Allstate assessmment test
Is it too much or good price?
2024.05.25 10:32 Few-Neighborhood-852 Is it too much or good price?
 | 2 owners, no reported accidents, automatic, comp package maybe exec. submitted by Few-Neighborhood-852 to BMW [link] [comments] Feedback would be appreciated |
2024.05.21 19:25 Firetatz77 Is there a way to tighten up these data by removing dead space?
When pulling a report for specific events this is how my data comes out. I tried trimming white space and this is still what I get. I also hid 35 Rows that are completely blank. I can delete rows and columns by hand but it takes forever. There are 165 individuals that need this type of extreme trimming above you can see one and the beginning of the second. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
submitted by Firetatz77 to googlesheets [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 23:11 Weathers_Writing They call Silicon Valley the tech capitol of the world. They're wrong
I won't disclose its actual location, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. It's not time for that yet. However, I do think it's time to start getting the word out. I've noticed an increase in what I'll call "Antennas" lately, or people who can detect cross-planar phase shifts. Without getting into all the math (some of which I don't even know), this is basically a phenomenon which refers to entropy seeping into our universe from other realms or universes or whatever you want to call it. Simply put, people think our universe is a closed system to entropy, meaning that the disorder of any variable in our universe can only increase or decrease in direct proportion to other variables in that same system (the universe). Under this precept, we can establish rules like the Laws of Thermodynamics, and for most people, they're effective. But not for Antennas.
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to weatherswriting [link] [comments]
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
2024.05.10 22:46 jaestock Cybertruck Insurance Win!
I got the truck last week and originally got quoted $380/mo through Tesla insurance. After launching this tank a few times and testing out its capabilities I went on the app and noticed my next premium was going to be $750 PER MONTH due to my driver score!!! Nope. I hit up Allstate and knocked that premium down to less than $1400 per year!!!
TLDR- didn’t want to drive safe so switched insurance companies… 😬
submitted by jaestock to cybertruck [link] [comments]
TLDR- didn’t want to drive safe so switched insurance companies… 😬
2024.05.08 02:04 Ephemara Got my 2004 Subaru Outback diagnosed although every place is trying to charge me $1000-1600 due to trying to get new OEM parts. I want to buy them instead, do these look like the right fit?
 | submitted by Ephemara to subaruoutback [link] [comments] |
2024.04.26 14:28 hidanmiller Updated: Bands eliminated from playing Riot Fest by their tour schedule
As we're nearing the lineup release, here's a list of bands eliminated from playing Riot Fest by their tour schedule, either because they'll be someplace 500+ miles away from Douglass Park that weekend, or because they have another date near Chicago this summefall. (Keep in mind that Riot seems to use a sliding scale on their radius restrictions, and makes some exceptions every year.) If something new gets announced or I missed something, post a comment with a link, and I'll update the list.
Big thanks to u/Specialist-Berry-492 for compiling all this info.
Artists eliminated because they have dates over Riot Fest weekend:
AFI
The Airborne Toxic Event
All That Remains
The Avett Brothers
Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution
The Beaches
Been Stellar
The Bellrays
The Black Keys
Black Veil Brides
Blaqk Audio
The Breeders
Boys Like Girls
Childish Gambino
Chromeo
Coal Chamber
Converge
Culture Club
Dance Gavin Dance
Dashboard Confessional
Denzel Curry
Dinosaur Jr
The Dirty Nil
Dreamcar
Elvis Costello
Everclear
Explosions in the Sky
Falling In Reverse
Father John Misty
Five Finger Death Punch
The Flaming Lips
Folk Implosion
Fontaines DC
Frank Turner
Future Islands
Glass Animals
Gojira
Green Day
Greta Van Fleet
The Grogans
Ice Nine Kills
Idles
James
Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Johnny Marr
Killswitch Engage
King Crimson
Korn
Kreator
Kublai Khan TX
Lamp
The Lemon Twigs
The Linda Lindas
Lorna Shore
Lucius
Machine Head
Madness
Mammoth WVH
Marcy's Playground
Megadeth
Melvins
Metallica
The Midnight
Moby
Mr Bungle
Mudvayne
Nails
The National
Neko Case
Ocean Alley
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Overkill
Paul Weller
Pianos Become the Teeth
Possessed
Pouya
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pulp
Rancid
The Red Chord
Sebadoh
The Sisters of Mercy
Slackers
Smashing Pumpkins
Social Distortion
Spiritbox
Squeeze
Stars
Sting
Streetlight Manifesto
$uicideBoy$
Taylor Acorn
Tech N9ne
Testament
The The
Tokyo Police Club
Tool
Twenty One Pilots
Twiztid
The Wallflowers
The War on Drugs
Wednesday 13
Weezer
Whitechapel
Willow
Yo La Tengo
The Zutons
Artists unlikely with other dates in Chicagoland:
submitted by hidanmiller to RiotFest [link] [comments]
Big thanks to u/Specialist-Berry-492 for compiling all this info.
Artists eliminated because they have dates over Riot Fest weekend:
AFI
The Airborne Toxic Event
All That Remains
The Avett Brothers
Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution
The Beaches
Been Stellar
The Bellrays
The Black Keys
Black Veil Brides
Blaqk Audio
The Breeders
Boys Like Girls
Childish Gambino
Chromeo
Coal Chamber
Converge
Culture Club
Dance Gavin Dance
Dashboard Confessional
Denzel Curry
Dinosaur Jr
The Dirty Nil
Dreamcar
Elvis Costello
Everclear
Explosions in the Sky
Falling In Reverse
Father John Misty
Five Finger Death Punch
The Flaming Lips
Folk Implosion
Fontaines DC
Frank Turner
Future Islands
Glass Animals
Gojira
Green Day
Greta Van Fleet
The Grogans
Ice Nine Kills
Idles
James
Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Johnny Marr
Killswitch Engage
King Crimson
Korn
Kreator
Kublai Khan TX
Lamp
The Lemon Twigs
The Linda Lindas
Lorna Shore
Lucius
Machine Head
Madness
Mammoth WVH
Marcy's Playground
Megadeth
Melvins
Metallica
The Midnight
Moby
Mr Bungle
Mudvayne
Nails
The National
Neko Case
Ocean Alley
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Overkill
Paul Weller
Pianos Become the Teeth
Possessed
Pouya
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pulp
Rancid
The Red Chord
Sebadoh
The Sisters of Mercy
Slackers
Smashing Pumpkins
Social Distortion
Spiritbox
Squeeze
Stars
Sting
Streetlight Manifesto
$uicideBoy$
Taylor Acorn
Tech N9ne
Testament
The The
Tokyo Police Club
Tool
Twenty One Pilots
Twiztid
The Wallflowers
The War on Drugs
Wednesday 13
Weezer
Whitechapel
Willow
Yo La Tengo
The Zutons
Artists unlikely with other dates in Chicagoland:
| Artist | Venue & Date |
|---|---|
| Pixies | Northerly 6/19 |
| Modest Mouse | Northerly 6/19 |
| Cat Power | Northerly 6/19 |
| They Might Be Giants | Vic 6/19 |
| Murder By Death | Durty Nellies 6/19 |
| Wildermiss | Durty Nellies 6/19 |
| Quasi | Lincoln Hall 6/19 |
| Marnie Stern | Lincoln Hall 6/19 |
| Glazed | Cobra Lounge 6/19 |
| The Used | Hard Rock Gary 6/20 |
| Story of the Year | Hard rock Gary 6/20 |
| Violent Femmes | Ravinia 6/21 |
| The Spill Canvas | Bottom Lounge 6/21 |
| Punchline | Bottom Lounge 6/21 |
| Protomartyr | Empty Bottle 6/21 |
| Los Campesinos | Thalia Hall 6/22 |
| Short Fictions | Thalia Hall 6/22 |
| I Am the Avalanche | Bottom Lounge 6/22 |
| Be Well | Bottom Lounge 6/22 |
| Such Gold | Bottom Lounge 6/22 |
| Sludgeworth | Beat Kitchen 6/22 |
| Feral Tact | Beat Kitchen 6/22 |
| The Fray | Brookfield Zoo 6/22 |
| HIRS Collective | Reggies 6/22 |
| Cuss | Reggies 6/22 |
| The Young Fresh Fellows | Hideout 6/22 |
| JC Brooks Band | Off North Shore Skokie 6/22 |
| Aaron West & the Roaring 20s | Bottom Lounge 6/23 |
| Future Teens | Bottom Lounge 6/23 |
| Maura Weaver | Bottom Lounge 6/23 |
| Reverend Horton Heat | Cobra Lounge 6/23 |
| Arrows In Action | Lincoln Hall 6/23 |
| Pedro the Lion | Thalia Hall 6/24 |
| Squirrel Flower | Thalia Hall 6/24 |
| Kurt Vile | Space 6/25 |
| Pallbearer | Thalia Hall 6/26 |
| REZN | Thalia Hall 6/26 |
| The Keening | Thalia Hall 6/26 |
| Dandy Warhols | Metro 6/27 |
| Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor | Metro 6/27 |
| Hawthorne Heights | Salt Shed 6/28 |
| I See Stars | Salt Shed 6/28 |
| Anberlin | Salt Shed 6/28 |
| Emery | Salt Shed 6/28 |
| This Wild Life | Salt Shed 6/28 |
| Third Eye Blind | Northerly 6/28 |
| Yellowcard | Northerly 6/28 |
| Arizona | Northerly 6/28 |
| The Church | Vic 6/28 |
| The Afghan Whigs | Vic 6/28 |
| Ed Harcourt | Vic 6/28 |
| The Hold Steady | Space 6/28 |
| AJR | Allstate 6/29 |
| mxmtoon | Allstate 6/29 |
| Almost Monday | Allstate 6/29 |
| Metric | Hard Rock Gary 6/29 |
| Venus & the Flytraps | Hard Rock Gary 6/29 |
| Anxious | Avondale Hall 6/29 |
| One Step Closer | Avondale Hall 6/29 |
| Koyo | Avondale Hall 6/29 |
| Prize Horse | Avondale Hall 6/29 |
| The Dog and Everything | Bottom Lounge 6/29 |
| AM Taxi | Bottom Lounge 6/29 |
| Super Happy Fun Club | Bottom Lounge 6/29 |
| Night Spice | Bottom Lounge 6/29 |
| Softcult | Cobra Lounge 6/29 |
| Present | Cobra Lounge 6/29 |
| Counting Crows | Tinley 6/29 |
| Early November | Bottom Lounge 6/30 |
| Spitalfield | Bottom Lounge 6/30 |
| Cliffdiver | Bottom Lounge 6/30 |
| Prince Daddy & the Hyena | Subterranean 7/1 |
| Saturdays at Your Place | Subterranean 7/1 |
| Riley | Subterranean 7/1 |
| Carpool | Subterranean 7/1 |
| Fresh | Beat Kitchen 7/1 |
| Party'z | Beat Kitchen 7/1 |
| Plain White T's | Frontier Days 7/4 |
| Supersuckers | Reggies 7/5 |
| Lords of Altamont | Reggies 7/5 |
| Ravagers | Reggies 7/5 |
| Old 97's | American Music Festival |
| The Jayhawks | American Music Festival |
| Robert Randolph Band | American Music Festival |
| Ha Ha Tonka | American Music Festival |
| Joe Pug | American Music Festival |
| Ike Reilly Assasination | American Music Festival |
| Waco Brothers | American Music Festival |
| My Morning Jacket | Rose on the River |
| Thundercat | Rose on the River |
| Tash Sultana | Rose on the River |
| Vulfpeck | Rose on the River |
| badbadnotgood | Rose on the River |
| Tank & the Bangas | Rose on the River |
| Eidola | Bottom Lounge 7/6 |
| Royal Coda | Bottom Lounge 7/6 |
| Wolf & Bear | Bottom Lounge 7/6 |
| Hoobastank | Frontier Days 7/6 |
| Os Mutantes | Outset 7/7 |
| JXDN | Concord 7/7 |
| Gunnar | Concord 7/7 |
| Lolo | Concord 7/7 |
| Cracker | Space 7/7 |
| Iron & Wine | Salt Shed 7/8 |
| D.R.U.G.S. | Reggies 7/10 |
| Savage Hands | Reggies 7/10 |
| Downswing | Reggies 7/10 |
| The Requiem | Reggies 7/10 |
| Grails | Empty Bottle 7/10 |
| New Pornographers | Old Town School of Folk 7/11 |
| Powerman 5000 | Vixen 7/11 |
| Sponge | Vixen 7/11 |
| Tantric | Vixen 7/11 |
| Barenaked Ladies | Brookfield Zoo 7/12 |
| Pegboy | Metro 7/12 |
| The Arrivals | Metro 7/12 |
| Canadian Rifle | Metro 7/12 |
| Criminal Kids | Metro 7/12 |
| Mother Mother | Northerly Island 7/13 |
| Cavetown | Northerly Island 7/13 |
| Pussy Riot | Outset 7/13 |
| Radar Waves | Sideouts 7/13 |
| Black Lips | Empty Bottle 7/14 |
| Journey | Wrigley 7/15 |
| Def Leppard | Wrigley 7/15 |
| Cheap Trick | Wrigley 7/15 |
| Strand of Oaks | Empty Bottle 7/15 |
| Redd Kross | Lincoln Hall 7/16 |
| Black Pumas | Pitchfork |
| Alanis Morrisette | Pitchfork |
| 100 Gecs | Pitchfork |
| Jeff Rosenstock | Pitchfork |
| De La Soul | Pitchfork |
| Bratmobile | Pitchfork |
| Les Savy Fav | Pitchfork |
| Crumb | Pitchfork |
| Wednesday | Pitchfork |
| Mannequin Pussy | Pitchfork |
| Model/Actriz | Pitchfork |
| Hotline TNT | Pitchfork |
| Unwound | Pitchfork |
| Hobo Johnson | Vic 7/17 |
| Remo Drive | Vic 7/17 |
| BabyJake | Vic 7/17 |
| OFF! | Lincoln Hall 7/18 |
| Mates of State | Subterranean 7/18 |
| Reverend Peyton | Fitzgeralds 7/18 |
| The Queers | Reggies 7/19 |
| Sloppy Seconds | Reggies 7/19 |
| Bollweevils | Reggies 7/19 |
| Raging Nathans | Reggies 7/19 |
| Mae | The Piazza 7/19 |
| Hembree | The Piazza 7/19 |
| Weekend Nachos | Cobra Lounge 7/19 |
| Frozen Soul | Cobra Lounge 7/19 |
| Bulldoze | Cobra Lounge 7/19 |
| Creeping Death | Cobra Lounge 7/19 |
| Hope Conspiracy | Cobra Lounge 7/20 |
| Modern Life is War | Cobra Lounge 7/20 |
| Conservative Military Image | Cobra Lounge 7/20 |
| Waking the Cadaver | Cobra Lounge 7/20 |
| The Maine | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Mayday Parade | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| The Wonder Years | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| We The Kings | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Real Friends | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Knuckle Puck | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| The Summer Set | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Daisy Grenade | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Diva Bleach | Salt Shed 7/20 |
| Saw Doctors | Aragon 7/20 |
| Limp Bizkit | Tinley 7/20 |
| Bones | Tinley 7/20 |
| N8Noface | Tinley 7/20 |
| Corey Feldman | Tinley 7/20 |
| Riff Raff | Tinley 7/20 |
| Schoolboy Q | Ramova 7/20 |
| Vanilla Ice | Riveredge Park 7/20 |
| 311 | Salt Shed 7/21 |
| Awolnation | Salt Shed 7/21 |
| Neon Trees | Salt Shed 7/21 |
| I Prevail | Tinley 7/21 |
| Halestorm | Tinley 7/21 |
| Hollywood Undead | Tinley 7/21 |
| Fit For a King | Tinley 7/21 |
| As I Lay Dying | House of Blues 7/21 |
| Chelsea Grin | House of Blues 7/21 |
| Entheos | House of Blues 7/21 |
| Closure in Moscow | Bottom Lounge 7/21 |
| Toehider | Bottom Lounge 7/21 |
| Misery Signals | Avondale Hall 7/24 |
| Oolong | Beat Kitchen 7/24 |
| Newgrounds Death Rugby | Beat Kitchen 7/24 |
| A Day to Remember | Northerly 7/25 |
| The Story So Far | Northerly 7/25 |
| Four Year Strong | Northerly 7/25 |
| Scowl | Northerly 7/25 |
| And So I Watch You from Afar | House of Blues 7/25 |
| Caspian | House of Blues 7/25 |
| Superdrag | Wicker Park Fest |
| All Time Low | Salt Shed 7/26 |
| Courtney Barnett | Out of Space Fest 7/26 |
| Bob Mould | Out of Space Fest 7/26 |
| Pretenders | Chicago Theatre 7/26 |
| Bowling for Soup | Vic 7/26 |
| Keep Flying | Vic 7/26 |
| Eternal Boy | Vic 7/26 |
| Still Woozy | Salt Shed 7/27 |
| Thee Sacred Souls | Out of Space Fest 7/27 |
| St Paul & the Broken Bones | Out of Space Fest 7/27 |
| Jeremie Albino | Out of Space Fest 7/27 |
| Vampire Weekend | Northerly 7/27 |
| Ra Ra Riot | Northerly 7/27 |
| Princess | Northerly 7/27 |
| Local H | Merchant Street Music Fest 7/27 |
| Radkey | Merchant Street Music Fest 7/27 |
| Vertical Horizon | Merchant Street Music Fest 7/27 |
| Gin Blossoms | Brookfield Zoo 7/27 |
| Breathe Carolina | Sound-Bar 7/27 |
| Lambrini Girls | Sleeping Village 7/27 |
| Guster | Out of Space Fest 7/28 |
| The Lone Bellow | Out of Space Fest 7/28 |
| Devon Gilfillian | Out of Space Fest 7/28 |
| The War And Treaty | Thalia Hall 7/28 |
| Irontom | Beat Kitchen 7/28 |
| Stick Figure | Salt Shed 7/30 |
| Soja | Salt Shed 7/30 |
| Scene Queen | Concord 7/30 |
| Magnolia Park | Concord 7/30 |
| The Home Team | Concord 7/30 |
| Stand Atlantic | Concord 7/30 |
| Honey Revenge | Concord 7/30 |
| Letdown | Concord 7/30 |
| Snõõper | Empty Bottle 7/30 |
| DIIV | Thalia Hall 7/30 |
| The Killers | Lollapalooza |
| Blink 182 | Lollapalooza |
| Deftones | Lollapalooza |
| Pierce the Veil | Lollapalooza |
| Killer Mike | Lollapalooza |
| TV Girl | Lollapalooza |
| Hippo Campus | Lollapalooza |
| Two Door Cinema Club | Lollapalooza |
| Vince Staples | Lollapalooza |
| Kevin Abstract | Lollapalooza |
| In This Moment | Lollapalooza |
| The Last Dinner Party | Lollapalooza |
| Waterparks | Lollapalooza |
| Destroy Boys | Lollapalooza |
| Cults | Lollapalooza |
| Fleshwater | Lollapalooza |
| Militarie Gun | Lollapalooza |
| Slow Pulp | Lollapalooza |
| Worry Club | Lollapalooza |
| Brigitte Calls Me Baby | Lollapalooza |
| Wolves of Glendale | Lollapalooza |
| The Verve Pipe | Roberts Westside 8/3 |
| Beach Boys w/ John Stamos | Ravinia 8/7 |
| Bush | Northerly 8/7 |
| Jerry Cantrell | Northerly 8/7 |
| Candlebox | Northerly 8/7 |
| Green Jelly | Hobart Art Theatre 8/7 |
| The Convalescence | Hobart Art Theatre 8/7 |
| Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit | Ravinia 8/8 |
| Buffalo Tom | Metro 8/8 |
| Pantera | Soldier Field 8/9 |
| The Revivalists | Salt Shed 8/9 |
| Flipturn | Salt Shed 8/9 |
| Hootie & the Blowfish | Tinley 8/9 |
| Collective Soul | Tinley 8/9 |
| Fear | Reggies 8/10 |
| Giuda | Reggies 8/10 |
| 30 Seconds to Mars | Northerly 8/10 |
| AFI | Northerly 8/10 |
| Poppy | Northerly 8/10 |
| Kennyhoopla | Northerly 8/10 |
| Stray Cats | Hard Rock Gary 8/10 |
| SeeYouSpaceCowboy | Bottom Lounge 8/10 |
| Callous Daoboys | Bottom Lounge 8/10 |
| Iration | Salt Shed 8/11 |
| Pepper | Salt Shed 8/11 |
| Indigo Girls | Ravinia 8/11 |
| Cage the Elephant | UIC 8/14 |
| Young the Giant | UIC 8/14 |
| Bakar | UIC 8/14 |
| Stacked Like Pancakes | Reggies 8/14 |
| Robot Civil War | Reggies 8/14 |
| Dang!t | Reggies 8/14 |
| Rude Echoes | Reggies 8/14 |
| Mad Caddies | Reggies 8/15 |
| Creed | Tinley 8/16 |
| 3 Doors Down | Tinley 8/16 |
| Finger Eleven | Tinley 8/16 |
| Santigold | Concord 8/17 |
| The Struts | Riviera 8/17 |
| Barns Courtney | Riviera 8/17 |
| Juvenile | Radius 8/17 |
| O.A.R. | Ravinia 8/23 |
| Fitz and the Tantrums | Ravinia 8/23 |
| Built to Spill | Metro 8/23 |
| Kittie | Concord 8/23 |
| VCTMS | Concord 8/23 |
| Conquer Divide | Concord 8/23 |
| Incubus | Allstate 8/24 |
| Coheed and Cambria | Allstate 8/24 |
| Dillinger Escape Plan | Salt Shed 8/24 |
| The World is a Beautiful Place | Salt Shed 8/24 |
| No Men | Salt Shed 8/24 |
| The Roots | Ravinia 8/24 |
| Digable Planets | Ravinia 8/24 |
| Arrested Development | Ravinia 8/24 |
| La Luz | Subterranean 8/26 |
| Why? | Outset 8/28 |
| Glen Hansard | Salt Shed 8/28 |
| Gaslight Anthem | Salt Shed 8/29 |
| Joyce Manor | Salt Shed 8/29 |
| Pinkshift | Salt Shed 8/29 |
| Bikini Kill | Salt Shed 8/30 |
| T-Pain | Tinley 8/30 |
| Pearl Jam | Wrigley 8/31 |
| King Gizzard & guest | Northerly 9/1 |
| Geese | Northerly 9/1 |
| Powerwolf | Vic 9/3 |
| Unleash the Archers | Vic 9/3 |
| Suicide Machines | Bottom Lounge 9/6 |
| Hey Smith | Bottom Lounge 9/6 |
| Kill Lincoln | Bottom Lounge 9/6 |
| Bad Operation | Bottom Lounge 9/6 |
| Peter Hook | Riviera 9/7 |
| The Lox | Concord 9/7 |
| Avril Lavigne | Northerly 9/10 |
| Simple Plan | Northerly 9/10 |
| Girlfriends | Northerly 9/10 |
| Live | Northerly 9/11 |
| Stone Temple Pilots | Northerly 9/11 |
| Soul Asylum | Northerly 9/11 |
| Dirty Heads | Rise Up McHenry 9/12 |
| Sublime with Rome | Rise Up McHenry 9/12 |
| Ted Leo & the Pharmacists | Metro 9/14 |
| Soft Kill | Bottom Lounge 9/14 |
| Beton Arme | Bottom Lounge 9/14 |
| Goth Babe | Salt Shed 9/15 |
| Ritt Momney | Salt Shed 9/15 |
| Crash Test Dummies | City Winery 9/19 |
| Sigur Ros | Auditorium Theatre 9/21 |
| Thievery Corporation | Outset 9/28 |
| Sunny Day Real Estate | House of Blues 9/24 |
| Lake Street Dive | Salt Shed 9/26 |
| Badflower | Riviera 9/27 |
| Slothrust | Riviera 9/27 |
| American Football | Thalia Hall 9/27 |
| Kneecap | Concord 9/27 |
| Kings of Leon | Northerly 9/28 |
| Phantogram | Northerly 9/28 |
| Previous Industries | Schubas 9/28 |
| Spirit of the Beehive | Outset 9/28 |
| Fugitive | Reggies 9/28 |
| Brain Bleed | Reggies 9/28 |
| Snuffed | Reggies 9/28 |
| Till Lindemann | Aragon 9/29 |
| Twin Temple | Aragon 9/29 |
| PJ Harvey | Salt Shed 9/30 |
| Bob Vylan | Subterranean 10/1 |
| Mt Joy | Salt Shed 10/3 |
| Yard Act | Metro 10/4 |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket | Northwestern U 10/5 |
| Duster | Thalia Hall 10/9 |
| Dirty Art Club | Thalia Hall 10/9 |
| Nada Surf | Thalia Hall 10/10 |
| Office Dog | Thalia Hall 10/10 |
| Illuminati Hotties | Lincoln Hall 10/10 |
| Daffo | Lincoln Hall 10/10 |
| Boris | Ramova 10/11 |
| Starcrawler | Ramova 10/11 |
| Superchunk | Lincoln Hall 10/15 |
| Nothing But Thieves | Aragon 10/16 |
| Sports Team | Aragon 10/16 |
| Rise Against | Salt Shed 10/18 |
| Osees | Thalia Hall 10/18 |
| Iguana Death Cult | Thalia Hall 10/18 |
| Hinds | Thalia Hall 10/21 |
| Iron Maiden | Allstate 10/24 |
| The Hu | Allstate 10/24 |
| Enter Shikari | Bottom Lounge 10/25 |
| You Me At Six | Bottom Lounge 10/25 |
| Yours Truly | Bottom Lounge 10/25 |
| Lawrence | Aragon 10/25 |
| The Go! Team | Lincoln Hall 10/28 |
| Drive By Truckers | House of Blues 11/1 |
| The Garden | Aragon 11/7 |
| Animals As Leaders | House of Blues 11/10 |
| Front 242 | Metro 11/15 |
| Underoath | Salt Shed 11/24 |
| Static Dress | Salt Shed 11/24 |
| The Blood Brothers | Thalia Hall 12/20 |
2024.04.25 23:57 Latter_Ad_2292 Would buying this be a good move for a first cd deck?
 | submitted by Latter_Ad_2292 to BudgetAudiophile [link] [comments] |
2024.04.19 22:11 Adventurous_Page2148 Hired as an Adjuster in NYC. Do they drug test if it’s legal?
I’ve never had an issue with drug testing for jobs since it’s legal in New York. Does anyone work for Allstate in New York and can let me know if they drug test?
submitted by Adventurous_Page2148 to AllState [link] [comments]
2024.04.17 15:51 questionable_burrito Looking for some advice on claim issues in WA state.
III try to keep this breif, I'm basically just looking for advice.... My car was stolen in Tacoma over new years, and recovered the next day. I have full coverage with Allstate, in WA state if that matters. It spent the next 7 weeks in an Allstate storage yard, because of various delays. The car tested positive for drug residue so they had to wait two weeks for a drug cleanup quote, but then after the wait they told me the levels tested low enough that no cleanup would be done. Then my assigned adjuster went on vacation and forgot to order the tow when she got back, delaying another 2 weeks. So my car was not even at a shop until just about 2 months into the process. When I finally saw it, I discovered the interior absolutely destroyed due to mold. Allstate had stated that no windows were broken, but this was apparently not true and it sat open in the rain for at least several weeks. Almost two more months later and the electrical and body work are finally done (two separate shops, Allstate declined to help find one with better availability). The second shop was trying to get all the mold out, when the tech was stuck with a syringe. They immediately stopped, we called allstate and they decided to total the car. This wss April 1st, exactly 4 months from the date of recovery. I am out a few thousand in rental car expenses, not to mention the annoyance of constantly borrowing work and friends cars to get around.
I filed an OIC complaint, and I have reached out to Allstate a few times asking to be contacted by a manager to discuss the delays and reimbursement for my expenses... but still no word back. I'm basically just looking for any advice on next steps; would contacting state reps help me here, or is this something I'll just have to take to small claims court?? I know I can't sue for "stress induced by a lack of car", but I would at least like to be repaid my deductible and any rental car expenses. Especially since if I had just not filed a claim I would have already had my car back, not to mention they caused more damage than the original claim by leaving it to mold for weeks.
Any advice or experience in similar situations would be greatly appreciated!
submitted by questionable_burrito to AllState [link] [comments]
I filed an OIC complaint, and I have reached out to Allstate a few times asking to be contacted by a manager to discuss the delays and reimbursement for my expenses... but still no word back. I'm basically just looking for any advice on next steps; would contacting state reps help me here, or is this something I'll just have to take to small claims court?? I know I can't sue for "stress induced by a lack of car", but I would at least like to be repaid my deductible and any rental car expenses. Especially since if I had just not filed a claim I would have already had my car back, not to mention they caused more damage than the original claim by leaving it to mold for weeks.
Any advice or experience in similar situations would be greatly appreciated!
2024.04.17 07:07 questionable_burrito Having issues with Allstate in WA.
Hello All,
Ill try to keep this breif, I'm basically just looking for advice.... My car was stolen in Tacoma over new years, and recovered the next day. I have full coverage with Allstate, in WA state if that matters. It spent the next 7 weeks in an Allstate storage yard, because of various delays. The car tested positive for drug residue so they had to wait two weeks for a drug cleanup quote, but then after the wait they told me the levels tested low enough that no cleanup would be done. Then my assigned adjuster went on vacation and forgot to order the tow when she got back, delaying another 2 weeks. So my car was not even at a shop until just about 2 months into the process. When I finally saw it, I discovered the interior absolutely destroyed due to mold. Allstate had stated that no windows were broken, but this was apparently not true and it sat open in the rain for at least several weeks. Almost two more months later and the electrical and body work are finally done (two separate shops, Allstate declined to help find one with better availability). The second shop was trying to get all the mold out, when the tech was stuck with a syringe. They immediately stopped, we called allstate and they decided to total the car. This wss April 1st, exactly 4 months from the date of recovery. I am out a few thousand in rental car expenses, not to mention the annoyance of constantly borrowing work and friends cars to get around.
I filed an OIC complaint, and I have reached out to Allstate a few times asking to be contacted by a manager to discuss the delays and reimbursement for my expenses... but still no word back. I'm basically just looking for any advice on next steps; would contacting state reps help me here, or is this something I might have to take to small claims court?? I know I can't sue for "stress induced by a lack of car", but I would at least like to be repaid my deductible and any rental car expenses. Especially since if I had just not filed a claim I would have already had my car back, and the interior wouldn't have been destroyed.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
submitted by questionable_burrito to Insurance [link] [comments]
Ill try to keep this breif, I'm basically just looking for advice.... My car was stolen in Tacoma over new years, and recovered the next day. I have full coverage with Allstate, in WA state if that matters. It spent the next 7 weeks in an Allstate storage yard, because of various delays. The car tested positive for drug residue so they had to wait two weeks for a drug cleanup quote, but then after the wait they told me the levels tested low enough that no cleanup would be done. Then my assigned adjuster went on vacation and forgot to order the tow when she got back, delaying another 2 weeks. So my car was not even at a shop until just about 2 months into the process. When I finally saw it, I discovered the interior absolutely destroyed due to mold. Allstate had stated that no windows were broken, but this was apparently not true and it sat open in the rain for at least several weeks. Almost two more months later and the electrical and body work are finally done (two separate shops, Allstate declined to help find one with better availability). The second shop was trying to get all the mold out, when the tech was stuck with a syringe. They immediately stopped, we called allstate and they decided to total the car. This wss April 1st, exactly 4 months from the date of recovery. I am out a few thousand in rental car expenses, not to mention the annoyance of constantly borrowing work and friends cars to get around.
I filed an OIC complaint, and I have reached out to Allstate a few times asking to be contacted by a manager to discuss the delays and reimbursement for my expenses... but still no word back. I'm basically just looking for any advice on next steps; would contacting state reps help me here, or is this something I might have to take to small claims court?? I know I can't sue for "stress induced by a lack of car", but I would at least like to be repaid my deductible and any rental car expenses. Especially since if I had just not filed a claim I would have already had my car back, and the interior wouldn't have been destroyed.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
2024.04.05 06:28 Hoe-maker Error #400 whenever i try registering for CUET, how do I fix this?
 | submitted by Hoe-maker to CUETards [link] [comments] |
2024.03.30 02:15 xxknowledge Resources <3
Thank you for being here. This list provides some of my favorite resources. Enjoy!
Take a moment to breathe: https://www.calm.com/breathe
24/7 Hotlines
Find local assistance
<3 25 Daily Affirmations <3
You feel like shit offers an interactive self-care game/guide with grounding exercises for people struggling with feeling sad or anxious.
24 Best Self-Soothing Techniques and Strategies for Adults
Journaling Tools
submitted by xxknowledge to u/xxknowledge [link] [comments]
Take a moment to breathe: https://www.calm.com/breathe
24/7 Hotlines
- Crisis Text Line: Need to talk? Text HOME to 741741 Crisis Counselors are there 24/7.
- Peer-Run Warm Line: This is a 24/7 line where you can talk to someone and receive support from a peer or view more local resources. Visit the link or you can call 855-845-7415
- Suicide Hotline: 24/7, free, confidential crisis support for callers having thoughts of suicide, and friends and family worried about loved ones. You can also call 415-499-1100
- 988: The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.
- Youth-specific services (voice/text/chat/email) from the Boys' Town National Hotline.
- Parental Stress Line: Provides a 24 hour helpline for parents who need to discuss issues related to their children. Translators available to support all languages.
Find local assistance
- 211 connects you with local resources and support. You can also text your zip code to 898211 for assistance.
- Peer-Run Warm Line is a 24/7 line where you can talk to someone and receive support from a peer or view more local resources. Visit the link or you can call 855-845-7415
- Find Help: Find free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.
- Find Your Local Food Bank: Feeding America offers a directory of local food banks in the US, based on zip code.
- Find Shelter provides a directory and resources for finding shelter and housing, food pantries, clothing donations, health clinics, and more.
- Bright Sky has a secure journal tool and resources, and users can allow GPS to find the closest shelters and domestic violence support services.
- Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860
- When you call, you’ll speak to a trans/nonbinary peer operator
- Full anonymity and confidentiality
- No non-consensual active rescue (calling 911, emergency services, or law enforcement)
- Operating hours:
- 10 AM – 6 PM Pacific
- 11 AM – 7 PM Mountain
- 12 PM – 8 PM Central
- 1 PM – 9 PM Eastern
<3 25 Daily Affirmations <3
You feel like shit offers an interactive self-care game/guide with grounding exercises for people struggling with feeling sad or anxious.
24 Best Self-Soothing Techniques and Strategies for Adults
Journaling Tools
- Journaling App: My Life/My Voice App is a journaling app that tracks your moods, feelings, or experiences. You can write, voice record, or photo journal.
- Antidepressant Workbook:
- For adults: The Antidepressant skills workbook offers a self-guide for managing depression through self-care and coping skills.
- For teens: The Antidepressant Skills Workbook for Teens offers a self-guide for managing depression through self-care and coping skills.
- The What’s Up? The app offers methods to cope with difficult emotions through spaces to track habits, journal, and coping skills for de-escalation. (insert iOS or Android link)
- This article shares tips about how keeping a journal can help you understand and change your mental health, well-being, habits, and behaviors.
- DBT Skills Workbook shares DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation & distress tolerance.
- Looking After Yourself: Looking After Yourself is a website with workbooks to improve mental health with topics like assertiveness, perfectionism, and more.
- “Coping with Suicidal Thoughts” is a PDF workbook to support and go through exercises.
- Centre for Clinical Interventions: Offers a workbook, worksheets, and info sheets on improving self-esteem. Also provides a range of information sheets about psychological disorders for one's self and others.
- Objective Zero: Connects veterans, service members, their families, and caregivers to peer support via voice, video, and text. Also provides free access to wellness resources such as yoga and meditation.
- This worksheet has you reflect on activities and circumstances that cause distress to think through outcomes and work through the feelings.
- Distress Tolerance is a PDF that teaches you how to handle and accept situations that are out of your control.
- Goal Breakdown is a PDF that teaches you how to break large goals down into smaller, manageable tasks.
- Ten Ways to Untwist Your Thinking is a PDF that teaches you techniques to manage negative thoughts.
- This PDF helps address distressing thoughts by suggesting several ways one can create distance from these thoughts.
- This PDF is a workbook that supports survivors in discovering their resilience and learning how to tell their stories with self-compassion.
- Assertive Communication: This worksheet is a guide on how to be a more assertive communicator.
- Grounding Techniques
- 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique: The 54321 PDF walks you through grounding exercises to find your cool calm.
- 75 Coping Skills is a PDF that contains a variety of coping techniques to use when your go-to coping skills aren't working anymore.
- Anxiety Coping Skills Guide: This PDF offers different options for coping skills to work through anxiety.
- Anger
- Anger Diary is an activity that helps us reflect on our response to anger and prevent future outbursts.
- Anger Management Helpguide: The Anger Management Helpguide is a website that provides techniques to help with anger management and expressing feelings.
- Meditation / Relaxing
- Dartmouth Relaxation Downloads provide downloadable audio files that guide you through relaxation, mindfulness, and meditation exercises.
- GGAP, curated by UC Berkeley, offers over 80 practices for growing self-compassion, mindfulness, happiness, coping with stress, etc.
- Pixel Thoughts is a website that offers an interactive, 60-second meditation tool to communicate worries and release bothersome thoughts
- The Trevor Project: You deserve a welcoming, loving world. And so do the people you care about. Here you can reach out to a counselor if you’re struggling, find answers and information, and get the tools you need to help someone else.
- “LGBTQ+ young people report higher rates of sexual violence than the general population. Nearly two in five LGBTQ+ young people (39%) reported that they had ever been forced to do “sexual things” that they did not want to do,” (03/27/2024–The Trevor Project).
- Sexual Violence and Suicide Risk among LGBTQ+ Young People&utm_source=emailsegment-wholefile2&utm_campaign=generaleffort)
- DBT Travel Guide is an app where users can track feelings and actions in a diary and use folders with DBT skills and mindfulness guides:
- Android: https://bit.ly/adbt_r
- iOS: https://apple.co/3Tx2mGL
- CBT-i Coach is an app for people using CBT techniques and who are dealing with insomnia. Can be used with a healthcare provider or on its own:
- ios: https://apple.co/3ChY3Zf
- android: https://bit.ly/cbti_an
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy teaches people strategies to help them live their best and most productive lives.
- Open Counseling is a website that provides a directory of local and affordable counseling. They also have virtual options.
- OPC is a directory of low-cost options for in-person & online therapy; the site has a one-time lifetime membership fee or services <$80.
- Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking therapy within the US using an application process.
- Bloom offers support and courses designed by survivors, allies, and mental health professionals to support survivors of abuse.
- The APA's Parenting Guide is a website that offers resources for parents facing common issues relating to raising children.
- Child Care Aware: Child Care Aware connects you to local childcare options, including information on financial assistance, social services, and health.
- Sex Ed.
- American Sexual Health Association: ASHA offers information about sex/sexuality, STIs, tips for parents for healthy sex ed conversations, and more.
- Active Minds (ages 14-25): Active Minds offers resources on mental health for yourself and loved ones: bit.ly/AM_ref
- The Antidepressant Skills Workbook for Teens offers a self-guide for managing depression through self-care and coping skills.
- Breaking Code Silence: Breaking Code Silence is a network of institutional abuse survivors who were institutionalized in the U.S. through the “troubled teen industry.” Breaking Code Silence provides support to survivors, educates them about the TTI, investigates programs for abuse, and advocates for youth.
- Jed Foundation: Promotes suicide prevention by teaching teens and young adults the skills and support to grow into healthy adults.
- Thorn for Parents: Thorn for Parents is an organization that equips caregivers with tools, guides, and information about online digital safety, so they may have honest, ongoing conversations with kids and teens regarding consent, sexuality, and privacy in the online sphere.
- Youth-specific services (voice/text/chat/email) from the Boys' Town National Hotline.
- Job Corps provides free residential education and career training. Students can earn a high school diploma or the equivalent, and college credits. Job Corps offers tuition-free housing, meals, basic health care, a living allowance, and career transition assistance. Ages 16-24
- Jed Foundation: Promotes suicide prevention by teaching teens and young adults the skills and support to grow into healthy adults.
- GirlsHealth teaches girls about health and well-being, relationships (including family), bullying, illness, and disabilities.
- Know Your IX: Know Your IX educates students by teaching about Title IX, and what it offers, and by providing support for medical care, reporting abuse, and more.
- Right to Be: Right to Be provides support and resources to people experiencing online harassment, which includes help with reporting harassment/abuse.
- Stomp Out Bullying: Stomp Out Bullying is a website that helps you overcome and stop bullying and other forms of peer abuse.
- Breaking Code Silence: Breaking Code Silence is a network of institutional abuse survivors who were institutionalized in the U.S. through the “troubled teen industry.” Breaking Code Silence provides support to survivors, educates them about the TTI, investigates programs for abuse, and advocates for youth.
- The American Red Cross is a website that provides emergency assistance and disaster relief to families and individuals.
- Assignment Assistance for Students with ADHD: This PDF provides students with mindfulness exercises, like brain dumps and reflections, so they can focus on the tasks at hand.
- Balancing Work and School is a website that teaches you how to engage in and prioritize self-care.
- Khan Academy provides free education in math, science, programming, animation, etc. Backed by: NASA, MIT, and the Modern Museum of Art with free academic content (K-college).
- Job Corps provides free residential education and career training. Students can earn a high school diploma or the equivalent, and college credits. Job Corps offers tuition-free housing, meals, basic health care, a living allowance, and career transition assistance. Ages 16-24
- Active Minds: Empowers college students to speak out about mental illness and offers resources and ways to help themselves and others.
- Be There certificate: A free, self-paced course on how to safely support anyone who may be struggling with their mental health.
- Caregiver Action Network provides education, and support to help you care for ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or old age.
- Kindness is a website that facilitates opportunities to do and share acts of kindness to feel more connected and for a happier world.
- American Civil Liberties Union: ACLU is a website that provides information on our rights as US citizens around immigration, LGBTQ+, voting, disability, and more.
- LawHelp is a website that provides referrals to local public interest law offices, information about rights, court forms, and more.
- Women's Lawis a website that provides legal information for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.
- Find Help: Find free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.
- mRelief: mRelief is a website that offers a fast and easy process to apply and qualify for food stamps. Text SNAP to 74544 or visit the link.
- Find Your Local Food Bank: Feeding America offers a directory of local food banks in the US, based on zip code.
- NAFCC is a directory of clinics that offer free or low-cost health services for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people in the U.S.
- Patient Access Network is a website that offers copay assistance for the out-of-pocket costs of prescribed medications: http://bit.ly/PAN_ref
- GoodRX allows users to search their medication/prescriptions and compare prices at different pharmacies. It also contains information about the meds and potential side effects for folks who want to learn more and perhaps ask their pharmacists questions. Often, GoodRX also provides coupons for medications that can be used a most major pharmacies in the U.S. This service allows folks without insurance to save on medication, and it can also be used by people with insurance.
- Patient Advocate Foundation is a website that provides case management and financial aid for healthcare treatment for chronic illnesses.
- HealthWell is an organization that supports folks with inadequate health insurance and helps cover certain medical costs if you qualify.
- Short-term assistance
- Help with Bills is a website that provides information about government programs that help with bill payment and temporary assistance.
- Modest Needs Foundation provides short-term financial assistance to those in crisis who are ineligible for conventional financial assistance
- Financial planning/management
- My Money Tools offers different information and templates to help with financial literacy, financial planning, and debt management.
- National Endowment for Financial Literacy is a website that provides info and help with financial planning and management.
- Savvy Ladies is a nonprofit focused on empowering women by teaching them about financial planning & money management through free resources.
- The FDIC Money Smart program supports people in learning more financial skills and creating positive banking relationships. Includes information to support parents/caregivers of children of all ages as well.
- Debt support
- This page talks about job loss and unemployment stress, as well as tips for how to cope and make a plan to move forward.
- Coping with Debt is a PDF that provides information on how to manage debt, bankruptcy, and debt consolidation.
- A 12-step recovery program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt.
- Upsolve is an app that helps you get screened and file for bankruptcy. You can also consult with a lawyer for free.
- Taxes
- Get your refund is a service that provides free tax filing assistance to families earning less than $66,000 a year.
- Unemployment/In-between jobs
- This page talks about job loss and unemployment stress, as well as tips for how to cope and make a plan to move forward.
- NCAC (National Children's Advocacy Center) provides information, local help, and strategies for parents, children, and professionals to prevent or intervene when child abuse occurs.
- The Safe Havens Mapping Project is a directory for the pets of those experiencing domestic violence.
- Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness provides information and resources on abusive relationships, sexual assault, and safety planning.
- Moving Ahead is a PDF that teaches you how to navigate financial challenges associated with ending an abusive relationship.
- Bloom offers support and courses designed by survivors, allies, and mental health professionals to support survivors of abuse.
- 1-in-6: Provides support for men who have been sexually abused.
- BetterBrave is a nonprofit focused on tackling sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Their programs include a community resource platform, a research hub, and events and workshops.
- Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) provides information & support to the U.S.-based adults who are survivors of imaged-based sexual abuse, including nonconsensual pornography, sextortion, and deepfakes. If someone has shared or threatened to share an intimate image of you without your consent, visit their Safety Center. (Deaf/HoH approved).
- Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment provides support for victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in the deaf community. (Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing approved).
- Domestic Shelters is a website that helps survivors of domestic violence learn about and locate shelters and crisis interventions services in their communities. Their site also provides informative toolkits and other resources.
- STOPSTALKINGUS: Stop Stalking Us is a nonprofit org focused on creating community for those impacted by stalking. They do this through advocacy at the legislative level and by offering community events, education, and supportive resources for those experiencing or who have experienced stalking.
- TimeDone is a program that provides members with free benefits tailored to the needs of formerly arrested or convicted people.
- BetterBrave tackles sexual harassment/discrimination in the workplace with programs like a community resource platform, a research hub, & events.
- Coming Out Handbook is a PDF that provides tools and questions to help share your sexual identity with others.
- https://iava.org/ Support for Veterans
- Dweebs Global is a website that provides mentorship on a wide range of career and job topics.
- CareerOneStop is a directory that provides resources for career exploration as well as a listing of available jobs by location and type.
- Self-Help
- Speaking of Suicide has articles and support for those having suicidal thoughts.
- How to ask for help is an article that gives tips on how to reach out when you are having suicidal thoughts.
- CSULB (California State University Long Beach): offers this anonymous tool, so you can be pointed to the best resources local to you, either on campus or off.
- Huckleberry Youth (California): HY promotes safety in times of crisis, physical and emotional health, social justice and educational success for youth. Call 415-668-2622 or visit the link.
- Learning for Justice - Learning for Justice seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.
- VR 360 Videos on YouTube
- NEA ED Justice - NEA is growing the movement to win education justice for our students, schools, and communities.
- News, science, arts & culture, podcasts, TV, reports, and more.
- Edutopia
- Academia.edu - free downloadable PDFs
- MySocialBrain.org - exploring the social brain
- Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
- TestMyBrain aims to engage and collaborate with citizen scientists like you, by providing tools to help you learn about yourself. When you test yourself, you contribute to brain research.
- PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. We monitor all sources of research content in philosophy, including journals, books, and open access archives.
- Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: Challenges and Triumphs in the Pursuit of Equality
- arXiv is a free distribution service and an open-access archive for nearly 2.4 million scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics.
- Kind Connector - Kindness matters and so do you. Each of our kind acts is bonded together as part of our global community and movement.
- https://www.aclu.org/
- The Philosophy Forums at OnlinePhilosophyClub.com aim to be an oasis of intelligent in-depth civil debate and discussion. Topics discussed extend far beyond philosophy and philosophers.
- https://www.edx.org/search
- https://distillsocial.com/
2024.03.29 18:29 holydagx Stricter rules to a more realistic WWE RWC save
Hello everyone, I came up with some rules to make a TEW Real World Chronicles save with WWE a bit more realistic. Here they are:
Advertising - You can choose a wrestler to be on the poster for every PLE, then you can manually boost his popularity with +3 points in every region, +5 in the region where the event takes place - You can choose two wrestlers to be on the WWE 2K videogame’s cover every year in January, then you can boost their popularity with +5 points in every region
Brand Split - Workers who are engaged / married must be on the same brand - Workers won’t be able to appear to the other brand unless there is a Raw v SmackDown rivalry or they win the Rumble / Money in the Bank
Broadcasting Deals - Respect in real life TV deals’ length - Don’t boost your viewers with investments on the Network and stick to traditional TV
Championships and accolades - Make history, break the records for the longest reigning United States Champion and Tag Team Champions by 2026 - Only wrestlers who haven’t already been world champions can partecipate in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Contracts - Decide a monthly salary cap you don’t have to overcome with your talents’ wages (if you do you must go to an hiring freeze until you’re once again below the cap) - Set your workers’ (and the ones from other companies too) contracts to match the length they have in real life (if it is currently known / reported; you can check some from Wrestlers Contracts Details(Expiration Date)- WWE, AEW, IMPACT, NJWP ) - Mass workers’ cuts can take place only between April and May and between September and October - When you release a worker you can manually shorten their contract to 3 months so that you must only pay their 3 months non-compete clause - Reduce gender gap, raise your female worker’s pay to match male’s ones
New Signings - Don’t be like Tony Khan, sign new wrestlers only if you really need and have plans for them - Be like Jim Cornette, don’t sign indie guys who can only do monkey flips and have no charisma at all - Home sweet home, sign ex NXT guys who are currently in AEW when their deal is up - If a new signing has less than 40 points of popularity across the USA, change his name to a new one trademarked by WWE
Other companies - Remove your non-stealing agreement with AEW so that you can have bidding wars with them when contracts are expiring - Give AEW more money than you
PLEs - Tight Card, you can’t book more than 7 matches on your PLEs (no more than 5 in PLEs with special stipulations like Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, MITB and Survivor Series WarGames) - Stay on schedule, don’t go over 3 hours in normal PLEs (4 hours at Big 4 PLEs) - Give a spot on the card to hometowns heroes (such as Kevin Owens in Canada, Sami Zayn in Canada and Saudi Arabia, Gunther in Europe, McIntyre in the UK etc.)
TV Shows - Consider commercials, set your time to schedule for Raw and SmackDown to 2h 30m and 1h 30m respectively - Give realistic time to your angles with main event’s segments running for +20 minutes
Venues - Try to book venues with realistic attendances (big stadiums only for Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and SummerSlam) - Go international, at least 4 PLEs per year must take place outside of North America - You can book big venues (such as MSG, Allstate Arena, Staples Center etc. for your TV shows only twice per year) - Tape at least 2 episodes of Raw and SmackDown from the UK every year
Workers’ morale - Enable left off show complaints - You can’t give talent money bonuses to raise their morale - You can offer new contracts only to workers with small morale issues or no issues at all
Workers’ hiatuses - Brock Lesnar remains on hiatus until he is proven innocent / returns in real life - The Rock will be available for only two matches after WrestleMania XL. One of those will be taking place at WrestleMania 41, you decide the other (Big 4 / Saudi Shows only) - Roman Reigns goes on hiatus until SummerSlam season whether he is still your world champion or not - You have to give at least 3 weeks of time off to every worker during the span of a year - When a worker becomes father you must give him 2 months of time off - Follow the Wellness Programme, if a wrestler results positive in a drug test you have to give him a 30 day suspension the first time, 60 day the second time and fire him at the third violation
Do you have any other suggestion for new rules to add? Thank you☝🏻
submitted by holydagx to FantasyBookers [link] [comments]
Advertising - You can choose a wrestler to be on the poster for every PLE, then you can manually boost his popularity with +3 points in every region, +5 in the region where the event takes place - You can choose two wrestlers to be on the WWE 2K videogame’s cover every year in January, then you can boost their popularity with +5 points in every region
Brand Split - Workers who are engaged / married must be on the same brand - Workers won’t be able to appear to the other brand unless there is a Raw v SmackDown rivalry or they win the Rumble / Money in the Bank
Broadcasting Deals - Respect in real life TV deals’ length - Don’t boost your viewers with investments on the Network and stick to traditional TV
Championships and accolades - Make history, break the records for the longest reigning United States Champion and Tag Team Champions by 2026 - Only wrestlers who haven’t already been world champions can partecipate in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Contracts - Decide a monthly salary cap you don’t have to overcome with your talents’ wages (if you do you must go to an hiring freeze until you’re once again below the cap) - Set your workers’ (and the ones from other companies too) contracts to match the length they have in real life (if it is currently known / reported; you can check some from Wrestlers Contracts Details(Expiration Date)- WWE, AEW, IMPACT, NJWP ) - Mass workers’ cuts can take place only between April and May and between September and October - When you release a worker you can manually shorten their contract to 3 months so that you must only pay their 3 months non-compete clause - Reduce gender gap, raise your female worker’s pay to match male’s ones
New Signings - Don’t be like Tony Khan, sign new wrestlers only if you really need and have plans for them - Be like Jim Cornette, don’t sign indie guys who can only do monkey flips and have no charisma at all - Home sweet home, sign ex NXT guys who are currently in AEW when their deal is up - If a new signing has less than 40 points of popularity across the USA, change his name to a new one trademarked by WWE
Other companies - Remove your non-stealing agreement with AEW so that you can have bidding wars with them when contracts are expiring - Give AEW more money than you
PLEs - Tight Card, you can’t book more than 7 matches on your PLEs (no more than 5 in PLEs with special stipulations like Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, MITB and Survivor Series WarGames) - Stay on schedule, don’t go over 3 hours in normal PLEs (4 hours at Big 4 PLEs) - Give a spot on the card to hometowns heroes (such as Kevin Owens in Canada, Sami Zayn in Canada and Saudi Arabia, Gunther in Europe, McIntyre in the UK etc.)
TV Shows - Consider commercials, set your time to schedule for Raw and SmackDown to 2h 30m and 1h 30m respectively - Give realistic time to your angles with main event’s segments running for +20 minutes
Venues - Try to book venues with realistic attendances (big stadiums only for Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and SummerSlam) - Go international, at least 4 PLEs per year must take place outside of North America - You can book big venues (such as MSG, Allstate Arena, Staples Center etc. for your TV shows only twice per year) - Tape at least 2 episodes of Raw and SmackDown from the UK every year
Workers’ morale - Enable left off show complaints - You can’t give talent money bonuses to raise their morale - You can offer new contracts only to workers with small morale issues or no issues at all
Workers’ hiatuses - Brock Lesnar remains on hiatus until he is proven innocent / returns in real life - The Rock will be available for only two matches after WrestleMania XL. One of those will be taking place at WrestleMania 41, you decide the other (Big 4 / Saudi Shows only) - Roman Reigns goes on hiatus until SummerSlam season whether he is still your world champion or not - You have to give at least 3 weeks of time off to every worker during the span of a year - When a worker becomes father you must give him 2 months of time off - Follow the Wellness Programme, if a wrestler results positive in a drug test you have to give him a 30 day suspension the first time, 60 day the second time and fire him at the third violation
Do you have any other suggestion for new rules to add? Thank you☝🏻
2024.03.25 09:23 Jiale88996 Best Insurance Rates for Your Honda Accord Hybrid
 | Best Insurance Rates for Your Honda Accord Hybridhttps://preview.redd.it/w7h6n0nlwfqc1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ca5eecc90363bab73ceda0a6eb2dc5ff84819ddYour driving record and the location where you reside are also significant factors that impact insurance rates. A clean driving record with no accidents or traffic violations can qualify you for lower premiums.for personalized guidance based on your specific circumstances. IntroductionFinding the best insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid is crucial to ensure you have adequate coverage while keeping costs manageable. As a responsible vehicle owner, securing affordable and comprehensive insurance is a priority.This article aims to provide you with valuable insights and strategies to help you navigate the process of obtaining the best insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Factors Affecting Insurance RatesVehicle Make and Model Impact on Insurance Premiums:The make and model of your vehicle play a significant role in determining insurance rates. Insurance companies consider factors such as the vehicle's value, repair costs, and safety ratings when calculating premiums. The Honda Accord Hybrid, with its advanced technology and safety features, may be viewed favorably by insurers, potentially resulting in lower rates compared to other vehicle models. Safety Features of the Honda Accord Hybrid that Can Lower Insurance Costs: The Honda Accord Hybrid is equipped with various safety features that can contribute to lower insurance costs. These features include:
Personal Driving Record and Location Influence on Insurance Rates: Your personal driving record and the location where you reside are also significant factors that impact insurance rates. A clean driving record with no accidents or traffic violations can qualify you for lower premiums. Additionally, the area's crime rate, traffic conditions, and population density can influence the insurance costs for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Case Study: John, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from California, shared his experience: "My clean driving record and the safety features of my hybrid played a significant role in securing a lower insurance rate. The insurance company recognized the reduced risk associated with my vehicle and driving habits, which ultimately saved me money on my premiums." Factors Specific to Hybrid Vehicles:
Researching Insurance ProvidersImportance of Comparing Quotes from Multiple Insurance Companies:To find the best insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid, it's essential to compare quotes from multiple insurance companies. Each insurer has its own underwriting criteria and pricing models, which can result in significant variations in rates and coverage offerings. When you compare quotes from several providers, you increase your chances of finding the most competitive rates and the coverage that best suits your needs. Online Tools and Resources for Finding Competitive Insurance Rates: The Internet has made it easier to research and compare insurance rates from various providers. Websites like Insurify, QuoteWizard, and The Zebra offer online platforms where you can enter your vehicle information and personal details to receive multiple quotes from different insurance companies simultaneously. These tools allow you to quickly compare rates, coverage options, and discounts, streamlining the process of finding the best insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Case Study: Sarah, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from Texas, shared her strategy: "I used online quote comparison tools to quickly gather quotes from multiple insurance providers. This allowed me to easily identify the most competitive rates and coverage options specific to my hybrid vehicle. The process saved me both time and money." Tips for Lowering Insurance PremiumsBundling Policies for Discounts: Many insurance companies offer discounts when you bundle multiple policies, such as auto and home insurance, with them.If you bundle your Honda Accord Hybrid insurance with other policies, you may be eligible for bundling discounts, which can significantly reduce your overall insurance costs. Taking Advantage of Available Discounts for Hybrid Vehicles: Some insurance providers recognize the benefits of hybrid vehicles and offer discounts specifically for hybrid owners. These discounts may be based on the vehicle's fuel efficiency, lower emissions, or advanced safety features. Note: Be sure to inquire about any hybrid vehicle discounts when researching insurance options for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Maintaining a Clean Driving Record to Qualify for Lower Rates: Your driving record plays a crucial role in determining your insurance rates. Insurers view drivers with clean records as lower risks, which can result in lower premiums. If you have safe driving habits, avoiding accidents and traffic violations, you can maintain a favorable driving record and potentially qualify for lower insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Case Study: Emily, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from New York, shared her experience: "I've maintained a clean driving record for several years, and when I switched to my hybrid vehicle, my insurance provider offered me a significant discount due to my safe driving history. It's a great incentive to continue being a responsible driver." Understanding Coverage OptionsExplanation of Different Types of Insurance Coverage Available for Honda Accord Hybrid Owners:When insuring your Honda Accord Hybrid, you'll have various coverage options to choose from. These may include:
It's essential to strike a balance between adequate protection and affordability. Consulting with an insurance professional can help you select the coverage levels that best suit your circumstances. For more guidance on comparing comprehensive coverage policies, check out our article: How to Compare Comprehensive Coverage Policies. Customer Reviews and SatisfactionImportance of Considering Customer Feedback and Satisfaction When Choosing an Insurance Provider:When selecting an insurance provider for your Honda Accord Hybrid, it's crucial to consider customer feedback and satisfaction levels. An insurance company's reputation for customer service, claims handling and overall customer satisfaction can be a valuable indicator of the quality of their services. How to Research and Evaluate Customer Reviews to Make an Informed Decision: Several online platforms and resources are available to research and evaluate customer reviews of insurance companies. Websites like J.D. Power, ConsumerAffairs, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) provide ratings and reviews from real customers, allowing you to gain insights into the experiences of others. You can also check social media platforms and forums for discussions about specific insurance providers to gather more information. Case Study: David, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from Florida, shared his experience: "I read numerous customer reviews before selecting my insurance provider. It was essential for me to choose a company with a strong reputation for responsive customer service and efficient claims handling. The reviews helped me make an informed decision and feel confident in my choice." Claims Process and Customer SupportOverview of the Claims Process with Different Insurance Companies:The claims process can vary among insurance companies, but it typically involves the following steps:
Importance of Responsive Customer Support in Case of Accidents or Emergencies: In the event of an accident or emergency involving your Honda Accord Hybrid, responsive customer support from your insurance provider is crucial. Having access to knowledgeable and helpful representatives can make a significant difference in resolving issues promptly, answering questions, and providing guidance throughout the claims process. For more insights on navigating the claims process with hybrid car insurance discounts, refer to our article: Navigating the Claims Process with Hybrid Car Insurance Discounts. Specific Considerations for Honda Accord Hybrid OwnersUnique Insurance Considerations for Hybrid Vehicles:As a hybrid vehicle owner, there are specific considerations to keep in mind when it comes to insurance. Insurance rates for the Honda Accord Hybrid may vary based on factors such as the vehicle's age, driving record, and location. The safety ratings and advanced features of hybrid vehicles can also impact your insurance rates, as vehicles with better crash test ratings and safety features often qualify for lower premiums. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) [^4], hybrid vehicles generally have lower insurance rates compared to their gasoline-powered counterparts due to their potential for lower fuel costs and environmental impact. Maintenance and Safety Features that Can Impact Insurance Costs:Regular maintenance is essential for the proper functioning and longevity of your Honda Accord Hybrid. Consistent oil changes, fluid checks, filter replacements, and adherence to the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule can help ensure your vehicle is in optimal condition.Having well-maintained vehicles is often viewed favorably by insurance providers, potentially contributing to lower insurance costs. Furthermore, the safety features of the Honda Accord Hybrid, such as passive restraint systems (airbags), anti-lock brakes, and anti-theft devices, can enhance accident prevention and passenger protection. If you use these safety features effectively, you can contribute to overall vehicle safety and potentially qualify for additional discounts or lower insurance rates. Case Study: Tom, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from Oregon, shared his experience: "When I switched to my hybrid vehicle, my insurance provider offered me a discount specifically for hybrid owners. They recognized the advanced safety features and lower environmental impact of my vehicle, which ultimately resulted in lower premiums." Policy Flexibility and CustomizationBenefits of Customizable Insurance Policies: Customizable insurance policies offer the flexibility to tailor coverage to your specific needs as a Honda Accord Hybrid owner.Remember to select only the coverage options you need, no more nor less, you can optimize your policy and potentially reduce costs by avoiding unnecessary coverage. How Flexibility in Policy Options Can Help Optimize Coverage and Costs for Honda Accord Hybrid Owners: Flexibility in policy options allows Honda Accord Hybrid owners to adjust their coverage levels, add specific features like roadside assistance or rental car reimbursement, and explore discounts that cater to their driving habits or the safety features of their vehicles. You must customize your policy based on your unique needs, this way you can ensure to have adequate coverage while potentially saving on insurance costs. For example, you may opt for higher deductibles to lower your premiums if you have a clean driving record and are confident in your ability to avoid minor accidents. Alternatively, you could increase your coverage levels for comprehensive protection if you reside in an area with a higher risk of weather-related incidents or theft. Case Study: Michael, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from California, shared his strategy: "I customized my insurance policy to match my specific needs as a hybrid owner. I added roadside assistance coverage for added peace of mind while increasing my deductible to lower my premiums. This tailored approach allowed me to optimize my coverage and costs simultaneously." Final Tips for Securing the Best Insurance RatesImportance of Regular Policy Reviews:It's essential to regularly review your insurance policy to ensure you are getting competitive rates. Insurance rates can fluctuate over time due to various factors, such as changes in your personal circumstances, driving record, or the insurance provider's pricing models. If you get all the knowledge and are well informed about your coverage and comparing rates from different insurers, you can potentially identify opportunities to secure better insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid. According to a report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) [^5], policyholders should review their insurance policies annually or whenever their circumstances change to ensure they have adequate coverage at competitive rates. Utilizing Technology and Apps to Monitor Driving Habits and Potentially Lower Premiums:Many insurance companies now offer usage-based insurance programs that leverage technology and apps to monitor driving habits. These programs track factors such as mileage, time of day driving, and driving behaviors like acceleration, braking, and cornering.When you demonstrate you're a safe driver, having those safe driving practices through these programs, you may qualify for discounts or reduced rates on your Honda Accord Hybrid insurance. Some popular apps and technology solutions for monitoring driving habits include:
Case Study: Jessica, a Honda Accord Hybrid owner from Illinois, shared her experience: "I enrolled in my insurance provider's usage-based program and started using their driving app. By maintaining safe driving habits and monitoring my mileage, I qualified for a significant discount on my insurance premiums. It's a great incentive to continue driving responsibly." For more information on hybrid car insurance discounts and top models in the US, you can refer to our article: Hybrid Car Insurance Discounts and Top Models in the US. ConclusionFinding the best insurance rates for your Honda Accord Hybrid requires a proactive approach and careful consideration of various factors. By understanding the impact of vehicle make and model, safety features, personal driving record, and location on insurance rates, you can make informed decisions when selecting an insurance provider.Researching and comparing quotes from multiple insurance companies, taking advantage of available discounts, and understanding coverage options are essential steps in securing affordable and comprehensive insurance for your Honda Accord Hybrid. Additionally, considering customer reviews and satisfaction, as well as the claims process and customer support, can help you choose a reliable insurance provider that meets your needs. Remember to explore unique considerations for hybrid vehicles, such as maintenance requirements and safety features that can impact insurance costs. Customizable insurance policies and flexibility in coverage options can further optimize your coverage and potentially reduce costs. Finally, regular policy reviews and leveraging technology and apps to monitor driving habits can help you stay on top of competitive rates and potentially qualify for additional discounts or premium reductions. It's essential to regularly review your insurance policy to ensure you are getting competitive rates. Insurance rates can fluctuate over time due to various factors, such as changes in your circumstances, driving record, or the insurance provider's pricing models. For a comprehensive overview of state-specific hybrid car insurance discounts, refer to my in-depth resource: State-Specific Hybrid Car Insurance Discounts: A Comprehensive Guide. Read more in my blog. |
2024.03.17 01:44 markfromminn VA Forms Game With 21-4192 For TDIU
I have a surgically fused right shoulder that has undoubtedly created employment issues. For that reason, I filed a claim for TDIU back in 2018. The Atlanta RO denied my claim for TDIU. By reading the decision letters, I felt then - as I do now - that my claim wasn’t adjudicated fairly or objectively. So I appealed. I had a hearing with the VABVA last year, i.e., 2023. In November of 2023, the VABVA issued a decision in which I was granted TDIU for this claim going back to 2018. Subsequently, the claim was sent back to the RO. Not remanded, but sent to the RO for the RO to finalize and implement.
As it was explained to me by the VABVA, all the RO has to do is determine my income for the years going back to the 2018 claim, and that's the reasoning for why the VA RO is pursuing employment records. In other words, it’s not about obtaining employment records and 4192 forms, but the information in order to verify income. That was explained to me to mitigate my concerns that the RO would play the forms game with the 4192 all over again.
On a peripheral note, the way the RO had been operating compelled me to conclude that the RO was interested in my employment records not to adjudicate my claim fairly, but to try to find dirt on me. To be clear, I am not opposed to the VA obtaining my employment records. I’ve never left a job due to misconduct of any kind. As I write this letter to you now, I can pass a hair follicle drug test that goes back six months, just like I passed one in 2019 when I thought I was going to drive a truck for Swift Transportation, but got rejected due to….my fused right shoulder. But I digress. I have signed everything necessary for the RO to obtain any and all employment records. What I am opposed to are the tactics the RO is using, by playing what I call the 4192 forms game.
If you go back to the Fall of 2021, you will see a decision from the RO on a second claim I filed for TDIU while I was awaiting a hearing with the VABVA, which I didn't get until 2023. As you would see in that Fall 2021 decision letter, the RO doesn't disagree with me on the facts surrounding my disability and employment, but they conclude that the rating I had (70%) was for my unemployment! My argument then - as it is to this day - is that it was entirely unnecessary for the VA to obtain my employment records to figure out that the rating I had all along was for my unemployment! So why did the RO need my employment records? Can you not see why I would ask questions, especially when they seem less interested in the information than in using this as a procedural matter to hold up and block claims?
To be clear, I have never left a job due to misconduct of any kind. I am just trying to explain why I came to the conclusion the VA's real purpose behind obtaining my employment records was for something other than adjudicating my claim fairly and objectively. Had the VA found an example of misconduct on my part, that would have been cited. But since the RO couldn't find anything like that, my employment records meant nothing to the RO.
But I digress. Let's fast forward to this February 1st letter I just received. I don't like how it reads at all, and I can see very clearly how the RO is now setting the stage to, objectively, overturn the VABVA's November decision in which I was granted TDIU. As I sit here in March of 2024, nothing has changed. I predicted back in November that the RO would do exactly what it is doing, i.e. everything possible to objectively overturn the VABVA’s decision. Albeit, it won’t be called overturning the VABVA’s decision. It will be called something else. In fact, in the end, I will even blamed and gaslighted for not prevailing, as if it’s my fault I can’t prevail rather than RO dishonesty.
Let me, again, make it clear that I am not opposed to the VA obtaining employment records. I've signed everything necessary for that. My issue is with what the RO is doing, and how the RO is using this procedural matter as a means to hold up and block claims.
Number one, it seems paradoxical to nexus a veteran's ability to prevail on a claim for individual unemployability with the veteran's ability to produce employment records. I don't see how the veteran's ability to prevail on an IU claim can be dependent upon having had employment. But not only that, to withhold the granting of TDIU for documented and indisputable periods of unemployment (e.g. I had no employment in 2019) until a prior employer can submit a form that covers a different period in which there isn’t even a dispute from me in that I was most likely ineligible to receive TDIU during that period is altogether chimerical and unjust. But what this does is empirically prove the RO isn’t doing this to adjudicate the claim fairly and objectively, but rather using this as a tactic to delay and deny.
In the VA's February 1st letter to me, I am informed that the RO is waiting on a company called Concentrix returning the 4192 form. I am also informed that it is my responsibility to produce that form. I would gladly fill the form out myself, but the form clearly states that I am not to do that. Concentrix is a very large company, i.e., an international company. I had worked in a remote position. I had no contact with higher ups in Concentrix. I don't know anybody at Concentrix. Originally, my position was with Allstate, and Allstate downsized and outsourced my department to Concentrix. Many of my work colleagues left rather than switch over. The people who switched over pretty much all left Concentrix before I did. I don't even really know anybody who even works for Concentrix. Furthermore, Concentrix has also gone by the name of Convergys and has been sued for not paying employees properly. Concentrix began to interfere with my pay, which is one of the factors that prompted me to resign. Concentrix is, quite frankly, a scam company. So I don't know Concentrix would even be willing to fill out and return the form.
Objectively, the RO is taking the veteran's ability to prevail on a TDIU claim out of the veteran's hands, placing it into the hands of prior employers. Objectively, I'm being told that if Concentrix doesn't return the 4192, I can't prevail. This is despite the VABVA having already granted me TDIU. This is what the RO did to me the first time around, and, as it was explained to me previously, the RO should be doing little more than finalizing and implementing the VABVA’s decision this time around.
Not only that, the VA RO even says it is awaiting "treatment records" from Concentrix. To be clear, I was never treated by Concentrix for anything. Concentrix isn't a medical facility. I don't think I can put this into strong enough words. The RO is clearly trying to set the stage for re-adjudicating a claim that was already decided by the VABVA and overturning the VABVA's decision. While the RO says it awaits "treatment records" from Concentrix, the RO completely ignores my actual medical evidence (e.g. the x-rays of my fused shoulder).
It has been 17 years since the Loma Linda VA fused my shoulder and not once has the RO ever acknowledged that my shoulder has been surgically fused, much less the permanence of the condition, which is why the RO has written things like my fused shoulder is a temporary condition as was written in 2018. To inflate and embellish the significance of employment records, the RO is conflating employment records with medical records, while ignoring my actual medical records.
As I understand it, the main purpose behind the VA's pursuit of such employment records is to verify income. That would make sense. In other words, it isn't supposed to be about the veteran's ability to produce 4192 forms, but rather obtaining the information. It seems the VA is asking for and seeking everything other than records that would substantiate my income, e.g., my IRS tax transcripts. Instead, the RO is playing the forms game with the 4192.
The RO also managed to insert the Social Security Administration into this! In the February 1st letter, the RO states that it is awaiting "disability medical records" from SSA. That is followed by telling me that is most likely going to take several months to obtain that. First, this is a claim going back to 2018 that I already appealed, had a hearing with the VABVA, and the VABVA granted me TDIU in a November 2023 decision. All the RO is supposed to be doing is finalizing the decision. It's not right I should be having to wait for months and months for the RO to obtain records for me to re-prove my claim all over again! I have urgently needed dental work. I have already been waiting years. I especially shouldn't be having to wait for months for something that, to my knowledge, doesn't exist, because Social Security doesn't have any "disability medical records" of mine. Just recently, I confirmed I’m ineligible for Social Security disability. Why? I don’t have enough work credits! I haven’t been able to work enough to qualify for Social Security disability! I’ve never received Social Security….ever. There is no new light that SSA can shed on my situation or condition!
But, while ignoring my actual medical records, the VA is going to wait on the irrelevant and that which doesn't exist, even telling me I need to expect this to take several more months. If all the VA is trying to do is verify income, even if Social Security had "disability medical records" of mine, what do they need those for? If such records existed, shouldn't this have been obtained back when I first submitted a claim for TDIU in 2018, or my second claim for TDIU in 2021? Does the RO not believe my shoulder is fused? Or, more precisely, does the RO refuse to acknowledge that my shoulder was fused like the RO has up to this point? Why is the RO trying to determine my disability for a claim that I supposedly already prevailed on back in November unless the RO is planning to re-adjudicate this all over again as if it's a brand new claim?
Even if you are absolutely unconvinced on my 4192 forms game argument, what the RO wrote in its February 1st decision objectively tells me that the VA has placed my ability to prevail on a claim that was already decided by the VABVA into both the hands of Concentrix and the Social Security Administration. The SSA has absolutely nothing to do with me or this claim, yet the RO has managed to insert the SSA into the middle of this. It makes no sense if the intention is to handle this fairly and objectively. Like I wrote, I am not even eligible for SS disability because I lack the work credits necessary. I’ve never received Social Security. But now I have to wait months for the RO to obtain "disability medical records" from the SSA!
It looks to me like the RO is going to not implement the VABVA's November 2023 decision, and there's nothing I can do about it. When it's July, and then December, and still nothing has changed, what am I supposed to believe then?
submitted by markfromminn to VeteransBenefits [link] [comments]
As it was explained to me by the VABVA, all the RO has to do is determine my income for the years going back to the 2018 claim, and that's the reasoning for why the VA RO is pursuing employment records. In other words, it’s not about obtaining employment records and 4192 forms, but the information in order to verify income. That was explained to me to mitigate my concerns that the RO would play the forms game with the 4192 all over again.
On a peripheral note, the way the RO had been operating compelled me to conclude that the RO was interested in my employment records not to adjudicate my claim fairly, but to try to find dirt on me. To be clear, I am not opposed to the VA obtaining my employment records. I’ve never left a job due to misconduct of any kind. As I write this letter to you now, I can pass a hair follicle drug test that goes back six months, just like I passed one in 2019 when I thought I was going to drive a truck for Swift Transportation, but got rejected due to….my fused right shoulder. But I digress. I have signed everything necessary for the RO to obtain any and all employment records. What I am opposed to are the tactics the RO is using, by playing what I call the 4192 forms game.
If you go back to the Fall of 2021, you will see a decision from the RO on a second claim I filed for TDIU while I was awaiting a hearing with the VABVA, which I didn't get until 2023. As you would see in that Fall 2021 decision letter, the RO doesn't disagree with me on the facts surrounding my disability and employment, but they conclude that the rating I had (70%) was for my unemployment! My argument then - as it is to this day - is that it was entirely unnecessary for the VA to obtain my employment records to figure out that the rating I had all along was for my unemployment! So why did the RO need my employment records? Can you not see why I would ask questions, especially when they seem less interested in the information than in using this as a procedural matter to hold up and block claims?
To be clear, I have never left a job due to misconduct of any kind. I am just trying to explain why I came to the conclusion the VA's real purpose behind obtaining my employment records was for something other than adjudicating my claim fairly and objectively. Had the VA found an example of misconduct on my part, that would have been cited. But since the RO couldn't find anything like that, my employment records meant nothing to the RO.
But I digress. Let's fast forward to this February 1st letter I just received. I don't like how it reads at all, and I can see very clearly how the RO is now setting the stage to, objectively, overturn the VABVA's November decision in which I was granted TDIU. As I sit here in March of 2024, nothing has changed. I predicted back in November that the RO would do exactly what it is doing, i.e. everything possible to objectively overturn the VABVA’s decision. Albeit, it won’t be called overturning the VABVA’s decision. It will be called something else. In fact, in the end, I will even blamed and gaslighted for not prevailing, as if it’s my fault I can’t prevail rather than RO dishonesty.
Let me, again, make it clear that I am not opposed to the VA obtaining employment records. I've signed everything necessary for that. My issue is with what the RO is doing, and how the RO is using this procedural matter as a means to hold up and block claims.
Number one, it seems paradoxical to nexus a veteran's ability to prevail on a claim for individual unemployability with the veteran's ability to produce employment records. I don't see how the veteran's ability to prevail on an IU claim can be dependent upon having had employment. But not only that, to withhold the granting of TDIU for documented and indisputable periods of unemployment (e.g. I had no employment in 2019) until a prior employer can submit a form that covers a different period in which there isn’t even a dispute from me in that I was most likely ineligible to receive TDIU during that period is altogether chimerical and unjust. But what this does is empirically prove the RO isn’t doing this to adjudicate the claim fairly and objectively, but rather using this as a tactic to delay and deny.
In the VA's February 1st letter to me, I am informed that the RO is waiting on a company called Concentrix returning the 4192 form. I am also informed that it is my responsibility to produce that form. I would gladly fill the form out myself, but the form clearly states that I am not to do that. Concentrix is a very large company, i.e., an international company. I had worked in a remote position. I had no contact with higher ups in Concentrix. I don't know anybody at Concentrix. Originally, my position was with Allstate, and Allstate downsized and outsourced my department to Concentrix. Many of my work colleagues left rather than switch over. The people who switched over pretty much all left Concentrix before I did. I don't even really know anybody who even works for Concentrix. Furthermore, Concentrix has also gone by the name of Convergys and has been sued for not paying employees properly. Concentrix began to interfere with my pay, which is one of the factors that prompted me to resign. Concentrix is, quite frankly, a scam company. So I don't know Concentrix would even be willing to fill out and return the form.
Objectively, the RO is taking the veteran's ability to prevail on a TDIU claim out of the veteran's hands, placing it into the hands of prior employers. Objectively, I'm being told that if Concentrix doesn't return the 4192, I can't prevail. This is despite the VABVA having already granted me TDIU. This is what the RO did to me the first time around, and, as it was explained to me previously, the RO should be doing little more than finalizing and implementing the VABVA’s decision this time around.
Not only that, the VA RO even says it is awaiting "treatment records" from Concentrix. To be clear, I was never treated by Concentrix for anything. Concentrix isn't a medical facility. I don't think I can put this into strong enough words. The RO is clearly trying to set the stage for re-adjudicating a claim that was already decided by the VABVA and overturning the VABVA's decision. While the RO says it awaits "treatment records" from Concentrix, the RO completely ignores my actual medical evidence (e.g. the x-rays of my fused shoulder).
It has been 17 years since the Loma Linda VA fused my shoulder and not once has the RO ever acknowledged that my shoulder has been surgically fused, much less the permanence of the condition, which is why the RO has written things like my fused shoulder is a temporary condition as was written in 2018. To inflate and embellish the significance of employment records, the RO is conflating employment records with medical records, while ignoring my actual medical records.
As I understand it, the main purpose behind the VA's pursuit of such employment records is to verify income. That would make sense. In other words, it isn't supposed to be about the veteran's ability to produce 4192 forms, but rather obtaining the information. It seems the VA is asking for and seeking everything other than records that would substantiate my income, e.g., my IRS tax transcripts. Instead, the RO is playing the forms game with the 4192.
The RO also managed to insert the Social Security Administration into this! In the February 1st letter, the RO states that it is awaiting "disability medical records" from SSA. That is followed by telling me that is most likely going to take several months to obtain that. First, this is a claim going back to 2018 that I already appealed, had a hearing with the VABVA, and the VABVA granted me TDIU in a November 2023 decision. All the RO is supposed to be doing is finalizing the decision. It's not right I should be having to wait for months and months for the RO to obtain records for me to re-prove my claim all over again! I have urgently needed dental work. I have already been waiting years. I especially shouldn't be having to wait for months for something that, to my knowledge, doesn't exist, because Social Security doesn't have any "disability medical records" of mine. Just recently, I confirmed I’m ineligible for Social Security disability. Why? I don’t have enough work credits! I haven’t been able to work enough to qualify for Social Security disability! I’ve never received Social Security….ever. There is no new light that SSA can shed on my situation or condition!
But, while ignoring my actual medical records, the VA is going to wait on the irrelevant and that which doesn't exist, even telling me I need to expect this to take several more months. If all the VA is trying to do is verify income, even if Social Security had "disability medical records" of mine, what do they need those for? If such records existed, shouldn't this have been obtained back when I first submitted a claim for TDIU in 2018, or my second claim for TDIU in 2021? Does the RO not believe my shoulder is fused? Or, more precisely, does the RO refuse to acknowledge that my shoulder was fused like the RO has up to this point? Why is the RO trying to determine my disability for a claim that I supposedly already prevailed on back in November unless the RO is planning to re-adjudicate this all over again as if it's a brand new claim?
Even if you are absolutely unconvinced on my 4192 forms game argument, what the RO wrote in its February 1st decision objectively tells me that the VA has placed my ability to prevail on a claim that was already decided by the VABVA into both the hands of Concentrix and the Social Security Administration. The SSA has absolutely nothing to do with me or this claim, yet the RO has managed to insert the SSA into the middle of this. It makes no sense if the intention is to handle this fairly and objectively. Like I wrote, I am not even eligible for SS disability because I lack the work credits necessary. I’ve never received Social Security. But now I have to wait months for the RO to obtain "disability medical records" from the SSA!
It looks to me like the RO is going to not implement the VABVA's November 2023 decision, and there's nothing I can do about it. When it's July, and then December, and still nothing has changed, what am I supposed to believe then?
2024.03.04 09:27 KirkHammettJigsaw WORD… LIFE – Hustler’s Ambition (Season One, Episode One Brand New Guy)
The curtain is closing on FBE, and it doesn’t really feel real. Five years have all been leading up to this, a month to celebrate everything good about this place before we head into a new era. Even though I’m the one that set this into motion (Kirk is writing this), this is a little bittersweet. But the only way to properly say goodbye is to make sure that you say it without any items left on the bucket list, and I think we’ve come pretty close. STEEZ has always wanted to book an entire career, and I love booking John Cena, so this is the perfect way to close things out for us. Big thanks to Ape and MGT for facing us. It’s been a pleasure being a part of FBE, it’s been a pleasure booking with STEEZ, and it’s been a pleasure meeting all (most) of you. One last time, before the curtain closes, let’s get right into this.
---
There’s one question that every single wrestling fan has their own answer to. Who is the absolute greatest to ever do it? There’s plenty of wrong answers, of course, but there’s no true right one. Some people might say that it’s Mitsuharu Misawa, or any of his contemporaries in the Four Pillars, due to how they revolutionized the way that stories are told in the ring, the way that every strike they threw had years of history and hatred simmering behind it. Some might say Bryan Danielson, because he’s been successful everywhere he’s been, capturing the hearts of both little kids that see WWE as a synonym for wrestling as a whole and indie smarks that stopped watching ROH when it went to HDNet because it got “too corporate”. Some people might say Steve Austin, because of how much of a pure cultural icon he was, making sure that you couldn’t walk around the block without seeing at least one Austin 3:16 shirt. Some people say Hulk Hogan. Some people say Antonio Inoki. Some people say Terry Funk. El Santo. Manami Toyota. Randy Savage. Kazuchika Okada. Kenny Omega. Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels. Ric Flair.
John Cena.
It’s hard to argue with anybody that has Big Match John as their GOAT. It’s impossible to tell the story of professional wrestling without him. Sure, people hated him for a large part of his peak, and sure, he had the machine behind him. However, if being the GOAT is about being the total package, he’s extremely difficult to deny. As much as some people might hate to admit, he has a pile of classics under his belt. He grew up as a legitimate wrestling fan, so he didn’t just do it for the money, but he had the look of somebody who did. Impossibly strong, cared about the business, and as far as mic skills go, he’s made it a habit to dismantle up-and-coming stars within the span of a single segment. He acts like a top guy should act outside the ring, he has legitimate crossover appeal, and despite becoming MORE Hollywood, often a death knell for wrestlers, he managed to win back the fans that hated him forever.
As professional wrestling has evolved, and in some ways, strayed from what it used to aim to accomplish, Cena has been one of the only links to the past. A hero in an era where heroism is seen as too earnest. John Cena, a character with flaws, but despite the colourful attire and the PG-ification, one of the realest characters ever. Stubborn enough to be good in the face of thousands of people daring him to be bad. 300 nights on the road a year, facing boos 99% of the time, and CHOOSING to keep being John Cena. He looked cynicism and negativity right in the eyes every night and told it to go fuck itself. People are incapable of changing the root of who they are, yet wrestlers seem to do it all the time. Not John Cena.
We’re not trying to pretend like Cena’s career has been perfect. It hasn’t been. There are many, many things that have gone wrong. Bad booking, unnecessary wins, no-selling, lame feuds. Those aren’t really Cena’s fault, but they’re a part of his legendary career. But we believe that John Cena deserves better. John Cena is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in a squared circle, and while his career has been great, it could have been better. There’s no such thing as a time machine, but we have this. We have one last booking, we have one month to cap off a huge chapter of our lives. We’re here to rebook John Cena’s career, and you best fucking believe that we’re doing it right. No fucking bullshit, no fucking fat. The greatest booking of all time, for the man who may very well be the greatest wrestler of all time. This is The Franchise: Fixed.
SmackDown! - June 27, 2002 [Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL]
“What’s your name, son?”
The kid in the middle of the ring looks cocky, but inside, he’s terrified. This isn’t Ohio Valley Wrestling. This isn’t Leviathan staring him down, this isn’t Mr. Black or some other schmuck. This is Kurt Angle, one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Legitimately dangerous, a Gold Medalist. This isn’t a step up in competition. This is an entire elevator.
He lifts the microphone up to his lips, and professional wrestling will never be the same again.
“My name is John Cena!”
Kurt Angle laughs. Who is this guy? Goofy little red spandex shorts, a dumb haircut. Jacked to the gills, but how do we even know there’s skill behind it? Kurt decides to test the kid, just to see if he’s even worth this match.
“What is the ONE quality that you possess that makes you think you’re worthy of stepping into this ring with me?”
The kid has a name now. John Cena knows what he’s about to do.
“Ruthless. Aggression!”
He slaps the taste out of Angle’s mouth, knocking him right on his ass. The bell rings. John Cena has arrived.
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Cena takes top mount and immediately starts raining down punches, trying to separate Kurt Angle’s consciousness from his body. Angle, one of the greatest Olympic wrestlers to ever live, tries to transition, but Cena is wise beyond his years and gets the hell out of dodge. He continues to piece Angle up on his feet, until Angle manages to get the ankle pick and lock in his feared Ankle Lock.
The crowd groans, knowing that this is it for Young Cena. But they knew wrong, as the kid in red spandex shows incredible heart, clawing his way to the bottom rope and holding on for dear life! Angle looks shell shocked! Who the FUCK is this kid?!
As the match goes on, Cena just keeps on getting the better of his much more experienced opponent. The crowd begins to wonder if he might actually pull off the impossible. Kurt Angle starts to get worried about the same thing. Cena? He hasn’t dared to think about the future, and he has no past. John Cena lives in the present.
Cena levels Angle with a huge Lariat, and then drops him high on his shoulders with a picture-perfect German Suplex. Now, he’s going for the kill. The issue? He doesn’t really have a finisher. He could go for the Proto-Bomb, the move that won him the OVW Championship, but that just seems a little bit quaint for such a huge moment. He hasn’t adopted any of the moves that’ll one day make him famous. He finally settles on something, but he took just a little bit too much time to decide. As he reaches down, Kurt Angle falls back on his grappling ability, sinking in his hooks like an octopus. Inside cradle. Cena has no chance. One…Two…Three. The crowd deflates, Cena punches the mat in anger, and Kurt Angle doesn’t dare celebrate. If this kid managed to do that to him on his first night, what the fuck is he going to be able to do in a couple of months, let alone a couple of years?
Kurt Angle def. John Cena in 5:18
John Cena walks backstage, and there’s a line-up of other professional wrestlers clapping for him. They’re applauding his effort, they like what they just saw. They think that he’s a star in the making, they think he has endless potential. Billy Kidman, Hardcore Holly, The Hurricane, just a few of the names that he’s able to pick out of the crowd. As far as he can see, he can spot guys that he’s watched on tape, studying them, imagining what he’d do if he were to ever step into the ring with them. And you know what? It makes him sick. This isn’t what he wanted. He wanted to win. All of this is just icing on the shittiest cake ever. John Cena is mad. He doesn’t want to have promise. He doesn’t want to have potential. Ruthless Aggression isn’t supposed to take him to the prospect list, it’s supposed to take him to the top.
Cena walks to the back of the procession, and he looks up, right into the eyes of the biggest star there. He looks up at the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He looks up at The Undertaker. The Undertaker extends his hand. “That was somethin’ out there, kid. You’re gonna be great one day.” Cena stares at The American Badass’ hand. He doesn’t shake it. “You’re wrong about one thing. I’m great now.” Undertaker laughs and retracts his hand. “You think so? Kid, you’re GOOD. Great is something you earn, and you ain’t earned nothin’ yet. If you were great, you would’ve won tonight. If you were great, you’d have that World Title strapped ‘round your waist. You don’t. So a little word of advice, don’t try to talk trash to somebody that could put your ass in an early grave.”
Cena clenches his jaw, trying to look tough. “Okay, old man. How about you try to put me down next week? I bet you I’ll knock your jaw clean off.” The veteran chuckles at the inexperienced shit-talk from the young man looking up at him. “Okay. See you next week…I’m sorry, what was your name again?” Cena opens his mouth to re-introduce himself, but before he can get his words out, Taker has already turned his back and walked away. Is John Cena ready for the big time, or will The Undertaker show him that he’s still got a hell of a lot left to learn?
---
SmackDown! - July 4, 2002 [Fleet Center Boston, MA]
John Cena vs. The Undertaker (c) - Non-Title
What a world. It’s the Fourth of July, the most patriotic day of the year, and for an America-Loving young man like John Cena, life is good. He gets to wrestle in his home city, an entire crowd behind him, in just his second WWE match ever. Not just that, but he’s taking on the World Champion, The Undertaker. How many people can say that in just two matches, they get a crack at the toughest dude in the company? Not very many, but John Cena can. Sure, it’s non-title, but who knows what could be in store for him if he manages to pull off the upset somehow?
Of course, The Undertaker is not one to take prisoners. He starts beating Cena to a pulp from the opening bell. Cena isn’t able to strike like he did against Angle, because he’s facing THE BEST PURE STRIKER IN THE WWE! He can’t resort to grappling, considering the size differential. But John Cena has something that will serve him well for the rest of his career: heart. It’s why he’s able to reverse a Last Ride attempt with a Hurricanrana and keep fighting. It’s why he’s able to knee his way out of a Tombstone Piledriver attempt and keep fighting. It’s why, when the champion grabs his throat for a Chokeslam, he’s able to kick Undertaker’s knee out from under him and bloody his nose up with a Flying Shoulder Tackle. Eventually, showing off immense strength, he actually lifts The Undertaker up! Fireman’s Carry position! What could happen next?
The answer isn’t a storybook ending. The answer is that Undertaker elbows his way down, picks Cena up, plants him with the Last Ride and covers him for the win. After the match, Taker’s upcoming Vengeance opponent, Kurt Angle, comes to stare him down. However, Angle keeps on averting his gaze. He’s distracted. He just can’t seem to ignore that annoying little plucky upstart walking his way to the back. Kurt Angle just can’t seem to shake the feeling that he hasn’t seen the last of John Cena.
The Undertaker def. John Cena in 7:09
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Vengeance - July 21, 2002 [Joe Louis Arena Detroit, MI]
Behind every great PPV card is a million wrestlers upset that they didn’t get a chance to showcase their abilities. These men and women grind, and bleed, and sweat, and sometimes they don’t even get the big show paycheck to make it all worth it. House show hours don’t translate to spotlights. So, the WWE has a little consolation prize for all of these hardworking talents that didn’t manage to secure a place on the Vengeance card. Not a battle royale, but something even better. A weightlifting competition hosted by Jonathan Coachman! There are a few names that seem out of place, like The Hurricane, Billy Kidman, and Johnny Stamboli struggle to lift heavier weights and flame out early on. Jamal puts up a good fight, and Crash Holly, despite being unable to lift heavy weights, refuses to accept the fact that he’s been eliminated.
However, the contest comes down to two men. There’s one very expected contender, by far the biggest star here, both figuratively and literally, The Big Show. He’s lifting these weights like they’re empty boxes. There’s only one man here that’s managing to keep up with the big bastard whatsoever, and that’s John Cena! This young upstart is visibly jacked, but nobody in attendance knew that he was THIS strong! As he goes plate for plate with the fat fucking giant, the crowd begins getting more and more shocked! John Cena squats 350! Big Show squats 375! Cena squats 400! This is a war of attrition, every eliminated competitor watching on in disbelief!
After both men put up a 450 pound squat, though, Jonathan Coachman has some bad news. They’ve run out of weight, so it seems like they’ll have to call this one a draw! The crowd groans, and a disappointed Big Show turns to walk to the back. John Cena, though, has other ideas. He quickly PICKS BIG SHOW UP! FIREMAN’S CARRY! AS THE 500 POUND MAN FLAILS, CENA SQUATS HIM AND SETS HIM DOWN! Coachman has no choice but to declare him the victor, an unbelievably bold feat of strength! His boldness is appreciated by the paying public, but not so much by Mr. Heel Turn himself. Big Show takes offense and lays Cena out with a right hand to the jaw, before throngs of security get between the two of them!
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On SmackDown!, we get a recap of both John Cena’s tremendous strength and Big Show’s humongous ego. Then, we get a quick little vignette, as John responds to what happened at Vengeance. He says that if Big Show truly had a winner’s attitude, he’d see John Cena’s quick-thinking as a virtue and congratulate him on the win like a man. Instead, he decided to be alittle bitch big bitch about it and spoil the moment. For the first time in his young career, John Cena has real beef with somebody. He won a strongman competition against the World’s Largest Athlete, but he wants to whoop him in the ring too. “I’m offering you a great opportunity, Big Show. If you want, you get to go down in history as John Cena’s first PPV match. On top of that, you get to go down in history as John Cena’s first PPV win. Be a man and show up at SummerSlam.”
SummerSlam - August 21, 2002 [MCI Center Washington, DC]
John Cena vs. Big Show
Living out your childhood dream is something that very few people get to achieve in their lifetimes. It’s nice to dream, of course, but how many people can say that they actually ended up doing what their heart craved for so many years? Tonight, John Cena becomes one of the lucky few. He gets a chance to live out a fairy tale story against a giant, but in real life the knight in shining armor doesn’t always manage to overcome the giant. Will John Cena manage to win his very first match on a big stage, or will BIg Show manage to get revenge for the embarrassment that he suffered at the hands of this insolent rookie at Vengeance? From the opening bell, John Cena refuses to wrestle like the smaller man, trying to go blow for blow with Show, confident after outlifting him at Vengeance.
The issue with his strategy is that Big Show knows how to box, so he pieces poor Cena up on the feet, busting up his nose! Show is exacting his revenge, one strike at a time, and now Cena is forced to wrestle more evasively, throwing basement dropkicks, chopblocks and leg kicks, doing his very best to take the giant’s base out from under him. His strategy works when Big Show tries to lift him up for a Gorilla Press, but loses his footing due to his bad knee, allowing Cena to take top mount and rain elbows down upon his ginormous opponent! Cena wants to showboat a bit, and he lifts Show onto his shoulders and starts squatting! This cocky bastard might actually do it! But Big Show sneaks in a shot to the bloody nose, bringing Cena down! Show drags him up, plants him with a Chokeslam, drapes his 500 pound frame on top of Cena, and that’s all she wrote!
Big Show def. John Cena in 8:55
Later on in the night, Kurt Angle walks backstage dejected. He just lost a WWE Championship Match against The Undertaker for the second PPV in a row. His head is down, his eyes are welling up…and then he sees him. That little prick. That little cocksucker. There’s a crowd of people watching him, probably a hundred eyes, and Kurt Angle is laser-focused on two in particular. John Cena is watching him, and the motherfucker is smirking. Smirking. What gives him the right to do that? This upstart should be wrestling on Velocity and lacing boots, and yet somehow he just manages to piss Angle off so damn much. He hasn’t won a single goddamn match yet! Kurt Angle doesn’t have time to justify what he’s doing before he actually does it. The Olympic Gold Medalist charges across the room. He shoves Ivory out of the way, and she hits the floor. He doesn’t even notice. He double legs Cena and starts throwing elbows at him, trying to bludgeon the nose that was already busted open earlier tonight.
Kurt Angle is screaming at John Cena. “Who are you, huh? Who are you?” The crowd descends upon him as he continues directing the point of his elbow as hard as he can at Cena’s face. He’s counting out the shots, and he doesn’t even know why, because he doesn’t plan on stopping. Not ever. Cena’s head rattles against the concrete floor as dozens of arms wrap around Kurt, working hard to drag him away. Suddenly, he feels weightless. He can’t resist, there’s just too many people dedicated to getting him away. To his dismay, he watches as John Cena sits up, still conscious. His teeth are stained with blood, the back of his head feels like it has a heartbeat, and every beat hurts. A winless rookie, beaten within an inch of his life, knocked on his ass, and what does he do? What nobody else would do in this situation. He smiles at Kurt Angle, and Kurt Angle dies inside.
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When the footage of Kurt Angle’s savage attack gets released, the Olympic Gold Medallist is asked to explain himself, and he barely can. He claims that John Cena is a thorn in his side, when John Cena has only ever confronted him once. He claims that John Cena is a cocky little prick, and while that may be true, Kurt Angle certainly isn’t one to talk. Angle can’t really justify his reasoning. Not to himself, not to the world. John Cena just makes him angry. John Cena is a threat, but Angle can’t admit that. He settles on one explanation. “He needs to be put in his place.” Kurt Angle will get his opportunity to put John Cena in his “place” at Unforgiven. Sure, it’s a little bit of a step down in competition considering the fact that he had a World Title shot last PPV, but this match means the world to Angle.
It means the world to John Cena, too. “When I debuted, Kurt Angle asked me what my name was. He called me son, and then I gave him a tougher match than he expected. He beat me, sure, but look at what I did to him. He attacks me backstage at Vengeance, he says that he’s gotta put me in my place? All I did was wrestle him, and now he’s all obsessed with me and everything. I know why. He’s scared that I’m the guy that’s gonna take his spot. You see, when I said that I bring ruthless aggression to the table, I wasn’t lying. Big Show busted my nose wide open, and I loved that feeling. Kurt Angle sees me smiling through all of this, and he knows that he just isn’t tough enough to love it like I do. So all that talk about putting me in my place shows that he knows nothing about me, because if that place is the deep waters, the bright lights, and all the pain that comes with it, then that’s where I wanna be. I’m John Cena, and Kurt Angle, I’m gonna make damn sure that you never have to ask what my name is again.”
Unforgiven - September 22, 2002 [Staples Center Los Angeles, CA]
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Before the match, Kurt Angle stares Cena down from across the ring, a cold killer’s expression marked on his face, while Cena looks exceedingly calm. The bell rings, and ANGLE RUSHES ACROSS THE RING TO DOUBLE LEG CENA! Immediately, the Olympian takes Top Mount and starts throwing the same elbows that he busted Cena up with backstage at SummerSlam! But it seems like Cena expected this, because after the first couple catch him square in the forehead, he begins to parry them! Cena shifts to the side quickly, and Angle elbows the mat as a result of this dodge. Cena wraps his right leg around Angle’s torso and grabs a sort of Guillotine Choke with his right arm, before pushing off with his left side, rolling through and taking the Top Mount himself! That’s outrageous, he just managed to out-wrestle one of the greatest wrestlers ever! Cena doesn’t even strike from the top, he just flashes a shit-eating grin at Angle, and Kurt shoves him away, more pissed off than he’s ever been!
Angle pops up to his feet and aims a kick at the skull of the seated Cena, but Cena quickly lays down to avoid the kick. Kurt’s a crafty competitor, though, quickly PLANTING HIS FOOT RIGHT ON CENA’S CHEST, DAMN NEAR STOMPING A MUDHOLE IN HIM! Cena folds on the mat, and Kurt isolates his leg, stepping over and WRENCHING on it! Single Leg Boston Crab, and there’s no showboating, no theatrics, no mercy. He’s twisting the leg as much as he can, he wants Cena to tap out NOW. He wants Cena to go home embarrassed. Unfortunately for Kurt, Cena manages to roll on his stomach and push him away with his legs. As Johnny Boy limps to a standing base, though, Kurt immediately rushes in and launches him with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex! Lifts him back up, secures a waistlock, plants his feet, and SENDS HIM FLYING WITH A RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX THAT SENDS CENA CRASHING HIGH ON HIS SHOULDERS! This is the Kurt Angle that we all know, and there’s a scary look in his eyes. He sees John Cena as nothing but prey right now.
Angle isn’t interested in going for a cover just yet, he wants to inflict more punishment on this upstart that he hates so much. As John crawls to his knees, Angle grabs his arm and starts bending it! STANDING KIMURA! Cena does a forward roll to escape, but Angle presses his weight down on Cena to make sure that he stays on his ass, before applying a Rear Chinlock. Cena tries to sprawl away, and Angle forces him to turtle, before spinning into a sort of North-South Position and THROWING KNEES THAT CONNECT WITH CENA’S SKULL! The young man is getting absolutely toyed with here, this is a Kurt Angle masterclass! Cena tries to back away, getting to his feet for a moment while Angle holds him with a Muay Thai grip, before suddenly shooting for a single leg! Cena defends well, but Angle quickly changes course, and before Cena even knows what’s happening, HE’S IN THE AIR FOR A NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX! BRIDGE PIN! ONE…TWO…Cena gets the shoulder up, and Angle rolls through, lifting Cena up and grabbing a Front Chancery before PLANTING HIM AGAIN WITH A HATCH SUPLEX! Cover! One…Two…NO!
Cena’s in deep waters, and as he tries to crawl away, Angle grabs a waistlock and lifts Cena to his feet. Kurt looks for a Hammerlock, but Cena quickly launches his elbow back, catching Angle in the brow and FINALLY creating some separation! He’s free, but he’s exhausted! Angle darts at him, but John throws a perfectly-timed right hand that staggers his opponent! Cena throws another, and another, and another! He’s got a rhythm going! He wants to knock Kurt to the ground, so instead of staying consistent and throwing medium power punches, he steps back, charges up, and goes for a fastball! The haymaker is DUCKED BY ANGLE, WHO SHOOTS IN AND IMMEDIATELY THROWS CENA FOR A LOOP WITH YET ANOTHER BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX! Cena lands hard, but he’s still able to move, so move he does! Cena pops up, to Angle’s shock and chagrin, and THROWS A HUGE LARIAT, FAST ENOUGH THAT KURT CAN’T DODGE IT! KURT GOES DOWN IN A FLASH, BUT CENA’S LEGS GIVE OUT TOO! LUCKILY FOR HIM, HE LANDS ON ANGLE, AND THE REFEREE COUNTS! ONE…TWO…AND KURT GETS THE SHOULDER UP! The crowd starts to chant Cena’s name, and he begins to stir, but he can barely lift his face off of the canvas at this point!
As the crowd continues to will Cena on, he finally regains his footing, right as Angle manages to get to his knees! Cena starts throwing more punches at Angle’s jaw, ramping up in speed and intensity as the crowd oohs and ahs with every shot! Angle’s rocked bad, BUT HE’S NOT DEAD, AND HE SHOOTS IN FOR AN ANGLE SLAM! HE MANAGES TO GET CENA UP, BUT THE ROOKIE THRASHES AND THROWS PUNCHES FROM THE AIR, FORCING ANGLE TO DROP HIM! Cena throws another big Lariat, but Angle ducks it and knees him in the gut, bending him over FOR A POWERBOMB! CENA THROWS HIS MOMENTUM BACK AND SENDS ANGLE TO THE CORNER WITH A HURRICANRANA! CENA’S FEELING IT! STINGER SPLASH, FLATTENING THE FORMER CHAMPION, AND FOLLOWS IT UP WITH A BULLDOG! COVER! ONE…TWO…AND KURT KICKS OUT! Cena is undeterred, though, and he lifts Kurt to his feet, lifting him up AND PLANTING HIM WITH THE PROTO-BOMB, HIS OLD OVW FINISHER! THIS HAS PUT DOWN MANY MEN, WILL IT PUT DOWN THE OLYMPIC HERO? ONE…TWO…TH-NOOO!!!
Cena pounds the mat in anger, he wants this bad, and it’s close enough that he can fucking TASTE IT! Once again, he lifts Kurt to his feet, and Angle looks like a fish out of water, gasping for air, beat up, somehow getting outmatched by a total rookie with no wins to his name! Cena, mustering up every last ounce of strength, LIFTS ANGLE UP FOR A GERMAN SUPLEX! THE BACK OF ANGLE’S HEAD COLLIDES HARD WITH THE MAT, AND CENA MAINTAINS CONTROL OF THE WAIST! HE ROLLS THROUGH, STEADIES HIMSELF, AND LIFTS ANGLE HIGH INTO THE AIR WITH A SECOND GERMAN SUPLEX! THIS TIME, HE BRIDGES FOR THE PIN! ONE…TWO…THR-AND SOMEHOW, KURT ANGLE IS STILL KICKING! BUT HE DOESN’T HAVE CONTROL, AS CENA ROLLS THROUGH ONCE MORE, THROWING ANGLE HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD FOR A THIRD GERMAN SUPLEX! BUT ANGLE MANAGES TO LAND ON HIS FEET, INCREDIBLE ATHLETICISM! BEFORE JOHN EVEN KNOWS THAT HIS SUPLEX HAS BEEN COUNTERED, KURT REACHES DOWN, GRABS HIS FOOT, AND TRIPS HIM RIGHT UP! AN ANKLE PICK, AND HE TURNS IT RIGHT INTO AN ANKLE LOCK! HE’S WRENCHING HARD ON THAT ANKLE, AND CENA IS SCREAMING IN AGONY!
Cena is in unfathomable pain, every muscle in his body screaming as he tries his very best to make his way to the shelter that is the bottom rope! Kurt tries to prevent getting pulled to the ropes with Cena, but John Cena is one hard-headed, determined son of a bitch, and he plants his forearms hard on the mat, DRAGGING HIMSELF TO THE BOTTOM ROPE INCH BY INCH! HE’S A FINGERTIP AWAY, AND ANGLE DOES HIS BEST TO PULL HIM BACK TO THE MIDDLE, BUT CENA MANAGES TO GET A HOLD OF IT AS THE CROWD GOES APESHIT, AND WHILE A FURIOUS KURT HOLDS ON UNTIL THE REF’S COUNT HITS FOUR! Cena grabs the middle rope, trying desperately to pull himself up, in a terrible state. Kurt Angle HATES John Cena, and as he steps back, he prepares to lunge forward with every ounce of “fuck you” flowing through his blood! He winds up AND DELIVERS A CRUSHING SOCCER KICK TO CENA’S SKULL, A SICKENING THUD THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE CRACK OF A WHIP REVERBERATES THROUGHOUT THE ARENA! FUCK TECHNIQUE, FUCK THE ART OF WRESTLING, THE SPORT OF WRESTLING - THAT WAS A DAMNED EXECUTION! JOHN CENA IS SLUMPED OVER ON THE MIDDLE ROPE, AND ANGLE LOWERS HIS SINGLET STRAPS! HE UNLEASHES A PRIMAL SCREAM, ALL OF THE HATRED THAT HE CARRIES FOR THIS UPSTART SON OF A BITCH RELEASED WITH IT! DRAGS CENA’S CARCASS UP, AND NOW HE’S READY TO TURN IT INTO A CORPSE! ANGLE SLAM! HITS IN! ROLLS INTO A DEEP COVER, BUT THE REF COULD COUNT TO A MILLION AND NOTHING WOULD CHANGE! ONE…TWO…THREE!!! JOHN CENA’S VALIANT EFFORT CARRIED HIM FAR, BUT IT COULDN’T CARRY HIM TO A WIN!
Kurt Angle def. John Cena in 15:46
After the bell rings, a few members of the medical team walk into the ring to check on John Cena, worried about the soccer kick that he took to the head. When he regains consciousness, he immediately waves them off, too prideful to accept their help, but he remains seated in the middle of the ring. Kurt Angle stops celebrating for a moment and asks for a microphone.
“Listen, kid…I gotta give it to you, that was one hell of a match, and you’re one hell of a talent. I didn’t respect you going into this match, but damn it, I do now. You’re gonna be great one day, you’re gonna be a World Champion…if you listen to me.” There’s a few cheers, a few boos, and a lot of confusion from the crowd. “Oh it’s true, it’s damn true, I wanna help you get to the top. If you can fight like that now, imagine how you could fight if you had an Olympic Hero showing you how to be the best! Come on, kid, let’s put our little feud in the past, huh? You could do so much by my side!”
Kurt extends his hand, and young John Cena seems very conflicted. This is a man that he has wanted to destroy ever since he walked through the WWE’s doors. This is a man that attacked him without any reason at all. On the other hand, this is a former World Champion, a Gold Medalist, a man that just beat him. Definitely a man he could learn a lot from.
Does he allow himself to be helped up by this living legend? Does he choose to continue fighting a war in which the odds are stacked against him? This isn’t something that they teach in wrestling school. Los Angeles is watching, the eyes of the world are watching. Kurt Angle is waiting, and he damn sure doesn’t have all day.
John Cena takes Kurt’s hand, shakes it, and walks to the back with an uncertain future ahead of him. If only he could know what it holds.
submitted by KirkHammettJigsaw to FantasyBookingElite [link] [comments]
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There’s one question that every single wrestling fan has their own answer to. Who is the absolute greatest to ever do it? There’s plenty of wrong answers, of course, but there’s no true right one. Some people might say that it’s Mitsuharu Misawa, or any of his contemporaries in the Four Pillars, due to how they revolutionized the way that stories are told in the ring, the way that every strike they threw had years of history and hatred simmering behind it. Some might say Bryan Danielson, because he’s been successful everywhere he’s been, capturing the hearts of both little kids that see WWE as a synonym for wrestling as a whole and indie smarks that stopped watching ROH when it went to HDNet because it got “too corporate”. Some people might say Steve Austin, because of how much of a pure cultural icon he was, making sure that you couldn’t walk around the block without seeing at least one Austin 3:16 shirt. Some people say Hulk Hogan. Some people say Antonio Inoki. Some people say Terry Funk. El Santo. Manami Toyota. Randy Savage. Kazuchika Okada. Kenny Omega. Bret Hart. Shawn Michaels. Ric Flair.
John Cena.
It’s hard to argue with anybody that has Big Match John as their GOAT. It’s impossible to tell the story of professional wrestling without him. Sure, people hated him for a large part of his peak, and sure, he had the machine behind him. However, if being the GOAT is about being the total package, he’s extremely difficult to deny. As much as some people might hate to admit, he has a pile of classics under his belt. He grew up as a legitimate wrestling fan, so he didn’t just do it for the money, but he had the look of somebody who did. Impossibly strong, cared about the business, and as far as mic skills go, he’s made it a habit to dismantle up-and-coming stars within the span of a single segment. He acts like a top guy should act outside the ring, he has legitimate crossover appeal, and despite becoming MORE Hollywood, often a death knell for wrestlers, he managed to win back the fans that hated him forever.
As professional wrestling has evolved, and in some ways, strayed from what it used to aim to accomplish, Cena has been one of the only links to the past. A hero in an era where heroism is seen as too earnest. John Cena, a character with flaws, but despite the colourful attire and the PG-ification, one of the realest characters ever. Stubborn enough to be good in the face of thousands of people daring him to be bad. 300 nights on the road a year, facing boos 99% of the time, and CHOOSING to keep being John Cena. He looked cynicism and negativity right in the eyes every night and told it to go fuck itself. People are incapable of changing the root of who they are, yet wrestlers seem to do it all the time. Not John Cena.
We’re not trying to pretend like Cena’s career has been perfect. It hasn’t been. There are many, many things that have gone wrong. Bad booking, unnecessary wins, no-selling, lame feuds. Those aren’t really Cena’s fault, but they’re a part of his legendary career. But we believe that John Cena deserves better. John Cena is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in a squared circle, and while his career has been great, it could have been better. There’s no such thing as a time machine, but we have this. We have one last booking, we have one month to cap off a huge chapter of our lives. We’re here to rebook John Cena’s career, and you best fucking believe that we’re doing it right. No fucking bullshit, no fucking fat. The greatest booking of all time, for the man who may very well be the greatest wrestler of all time. This is The Franchise: Fixed.
SmackDown! - June 27, 2002 [Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL]
“What’s your name, son?”
The kid in the middle of the ring looks cocky, but inside, he’s terrified. This isn’t Ohio Valley Wrestling. This isn’t Leviathan staring him down, this isn’t Mr. Black or some other schmuck. This is Kurt Angle, one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. Legitimately dangerous, a Gold Medalist. This isn’t a step up in competition. This is an entire elevator.
He lifts the microphone up to his lips, and professional wrestling will never be the same again.
“My name is John Cena!”
Kurt Angle laughs. Who is this guy? Goofy little red spandex shorts, a dumb haircut. Jacked to the gills, but how do we even know there’s skill behind it? Kurt decides to test the kid, just to see if he’s even worth this match.
“What is the ONE quality that you possess that makes you think you’re worthy of stepping into this ring with me?”
The kid has a name now. John Cena knows what he’s about to do.
“Ruthless. Aggression!”
He slaps the taste out of Angle’s mouth, knocking him right on his ass. The bell rings. John Cena has arrived.
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Cena takes top mount and immediately starts raining down punches, trying to separate Kurt Angle’s consciousness from his body. Angle, one of the greatest Olympic wrestlers to ever live, tries to transition, but Cena is wise beyond his years and gets the hell out of dodge. He continues to piece Angle up on his feet, until Angle manages to get the ankle pick and lock in his feared Ankle Lock.
The crowd groans, knowing that this is it for Young Cena. But they knew wrong, as the kid in red spandex shows incredible heart, clawing his way to the bottom rope and holding on for dear life! Angle looks shell shocked! Who the FUCK is this kid?!
As the match goes on, Cena just keeps on getting the better of his much more experienced opponent. The crowd begins to wonder if he might actually pull off the impossible. Kurt Angle starts to get worried about the same thing. Cena? He hasn’t dared to think about the future, and he has no past. John Cena lives in the present.
Cena levels Angle with a huge Lariat, and then drops him high on his shoulders with a picture-perfect German Suplex. Now, he’s going for the kill. The issue? He doesn’t really have a finisher. He could go for the Proto-Bomb, the move that won him the OVW Championship, but that just seems a little bit quaint for such a huge moment. He hasn’t adopted any of the moves that’ll one day make him famous. He finally settles on something, but he took just a little bit too much time to decide. As he reaches down, Kurt Angle falls back on his grappling ability, sinking in his hooks like an octopus. Inside cradle. Cena has no chance. One…Two…Three. The crowd deflates, Cena punches the mat in anger, and Kurt Angle doesn’t dare celebrate. If this kid managed to do that to him on his first night, what the fuck is he going to be able to do in a couple of months, let alone a couple of years?
Kurt Angle def. John Cena in 5:18
John Cena walks backstage, and there’s a line-up of other professional wrestlers clapping for him. They’re applauding his effort, they like what they just saw. They think that he’s a star in the making, they think he has endless potential. Billy Kidman, Hardcore Holly, The Hurricane, just a few of the names that he’s able to pick out of the crowd. As far as he can see, he can spot guys that he’s watched on tape, studying them, imagining what he’d do if he were to ever step into the ring with them. And you know what? It makes him sick. This isn’t what he wanted. He wanted to win. All of this is just icing on the shittiest cake ever. John Cena is mad. He doesn’t want to have promise. He doesn’t want to have potential. Ruthless Aggression isn’t supposed to take him to the prospect list, it’s supposed to take him to the top.
Cena walks to the back of the procession, and he looks up, right into the eyes of the biggest star there. He looks up at the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He looks up at The Undertaker. The Undertaker extends his hand. “That was somethin’ out there, kid. You’re gonna be great one day.” Cena stares at The American Badass’ hand. He doesn’t shake it. “You’re wrong about one thing. I’m great now.” Undertaker laughs and retracts his hand. “You think so? Kid, you’re GOOD. Great is something you earn, and you ain’t earned nothin’ yet. If you were great, you would’ve won tonight. If you were great, you’d have that World Title strapped ‘round your waist. You don’t. So a little word of advice, don’t try to talk trash to somebody that could put your ass in an early grave.”
Cena clenches his jaw, trying to look tough. “Okay, old man. How about you try to put me down next week? I bet you I’ll knock your jaw clean off.” The veteran chuckles at the inexperienced shit-talk from the young man looking up at him. “Okay. See you next week…I’m sorry, what was your name again?” Cena opens his mouth to re-introduce himself, but before he can get his words out, Taker has already turned his back and walked away. Is John Cena ready for the big time, or will The Undertaker show him that he’s still got a hell of a lot left to learn?
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SmackDown! - July 4, 2002 [Fleet Center Boston, MA]
John Cena vs. The Undertaker (c) - Non-Title
What a world. It’s the Fourth of July, the most patriotic day of the year, and for an America-Loving young man like John Cena, life is good. He gets to wrestle in his home city, an entire crowd behind him, in just his second WWE match ever. Not just that, but he’s taking on the World Champion, The Undertaker. How many people can say that in just two matches, they get a crack at the toughest dude in the company? Not very many, but John Cena can. Sure, it’s non-title, but who knows what could be in store for him if he manages to pull off the upset somehow?
Of course, The Undertaker is not one to take prisoners. He starts beating Cena to a pulp from the opening bell. Cena isn’t able to strike like he did against Angle, because he’s facing THE BEST PURE STRIKER IN THE WWE! He can’t resort to grappling, considering the size differential. But John Cena has something that will serve him well for the rest of his career: heart. It’s why he’s able to reverse a Last Ride attempt with a Hurricanrana and keep fighting. It’s why he’s able to knee his way out of a Tombstone Piledriver attempt and keep fighting. It’s why, when the champion grabs his throat for a Chokeslam, he’s able to kick Undertaker’s knee out from under him and bloody his nose up with a Flying Shoulder Tackle. Eventually, showing off immense strength, he actually lifts The Undertaker up! Fireman’s Carry position! What could happen next?
The answer isn’t a storybook ending. The answer is that Undertaker elbows his way down, picks Cena up, plants him with the Last Ride and covers him for the win. After the match, Taker’s upcoming Vengeance opponent, Kurt Angle, comes to stare him down. However, Angle keeps on averting his gaze. He’s distracted. He just can’t seem to ignore that annoying little plucky upstart walking his way to the back. Kurt Angle just can’t seem to shake the feeling that he hasn’t seen the last of John Cena.
The Undertaker def. John Cena in 7:09
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Vengeance - July 21, 2002 [Joe Louis Arena Detroit, MI]
Behind every great PPV card is a million wrestlers upset that they didn’t get a chance to showcase their abilities. These men and women grind, and bleed, and sweat, and sometimes they don’t even get the big show paycheck to make it all worth it. House show hours don’t translate to spotlights. So, the WWE has a little consolation prize for all of these hardworking talents that didn’t manage to secure a place on the Vengeance card. Not a battle royale, but something even better. A weightlifting competition hosted by Jonathan Coachman! There are a few names that seem out of place, like The Hurricane, Billy Kidman, and Johnny Stamboli struggle to lift heavier weights and flame out early on. Jamal puts up a good fight, and Crash Holly, despite being unable to lift heavy weights, refuses to accept the fact that he’s been eliminated.
However, the contest comes down to two men. There’s one very expected contender, by far the biggest star here, both figuratively and literally, The Big Show. He’s lifting these weights like they’re empty boxes. There’s only one man here that’s managing to keep up with the big bastard whatsoever, and that’s John Cena! This young upstart is visibly jacked, but nobody in attendance knew that he was THIS strong! As he goes plate for plate with the fat fucking giant, the crowd begins getting more and more shocked! John Cena squats 350! Big Show squats 375! Cena squats 400! This is a war of attrition, every eliminated competitor watching on in disbelief!
After both men put up a 450 pound squat, though, Jonathan Coachman has some bad news. They’ve run out of weight, so it seems like they’ll have to call this one a draw! The crowd groans, and a disappointed Big Show turns to walk to the back. John Cena, though, has other ideas. He quickly PICKS BIG SHOW UP! FIREMAN’S CARRY! AS THE 500 POUND MAN FLAILS, CENA SQUATS HIM AND SETS HIM DOWN! Coachman has no choice but to declare him the victor, an unbelievably bold feat of strength! His boldness is appreciated by the paying public, but not so much by Mr. Heel Turn himself. Big Show takes offense and lays Cena out with a right hand to the jaw, before throngs of security get between the two of them!
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On SmackDown!, we get a recap of both John Cena’s tremendous strength and Big Show’s humongous ego. Then, we get a quick little vignette, as John responds to what happened at Vengeance. He says that if Big Show truly had a winner’s attitude, he’d see John Cena’s quick-thinking as a virtue and congratulate him on the win like a man. Instead, he decided to be a
SummerSlam - August 21, 2002 [MCI Center Washington, DC]
John Cena vs. Big Show
Living out your childhood dream is something that very few people get to achieve in their lifetimes. It’s nice to dream, of course, but how many people can say that they actually ended up doing what their heart craved for so many years? Tonight, John Cena becomes one of the lucky few. He gets a chance to live out a fairy tale story against a giant, but in real life the knight in shining armor doesn’t always manage to overcome the giant. Will John Cena manage to win his very first match on a big stage, or will BIg Show manage to get revenge for the embarrassment that he suffered at the hands of this insolent rookie at Vengeance? From the opening bell, John Cena refuses to wrestle like the smaller man, trying to go blow for blow with Show, confident after outlifting him at Vengeance.
The issue with his strategy is that Big Show knows how to box, so he pieces poor Cena up on the feet, busting up his nose! Show is exacting his revenge, one strike at a time, and now Cena is forced to wrestle more evasively, throwing basement dropkicks, chopblocks and leg kicks, doing his very best to take the giant’s base out from under him. His strategy works when Big Show tries to lift him up for a Gorilla Press, but loses his footing due to his bad knee, allowing Cena to take top mount and rain elbows down upon his ginormous opponent! Cena wants to showboat a bit, and he lifts Show onto his shoulders and starts squatting! This cocky bastard might actually do it! But Big Show sneaks in a shot to the bloody nose, bringing Cena down! Show drags him up, plants him with a Chokeslam, drapes his 500 pound frame on top of Cena, and that’s all she wrote!
Big Show def. John Cena in 8:55
Later on in the night, Kurt Angle walks backstage dejected. He just lost a WWE Championship Match against The Undertaker for the second PPV in a row. His head is down, his eyes are welling up…and then he sees him. That little prick. That little cocksucker. There’s a crowd of people watching him, probably a hundred eyes, and Kurt Angle is laser-focused on two in particular. John Cena is watching him, and the motherfucker is smirking. Smirking. What gives him the right to do that? This upstart should be wrestling on Velocity and lacing boots, and yet somehow he just manages to piss Angle off so damn much. He hasn’t won a single goddamn match yet! Kurt Angle doesn’t have time to justify what he’s doing before he actually does it. The Olympic Gold Medalist charges across the room. He shoves Ivory out of the way, and she hits the floor. He doesn’t even notice. He double legs Cena and starts throwing elbows at him, trying to bludgeon the nose that was already busted open earlier tonight.
Kurt Angle is screaming at John Cena. “Who are you, huh? Who are you?” The crowd descends upon him as he continues directing the point of his elbow as hard as he can at Cena’s face. He’s counting out the shots, and he doesn’t even know why, because he doesn’t plan on stopping. Not ever. Cena’s head rattles against the concrete floor as dozens of arms wrap around Kurt, working hard to drag him away. Suddenly, he feels weightless. He can’t resist, there’s just too many people dedicated to getting him away. To his dismay, he watches as John Cena sits up, still conscious. His teeth are stained with blood, the back of his head feels like it has a heartbeat, and every beat hurts. A winless rookie, beaten within an inch of his life, knocked on his ass, and what does he do? What nobody else would do in this situation. He smiles at Kurt Angle, and Kurt Angle dies inside.
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When the footage of Kurt Angle’s savage attack gets released, the Olympic Gold Medallist is asked to explain himself, and he barely can. He claims that John Cena is a thorn in his side, when John Cena has only ever confronted him once. He claims that John Cena is a cocky little prick, and while that may be true, Kurt Angle certainly isn’t one to talk. Angle can’t really justify his reasoning. Not to himself, not to the world. John Cena just makes him angry. John Cena is a threat, but Angle can’t admit that. He settles on one explanation. “He needs to be put in his place.” Kurt Angle will get his opportunity to put John Cena in his “place” at Unforgiven. Sure, it’s a little bit of a step down in competition considering the fact that he had a World Title shot last PPV, but this match means the world to Angle.
It means the world to John Cena, too. “When I debuted, Kurt Angle asked me what my name was. He called me son, and then I gave him a tougher match than he expected. He beat me, sure, but look at what I did to him. He attacks me backstage at Vengeance, he says that he’s gotta put me in my place? All I did was wrestle him, and now he’s all obsessed with me and everything. I know why. He’s scared that I’m the guy that’s gonna take his spot. You see, when I said that I bring ruthless aggression to the table, I wasn’t lying. Big Show busted my nose wide open, and I loved that feeling. Kurt Angle sees me smiling through all of this, and he knows that he just isn’t tough enough to love it like I do. So all that talk about putting me in my place shows that he knows nothing about me, because if that place is the deep waters, the bright lights, and all the pain that comes with it, then that’s where I wanna be. I’m John Cena, and Kurt Angle, I’m gonna make damn sure that you never have to ask what my name is again.”
Unforgiven - September 22, 2002 [Staples Center Los Angeles, CA]
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Before the match, Kurt Angle stares Cena down from across the ring, a cold killer’s expression marked on his face, while Cena looks exceedingly calm. The bell rings, and ANGLE RUSHES ACROSS THE RING TO DOUBLE LEG CENA! Immediately, the Olympian takes Top Mount and starts throwing the same elbows that he busted Cena up with backstage at SummerSlam! But it seems like Cena expected this, because after the first couple catch him square in the forehead, he begins to parry them! Cena shifts to the side quickly, and Angle elbows the mat as a result of this dodge. Cena wraps his right leg around Angle’s torso and grabs a sort of Guillotine Choke with his right arm, before pushing off with his left side, rolling through and taking the Top Mount himself! That’s outrageous, he just managed to out-wrestle one of the greatest wrestlers ever! Cena doesn’t even strike from the top, he just flashes a shit-eating grin at Angle, and Kurt shoves him away, more pissed off than he’s ever been!
Angle pops up to his feet and aims a kick at the skull of the seated Cena, but Cena quickly lays down to avoid the kick. Kurt’s a crafty competitor, though, quickly PLANTING HIS FOOT RIGHT ON CENA’S CHEST, DAMN NEAR STOMPING A MUDHOLE IN HIM! Cena folds on the mat, and Kurt isolates his leg, stepping over and WRENCHING on it! Single Leg Boston Crab, and there’s no showboating, no theatrics, no mercy. He’s twisting the leg as much as he can, he wants Cena to tap out NOW. He wants Cena to go home embarrassed. Unfortunately for Kurt, Cena manages to roll on his stomach and push him away with his legs. As Johnny Boy limps to a standing base, though, Kurt immediately rushes in and launches him with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex! Lifts him back up, secures a waistlock, plants his feet, and SENDS HIM FLYING WITH A RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX THAT SENDS CENA CRASHING HIGH ON HIS SHOULDERS! This is the Kurt Angle that we all know, and there’s a scary look in his eyes. He sees John Cena as nothing but prey right now.
Angle isn’t interested in going for a cover just yet, he wants to inflict more punishment on this upstart that he hates so much. As John crawls to his knees, Angle grabs his arm and starts bending it! STANDING KIMURA! Cena does a forward roll to escape, but Angle presses his weight down on Cena to make sure that he stays on his ass, before applying a Rear Chinlock. Cena tries to sprawl away, and Angle forces him to turtle, before spinning into a sort of North-South Position and THROWING KNEES THAT CONNECT WITH CENA’S SKULL! The young man is getting absolutely toyed with here, this is a Kurt Angle masterclass! Cena tries to back away, getting to his feet for a moment while Angle holds him with a Muay Thai grip, before suddenly shooting for a single leg! Cena defends well, but Angle quickly changes course, and before Cena even knows what’s happening, HE’S IN THE AIR FOR A NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX! BRIDGE PIN! ONE…TWO…Cena gets the shoulder up, and Angle rolls through, lifting Cena up and grabbing a Front Chancery before PLANTING HIM AGAIN WITH A HATCH SUPLEX! Cover! One…Two…NO!
Cena’s in deep waters, and as he tries to crawl away, Angle grabs a waistlock and lifts Cena to his feet. Kurt looks for a Hammerlock, but Cena quickly launches his elbow back, catching Angle in the brow and FINALLY creating some separation! He’s free, but he’s exhausted! Angle darts at him, but John throws a perfectly-timed right hand that staggers his opponent! Cena throws another, and another, and another! He’s got a rhythm going! He wants to knock Kurt to the ground, so instead of staying consistent and throwing medium power punches, he steps back, charges up, and goes for a fastball! The haymaker is DUCKED BY ANGLE, WHO SHOOTS IN AND IMMEDIATELY THROWS CENA FOR A LOOP WITH YET ANOTHER BELLY-TO-BELLY SUPLEX! Cena lands hard, but he’s still able to move, so move he does! Cena pops up, to Angle’s shock and chagrin, and THROWS A HUGE LARIAT, FAST ENOUGH THAT KURT CAN’T DODGE IT! KURT GOES DOWN IN A FLASH, BUT CENA’S LEGS GIVE OUT TOO! LUCKILY FOR HIM, HE LANDS ON ANGLE, AND THE REFEREE COUNTS! ONE…TWO…AND KURT GETS THE SHOULDER UP! The crowd starts to chant Cena’s name, and he begins to stir, but he can barely lift his face off of the canvas at this point!
As the crowd continues to will Cena on, he finally regains his footing, right as Angle manages to get to his knees! Cena starts throwing more punches at Angle’s jaw, ramping up in speed and intensity as the crowd oohs and ahs with every shot! Angle’s rocked bad, BUT HE’S NOT DEAD, AND HE SHOOTS IN FOR AN ANGLE SLAM! HE MANAGES TO GET CENA UP, BUT THE ROOKIE THRASHES AND THROWS PUNCHES FROM THE AIR, FORCING ANGLE TO DROP HIM! Cena throws another big Lariat, but Angle ducks it and knees him in the gut, bending him over FOR A POWERBOMB! CENA THROWS HIS MOMENTUM BACK AND SENDS ANGLE TO THE CORNER WITH A HURRICANRANA! CENA’S FEELING IT! STINGER SPLASH, FLATTENING THE FORMER CHAMPION, AND FOLLOWS IT UP WITH A BULLDOG! COVER! ONE…TWO…AND KURT KICKS OUT! Cena is undeterred, though, and he lifts Kurt to his feet, lifting him up AND PLANTING HIM WITH THE PROTO-BOMB, HIS OLD OVW FINISHER! THIS HAS PUT DOWN MANY MEN, WILL IT PUT DOWN THE OLYMPIC HERO? ONE…TWO…TH-NOOO!!!
Cena pounds the mat in anger, he wants this bad, and it’s close enough that he can fucking TASTE IT! Once again, he lifts Kurt to his feet, and Angle looks like a fish out of water, gasping for air, beat up, somehow getting outmatched by a total rookie with no wins to his name! Cena, mustering up every last ounce of strength, LIFTS ANGLE UP FOR A GERMAN SUPLEX! THE BACK OF ANGLE’S HEAD COLLIDES HARD WITH THE MAT, AND CENA MAINTAINS CONTROL OF THE WAIST! HE ROLLS THROUGH, STEADIES HIMSELF, AND LIFTS ANGLE HIGH INTO THE AIR WITH A SECOND GERMAN SUPLEX! THIS TIME, HE BRIDGES FOR THE PIN! ONE…TWO…THR-AND SOMEHOW, KURT ANGLE IS STILL KICKING! BUT HE DOESN’T HAVE CONTROL, AS CENA ROLLS THROUGH ONCE MORE, THROWING ANGLE HIGH ABOVE HIS HEAD FOR A THIRD GERMAN SUPLEX! BUT ANGLE MANAGES TO LAND ON HIS FEET, INCREDIBLE ATHLETICISM! BEFORE JOHN EVEN KNOWS THAT HIS SUPLEX HAS BEEN COUNTERED, KURT REACHES DOWN, GRABS HIS FOOT, AND TRIPS HIM RIGHT UP! AN ANKLE PICK, AND HE TURNS IT RIGHT INTO AN ANKLE LOCK! HE’S WRENCHING HARD ON THAT ANKLE, AND CENA IS SCREAMING IN AGONY!
Cena is in unfathomable pain, every muscle in his body screaming as he tries his very best to make his way to the shelter that is the bottom rope! Kurt tries to prevent getting pulled to the ropes with Cena, but John Cena is one hard-headed, determined son of a bitch, and he plants his forearms hard on the mat, DRAGGING HIMSELF TO THE BOTTOM ROPE INCH BY INCH! HE’S A FINGERTIP AWAY, AND ANGLE DOES HIS BEST TO PULL HIM BACK TO THE MIDDLE, BUT CENA MANAGES TO GET A HOLD OF IT AS THE CROWD GOES APESHIT, AND WHILE A FURIOUS KURT HOLDS ON UNTIL THE REF’S COUNT HITS FOUR! Cena grabs the middle rope, trying desperately to pull himself up, in a terrible state. Kurt Angle HATES John Cena, and as he steps back, he prepares to lunge forward with every ounce of “fuck you” flowing through his blood! He winds up AND DELIVERS A CRUSHING SOCCER KICK TO CENA’S SKULL, A SICKENING THUD THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE CRACK OF A WHIP REVERBERATES THROUGHOUT THE ARENA! FUCK TECHNIQUE, FUCK THE ART OF WRESTLING, THE SPORT OF WRESTLING - THAT WAS A DAMNED EXECUTION! JOHN CENA IS SLUMPED OVER ON THE MIDDLE ROPE, AND ANGLE LOWERS HIS SINGLET STRAPS! HE UNLEASHES A PRIMAL SCREAM, ALL OF THE HATRED THAT HE CARRIES FOR THIS UPSTART SON OF A BITCH RELEASED WITH IT! DRAGS CENA’S CARCASS UP, AND NOW HE’S READY TO TURN IT INTO A CORPSE! ANGLE SLAM! HITS IN! ROLLS INTO A DEEP COVER, BUT THE REF COULD COUNT TO A MILLION AND NOTHING WOULD CHANGE! ONE…TWO…THREE!!! JOHN CENA’S VALIANT EFFORT CARRIED HIM FAR, BUT IT COULDN’T CARRY HIM TO A WIN!
Kurt Angle def. John Cena in 15:46
After the bell rings, a few members of the medical team walk into the ring to check on John Cena, worried about the soccer kick that he took to the head. When he regains consciousness, he immediately waves them off, too prideful to accept their help, but he remains seated in the middle of the ring. Kurt Angle stops celebrating for a moment and asks for a microphone.
“Listen, kid…I gotta give it to you, that was one hell of a match, and you’re one hell of a talent. I didn’t respect you going into this match, but damn it, I do now. You’re gonna be great one day, you’re gonna be a World Champion…if you listen to me.” There’s a few cheers, a few boos, and a lot of confusion from the crowd. “Oh it’s true, it’s damn true, I wanna help you get to the top. If you can fight like that now, imagine how you could fight if you had an Olympic Hero showing you how to be the best! Come on, kid, let’s put our little feud in the past, huh? You could do so much by my side!”
Kurt extends his hand, and young John Cena seems very conflicted. This is a man that he has wanted to destroy ever since he walked through the WWE’s doors. This is a man that attacked him without any reason at all. On the other hand, this is a former World Champion, a Gold Medalist, a man that just beat him. Definitely a man he could learn a lot from.
Does he allow himself to be helped up by this living legend? Does he choose to continue fighting a war in which the odds are stacked against him? This isn’t something that they teach in wrestling school. Los Angeles is watching, the eyes of the world are watching. Kurt Angle is waiting, and he damn sure doesn’t have all day.
John Cena takes Kurt’s hand, shakes it, and walks to the back with an uncertain future ahead of him. If only he could know what it holds.
2024.02.22 01:06 QFSJDEISO20022 CESTUI VIE ACT 1666 : NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION BANCRUPCY US COURT DOCUMENTS - NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION which in turn is owned by three Panamanian corporations that issued "bearer" shares to unknown persons
 | submitted by QFSJDEISO20022 to CourtofAges [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/hougc1nr21kc1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fdd32dc47bb66d8cc7502dbfbef2be568ef79f2 https://preview.redd.it/4nxwp1nr21kc1.jpg?width=735&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4efb0dc0f8b5ea78c7e1437645ec3cff0e52686a https://preview.redd.it/6e3fg8nr21kc1.png?width=330&format=png&auto=webp&s=52b6795f7a65ca32e5e9259ffa7d276c42437ab1 https://preview.redd.it/lp5a49nr21kc1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=903ff14368f29f8c459457855cec9d9edd6daa07 CESTUI VIE ACT 1666 : NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION BANCRUPCY US COURT DOCUMENTS ------------------------- The CONTROLLING LAW on the subject is found in sections 1441 and 1442, as modified by the Convention and PROTOCOL between the UNITED STATES and the NETHERLANDS, the relevant portions of which are quoted above herein. Said statutes, Convention and Protocol are silent as to the type of documentation or proof, and the timing thereof, WHICH MUST BE SUPPLIED TO BY A TAXPAYER such as this petitioner, in order TO SECURE THE BENEFITS of exemption from withholding with regard to the payment of interest to a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Respondent's regulation, section 1.1441-6(c), which we have quoted above, in relevant part, does require the execution and filing with PETITIONER of Form 1001. We give every benefit of the doubt to respondent (as we should in testing the adequacy of petitioner's motion for summary judgment), and assume for present purposes that the above regulation is a valid interpretive regulation, issued under the authority of section 7805, the Convention and the Protocol, Using a FRONT TO HIDE THE TRUE INVESTOR IS AN OLD TRADITION IN THIS COUNTRY. One of the BEST PLACES NOW TO HIDE REAL OWNERSHIP is the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Nixon's home on Key Biscayne has been bought with cash and bulldozed, and a new $1.2 home, also PAID FOR WITH CASH, has been erected in its place by "CLEMWOOD N.V.", a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Ortega was given POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR CLEMWOOD, N.V. "The Congressional Committee's investigation indicates Ortega is a front for HERMAN BOTERO now waiting TRAIL ON CHARGES of LAUDERING 55 million dollars in drug profits. One of his investments may have been the old Nixon property." Holding that defendant-appellant NEW YORK CORPORATIONS who held property on behalf of defendants FERDINAND and IMELDA MARCOS could NOT ASSERT FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
In Manrique, the SUPREME COURT of Florida upheld the enforcement of a forum selection clause mandating the NETHERLANDS as the proper forum for all disputes arising under the contract. Fabbri, an Italian citizen living in Buenos Aires, established the Argoville Corporation in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES, the principal asset of which is a single parcel of property in Dade County, Florida. He subsequently sold the company to Continentales, another NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. The sale was effectuated through several contracts, including a stockholder's settlement agreement and an option agreement. These agreements specifically contemplated the possibility of a future dispute. The stockholder's settlement agreement provided: HOLDING CORRESPONDENT BANKING relationships not enough to support general jurisdiction over nonresident defendant under Florida long-arm statute The facts that control the jurisdictional issue are not in dispute. Maduro Curiel's Bank is a Netherlands Antilles bank which acts as a correspondent bank for VARIOUS MIAMI BANKS. It received sale documents from Flagship Bank of Miami, along with a sight draft and an airway bill for goods sold by plaintiff. Prior to that, the president of Oriental Imports had gone to CURACAO in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES and obtained an order from JOSE FAERMAN COMPANY, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLEN CORPORATION. Oriental Imports had then delivered certain sale documents (invoices, packing lists and a letter of authority) to Flagship Bank which forwarded them to defendant for delivery to the purchaser Jose Faerman Company upon receipt of payment for the goods. If the transaction had gone as planned, the customer would have made payment to MADURO CURIEL'S BANK, which would have notified its correspondent bank in Miami. The MIAMI bank would have then debited Maduro Curiel's account and credited the seller's account. Although some facts are disputed, it is clear that Jose Faerman Company eventually received possession of the goods, and that no payment was ever made to Orie In Rev. Rul. 84-153, 1984-2 C.B. 383, the Commissioner took the position that a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES financing subsidiary was a mere conduit for interest payments to foreign bondholders even though the subsidiary was adequately capitalized. The facts in Rev. Rul. 84-153, supra, are essentially as follows: (1) P, a CORPORATION organized under the laws of the UNITED STATES, owned 100 percent of the STOCK of S, an ANTILLES CORPORATION; (2) to upgrade the production facilities of P's wholly owned domestic subsidiary, R, S SOLD BONDS to foreign persons in public offerings outside the United States on Sept. 1, 1984; (3) S lent the proceeds from the bond offerings to R at a rate of interest that was 1 percentage point higher than the rate payable by S on the bonds; (4) R made timely payments to S and S made timely payments to its bondholders; (5) S's excess revenue after expenses was retained by S; (6) neither P, R, nor S was thinly capitalized. The revenue ruling does not mention any debt-to-equity ratio, nor does it explain the meaning of "thinly capitalized". The revenue ruling concludes: The NETHERLANDS ANTILLES frequently has been used as the country of incorporation of an offshore finance subsidiary. In addition to THE ANTILLES CORPORATION'S avoiding the requirement of withholding under the United States federal tax laws, a TAX TREATY between the NETHERLANDS and the United States eliminates the 30% United States withholding tax on United States Corporate interest received by an ANTILLES CORPORATION, provided the interest income is not "effectively connected" with a United States "permanent establishment." Income Tax Convention, Apr. 29, 1948, United States-NETHERLANDS, art. VIII(1), (2), reprinted in 2 Tax Treaties (CCH) ¶ 5812. The United States corporation thus can pay interest to an ANTILLES CORPORATION on money loaned to it by the ANTILLES CORPORATION without withholding any federal income taxes. Moreover, the ANTILLES government does NOT impose any withholding tax on interest paid by AN ANTILLES CORPORATION to its foreign bondholders, and does not impose an estate or inheritance tax on nonresidents with respect to the debt obligations of an Second, even if the PCGG's determination could be deemed to be a public act by a sovereign nation, the act-of-state doctrine would not apply, at present, because there is an insufficient showing that the PCGG determination applies to the Seven Properties. The PCGG Resolution and Certification did not themselves list the properties beneficially owned by CAMPOS; instead, they relied upon a list of properties included within another document — Attachment A. (Defs. App. at 114-15 (Resolution); 139-40 (Certification).) Attachment A contained a list of several NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATIONS that held properties in the United States for the rightful ownership of CAMPOS. ( Id. at 105-06 (Campos Sworn Statement).) Five of the defendants in this suit are listed in Attachment A as NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATIONS owning property for Campos; another defendant, who is not listed, has a predecessor in interest on the list (collectively, "the listed defendants"). ( Id.) Minion Corporation N.V. (a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION) Oriel Tananta, a Peruvian seaman, injured his back in a slip and fall accident aboard the cruise ship Costa Marina, while the ship was in international waters off the coast of Argentina. Tananta is a waiter employed by Cruise Ships Catering and Service International, N.V. ["CSCS"], a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION: he executed his employment contract in Peru. Prestige Cruises, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, bare-boat chartered the ship, which is owned by Costa Crociere, an Italian corporation. None of the defendants have offices in Florida. However, Costa Cruise Lines, N.V., the marketing agent for Costa Crociere, is located in Florida. Holding that a NETHERLANDS COURT satisfies the adequate alternative forum requirement Although the M/V Getafix officially is owned by a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, The NETHERLANDS CORPORATION which manages the vessel will be the entity to supply necessary testimony and documentation at trial. The uncontested finding of the district court is that "[t]he vessel is managed by a DUTCH CORPORATION which is responsible for the technical maintenance and manning of the vessel." Under NETHERLANDS TAX LAW, if a DUTCH Corporation holds a substantial block of the stock of a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, the DUTCH Corporation can receive dividends from the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION exempt from taxation in the Netherlands. Furthermore, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION owned by a Netherlands holding company is subject to a maximum tax rate of 3 percent in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. The low rate of NETHERLANDS ANTILLES TAX, coupled with the Netherlands tax exemption for dividends received, result in high after tax earnings for a Netherlands holding company. Consequently, Group insisted that its share of earnings from the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION be declared and paid as dividends to Group's Netherlands parent corporation. The controlling law on the subject is found in sections 1441 and 1442, as modified by the Convention and Protocol between the United States and the Netherlands, the relevant portions of which are quoted above herein. Said statutes, Convention and Protocol are silent as to the type of documentation or proof, and the timing thereof, which must be supplied to or by a taxpayer such as this petitioner, in order to secure the benefits of exemption from withholding with regard to the payment of interest to a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Respondent's regulation, section 1.1441-6(c), which we have quoted above, in relevant part, does require the execution and filing with PETITIONER of Form 1001. We give every benefit of the doubt to respondent (as we should in testing the adequacy of petitioner's motion for summary judgment), and assume for present purposes that the above regulation is a valid interpretive regulation, issued under the authority of section 7805, the Convention and the Protocol, (1) 40 Wall Street, a 71-story office building owned by Nyland (CF8) Ltd., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION which in turn is owned by three Panamanian corporations that issued "bearer" shares to unknown persons On December 9, 2003 the M/V STELLAMARE lay at the port of Albany, New York for the purpose of loading a large, heavy generator for ocean carriage. The STELLAMARE flew the flag of the Netherlands and was registered in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. She was owned by defendant Jumbo Navigation, NV ("Jumbo"), a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. The remaining Defendants consist of the following parties. Prestige, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES COMPANY, acted as the bareboat charterer of the vessel at certain times. (Order at 4 (citation omitted)). CSCS International, also a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, was Plaintiff's employer. ( Id. (citation omitted)). Costa Cruise Lines, another subsidiary of the Costa group, is the sales and marketing agent for Costa Crociere's vessels that call in the United States. ( Id. (citations omitted)). Costa Cruise Lines is organized under the laws of the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES and does business in the United States. ( Id. (citation omitted)). a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION; Hal Holding N.V., A NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION; and HAL TRUST, a BERMUDA TRUST, Respondents. No. 46815-4-I. Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1. November WASHINGTON CORPORATION; OPT Holdings, Inc., a Washington corporation; OPT II, Inc., a Washington corporation; OPT III, Inc., a Washington corporation; OPT IV, Inc., a Washington corporation; OPT V, Inc Defendant Jamal Radwan, a United States citizen, is the Chairman and Managing Director of defendant Saudi European Investment Corporation N.V. (" SEIC" ) (a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION), and the former Managing Director of defendant Alef Investment Corporation N.V. (" AIC" ) (a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION). SEIC was incorporated in 1979. Until 1984, SEIC's balance sheet showed a total capital base of $40,000,000, comprised of $20,000,000, which represented 20,000 issued and fully paid shares, and $20,000,000 in " convertible capital notes." The capital note holders-AIC, Dalia Products Corporation (" Dalia" ) (a PANAMANIAN CORPORATION), and NORTH SOUTH Finance Corporation (" North South" ) (a Panamanian Corporation)-were contractually obligated to pay a total of $20,000,000 into SEIC upon the call of SEIC's Managing Director. Twenty thousand authorized but unissued shares were reserved for the convertible capital note holders. The Crown Building was purchased in September 1981 in the name of Lastura Corporation, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, now called the Canadian Land Company of America, N.V. JOSEPH BERNSTEIN served as director from 1982-84. Its shares were held by two Panamanian companies issuing bearer shares: Trade and Commodities, S.A. and Yewell Compagnia Immobiliera. Cruise Ships Catering and Services International N.V. (hereafter "CSCS"), is also a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION that purports to have its principal place of business in CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. CSCS was responsible for hiring and placing each of the claimants aboard one of the ships. CSCS contracts with various independent contractors in Monaco with regard to the accounting and personnel related aspects of these vessels, and similarly contracts in large part with a Hollywood, Florida company — International Risk Services, Inc. (hereafter "IRSI") — to administer medical benefits and claims for its unlicensed crew member-employees. In late 1965, ABC, which then owned all the McAvoy stock, sold 98.53% of it to 30 individuals (the "McAvoy investors") at an aggregate price of $6,800,000, paid by individual unsecured promissory notes in favor of ABC in the full amount of the purchase price for the individual's portion of the stock. The notes bore 10% annual interest, with the first interest payment due by December 31, 1965. Payments on principal were deferred until maturity of the notes in 1972. The investors were primarily clients of Kahan and/or Margolis. ABC assigned the notes to World Minerals, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Before December 31, 1965, the investors paid a total of $475,000 interest to World Minerals, most of the investors borrowing funds for that purpose from Universal Decorating Leasing Company, whose counsel was Harry Margolis. Each investor deducted his payment of interest on his personal income tax returns for 1965, but the Commissioner disallowed the deductions. The Tax Court sustained the Commissioner. In Hoffman, the court noted that the action did "not involve the policy or management of the corporation," id. at 426, and "only collaterally involve[d] the corporation." The plaintiff Louis Hoffman, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, and the defendant Allan N. Goberman, a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are the sole owners of the capital stock of the St. Maarten Isle Hotel Corporation N.V., which was organized under the laws of the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. This action, founded on diversity of citizenship and jurisdictional amount, was brought in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the judicial district in which the defendant resides. The complaint alleges, inter alia, the following facts: Taxpayer's use of a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES subsidiary to borrow funds in the EUROPEAN MARKET was a financially-strategic measure. During the early 1980s, domestic interest rates hovered around twenty percent. To circumvent the high interest rates, United States companies turned to FOREIGN investors. By using a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES SUBSIDIARY to borrow funds in the EUROPEAN market, United States companies were able to obtain tax advantages not available through direct borrowing in that market. Section 1441 of the Internal Revenue Code generally requires a domestic taxpayer to withhold a thirty-percent tax on interest paid to nonresident aliens or foreign corporations. However, at the time the transactions in this case occurred, interest payments by a United States corporation to a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION were exempt from withholding tax pursuant to Article VIII of the United States-Netherlands Income Tax Convention ("the Treaty" Noro-North was a corporation organized under the laws of the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES and maintaining its principal place of business there. All of its stock was owned by a holding company, Noro Sunbelt, N. V., another NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Noro Sunbelt was not registered in the United States and all of its stock was foreign owned. Noro-North obtained a certificate of Authority to transact business from the Georgia Secretary of State in 1979, pursuant to OCGA § 14-2-310. The registered agent for service was a law firm. Nevertheless, despite contacts to other maritime nations, this Court is convinced that the contacts to the United States by the location of the base of operations here are substantial. It is not misled by the "facade" of Panamanian vessels and NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Hellenic Lines, Ltd. v. Rhoditis, 398 U.S. at 310, 90 S.Ct. at 1734. The Defendants operate as a whole throughout the world. This operation is possible because the PARENT CORPORATION, Jackson Marine, Inc., headquartered in Aransas Pass, Texas, controls Jackson Marine, S.A. and Jackson Marine Services, N.V. through stock ownership, interlocking directorates, and control of assets, see discussion part II, B. Looking at the "real nature of the operation," id. at 310, 90 S.Ct. at 1734, this Court is compelled to conclude that for the purposes of subject matter jurisdiction the Plaintiff was employed by an American corporation on an American ship which, for all practical purposes, was operated from a home office in Texas. In fairness, it does not believe that the United States courts can be of a "substantial . . difference of opinion" on this issue. The tax plan developed by Margolis involved basically the payment of $600,000 by petitioners to World Minerals, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, for the purchase of 40,000 shares of common stock of Associated Care Enterprises (Care), a Delaware corporation operating in the health care field. Petitioners were to borrow the $600,000 from Alms, N.V., another NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, and to pay the first year's interest on the loan, $60,000, before the close of 1969. In accord with Bankruptcy Court procedures, Treister submitted a matrix of creditors to the Bankruptcy Court. The matrix included the listing of "Oberon Investments, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, c/o Daniel Mones, Attorney, Heller Building, 4500 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33137," with a brief description of the case pending in the Florida state court. It is undisputed that the listed address was, and remains, Mones' proper business address. On June 9, 1983, the Bankruptcy Court mailed to all listed creditors a notice stating that September 16, 1983 would be the Bar Date for filing objections to discharge and complaints as to the discharge of any particular debt. The Bankruptcy Court's file contains a certificate of mailing prepared by the Bankruptcy Clerk. In the first two points of error, appellants contend that the trial court erred in denying their "motion for directed verdict," in concluding that Taher negated all bases of jurisdiction, and in concluding that Taher was not subject to specific jurisdiction in Texas. Under these points, appellants assert that Taher was subject to specific jurisdiction because he had agents who acted in Texas in furtherance of the fraud and whose actions should be imputed to Taher. Appellants allege that SEIC, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION whose principal asset was a bank in Paris, France; Jamal Radwan, SEIC's chairman; and Ronald F. Reilly, a former resident of Texas who was hired by SEIC in 1983 to work in Europe, were Taher's agents in the fraudulent offering of stock in SEIC. Defendants have submitted affidavits attesting to the following additional facts in support of their motions. At the time of Decedent's death the Mister Andre was under a bareboat charter to Jackson Marine Services, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION (a nonparty), which had in turn, executed a time charter for the year with Brown Root Offshore, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION (also a nonparty). The derrick barge Atlas I was also under bareboat charter to Brown Root Offshore, N.V. The Mister John H. was under bareboat charter to Jackson Marine Services, N.V. Prior to the accident, Jackson S.A. assigned Decedent's employment contract to Jackson Marine Services, N.V. with his approval. Defendant Schlumberger, Limited is a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION and Rochar Electronique was a French corporation. No party, however, contends that the law of France or the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES should be applied in this case. The Debtor is a Georgia limited partnership. Consulare Corporation, N.V. and Medoff Corporation, N.V., both NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, are the general partners of the Debtor, and Medoff is currently the Debtor's only limited partner. The Debtor's only asset is an office building located in Cobb County, Georgia. To fully understand the dispute between the Coopers and the Debtor, it is necessary to review the dealings between the parties up to this point in time. The facts recited below are undisputed. This case arises from the 1992 sale of P.P.I. Del Monte Fresh Produce B.V. (Del Monte) to Trumpet Vine Investments, N.V. (Trumpet Vine). Trumpet Vine is a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION organized by Mexican investors for the purpose of acquiring Del Monte. Trumpet Vine's bid was supported by financing from Nacional Financiera, S.N.C. (NAFINSA), a state-owned economic development bank in Mexico. After the takeover bid was announced, Trumpet Vine filed a declaratory judgment action against Union Capital Partners I, Inc. (UCP) seeking adjudication that UCP was not entitled to monetary damages or injunctive relief arising out of the Del Monte acquisition. UCP filed counterclaims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and breach of an implied contract. The district court determined that New York law governed each issue and, applying that law, granted summary judgment in favor of Trumpet Vine, dismissing all the counterclaims. This judgment disposed of the litigation. We affirm. Plaintiff Bartolan, Inc., (Bartolan) a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION registered to do business in the State of Georgia, owns approximately 517 acres of farm land located in Lee County, Georgia. In 1983 Bartolan leased its farm at a fee of $54,000.00 annually to Leon Earl Bass who then sublet the property to Nidrah Peanut Grain, Inc., (Nidrah). The lease agreement was subsequently extended to cover the 1984 crop year and the 1985 crop year. An addendum to the lease and sublease agreements each year set the rental fee at $54,000.00 annually. The sublease agreement was personally guaranteed by the president of Nidrah, Plez Hardin and contains language which grants Bartolan a security interest in all crops growing or to be grown on its farm land. A Uniform Commercial Code Financing Statement pertaining to the 1983 lease agreement and subsequent addendum was executed by Nidrah and presented for filing to the Clerk of Superior Court in Lee County, Georgia. The traditional view of forum selection clauses is that such clauses are void because they attempt to oust a court of its lawful authority to review a given case. See, e.g., Huntley v. Alejandre, 139 So.2d 911 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962). However, this view has been severely eroded as is evidenced by our recent decision in Manrique v. Fabbri, 493 So.2d 437 (Fla. 1986). Manrique addressed the issue of whether Florida courts should enforce forum selection clauses which designate a forum other than Florida for the resolution of the parties' disputes. Fabbri established a corporation in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES whose principal asset was a parcel of real estate located in Dade County. Fabbri subsequently sold his corporation to another NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION, Continentales. Fabbri sued Continentales in Dade County for breach of contract; Continentales moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction because the contract at issue contained a clause designating the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES as the forum for litigating any dispute arising between the parties. In finding the clause should be enforced, we rejected the theory that forum selection clauses… First, the place of the wrongful act factor does not weigh in favor of U.S. law because the alleged wrongful act occurred near the Canary Islands. Second, the law of the flag of the vessel, Allegra, is Liberian law; therefore, this factor does not weigh in favor of U.S. law. Next, the allegiance or domicile of the injured seaman is a significant factor.Symonette Shipyards, Ltd. V. Clark, 365 F.2d 464, 467 (5th Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 87 S.Ct. 1690 (1967). Because Rodriguez is a citizen of Peru, this factor does not favor U.S. law, it would favor Peruvian law. Further, the allegiance of the shipowner factor does not favor U.S. law because the vessel is owned by either an Italian or NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Next, the fifth factor does not weigh in favor of U.S. law either; there is no evidence that Rodriguez entered into an employment contract in the United States. In fact, it does not appear that Rodriguez has even visited the United States. California is the forum state for the lawsuit initiated by Bioquest. The Technology was initially developed here and is owned by the Regents. VivoRx and its parent Abraxis are California corporations with their principal places of business in California. MedClone, the company that VivoRx replaced as the sublicensee to exploit the Regents’ Technology, is also a California corporation. Bioquest, the other contracting party, is a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION with its principal place of business in CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES; its sole shareholder is located in Switzerland; Bioquest has no Massachusetts office. Its former agent and general manager, Aberlyn, did maintain its principal place of business in Massachusetts and administered the 97 Agreement for a time from its offices there, but it has had no connection to the parties to this litigation or their dispute since April 1, 1999, nearly six years before Bioquest filed the lawsuit. The basic mode of operation of the scheme was as follows. Vogt's illegally obtained money was deposited in various foreign bank accounts in the Grand Cayman Islands and the Netherlands Antilles. From those accounts it was withdrawn from time to time and funnelled through various trust accounts maintained by Levey's law firm and associated law firms and through several foreign and domestic corporations, some formed by Levey or at his direction, ultimately to be used by Vogt for a variety of investments, loans, and luxury purchases. Five corporations, either formed by or at Levey's direction, or sometime clients of his firm, were utilized: Real Tech International, Ltd., chartered in Grand Cayman, British West Indies; Chardon Company NV, chartered in CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES; and Silver Realty Corporation, Continental Aero Marine, Inc., and Costalotta, Inc., all chartered in North Carolina, where Vogt maintained his residence and engaged in various ventures following his retirement from the Customs Service in 1979. Also participating in the scheme's functioning, whether or not as culpable principles, were Darryl Myers, a Grand Cayman… Affirming dismissal of Saudi Arabian investors' suit against NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION over conduct of French bank owned by corporation, where all documents and witnesses were in France or Saudi Arabia and documents were in French and no plaintiffs were American Judge McKenna properly concluded that the Gilbert public interest factors weigh strongly in favor of France as a forum. First, the interest in having local disputes settled locally weighs heavily against the United States as a forum. This case involves a dispute between a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION and Saudi Arabian shareholders over the conduct of a French bank. Thus, France has a far greater interest in this litigation than the United States. See Allstate, 994 F.2d at 1002. If this Treaty were given the construction of "party" contended for by Engfar-Manfar, it would follow that unless the States were expressly granted the power to act in some way under the terms of the Treaty, they could not do so. Such an interpretation would lead to absurd conclusions. For instance, since Article XI of the Treaty (tax provision) does not expressly permit the States to impose taxes on NETHERLANDS CORPORATIONS, they would not be permitted to do so. Only the "Parties" would hold this power. Thus, more favorable tax treatment would be accorded to the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION than that granted to the State's own citizens and corporations. This Treaty does not have any such meaning and we would not be justified in so interpreting it. This brings us to appellants' third line of defense, namely, that the purchaser was not an American but a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. World Financial Network National Bank (WFNNB), a national banking association, is a wholly owned subsidiary of petitioner. In 1989, WFNNB was organized (and today operates) as a credit card bank to issue credit cards to customers of petitioner's stores. Mast Industries (Far East), Ltd. (MFE), a Hong Kong corporation, also is a wholly owned subsidiary of petitioner. MFE is a controlled foreign corporation within the meaning of section 957 and, with respect to MFE, petitioner is a U.S. shareholder within the meaning of section 951(b). MFE (Netherlands Antilles) N.V. (MFE N.V.), a Netherlands Antilles corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of MFE. On January 28, 1993, MFE N.V. purchased eight certificates of deposit (CDs) from WFNNB in the total amount of $174.9 million (the MFE N.V. CDs). We must determine whether, as a result of those purchases, petitioner must include $174,127,665 in gross income under section 951(a)(1)(B) on account of the investment by MFE of its earnings in U.S. property. On May 29, 1992, the United States of America, the court-appointed fiduciaries for the four corporate defendants, the District Attorney for New York County, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System filed a joint motion and a proposed Order for the appointment of a trustee to effect the sale or other disposition of all shares of stock in FAC or its assets, including First American Bankshares, Inc. ("FAB") and FAB's subsidiaries. FAC was wholly-owned by a NETHERLANDS CORPORATION named Credit and Commerce American Investments, B.V. ("CCAI"), which, in turn, was wholly-owned by Credit and Commerce American Holdings N.V. ("CCAH"), a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Because NETHERLANDS ANTILLES law required authorization of at least 75% of CCAH shareholders before the FAC shares could be transferred to a court-appointed trustee, see Transcript of Motion Hearing, June 16, 1992, at 20-21, the proposed Order and the joint motion for appointment of a trustee had been submitted to the CCAH shareholders for their review and approval prior to being filed with this Court. Over 79% of the CCAH shareholders voted in favor of submitting the proposed… Plaintiffs, Abdulaziz Alfadda, Abdullah Abbar, Ahmed Zainy, and Abdulla Kanoo, Abdulaziz Kanoo and Yusif Bin Ahmed Kanoo (the latter three plaintiffs referred to as "the Kanoos"), all residents and nationals of Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, filed their complaint in September 1989 naming SEIC, a closely held NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION; Saudi European Bank, S.A. and Alef Bank, S.A., both French banks; Alef Investment Corporation N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION; Jamal Radwan, chairman of SEIC, and Richard Fenn, former vice-chairman of SEIC, both United States citizens, as defendants. This is a commercial dispute between fifteen minority shareholders and security holders in Image Sat, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION whose principal place of business is in Israel, and ImageSat, its two largest shareholders, and about one dozen of its current and former directors and officers. Plaintiff minority shareholders and security holders allege that defendants engaged in various forms of corporate misconduct, and seek compensation for the diminution in value of their holdings. All the defendants but one have moved to dismiss this action under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Their motion is granted, and the action is dismissed. In 1987, defendant Smith Barney and Primerica merged, with Primerica acquiring all of the shares of Smith Barney. At the time of the merger, plaintiff Lama Holding Company owned approximately 24.9% of the shares of Smith Barney. Lama was at all times the largest single shareholder of Smith Barney. The stock purchased by Lama was designated "Rana Common Stock." Lama, incorporated under the laws of Delaware, was formed expressly to acquire and hold stock in Smith Barney for resale at a profit. Lama had purchased its interest in Smith Barney in 1982, for approximately $40 million, through a tritiered corporate structure. Lama was owned by two foreign entities, with 66.6% owned by Rana Investments Ltd., a British Virgin Islands corporation, and 33.3% owned by Rasha Investments, N.V., a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION. Rana owned 100% of Rasha, and both were part of a Middle Eastern investment group. The acquisition of Smith Barney stock by Lama was part of a complex structure created to take advantage of favorable United States tax treatment under the "General Utilities Doctrine," pursuant to which a domestic corporation could sell its assets under Through the use of numerous nominees, BCCI owned a controlling interest in CCAH, which is a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION and a bank holding company within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1841 et seq. CCAI, a wholly owned subsidiary of CCAH, is also a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION and a bank holding company. CCAH and CCAI were formed in 1978 to acquire control and ownership of Financial General Bankshares, a bank holding company that subsequently was renamed and became FAB, which was wholly owned by FAC. CIT had letterhead stationary for most of the system entities including Alms, Minerals, Koningsplein, ABC and Entertainers, all of which had been printed in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. The law of the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES required that documents, including agreements and notes, to which an ANTILLES CORPORATION was a party, be on official paper embossed with the seal of the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Such official paper could be bought only from a government [53 TCM (CCH) 22] office in the ANTILLES. Frequently, in dealing with system entities, Valkenberg was instructed to back date a memorandum or letter and she would follow that instruction as directed. Eres, a Belgian corporation, chartered the M/T Tabora, a vessel owned by Northern Fox, a NETHERLANDS ANTILLES CORPORATION to deliver a shipment of bitumen from CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLEN, to a predetermined place just outside Nigerian waters near the port of Lagos, Nigeria. In the fall of 2002 Eres and Northern Fox engaged in a dispute with Fidelity, a bank organized and located in Nigeria that held the bills of lading for the cargo (bitumen), over the failed delivery of the cargo. That dispute eventually led Fidelity to have the M/T Tabora arrested in the port of Baltimore, Maryland, on March 31, 2005, pursuant to a verified complaint, which included Eres and Northern Fox as defendants. The complaint sought $8,871,076 in damages. |
2024.02.21 19:39 Sufficient_Leg6120 Subpoenaed as Witness
So bear with me on this please.
About 2 & 1/2 years ago my friend was in a car accident where he may or may not have been intoxicated but he was not given a sobriety test and walked away with just a citation and nobody was really injured so he got lucky and insurance settled.
But here’s the catch, from what I can see about the case online the woman that was hit has now filed a civil suit against Allstate which was her insurance at the time and now my friend is being called in as a witness for a deposition.
Now I think it’s just because my friend had very minimal insurance and they’ll just want to hear his story of that night and the rest is between the woman and Allstate but he’s worried they may ask him some questions that may incriminate him. Should he lawyer up? Can he plead the 5th in a civil case?
Thanks in advance!
submitted by Sufficient_Leg6120 to legaladvice [link] [comments]
About 2 & 1/2 years ago my friend was in a car accident where he may or may not have been intoxicated but he was not given a sobriety test and walked away with just a citation and nobody was really injured so he got lucky and insurance settled.
But here’s the catch, from what I can see about the case online the woman that was hit has now filed a civil suit against Allstate which was her insurance at the time and now my friend is being called in as a witness for a deposition.
Now I think it’s just because my friend had very minimal insurance and they’ll just want to hear his story of that night and the rest is between the woman and Allstate but he’s worried they may ask him some questions that may incriminate him. Should he lawyer up? Can he plead the 5th in a civil case?
Thanks in advance!
2024.02.21 15:29 barbarapalvinswhore Chin🪿 is it over for me?
 | submitted by barbarapalvinswhore to kpoopheads [link] [comments] |
2024.02.13 13:55 sensitive_15 Feels like I am guessing
I have been taking step 2 assessments and everytime i sit for the test.. i just feel I haven't properly read this or I am guessing between ooptions..applying general knowledge and scoring
so far my assessmeent have been
nbme 11- 218
nbme12-227
nbme 13-220
I have done uworld once (properly), 1/3 amboss, gold usmle classes 8 weeks. I feel my preparation lacks structure ans i am also losing enthusiasm. been 1 year of prep almost and personal events, nothing seems steady. I just want to give the exam now..if u know how i feel... i feel exhausted.
please suggest how to rise upto 240. also how to remember everything near exam. I feel this exam isso memeory based.. like small things fly out of my brain windows so often unlike step 1
Another problem, i am not able to sit and solve for 2 hours even. i feel i lose focus with the long stem.. honestly i m losing my mind.
#also have mental health issues and struggling to find the right meds.my liife is a choas. positive support appreciated
submitted by sensitive_15 to Step2 [link] [comments]
so far my assessmeent have been
nbme 11- 218
nbme12-227
nbme 13-220
I have done uworld once (properly), 1/3 amboss, gold usmle classes 8 weeks. I feel my preparation lacks structure ans i am also losing enthusiasm. been 1 year of prep almost and personal events, nothing seems steady. I just want to give the exam now..if u know how i feel... i feel exhausted.
please suggest how to rise upto 240. also how to remember everything near exam. I feel this exam isso memeory based.. like small things fly out of my brain windows so often unlike step 1
Another problem, i am not able to sit and solve for 2 hours even. i feel i lose focus with the long stem.. honestly i m losing my mind.
#also have mental health issues and struggling to find the right meds.my liife is a choas. positive support appreciated
2024.02.08 17:19 Daedric-Armored Worried about Allstate not paying enough for water damage/asbestos removal
For context, I bpught a 1965 ranch home in Georgia in 2022, I have been remodeling it slowly. Initially I had to replace the roof and hvac system. I love with my partner and his three kids, 11, 9 and 3 years old. All of them go to school not 5 minutes away. This is the first time i have had to deal with home insurance. I also didnt grow up in the US so there are some things I still have no idea about. Back in November '23 we had a giant leak that caused water damage to a good chunk of our hallway, connecting livingroom and an adjacent bedroom. We hired a home inspector to check what it was. They suggested a burst pipe/foundation flood (we don't have a basement). We hired plumbers to come and check the plumbing, they discovered that it's very old plumbing and that it clogs easily. They unclogged it, but the leak proceeded to get worse and expand to the livingroom. After that we called a mitigation expert to check the flooring and foundation under it, and on the same day he called an hvac person to check the indoor closet unit. Turns out the pipe that connected to tbe hvac condensation drain was clogged or something. So they got to work rerouting that so the leak would stop spreading. And the mitigation company started inspecting the floors, taking moisture readings,etc. They even helped me open a claim with Allstate. Allstate eventually, at the end of December, sent an outside adjustor to inspect the damage. Then I had to wait another month for them to see the report and send payment. A measly $9k, considering all of the engineered wood flooring needs to come out, because under the flooring there's asbestos tile that is wet, and that won't dry on its own or with fans. It has to be removed. And it's in every room in the house. Under carpet in the bedrooms and closets, under tile in the bathrooms. Everywhere. The asbestos test came back positive, the mitigation company is sending it this week and making an estimate for allstate to pay them directly. We have to pick new flooring and baseboards, and have people come and estimate the installation of that, so we can send that to allstate. The flooring can't be sanded or fixed, it's rotten and squishy. I know that they might cover the removal of asbestos because in my policy it says that they might if it's related to the damage of property (floors are included). But they would also have to pay for a place for us to stay while this happens, plus storage for all our stuff. I'm beyond stressed. Do you think they will cover this? How likely is it that ill be broke by the time it's fixed?
submitted by Daedric-Armored to Insurance [link] [comments]
2024.02.06 00:28 PiratesBull Farmers insurance claims
Are they new the new Allstate? When I used to have MetLife claims their adjusters were fair. Now that farmers bought MetLife here in NC they’re just as bad as Allstate. I’ve had 2 claims with them and both they’re wanting me to repair.
First roof is a 20yr old 3tab and they half roofed me. Adjuster says to repair it and doesn’t matter if it fails a brittle test.
Second roof is a discontinued horizon that from the ground I could see missing shingles. Told the homeowner to call it in. She calls me today after forgetting to tell me the adjuster was coming. The Farmers adjuster tells me they’re only paying for 19 shingles. We are not a matching state but every roof that I’ve seen with damage like that has been approved
The adjuster said he’d talk with the local folks and see if there’s anything he could do. 🤞 for a good update.
submitted by PiratesBull to RoofingSales [link] [comments]
First roof is a 20yr old 3tab and they half roofed me. Adjuster says to repair it and doesn’t matter if it fails a brittle test.
Second roof is a discontinued horizon that from the ground I could see missing shingles. Told the homeowner to call it in. She calls me today after forgetting to tell me the adjuster was coming. The Farmers adjuster tells me they’re only paying for 19 shingles. We are not a matching state but every roof that I’ve seen with damage like that has been approved
The adjuster said he’d talk with the local folks and see if there’s anything he could do. 🤞 for a good update.