've tried to convince her to help him. We've consulted doctors, but they all tell us the same thing—that she is the only one who can take action—but the issue is, she simply refuses to.

Has anyone else dealt with something like this? Is it actually true that our hands are tied? We can't just sit by and watch him fall apart. I truly believe she ruined his life—if she had just gotten him medical help sooner, he might have had a fighting chance.

To make matters even worse, about a year ago, she sold her house—which was falling apart, by the way—because she was drowning in debt. We bought the place from her and gave her $85,000, which she blew through in a single year, yet she wouldn't even buy her poor son a basic T-shirt. Last week, she was evicted from her rental because she ran out of money. She managed to secure herself a spot in corporate housing, leaving her own son out on the street. We had no idea until we stumbled upon him sleeping on a park bench. We were absolutely shell-shocked. We paid for a hostel for him for a week, but he got kicked out of there, too. We can't take him into our home—we're terrified, to be honest—since we have small children and we're scared of what he might do during one of his episodes.

We went to the police, but they just told us that the mother is the only one who can initiate anything.
God, what kind of law is that! PLEASE, I need more advice.

I actually posted this earlier under the Health—Urgent Treatment—Schizophrenia thread, but I noticed there’s way more discussion happening here and plenty of people sharing their experiences with this illness—so I’ll just copy-paste it.

Please, I am begging for advice, help, anything at all!! My younger brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia by his primary care physician. It all started about 12 years ago when he completely shut himself away at home—he wouldn't leave his room, stopped practicing basic hygiene, and refused to speak to anyone. He basically spiraled for five years. Then, after those five years, he started claiming he could hear voices—voices that would actually answer his questions—and he'd spend hours staring at walls, talking to them. His behavior shifted suddenly—hysterical laughter, outbursts of rage, this terrifying look in his eyes. He started making strange facial expressions, making threats about killing everyone, and developing these odd physical tics... chasing goals that have absolutely nothing to do with reality.

I have to mention that he lives with his mother, who insists he is perfectly fine and just ignores everything he's going through. She has completely neglected him—she only thinks about herself and how he makes her look. It is incredibly selfish! She's ashamed that her son is like this because she doesn't want her coworkers at her job to know she has a son suffering from schizophrenia. For all these years, we've been trying to convince her to help him. We went to see doctors, but everyone tells us the same thing—that she is the only one who can take action—but the problem is, she simply refuses to.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Is it truly possible that our hands are tied? We can't just sit by and watch him fall apart. I honestly feel like she ruined his life—if she had gotten him professional help sooner, maybe he could have pulled through.

To make matters even worse, about a year ago, she sold the house (which was falling apart anyway) because she was drowning in debt. We bought the place from her and gave her $85,000, which she blew through in a single year—not once did she buy a simple shirt for her poor son. Last week, she was evicted from her rental because she ran out of money to pay the rent. She managed to secure herself a spot in corporate housing, yet she left her own son out on the street to sleep. We had no idea—we just stumbled upon him sleeping on a park bench. We were absolutely shell-shocked. We paid for a hostel for him for a week, but they kicked him out. We can't take him into our home because we're scared—we have small children, and we're terrified he might hurt them during one of his episodes.

We went to the police, but they just tell us that since the mother is his guardian, she is the only one who can do something.
God, what kind of law is that! PLEASE, I am asking one more time for some advice.