Update to this story. I returned to the scene of the fire, and found the property was occupied by a VERY old man who is not in good shape at his best. He indicated that he is "Indian" of Central American origin. Conversation was very difficult, as he'd ramble off-topic and not remember or describe events in a linear and coherent manner. Anyway, the best I can put together what happened from what all he said to me:

There was a litter of 10 puppies, of which 6 survived to weaning age

Something about making coffee, and a "butane" cylinder with a bad connection.

He has no phone, and is in no shape to have alerted the nearest neighbors in a timely manner 1/2 mile and more away. He referred to the neighbors as "Christians" though in a tone suggesting their history with him was neither loving nor charitable.

His beloved dog he had a long time, probably the Mama dog, who would wait for him on his bed; apparently perished

I spotted one puppy obviously from the same litter. It had burned paws and burns elsewhere including his head, but he was moving around actively and looks like he'll recover fine.

The car was a completely burned out husk with shards of windshield glass on top of everything inside.

Kneeling down, the car was much lower with all the tires flat, and I could see the fur of the puppy I couldn't pull out, way underneath. I might take a jack over there to try to get it out for a proper burial.

It wasn't clear that it registered fully with him that I was there during the fire, and that I had saved two of the puppies. I'm going to bring one so he can see it still alive. A neighbor has committed to adopt one already.

At night there was fire EVERYWHERE, making it seem like the property was much bigger. By the light of day, there was surprisingly little to see, not even piles of ashes to match all the burning shit around that night.

The poor old chap can barely take care of himself it seems. At least he has the one puppy as a companion, but I don't see him as capable of caring for more pets so giving the one back really isn't under consideration.

As my beloved Granddad said numerous times during his last years, "Getting old sucks!"

@Typo-MAGAshiv

that would not have been spontaneous combustion

Actually, yes it would, as opposed to combustion initiated by contact with the flames themselves. The technical term would be flashover, which incidentally sets up the conditions for a backdraft by superheating combustibles well above ignition temperature so a sudden increase in available oxygen causes a runaway burning event.

Flashover was poorly understood in fire science even 25 years ago. I remember reading an in depth article about the phenomenon getting recognized and slowly propagated from fire labs to arson investigators. It talked about people languishing in jail insisting on their innocence, but charged with arson and manslaughter because investigators assumed the evidence showed multiple origin points and considered this prima facie evidence of deliberate setting. It finally got recognized that the radiant and air heat within a confined space could result in the fire "jumping" to flash ignite objects, leaving unburned materials between the original fire and these. Imagine losing your family and property to a tragic fire, then getting accused of and jailed for starting it?

@SeasonedRP I already have an optimal number of ranch dogs thus had no plans to keep them permanently; good news, one of my neighbors is already committed to adopting one.

I've tried to get my three dogs to interact with the puppies to help socialize them, but the inter-dog dynamics have made this challenging and attention-intensive.

I have my main dog Radar, so named because he was a stray rescued from the grounds of a major airport. Then there are Duke (Huge Dane) and Mama (spazzy German Shepherd), who I took in after they got abandoned by a pot farming operation that got burgled and cleaned out. Mama had newborn puppies at the time, which i rehomed once they were old enough; Mama and Duke have long since gotten spayed/neutered

Duke actually recognizes the significantly smaller Radar as "top dog" on the ranch in my eyes; Radar however is insecure about his position and always gets into growling matches toward Duke who puts up with his shit with a surprising amount of forbearance. It's uncannily like the dynamics between guys in a bar.

Radar hasn't been particularly welcoming toward the puppies, growling at them. Duke has taken a protective role toward them, so he gets between Radar and the puppies with both of them growling at each other which intimidates the puppies who are trying to interact. Mama makes playful gestures toward the puppies, which scares them into retreat, and brings Duke over to check her; this prevents play from developing further.

It's taken a lot of work to de-escalate the tensions between the two males; Duke is picking up on the message that the puppies don't need such intensive guarding faster than Radar is getting that the puppies are welcome guests on "His" territory.

Using Applied Social Dynamics on a group of canines wasn't on my 2025 bingo card, but here I am.

@Theotonic_knight

Girl enthusiastic on date, very slow on text

Hi all,

I've (27) met a girl (22) a week ago at the pool. Approached there and talked for 1-2 hours. Went on a date few days ago in a bar. It was solid - strong eye contact, she began escalating on me getting touchy, getting close to me and signaling for a kiss. She took a selfie with me. After the bar she put her hand around mine while walking. Drove her back to her place and we hugged for prolly 15 mins before she got out. I decided not to eacalate (was it a mistake?) as there was no possibility for sex (she had a roommate). Got a text if I got back home. So on paper, everything is good. She was slow on text (3-5 hrs) before the date, however, she continued like that aftewards. 3 days later I propose we meet to which she says she can't that day and that we should meet later that week. To which I respond "alright" and left it that way. Got needy tonight asking that she didn't mentioned which day she's free. No response yet. Still going out with other girls, however this really bothes me. What's your take with these slow responses, does she play games or goes out with multiple people?

While it's good to read that you're interested in this girl, your lack of communication discipline will be a problem going forward.

Consider investing into a reliable ready reference you can pick up and study to better prepare yourself for engaging the opposite sex. I'd suggest that you get yourself a copy of Doc Love's "The System: The Dating Dictionary". Doc Love, who until his passing was also known as Tom Hodges, wrote a weekly advice column that's archive is mirrored on several mens focused sites and a podcast. His media is a bit pricey, but it's a solid foundation a guy can branch out from in RP aware circles. I'd suggest you review his advice column to decide if his view on dating and relationships is aligned with what you aspire for yourself. To save yourself a search, give this scribed link a gander to find out if his book is something you'd like to add to your library. It should also be available on libgen.

Last night there was a homestead nearby that went up in flames around 11pm. I rushed over with a shovel to see if I could help. Found nobody present, but EVERYTHING there was ablaze in what was clearly arson; fire would not have started naturally and spread like this.

I heard dogs yelping so I approached a car with flames all along the driver's side exterior with what looked like cages. Way too much radiant heat to approach so I went around to the passenger side, and looked around the front to find the cages were burned out. I could still hear dogs crying sounded like from inside; passenger door was locked so I broke the window. With fresh oxygen the whole interior was suddenly completely aflame. Dogs still yelping so I dropped to my knees to see three puppies underneath. The cubes of glass I had just broken were burning me as I knelt and I struggled to reach and pull out the puppies. Got two dragged out with difficulty, there was a third who was stuck like the deflating tires brought the car down on him. Flames were now pouring out of the window above my head, and the intense radiant heat felt like it was going to spontaneously combust my hair.
I gathered up the two puppies and my shovel awkwardly and made my way back to my car through desert scrub. I could hear more than one dog making crying noises I never want to hear again. Fire engines were finally approaching with difficulty over the small unmarked dirt roads.

Long story short, now I'm fostering two very sweet puppies who are in remarkable condition for what they went through. I have small burns and wounds on all 4 extremities but it was worth it to save them. They had eaten a full meal just hours before; I know this because they puked copious amounts of colorful kibble in my back seat on the way home.

This must have been some kind of revenge or nasty breakup scenario; I don't know who would torch someone's entire homestead, pets and all like that for petty reasons.

@Saltycroc

It's easier for me to approach men than women.

I've always been fairly confident and have always spoke to pretty much everyone around me. Im popular at my gym and talk to pretty much anyone. I have no problem going up to guys and making friends with them easily.

For some reason, it's way way harder for me to approach women with the same energy. My brain and social skills kind of just turn off when it's a girl.

This is so weird because I have absolutely no problem going up to random guys and starting a convosation.

Ive started cold approaching, which has made me realise I have this problem.

How do I fix this/get out of this weird mindset that I have.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwiAkUj5Go

By considering that there's absolutely nothing wrong in realizing that the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Interacting with other males, either online or in-person, will usually lead to more benign outcomes with no stress. You ask a few questions, you get a few replies, maybe a suggestion of a book to read and you continue on with your life.

However, with modern females this isn't possible as most are educated to see males as enemies at worst and competition at best. Whether that's good or bad, you'll have to decide for yourself.

@Kragzen

What did I do wrong?

I recently went on a date with a woman who was slightly older(36) than me(33). She worked as manager in a tech company(I am in defense and make more money than her but her salary was fairly close). Anyway for the date we went on a walk in a park, I wasn't feeling terribly connected but I decided to talk about kink(BDSM) stuff which she was receptive to. I ended up making out with her and fingering her off the trail(multiple times). We didnt have sex but in retrospect I am pretty certain she would of had I gone for it.

Anyway at the end of date she says she doesn't know if she wants to date me or not but she would let me know in a couple days, the next day she messages me and says she wasn't interested. The chick was kind of walking red flag in the context of LTR material(said she was single because no men measured up, dysfunctional relationship with her father, called herself sexually conservative but went to BDSM clubs).

I'm not so much bothered that relationship didnt work out(she was hot but starting to show her age and for a LTR I think I would want a younger girl) but I don't understand why she decided she never wanted to see me again. This isnt the first time I have seen extreme mood swings from women I did sex stuff with on the first date but in her case I don't understand what turned her off to going out again. The whole thing was pretty odd.

Consider investing into a reliable ready reference you can pick up and study to better prepare yourself for engaging the opposite sex. I'd suggest that you get yourself a copy of Doc Love's "The System: The Dating Dictionary". Doc Love, who until his passing was also known as Tom Hodges, wrote a weekly advice column that's archive is mirrored on several mens focused sites and a podcast. His media is a bit pricey, but it's a solid foundation a guy can branch out from in RP aware circles. I'd suggest you review his advice column to decide if his view on dating and relationships is aligned with what you aspire for yourself. To save yourself a search, give this scribed link a gander to find out if his book is something you'd like to add to your library. It should also be available on libgen.

Maneuver Warfare Handbook (Westview Special Studies in Military Affairs)

Maneuver warfare, often controversial and requiring operational and tactical innovation, poses perhaps the most important doctrinal questions currently facing the conventional military forces of the U.S. Its purpose is to defeat the enemy by disrupting the opponent’s ability to react, rather than by physical destruction of forces. This book develops and explains the theory of maneuver warfare and offers specific tactical, operational, and organizational recommendations for improving ground combat forces. The authors translate concepts—too often vaguely stated by maneuver warfare advocates—into concrete doctrine. Although the book uses the Marine Corps as a model, the concepts, tactics, and doctrine discussed apply to any ground combat force.

You can also find mention of this book on Youtube, as well as on other websites.

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