Because they start their show so early, they are missing out on the celebs, sports athletes that occasionally show up to record on PMT. If they were to time their show to end just before YAK, they could have a system like they used to have in NYC where celebs would do a "car wash" and do multiple shows to squeeze as much content out of them as possible. Celebs could do the Chicago car wash by doing Mostly Sports, YAK then end with PMT. As for Picks Central, let them find a new time slot because the numbers clearly show they suck compared to Mostly Sports.
It's also kind of ironic that before the Chicago-NYC split, people used to think that NYC would have the advantage of attracting better celebs & guest due to their location. In reality, NYC has had almost zero decent celebs\athletes show up since the big split which makes sense since celebs only want to show up on shows\podcast that have large numbers and NYC has zero shows that bring in big numbers. What's really funny is that when the D-List Montana Boys showed up to NYC HQ, they didn't even go on KFC pod and only did BFF's with Chickenfry & Dave.

Feel like if Austin goes 0-4 against CAR and ATL... would pretty dumb for them to get a higher playoff seed when their schedule is clearly easiest in the entire league and it's not even close. Houston and Dallas oveunder on wins that aren't against each other on the season is likely the same as it was last year 0.5. And last year the under hit.

So my rotors seem to be warped on my 2020 Civic Si, at least I think so. They feel alright with very light braking, but any amount of hard braking immediately causes wobbling. Pads are definitely low, only about 2-3 mm left, so I figured I should just replace the rotors anyway. I just ordered EBC's Stage 5 kit that comes with slotted and dimpled rotors and yellowstuff pads front and rear for $500 due to good reviews on the Civicx forum. However, I'm reading a lot of people say that slotted/dimpled simply is not worth the extra cost for a street car. I drive pretty hard in the mountains and have felt a pretty substantial amount of brake fade at times so I figured I could definitely benefit from some better heat dissipation, but now I'm starting to regret my decision. Am I wasting my money? I believe I can still cancel the order and just get cheaper blanks.

Round 1, Pick 21 - Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State:
NFL: I see Miami using Robinson as a rotational player early on. An A+ athlete, Robinson is a developmental prospect with first-step quickness and explosiveness but needs more consistency.
CBS Sports: A. I love this pick for Miami. He has the best first step in this draft. With a little coaching, he will become a dominant pass rusher. They can also move him around as a joker on their front. Love it.
ESPN: At some point, the Dolphins may have a lot of money tied up in their outside linebackers room. But until then, this could end up being one of the better pass-rush rotations in the NFL. Robinson recorded fewer than 12 sacks in three collegiate seasons, but his physical traits jump off the tape. He has a powerful first step and will ideally fill the rotational role left by Andrew Van Ginkel's departure. Coach Mike McDaniel loves his pass-rushers and he gets an exciting one in Robinson.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Wants his face mask to be one solid piece like Master Shredder.
Round 2, Pick 55 - Patrick Paul, OT, Houston:
NFL: With the offensive tackle ranks significantly thinned, the Dolphins jumped in on Paul after going defense in Round 1. He wasn't my favorite OT prospect this year, with Paul giving me some Josh Jones vibes. His mass and reach are impressive, and he has 44 college starts at left tackle. But if Paul is Terron Armstead's eventual replacement, getting a year to develop his craft, this pick might work out.
CBS Sports: C-. Strange fit because this is one of the least mobile blockers in the class. Mike McDaniel typically prioritizes athleticism along his offensive line. Absolutely enormous with supreme length. Hand placement is very inconsistent. Gets outside the shoulder pads. Very experienced. Hits on a need.
ESPN: Offensive tackle is not an immediate need with Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson set to reprise their roles at left and right tackle, respectively. But Armstead is expected to retire after this season, and Miami had no immediate successor on its roster -- until Friday night. Paul has enviable size for the position at 6-foot-7, 330 pounds and made 44 starts for Houston at left tackle. He also registered the longest arm length of any tackle at the combine -- a trait which the Dolphins' staff loves. He's not a finished product but the opportunity to develop behind Armstead for at least a year should prove invaluable for a player the Dolphins couldn't hide their excitement about when speaking to the media after the pick.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Did not manage to escape being drafted by the Browns. Oof.
Round 4, Pick 120 - Jaylen Wright, RB, Tennessee:
NFL: The Dolphins love speed, and Wright has plenty of it. He might be able to develop into Raheem Mostert's eventual replacement and a good complement to De'Von Achane. Wright has a lot of tread left on his tires but must prove he can exercise better ball security to earn that role.
CBS Sports: B-. More speed to Miami’s offense. Weight ran through some gaping holes at Tennessee but has high-end acceleration once he’s in the open field. Elusiveness is good, not amazing. Slashing style as opposed to jump-cut back. Would’ve liked to see another position addressed here, but Mike McDaniel will be happy.
ESPN: The Dolphins love speed, and Wright ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds. He also averaged 7.4 yards per carry last season for the Volunteers. He is yet another home-run hitter on an offense that already features De’Von Achane, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert. Wright also caught 22 passes for 141 yards last season, teasing potential as a pass-catcher at the next level.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Is excited for the re-release of the 1999 classic, THE MUMMY.
Round 5, Pick 158 - Mohamed Kamara, DE, Colorado State:
NFL: The final player in my last top 100 list, Kamara will have to make it in spite of his poor length, but his hell-on-wheels style and ball-hunting ability make him a fun guy to root for. Watch the Colorado game for a sneak peek of how disruptive he can be.
CBS Sports: B. Smaller EDGE who converts speed to power consistently because of low center of gravity. Burst is there as is his dip/bend around the corner. Nice collection of pass-rush moves. Gets overwhelmed a lot because of his lack of size and length. Turns 25 in his rookie season.
ESPN: Kamara was highly productive in college with 29.5 career sacks, including 13 in his final season at Colorado State. He also recorded 45.5 tackles for a loss, proving he can be a disruptive presence in the front seven. The Dolphins needed to rebuild their depth at pass rusher and may have found a steal with Kamara in the fifth round.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Has a large collection of mini farm animals made of cheese in his dorm.
Round 6, Pick 184 - Malik Washington, WR, Virginia:
NFL: He wasn't going to be for every team because of his smaller frame, but in my opinion, Washington should have been drafted prior to this. His speed makes him a perfect fit in Miami, as Washington could be an ideal fourth or fifth receiver and return threat.
CBS Sports: A+. Electric, short not small wideout who was the heartbeat of the Virginia offense after transferring from Northwestern. Wins underneath with explosion and powerful lower half gives him high-end contact balance. Won’t be huge separator on full route tree. Leaper who can find it in the air. Good, not great speed. Niche type but a lot of fun.
ESPN: Washington led the nation in catches last season with 110, turning them into 1,426 yards and nine touchdowns as the focal point of Virginia's offense. He won't quite play the same role in Miami, but he's a dynamic receiver who could earn reps with a strong summer. The Dolphins' third receiver job is up for the taking.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He’s convinced he could play in the league today with a leather helmet.
Round 6, Pick 198 - Patrick McMorris, S, California:
NFL: McMorris opened eyes a few years ago with a four-INT season at San Diego State and finished with a solid final year at Cal, but his average traits could always hold him back from starting duty.
CBS Sports: C. Checks size and physicality boxes but doesn’t met normal athleticism or tackling-reliability requirements. Multi-positional usage in college will help him learn the playbook in the NFL. Surprising selection.
ESPN: The Dolphins signed Jordan Poyer this offseason after losing Brandon Jones to free agency, but McMorris adds depth to the position and a potential running mate for Jevon Holland in the future. McMorris recorded 90 tackles in two separate seasons at San Diego and Cal, and is a versatile defensive back who can play multiple positions.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Shocked at how much it costs to rent a jet ski nowadays.
Round 7, Pick 241 - Tahj Washington, WR, USC:
NFL: Washington's small frame likely took him off some boards, especially after he ran in the 4.5 range in the 40. But his big-play production on offense and special teams value cannot be overlooked. Washington might be the type who finds a way to hang around in the league.
CBS Sports: B+. Another springy slot option for Tua Tagovailoa. Nifty after the catch and plays with fun lateral bounce although he doesn’t appear to be top-level athlete. Can uncover underneath and has solid hands. Tiny frame and little catch radius.
ESPN: The Dolphins doubled up on wide receivers and took Washington, who recorded at least 600 receiving yards in four straight seasons. He has a similar physical build as Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, and is a solid route runner. His best bet to make the team is likely by establishing himself of special teams.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Thinks sneaker heads are crazy when you can get shoes at Target for like $15.

Over the past 3 years, I've been touched and inspired by many of the hardship stories & comments people have shared on the GME subs. Often I've found myself in tears or close-to-tears, while I empathically bump my fist at my laptop screen and proclaim solidarity.
When my father passed a few years back, he had little more "wealth" than several thousand in dogshit-catshit mutual funds. They bounced up and down and all around, for a good 20 years. By the time we liquidated them, the paperwork alone, and transfer processes, made it barely worth it (and not really). He was not a financially smart man, but he tried; he tried as best he could with the limited financial knowledge he was able to glean from our "given choices". He also got blindsided by life numerous times, or maybe his choices could have been clearer. But he believed in his investments, because it was what was pushed on him by "smart" advisors/brokers with duplicitous smiles. (Picture the 2 mortgage broker guys in The Big Short) My disgust and contempt for these people -- even the lower levels dealing with the working class peasants -- deepens by the day. Now to the bigger fish...
These people that run the earth... this.... PARASITE CLASS... what a bunch of sick fucks. Out of touch, uncaring, entitled shits; when greed meets narcissism and psychopathy, and presents them with the gift of fiat-ponzi. Most are generational with their lackadaisical dismissal of the peasants: "To the manor born", as Agent Patrick Denham describes in thinly-veiled-disgust, in Wolf of Wall Street. Douchebags descended from douchebags, with no real desire to make the earth a better place, but only to satisfy their own distorted view of Maslow's Hierarchy, and what they may define as Self-Actualization or Transcendence. Hell, I'd be willing to bet most never make it that far, and are stuck somewhere in the "acceptance by others" part.

Dear Parasite Class,

...We're coming. We're coming for your comforts, your money, your homes, your stable & appreciable assets that you will have to publicly auction or surrender to foreclosure (Schitt's Creek, anyone?). We'll be shopping for your office towers on TenX (vertical-farming ape, right here), and car collections that may not see Pebble Beach Concourse in 2025.
Don't fuck with the internet, don't fuck with Reddit, and don't fuck with poor people, because we have nothing left to lose.
“Remember this. The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this fact. So don't fuck with us.”
I want any super-wealthy people reading this (and our alphabet agencies too, cause fuck you for not doing anything for 3 years), to ponder the following sampling. And then I'm going to piss-off back to my own livelihood, and convert the fake fiat to more shares of The Precious....
How would your life be if you:

• Woke up every morning with a sense of DREAD, instead of a sense of JOY. What does it do to a human?
• Didn't know how you would pay your upcoming bills, and had to juggle.
• Had your car's AC die in a place like Houston, Texas, and no money to fix it.
• Prayed every day that your car doesn't generally break down at any given moment.
• Knew that if it does break down, it could cost you your job.
• Saw the car repair bill would strain everything else, including that AC bill.
• Dared to introspect that in the lives of working-class people, even "minor" setbacks cause ripples.
• Actually considered that the CPI and inflation numbers are lies, and lived in constant anxiety.
• Needed to contemplate the uncertainty of being 1 emergency medical issue away from catastrophe.
• Were constantly told that "poor people should invest better", and then getting rug-pulled when you do.
• Watched for years, as your parents "give up on life", and accept mediocrity.
• Had aging parents you knew someday you'd have to take care of, but weren't sure you financially could.
• Were to forecast your own retirement, and knew the math didn't work.

There's more, but now I've got myself all riled-up again.
I'm done ranting for the moment. I'm angry as shit. I would have sold my 1-share $300 buy of 2021 for $1,000 (thanks TDAmeritrade for graying the buy-button and not letting me do it). Now I'm selling until I see people going to prison, bankers jumping from buildings (I wanna see cabbage/Chrisanova the savage), and a complete worldwide exposé of the naked-shorting racket, ALONG WITH the multi-generational, debt-based, fiat ponzi scheme that has been structured for everyone.
Cause Fuck 'em, that's why.

Over the past 3 years, I've been touched and inspired by many of the hardship stories & comments people have shared on the GME subs. Often I've found myself in tears or close-to-tears, while I empathically bump my fist at my laptop screen and proclaim solidarity.
When my father passed a few years back, he had little more "wealth" than several thousand in dogshit-catshit mutual funds. They bounced up and down and all around, for a good 20 years. By the time we liquidated them, the paperwork alone, and transfer processes, made it barely worth it (and not really). He was not a financially smart man, but he tried; he tried as best he could with the limited financial knowledge he was able to glean from our "given choices". He also got blindsided by life numerous times, or maybe his choices could have been clearer. But he believed in his investments, because it was what was pushed on him by "smart" advisors/brokers with duplicitous smiles. (Picture the 2 mortgage broker guys in The Big Short) My disgust and contempt for these people -- even the lower levels dealing with the working class peasants -- deepens by the day. Now to the bigger fish...
These people that run the earth... this.... PARASITE CLASS... what a bunch of sick fucks. Out of touch, uncaring, entitled shits; when greed meets narcissism and psychopathy, and presents them with the gift of fiat-ponzi. Most are generational with their lackadaisical dismissal of the peasants: "To the manor born", as Agent Patrick Denham describes in thinly-veiled-disgust, in Wolf of Wall Street. Douchebags descended from douchebags, with no real desire to make the earth a better place, but only to satisfy their own distorted view of Maslow's Hierarchy, and what they may define as Self-Actualization or Transcendence. Hell, I'd be willing to bet most never make it that far, and are stuck somewhere in the "acceptance by others" part.

Dear Parasite Class,

...We're coming. We're coming for your comforts, your money, your homes, your stable & appreciable assets that you will have to publicly auction or surrender to foreclosure (Schitt's Creek, anyone?). We'll be shopping for your office towers on TenX (vertical-farming ape, right here), and car collections that may not see Pebble Beach Concourse in 2025.
Don't fuck with the internet, don't fuck with Reddit, and don't fuck with poor people, because we have nothing left to lose.
“Remember this. The people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.
We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this fact. So don't fuck with us.”
I want any super-wealthy people reading this (and our alphabet agencies too, cause fuck you for not doing anything for 3 years), to ponder the following sampling. And then I'm going to piss-off back to my own livelihood, and convert the fake fiat to more shares of The Precious....
How would your life be if you:

• Woke up every morning with a sense of DREAD, instead of a sense of JOY. What does it do to a human?
• Didn't know how you would pay your upcoming bills, and had to juggle.
• Had your car's AC die in a place like Houston, Texas, and no money to fix it.
• Prayed every day that your car doesn't generally break down at any given moment.
• Knew that if it does break down, it could cost you your job.
• Saw the car repair bill would strain everything else, including that AC bill.
• Dared to introspect that in the lives of working-class people, even "minor" setbacks cause ripples.
• Actually considered that the CPI and inflation numbers are lies, and lived in constant anxiety.
• Needed to contemplate the uncertainty of being 1 emergency medical issue away from catastrophe.
• Were constantly told that "poor people should invest better", and then getting rug-pulled when you do.
• Watched for years, as your parents "give up on life", and accept mediocrity.
• Had aging parents you knew someday you'd have to take care of, but weren't sure you financially could.
• Were to forecast your own retirement, and knew the math didn't work.

There's more, but now I've got myself all riled-up again.
I'm done ranting for the moment. I'm angry as shit. I would have sold my 1-share $300 buy of 2021 for $1,000 (thanks TDAmeritrade for graying the buy-button and not letting me do it). Now I'm selling until I see people going to prison, bankers jumping from buildings (I wanna see cabbage/Chrisanova the savage), and a complete worldwide exposé of the naked-shorting racket, ALONG WITH the multi-generational, debt-based, fiat ponzi scheme that has been structured for everyone.
Cause Fuck 'em, that's why.

I only have 2 slots so my engine and aero are around 85 atm but my suspension is stuck at 70. How do I fix this so that I have a more balanced car? My two employees are maxed out on suspension but it hasn’t transferred over to the car.

Edit: If you are going to comment on the length of this post, please don't. This is not a simple snark but rather an actual critical think piece about feminism and Taylor Swift.

Introduction

Pertaining to Taylor Swift, "Female Rage" has deviated from its intended meaning after Swift debuted a new performance of The Tortured Poets Department during the Eras Tour. Now, according to Swift's use of the phrase, female rage is interpreted as public backlash against Swift's dating choices rather than as a response to the broader injustices against women and women's rights. This post examines Taylor Swift's flawed feminism, philanthropy, branding, and the controversial trademark petition for the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical". Swift's background as an entertainer, indeterminate politics, and alignment with capitalism over feminism pervades her legacy, again threatening her public tolerance as not just an individual but as a brand.

Once Upon a Female Rage...

If you were cognizant in the early 2010's, you've heard countless jabs at Taylor Swift in the media. Magazines, radio, or online. Music critics did not take her seriously as a songwriter; parents put a woman on an unrealistic pedestal as the ideal role model for their children; she dated too much and used men as lyrical fodder. No matter the story, it inevitably spread, conjoined with everyone's respective opinions, and you'd be left to wonder, "Why does everyone hate this girl so much?"
Taylor's target demographic has always been young or adolescent girls, more so when Swift herself was one. She made music that spoke to the awkward misfit, cultivating a para-social relationship with fans on MySpace, then later twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, where Taylor posted relatable vlogs showcasing the life of a homegrown American girl. Taylor had a delayed public "growing up" and, compared to her female pop contemporaries, Swift never "gratuitously sexualized her image and seems pathologically averse to controversy" (and, apparently, never even had a sip of alcohol until she turned 21). She was more than happy to spin this narrative to allude to an inherent moral superiority above other women in the industry (Better Than Revenge, heard of it?), engaging in the very slut-shaming that she herself endured (the Madonna and Whore archetypes). The victim complex arose with the need to prove Taylor as a different type of pop girl. Based upon her holy and clean image, Swift had been dubbed "a feminist's nightmare", and that "[To Swift] other girls are obstacles; undeserving enemies who steal Taylor’s soulmates with their bewitching good looks and sexual availability." Feminism and Tennessee-Christian country values don't exactly mix, it seems.
Years later, Swift befriended Lena Dunham and thus experienced white feminism osmosis, where Dunham taught Swift that real feminists defend rapists, makes insensitive jokes about rape and abortion, and prioritize all-white casts. Swift then declared herself a feminist in 2014, saying,

"Becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so."

I suppose the male-centric songwriting subject that permeates Swift's discography contained covert feminism and that we just didn't see that. Perhaps, the "Bad Blood" song and music video were written only in jest and not about poor Katy Perry, for Swift, as a feminist, would "never make it a girl fight" or tear other women down (though all Katy did was date your terrible ex-boyfriend and allegedly steal three backup dancers from your tour). In 2013, Swift said, in response to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's joke towards her serial dating, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
There was that time in 2015 Taylor said that Nicki Minaj was "invited to any stage [she is] on" (as if Taylor expects to have access to every stage, award, and platform that Nicki might not otherwise have as a black female artist...yikes!) in response to Nicki's criticism of the white + thin VMA nominations. Later, Nicki responded with confusion, as Swift continued, "It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..". Of course, this 'beef' was 'squashed' when Nicki performed with Taylor at the VMAs, with Nicki quite literally only having 38 seconds of stage time without Taylor. Maybe all that parading around with a legion of famous white women - similar to the way Taylor might've done with her numerous 1989-era handbags - was in fact a stance against gender inequality, and that this display of "girl power" should be enough to constitute Swift as a feminist icon.
Even while Swift says that Dunham informed her feminist outlook, she dances around the exact contents of those beliefs: "what she believes, what she says, what she stands for" is not exactly insightful towards what beliefs Swift might have inherited. Taylor never broaches women's rights topics such femicide, FGM, forced pregnancy & marriage, sex trafficking, women in slavery, women's financial and political oppression, women's educational rights, women's health, or women's autonomy, so we can assume she only gives a fuck about "girls supporting girls" (whatever that fucking means).
Despite some questionable (and sometimes vindictive) behavior, Taylor as a young woman did not deserve every media lashing that she received. We cannot deny that most headlines and criticisms perpetuated a misogynistic rhetoric which has plagued Swift for a majority of her career. Acknowledging events such as the development of her ED, her sexual assault trial, "Famous" lyric and MV depiction of Taylor, and the explicit Twitter deepfakes, for example, as both disgusting and unfortunate things that happened to a young woman in Hollywood does not negate the fact that Taylor is mostly a performative feminist.

Get Your Fucking Ass Up and Be a Philanthropist, It Seems Like Nobody Wants to Be a Philanthropist These Days

In 2013, Taylor Swift cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. The donation amount - $4 million - was the largest individual artist gift ever donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is, of course, mentioned on Swift's website. The two-story facility features three classrooms, an instrument room, and an interactive children's exhibit gallery. Swift also performed at "All for the Hall" charity shows and has donated numerous artifacts from her career (such as notable guitars, tour costumes, etc) to the museum.
This was over 11 years ago, and it is still the only notable philanthropic contribution Taylor Swift has made.
For a woman of her net worth and stature, and a woman who recognizes the difficulties for women in film and music, you would think that Taylor Swift might establish a scholarship program for women to study the arts or something. Perhaps Swift might even consider becoming a member of organizations that support female artists, or one that supports LGBTQ+ causes (since she is now proudly an ally), yet she remains superficial with her graces. Broader philanthropy, such as donating relief aid to Palestinian women or women impacted by violence and discrimination will probably never receive any financial support from Miss Swift because then she'd be using her money towards philanthropies involving anyone but white entertainers.
She even says herself in Miss Americana, "My entire moral code as a kid and now is a need to be thought of as 'good'." Well, she's certainly thought of as good, though her actions say otherwise. She's more than happy to do a vaguely altruistic song and dance for a clip-worthy interview quote and mass appeasement, then fuck off to one of her mansions on a 20 minute private jet flight, rather than actually contribute to anything pertaining to the causes she has endorsed. Yet, far too many people continue to give a woman such as her their money, time, and energy, and she hoards these resources to herself.

I Like Some of the Taylor's Songs, But What the Fuck Does She Know About Feminism?

Swift continued with her self-proclaimed feminist campaign, positioning herself as a political activist and LGBTQ+ ally in the Miss Americana documentary. The primary focus of the documentary consists of the sexual assault trial, Andrea Swift's cancer diagnosis, Taylor's ED and body dysmorphia, media scrutiny, and, largely, finally speaking up about her politics publicly, mostly her opposition to the 2018 Tennessee Republican senate candidate, Marsha Blackburn, and Blackburn's beliefs. Swift says, following a scene discussing her experience during the trial,

"I just couldn't really stop thinking about it. And I just thought to myself, next time there is any opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you want to say."

We must ask ourselves, though: when has Swift ever spoken up to change anything? Okay, pulling her entire catalogue from Spotify because they didn't pay their artists enough and similarly pulling her catalogue from Apple Music are changes that she leveraged due to her revenue potential and power, but they are not pertinent to the average woman's rights. Moreover, these are issues that directly impacted Taylor's income, which was enough reason for her to protest in the first place. Swift has sold the most units for a female artist in first week sales, is the first female artist with 100k monthly Spotify listeners, is the first female artist to win the Album of the Year Grammy 4 times, and is the first female artist to do X, Y, and Z, all while being inoffensive and family-friendly to boot. The actual Taylor Swift seems unwilling to compromise the brand of Taylor Swift by contributing in meaningful ways to feminist causes, especially if it is for women outside of America and Hollywood.
The reason political anthems such as "The Man" and "Only the Young" of the Lover era feel disingenuous and corporate is because, well, it is. Taylor has taken every opportunity to advance her career or public image at the expense of other women. What is truly genuine to Taylor's outlook on other women is vying for male attention, taking down female competition, and vocalizing feminist injustices only if they directly impact her and her money. Some will argue that it's satisfactory for a woman with such a huge platform to even TALK about feminism, but that just isn't enough. It's even less impressive when you candidly look at the scope of her feminist lens: "If I was the man, then I'd be THE MAN", or "I really resent the ‘Be careful, buddy, she’s going to write a song about you’ angle, because it trivialises what I do", and, of course, "We all got crowns". Feminism, but only when it happens to me. It gets worse when you look at Taylor's track record of copying other famous women and removing other female artists as potential threats to her pop prowess.
It's good for PR to align yourself with certain blanket feminist and political beliefs, therefore good for branding, therefore good for ticketing and merchandise sales, therefore good for business. And Taylor Swift is a business.
She's not a feminist. Taylor Swift is a capitalist.

I Can't Pay Those Sweatshop Workers a Livable Wage or Benefits! How Else Would I Make My Billions?

Recently, Taylor's team filed to trademark the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical" after Taylor said during Paris N1 of the Eras Tour,

"So you were the first ones to see The Tortured Poets at the Eras Tour...or as I like to call it, 'Female Rage: The Musical'."

This trademark petition was filed last week on Saturday, and news comes about just as numerous unofficial fan-made merch designs have cropped up with this phrase plastered on Fruit of the Loom basics. I'm of the opinion Swift's team motioned for a trademark so that they can send out cease & desists to all those that make knockoff merch, which disrupts potential sales for Bravado, UMG's choice merchandising company; however, since it was filed earlier, perhaps Swift has bigger plans with the bizarre use of the gendered phrase. One Swiftie referred to the phrase "female rage" as "a funny Eras Tour joke". Could it be a possible fourth version of the Eras Tour Movie? Whatever the reason, the motion to capitalize off of such a concept is disgusting, but not unsurprising, for a woman that profits on her vain feminism.
Swift, through her company, TAS Rights Managements, has also trademarked over 200 phrases, including "1989", where she owns the property rights to this calendar year on keychains, phone cases, sunglasses, stationary, bags, beverage ware, clothing, entertainment services, your subconscious, and, of course, Christmas ornaments.
The vapid consumerism in Swiftie culture is, frankly, disgusting. Bravado's sustainability statement is non-existent, the quality control is abysmal, and the materials they use are horrible. The materials, such as acrylic and polyester, are made from petrochemicals. This means they are non-renewable, shed microplastics, and are quite toxic in production. The manufacturing process to make all of those lazy-rushed Eras Tour logo graphic tees is a huge blow to environmental well-being. Apparently, though, Swifties don't give a fuck. They sell out products in seconds and either have to face the manufactured scarcity or buy from a scalper that resells for 200% of the already ridiculous retail price. This doesn't include the environmental impact of vinyl records, CD, and cassette production, of which Taylor produces many variants that sell unsustainable amounts.
If we're talking about women's rights violations, why is no one acknowledging the women that work in the inhumane sweatshop conditions that have to pump out fugly t-shirts and hats? The millions of plastic microfiber dander they are inhaling, or the toxic dyes that touch their bare skin? Are they being compensated fairly for their skilled labour and are they in safe working environments? Do these women have minimal bargaining power, and do they have authority over their worker's rights? Is Taylor Swift female raging at their injustices? Does Taylor Swift ever feels bad that her wealth was built on the backs of women of color, disadvantaged by the demands of the global economy and garment industry? Do you think she ever says a little white feminist prayer for them before she goes to sleep at night?
What's even crazier is not that Taylor herself doesn't care, it's that Swifties don't care. There CANNOT BE ethical billionaires. You only make a billion dollars if you are exploiting other human beings for capital gain. Based on public perception of the possible "Female Rage: The Musical" trademark, it seems like Swifties are already asking for merch with this phrase. "If Taylor made it, I'd buy it." Oh, cool. So not only do you champion Miss Swift's avarice and billionaire status, but you also are unashamed to admit to your blind consumption of her music and merchandise, no matter where they might originate in production or sincerity. Just as Swift takes and takes and takes, Swifties' consumerism of Taylor Swift cannot be quelled.
The tortured artist's most vulnerable and sincere poetry...available now in 21 different versions!

I Am Tortured Poet, Hear Me Whinge

Look - even if Taylor's intention is to characterize TTPD as more "tortured" and "angry", the main thread of the album is "I was ghosted by my decade-long situationship with a controversial indie boy and my fucking stupid fans wrote a 'Speak Up Now' open letter prompting me to drop him" anger, which is adequately expressed in the lyrics and performances. The extent of Taylor's "female rage" on TTPD is on tracks such as "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?", which contends with relentless media scrutiny; "But Daddy I Love Him", where Swift firmly states she'll date whoever she likes no matter how "Sarahs and Hannahs" may react; and "The Albatross", a track mythologizing her reputation and the consequences of dating her. Of course, these coincide with deep psychological wounds that formed during Swift's early years in the media, and so, from her feminist perspective, these subjects tackle the misogyny and double standards that she faced.
Yet Taylor Swift still has no grounds to be claiming that TTPD best exemplifies female rage and therefore she, in the context of this album, is female rage incarnate. As the daughter of a stock broker and mutual fund marketing executive, Taylor was born into wealth and allowed privileges like trips and subsequent relocation to Nashville all so that she might get a record deal. Her father even invested at least $120,000 into the then-fledgling label, Big Machine Records, which ensured Taylor's place with Borchetta after leaving her dead-end development deal with Sony. The fact that her parents were able to buy her a fucking brand new guitar for Christmas and pay for music lessons says so much about the financial security and safety of her childhood.
Money is privilege and protection, and despite Swift's experiences with misogyny and loser boyfriends, she does not know what female rage is.
Her rage is derived from her frustrations with her obsessive fans pulling the moral superiority card on Taylor in response to her rebound with Matty Healy. That's literally it. She's just pissed that the monster she created is no longer obediant, it's become a feral, sovereign entity that depletes the world of its natural resources and thinks it is more intelligent than it actually is because it's mommy has started to talk to it with big words. Apparently, 'illicit', 'elegy', 'nonchalant', and 'precocious' are considerably big words for the oafish monster, and I find it strange that this level of literacy is present in a group of fans that allegedly have GPAs of 3.5 or higher, but I digress.
Taylor Swift has never been one paycheck away from destitution. Taylor Swift has never experienced racial discrimination. She may have instances of gender discrimination, but she possesses the ideal white, blonde American beauty standard and therefore reaps the benefits of being a conventionally attractive woman. Taylor Swift has sufficient social capital. Taylor Swift is a billionaire woman prolonging her victimhood though she, as a woman, has mostly had control over her image and music (unlike her contemporaries). Taylor Swift is NOT entitled to be championed for her "female rage", nor should she be. Taylor Swift has never even been the struggling artist, for fuck's sake. I don't give a fuck if she's trying to fill the empty lunch tables of her past. Taylor Swift purporting herself, her unpolished album, and her lukewarm feminism as a musical bleeding with female rage is asinine.

Sigh Try and Come For My Job, Poors

Out there in the world right now is a 23-year-old woman, a recent college grad, who works as a barista. She has to wake up and get ready to go into a minimum wage job because she cannot get a job in her field. She doesn't have healthcare benefits or sick time, so she has to go into work no matter how she's feeling. All day long she is berated by vicious customers and creepy men, and, exhausted from being on her feet, she knows she has to go home to her shitty roommate that never does the dishes and her roommate's shitty dog. To comfort herself, she considers getting a treat, but thinks against it when she remembers that matcha lattes cost $15 and they taste like milky dirt. She knows that she needs to buy groceries this week, and so the woman resolves to go home, but notices that her gas tank is low. She goes to put gas in the car, but the pump stops at $27.86 because that's all that she has in her checking account. The woman, bereft and reeling, sinks into the driver's seat. "Well," she thinks, her head in her hands, "at least I don't have Taylor Swift's job. I just couldn't imagine."
Fame is somewhat of a choice. If at any moment Taylor feels that she is misunderstood, misconstrued, or overwhelmed by public opinion, she can LEAVE the public eye - Lord knows she has the retirement fund and residuals to do so. In "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", the TTPD song about meeting the demands of your career-zenith mega-tour while in the relationship trenches, Taylor ends the song by rambling,

"You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart...you know you're good...and I'm good, cause I'm miserable, and no one even knows!...try and come for my job."

Yeah, obviously we wouldn't know, you recently passed the billionaire threshold and are the most famous and in-demand performer in the world right now. Taylor Swift makes an estimated $10 to $13 million dollars A NIGHT on the Eras Tour. Furthermore, the Eras Tour movie grossed $261.6 million globally, (which, as the producer, Taylor takes home 57% of the ticket sales) not counting the streaming revenue from Amazon Prime Video and the estimated $75 million deal that Disney paid to have it on Disney+. We're not even considering the income from cheap plastic popcorn buckets and drink cups plastered with colored squares in her Era-specific likeness.
It's funny. Taylor Swift often said that being famous wasn't hard, that she "isn't complaining". I'm sure it is difficult to always have to present in a good mood, else you'll end up misrepresented in the media, and I'm sure it's invasive to virtually have no privacy or semblance of anonymity. Still, Taylor Swift shows up each night of tour and performs. For a majority of her career, she has penned her sad songs while on the road. Most of "Red", her breakup album, was written in the thick of the Speak Now World tour. Now, some Swifties say they almost "feel bad" for attending the Eras Tour with Swift's revelations in this song, that they have had a 'dimmed experience' upon hearing Taylor's misery whilst performing. Despite the fact that Taylor said that "this was the happiest she's ever been" at Gilette Stadium in May, the lyrics "boohoo, woe is me, smile for the cameras and make the fans happy!!!" are jarring for Eras attendees.
While Taylor Swift was making double-digit millions a night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and feeling miserable, Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away due to heat exposure. The concert promoters, Time For Fun, are now the subject of a criminal investigation due to their lack of adequate hydration and safety. Taylor Swift cancelled the Sunday show that was to follow and offered VIP tent tickets to Benevides Marchado's family, which was a kind gesture, but perhaps incongruous to the incident of which they were offered as consolation. Everyone grieves differently, of course, but I'm not sure attending the very show at the very same venue that my daughter or sister passed away in two days prior, where the singer CONTINUED the show despite her death, would be healthy for closure.
There was no female rage at the show as Swift never saw Benevides Machado pass out. There was no female rage towards the disregard for fans as humans while Swift elected to proceed with her Brazil tour dates despite the country being in historic heatwaves (at risk of overheatting herself). If Taylor Swift was so shaken by touring with a broken heart or a fan's passing, she wouldn't have added an additional North American leg of Eras just two months after the Matty breakup. She's brokenhearted but willing to mend the cracks with your money and move onward with her worldwide female rage induced pillaging.
No matter what happens, even if you die at a Taylor Swift concert, Taylor collects a big fat check and flies away. She doesn't know you as anything other than a conversion rate or earning potential despite what her nearly 20-year long parasocial relationship with fans might otherwise indicate. She knows that, while some Swifties are without disposable income, they feel obligated to spend on a "48 Hours Only!" exclusive vinyl variant instead of necessities because they are so entrenched in Taylor Swift's intoxicating celebrity, they'll prioritize materialistic fandom before their needs. This is good enough for her because this means she can expand her real estate portfolio and finance her cat's lavish lifestyles. They're worth an estimated $100 million dollars. Her three cats could pool their net worth and solve world hunger.
While you and I might be denied bereavement leave and barely surviving the current political and economic climate, Taylor Swift has to, instead of gets to, perform for stadiums at full attendance for three nights in a row across the globe. You and I might be replaced by AI at our longtime jobs, but Taylor Swift is threatened with losing more and more money each time you listen to a "Stolen Version" of her songs. If we don't buy every variant of all of her albums, then who is going to pay for the fucking cats?
It is tone deaf to spend as she spends and lives as she lives in this economy, but this is her reality. She was able to donate $100,000 to all of her tour truck drivers, and that's wonderful, but it leads me to wonder about the ethos of the 2020s where one woman can hoard such life-changing amounts of money. Remember in 2014 when she gave a fan $90 ($120 in today's money) to get Chipotle because she had no fucking clue how much it cost? This is a 34-year-old woman who is increasingly out of touch with the reality for working class people and women in general. Normal everyday adults must wake up and go to their thankless jobs, and yet Taylor Swift, despite all her riches, incessantly references the lows of her life and career as a public figure and entertainer to farm sympathy and drive sales. And still, the corporate women have latched onto "I cry a lot, but I am so productive! It's an art!" as their cubicle battle cry.
Do you think that, from up in her private jet, Taylor Swift gazes at the world through her poetic, tortured eyes, and thinks, "All the little people, in their cars, walking, going about their lives...all those girls that don't support girls...do they know that I've made an album about female rage?"

Conclusion/TLDR

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your critical insights towards this entire ordeal: TTPD, the trademark, the implications of it all.
TLDR: Taylor Swift is a bad feminist and is delusional to think that the TTPD eras set exemplifies female rage at women's injustice.

I drive a hybrid Maverick in Houston (I know, terrible drivers to begin with) and I've noticed it seems to incense people in lifted F-250s/Rams/Tundras. One guy tried to run me off the road, a few days ago I watched a guy in a Ram speed and weave through traffic just to get inches off my ass and continue to do this a few miles, I've been cut off, have had people try to blind me with their brights in my rear view etc. I could keep going.
I know the big truck guys aren't known for following traffic laws but I only really notice it with them. Other car drivers suck too but I don't feel "targeted" by them. It's not road rage related - I am a great driver, follow all traffic laws, so all I can think of is that it pisses them off lol.
It doesn't bother me one way or another (actually pretty damn amusing) but I'm curious if this is a thing. Flair is Features QA, I guess this is a potential feature of the maverick lol.

I've just seen a couple posts where people "found" coins in a Coinstar reject slot. So I was just wondering what coin finds have been the best for someone? When I was very young my parents owned 2 self serve car wash locations. From 1969 until 1980 my brother and I would go each day and collect the coins at each location, count and roll many hundreds of $'s of quarters, and then take them to the bank for deposit. Finding silver quarters was common and we tossed them into a box to save them from going into the bank. We didn't give them much thought until the Hunt brothers tried to corner the market on silver around 1978 That when several businesses in our city offered trade pricing for US silver coins which reached 35x the face value of the coins. I checked our collection which had grown to over $1000 in face value. So I took $30 of the silver quarters to my favorite head shop and went on a shopping spree. I spent about $20 of the quarters (it took 2 trips to that shop to achieve that) and got a life long memory and a few items I still own to this day. Now in my 60's I look back and have only one regret. I didn't ever get those coins checked to see if there was any was worth more as collectors items. I'm sure there was some that were more valuable but that experience was priceless. So all of you Coinstar treasure hunters and store clerks who get the windfall of someone buying beer or a pack of smokes with 100 year old Silver dollars you all know the feeling of hitting the lottery jackpot like I did.
What's your favorite coin find/ windfall experience?

My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
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We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

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I'm looking ahead to next season and fancy trying some formula racing. I already own the F4 car and was thinking the SFL might compliment it. I own most of the tracks on the schedule too as a bonus.
For those that ran it this season, has participation been good at UK/EU evening time slots, and importantly, do we think it will continue to be, now that it's not shiny and new?

How does everyone feel about short parade laps in multi-class road series?
I realized the chaos this situation has the potential to create while messing with the MX-5 in Production Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio this past week. The parade lap begins just after the Thunder Valley section and gives the classes a short straight and kink before the last corner complex + green flag. This short run has seemed to cause a lot of multi-car pileups through the last complex and into the main straight, with cars stacking up and resultantly crashing through the first sector. Even if no class leader makes an attempt to wait for a class gap, the MX-5s (slowest class) could regularly be seen with the last 3-4 cars on the grid just pulling out of their slots as the race goes green.
Not meant to be a complaint but more of a curiosity of how others feel and if there’s a potential for adjustments in the future (whether series specific for the circumstances or overall). I know this is definitely a track specific issue and these issues stand out at tracks like Mid-Ohio, Detroit Belle Isle, other circuits with limited areas to have a short parade lap. The short parade lap system is an absolute life savor for circuits like Nords and Daytona.

Getting an iPhone in India is basically a huge deal for an individual. It involves a lot of financial planning and timing to get the latest iPhone. I come from a middle-class Indian family and I am no different. When Apple released the iPhone 14 Pro series with the Dynamic Island, I was really into it. But, working as a tech writer and having the knowledge that Apple would add the same to the lower-end iPhone 15 models, I waited a year, and Apple did add the Dynamic Island to the lower-end iPhone models in 2023.
As I was already planning to get the iPhone 15, I had saved for it. Hence, without a second thought, I got the device in October 2023. It was a blue iPhone 15 and it was a big deal for me!
Fast forward to February 2024, I was going on a planned trip to Kasol with my friends. We had to catch a train from Sealdah, Kolkata, and to get there, we planned to take a local train to Sealdah station. So, we got to our nearest local station and were waiting for the train. During that whole waiting time, a person was standing right next to us and was fiddling with his phone but also giving questionable looks to us.
The train finally came and if you are an Indian, you would know the amount of struggle that one needs to go through to get on a packed local train. We all had rucksack backpacks and went through the struggling ordeal to simply get on the train. That was not all! During the whole ride, I could not move anywhere or any body part due to the sheer amount of people surrounding me.
When we reached Sealdah, our final station, I got down with my friends. Then, my mother called my girlfriend's phone to check on us and told her that she could not call me as my phone was switched off. I thought that my phone was not switched off and should be right in my pocket. I went on to check my pocket only to find out that it was gone! It most probably was the guy who was giving the looks to us when we were waiting for the train.
Naturally, I started panicking big time and went straight to the Railway Police station nearby to report it. By the time we filed a report, our main train left the station and as a result, our entire trip was canceled. Without a phone in my hand and after having a dreadful day, I went back home.
Find My [The Savior]
Now, as my girlfriend also had an iPhone 11 and was a part of the Apple Family plan, I used it to put the stolen iPhone 15 in Lost Mode via the Find My app. I checked the location of the phone in Find My and it showed a station that falls between our local station and Sealdah.
My aunt is in the police force, so I informed her about the stolen device. She told me that as it is an iPhone, it would be difficult to locate its position. However, she got the IMEI slots of the device blocked and said that if anyone puts a SIM card in it and tries to use it, the device will be marked. Only then the police could locate the user and grab him.
I knew that no one would be able to unlock it and put a SIM to use it. Apple has some great security features that prevent thieves from accessing personal information stored in an iPhone. Hence, I was sure that he would never be able to unlock or reset the device.
Someone once told me that stolen mobile devices are taken to Bangladesh and sold in black markets. If the mobile devices are locked, they even open up the parts and sell them individually.
Days went by and there were no updates about the phone, neither from the police nor from Find My. As I work with iPhones and as it was so dear to me, I broke an FD to get another iPhone 15 in the meantime. I also closed the EMI for the previous device with the same and accepted the situation.
Now, a few weeks ago, the stolen iPhone 15 started pinging locations in Find My on my iPhone. In the meantime, my girlfriend also got an iPhone 15 and started checking the Find My app obsessively on her device to track its locations daily. Some days it showed multiple locations, and some days it was stagnant.
The more regular locations from where the iPhone was pinging were near a place called Canning. The place is known as the "Gateway of Sunderbans" and is one of the biggest crime hubs. If you search for Canning on YouTube or Google, you will get a gist of it.
Citing the last known location of the iPhone showing Canning station, I and my partner went there one day despite the risks, dangers, and warnings. Although we did not get any further location updates that day, we scoured around the place but did not talk to anyone. While returning home disappointed, we stopped by the police station there to let them know about the situation.
The next day, the iPhone showed multiple locations near the city of Kolkata, though none of them were much closer to my home. However, the day after that, my girlfriend woke me up in the morning to show that the phone was pinging a location that was very close to my place. Not only that, the phone pinged the same location thrice since she started checking the Find My app. So, I immediately got up and went to the location.
It was in a place called Dover Lane (Kolkata), near a residential tower and a hotel. I went there, parked the car, and started hovering around the place, trying to locate the person who we suspect stole the phone. During that time, the phone pinged the location once or twice, and at one point, it even showed that the device was "With You" in Find My.
I stood at the location for four hours and tried to spot the suspect. During that whole time, I kept the Find My app open on my current phone to aid the stolen device ping the location. However, it showed location was updated 3 hours ago.
Hopelessly, I sat in my car, thinking of returning home without the device. Just then, I saw this guy with a red t-shirt passing by my car. He looked like a young migrant worker or a daily laborer. His t-shirt was a bit torn and his pants were pretty dirty. I don't know why I looked at him in the first place but that is when I saw him take a phone out of his pocket.
"Is that a pale-blue colored phone?" Yes. He turned on the screen. "Is that the iPhone's Dynamic Island?" Yes! "Why is he on a setup screen?" I have no idea!
Right at that moment, I check the Find My app. After 3 hours, the location was finally updated and the "With You" tag was back. I hurriedly got out of my car and followed the guy for a few meters. He stopped at a local shop to get a beedi. Just when he was about to light it, I went up to him and said "Show me your phone, brother!". He answered, that there was no balance to make a call. I said that I didn't want to make a call.
"Just give the phone. I want to see it once!", I said. He immediately got it out and handed the device. During my usage, I once dropped the iPhone 15 and that made a tiny dent on the chassis, just above the screen. I checked for it, and it sure was there!
I grabbed the phone tight and said "Let's go to the police, kid!" Bewildered, he said, "That is not my phone, I got it from a friend! My own phone was stolen a few days ago and my friend gave this to me for the time, until I get a new one. If you want to go to the police, I sure can but believe me I did not know that this phone was stolen."
Now, it is worth noting that this guy was not the guy who we suspected stole the device. He was 25-28 years of age. This guy was just 18! He was still a kid.
I asked him where does he live and what does he do for a living. He said that he lives near Canning and works as a housekeeper in the city. Then I asked him, you cannot use this iPhone whatsoever, it is in the setup-screen and is showing locked to owner, so what exactly are you doing with this device? He said that when my friend gave it to me, I liked this phone. So whenever I leave the house, I carry it around just for "fancy"!
We knew that if we took him to the police, they would lock him up and beat him. The kid was just 18. So, after taking his name, address, and father's name, we let him go!
I emailed the GRPS at Sealdah where I first filed the FIR that I got the phone back.
To be honest, I had zero hopes of getting back the stolen iPhone, and that too with Find My. But thanks to my girlfriend who never lost hope and also motivated me to try and retrieve the device.
After all this, I have a newfound respect for Apple's Find My network and am surprised that it works so very well. It is one of the most underrated features of an iPhone that more people need to appreciate.
So, that is my iPhone story. If you ever lose your iPhone or have it stolen, do not, I repeat, DO NOT underestimate the power of Find My, and above all, never lose hope!

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👌 Price: 9.84 USD / Lowest before: 15.99 USD
-3- Mini USB Handheld Fan With Digital Display
🔗 https://bit.ly/3WMy3Q6
❗️ https://couponsfromchina.com/mini-usb-handheld-fan-with-digital-display-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 9.99 USD / Lowest before: 9.99 USD
-4- 6 pcs. SG90 Mini Analog Gear RC Servo [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/3A9qFmG
✅ https://couponsfromchina.com/pcs-sg90-mini-analog-gear-rc-servo-eu-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 12.02 USD / Lowest before: 12.02 USD
▪️ Coupon: BGPlane12
-5- Lenovo LP40II TWS Earbuds BT5.3
👉 https://bit.ly/4cUsvJg
🌀 https://couponsfromchina.com/lenovo-lp40ii-tws-earbuds-bt5-3-coupon-price/
💥 Price: 12.99 USD / Lowest before: 12.99 USD
-6- Zeblaze Btalk Smart Watch
🌐 https://bit.ly/3JtHFaP
✌️ https://couponsfromchina.com/zeblaze-btalk-smart-watch-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 13.99 USD / Lowest before: 13.99 USD
-7- 9 Inch Large Digital Wall Clock
🌍 https://bit.ly/3WI6cRq
✳️ https://couponsfromchina.com/inch-large-digital-wall-clock-coupon-price/
⭕️ Price: 14.99 USD / Lowest before: 15.99 USD
-8- Zeblaze Btalk 3 Plus Fitness Tracker
📌 https://bit.ly/44Xpd4t
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/zeblaze-btalk-plus-fitness-tracker-coupon-price/
🚨 Price: 15.99 USD / Lowest before: -1 USD
-9- Black Knight B2000V Mosquito Lamp 1200mAh
📌 https://bit.ly/3wp09GJ
🌍 https://couponsfromchina.com/black-knight-b2000v-mosquito-lamp-1200mah-coupon-price/
💣 Price: 16.99 USD / Lowest before: 17.99 USD
-10- Drillpro 3 Pack Wood Panel Radius R5-R30 Quick-Jig
✅ https://bit.ly/3UGdQsH
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/drillpro-pack-wood-panel-radius-r5-r30-quick-jig-coupon/
📉 Price: 20.99 USD / Lowest before: 21.99 USD
-11- PETEMPO Cat Water Fountain 2L [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/4bD3zoc
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/petempo-cat-water-fountain-2l-eu-coupon-price/
🥇 Price: 20.99 USD / Lowest before: 20.99 USD
-12- GT4 Pro Smart Watch
🛒 https://bit.ly/4dAVkKV
❗️ https://couponsfromchina.com/gt4-pro-smart-watch-coupon-price/
🥇 Price: 22.99 USD / Lowest before: 33.99 USD
-13- Konka H66 Neck Massager
📌 https://bit.ly/4dSFmMD
✌️ https://couponsfromchina.com/konka-h66-neck-massager-coupon-price/
✌️ Price: 24.99 USD / Lowest before: 25.99 USD
-14- LOKMAT ATTACK 2 PRO Smart Watch
👉 https://bit.ly/44GnkZv
🛒 https://couponsfromchina.com/lokmat-attack-pro-smart-watch-coupon-price/
💥 Price: 24.99 USD / Lowest before: 30.99 USD
-15- Newwear T30 Smart Watch
❗️ https://bit.ly/3QLj6Km
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/newwear-t30-smart-watch-coupon-price/
📉 Price: 25.99 USD / Lowest before: 27.99 USD
-16- BlitzMax BM-K10 Kids Karaoke Machine
🛒 https://bit.ly/3VHSQ6U
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/blitzmax-bm-k10-kids-karaoke-machine-coupon-price/
⭕️ Price: 26.99 USD / Lowest before: 26.99 USD
-17- E200 1.72inch 356x400px ECG PPG Smart Watch
✌️ https://bit.ly/4bjIOxW
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/e200-1-72inch-356x400px-ecg-ppg-smart-watch-coupon-price/
📉 Price: 28.99 USD / Lowest before: 39.99 USD
-18- Solar Light Outdoor 106 LED Motion Sensor Wall Lamp with Remote 2pcs
❇️ https://bit.ly/3K76rh3
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/solar-light-outdoor-led-motion-sensor-wall-lamp-with-remote/
✌️ Price: 29.49 USD / Lowest before: 29.49 USD
-19- YK75 84 Keys Mechanical Keyboard Tri-Mode OUTEMU
🌀 https://bit.ly/3y0A3u0
🔗 https://couponsfromchina.com/yk75-keys-mechanical-keyboard-tri-mode-outemu-coupon-price/
💥 Price: 29.99 USD / Lowest before: 29.99 USD
🔖 Coupon: BG20e113
-20- XIAXIU X-320 Mini Sea Land Air 320mm RC Airplane RTF with 3 Batteries
✅ https://bit.ly/4bGfvFL
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/xiaxiu-mini-sea-land-air-320mm-rc-airplane-rtf-with/
⭕️ Price: 29.99 USD / Lowest before: 33.99 USD
-21- BlitzWolf BW-HW1 Smart Watch
🌍 https://bit.ly/3TFd0NH
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/blitzwolf-bw-hw1-smart-watch-coupon-price/
🥇 Price: 29.99 USD / Lowest before: 33.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BG2IN1BW
-22- 3 in 1 10000mAh USB Rechargeable Camping Fan with LED Light
❇️ https://bit.ly/3WCIeqr
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/in-10000mah-usb-rechargeable-camping-fan-with-led-light-coupon/
💰 Price: 33.99 USD / Lowest before: 39.99 USD
-23- Coopreme XU10 64GB Game Console RK3326S
🛒 https://bit.ly/3VZKKqm
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/coopreme-xu10-64gb-game-console-rk3326s-coupon-price/
✌️ Price: 35.99 USD / Lowest before: 52.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BG34ee09
-24- OneOdio A70 Bluetooth Headphones
👉 https://bit.ly/44Os9A7
👌 https://couponsfromchina.com/oneodio-a70-bluetooth-headphones-coupon-price/
🚨 Price: 37.99 USD / Lowest before: 39.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BGREUOA70
-25- LAOTIE 10x4.5inch Electric Scooter Road Tire For LAOTIE ES19
🌐 https://bit.ly/416k0oD
🌀 https://couponsfromchina.com/laotie-10x4-5inch-electric-scooter-road-tire-for-laotie-es19-coupon/
💰 Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest before: 41.39 USD
-26- Coopreme XU10 128GB RK3326S Console
🔗 https://bit.ly/3U9m5i0
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/coopreme-xu10-128gb-rk3326s-console-coupon-price/
〽️ Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest before: 57.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BG2ebfce
-27- POPDEER PD-JX1 1500A 15000mAh Car Jump Starter [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3uJ12sO
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/popdeer-pd-jx1-1500a-15000mah-car-jump-starter-eu-coupon/
💰 Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest before: 39.99 USD
📍 Coupon: BGRA1190
-28- Blitzwill BW-CLT1 LED Smart Ceiling Light [EU]
🔗 https://bit.ly/3QIzXNY
🔗 https://couponsfromchina.com/blitzwill-bw-clt1-led-smart-ceiling-light-eu-coupon-price/
🔹 Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest before: 36.88 USD
-29- ENJOYWOOD Telescope Miter Gauge Fence Extended Support [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/3WC0ekZ
👌 https://couponsfromchina.com/enjoywood-telescope-miter-gauge-fence-extended-support-eu-coupon-price/
🥇 Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest before: 42.99 USD
-30- Mini Turbo Fan 130,000RPM 3 Gears Fan
🔗 https://bit.ly/4aY4iA2
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/mini-turbo-fan-130-000rpm-gears-fan-coupon-price/
🚨 Price: 48.99 USD / Lowest before: 53.99 USD
-31- BIGTREETECH H2 V2S 3D Printer Extruder Direct Drive Dual Gear Hotend [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/4dAVj9P
🔗 https://couponsfromchina.com/bigtreetech-h2-v2s-3d-printer-extruder-direct-drive-dual-gea
🥇 Price: 59.00 USD / Lowest before: 64.39 USD
-32- Orlandoo OH32P02 1/32 Unassembled DIY Kit Unpainted RC Crawler
📌 https://bit.ly/4dxKMw1
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👌 Price: 62.99 USD / Lowest before: 63.59 USD
-33- StarGazer2 1080P Projector 300ANSI Android 11
❗️ https://bit.ly/49BZUp5
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💣 Price: 82.99 USD / Lowest before: 95.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGREUBSG2
-34- RC ERA C127AI 2.4G Brushless RC Helicopter RTF with 2 Batteries
🌐 https://bit.ly/4bBGDWh
❗️ https://couponsfromchina.com/rc-era-c127ai-2-4g-brushless-rc-helicopter-rtf-with-batteries/
👌 Price: 89.99 USD / Lowest before: 97.99 USD
-35- Proscenic T21 1700W 220V 5.5L Air Fryer [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/4dIpJqX
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/proscenic-t21-1700w-220v-5-5l-air-fryer-eu-coupon-price/
💣 Price: 89.99 USD / Lowest before: 79.99 USD
-36- Volantex RC 768-1 Mustang P-51D RC Airplane RTF [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/3UIkzTb
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/volantex-rc-mustang-51d-rc-airplane-rtf-eu-coupon-price/
🚨 Price: 105.59 USD / Lowest before: 105.59 USD
🎯 Coupon: BGPlane12
-37- INSE P20 300W Pet Grooming Vacuum Kit [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/3K2sFRG
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/inse-p20-300w-pet-grooming-vacuum-kit-eu-coupon-price/
〽️ Price: 105.99 USD / Lowest before: 116.99 USD
-38- Blitzwolf V2 1080P Android Projector [EU]
🌀 https://bit.ly/44DI6ZT
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/blitzwolf-v2-1080p-android-projector-eu-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 119.99 USD / Lowest before: 119.99 USD
-39- BIQU B1 3D Printer [EU]
✅ https://bit.ly/3Uysgeg
📉 Price: 129.00 USD / Lowest before: 129 USD
👌 Coupon: BGde73e1
-40- FOSSiBOT F101 Pro 8/128GB 10600mAh 5.45 inch Android 13 MT8788 NFC [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/3y861o5
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/fossibot-f101-pro-8-128gb-10600mah-inch-android-mt8788-nfc-eu/
👌 Price: 134.99 USD / Lowest before: 138.99 USD
🎯 Coupon: BGEUF101P
-41- FCHAO 2500W Inverter DC12V/DC24V To 220V 230V Inverter [EU]
📌 https://bit.ly/3QF2zYz
❗️ https://couponsfromchina.com/fchao-2500w-inverter-dc12v-dc24v-to-220v-230v-inverter-eu-coupon/
📉 Price: 169.99 USD / Lowest before: 167.61 USD
💎 Coupon: BG24PL26Apr
-42- FOSSiBOT F106 Pro 8/256GB Android 14 12000mAh G85 NFC [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/3WFeLMG
🌀 https://couponsfromchina.com/fossibot-f106-pro-8-256gb-android-12000mah-g85-nfc-eu-coupon/
💣 Price: 179.99 USD / Lowest before: 193.15 USD
🔑 Coupon: BGEUF106P
-43- GMKTEC NucBox G3 N100 MAX Mini PC 16/512GB
📌 https://bit.ly/4beRCoF
✌️ https://couponsfromchina.com/gmktec-nucbox-g3-n100-max-mini-pc-16-512gb-coupon-price/
🔹 Price: 179.99 USD / Lowest before: 194.99 USD
🎯 Coupon: BGREUGNG3
-44- GELEIPU X5 Android 12.0 TV 1080P Projector [EU]
🌀 https://bit.ly/42UMyCB
👉 Price: 189.99 USD / Lowest before: 215.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BGREUGEX5
-45- DOOGEE S100 12/256GB G99 [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/4ahCl5e
🌍 https://couponsfromchina.com/doogee-s100-12-256gb-g99-eu-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 229.99 USD / Lowest before: 249.99 USD
📍 Coupon: BGEUS100
-46- BMAX B6 Pro i5-1030NG7 16/512GB Mini PC [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/3WN56n8
✅ https://couponsfromchina.com/bmax-b6-pro-i5-1030ng7-16-512gb-mini-pc-eu-coupon/
👌 Price: 242.99 USD / Lowest before: 269.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BGREUBB6P
-47- Artillery SW X4 Pro Klipper 3D Printer [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3ws8Vn7
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/artillery-sw-x4-pro-klipper-3d-printer-eu-coupon-price/
🚨 Price: 249.00 USD / Lowest before: 249 USD
✏️ Coupon: BGREUSWX4P
-48- Geleipu H9 Projector 5G-WIFI Android 11.0 [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/44rg184
✌️ https://couponsfromchina.com/geleipu-h9-projector-5g-wifi-android-eu-coupon-price/
⭕️ Price: 255.99 USD / Lowest before: 255.99 USD
-49- KOORUI 34 Inch Curved Gaming Monitor 165Hz 1ms 1000R WQHD 3440x1440P VA [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/3QMv32G
✅ https://couponsfromchina.com/koorui-inch-curved-gaming-monitor-165hz-1ms-1000r-wqhd-3440x1440p/
💰 Price: 259.99 USD / Lowest before: -1 USD
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-50- DOOGEE S100 Pro 22000mAh 12/256GB Helio G99 NFC [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/4bgI8tf
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/doogee-s100-pro-22000mah-12-256gb-helio-g99-nfc-eu-coupon/
💣 Price: 259.99 USD / Lowest before: 269.99 USD
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-51- CASIRIS OmniStar L80 LCD Projector 1080p [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/4aeQ0tW
👌 https://couponsfromchina.com/casiris-omnistar-l80-lcd-projector-1080p-eu-coupon-price/
🔹 Price: 279.99 USD / Lowest before: 299.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGREUCAS2
-52- LANPWR 600CCA 12V 50Ah Sodium Ion Battery 610Wh [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3wqSQye
💥 Price: 300.47 USD / Lowest before: 300.99 USD
-53- GMKTEC M2 i7-11390H Mini PC 16/512GB [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/4bG47cV
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/gmktec-m2-i7-11390h-mini-pc-16-512gb-eu-coupon-price/
💰 Price: 318.99 USD / Lowest before: 341.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGREUGMM2
-54- Artillery SW X4 Plus 3D Printer [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3v984Ht
🔗 https://couponsfromchina.com/artillery-sw-x4-plus-3d-printer-eu-coupon-price/
💰 Price: 329.00 USD / Lowest before: 344 USD
🔑 Coupon: BGREUSWX4L
-55- Yaber K2S 1080P Projector [EU]
📌 https://bit.ly/4agUUqm
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/yaber-k2s-1080p-projector-eu-coupon-price/
✌️ Price: 349.99 USD / Lowest before: 382.99 USD
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-56- DOOGEE V Max 5G 12/256GB Dimensity 1080 [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/3WJDLTb
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/doogee-max-5g-12-256gb-dimensity-eu-coupon-price/
🔹 Price: 369.99 USD / Lowest before: 389.99 USD
💎 Coupon: BGEUVMAX
-57- Oukitel WP30 Pro 5G 120W 12/512GB Dimensity 8050 6.78 inch 11000mAh NFC [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3UABNSe
👌 https://couponsfromchina.com/oukitel-wp30-pro-5g-120w-12-512gb-dimensity-inch-11000mah-nfc/
🚨 Price: 419.99 USD / Lowest before: 449.99 USD
▪️ Coupon: BGEU30P
-58- CASIRIS 100inch Ambient Light Rejecting Projector Screen [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/4a5IQs7
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/casiris-100inch-ambient-light-rejecting-projector-screen-eu-coupon-price/
💥 Price: 455.99 USD / Lowest before: 475.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BGREUCAS1
-59- Hubsan BlackHawk1 Beyond Edition Drone with 2 Batteries
📌 https://bit.ly/3TnTaoP
✳️ https://couponsfromchina.com/hubsan-blackhawk1-beyond-edition-drone-with-batteries-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 459.99 USD / Lowest before: 459.99 USD
-60- FENGMI S5 Laser Projector [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/3Th4bYX
✌️ Price: 469.99 USD / Lowest before: 479.99 USD
🖍 Coupon: BGREUFMS5
-61- Gokwh 12V 200Ah 2560Wh LiFePO4 Battery [EU]
✅ https://bit.ly/43RzkHj
🔹 Price: 479.99 USD / Lowest before: 479.99 USD
🔖 Coupon: BG6e8f92
-62- Cloudenergy 24V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery Pack 2560Wh [EU]
🌀 https://bit.ly/3wSKzCO
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/cloudenergy-24v-100ah-lifepo4-battery-pack-2560wh-eu-coupon-price/
✌️ Price: 487.05 USD / Lowest before: 487.05 USD
-63- Ninkear A15 Plus 15.6 Inch Laptop Ryzen 7 5700U 32GB 1TB 69.30Wh [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/42V48X6
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/ninkear-a15-plus-inch-laptop-ryzen-5700u-32gb-1tb-69-30wh-2/
🥇 Price: 491.99 USD / Lowest before: 504.99 USD
👌 Coupon: BGREUA15P
-64- DJI Goggles Integra HD 1080p FPV Goggles for Avata
✌️ https://bit.ly/3xmnpFm
🌐 https://couponsfromchina.com/dji-goggles-integra-hd-1080p-fpv-goggles-for-avata-coupon/
⭕️ Price: 509.99 USD / Lowest before: 515.99 USD
-65- AOOSTAR GEM12 AMD R9 6900HX Mini PC 32GB 1TB WIFI6 BT5.2
🌀 https://bit.ly/4bj7Ugi
❗️ https://couponsfromchina.com/aoostar-gem12-amd-r9-6900hx-mini-pc-32gb-1tb-wifi6/
🚨 Price: 529.99 USD / Lowest before: 634.79 USD
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-66- Ninkear N16 Pro Laptop 165Hz 2.5K 16 Inch i7-1260P 32GB 2TB [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/48BR4qU
💰 Price: 659.99 USD / Lowest before: 660.99 USD
🏆 Coupon: BGREUN16P
-67- AOOSTAR GEM12 Pro Ryzen 7 8845HS Mini PC 32GB 1TB WIFI6 BT5.2
🛒 https://bit.ly/3Uke4Wq
📌 https://couponsfromchina.com/aoostar-gem12-pro-ryzen-8845hs-mini-pc-32gb-1tb-wifi6/
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-68- N-One NBook Fly Laptop 16 Inch Touchable 14 Inch Dual Screen i7-10750H 16GB 1TB [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/43WqgRw
🥇 Price: 699.99 USD / Lowest before: 704 USD
🔖 Coupon: BGREUNNBF
-69- BlitzWolf BW-VS3 120-Inch ALR Black Projector Screen [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/4bmgHxU
🔗 https://couponsfromchina.com/blitzwolf-bw-vs3-inch-alr-black-projector-screen-eu-coupon/
👉 Price: 719.99 USD / Lowest before: 719.99 USD
-70- Cloudenergy 12V 300Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery Pack 3.84kWh CL12-300B [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/3TNA6Ak
🌀 https://couponsfromchina.com/cloudenergy-12v-300ah-lifepo4-lithium-battery-pack-3-84kwh-cl12-300b/
〽️ Price: 757.29 USD / Lowest before: 757.29 USD
-71- TTWEN D5 2000W Power Station 2160Wh LiFePO4 [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/49WVSs2
❇️ https://couponsfromchina.com/ttwen-d5-2000w-power-station-2160wh-lifepo4-eu-coupon-price/
👉 Price: 768.25 USD / Lowest before: 768.25 USD
-72- FLASHFISH UA1100 1100Wh 1200W Power Station with 100W Solar Panel [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/3KllHY9
🛒 https://couponsfromchina.com/flashfish-ua1100-1100wh-1200w-power-station-with-100w-solar-panel/
〽️ Price: 808.49 USD / Lowest before: 865.02 USD
-73- DRVETION AT20 48V 10Ah 750W 20x4.0inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
✅ https://bit.ly/3Z8UgX0
👌 https://couponsfromchina.com/drvetion-at20-48v-10ah-750w-20x4-0inch-electric-bicycle-eu-coupon/
⭕️ Price: 919.99 USD / Lowest before: 919.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGPL27DEC08
-74- FENGMI Formovie VX 4K Projector DLP [EU]
🔗 https://bit.ly/3JPVBw6
🛒 https://couponsfromchina.com/fengmi-formovie-vx-4k-projector-dlp-eu-coupon-price/
〽️ Price: 969.99 USD / Lowest before: 1049.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BGREUFFVX
-75- Fengmi Formovie X5 Laser Projector [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3PivxwM
👉 https://couponsfromchina.com/fengmi-formovie-x5-laser-projector-eu-coupon-price/
✌️ Price: 1369.99 USD / Lowest before: 1409.99 USD
❤️ Coupon: BGREUFFX5
-76- RANDRIDE YX80 48V 20Ah 1500W Electric Bicycle [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/3W7mClK
💥 Price: 1543.82 USD / Lowest before: 1547.11 USD
🏆 Coupon: 80b1a2
Products compilation image: https://i.imgur.com/aMZqi3P.jpeg or https://i.ibb.co/NFg6nFz/34fdffe87ba6.jpg

I had a 6ft (1.8m) Western Ratsnake crawl into the fender of my sedan, I never saw him leave. I haven't driven it in a week, he's probably gone but I was hoping someone had any recommendations for a spray repellent I could use to spray on my engine and underneath the car to maybe improve those odds. I've seen stuff online that recommend citrus, garlic and onion, cinnamon and cloves, vinegar, coffee grounds; I am wondering if anyone here has some experience they would be willing to share. Non-home remedies advice is also welcome.
Original Posts: Photos: https://www.reddit.com/whatsthissnake/comments/1cmcsbb/location_houston_texas_usa/
Video: https://www.reddit.com/whatsthissnake/comments/1cmcevi/thats_my_ca

We just got back from a wonderful trip in the northern part of Italy with our 3-year-old. Having spent 2 weeks on one of our best trips so far, I really want to thank a bunch of fellow redditors who helped refine our itinerary and suggested places which otherwise would not have made it to our plan!
Day 1 Milan: We took a flight from India and landed in Milan in the afternoon. Milan was just the arrival point for us and we did not intend to visit Milan as such, so we ended up booking a room in the hotel at the Malpensa Airport itself. Nothing much that day; a bit of rest and a delicious dinner were a great start to our trip.
Day 2 Drive from Milan to Bellagio: Woke up after a good night's sleep (a much needed one after the long sleepless flight the day before). Breakfast at the hotel was really good with a lot of options for everyone. We had booked a car through SIXT at the Malpensa airport. Getting the car was a breeze with great service from the representative at the SIXT counter. The drive to Bellagio was a very good one. I was still getting used to the car, since I come from a land of right-hand drive and switching to a left-hand drive meant putting in a lot more focus on the road. Driving along the Lake Como was a fantastic experience. We reached Bellagio by lunch time and our AirBnB was ready for us. The rest of the day was at leisure, with a casual walk around Bellagio, through the city center and along the lake.
Day 3 Bellagio to Varenna: Took a ferry to Varenna and had breakfast at a lake side cafe. With great weather on our side, a cup of coffee and a little pastry seemed more blissful than we thought of! We had signed up for a picnic on the hills of Camaggiore, a 40-minute drive from the Varenna ferry station. We had our representative waiting for us and she drove us to the picnic spot, sharing tales from the towns of Lake Como, showing us amazing views along the way. The picnic itself was surreal, with the most beautiful view of the lake from 1200 meters above. We spend the rest of the day exploring Varenna at our pace, while our little one slept like a log in the stoller.
Day 4 Bellagio: After debating weather to visit the Como town or not, we decided to stay in Bellagio in explore the town a bit more. We took a ride of the Bellagio Express, the toy train that takes you around the town. It was a fun ride, intended for our toddler, who decided to doze off in the train itself! Post that, we saw the gardens of the Villa Melzi. We had rented a boat to explore the lake ourselves during the evening, but rainy weather made us cancel our plans. We spent the rest of the evening, relaxing at our AirBnB, overlooking the lake.
Day 5 Drive from Bellagio to Gardaland: Moving on to the next leg of our trip, which was clearly planned keeping our little boy in mind, we drove to Gardaland reaching there by noon. Thanks to a wonderful fellow Redditor, we got introduced to this wonderland called Gardaland! Our stay was booked at the Gardaland Hotel and while we were waiting for our room to get ready, we decided to pay a visit to the Gardaland Resort park right away. A drizzly weather kept most of the visitors inside the SEA Aquarium, but that also meant we had absolutely no waiting times on most of the rides in the park! The little one was elated to see the Peppa Pig Land, and refused to move away from it. All in all, day one in the park was a super success despite the wet weather. Evening at the hotel was full of fun-filled activities for the kids. The entertainment team at Gardaland Hotel did a fabulous job at keeping kids engaged.
Day 6 Gardaland: Our second day in the Gardaland park was a much more planned one, since we had already explored some of the park on the previous day. We knew the rides we wanted to go on, and so logistics were simpler. Weather was great too, and so we had a wonderful time! The park has a plethora of options to eat, with a ton of sweet treats along the way. The park is huge but very well laid out with clean facilities. Naturally, day two also could not be completed without visiting our favorite Peppa Pig! Evening at the hotel was again fun-filled with the team at Gardaland doing what they do the best!
Day 7 Parco Natura Viva: Gardaland is in proximity to a lot of amusement parks and points of recreation for family and friends. One of them is Parco Natura Viva, a zoo with a drive-through safari. It was a Saturday and the zoo had enormous waiting times for the cars to enter the Safari. After having waited in the queue for over an hour, we finally started the Safari, which turned out to be pretty great. Next, we had the fauna park (the walkable part of the zoo), the one with animals in their enclosures. With the entire park divided into geographical zones, it was fun seeing animals from various continents. The place is well-maintained, and creates a great experience for kids.
Day 8 Verona: We had kept an extra day in Gardaland just in case the little man wanted to visit the park again. However, given the proximity, we decided to do a day trip to Verona instead. We drove to Verona and parked our car in one of the paid parking lots. We had reserved a morning slot for a walking tour, that took us through the streets of Verona, with our very knowledgeable guide sharing tales from historic Verona, the castle and gate to the old city center. The center was bustling with stores and eateries. Very touristy but was all the more fun! Our taste buds were craving for some Indian food and we ended up having lunch at an amazing Indian restaurant named "Maharajah". The food was delectable with very prompt service. As touristy as it sounds, we did go to "Casa di Giulietta", commonly known as Juliet's house that is known for the legacy of Romeo and Juliet having been inspired from there. The so-called Juliet's balcony is missable at best.
Day 9 Drive from Gardaland to Venice: Switching to the last leg of our trip, this was supposed to be the wife's part of the trip. She has wanted to visit Venice for as long as she remembers, and this trip could not have happened without a leisurely stay in the city of canals! This was also the last day of us keeping the car, and we drove to Venice Marco Polo Airport where we returned the car at the SIXT counter. Once again, just like the pick-up the return process was extremely smooth and lasted barely a couple of minutes. Our plan was to catch the Alilaguna airport water bus to the main island, but we decided to splurge at the last moment and took the water taxi instead. And boy were we happy! The water taxi is an experience in itself, especially when entering the canals from the airport. Our AirBnB was located right on the Grand Canal, giving us uninterrupted views of the Canal. For a place that looked better in person than in pictures, what more could we have asked for! We spent the evening walking to the Rialto Bridge, people-watching!
Day 10 St. Marks square and Dodge's Palace: After a good night's sleep, we woke up refreshed, taking in the morning views of the Grand Canal, with the gondola's and the various boats floating by, doing their chores for the day. We had booked a tour of the St. Marks square and the Basilica, along with the Dodge's Palace. Unfortunately, it had to be a rainy day. While we still participated in the tour, the place became very crowded because a lot of people tried to maximize on the time indoors to avoid the rain. Nonetheless, it was a good experience. The little one dozed off in the Basilica and so we let my wife carry on with the tour of the palace, while I took a table under an umbrella at the Cafe Lavena to get myself some coffee, and to let my son enjoy his sleep. We spent the evening loitering around the Rialto market, spoiling ourselves with a few gelatos at Suso!
Day 11 Murano, Burano and Torcello: We woke up early, fixed ourselves some breakfast and were ready to leave. We had booked a tour of the 3 islands and our job was to get to the meeting point as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we missed our group and had to visit the islands on our own. The upside to this was that we could do it at our own pace! This included having a hearty lunch at a beautiful local cafe in Torcello. This place had a chidren's play area too! This also meant spending more time than necessary in Burano, because why not? We loved the colorful houses on the island and we just wanted to be there, taking in everything it had...
Day 12 Leisure and Photoshoot: My wife and I generally have this idea of booking a small photoshoot at every exquisite location we visit. This not only gives us great pictures for memories, but it also allows us to see areas which we would otherwise not know existed. We booked this experience through AirBnB and our photographer was a wonderful man, very learned and a true Venetian at heart! He took us to places that were free of tourists, for some amazing pictures. Not only that, he also arranged for a special Gondola ride for us, which took us through the narrower canals of Venice, adding to the already special experience. A trip to Venice is really incomplete without a Gondola ride, and we were glad we could! This was the last evening of our trip and we could not conclude it without a few more Aperol Spritz's and Gelatos from Suso!
With every trip we take, we learn a lot, that helps us make our future trips better. We consciously chose to skip the more popular locations like Rome and Florence (Tuscany), since we wanted to have ample time of leisure and just do nothing, with a toddler who wanted to just be.
If I could summarize the learnings of this trip, they would be:

• Travelling with a toddler is great, if you leave a lot of room for rest and leisure. It not only allows you to be, but it also leaves scope to rome around the place and absorb the local life beyond the tourist favourites
• Lake Como has a lot to offer. While day trips from Milan sound good, staying in a Lake Como town lets you enjoy the serenity of the lake in a more intimate manner. A couple of days at the least, three days to make it worth while.
• Driving around Lake Como can be fun, but can also become a bit intimidating if you are trying to drive slow on the roads that circle the lake and there are cars behind you, trying to get ahead. Staying calm is the key!
• Gardaland is unchartered territory for people outside Italy, and if travelling with kids, must find a place in the itinerary.
• We had a lot of people advising us against spending 4 days in Venice, but we do not regret it even a bit. Venice is a city unlike anything we've been to so far. It is very difficult to imagine the daily life of the people living there, unless you decide to stop and slow things down yourself, experiencing the little things that the place has to offer.
• It is absolutely ok to not cover every point of interest at a place you are staying. Ticking everything off the list does not give the same satisfaction as enjoying the few things that you do, at a pace that you like.
• Lastly, strollers are a boon, even with the cobbled streets. They serve a great deal for quick afternoon naps, as well as meal times. It indeed is a pain carrying them over the hundreds of bridges in a place like Venice, but the pros still outweigh the cons.

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https://discord.gg/QGnEjbxarN

• LA Based
• Noob Friendly
• Realistic Economy
• Professional & Friendly Staff
• Weekly Events
• NO pay to win
• Casino (Blackjack, Poker, Slots & Lucky Wheel)
• Gang System
• Drugs and Robberies
• 100+ Import Cars with Custom Sound
• Custom Weapons
• Player Owned Businesses (Gas Stations, Pawn Shops, Vanilla Unicorn & Night Clubs)
• Multiplayer jobs
• Very Comfortable UI
• Open Enrollment for PD, BCSO, EMS, Lawyer, D8, and Mechanic