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Hi everyone!
I wanted to give a detailed review of my experience with sm global package for taemin’s metamorph concert in tokyo at the nippon budokan. I am months delayed in posting this (thanks to grad school) but I initially wrote it out of post-concert depression prior to returning to the states back in March.
buying the global package, twin ver:
the package was announced sometime in december 2023 if im not mistaken and I stayed up until midnight (pst) on 1/22 to book a twin package for ‘course c’ which was 2N3D (sunday concert 3/10) for my friend and I. The packages that included all three nights (5D3N) of the show sold out the quickest, but there were still packages available for individual show days. As a tip to make things easier, make sure to have your friends’ passport info to input in advance so the booking goes easier if you are booking a twin package. If you are the one making the booking, make sure to have the global package app downloaded as they will send you notifications along the way about day of show schedule, merch preorder, etc. They ask that you relay this info to your partner when you purchase a twin package, as you are the primary reservation holder. You also cannot split the cost while booking, it must go on one card through paypal. When booking, you have the option to request extending your stay at the hotel through sm c&c, but since we were planning to go to Kyoto after the concert, we just checked out the day after the concert as planned. Also we didn’t have any ACE memberships, but if I remember correctly, you can enter that info to get an exclusive MD benefit.
merch preorder:
Prior to arriving in Japan, we got a notification at around 6pm pst on 2/28 (11 days prior to the show) with our exclusive merch preorder links which went live at midnight that same night. The prices were in yen and you pay using paypal. I had no problem getting the MD I wanted, however since there were limits on the amount of MD you could purchase (including the 2 different pins, which were 1 per order) I had to ask my friend if I could purchase an additional pin through his MD preorder link since there were 2 different pins in this specific concert MD. The day of the show (3/10) at around 10am, we picked up the MD we preordered with ease and pulled our concert seat tickets and received our global package exclusive gift (a mag safe wallet) and let the staff know which transports we would be taking (round trip bus or one way to/from the venue). I was a ljttle disappointed in the global package benefit MD as I had seen what the metamorph show in Korea had received (I think it was a handwritten letter from Taemin and a little lego figurine of him 🤧). Everything was smooth and efficient. Even after the concert, I was able to get into the MD line to purchase more, even though most of the MD was sold out.
checking in/out of the hotel & hotel review:
We stayed at the Hotel Monterey Hanzomon which was really close to the venue and across the street from the Hanzomon subway line, so it was very accessible by public transit. My friend and I both flew into Haneda and it took a little less than an hour to get to the hotel from the airport via public transit, but after a 12.5 hour long flight it was exhausting. When I asked the people at the airport if there was an airport limousine to the area, they said it wouldn’t take me close enough to the hotel and recommended I take the subway. We had met a few people in line for the MD pickup who said that we (allegedly) had a nicer hotel than those who did the NCT 127 global package for their Tokyo dome show (same weekend) but all in all, Hanzomon was an economy hotel with nothing to write home about. I will say the breakfast buffet included was really nice and I’m glad we didn’t skip out on it. When we checked in the day before the show, we just showed our passports and checked in like any other hotel. In the lobby there was a whiteboard with all of the concert info (opening times for md pickup, bus schedules, and concert schedule) displayed in english, korean, chinese, and japanese. I was a little bummed to find out that the concert (which took place in the middle of the afternoon) was only going to be an hour and a half maximum, even though NCT’s concert was almost 4 hours (!!!) in length.
day of show:
We had breakfast in the lobby around 8:30/9ish then after that we got to the sm desk at 9:45am to pick up our md and pick our tickets for the show (thanks to the tip from another fan on reddit, well worth getting there a little before the booth opened). I did notice the ACE membership MD benefits were nice, but neither me nor my friend have any fanclub memberships. It was relatively straightforward, they checked our passports and handed us a lanyard that acted as our bus pass and then one person per twin package picks the pair of tickets at random (in sets of 2 so you sit with your friend) and we got seats in section A3 (floor) which were great. They asked us if we wanted a seat on the bus ride round trip or one way and we originally said only one ride to the venue, but my friend decided to take the bus back too once we got to the venue so we notified the SM staff and they added us to the roster for the ride back easily. When we got to the venue (an hour and a half-ish before doors) they escorted us to the front and we were let in immediately. The efficiency was incredible. They didn’t check my bag prior to entering like how they would for a concert in the US so I didn’t bring a water bottle into the venue but thankfully they had vending machines inside and concessions on the top levels of the venue. We also went to a booth upstairs to pair our lightsticks for the show, since the Japanese Shinee Lightstick app is only available for Japanese phones, so we showed our ticket locations and they were able to calibrate. The show was short yet sweet, we did not see anyone ejected for taking photos/videos but we were too scared to risk it. If you are caught filming or taking photos they will make you delete the photos/videos and kick you out with no sign of return, but I think because it was the last day and we were in the middle of a crowd, it was a little easier to get away with. There was a sadness in the air because it was Taemin’s last concert as a soloist under SM, but overall the show was incredible. One thing of note though is Japanese audiences are very quiet, they tend to clap rather than scream in between songs and there were times where you could hear someone from the rafters sneeze and it would resonate, so be prepared for that cultural difference. We still screamed when it felt appropriate to do so and the fanchants were loud but it was definitely strange to be golf clapping in between songs, especially in comparison to shows in the US where fans are barking 💀. It was nice to be able to hear Taemin speak uninterrupted during the ments, without pick-me fans interjecting their screams. He spoke exclusively in Japanese and there was no translator so we were left to guess what he was saying. A K-fan next to us was live Papago-ing his ments to Korean and I would peek and read what the translation was. Also shout out to this lovely K-shawol because she let my friend borrow one of her lightsticks! Once the show ended, everyone queued up to leave the venue in an orderly fashion and we cleaned up any trash we saw and we went out to the MD booth to buy any last minute MDs before going to the bus. On the bus, they gave us each a (unthemed) bag with some strawberry cookies and a waterbottle and we had a fun time air-dropping photos and videos from the show with other (braver) global package attendees. Everyone we met was so lovely and everything about the global package went very smoothly and efficiently.
edit: I forgot to mention that Japanese fans who had floor seats (most likely ACE club membership) received some sort of paper goods (postcard, photocard, folder etc.) upon entering the venue, a benefit that global package members did not receive. I only saw it because I went upstairs to the main entrance to sync my lightstick. I was too afraid to ask about the benefits, but I think it also might have had to do with which company you bought your ticket from (?) or where you preordered the album from (?)
closing thoughts:
the day after the show, we took advantage of the free breakfast and checked out with ease. The SM C&C staff left the whiteboard in the lobby and left a nice note for us and we wrote our thank yous on there. Overall, the package cost was $1559 for 2 people ($779 ea, 2 twin beds for 2N3D) and even though it was pricey it was so worth the convenience of not having to try to buy tickets locally, which I heard sold out entirely during fan club presale. Please note that this cost did not include airfare or transit to/from the airport. The concert coincided with my spring break and Taemin is one of my ults, I just wrote a paper on him for grad school so it was a no brainer, I had to be there no matter what lol. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of theming (I heard the concerts in Korea come with themed rooms, themed snacks, etc) and the lack of transportation to and from the airport (which I heard is sometimes an option for shows in Korea and would have been a great benefit). But otherwise the hotel was clean and convenient (a little small, but that’s how it is normally in an economy hotel in Japan), breakfast was good, SM staff were helpful and nice, and we made some new Shawol friends in the meantime :)
overall, I would absolutely book with global package again, but I would definitely want to see a show in Korea to compare the benefits. It was an unforgettable experience to be apart of the pearl aqua ocean 💎
if you have any questions ask away! prior to booking this package, I took the advice of another fan under a different thread, and it was really helpful so I wanted to offer any insight based off my experience.

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My name is Justin Brooke and I got started in 2005.
I didn’t make my first 6 figures until 2007 though, when I interned for an Internet millionaire named Russell Brunson.
In 2015 I launched a course called Media Buying Masters.
It made $48,000 in one weekend.
I built the sales page for this course using Unbounce because…

1. Drag and drop interface
2. Built-in split testing
3. Dynamic keyword insertion

2016 - 2022 I published over 30 more courses and created a whole online school.
We had a certification program, matchmaker program, and the biggest experts published on our platform.
It was like Masterclass or Skillshare, but for online ads.
It made millions.
In 2022 I sold AdSkills, and started another company.
Happily Unemployed.
Having already made my millions, now I teach others how to do it too - for just $79/yr.
The most important advice I can give you…
The thing that made 85% of the $4.8 million that AdSkills generated…
BUILD. YOUR. EMAIL. LIST!
Same thing Brunson taught me almost 20yrs ago.
I use and highly recommend ConvertKit for all your email list building needs.
ConvertKit helps you…

• Build free & paid newsletters
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You can build automations that send educational and sales emails while you sleep.
This is the key.
Automations = passive income
Finally, you need a product…
For almost 20yrs I have sold courses and coaching.
No inventory to manage No shipping cost No manufacturing fee
You do the work once, and you get paid over and over again without any extra cost or time to deliver to each new customer.
For my course delivery I use Circle because…

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If you want to sell one off courses, workshops, cohort courses, or summits Circle does it all.
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It’s a pretty good setup, but while I am loyal to them…
The reality is the paintbrush doesn’t make the artist. Pick the tools you’ll actually love using.
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Source

Hi everyone, I’m a first year teacher and started off earning $65,000, just finishing my first year. I earn about $4,200 monthly for 11 months out of the year (no pay in July).
Our union got us a pay increase and I will be earning $69,000 my second year. Then, once I clear my credential after two years of induction I’ll bump up on the pay scale and begin earning $79,000 my third year.
After emailing HR, I was told I could start off my third year earning $92,000 with a masters degree. So, I signed up for a fast paced masters program that is set to begin in July 2024 and end in July 2025.
Here’s my dilemma. I’m 24 years old and I’ve been very financially irresponsible my whole life because I honestly did not know any better. I’ve been listening to Dave for the past month and downloaded the EveryDollar app. After all my expenses living in California (rent, car payment, car insurance, phone, gas, electricity, groceries, household items, gym membership, etc) I have an extra $800 left over.
I currently have debt of $1040 on one credit card (27.99% interest), and $4,014 (28.99% interest) on another credit card. I have a car loan with $11,000 left on it on a Toyota Corolla (Originally $28,000 with 2.9% interest). The payment is $420 a month.
I know it might seem stupid to get myself into more debt after already being in debt, but I decided to finally get my shit together and getting that masters will significantly increase my pay. Every year I hold it off is basically losing money.
I’m now tutoring after school which will bring in $250 extra a month. I also tried door dashing and I don’t really get many orders but my goal is at least $100 per month with that. I’m going to start uploading my worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers but I can’t count on that for income yet.
In total I should have about $1150 extra a month to start putting toward that debt, possibly even more with the pay increase for next year. I currently have my emergency fund at $600 and I will put $400 in at the end of this month after getting my paycheck. Then Baby Step 1 will be done. I plan to pay off the $1040 credit card by August. The second credit card by NovembeDecember. Then I will start tackling the student loan.
Here’s where I am having issues determining what to do. The masters will cost $13,000 and that’s already a with a 30% discount my district is offering. This loan will start accruing interest as soon as I receive it at 7% and it’s a federal loan. I don’t have to pay until 6 months after I graduate but as I mentioned it begins accruing interest upon receiving it, so I want to pay it off ASAP. However, I won’t be able to start tackling it until December 2024 after I pay off those cards. I know everything will be okay now that I started budgeting, but I guess I feel I could be doing better. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of this debt faster?
Some Background:
I’m not married, but will be eloping in June (can’t afford a big wedding). While my fiancé does not have any debt, he only has about $1000 in savings also. We are long distance, he’s in Belgium and I am in the US. I don’t think we will be able to combine finances yet because of the different currency. He will be paying for the costs of his green card and I am not sure when we will be able to live together, depending on the process. Once he comes to live with me, I think we will be able to work on baby steps 3 and above together as he will be taking a job in IT.

Hi - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of the week's top stories, which I cover in depth with sources in the full edition. Let's dive in...
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STAT OF THE WEEK: Kohl's sales have shrunk by $2.3B since 2019. During that same period of time, the company lost 1.3M customers who no longer shop with the retailer.
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BigCommerce is exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest, according to sources who chose to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the information. The sources said that BigCommerce asked investment bank Qatalyst Partners to solicit interest from potential buyers that include private equity firms, but that the discussions are at an early stage and no deal is certain.
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Squarespace announced that it will be going private in a $6.9B all-cash deal with private-equity firm Permira, who agreed to pay $44 per share (a roughly 30% premium). Although Squarespace never lost 90% of its share price like BigCommerce, it has experienced a tumultuous time on the market since its IPO in May 2021 — opening around $49.50 and at times trading in the low $20s. Shares rose nearly 13% to $43 in pre-market trading upon release of the news.
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ByteDance filed a lawsuit in US federal court seeking to block the new law that would force the sale or ban of the app within the country. The lawsuit challenges the law on constitutional grounds, also citing commercial, technical, and legal hurdles, as well as opposition from Beijing. Legal experts say the legal battle will play out in the courts in coming months and likely will reach the Supreme Court.
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OpenAI unveiled its newest model, GPT-4o, designed to turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time, spoken conversations and interact with users using text, screenshots, photos, documents, and charts. The new version of ChatGPT also has memory capabilities, which means it can learn from previous conversations. It will be available to both unpaid and premium customers alike. OpenAI also announced that it would be launching a desktop app with the GPT-4o capabilities, giving users another platform to interact with the technology outside of a web browser.
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Amazon launched in South Africa last week, marking its first marketplace in sub-Saharan Africa, and bringing its total number of marketplaces worldwide to 22. To launch the new marketplace, Amazon is offering free delivery on first orders and on subsequent orders above R500 (about $27), access to 3,000 pick-up points, status updates via WhatsApp to track orders, 30 day refunds, and 24/7 customer support. The marketplace was supposed to launch in the country in 2023, but got delayed due to changes in priorities within Amazon.
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In an unlikely partnership, Instacart is partnering with Uber Eats to expand into the restaurant delivery business. Instacart will add a new tab for restaurant delivery to its app in the coming weeks, the listings will be provided by Uber, and the food will be picked up and delivered by Uber Eats drivers. Customers will receive the same prices on both apps and Instacart will receive an affiliate commission on orders. It's a strange partnership though given that Instacart and Uber Eats actively compete on grocery delivery. Are they planning to merge? Uber says no.
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Apple's advertisement for its latest iPad Pro sparked criticism for showing an animation of musical instruments, paint cans, cameras, record players, and other symbols of creativity being crushed by a giant machine, with the output being the new iPad Pro, which the company says is the thinnest Apple product ever. In this context, “crushing” was supposed to symbolize “consolidating” and “compacting” — with the visuals meant to showcase how the new iPad Pro puts the power of all these tools into the hands of creators in one thin device. However online commenters criticized the ad as insensitive and as symbolizing a “destruction of the human experience.” The ad hit the web on Tuesday, and by Thursday, Apple issued a mea culpa and apologized for the campaign.
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Google is encouraging merchants to enable conversion annotations on their Google Shopping ads, which offer social proof that highlight a product's popularity. Conversion annotations like “best selling” or “3K shopped here recently” would provide visual cues about a product’s popularity or sales performance directly in the ad unit. Annotations like these are par for the course with e-commerce retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and Temu, which all employ similar tactics. They can provide valuable info for shoppers and also help with conversions. However they also open data privacy concerns, given that Google is not the actual retailer or marketplace selling the items, so a merchant would have to share this purchase history data from their e-commerce platform with Google — which technically most already do by giving access to GA4.
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Shein is attempting to join the National Retail Federation as it pursues regulatory approval to go public in the US. The company believes that NRF membership would boost its chances of receiving SEC approval. However so far, Shein has been rejected numerous times. An anonymous source familiar with the matter said someone with heavy influence at the NRF is strongly against the Shein's admittance. However board members who spoke to CNBC said that Shein's membership application hadn't come up in meetings, and that they aren't involved in deciding which companies are granted access.
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Amazon is leading the way with selling home goods, capturing 18.8% of consumer home furnishings spending, compared to Walmart's 7.3% market share. Notably, Amazon’s gains in the furniture category come in spite of the company’s decision to phase out two of its three furniture brands last year.
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Stanley, which is projected to do $750M in sales this year, up from $73M in 2019, after seeing its water bottles become a status symbol thanks to TikTok, is now expanding into trendier accessories. The company is launching a line of bags called the All-Day Collection which include a mini cooler, backpack cooler, and Quencher Carry-All, designed for someone to sling their Stanley over their hip.
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Jack Dorsey left the Bluesky board and deleted his account on the service he helped kickstart, claiming that Bluesky was “literally repeating all the mistakes” he made while running Twitter. Dorsey says he never intended Bluesky to be an independent company, but rather, an open source protocol that Twitter was supposed to be the first client of. He also confirmed that he is financially backing Nostr, another decentralized Twitter-like service popular among crypto enthusiasts and run by an anonymous founder.
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Amazon is deploying 50 electric trucks in California, which it claims is the largest EV fleet in the country, as part of its mission to eliminate pollution from its global operations. The trucks will be integrated into first-mile operations, moving goods from container ships at the ports to fulfillment centers, as well as middle-mile operations, transporting packages from fulfillment centers to delivery centers.
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Wix launched a new tool called AI Portfolio Creator, which allows a user to upload and organize large-scale image collections, select the type of portfolio they want, and then have the AI tool sort and generate a portfolio with clustered images, recommended titles and descriptions, and personalized layout options.
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Amazon is now requiring all dietary supplements to be verified by a third-party testing, inspection, and certification organization — which is something that not even the FDA requires. Amazon is the largest supplement retailer in the US ahead of Walmart and Target, and its new requirements are expected to put more pressure on the industry, which is being scrutinized more than ever.
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Alibaba is revamping its flagship retail website Taobao for the first time in seven years with a focus on providing a smoother search and buying process. The website overhaul comes ahead of the 618 sales event, China's second-largest annual shopping event. A few weeks ago I reported that Eddie Wu, the CEO of Alibaba Group, would now be directly overseeing its domestic e-commerce arm which includes Taobao and Tmall Group, and it sounds like he's hitting the ground running with his new responsibilities.
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Amazon is hosting its first-ever Amazon Book Sale, a new shopping event starting on May 15th that offers up to 50% off print best sellers and up to 80% off Kindle Books. The six day shopping event will exclusively run in the US, and Prime-membership is not required to take advantage of the deals.
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FTX reported that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded. The company owes about $11.2B to its customers and estimates that it has between $14.5B and $16.3B to distribute to them. The caveat is that customers will receive the USD value of their holdings at the time of the exchange collapse, and not the actual crypto holdings themselves, which means that they'll miss out on all gains during the past two years during which BTC went from around $16k to now over $60k. Better than nothing though, that's for sure.
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800,000 consumers in Europe and the US were duped into sharing card details and other sensitive personal data with a network of fake online designer shops operated from China, which comprised one of the largest scams of its kind with 76,000 fake websites created. The scammers used expired domains to host its fake shops in order to help avoid detection by websites or brand owners, and more than 1M orders were processed in the past three years alone.
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Beyond Inc, which owns Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, and Zulily, reported that its Q1 net loss swelled to $72M from $10M a year ago, while its operating loss widened to $58M from $8M. The company's active customers grew to 6M, up 26% from nearly 5M a year ago, however, its average order value dropped to $173 from $220 a year earlier.
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TikTok will begin automatically labeling AI generated content when it is uploaded from certain platforms like DALL.E 3, Adobe Firefly, Photoshop, and Microsoft Copilot. TikTok will also start attaching Content Credentials to content, which will remain on the media when downloaded, allowing other platforms to read the metadata.
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eBay is testing an Add To Cart button in search results that opens a Quick View window, allowing buyers to skip the listing page. Technically the button should probably not be labeled “Add To Cart” since it doesn't perform that action, but rather, displays a quick view window with three buttons: Buy It Now, Add To Cart, View All Details. Sellers are worried that buyers will miss crucial details in the product description that may lead to increased returns and negative feedback.
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Amazon is planning to launch its fleet of drones in Tolleson, Arizona, but the city's extreme temperature is hampering its efforts. Drones can't operate in temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that Tolleson crosses for a full three months of the year.
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A US district judge dismissed X's lawsuit against Bright Data, a data-scraping company accused of improperly accessing X system and violating X terms and state laws when scraping and selling data. The judge basically said that if X owned the data, it could perhaps argue that it has exclusive rights to control it, but then X wouldn't be able to enjoy the safe harbor of Section 230, which allows the platform to avoid liability for third-party content. Can't have it both ways!
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Nintendo is discontinuing its X integration for the switch on June 10th, which means users will no longer be able to post screenshots or videos to the platform from their device. The drop in support also affects games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which had game-specific options to send out tweets. Microsoft Xbox dropped support for X in April 2023 and Sony Playstation dropped the service in October 2023 due to the increase in X's API access fees.
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Amazon claimed that its recordable incident rate — a metric that comprises all injuries requiring “more than basic first-aid treatment” — at its US warehouses has improved by 24% since 2019. However the National Employment Law Project challenged Amazon's injury data in a report last week, claiming that Amazon's overall injury rate in 2023 was 71% higher than that of other employers in the sector at 6.5 cases per 100 workers.
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Amazon Ads announced three new advertising formats for streaming TV including shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads, and interactive trivia ads. Amazon did not say when the new ad types would officially launch, but noted that it will formally present them at a presentation on May 14th.
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Meta is rolling out an expanded set of generative AI ad tools that can create full image variations with text overlays, expand images to fit across different aspect ratios, and generate alternate versions of headlines and other ad text. The features will become available globally to advertisers by the end of the year.
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Square introduced a tool called Square Kiosk to allow self-service ordering at fast food restaurants. The device is a combined software, hardware, and payment solution that allows customers to select exactly what they want with customization options, upgrades, and add-ons.
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The European Parliament announced new measures to make packaging more sustainable and reduce packaging waste in the EU, including reduction targets of 15% by 2040 — which sounds far away but is only 16 years away?! As part of the new rules, the EU will set maximum empty space ratios for e-commerce transportation, ban certain single-use plastic packaging types, and beverage distributors and take-away food will have to offer consumers the option of bringing their own container.
___
Indians who pre-ordered Teslas in 2016 are giving up and seeking refunds of their deposits after Elon Musk canceled another visit to the country last month. Disillusioned Tesla enthusiasts in India say they will now buy a car from the company only if they see it in a showroom, or they'll buy a different electrical vehicle from a company that actually exists in the country.
___
Target is limiting its Pride Month collection to select stores this year instead of rolling out the merchandise nationwide like it typically has for the past decade, due to backlash the retailer experienced last year. Last May customers in certain stores knocked down LGBTQ+ merchandise displays, angrily approached store employees, and posted threatening videos on social media from inside the stores.
___
E-commerce spending from Jan 1 to April 30, 2024 rose 7% YoY to $331.6B, according to Adobe Analytics. One trend Adobe identified during the period is a shift of online spending to purchasing the cheapest goods across personal care, electronics, apparel, home & garden, furniture, and grocery.
___
Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest, including Shopify's acquisition of Peel, a tool that integrates with a merchant's tech stack including Klaviyo and Recharge and helps them analyze their sales data to improve customer retention.
___
I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!
PAUL Editor of Shopifreaks E-Commerce Newsletter
PS: If I missed any big news this week, please share in the comments.

Hi - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of the week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. Let's dive in...
___
STAT OF THE WEEK: Kohl's sales have shrunk by $2.3B since 2019. During that same period of time, the company lost 1.3M customers who no longer shop with the retailer.
___
BigCommerce is exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest, according to sources who chose to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the information. The sources said that BigCommerce asked investment bank Qatalyst Partners to solicit interest from potential buyers that include private equity firms, but that the discussions are at an early stage and no deal is certain.
___
Squarespace announced that it will be going private in a $6.9B all-cash deal with private-equity firm Permira, who agreed to pay $44 per share (a roughly 30% premium). Although Squarespace never lost 90% of its share price like BigCommerce, it has experienced a tumultuous time on the market since its IPO in May 2021 — opening around $49.50 and at times trading in the low $20s. Shares rose nearly 13% to $43 in pre-market trading upon release of the news.
___
ByteDance filed a lawsuit in US federal court seeking to block the new law that would force the sale or ban of the app within the country. The lawsuit challenges the law on constitutional grounds, also citing commercial, technical, and legal hurdles, as well as opposition from Beijing. Legal experts say the legal battle will play out in the courts in coming months and likely will reach the Supreme Court.
___
OpenAI unveiled its newest model, GPT-4o, designed to turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time, spoken conversations and interact with users using text, screenshots, photos, documents, and charts. The new version of ChatGPT also has memory capabilities, which means it can learn from previous conversations. It will be available to both unpaid and premium customers alike. OpenAI also announced that it would be launching a desktop app with the GPT-4o capabilities, giving users another platform to interact with the technology outside of a web browser.
___
Amazon launched in South Africa last week, marking its first marketplace in sub-Saharan Africa, and bringing its total number of marketplaces worldwide to 22. To launch the new marketplace, Amazon is offering free delivery on first orders and on subsequent orders above R500 (about $27), access to 3,000 pick-up points, status updates via WhatsApp to track orders, 30 day refunds, and 24/7 customer support. The marketplace was supposed to launch in the country in 2023, but got delayed due to changes in priorities within Amazon.
___
In an unlikely partnership, Instacart is partnering with Uber Eats to expand into the restaurant delivery business. Instacart will add a new tab for restaurant delivery to its app in the coming weeks, the listings will be provided by Uber, and the food will be picked up and delivered by Uber Eats drivers. Customers will receive the same prices on both apps and Instacart will receive an affiliate commission on orders. It's a strange partnership though given that Instacart and Uber Eats actively compete on grocery delivery. Are they planning to merge? Uber says no.
___
Apple's advertisement for its latest iPad Pro sparked criticism for showing an animation of musical instruments, paint cans, cameras, record players, and other symbols of creativity being crushed by a giant machine, with the output being the new iPad Pro, which the company says is the thinnest Apple product ever. In this context, “crushing” was supposed to symbolize “consolidating” and “compacting” — with the visuals meant to showcase how the new iPad Pro puts the power of all these tools into the hands of creators in one thin device. However online commenters criticized the ad as insensitive and as symbolizing a “destruction of the human experience.” The ad hit the web on Tuesday, and by Thursday, Apple issued a mea culpa and apologized for the campaign.
___
Google is encouraging merchants to enable conversion annotations on their Google Shopping ads, which offer social proof that highlight a product's popularity. Conversion annotations like “best selling” or “3K shopped here recently” would provide visual cues about a product’s popularity or sales performance directly in the ad unit. Annotations like these are par for the course with e-commerce retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and Temu, which all employ similar tactics. They can provide valuable info for shoppers and also help with conversions. However they also open data privacy concerns, given that Google is not the actual retailer or marketplace selling the items, so a merchant would have to share this purchase history data from their e-commerce platform with Google — which technically most already do by giving access to GA4.
___
Shein is attempting to join the National Retail Federation as it pursues regulatory approval to go public in the US. The company believes that NRF membership would boost its chances of receiving SEC approval. However so far, Shein has been rejected numerous times. An anonymous source familiar with the matter said someone with heavy influence at the NRF is strongly against the Shein's admittance. However board members who spoke to CNBC said that Shein's membership application hadn't come up in meetings, and that they aren't involved in deciding which companies are granted access.
___
Amazon is leading the way with selling home goods, capturing 18.8% of consumer home furnishings spending, compared to Walmart's 7.3% market share. Notably, Amazon’s gains in the furniture category come in spite of the company’s decision to phase out two of its three furniture brands last year.
___
Stanley, which is projected to do $750M in sales this year, up from $73M in 2019, after seeing its water bottles become a status symbol thanks to TikTok, is now expanding into trendier accessories. The company is launching a line of bags called the All-Day Collection which include a mini cooler, backpack cooler, and Quencher Carry-All, designed for someone to sling their Stanley over their hip.
___
Jack Dorsey left the Bluesky board and deleted his account on the service he helped kickstart, claiming that Bluesky was “literally repeating all the mistakes” he made while running Twitter. Dorsey says he never intended Bluesky to be an independent company, but rather, an open source protocol that Twitter was supposed to be the first client of. He also confirmed that he is financially backing Nostr, another decentralized Twitter-like service popular among crypto enthusiasts and run by an anonymous founder.
___
Amazon is deploying 50 electric trucks in California, which it claims is the largest EV fleet in the country, as part of its mission to eliminate pollution from its global operations. The trucks will be integrated into first-mile operations, moving goods from container ships at the ports to fulfillment centers, as well as middle-mile operations, transporting packages from fulfillment centers to delivery centers.
___
Wix launched a new tool called AI Portfolio Creator, which allows a user to upload and organize large-scale image collections, select the type of portfolio they want, and then have the AI tool sort and generate a portfolio with clustered images, recommended titles and descriptions, and personalized layout options.
___
Amazon is now requiring all dietary supplements to be verified by a third-party testing, inspection, and certification organization — which is something that not even the FDA requires. Amazon is the largest supplement retailer in the US ahead of Walmart and Target, and its new requirements are expected to put more pressure on the industry, which is being scrutinized more than ever.
___
Alibaba is revamping its flagship retail website Taobao for the first time in seven years with a focus on providing a smoother search and buying process. The website overhaul comes ahead of the 618 sales event, China's second-largest annual shopping event. A few weeks ago I reported that Eddie Wu, the CEO of Alibaba Group, would now be directly overseeing its domestic e-commerce arm which includes Taobao and Tmall Group, and it sounds like he's hitting the ground running with his new responsibilities.
___
Amazon is hosting its first-ever Amazon Book Sale, a new shopping event starting on May 15th that offers up to 50% off print best sellers and up to 80% off Kindle Books. The six day shopping event will exclusively run in the US, and Prime-membership is not required to take advantage of the deals.
___
FTX reported that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years after the cryptocurrency exchange imploded. The company owes about $11.2B to its customers and estimates that it has between $14.5B and $16.3B to distribute to them. The caveat is that customers will receive the USD value of their holdings at the time of the exchange collapse, and not the actual crypto holdings themselves, which means that they'll miss out on all gains during the past two years during which BTC went from around $16k to now over $60k. Better than nothing though, that's for sure.
___
800,000 consumers in Europe and the US were duped into sharing card details and other sensitive personal data with a network of fake online designer shops operated from China, which comprised one of the largest scams of its kind with 76,000 fake websites created. The scammers used expired domains to host its fake shops in order to help avoid detection by websites or brand owners, and more than 1M orders were processed in the past three years alone.
___
Beyond Inc, which owns Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, and Zulily, reported that its Q1 net loss swelled to $72M from $10M a year ago, while its operating loss widened to $58M from $8M. The company's active customers grew to 6M, up 26% from nearly 5M a year ago, however, its average order value dropped to $173 from $220 a year earlier.
___
TikTok will begin automatically labeling AI generated content when it is uploaded from certain platforms like DALL.E 3, Adobe Firefly, Photoshop, and Microsoft Copilot. TikTok will also start attaching Content Credentials to content, which will remain on the media when downloaded, allowing other platforms to read the metadata.
___
eBay is testing an Add To Cart button in search results that opens a Quick View window, allowing buyers to skip the listing page. Technically the button should probably not be labeled “Add To Cart” since it doesn't perform that action, but rather, displays a quick view window with three buttons: Buy It Now, Add To Cart, View All Details. Sellers are worried that buyers will miss crucial details in the product description that may lead to increased returns and negative feedback.
___
Amazon is planning to launch its fleet of drones in Tolleson, Arizona, but the city's extreme temperature is hampering its efforts. Drones can't operate in temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that Tolleson crosses for a full three months of the year.
___
A US district judge dismissed X's lawsuit against Bright Data, a data-scraping company accused of improperly accessing X system and violating X terms and state laws when scraping and selling data. The judge basically said that if X owned the data, it could perhaps argue that it has exclusive rights to control it, but then X wouldn't be able to enjoy the safe harbor of Section 230, which allows the platform to avoid liability for third-party content. Can't have it both ways!
___
Nintendo is discontinuing its X integration for the switch on June 10th, which means users will no longer be able to post screenshots or videos to the platform from their device. The drop in support also affects games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which had game-specific options to send out tweets. Microsoft Xbox dropped support for X in April 2023 and Sony Playstation dropped the service in October 2023 due to the increase in X's API access fees.
___
Amazon claimed that its recordable incident rate — a metric that comprises all injuries requiring “more than basic first-aid treatment” — at its US warehouses has improved by 24% since 2019. However the National Employment Law Project challenged Amazon's injury data in a report last week, claiming that Amazon's overall injury rate in 2023 was 71% higher than that of other employers in the sector at 6.5 cases per 100 workers.
___
Amazon Ads announced three new advertising formats for streaming TV including shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads, and interactive trivia ads. Amazon did not say when the new ad types would officially launch, but noted that it will formally present them at a presentation on May 14th.
___
Meta is rolling out an expanded set of generative AI ad tools that can create full image variations with text overlays, expand images to fit across different aspect ratios, and generate alternate versions of headlines and other ad text. The features will become available globally to advertisers by the end of the year.
___
Square introduced a tool called Square Kiosk to allow self-service ordering at fast food restaurants. The device is a combined software, hardware, and payment solution that allows customers to select exactly what they want with customization options, upgrades, and add-ons.
___
The European Parliament announced new measures to make packaging more sustainable and reduce packaging waste in the EU, including reduction targets of 15% by 2040 — which sounds far away but is only 16 years away?! As part of the new rules, the EU will set maximum empty space ratios for e-commerce transportation, ban certain single-use plastic packaging types, and beverage distributors and take-away food will have to offer consumers the option of bringing their own container.
___
Indians who pre-ordered Teslas in 2016 are giving up and seeking refunds of their deposits after Elon Musk canceled another visit to the country last month. Disillusioned Tesla enthusiasts in India say they will now buy a car from the company only if they see it in a showroom, or they'll buy a different electrical vehicle from a company that actually exists in the country.
___
Target is limiting its Pride Month collection to select stores this year instead of rolling out the merchandise nationwide like it typically has for the past decade, due to backlash the retailer experienced last year. Last May customers in certain stores knocked down LGBTQ+ merchandise displays, angrily approached store employees, and posted threatening videos on social media from inside the stores.
___
E-commerce spending from Jan 1 to April 30, 2024 rose 7% YoY to $331.6B, according to Adobe Analytics. One trend Adobe identified during the period is a shift of online spending to purchasing the cheapest goods across personal care, electronics, apparel, home & garden, furniture, and grocery.
___
Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest, including Shopify's acquisition of Peel, a tool that integrates with a merchant's tech stack including Klaviyo and Recharge and helps them analyze their sales data to improve customer retention.
___
I hope you found this recap helpful. See you next week!
For more details on each story and sources, see the full edition: https://www.shopifreaks.com/bigcommerce-for-sale-openai-gpt-4o-instacarts-unlikely-partnership/
What else is new in e-commerce? Share stories of interesting in the comments below (including in your own business) or on shopifreaks.
-PAUL Editor of Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter
PS: Want the full editions delivered to your Inbox each week? Join free at www.shopifreaks.com

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Adel

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• Adel Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 14, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Adjusting Storm Water Rates
    • Setting the FY2024-2025 Fees for Services
    • Support for Increasing Board Membership of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors

Alleman

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. AND every 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m., which appears to be their Work Session meetings. Agendas can be found here.
• Alleman Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Nothing of interest this meeting

Altoona

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Altoona Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 6, 2024

Ankeny

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here
• Ankeny Mayor and City Council
• You need to select Novus agenda and it takes you to a 3rd party website where you can then select the latest meeting type such as City Council, Action Planning, etc.
  • City Council meetings can be viewed via Zoom, but only during the meeting. The City does not post the video of the Council meetings on either their website or YouTube.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024

Bondurant

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Bondurant Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024

Carlisle

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Carlisle Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
• Items of interest:
  • Moving May 27, 2024 Regular Council Meeting to May 28, 2024 at 6:30 PM
  • Public Hearing For Specifications for Scotch Ridge Road And Highway 5 Intersection Improvements
  • Ordinance 799 Amending Stop Signs To Allow Roll-out Stop Signs
  • Discussion and Possible Action On Gravel Surfacing For County Line Road and SE 72nd Street

Clive

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. with the goal of having agendas posted no later than two business days prior to a meeting. Agenda Packets for 2024 can be found here and a collection of prior year agenda packets (2005+) and large construction set documents can be located here.
• Clive Mayor and City Council
• Latest City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 2, 2024

Cumming

• City Council meets on the 2nd Mondays of every month and sometimes on the 4th Monday if needed at 7 p.m. They updated their website so in the new way to find their current agenda/packets is either on the front page of the website either under latest news in the center or to the right under upcoming events.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Moving May 27, 2024 Regular Council Meeting to May 28, 2024 at 6:00 PM

Dallas Center

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Dallas Center Mayor and City
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 29, 2024

Dallas County

• Dallas County Board of Supervisors meet every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Upcoming Supervisor Agenda Packets can be found here and Supervisor meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here.
• They do not post contact information for their three board of supervisors - Someone who lives in Dallas County please contact the County to post this information because it’s antithetical to an “open” government.
• Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 14, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGETING
    • HEART OF IOWA COMMUNITY SERVICES 28E AGREEMENT
• If you work for Dallas County or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Supervisor agenda packets on the website.

De Soto

• City Council meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas posted to the City website by the EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• De Soto Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 16, 2024

Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5 p.m. with agendas being available by 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here. I will only do my top 5 as the media generally covers DSM Council meetings and the big topics.
• Des Moines Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does usually have Work Sessions on the morning of regular City Council meetings (Mondays) at 7:30 a.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 6, 2024

Elkhart

• City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6 p.m. Agendas can be found here and Agenda Packets can located here (it seems like agendas are posted at a separate time compared to the full agenda packet.
• Elkhart does not provide contact information for their Mayor or City Council. If you live in Elkhart, please contact the City to ask that they put this information up on their website.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 22, 2024

Granger

• City Council meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Granger Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 8, 2024

Grimes

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 5:30 p.m. and they try to have agendas available to view for the public published 24 hours in advance of the meeting. They have dates listed on their website when they will not meet during the year listed here.
• Grimes Mayor and City Council
• agenda & meetings page/calendar this does include their upcoming and previous meetings with agendas/packets if you scroll up or down.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 14, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Public Hearing on Proposed Voluntary Annexation of Property Generally Located Along SE 19th Street/250th Street
    • Second Reading of Ordinance 787 Amending Grimes Code of Ordinances Title 8 Public Ways and Properties, Title 11 Building Regulations, and Title 13 Subdivision Regulations

Indianola

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here.
• Indianola Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have study sessions on topics that are before the regular City Council meeting at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024

Johnston

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here This takes you to a 3rd party website where there appears to be no separate web pages for each Council meeting.
• Johnston Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before regular City Council meetings at 6 p.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024 (On the desktop version, it is not a separate page from where the agendas are located so you have to click on meetings in the top right, find the Council meeting on the left, click view agenda, and then you can click on separate agenda items on the left to get more info)

Norwalk

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Norwalk Mayor and City Council
• Tentative City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 16, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • SW Corridor Update - Snyder & Associates
    • Animal Control - Chief Staples
    • Setting a Date of Meeting at which it is Proposed to Approve a Development Agreement with Dunn Industrial Condominiums LLC
    • Public Hearing regarding Resolution of Necessity for The Ridge at Echo Valley Reconstruction Project
    • Resolution approving the Site Plan of Legacy Circle Apartments
    • Amending Water, Sewer, Recycling and Solid Waste Fees

Pleasant Hill

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets for previous meetings can be found here but you have to select the particular meeting from a list under City Council Agendas (Their archive is not updated properly so you may need to contact staff at the city to fix this or request different agenda documents). Agendas for the upcoming City Council meeting can be located here on the left hand side of the web page.
• Pleasant Hill Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 14, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Ordinances amending sewer, solid waste, recycling, and stormwater rates

Polk City

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Polk City Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Ordinances amending sewer, solid waste, recycling, and water rates

Polk County

• Polk County Board of Supervisors meet every other Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The schedule for the rest of the year as well as agenda packets for upcoming and previous meetings can be found here They also typically have work sessions on Wednesday or Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
• Polk County Board of Supervisors (You have to click on each Supervisors “Bio” to get their contact information)
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Packet – May 7, 2024

Urbandale

• City Council meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Urbandale Mayor and City Council (On the left hand side of the webpage you have to select each person for their contact information)
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before City Council Meetings at 5:30 p.m. City Council also has Lunch and Learn meetings that are open to the public electronically on select Tuesdays at 11:45 a.m. (The public may access the conversation in person at Urbandale City Council Chambers the day of the meeting).
• City Council Lunch and Learn Meeting Agenda Packet – May 14, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Review Use of City Assets & Workforce for Non-City Engagements

Van Meter

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here
• Van Meter Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Discussion & Possible Action: Resolution #2024-46 – Approval & Certification of the FY25 Budget
    • Resolution of Support for Increasing Board Membership of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors
    • Setting Date of Public Hearing Special Speed Zones to change the speed zone to 45 mph in the city limits along F-90
    • Discussion & Possible Action: City’s policy & structure setting fees
• If you work for the City of Van Meter or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Council agenda packets on the website.

Warren County

• Warren County Board of Supervisors meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at 9:30 a.m. Agendas can be found here
• Warren County Board of Supervisors
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 7, 2024 They require you to download the agendas via PDF’s so there is no direct web link to the agendas

Waukee

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here AND the agenda packets can be located here
• Waukee Mayor and City Council
  • City Council will have Work Sessions and Special Meetings that usually occur on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
• City Council Work Session Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Alice’s Road Widening Project
    • SE Olson Drive/SE Brick Drive intersection control update
    • Kettlestone residential development overview
    • Urban fowl discussion
    • Pool and hot tub ordinance

West Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Upcoming Council Agenda Packets can be found here (to see the packet for a meeting, click on the meeting under “Events” and then select one of the packet choices) and Council meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here
• West Des Moines Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024

Windsor Heights

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Windsor Heights Mayor and City Council (You have to click on each person to get their contact information but you can fill out this form to send a message to the Mayor, the five city councilors, and the city administrator at once.
  • They do have recaps of their City Council meetings which are located here
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024

It’s been literally weeks bro

On my Osprey box channel 183 is Paramount+ plus Showtime... I have a Paramount+ (no showtime) subscription via my Walmart+ membership.
Is there away to access that subscription via the 183 channel or do I have to download the paramount+ app from the playstore?

Throw away account for obvious reasons, plus I've converted a few friends and family to the reddit on wiki podcast and i do not want them to find out it was me. so before i embarrass myself to everyone here i want to preface that i 19(M) work at a gas station for Sam's club. I work in a small room with a restroom i can use throughout my shift. the office is separated from the main store so someone as to come over to relieve me for my lunch break. i also have a radio incase i have to call in an emergency or in case a member needs assistance on something i am unable to help with. in other words i am completely alone for hours at a time.i feel like that is enough context onto my fuck up.

so i follow johns philosophy of five times a day 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽 (insert fistbump here) and since i am all alone in my little office occasionally i will lock the office and go to the restroom to renew my “master beta” membership card. the restroom has a lock on it, but since i always lock the office door i have never used the lock on the restroom door. i do not know what demon possessed me that day and i decide to lock tthe door this time. i carry two phones one active one that i use from day to day, and an old phone that does not have internet access, unless i use wifi to download videos, that i only use as a video storage. so on this day i left my usable phone on the table in the office while i went to the restroom and i took my other phone in, i locked the door and i did my business. when i went to unlock the door my heart dropped to the deepest trench of my post nut clarity, when all of a sudden i hear a metal clang from the other side of the door as the other half of the lockung mechanism hit the floor. i fall to my knees as i come to the realization that i am unfortunately locked in the restroom. i think to myself “thats fine ill just text my friend that i got locked in the restroom and send someone to help me out.” NOPE the demon that possessed me was giving me nice lil fuck you for being nsty at work as i realize that i left my phone on the table right next to the radio. no wifi no radio no way to contact the outside world. i look around to see if i can find something to open the door, nope no luck. i look at my watch, perfect someone will come to relieve me soon, the gods were against me becase 5,10,15 minutes pass by and no sign of anyone coming to rescue my sorry ass. whenever there's a decent sized gas spill we are obligated to put a flag right next to the spill, luckily that flag was inside the restroom so in my last ditch of effort to try to get rescued from my cage i poke the flag through the hole left behind, by the broken locking mechanism, and i begin to frantically wave it from side to side in hope that someone outside sees it and tells someone inside the store that I'm stuck, no good. i try banging hard on the door to try and get someone's attention, nada, i wave the flag again, zilch. FINALLY, THREE HOURS LATER, i see a shining light coming towards from the darkness that is my anxiety, someone finally comes to relieve me and sees that I'm stuck, he does the phone motion with his hand and i poke my finger through the hole and towards my phone on the table. he gives me a thumbs up and says he's gonna go get the spare keys and a screwdriver to help me out. thirty minutes later he comes back and breaks me out of the restroom. so kids if you learn anything from this story it is don't follow johns lead. lots of love to the tripod and their respective partners. lots of love to the subreddit and the reddit on wiki community in general. GUYS JOIN THE RICH RICH MEMBERS. babye👋🏽👋🏽 TLDR: 5 a day’d at work and got stuck in the restroom for four hours. 

Okay I'll admit it, maybe I knew a tad too much about computer hacking and modding for a 10 year old kid. There's nothing wrong with being a tech nerd. I was just into it for all the wrong reasons. I liked to prank my friends online. And I don't just mean rickrolling them or changing stuff on Wikipedia. I was a bad guy. I would delete valuable items from my friends' accounts on their favorite games. I'd find out what creepypastas scared them the most and then change pictures on their most visited websites to them. I just thought it was funny. I liked watching them use every swear word in the dictionary or fall out of their seats after a jumpscare.
My favorite victim was my sister Ella. Boy did I enjoy screwing around with her stuff. She was obsessed with that game Animal Jam. The funniest thing I ever did to her was getting her first account banned the day after she bought her membership. I downloaded a bot that allows you to mass send the same Jam-a-Gram to everyone on your buddies list. I also figured out how to make someone your buddy automatically without them having to accept your friend request. I logged onto Ella's account and automatically friended everyone in the same land I was in. Then I mass sent them inappropriate Jam-a-Grams until people finally reported me enough to get Ella permabanned. I still laugh thinking about the temper tantrum she had.
I felt a little bad knowing that our mom had spent her own money on the membership card, so I told myself I wouldn't mess around with Ella's membership again after she got a second account. I still played other jokes on her like making her switch animals at random or changing her den to a giant model of a phantom (which she was terrified of). Eventually she got tired of me screwing around and locked her den. Fair enough. But that wasn't gonna stop me. If I could make all minigames unwinnable, I could easily bypass the "only me" den lock setting. So I did.
When I got inside her princess castle den, everything was where she last left it. I opened the decorating menu and noticed that there were animals inside the castle. They weren't moving, so I thought they were just plushies. I moved my tiger character closer to the animals. They were all horses. Not plushies, but the animal character models. None of them had a username tag that I could click on. They were all gray and were all in the sitting pose facing each other. I made my tiger run around their circle a few times, thinking they'd acknowledge me. The horses just stayed still. I typed "Hey guys" in the chat. My message popped up in the speech bubble and stayed there for a few seconds. It disappeared with no response.
That evening I asked Ella to show me her den. She opened the decorating menu and the gray horses were gone. I chalked it up to being something left over from when I messed around with the phantom models.
My friend asked me to raid the den of this user that was cyberbullying him. I was going to put so much furniture that it would overload and make the game severely lag to a point where if it didn't crash automatically, it would take about a minute for your character to move a couple steps. I bypassed the den lock and was about to get to work. Then I saw the two gray lions in front of me.
"I'm stronger." said the first lion. "I'm smarter." replied the second. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a little troll. "You are both weak and dumb", I typed in the chat. The lions turned around to face me. "But only one of us can go." one of them said. Forgetting what I came for, I stayed around to hear what they were talking about. There’s nothing like some good Animal Jam drama, right?
“So the question is, which one of us does the new paradise need more?” asked one of the lions. This was strange to me. Nobody talks in complete sentences and proper grammar in this game. And what was the “new paradise”? Surely they must be roleplaying. Why not join the fun since I’m here? I asked what roleplay theme they were doing. They didn’t respond to me and kept speaking to each other. “We need to decide now. The end is approaching fast.” I barricaded the whole den with furniture like I was supposed to, and went on my way.
I went to Jamaa Central to go shopping, and noticed there was a crowd around the Mira statue. Surrounding the statue were three different animals: a bunny, a fox, and a sheep. They were all gray and didn’t wear any clothes. Everyone else sporting their usual colorful fur and accessories looked upon them from a small distance. It was almost like there was some sort of imaginary line separating the two groups.
“Mira’s feathers have begun to fall.” said the sheep. “We have been ignoring nature’s warnings for too long.” added the bunny.
No one else was talking. There wasn’t anyone advertising what they had for trade or inviting others to play a minigame. All of the animal avatars were turned to face the statue.
“The inevitable destruction of Jamaa awaits. Your existence will cease to be.” the fox said. This piqued my interest because I thought it was some weird roleplay. I decided to join in with what little context I had. “Soon, your den will be filled with phantoms!” I said in the chat, playing along.
The gray animals spun around to face me. “The tiger is a false prophet.” announced the fox. I responded with “Rude :P “, using the silly tongue emoticon. If these guys were gonna screw with me, then it’s only fair I mess with them, right? So I clicked on the fox’s player card and sure enough, she had a locked den. I knew exactly what I was going to do: make my little prophecy come true and turn her den into the giant phantom model. I bypassed the den lock and watched the loading bar fill.
When the game finished loading, I was alone in total darkness. The sidebar with your Jam-a-Grams and friend list was gone. There was no globe button to return to the map, but there was a name tag for the location- “The Ark”. I tried to walk around, but my tiger didn’t budge.
Two spaces to the left and right of me lit up like spotlights and revealed a gray monkey and fox. They were displaying strange animations I had never seen before. The monkey had its eyes closed and hands clasped together, as if it was praying. The fox raised its tail and rested its head on the floor. There was no music but the sound of a flowing stream.
Behind them stood a horse bowing its head repeatedly and an eagle with its wings folded in, concealing its head. I wanted to ask what this place was, who these people were and why I was there. I tried to chat, but I could no longer type freely. I was restricted to Bubble Chat, a list of generic Animal Jam-approved phrases to help you navigate the game (such as “Let’s be buddies!” or “How do I earn gems?”). But these phrases were definitely not part of the usual Bubble Chat list. Some of the options I saw were: “Oh Mother Nature, bless me with your kindness.” “Amen.” “The flood is coming.” “You aren’t worthy of salvation.” “Listen to Noah’s warning.”
I felt something that I had never felt when playing Animal Jam before. I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be here.I don’t know what I stumbled upon, but I knew in my heart that I found something bad. Someone really didn’t want me to see this. I’m worried that whoever is trying to keep this secret would do anything to make sure it didn’t get out.
The area continued to illuminate, revealing even more animals in these strange positions. At the end of the room was a large wooden boat with a door that looked like you could walk through. It opened and out came a gray wolf. He had the skull eyes and was the only one wearing any items of clothing; he had what looked like some sort of cane or scepter on his back. Chat bubbles appeared over every animal, which had the same message: “Hail Alpha Noah”. They repeated the message every few seconds.
“Cease exaltation.” said the wolf’s chat bubble, stepping out of the shadows. The other animals stopped talking. He walked into the center of the room. “It appears that we have saved the last voyager, have we not?”
“Yes, Alpha.” said a sheep. “We have saved the tiger.” The sheep turned towards my avatar, and the other animals followed suit. I clicked around desperately, hoping to find a way out but to no avail. I had no idea what was about to happen next and I wasn’t exactly eager to find out.
Noah the wolf drew closer. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it was only a children’s game. Nothing was going to happen to me in real life. I shouldn’t let that creep me out. But what if I stumbled across something that really was evil? My imagination ran wild. Was this a front for some sort of real criminal activity? Was I being drawn into a plot? Why do it on Animal Jam of all places?
My worries were soon interrupted by a pink and purple panda running out into the middle of the circle. I thought that help had arrived. Finally, someone who looked like a regular player. Maybe she could help me get back to the normal Animal Jam map.
“Hello?” the panda called out with her chat bubble. All of the gray animals sharply turned towards her. “Who are you and why are you here?” asked Noah. The panda told him her username and that she tried to follow her buddy somewhere, got lost, and ended up in this weird place.
“We already have a panda on the Ark.” said Noah. “You don’t need to be here.”
I don’t understand. Why was this random player not needed, but I was? It seemed like we were both just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wait. That’s not right. The panda said she got lost on the way to somewhere else on the map. I was prying around in other Jammers’ dens. She didn’t mean to come here. I asked for it.
The panda asked Noah how to get back to the world map. “I am deeply sorry, but I cannot grant you salvation. You are simply not fit for the Ark, yet I cannot let you return to Jamaa either. If you go back and tell everyone what you experienced, you will only stir up jealousy among the other animals over who is worthy of salvation. Then the Ark will be overcrowded, it will sink, and no one gets saved.” This speech was divided up into several chat bubbles because of the character limit.
Noah walked back to the giant boat. “Let this be a reminder as to what will happen to the heathens when the Great Flood strikes. Praise Mother Nature and be grateful to me that you were fortunate enough to be the single member of your species that will live on.” All of the other animals turned their backs on the panda. I did too, out of fear.
The middle of the circle opened up into a deep blue water texture, almost like the ocean. The panda’s still model bobbed up and down beneath the waves. Every time she disappeared behind the water and came back, she sank down lower. Then she closed her eyes, transitioned to the sleeping animation, and sank down into the dark water until she couldn’t be seen anymore.
I just saw an animal avatar drown.
After seeing that, I knew what I had to do: fit in with this group or else. Only move when they move. Say what they say at the same time they do. I know that nothing happened in real life to whoever was behind the panda character. I still didn’t want to find out what exactly that was.
“Shed no tears for your heathen friends and family. Turn your backs on them like you did just now.” said Noah. “Oh, I have forgotten a very important matter. The last voyager.” He prowled towards my character from across the circle. All eyes were on me now. I started to fidget in my seat. I don’t know what the “last voyager” is, and it doesn’t sound like a very good thing.
“The tiger. He represents vitality and luck. We are so fortunate to have found the great tiger after so long. You truly possess these traits, constantly finding yourself surrounded by wealth and fortune.” he said. “Do you believe you embody the tiger’s greatest traits?”
I scrolled through the Bubble Chat phrase list and found “Yes.” I didn’t quite get what Noah meant, but if I appeared confident, he probably would leave me alone.
“Then drink from the water of Mother Nature’s sea.” A golden cup appeared next to my avatar. I assumed it worked just like the hot cocoa or smoothies, so I clicked on it to drink. Surely enough, it shrank and disappeared just like I expected it to.
“Rejoice, voyagers, for our toils are finally over. When Mira releases her tears and floods the world, we are prepared. We will be saved. We will be all that remains of Jamaa.”
Everyone entered into the strange praying animation I saw earlier. I clicked the animation menu and there was a button with a boat. I clicked it and the tiger sat, bowing its head.
The room illuminated once more to reveal a giant clock set to 12 o’clock. The sound of a church bell rang out.
The clock started to tick backwards.

TLDR:

• Two months ago I started eating dishes based on legumes, veggies and lean/white meats;
• I began burning about 1000 active calories by 1. walking (never running) 2. walking steep uphill paths (10-20 mins a day), 3. cycling (15-30 mins), 4. lifting (9 sets a day + ab workout);
• My average meal costs €3-7 depending on whether or not I add meat/fish in the place of eggs; I live in Bolzano, Italy where prices are relatively high for Southern Europe;
• I've lost 9 KG (20 lbs) in 2 months (89kg -> 80kg; 196 lbs ->176) lbs.
• I cut out all processed foods but especially chocolate, mayo and peanut butter. I also cut out bread and pasta.
• I supplement my calorie/protein requirements with protein bars if I haven't reached at least 1500 kcal (2000 daily kcal is my max for now, my real daily needs are probably at around 3000kcal so I've been losing weight quickly, about 1kg a week),
• I lift using public park equipment, I do a few calisthenic exercises on monkey bars and I have adjustable dumbbells, EZ bar, regular barbell and shorter regular barbell at home (the latter were about €300 with the weights which I've been using for 3 years).

Long post:
I've found that any dish above 600-800 calories or so that is primarily composed of veggies, legumes and lean meats is massive in volume to the point I have to supplement my calorie needs with things like protein bars that can easily pack 200-300 calories in a small volume.
I never understood what people meant by "healthy foods" and I wish I had learnt sooner that the main two things that matter are calorie-density and nutrient (vitamin and mineral) density. You want a diet that is dense in nutrient-rich, calorie-thin foods if you're trying to lose weight.
I count my calories by just looking at the packages and I keep it on my calculator app (I don't have a dedicated calorie tracking app, I just write the calorie count for every meal and cumulative count on the Notes app in my daily schedule/agenda note).
EXERCISE
I burn about 1000 active calories a day (so, not counting basal metabolic energy that just keeps you alive but only what's expended in addition to your real activity).
I heavily recommend walking for at least 30 minutes-1 hour at a time. I walk about 15-25k steps (some of that is as part of my commute, much of it is me going on walks. It's a really relaxing way to take a break from constant studying and going to lectures (I'm a Law student). I don't drive (and don't have to due to great public transport, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure).
I like listening to podcasts and videos in my target language (right now it's Spanish) while walking, cycling (and lifting), cooking, etc... because it makes me feel doubly productive and I never get bored of it. I cancelled Spotify and got YouTube Premium instead so that I can download videos and turn off my screen, saving data and battery life. It has 100% been worth the investment.
Besides walking, I cycle vigorously uphill for about 30 mins and I lift at least 3 (out of 6) muscle groupings [shoulders, chest-forearms, biceps, triceps, back and legs] every day. If I ever feel I might be injured or micro-injured, I take a break from working out at least that muscle group. I've started taking warm-ups, stretching before, between and after sets, as well as strict form very seriously. Never lift a given weight if you can't maintain perfect form. I've never had a serious injury.
I also do this ab workout every day and it's magic; I couldn't complete it for the first three days as the burn is unreal but now that I can it's really effective; it also makes me feel good in-the-moment (I think it helps with digestion?); I can already see the vague outlines of a six-pack but I have to keep losing weight and working out. Ego/vanity is your friend in this journey).
I also hike up to my local castle (Yurop moment; I know) if it's raining or I don't feel like cycling for serious cardio since it's near the city but one has to walk vigorously uphill. I don't run because I don't enjoy it as much as walking or cycling. I understand for some people free time/location might be a constraint that makes running the easier option but I think it's way overrated as a weight-loss exercise.
FOOD
As for the dishes themselves, my meals are usually a combination of canned legumes (especially beans of all types but also chickpeas, green peas, corn, etc..) with a few veggies (I like bell peppers a lot, pickled or fresh but I also force myself to eat some salad, especially carrots), as well as two eggs (this is a constant unless I'm having meat).
I buy it all pre-prepped (canned, pickled, washed in a bag) except the meat which I only season with salt and pepper. I don't fuck with sauces besides olive oil. I completely cut out mayo because I used to use it as a lazy way to add flavor to dishes but it's a calorie bomb. It's also not that cheap.
I buy pre-cooked canned foods because I am lazy and it's simply easier to make good choices when they're the easiest thing to do. They also make it very easy count calories because of the labels at the back. I know more or less exactly how many calories is in each can of beans, jar of bellpeppers, etc.. If a dish is bland, I'll add Tabasco but it's frankly expensive if you're spice-tolerant and have to use a lot of it and so I've been trying to cut it out entirely.
One thing I do that some people might find unusual is that I never drain my canned foods, I just cook/heat them up with the liquid in a pan with a bit of olive oil as a base (careful when cooking with olive oil, it's much fattier than I thought; it's also €12 by the liter now which is insane).
This often produces a bit of a soup/broth-like dish which looks a bit odd but tastes quite good. The broth itself is filling and definitely helps me feel full and digest better. I always drink when I'm thirsty and force myself to drink an entire liter of water with every big meal. I only drink water. Exceptionally I'll have a powerrade after an intense workout. Salmon is probably my favorite protein but it's expensive so I only eat it on occasion as a reward.
I've been on this diet for about 2 months and I've lost 9kg (BMI = 28.1 BMI = 25.2) so I am almost back to a healthy weight (BMI = 18.5-25), only one kilo left to go. My target weight is 70kg (154.324) as I'm 178cm (5′10) which matches my 'ideal weight' according to most formulas. I've completely rejected the 'fat but fit' myth and I've begun prioritizing healthy weight, being lean, and functional strength and flexibility. I also reject the notion of 'going on a diet'. Your diet should always be the same; it should always be healthy and varied. The only thing that should change is the amount that you eat depending on whether you are trying to lose, keep or gain weight. Once I'm at my ideal weight, all I'll do is add an extra can of beans/extra chicken filet/extra two eggs, etc... and keep tracking my weight very closely so that I'm always within the 68-72kg range on a day-to-day bases.
Fuck eating out. You should never be ashamed to reject an invite to eat if you know it would break your calorie budget. One of the things that kept me overweight even when I was eating relatively healthy was that I would always accept people's invites to eat even though I was already filling full for that day. One socially nice way do to this is to propose alternatives (coffee, a small ice cream, etc..) or to pin it on a doctonutritionist's instructions. Eating out is also expensive (and if it's not, it's likely not good for you). Make sure to count all your calories regardless of time and place and always round up when you are uncertain about how many you've had. The opposite goes for burning calories. Make sure you're counting only active calories when contemplating your calorie budget and always round down when you're uncertain. Smartwatches are unreliable. I just use calorie expense calculators and take off 10-20% to account for potential overestimates.
The most reliable indicator of your calorie balance is multiple daily consistent weighing on a digital scale. This is the only valid way to keep yourself accountable. Make sure you understand water weight and daily weight variations.
Why did I become overweight in the first place?
I was relatively thin most of my life which is something people consistently commented on. There are two aspects to this. One is that people are not looking at your actual weight (especially in your lower body, if you tend to accumulate more fat there). They are looking at your physique. A skinny-fat individual may look thinner than a lean-but-mean one despite being heavier because of his shitty fat/weight distribution. Another factor is that those around you (especially older adults) will often engage in wishful thinking about weight. When I was at a healthy weight, people commented on how skinny I was.
Once I got almost 10kg (20 pounds) overweight, people treated me like I had a totally normal body even though I could already feel lack of flexibility, decreased agility, and digestive issues. When I told people that I was trying to lose weight, they told me that I was just fine and if anything I was too thing. These people are usually overweight or even obese themselves. Ignore their feedback completely but treat them with kindness. The only thing that matters are objective measures of fitness (strength, agility, speed, flexibility), objective weight and body fat measurements as well as a healthy and realistic self-perception.
I don't have Instagram but I've seen men and women go absolutely off-the-rails in their perception of what is normal and natural physique on that platform. It is good and helpful to be proud and/or ashamed of your body but the only thing that really matters is those aforementioned objective measurements. If your subjective self-perception becomes the overriding guideline to your real actions, one mistake can lead you down a self-destructive cycle.
As I'm sure is relatable to others on here, I only became overweight in college because I would have bursts of overeating of processed foods during stressful exam periods and I no longer did the social physical activities (football [soccer], rugby, tennis) that I did in High School and before. I realized that my brain was craving easy glucose which ironically led to constant blood sugar spikes (bad!) and tiredness. Now that I'm working out and eating well I feel more energetic and often find I only need my morning coffee but no more.
I basically cut out all the bad stuff I was eating (my biggest problems/addictions were chocolate, peanut butter and mayo).
But I also stopped eating pasta and bread, including pizza, even though I live in Italy. Weight loss and muscle gains are worth the ostracism. I did this simply because I heard too many anecdotes from people that were successful in losing weight while maintaining or gaining strength who did the same. The constant theme that most rings out to me is that when you're eating carbs, your stomach feels like a bottomless pit until you're done. I'm getting my carbs from my legumes but it's balanced out my all the fiber and protein they have. Additionally, fucked added sugars. You don't need them and they're a serious addiction. I still have my moments of weakness and eat 50g of milk chocolate as a snack (4 kinder bars) but I've been trying to replace that with one or two bananas.
My main lifting goal has been to maintain all my lifts whilst developing new calisthenic abilities that I wasn't able to do two months ago (I've gone from 1 pull-up to 3 sets of 5; also 3 sets of 8 chin-ups).
Lifting on a calorie deficit isn't very easy and I don't take any supplements or pre-workout (just coffee). I've been relying on coffee and decently protein-dense foods (especially chicken and some legumes like chickpeas).
It's been going well so far and even though I haven't been able to increase my lifts all my muscles have begun to become more noticeable. Lifting on a calorie deficit (while getting a good amount of protein) tells your body to keep your muscle while burning your excess fat. I don't have a gym membership because they are very expensive here so I rely on a combination of publicly-available park equipment (a shoulder-press and a bench-pressing machine, monkey bars for some calisthenics like chin-ups) as well as adjustable dumbbells and barbells at home. The latter cost me about €300 and I've been using them for 3 years, so about 27 cents per day.
The only downside of this is that I have to eat separately from my fiancée but she understands and is very supportive. Sorry for the somewhat unstructured and rambling nature of this post. Feel free to ask me for any useful links or guides that I've used and I also welcome advice in any of the areas I've mentioned. I'll update once I hit 70kg, hopefully by mid-summer.

Games marked with an M have additional modified versions of the games, with modifications made to make the games less frustrating whilst keeping close to the source. Games marked with a u have not been released on their original systems; games marked with a U have never been released before. Games marked with a j have not originally been released in the West; games marked with a J have never been released in the West before. Games in italic are unlicensed or fanon games. All these games can be downloaded through eShop when you have a membership for $5 per game and all the downloaded games are stored via Retro Library.
NES:

1. Balloon Fight
2. Bubble Bobble
3. Castlevania
4. Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest
5. Contra
6. Donkey Kong
7. Donkey Kong Jr.
8. Donkey Kong 3 M
9. Double Dragon 2: The Revenge
10. Dr. Mario
11. Dragon Quest III
12. Duck Hunt
13. Excitebike
14. Final Fantasy
15. Final Fantasy II
16. Final Fantasy III
17. Fire Emblem: Gaiden J
18. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light j
19. Galaga
20. Ghosts 'n Goblins
21. Gradius
22. Ice Climber
23. Kid Icarus
24. Kirby's Adventure
25. The Legend of Zelda M
26. Mario Bros.
27. Mega Man 2
28. Metroid M
29. Mother
30. The Mysterious Murasame Castle J
31. Ninja Gaiden
32. Pac-Man
33. Punch-Out!!
34. River City Ransom
35. Star Tropics
36. Super Contra
37. Super Mario Bros. M
38. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels j M (Japan: Super Mario Bros. 2)
39. Super Mario Bros. 2 M (Japan: Super Mario Bros. USA)
40. Super Mario Bros. 3
41. Tecmo Bowl
42. Tetris
43. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link M
44. Zelda III U
45. Yoshi
46. Yoshi’s Cookie

SNES:

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Contra 3: The Alien Wars
3. Earthbound
4. Final Fantasy IV
5. Final Fantasy VI
6. Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War J
7. Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem J
8. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 J
9. F-Zero
10. Kirby Super Star
11. Kirby's Adventure 3
12. Kirby's Dream Course
13. Kirby’s Avalanche
14. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
15. Mega Man X
16. Mega Man X2
17. Mortal Kombat 2
18. Super Puyo Puyo 2 j
19. Secret of Mana
20. The Shadows In the Stars
21. Star Fox
22. Star Fox 2 u
23. Street Fighter 2 Turbo
24. Super Castlevania 4
25. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
26. Super Mario Kart
27. Super Mario RPG
28. Super Mario World
29. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
30. Super Metroid
31. Super Punch-Out
32. Tetris Attack J

N64:

1. Bomberman 64
2. Dr. Mario 64
3. Duke Nukem 64
4. F-Zero X
5. Kirby 64
6. Goldeneye 007
7. Mario Golf
8. Mario Kart 64
9. Mario Party
10. Mario Party 2
11. Mario Party 3
12. Mario Tennis
13. Paper Mario
14. Perfect Dark
15. Pilotwings
16. Pokemon Snap
17. Pokemon Stadium
18. Star Fox 64
19. Super Mario 64
20. Super Smash Bros.
21. Wave Race 64

GCN:

1. 1080 Avalanche
2. Animal Crossing
3. Custom Robo
4. Donkey Konga
5. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
6. Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
7. F-Zero GX
8. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
9. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
10. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
11. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
12. Luigi's Mansion
13. Madden NFL 2004
14. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
15. Mario Party 4
16. Mario Party 5
17. Mario Party 6
18. Mario Party 7
19. Mario Power Tennis
20. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
21. Mario Superstar Baseball
22. Metroid Prime
23. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
24. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
25. Pikmin
26. Pikmin 2
27. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
28. Pokemon Colosseum
29. Kirby Air Ride
30. Super Mario Sunshine
31. Super Smash Bros. Melee
32. Star Fox Assault
33. Super Mario Strikers
34. Wario World
35. WarioWare: Mega Party Game$!

Wii:

1. Animal Crossing; City Folk
2. Donkey Kong Country Returns
3. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
4. Mario Kart Wii
5. Mario Party 8 M
6. Mario Party 9 M
7. Mario Party 10 M u
8. Mario Strikers: Charged
9. Metroid Prime 3; Corruption
10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
11. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
12. Kirby's Epic Yarn
13. Super Mario Galaxy
14. Super Mario Galaxy 2
15. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
16. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
17. Wario Land: Shake It!
18. WarioWare: Smooth Moves
19. Punch Out Wii

Game Boy / Color:

1. Alleyway
2. Baseball
3. Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge
4. Donkey Kong Land
5. Dr Mario
6. Donkey Kong
7. Final Fantasy Legend 2
8. Game & Watch Gallery
9. Game Boy Camera
10. Golf
11. Harvest Moon GB
12. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
13. Kirby's Dream Land
14. Kirby's Dream Land 2
15. Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble
16. Kirby’s Pinball Land
17. Kirby Star Stacker
18. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
19. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
20. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
21. Mario's Picross
22. Mario Golf
23. Mario Tennis
24. Mega Man 5
25. Metroid 2: Return of Samus M
26. Pokemon Blue
27. Pokemon Silver
28. Pokemon Green
29. Pokemon Gold
30. Pokemon Pinball
31. Pokemon Red
32. Pokemon Silver
33. Pokemon Yellow
34. Rayman
35. Shantae
36. Super Mario Land M
37. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins M
38. Super Wario Land
39. Super Wario Land 2
40. Super Wario Land 3
41. Tetris
42. Tetris DX

GBA:

1. Advance Wars
2. Advance Wars 2
3. Baseball Advance
4. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
5. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
6. DK: King of Swing
7. Final Fantasy 6 Advance
8. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
9. Fire Emblem: Binding Blade
10. Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade J
11. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
12. Golden Sun
13. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
14. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
15. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
16. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
17. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
18. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
19. Mario Kart: Super Circuit
20. Mario Tennis: Power Tour
21. Mario Party Advance M
22. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
23. Mario Pinball Land M
24. Metroid Fusion
25. Metroid: Zero Mission
26. Mother 3
27. Pokemon Emerald
28. Pokemon Ruby
29. Pokemon Sapphire
30. Sonic Advance
31. Super Mario Advance
32. Super Mario Advance 2
33. Super Mario Advance 3
34. Super Mario Advance 4
35. Tony Hawk's Por Skater 2
36. Wario Land 4
37. WarioWare: Twisted!
38. WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgame$!
39. Yoshi Topsy-Turvy M

DS:

1. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
2. Animal Crossing: Wild World
3. DK: Jungle Climber
4. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
5. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
6. Kirby Super Star Ultra
7. Kirby Squeak Squad
8. Kirby Canvas Curse
9. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
10. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
11. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
12. Mario and Luigi: Partners In Time
13. Mario Kart DS
14. Mario Party DS
15. Mario Hoops 3-on-3
16. New Super Mario Bros.
17. Nintendogs
18. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
19. Pokemon Black
20. Pokemon Black 2
21. Pokemon HeartGold
22. Pokemon Platinum
23. Pokemon SoulSlver
24. Pokemon White
25. Pokemon White 2
26. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
27. Sonic Rush
28. Super Scrbblenauts
29. Super Mario 64 DS
30. Super Princess Peach
31. Tetris DS
32. The World Ends with You
33. WarioWare: Touched!
34. WarioWare D.I.Y.
35. Yoshi's New Island
36. Yoshi Touch & Go

Note: The games that are just straight ports such as Super Paper Mario or Donkey Kong games by Rareware would run directly for the console and would not be available throught NSO service.
Sorry that this is too much for post / list and more than you expect

So I filed a police report last night at around 8:30 pm. The police officer suggested I speak with an attorney as this is a civil rights violation. As I have an expectation of privacy per their policy and it’s a changing room with showers.
I am in Ohio. I tried downloading an app that would record a call. I called corporate and it showed it was being recorded but it didn’t.
Corporate offered to cancel my membership WITH OUT a refund bc I still used the membership and he can verify the incident occurred. He also said both managers did not fill out incident reports for the sexual harassment. He said there is no documentation he could give me for the phone call I had with him.
He said if it actually occurred then why did I go back there (I started going at 5 am instead of at night) and if it actually happened then I would’ve called them the first time.
I’m going to be contact attorneys.
Should I have them cancel the membership?

(The main purpose of this system is to advance democratic practice & principles)
Framework for a Super-State - (Note: Faction does not equal political party)
Article 18 - Political Faction Affiliation and Political Structure.
Section 1 - Faction Framework:
Section 1a - The political system shall consist of two primary factions: the Union Factions and the Federal Faction.
Section 1b - These factions transcend mere labels; their ascendancy shall fundamentally reshape the political and administrative landscape.
Section 2 - Party Membership Obligation:
Section 2a - While multiple political parties may exist, each party member must explicitly choose to align with either the union or the Federal Faction.
Section 2b - This affiliation decision is binding and cannot be altered until the member completes their term in office or reign.
Section 2c - Importantly, the chosen faction determines the fundamental system of government - either Federal or Unitary.
Article 19 - Legislative Bodies:
Section 1 - Supra-State Parliament: The Supra-State representing the overarching entity shall establish a Parliament. The Parliamentary body shall deliberate on matters of national significance, transcending regional boundaries.
Section 2 - State Assembly: each State or Region or Province shall maintain an Assembly. These Assemblies shall be the locus of regional governance, addressing localised concerns.
Section 3 - Representatives and Proportional Representation: Both the Parliament and the assemblies shall comprise representatives. The number of the representation, ensuring equitable participation from designated official constituencies.
Article 20 - The Supra-State Under Union Faction Government:
Section 1 - Election and Majority Determination:
Section 1a - Following an Election Conducted via the “Appointment by Numbers” voting system, the convened parliament shall officially vote to ascertain the majority within the lower house of parliament.
Section 1b - Upon successful demonstration of majority, the outcome of the vote shall dictate the subsequent course of action.
Section 2 - Union Faction Dominance:
Section 2a - When the Union Faction secures the majority of votes in parliament, its members shall exclusively possess the authority to elect a Prime Minister.
Section 2b - The elected Prime Minister shall assume the role of the executive or government head of the Supra-State, endowed with all customary powers and privileges associated with the Prime Ministerial position.
Article 21 - The Prime Minister's Government:
Section 1 - The government led by the Prime Minister shall be formally recognised as the Central Union Government.
Section 2 - The Central Union Government shall wield Comprehensive rights to enact and enforce legislation pertaining to the Central List, as well as the Concurrent list.
Section 3 - In cases of legal conflict between regional laws and Central Laws, the latter shall supersede the former.
Article 22 - The Upper House of Parliament:
Section 1 - Upon validation of the Union Faction’s majority, an Upper House of Parliament shall be automatically established.
Section 2 - The Upper House shall consist of members representing 5 to 7 lower house constituencies.
Section 3 - These members shall be appointed (not elected) by an electoral college or body.
Section 4 - Additionally, regional governments may appoint one member each to the Upper House.
Section 5 - The Upper House possesses the authority to deliberate upon and vote for or against legislature originating from the lower house.
Section 6 - No bills can attain legal status without passage through the Upper House, except for money bills.
Section 7 - The Upper House has the authority to return money bills for further consideration. However, once money bills successfully pass the lower house a second time, they automatically become law, regardless of whatever the upper house or the head of state gives their approval.
Article 23 - The Supra-State under Federal Faction government:
Section 1 - Abolition of the Upper House:
Section 1a - Following an election where the Federal Faction secures the Parliamentary majority, the Upper House of Parliament shall be automatically dissolved.
Section 1b - In its stead, the Federal Executive Council will come into existence.
Section 2 - The Federal Executive Council:
Section 2a - The Federal Executive Council shall comprise of all the heads of government from states, Provinces or Regions.
Section 2b - Functioning as a collective Presidency or Premiership, the Council will deliberate on policies and decisions, primarily relying on a simple majority.
Section 2c - Each Council member shall possess a single veto vote for the duration of the Council’s existence.
Article 24 - The parliament under a federal central government:
Section 1 - The lower house of parliament, now the sole legislative body, retains the authority to legislate on matters within the Central List and the Concurrent list.
Section 2 - However, laws passed by this body shall no longer supersede or hold supremacy over state, province or regional laws except on the subject of Defence, Money and Foreign Policy.
Article 25 - The Chief Secretary General’s government:
Section 1 - The Federal Faction of Parliament shall exclusively elect or appoint a leader known as the Chief Secretary General.
Section 2 - The Chief Secretary General will serve as the primary link between the Central Secretariat, responsible for administering and coordinating all Central agencies, and the Federal Executive Council.
Section 3 - While acting as the Council’s Chairman, The Chief Secretary General shall not possess voting powers.
Section 4 - The Chief Secretary General’s sole purpose shall be to execute orders and decisions issued by the Federal Executive Council.
Article 26 - Emergency Provisions under Federal Central Government.
Section 1 - In times of crisis, as declared by the Federal Executive Council, the Parliament shall be vested with the authority to institute a United Central Government.
Section 2 - This extraordinary measure aims to safeguard the security and integrity of the Supra-State.
Section 3 - Under this emergency arrangement, the Chief Secretary General shall ascend to the position of Prime Minister.
Section 4 - The Prime Minister, thus appointed, will wield comprehensive control over the Central Authority List with the Parliament.
Section 5 - The Federal Executive Council, during this period, shall be placed in animated suspension. Its functions and direct decision-making powers will be temporarily halted.
Section 6 - The United Central Government’s tenure shall last for six months initially and if deemed necessary, the Federal Executive Council may explicitly grant permission for an additional six-month extension.
Article 27 - The State, province or regional government shall mirror the Central government’s framework, adopting an “appointment by number” electoral system, The two Government Administration Faction system.
Section 1 - The head of government of a Union State Government will be the Chief Minister and shall be vested with all the customary powers and rights traditionally afforded to the Chief Minister.
Section 2 - The head of government of the Federal State Government Shall be the Secretary General who shall be responsible for the execution of orders and directives of the State Federal Executive Council that shall comprise all the heads of local governments.
Section 3 - The State Government shall have full rights to execute and legislate laws pertaining to the Peripheral List and the Concurrent list. However, how much control the state government can assert its authority on either of the lists will depend on how much control each faction has over the State Assembly.
Section 4 - The automatic establishment of the Upper House of the assembly shall be contingent upon the population size in each state.
Section 5 - Under a Federal Control of Government and depending on the size of the majority State Law shall supersede Central Government Laws except on the Subject of Money, Defence and Foreign Policy.
Article 28 - Breakdown of Law and Order in the State, Province or Regions: When the State government loses control over the law-and-order situation in the state, the central government shall have the right to intervene.
Section 1 - The declaration of a breakdown can be made either by the state or the central government. The centre’s authority to declare such an emergency shall adhere to stringent guidelines.
Section 2 - Emergency powers vested in the centre must not extend beyond a 6-month period. Subsequently, any such actions necessitate approval from the state assembly.
Section 3 - If the state assembly faces challenges in functioning or consensus-building, the extension of the emergency shall be contingent upon the prevailing security conditions. Nevertheless, it will cease promptly upon the conclusion of the new election.
The Original document contains 33 Articles, a total of 40 pages that can be download on the patreon of Damanler Sun
Link - https://www.patreon.com/posts/prime-101736239?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Part One - The People’s Main Expression of Power.
Article 3 - Appointment by Numbers: (new type of electoral system that prevents polarising voters)
Part two - Land and Representatives.
Part Three - Structure of Government
Article 13 - The Voting Octet: (grassroots groups - not just political but to a system to prevent loneliness)
Article 14 - Structure and Function of the Common Government: (Local government)
Article 15 - The Common Jury Court: (the lowest court system)
Article 16 - Power List in Governance:
Article 29 - Auxiliary Member of Parliament (AMPs)
Article 30 - The Constitutional Family:
Part Four - Education & Policing
Article 31b - Education: (Marathon Exams)
Article 32 - Unofficial Line of Succession:
Article 33- Policing: (direct democracy on policing) and
Original Notes.
Best Regards.

Adel

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• Adel Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 22, 2024

Alleman

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. AND every 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m., which appears to be their Work Session meetings. Agendas can be found here.
• Alleman Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 15, 2024

Altoona

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Altoona Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Public hearing to amend Chapter 159 sign code adding M1A criteria
    • Final Plat for Prairie Landing Plat 1
    • Set a public hearing for May 20, 2024, to consider a request from Signature Ernst Land Development LLC to approve a development plan for Blue Ridge Plat 3

Ankeny

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here
• Ankeny Mayor and City Council
• You need to select Novus agenda and it takes you to a 3rd party website where you can then select the latest meeting type such as City Council, Action Planning, etc.
  • City Council meetings can be viewed via Zoom, but only during the meeting. The City does not post the video of the Council meetings on either their website or YouTube.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Public Hearing for rezoning certain real estate owned by Berwick Holdings, LLC, from the current R-1, One Family Residence District to PUD, Planned Unit Development.
    • Amending provisions pertaining to stormwater management fees.

Bondurant

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Bondurant Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Nothing of interest for this meeting

Carlisle

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Carlisle Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 22, 2024

Clive

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. with the goal of having agendas posted no later than two business days prior to a meeting. Agenda Packets for 2024 can be found here and a collection of prior year agenda packets (2005+) and large construction set documents can be located here.
• Clive Mayor and City Council
• Latest City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 2, 2024

Cumming

• City Council meets on the 2nd Mondays of every month and sometimes on the 4th Monday if needed at 7 p.m. They updated their website so in the new way to find their current agenda/packets is either on the front page of the website either under latest news in the center or to the right under upcoming events.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 22, 2024

Dallas Center

• City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Dallas Center Mayor and City
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 29, 2024

Dallas County

• Dallas County Board of Supervisors meet every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Upcoming Supervisor Agenda Packets can be found here and Supervisor meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here.
• They do not post contact information for their three board of supervisors - Someone who lives in Dallas County please contact the County to post this information because it’s antithetical to an “open” government.
• Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 7, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGETING
    • HEART OF IOWA COMMUNITY SERVICES 28E AGREEMENT
• If you work for Dallas County or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Supervisor agenda packets on the website.

De Soto

• City Council meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas posted to the City website by the EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
• De Soto Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 16, 2024

Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5 p.m. with agendas being available by 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here. I will only do my top 5 as the media generally covers DSM Council meetings and the big topics.
• Des Moines Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does usually have Work Sessions on the morning of regular City Council meetings (Mondays) at 7:30 a.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Intersection improvements of 6th Avenue and Day Street
    • Speed Limit and Parking Modification – 35th Street from Ingersoll Avenue to University Avenue (30 mph to 25 mph)
    • Amendment to Development Agreement with 420 Court Avenue, LLC (DT Hy-Vee) clarifying and approving temporary hours of operation and minimum size of grocery store.
    • Operation agreement with Central Iowa Ultimate, Inc. (CIU) for the Recreation Ultimate Frisbee Program
    • Items regarding the Argonne Armory at 602 Robert D. Ray Drive and the current City Hall
    • WORK SESSION IN MORNING at 7:30 a.m. - Odor Enforcement Program

Elkhart

• City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6 p.m. Agendas can be found here and Agenda Packets can located here (it seems like agendas are posted at a separate time compared to the full agenda packet.
• Elkhart does not provide contact information for their Mayor or City Council. If you live in Elkhart, please contact the City to ask that they put this information up on their website.
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 22, 2024

Granger

• City Council meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
• Granger Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 29, 2024

Grimes

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 5:30 p.m. and they try to have agendas available to view for the public published 24 hours in advance of the meeting. They have dates listed on their website when they will not meet during the year listed here.
• Grimes Mayor and City Council
• agenda & meetings page/calendar this does include their upcoming and previous meetings with agendas/packets if you scroll up or down.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – April 23, 2024

Indianola

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here.
• Indianola Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have study sessions on topics that are before the regular City Council meeting at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • South K Street Paving Project
    • Buxton Traffic Signal Project
    • RAGBRAI 2024
• City Council Study Session Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
• Items of interest:
  • Catch Des Moines Annual Update, Police Department Annual Update

Johnston

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here This takes you to a 3rd party website where there appears to be no separate web pages for each Council meeting.
• Johnston Mayor and City Council
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before regular City Council meetings at 6 p.m.
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024 (On the desktop version, it is not a separate page from where the agendas are located so you have to click on meetings in the top right, find the Council meeting on the left, click view agenda, and then you can click on separate agenda items on the left to get more info)
  • Items of interest:
    • Council Work Session before City Council meeting - Discuss Code Revisions for Use of Golf Carts in Carmel Hyperion Subdivision; and Evaluate Interest in Future Council Discussion About Golf Carts/ATVs/UTVs on City Streets in Johnston
    • Updating the City of Johnston Policy on Special Events
    • Amending the Code of Ordinances of the City of Johnston, Iowa, for the Purpose of Revising Parking Regulations and Fine Amounts
    • Deployment of Automated License Plate Reader Technologies with Flock Group, Inc.

Norwalk

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Norwalk Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 2, 2024

Pleasant Hill

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets for previous meetings can be found here but you have to select the particular meeting from a list under City Council Agendas (Their archive is not updated properly so you may need to contact staff at the city to fix this or request different agenda documents). Agendas for the upcoming City Council meeting can be located here on the left hand side of the web page.
• Pleasant Hill Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda – April 23, 2024

Polk City

• City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Polk City Mayor and City Council
• Special City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Discuss High Trestle Trail to Neal Smith Trail Connector Project

Polk County

• Polk County Board of Supervisors meet every other Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The schedule for the rest of the year as well as agenda packets for upcoming and previous meetings can be found here They also typically have work sessions on Wednesday or Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
• Polk County Board of Supervisors (You have to click on each Supervisors “Bio” to get their contact information)
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Packet – May 7, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Community development grant for JOPPA

Urbandale

• City Council meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
• Urbandale Mayor and City Council (On the left hand side of the webpage you have to select each person for their contact information)
  • City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before City Council Meetings at 5:30 p.m. City Council also has Lunch and Learn meetings that are open to the public electronically on select Tuesdays at 11:45 a.m. (The public may access the conversation in person at Urbandale City Council Chambers the day of the meeting).
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Letter of Support - Dallas County Board of Supervisors Increase in Membership
    • Acquisition of 4.02 acres at 10100 Douglas Avenue

Van Meter

• City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here
• Van Meter Mayor and City Council
• Special City Council Meeting Agenda – April 22, 2024

Warren County

• Warren County Board of Supervisors meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at 9:30 a.m. Agendas can be found here
• Warren County Board of Supervisors
• Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – April 23, 2024 They require you to download the agendas via PDF’s so there is no direct web link to the agendas

Waukee

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here AND the agenda packets can be located here
• Waukee Mayor and City Council
  • City Council will have Work Sessions and Special Meetings that usually occur on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
• Special City Council Work Session Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Enter into an Option Agreement and a Development Agreement with Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, Inc. related to a project within the North Waukee Residential Urban Renewal Area
    • Traffic Signal Enhancements, Waukee School & Trail Crossing Improvements Project
    • Letter of Support for increasing board membership of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors
    • Water, stormwater, solid waste, and natural gas fee increases

West Des Moines

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Upcoming Council Agenda Packets can be found here (to see the packet for a meeting, click on the meeting under “Events” and then select one of the packet choices) and Council meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here
• West Des Moines Mayor and City Council
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Letter of Support for Increasing Board Membership of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors
    • Ruthenium Urban Renewal Area
    • Modify Regulations Pertaining to the Sales and Storage of Fireworks
    • Agreement for Private Development - POMP of West Des Moines, LLC

Windsor Heights

• City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
• Windsor Heights Mayor and City Council (You have to click on each person to get their contact information but you can fill out this form to send a message to the Mayor, the five city councilors, and the city administrator at once.
  • They do have recaps of their City Council meetings which are located here
• City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 6, 2024
  • Items of interest:
    • Amending Chapter 136, Governing Sidewalk Regulations
    • Amending Chapter 185, Governing Floodplain Management
    • Amending Chapter 101 Relating to the Storm Water Drainage

Started truly today.
Downloaded cronometer and am being completely honest with my self, and I’m getting a gym membership.
I’m 16 and kinda new to this so any not overwhelming tips you can give would be great.
Also, best way to deal with someone constantly shaming me in front of others? (Mentally)
This guy who wants to be a road man/gangster really really bad, and is overly violent, goes out of his way to call me: fatass; osama bin lardin; fatty; etc. and he’s in 14 of my lessons a fort night, as well as break, lunch, etc.
Most of my friends don’t do anything cus I act like I’m chill with it, and because this guy loves starting fights.
He doesn’t really have any friends, so I think he does stuff like that for attention, cus literally everyone who he talks to, chats shit about him to me, behind his back.
Anyway, he does this in front of strangers, friends, teachers, whoever and nothing happens.
I get an answer wrong
“You fucking dumb fattass”
I get an answer right
“Nobody asked fatty”
We learn about diabetes, digestive system, monomers, vaccines, etc.
“You would know fatboy”
And if I say anything back he hits me, even if it’s literally “shut up” or “ no one asked, or “no one thinks you’re funny”.
It makes it allot harder because I’ve always run to food in my life, whether it was my mum or dad abusing me, verbally, mentally and physically. Or even just being stressed about school.
I fluctuate over and under 80kg, and I’m stuck at 5,3/5,4 so he isn’t wrong.
But there’s nothing I can do, except try to keep the embarrassment to a minimum in front of people around, cus he shouts it.
My friends usually tell him to fuck off cus obviously he won’t do anything to the people who aren’t short and fat, but obviously that won’t stop him.
P.s if this fucking guy ends up in my 6form/college I’ll be pissed, unless I lose enough weight by September