Cover letter for school cafeteria food service

I have been trying to help a friend who has chronic migraine get on full disability since they legit cannot work. They called in so much at their last job that they ran out of sick and other PTO (they had FMLA) and eventually got written up and then fired. They worked in an at-will state so they did not even qualify for unemployment as far as I know. They did with my assistance apply for full disability and sure enough the first time got denied. We last week after applying for them (we as in I helped them fill out the application and attached all medical proof of chronic migraine) got the letter that denied disability.
My friend is down to $3k in savings and that is it. They cannot work in virtually any environment and after working for only 3 hours gets a migraine. They cannot travel long distance because of migraine flare ups. The list of the things they cannot do is so long they just cannot work plain and simple. Aside from hiring an attorney (they do not have the funds to do this) - as a migraine sufferer myself (I have them 2 - 3 times a month, so not chronic like my friend) ... What can my friend do? Should they go to the local university and ask for free legal assistance? I'm going to let them move in with me soon I think because they are close to being evicted. I explained we will keep fighting until they get full disability. For reference they have "10 years" of service (they worked part time in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Then did not work to attend school full time in 2013, 2014 and then had full time employment 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). They were terminated for calling in FMLA 60 days and also having 23 sick days in 2023 in January 2024. I've read they need to be totally unemployed for at least 12 months to get on full disability?

Why? Plz answer this question that I have... But first I'll start off by saying a couple of things first. I just started doing doordash a couple of days ago. I got a report tonight or a person stated that they did not receive their delivery.
It is a COMPLETE LIE!
I will say of course it would be the guy that did not tip and let me say this. I accepted an order where there was two Chipotle pickups, both of the drop off places were within a few minutes of each other. Of course the guy that claimed he did not get his food wanted a contactless feature. A lot of people do that but I feel like the people that do that might do it sometimes for the sake of just being able to report that they did not get their food. I mean it is such a lie. The reason I say of course it's the guy that did not tip is because clearly he didn't have enough money to do that and I think it was a whole setup from the get-go he knew exactly what he was doing before he did it and it's sad!
I have a huge bill that's due tomorrow and I'm freaking out because of it and now you have people that go around lying on other people. This bill is for a trip for my son to go on with his school. The entire 8th grade is going except for a very few students. I don't want him to be one of the few who doesn't get to go. Right now the bill is around $450 that is due tomorrow and if I don't get it paid he does not get to go. I never got to experience stuff like this but the school has this educational trip where they get to go for a few days to DC. Not only is it a big deal for education etc, it's even a bigger deal for my son simply because he struggles so much with social anxiety. So getting to do something like this will help him so much ! I've had so many things happen in the last so many months but everything has been good. I work hard and I try really hard and always trying to do the right thing by myself and others. So it's really upsetting to see that somebody would do something like this. You're affecting their rate and their ability to continue to deliver. Do you guys the ones that lie not want to deliver to you? If you keep doing stuff like that then you're just going to cause issues for EVERYONE! If you cannot afford to pay for the food then just don't order it! Ppl are taking their time and money, gas etc to TRY to get paid!
I ONLY paid $2 for taking that to a customer by the name of "Juan ", and that personnel wants to try to take away my ability to be able to try to earn money? I am a single mother here and I'm trying so hard to do everything that I can to try to pay this bill tomorrow to the point where I'm not sleeping tonight so I can try to stay up and work. UNBELIEVABLE! It's sad. What I would like to see is for customer service to ask this Mr " Juan " to please go ahead and to submit his door video coverage bc there was one of those door bells wear it has the video on it or camera etc. AND IF customer service asked them for the footage I guarantee that would come up with some dumb excuse like oh it wasn't working at that time..
It's sad. This is another reason to pray for people. I do not understand my people don't even think twice about what they're doing to another person and they do it all out of selfishness and greediness. I mean REALLY? And this place was a brand new place, a brand new apartment / condominium /town home place and I mean brand spanking new to the point where they're actually still building some of them there. It's a nice spot so it's not a dump so you know that that person is not broke.
I am just so upset right now

For a background of myself, before I go into my situation. I am a first generation immigrant, not many of my family has gotten into university, some got community college level educations at most. After some years of working I (26F) got into a university and after completing the Fasfa, my federal loans did not cover all the costs needed for books, living, etc. I don’t have grants because I used those up getting a Certificate at a community college several years ago. I asked my university finance office what private loan service to use to help with the cost, they said I should use Sallie Mae. Being the naive new student I took their word for it and got loans for 2 years through Sallie Mae. I have been doing research and see that many people are saying Sallie Mae is the worst and they are drowning in payments. I am thinking of getting the rest of maybe needed loans for the next 2 years through a Credit Union. So all of that to ask the advice of: Would it be smart to think about starting to them pay off while I still am in school? Has anyone actually have a “fine” experience with Sallie Mae? Thank you for anyone who has any sort of advice?

This is going to be a very long post but I think all of the context feels important to understand the situation. I really appreciate anyone who is willing to read it and maybe offer me their thoughts or advice. I feel like I'm in a difficult situation and I really don't know what to do.
So my partner and I have lived together for over 2 years, and we have 3 cats. One is a cat I've had for almost 10 years now, since she was 6 months old. She's had gastrointestinal issues for as long as I've had her but growing up, my parents didn't really teach me how to take care of animals, they just kind of ignored it so I did too. It wasn't until I took her with me when my partner & I moved in together that my partner complained about her issues (she has severe diarrhea which smells rancid and would scoot on the carpet, and she doesn't understand how to bury after she uses the litterbox so it stinks up the whole apartment) that I took her to a vet for the first time. She's healthy now, we've figured out how to treat her issues for the most part but I think because of the lackadaisical way that she was living for most of her life, she can be extremely uncooperative and stubborn and her refusal/lack of understanding seems to cause a lot of stress for my partner. When she uses the litterbox, she scrapes the sides of the box really loudly and it wakes up my partner while he is sleeping which I definitely understand is frustrating. He's tried to teach her how to bury properly many times, but she just does not get it. So not only is she scraping super loud, but also not covering up her waste which then creates a horrible smell that lingers for a long time. My partner has a particularly sensitive nose so this is really unpleasant for him. Because of the amount of stress my partner was experiencing, I told him that I would handle taking care of the cat and that he doesn't have to assume any responsibility for her. I was totally okay with that because she is my cat and I am the one who wanted to bring her when we moved in together. My partner doesn't hate cats, he definitely has developed an attachment to her, but he still gets really frustrated over this specific situation with her.
The other two cats are brother & sister, we took them in this past November. They just showed up outside of our apartment and it was pretty cold outside so we brought them in, gave them food/water, got them fixed/chipped/vaccinated, and have been going through the process of slowly introducing these 2 cats to my older cat. These two cats are much younger (probably around a year old) so they're way easier to teach and train and also seem generally way more cooperative than my existing cat. They seem to have pretty much no issues at all besides still being a bit skittish since they lived outside for awhile, but have definitely grown a lot more comfortable as time passes.
So now we have 3 cats, and I am pretty much the only one that does everything to care for them. Filling feeders and water, scooping and changing their litter, playing with them, introducing them to each other slowly, etc. That was all fine while I was still in graduate school because I had way more free time. Now that I'm working, it has been getting really overwhelming. I've been struggling to keep up with everything and often find myself thinking that it might just be easier and better for all of us if we rehome them. But just the thought of it is bringing tears to my eyes as I type this. I do really love them and it's so hard to think about giving them up.
Now here's what prompted me to make this post today and see what other people think about the situation. I recently got a really great and exciting job opportunity for which I will basically be living away from home for 8 days. I also got invited to go on a few vacations with my family over the summer. So for all of this time that I'll potentially not be living at home, my partner will be at home alone with the cats. Just a few hours ago, my partner mentioned to me that he is really dreading me being gone for so long because he does not want to take care of the cats, specifically the older cat who has the litter box problems. He expressed that he really does not want to specifically be scooping their litter boxes. He mentioned that he does think it is really unfair to ask me to just stay home and not take the job (which I am really excited about and would be a great opportunity for me) or not go on vacation with my family and that he doesn't want to do that. But he is stressing over the situation and he expressed that to me. To be fair to him, he has never wanted cats and was never a cat person to begin with. He has definitely grown to love and be attached to all 3 cats, especially the two newer ones, since they are more cooperative. But the older cat seems to be particularly difficult for him since she is so uncooperative and stubborn. I am definitely the cat person of the house, but I think my partner would be really sad over the thought of giving them up too. He does love and care about them as well, I think it's really just the litterbox situation with my older cat that is causing these issues.
I have already been having the thought in the back of my mind that it's becoming a lot harder to manage caring for the cats completely by myself now that I'm working and maybe it would be better for me to give them away. The older cat is also taking a long time to be open to the new cats since she's been the only cat for nearly 10 years. But we both love them and are attached to them all. I also really don't want to say no to the job. I don't know what to do. I feel like this situation has brought this thought to the forefront of my mind now. Is it really sustainable for me to be the only one to take care of them for the rest of their lives? There's definitely going to be times that I have to be gone while my partner isn't throughout the rest of our lives. I can't just never leave my town for multiple days unless my partner is coming with me. I feel like maybe the cats are just bringing more stress than is necessary and it would be better for our mental health to just not have multiple living beings that we have responsibility for. Any thoughts/advice/support is greatly appreciated.

Hello, looking for some advice as to what you would do in this situation. I (36m) am wondering if I should pay off my car loan or keep my cash liquid to save for a home. Here are my assets and liabilities:
Income is $160k/year plus bonuses (just started a new job after running my own business for two years which unfortunately didn’t pay that well).
$43k in a high yield savings (5% APY)
$30.4k in a CD (5.3% APY, matures January 2025)
$7,500 in a Roth IRA. No other retirement savings.
No credit card debt
$30k car loan on a brand new car purchased in April 2023. 7% APY, matures April 2030. $532 minimum monthly payment. Car is worth about $30k. Purchase price was $47k.
$290k in student loans (law school plus interest for several years). Interest averages around 5%. Minimum payment is $0 due to SAVE plan and poor earnings in 2023.
My monthly expenses, including rent, utilities, car payment, car insurance, gas, food, streaming services, recurring business expenses from the former business that I committed to through 2024, etc. are $4k per month. I live in a VHCOL area (SF Bay Area), but my rent is relatively affordable at $2180/momth. I will be saving $1,100 per month on health insurance now that I started a new job. I plan on maxing out my 401k to play catch up. After 33% 401k contribution and taxes, my monthly take-home will be about $5k. That leaves me about $1k after expenses to save/invest.
I want to buy a condo in SoCal in the next three years (my new job has an office in SoCal and I can transfer), but I anticipate I will need about $100k for a down payment/closing costs. If I don’t pay off my car, I can probably make that happen within that timeline with bonuses. If I pay off my car, reducing my savings to $13k, I feel like it will take me at least five years to save up the money to buy a condo. Home ownership is a life goal and I’d rather buy property sooner than later.
What would you do? Would you pay off the car with savings or would you keep your cash liquid and save for a home (while simultaneously maxing out 401k and saving for retirement). Thanks in advance.

I've been a server at this upscale casual restaurant for a year and half now. It's a pooled restaurant. The money is great. I average $40-$50 an hour working 35 hours a week. It's conveniently located near my home, so I have a short commute. I love our guests. I generally like most of the staff, management, and owners. I'm really passionate about working here, but there is one server who makes me wonder if it's worth staying because of her toxic behavior.
Let's call her April. April has been there for 2 years. She was fairly new to the service industry when hired, so she's not a veteran. Since inception, the restaurant has hired new management. New management wants level of service to be much higher than it was when April started. I also started before new management, but I have adapted to match service standards. April refuses and openly criticises new management for never being happy. She's basically stuck in old ways and wants to go back to the easy days when service standards were low. Keep in mind, business has increased since new management, so it's obviously helping.
Not only that, but she also regularly skips out on side work or does it half assed. She comes in to work 4/5 times with a horrible attitude because of whatever is going on in her personal life. Always late. Constantly makes excuses. She disappears for lengthy periods of time, one time for nearly two hours. When she doesn't have much going on in her section, she doesn't pitch in and help the servers who are getting their ass kicked. Instead, she gets on her phone and leaves us to handle it. Even when she's not busy, I find that I have to do a lot of her work for her tables because she neglects them. This includes getting their drink order, food orders, anything they may need for their experience, and cashing them out. Meanwhile, I'm struggling with my own section and I'm having to pick up her slack. I consistenly work all of the events because mgmt knows I give great service. There have been times where I'm working a full 24+ guest event while she has two four tops that she can't even be bothered enough to fill their empty water glasses, so I have to. There have been reviews on Google about her where the guests have complained about their server disappearing and having to ask another server for things. She's not a good server either, she can't speak to the ingredients of the food or our cocktails. She basically coasts by doing the bare minimum with no desire to improve in any area. She's has been like this since I started, but it all came to a boiling point when management asked us to do something to prepare for a busy week. She's not just a shitty teammate, but a teammate who's actually starting to treat me badly and affect my mood.
So this started last week when we had multiple events and didn't have enough chairs for said events and reservations. We needed 5 more chairs to be able to cover everything. Mgmt asks everyone to pitch in and build chairs during our slow time between 4-6. GM looks at me and says I'll be the only server working the floor while every other server builds chairs. This isn't a problem because at most I might get 3 tables. April comes in late as always and asks if there are any linens to fold. I said, "yeah, but we're pretty covered for the night. I also think GM wants everyone putting chairs together for the event, so I would go talk to them." She responds in the bitchiest voice, "well, what the fuck are you doing?" I said, "GM told me to work the floor." At this point it's obvious she's in a bad mood. She says, "I'm not building no fucking chairs." I'm exhausted with her attitude, "I'm just relaying what GM said, April." As I'm walking away, she yells, "I don't give a fuck what he said." I tell GM April has a bad attitude about putting chairs together and he tells me to swap with her. I get it, he's busy (other manager is gone this week) and doesn't feel like dealing with her attitude. I also feel a little defeated that my GM won't stand up to her.
She ignores me the next few shifts until some other shit happens. April gets sat around 5PM, the host is looking for her and is getting annoyed because she can never find her. Three minutes go by and I offer to start the table. I greet them, they're new, so I give them the full spiel. I get them cocktails and started with an appetitizer. I go over entrees with them. I spent nearly 15 minutes with this table and she is still nowhere to be found. Host and MGMT tell me to keep the table and let April take my next table at 5:30. Well finally as starters are coming out, April shows up and tells me to transfer the table because she was in the restroom. No please, no thank you, just straight attitude, as if she's mad at me for taking the table. Remember we're on a tip pool. I politely say, "I'm going to keep them since I've been with them for a while and you can take table 41 at 5:30. She responds in a stern voice, "No, transfer them." I do the same, "No, I'm not. You can have 41." She storms off saying she's going to tell MGMT. She comes back and says, "transfer them." I guess MGMT told her to transfer them. And like I said earlier they're sick of dealing with her attitude. I go back to MGMT and explained that it wasn't fair to me and I'm sick of being bulldozed over by her. MGMT agrees and tells me to keep the table.
She's enraged. She's starts arguing with MGMT in front of the host stand in ear shot of guests. She's also clearly pissed at me. Later that shift, she purposely bumps into my shoulder. I said, "oh we're doing that now." She ignores me. I tell MGMT, he says he'll handle it. This was just 3 nights ago. I'm feeling so defeated. I work so hard and I help everyone on my team and MGMT knows my value and knows that hers is not comparable to mine. I don't understand why they continue to put up with her. I don't know if it will ever get better if she doesn't leave. I guess I just came here to vent, but also could use any advice on dealing with her.

Hey there! I'm a 27 M from Cebu who's interested in making new friends and connections!
People often describe me as serious, reserved and usually keeps to myself. But when the conditions are right I can totally adapt (to the best of my abilities lang though...) I tend to use english as my medium of communication, but pwede ra jud ko maka bisaya. Can speak tagalog too!
I'm pretty much an average individual who's into the usuall fair. Music, culture, literary works, studying about law, business, gardening, and a bunch more that are too numerous to list down.
I'd love to get to meet and form connections with people from these key fields:

• Musicians, Performers, technical crew that are part of the Local Event Industry in Cebu
• Sound & Lighting Enthusiasts
• People in the Water Treatment Industry
• People that are into Solar and Backup Power Generation
• Home DIY'ers and Lawn Care Enthusiasts
• Car lovers, and People that are into a Myriad of Music Genres
• Fellow Food, Travel, Overlanding, Hiking and Outdoor Enthusiasts
• Potential Gym Buddies
• Community Service and Emergency-First Response stuff.
• Fellow Law School Students that are on break and are in the process of re-entering the maelstrom that is the green and gold's School of Law

Regardless if you're a part of the abovementioned fields or not, I'd be very interested to get to know more people of different characters and backgrounds. Not really aiming to amass an army of friends, but to at least make a great circle of friends on here would be enough.
Thank you so much for your time in reading this post! Hoping to get to get to know y'all soon!
Sorry if ininglish-paka kaayo ni na post pero yeah basin diay naay nahan makig jamming diha puhon! Suway2 ra pud ko ani since that friends in cebu r4r seems to have dissapeared...

Please no CDL, no college degree needed, no sales, no marketing, no childcare, no nursing, no healthcare, no IT, no entrepreneurship, no food service, no military, no army, no airforce, etc., no nuclear, oil, gas, no sewer, no electrican, no plumbing, no underground work, no pilots, no customer service.
Im willing to go to trade school and start something new but ive been researching for over a year now and i cant find anything. I dont have a car and i live in Sullivan County, NY, which is in the middle of nowhere.
I feel stuck and im almost 30.
Any suggestions? Please and thanks in advance.
Edit: i dont understand why im getting so many downvotes? Im simply asking a question, im not attacking anyone.

"The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites" is a compilation of beloved children's stories written and drawn by the renowned author Dr. Seuss. The book covers some of Seuss's most recognizable characters and humorous tales, including "The Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham," "Hop on Pop," "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish," and "Fox in Socks."
Each story in the anthology is distinguished by Seuss's unique rhyming rhyme, humorous vocabulary, and innovative artwork. Through bright characters and imaginative locations, Seuss takes readers on fascinating and educational journeys that celebrate the delights of reading, imagination, and creativity.
"The Cat in the Hat" chronicles the amusing adventures of a cat who brings mayhem to the home of two youngsters on a rainy day, while "Green Eggs and Ham" tells the narrative of Sam-I-Am's persistent efforts to get a buddy to eat a new and unique food. "Hop on Pop" offers humorous wordplay and simple rhymes, while "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" introduces readers to a colorful array of characters and ridiculous settings. "Fox in Socks" challenges readers with tongue-twisting rhymes and fun word games.
Overall, "The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites" is a charming anthology that demonstrates Dr. Seuss's gift for amusing and engaging storytelling. With its unique characters, quirky artwork, and timeless morals, the book continues to engage and inspire readers of all ages. Whether enjoyed as bedtime stories, school read-alouds, or solo reading experiences, these timeless tales are sure to bring joy and laughter to generations of readers.
Free Audiobook with a free trial of Audible

I think it’s harder to go from 0 to 10 clients than it is to go from 10 to 20 or 20 to 40, etc. It’s the idea that a crowd attracts a crowd… and once you have a crowd, there’s more potential conversations about you going on more frequently.
In terms of word of mouth referrals, those are going to be the best clients that you get. I think a lot of trainers who have been in the game for a while might agree with this. I’ve heard of a variety of different ways that people generate referrals and word of mouth. I’m sure there’s 1 million ways to do this. If you’re a trainer who has a really great referral system, please share in the comments. I’d love to hear about yours.
Anyhow, here’s an internet stranger’s approach for whatever it’s worth.
Disclaimer: This is just how I do it. Not the only way. And my opinions may not be right for you.
Should you do discounts and incentives?
In my business I don’t love giving discounts or doing promotions that are salesy and cliche in nature. For me, I think of what we do as a superpower for those who are vulnerable. We can help very unhealthy people develop habits and underlying physiological improvements that may extend their life, reduce risk or prevent lifestyle diseases, and if nothing else improve their quality of living.
If it’s kids or athletes we can improve their self-confidence, help them make a team, take them from a high school athlete to a college athlete, etc. We have the knowledge and capability to tremendously enhance the lives of people who are ready and willing to be vulnerable and consistent.
To me, that’s a superpower. I think that in order for our profession and each of us, individually, to be taken seriously and viewed as professionals then we need to carry ourselves that way and communicate it to the world.
I look around at physical therapists, athletic trainers, doctors, and professionals that somewhat fit under our general health and physical well being umbrella. Not to say that we are as qualified in the realms that they are, however, we have our own expertise. What I’m getting at is that those professionals don’t discount their services. They take themselves seriously and therefore it communicates to the public to take them seriously as well.
I’ve watched my fair share of cult documentaries. What I’ve noticed is that if you repeat a message enough times to a vulnerable population, there will be at least a percentage who follow and buy into what you’re putting out. If all of the touch points people have with you are professional; your social media, your website, and anything that pertains to your services communicate professionalism, then people will get the vibe that you are a professional. They won’t even realize they’re thinking that, it’ll just be an intuitive perception.
Professionalism, alone, increases the perception of value from the consumer. They’re not training on a discount, but instead, they’re training with the professional at this craft.
Generating Organic Word of Mouth
That idea that a crowd attracts a crowd is true, at least in my experience.
I think even more than in years past people crave a sense of community and belonging. Perhaps that’s in our nature and Covid may have reminded us of this. Therefore, it might be helpful to look at your role as a trainer, but also a community generator.
When you do that it starts to reshape how you go about your services, at least for me. At this point in my career after 13+ years in this field, I see training as a veneer that I can utilize to build community along with the obvious physical benefits. CrossFit has mastered this. Naming their workouts and making things competitive for demographics that care to do that sort of thing creates a situation in which people bond. When friends are having fun they want to invite other friends too.
What I’m getting is that you can create organic referrals through giving people something to bond over. Whether it’s a struggle, something fun, an event, a challenge, or anything they can rally around it will increase the likelihood of your current clients wanting to share what’s going on in their life with other people.
A simple example of creating camaraderie that we do at my gym is during the holidays. My brother in law and partner will change the names of exercises in a manner that applies to the holiday. On Valentine’s Day we referred to push-ups as “smush ups”. On July 4th he referred to a running part of the workout as a “Revere Run”. These are cheesy dad jokes, but people thought it was dumb yet funny. It creates conversation, camaraderie, and fun!
That is a very simple example. Another thing we do are beer nights once a month or so. Two of our members own the local brewery. We try to do business with small businesses as well, especially ones that use our services. Whenever we have beer nights, our members bring their spouses, their friends, sometimes their kids if they’re old enough. It organically gives us a way to start conversation with new potential clients.
This summer we are inviting all of our clients out to a local minor-league baseball game with their families and friends. We are also looking into renting out a 135 person movie theater where we can show a universally loved movie. We are always looking for ways to generate community and camaraderie.
Something I do with my kids program every month is “Fast Friday”. I break the group of around 20 kids into a few teams and we do fun yet challenging fitness competitions. We give out two separate awards. One is a trophy that one of the little guys made out of tinfoil, which goes to the team that wins the overall competition. Then we have the golden onion award which goes to the young people who exemplify leadership characteristics that their parents want reinforced. All of the kids want to win the golden onion.
I spray-paint onions with a metallic gold. I’m even in the process of having a golden onion logo drawn up so I can put it on T-shirts. It is hilarious, but the kids rally around that. They want me to do a Fast Friday almost every week! However, by doing it less frequently it gives them an organic goal to train for.
Even though there are kids of all different ages between 9 to 18 they all enjoy this and the camaraderie that it builds between them. There are kids who would never talk to each other outside of this setting or who go to different schools and may never have even known each other. Now, they have positive relationships with each other and can’t wait to show up for training every day. Their parents love it so they tell their friends about it. Their friends reach out because they want their children to be involved... it’s all organic.
No discounts, no incentive program, just professionalism, fun, and hopefully lifelong appreciation for the lessons learned and habits built.
Now, back to that statement I made about being trainers and community builders…
Once I started realizing that exercise was a tool for health AND community, it truly morphed my business into something that our members love to rally around and bring new people into.
I hope this gives you some food for thought so you can implement some sort of referral system, whether it be organic or inorganic, to help you grow your clientele. Remember, this all takes time combined with relentless consistency.
Building your business truly is embodying the tortoise approach versus the hare.
Hope this helps! thanks to anyone who cared to read my long-winded blog.

Killer Grips: Anne Maria, Brick, Jasmine, Justin, Millie, Trent
Screaming Gaffers: Chase, MK, Ripper, Scott, Sky
Episode 4: Beach Blanket Bogus
A grandiose tune played as a large red 'TDA' flew in from the foreground as the narration began, coming to a rest in front of a backdrop of a starry sky; a meteor shot across behind the 'D'. "Last time, on Total Drama Action!" The typical recap song began as the scene cut to Chris McLean standing by the numbered studios. "He was a boy," a picture of Trent smiling slid on to the left side of the screen, "she was a girl," a similar gesture was followed by a picture of Sky smiling sliding in on the right before they both disappeared and the host continued, "and last week on Total Drama Action, a shocking team redistribution pitted them against one another."
“Our heroine made a fundamental romantic comedy error. Picking Chase first and leaving her boyfriend Trent feeling kinda ouchie. Meanwhile, two men made an illegal alliance. And Justin's mad thespian skills trumped Izzy's... well, madness.”
“It was all too much for Chef's tender heart, and Izzy, uh, Kaleidoscope, was clearly a bit too nutso. Even for this show.”
"What will happen to Sky and Trent's barely-there relationship? How will MK and Scott's newfound alliance fare? Will my non-fat vanilla soy latte ever get here? All the answers, uh, answer, right now! In another tear-jerking episode of, Total! Drama! Action!"
(Theme Song)
The episode opened on a shot of Chef stirring a pot with a scowl on his face, then serving up a scoop of whatever brown mush he'd made to MK. "No wonder models are so thin," she mumbled to herself.
"Ma's cooking is better compared to this," Scott said over her shoulder. “Her goat butter is to die for.”
"If it made you the slob that you tend to be, I'll pass on that," MK said before moving over to her team's table, to which she saw Ripper sculpting Izzy's face out of his own mush. “What the heck are you doing, Ripper?!” she asked in bewilderment.
“I'm making my breakfast into the head of Izzy, brain girl,” Ripper replied. “What else?”
“But why?” MK asked.
“She may be gone, and she may have been grating for the past few days with her E-Scope schtick, but I want to make sure that I'll remember her even when she's far away from here,” Ripper replied. “You're not gonna see my cry like a baby over her.”
Confessional: MK
“Ripper's crush on Izzy is something that's not going to interest me, but there is a relationship that's about to be on rocky terms,” MK confessed deviously.
Confessional Ends
Brick and Jasmine were shown eating together at their table. “I never got to perform my juggling talent for the first season's talent show, but I did win a medal for it at my school's talent show a few years back,” Jasmine conversed.
“That's amazing, ma'am,” Brick said, impressed. “I've also won medals like you back in cadets. I took the teamwork medal three years running! Also, the bed-making medal, the "flag-folding" medal, and the letters-home-to-mom medal,” he chuckled. “I always win that one.”
“I like how we're both so talented in our endeavors and yet we don't have snakes bitten into our heads about them,” Jasmine said.
“I prefer to go the humble route,” Brick responded. “Honor is more important than pride.”
Trent was sprinkling salt onto his eggs when the top suddenly fell off, dumping all of the salt all over his breakfast. He then heard laughter behind him, and he turned around to find Chase as the source of it.
"Sorry! I set that up for anybody, not just you, to use it!" Chase called out.
"Chase, that's my boyfriend," Sky reprimanded her teammate, causing him to feel a bit of guilt.
"Don't you know it's bad luck to spill salt?" Trent started picking salt off of his plate and tossed them behind him. The salt hit Scott in the face, making the farmer stand up and scream in pain.
"Nothing a little pepper won't fix," Trent began sprinkling pepper onto his eggs when all its contents fell onto his eggs. Trent repeated the process of picking the seasoning off his plate and tossing them back. And like before, they nailed Scott square in the face. Unlike the first time, the pepper caused him to sneeze uncontrollably, and he ran about screaming and sneezing.
“That was so hilarious!” Chase laughed and made his way over to Trent. “Are you still going to finish your eggs?”
"Given that they've been ruined, I'm gonna say no," Trent answered and slid the plate away from him.
Sky soon came over with a new plate of eggs. “Sorry about what Chase did to you, Trent,” she said while placing the plate in front of him. “I got this just for you.”
Trent smiled at the new plate of eggs. “How lucky am I to have a girlfriend like you in my life?” he asked with a side hug towards Sky.
“Just as much as me,” Sky smiled.
“Sorry about messing with your breakfast like that,” Chase apologized. “I just wanted to pull off my first prank on this film lot.”
“All is forgiven, man,” Trent told him.
Chase smiled, but was then startled when a piercing whistle was blown nearby.
A surf pop tune began in the background as Chris entered the craft services tent wearing a pair of sunglasses and holding a whistle. "Hang on to your coconuts, players," he told them, the camera cutting back to show him carrying a red-and-gold surfboard under his right arm. "We're going back to the beach!"
“Now you're cookin’!" Anne Maria cheered.
"Ever seen one of those 1950s surfer movies where the kids get up to neato fun before the big bonfire twist-a-thon, and the bully kicks the sand castle in the nerdy guy's face?" Chris asked. Brick, who was now standing next to the counter, shrugged, Jasmine raised an eyebrow, MK nodded, Scott sneezed, and Trent and Sky were confused.
“Um, we haven't seen any of them at all,” Millie said.
“How old do you think we are?” Justin asked boredly.
"Well, get ready to recreate one, juniors!” Chris carried on. “Two challenges, followed by a tiebreaker, if necessary. So, grab your swimsuits!" He turned and left, the contestants following suit.
Brick was about to leave until he was pulled back by Chef. "If the sand castle thing goes down, make sure you're the kicker, not the kickee. You and I are a team, and we don't want you to be a wimp, right?" The army boy nodded in agreement.
Unbeknownst to them, the scene cut to the left to reveal that Justin had been overseeing them from behind the entrance with an intrigued look on his face.
The footage flashed forward, and a frigid wind blew across a few icy stage lights. The camera panned down to the contestants standing in their swimsuits and shivering in the cold. "Is Antarctica supposed to have a beach?" Anne Maria asked, her teeth chattering together.
"As some of you can see," Chris said, dressed in thick white parka and snow goggles, "we're actually in the shooting studio." The camera pulled out to show an icicle-rimmed pool dominating the area behind the cast; it was flanked by film equipment on most sides and a pair of giant fans on the right. A surfboard had been attached to a stand on the back rim, and was positioned to be in front of a green screen. To the right in the foreground, Chef stood by what looked like a control panel, a green scarf wrapped around his neck.
"And why is the AC cranked?" Ripper asked.
"All the cameras and lights get so hot," Chris explained, "they could melt Chef's heart." The hulking man gave the single most disturbing 'cheerful' grin and wave that had ever been shown. "And the network told my agent sweaty wasn't a good look for me," the host added, briefly fanning himself.
"Your first challenge?" he said, looking up at the surfboard. "Hang ten this deck into the big blue without swallowing tail in the soup."
"Could you repeat that?" Millie asked in confusion. “Those weren't even words.”
“He means whoever stays on the surfboard longest, wins,” Trent said.
"Exactamundo, groovy cats!" Chris told them. "So? Who's goin' first?" MK and Scott looked at each other, Jasmine tried to adjust her hat while she shivered, Brick looked everywhere but at the host, and finally a cricket chirped from on top a light. A gust of frigid wind froze it solid, and its hind legs snapped off. "The team that wins will get a half-hour head start on the next challenge," the host explained, "aaand given tonight's reward, you should be fighting harder than Justin's abs over who gets first shot."
"I know my abs are better," Scott gloated to MK, who rolled her eyes. "I have a stone hard ten pack while Justin's are like butter."
As Scott tried to show them off, the camera panned to Ripper behind the pair looking annoyed. He smirked mischievously and gave the redheaded boy a light shove with his hand and he stumbled forward a couple steps. MK looked at Ripper, who shrugged innocently. "Sorry," he said unapologetically. "I slipped."
"We have a volunteer!" Chris said now that Scott had inadvertently stepped forward.
“I didn't volunteer on purpose,” Scott glared over his shoulder, “but fine.”
The surf rock tune briefly played again as Scott was shown stepping onto the surfboard. "This surfboard better be sturdy!" he said as he made a proper surfing position.
"And, please welcome the return of some season one fan-favorites," Chris announced from behind the pool, "the sharks!"
Immediately, one of the giant freshwater man-eating sharks jumped out and snapped its teeth at Scott. He squeaked and flinched away, and Chris was shown cringing.
Confessional: Scott
"Pigs are my favorite animals, but I should let you know that sharks are NOTHING like pigs," Scott told the confessional camera. "They're bloodthirsty and do not play nice! The only reason I'm not frightened to be around them is because they haven't attempted to maul me to the point of trauma!"
Confessional Ends
The footage cut back to show Scott now clinging from one of the supports for the lights hanging above the pool. The shark leaped up again and snapped its jaws in another attempt to grab him, but fell back down with a splash, unsuccessful. "Me and my abs are out!" he declared.
“Your abs have an opinion? Seriously!?” Sky asked.
"How did you even manage to jump that high?" MK commented with disbelief.
"Hey!" Scott said in offense. "I am not letting myself get swallowed by a shark! Me and my family lost my great aunt Iris that way!"
"I'd believe you if you weren't such a big liar on a daily basis!" Ripper called up to him.
"Hey sharks, check it out!" Scott called out, pointing away from the water tank. "There's a plate of bacon over there!"
Everyone looked to see Brick eating bacon off a plate he carried with him. “I had some breakfast left over,” the cadet admitted.
The sharks emerged from the water begging for the food, and this gave Scott the opportunity to drop down. Unfortunately, he slammed on the plank back first.
"Ooh, way to stick the dismount, bro," Chris chuckled, Chase and MK also chuckling as well while Sky smiled in amusement.
The camera panned over to Trent sighing at the sight of Chase and Sky, causing Millie to take notice. “Is something the matter?” she asked in concern.
“Nothing! It's nothing!” Trent quickly denied.
“Oh, okay then,” Millie said unconvinced.
Unbeknownst to them, Justin had overheard their conversation with a grin.
Confessional: Justin
“That was strange of Trent,” Justin admitted, “but his attitude is something worth investigating.”
Confessional: Millie
“I know Trent's upset about Sky and Chase being together, but I don't think he should be,” Millie told the camera. “Everyone's free to be friends with whoever they want to.”
Confessionals End
The surf tune began again as Brick stepped onto the board. He wobbled a bit as he tried to find his balance until a shark jumped out of the water and bit off his swim shorts; he quickly covered his pixelated groin with his hands and jumped down, an expression of fear and embarrassment on his face.
"The body's a beautiful thing," Chef called out as Brick ran past him. "You don't need a suit!"
Sky was the next to take her turn as the sunset flickered back on to the green screen behind her. She managed to find her balance on the rocking board, but this changed when Chris pushed a button on the control panel and changed the background into a tornado-struck farm. Chef grinned and plugged in the giant fans, which immediately got up to top speed. Soon, a powerful wind was sweeping past Sky from behind, and not long after, the petite gymnast was blown off the surfboard, hitting the backdrop with a splat.
Next was Ripper, who quickly jumped onto the middle of the surfboard from the small platform at the edge of the pool. However, his hard landing caused the board to crack, and it eventually collapsed beneath him and dropped him into the pool.
“What the heck even was that?!” Ripper complained in outrage that turned into shock when he saw the pair of sharks leering at him, but he managed to quickly grab the pieces of the surfboard that had fallen in with him and throw them onto the sharks' mouths, wedging them open.
“Later, fangs!” Ripper taunted before quickly scrambling over the lip of the pool and dropping back to the ground on his back.
Chris stepped in front of the camera and blew a whistle. "Break time!" he announced. "Union rules!"
"Is this really happening?!" Millie piped up in the background.
"I don't mean you, shark bait!" Chris told him.
A classical British tune began as the footage skipped forward. The camera was focused on one of the sharks, now sitting in a chair with a pink towel on its head, sipping a cup of tea. The shot zoomed out to show the other shark sitting nearby, accepting a piece of food from a platter that Chef was holding out. The camera panned up to the fixed surfboard, where Jasmine was already in position.
"No sharks to hinder me?" Jasmine said confidently. "Way too easy!" The surf music began again as the Outback girl started her turn on the swaying board, but it quickly ended as Jasmine noticed something nearby.
A deeper, more ominous tune played as the camera panned up a minigun turret. When it reached the top, a cartridge of rather bewildered-looking seagulls was fitted into the top of the gun; Chris' gloved hand cocked it, and started the barrel spinning. "I love this game!" he exclaimed before opening fire.
Jasmine dodged most of the seagull barrage, but one of the birds knocked her hat into the water. “My hat!” she gasped as she looked down, and two more shots to her stomach and legs caused her to lose her balance and tumble into the water.
"Good luck with with those gulls!" Jasmine told Anne Maria after the scene cut to the latter stepping forward. "They're a handful."
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Anne Maria told her, looking at the pair of dorsal fins sticking out of the water as the sharks swam around, then climbed the ladder on the side of the pool. "Those gulls better not touch my hair!" she shouted once she'd gotten on to the surfboard.
"No promises," Chris chuckled to himself as he loaded another seagull cartridge onto the gun. He opened fire, and the tanned girl managed to dodge everything that was shot at her.
Confessional: Brick
"For all of Anne Maria's vanity," Brick told the make-up trailer camera, "she's definitely got a winning edge!"
Confessional Ends
Chris frowned in panic. He looked at his gun, which was low on ammunition, to the equipment sitting behind him, and the camera cut back to Anne Maria just before a director's chair was thrown at her.
"Are you serious, McLean?!" she shouted angrily before promptly getting shot in the face with another seagull, losing her balance and falling into the pool.
One of the sharks immediately lunged at Anne Maria, but she just scowled and swung her fist at its nose, then swam away while it rubbed the injured area.
Confessional: Anne Maria
"They say that animal cruelty is wrong," Anne Maria said in the confessional, "but when the humans are being harmed by them, human cruelty is not against the law."
Confessional Ends
"Finally, we have Chase!" Chris announced as the daredevil steadied himself on the surfboard, adding "Try not to get your hair wet," as he took aim with the fully-loaded gull gun. Chase rolled his eyes and Chris began to fire, but the contestant dodged the birds easily, even jumping up and somersaulting in the air.
His gun now completely out of ammunition, the host looked behind him for something else once again. The camera briefly cut back to Chase as he dodged a light that was thrown at him, then showed Chris as he frantically looked for something else. The camera panned to the left, showing the Killer Grips watching their opposition, with Anne Maria standing closest to the host. He grinned darkly, and she noticed and scowled. “Don't even try it, Chris!” she snarled and handed him her cans of hairspray.
The camera cut back to Chase as his eyes went wide. "Seriously?!" he exclaimed as the cans of hairspray were hurled at him. He swiftly ducked, and the cans hit the set.
"And with that," Chris announced as a triumphant tune began to play, "Chase secures victory for the Screaming Gaffers."
“Cool!" Chase said, jumping down from the surfboard. He walked back over to his cheering team, and after sharing a combination of a fist bump and a high-five, he and Sky gave each other a friendly hug.
“I won't lie. Sky's team is unstoppable!” Millie commented as she and her team oversaw the Gaffers cheering.
“Try unstable!” Trent added in with jealousy. “A ticking time bomb of betrayal. We have to stop them for sure.”
Confessional: Justin
“Now I see the problem with Trent,” Justin confessed. “He's suffering from jealousy issues, and if I want to establish how big of a threat I can be this season, I'll have to increase those issues to a boiling point and set him up for elimination if we lose.”
Confessional Ends
“Don't sweat it,” Jasmine told her team's leader. “If we're lucky, we can win the second part of the challenge and the tiebreaker after.”
“Lucky…” Trent mumbled to himself before a idea sparked up. “I think I may know how we could win.”
"If you at home like disasters," Chris suddenly leaned into the shot to announce, "you'll love what's coming up next!"
"I'm telling you, my plan is foolproof," Trent told the host.
"We'll see about that," Chris replied teasingly.
(Commercial Break)

BC Canada WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE BUZZER ( Vol. 4, Number 18) May 5, 2024 Public Transit: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow For more information check Facebook page " we ride public transit Vancouver " on X (Twitter) see NathanDavidowi1 , email to [nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com](mailto:nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com)Read Reddit transit & TransLink for a complete Weekly Alternative Buzzer ( WAB )as well as many real transit stories from real riders.Read WAB on Linkedin under Nathan DavidowiczPlease continue to send your stories and I will publish them.****Due to technical difficulties the WAB today is short of many articles.These articles will be displayed at the next issue on May 12, 2024****1. News From BC and About BC Transit & TransLink :Possible Transit StrikeWest Vancouver Blue Bus drivers and mechanics threaten strike https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/west-vancouver-blue-bus-drivers-mechanics-threaten-strike West Vancouver's Blue Bus workers vote 96% in favour of a strike https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/west-vancouver-blue-bus-strike-vote-1.7190341 https://x.com/ATU_134/status/1787128778340413452handyDART service expansion in Penticton starting May 11, 2024https://www.bctransit.com/help-determine-the-future-of-transit-in-campbell-river-04-29-2024/ Saanich pushes for free transit for teens 13 to 18 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/saanich-pushes-for-free-transit-for-those-18-and-younger-8684731 https://www.translink.ca/-/media/translink/documents/plans-and-projects/managing-the-transit-network/tsp2023_transit_service_performance_review.pdf ( 13 pages )These are TransLink's busiest bus routes and SkyTrain stations in 2023 Urbanized https://dailyhive.com/vancouvetranslink-metro-vancouver-public-transit-ridership-statistics-2023Metro Vancouver transit overcrowding back at pre-pandemic levels https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-transit-overcrowding-1.7191390 https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/180455/translink-targets-20-corridors-bus-priority-investments-tackle-congestion/?Ian Fisher explaining SkyTrain Service:https://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/05/s3e4-how-do-we-plan-skytrain-service-for-events-and-track-maintenance/MVRD Transportation Seminars, need to register:https://www.facebook.com/share/mdnabgPK7evMfLKF/?mibextid=xCPwDs Transit Podcast ( 44 mins )https://www.urbanismvancouver.com/how-do-we-improve-public-transportation-with-rmtransit/Student Transit at Moscrop School:https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/letter-more-transit-buses-at-this-burnaby-high-school-so-fewer-kids-get-trampled-8669117 HandyDART Petitionhttps://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-end-the-use-of-taxis-to-fill-handydart-service-and-bring-operations-in-house/Transit Petition and TownHall Meeting:https://www.change.org/p/demand-better-transit-now-stand-up-for-south-vancouvepsf/sharehttps://dailyhive.com/vancouvemla-south-vancouver-new-57th-avenue-bus-route-canada-line-stationsTownHall meeting is at 7 pm on May 29, 2024 at Sunset Community Centre.6810 Main St. ( between 51/52 Avenues )Why are 40 trolley buses parked? https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2024/05/02/mlas-40-trolley-buses-parked-despite-shortage/BMO Marathonhttps://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/04/bmo-vancouver-marathon-how-to-get-there-by-transit/ However, as in previous years many passengers were stranded until 11 am or even 5 pmSignage at individual bus stops was lacking and needed to provide simple sign like " NO BUS SERVICE UNTIL 11 am " some of the signage actually read : " Intermittent Service Disruptions First Bus to 930 pm "2. Transit Safety- Pedestrian Safety : Petition 10,000+ names :https://www.change.org/p/make-bc-translink-buses-and-skytrains-safer (10,388 names)Saskatoon Safety Problems:Bus stabbing on Saskatoon Transit reflects overall increase in ‘negative interactions’ https://globalnews.ca/news/10465488/bus-stabbing-saskatoon-transit-negative-interactions/ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/yV58hPKPjpauiFoy/?mibextid=xfxF2i TransLink bus catches fire in Burnaby: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/03/burnaby-translink-bus-fire/ 3. Alon Levy, RM Transit, RftV, Marco Chitti, RFC, VTPI, RE (a) https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/05/03/the-future-of-congestion-pricing-in-new-york/https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/04/30/quick-note-what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-san-jose/Construction Costs and Government-Civil Service Relations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7DUf6RQddg&t=159s 99.1 mins (b) American Cities have a lot to learn from Seattle https://reecemartin.ca/2024/04/30/american-cities-have-a-lot-to-learn-from-seattle/comment-page-1/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M14bF_DVUoI&t=58s 9 mins(c) California HSR ( CAHSR ) https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786875685149020292https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786833744617181466(d) https://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/three-must-build-regional-railways/ 4. Transportation news articles & videos from various media:(a) Montreal/Quebec Taxis ( one route is FREE )https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal-water-taxis (b) Toronto/OntarioNorthumberland riders tout return of Via Rail commuter train after 4-year absence https://globalnews.ca/news/10464493/northumberland-via-rail-train-returns/ Jonathan English about GTA Transit:https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/urbanperformanceindex/toronto/?s=03 Public transit around Ontario is about to get way faster thanks to fancy new tech https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/go-transit-ontario-faster-train-control/ (c) Other Canada Alberta-to-Montana passenger train would benefit economy, tourism: report https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-to-montana-passenger-train-would-benefit-economy-tourism-report-1.6868129 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/alberta-wants-high-speed-edmonton-to-calgary-train-commuter-rail-in-new-provincial-master-plan/ar-AA1nSGNH(d) USACalifornia mocked over $11 billion high-speed rail bridge to nowhere that took 9 years to build:https://nypost.com/2024/05/04/us-news/california-mocked-over-high-speed-rail-bridge-to-nowhere-that-took-9-years-to-build/ I'm a high school senior who commutes an hour by train to school every day. It's helped prepare me for the real world https://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-senior-commutes-hour-school-every-day-2024-4 https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/04/128639-philly-free-transit-pilot-clocks-18-million-rides?(e) International From mechanic shortages to electrification: the growing workload of Dublin Bus chief - The Currency https://thecurrency.news/articles/147379/from-mechanic-shortages-to-electrification-the-growing-workload-of-dublin-bus-chief/ From LRT to ART :https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/johor-art-multi-tiered-elevated-rail-rts-hsr-4291196 10 Cities With the Best Public Transportation, From Medellín to Stockholm https://ca.yahoo.com/style/10-cities-best-public-transportation-120000066.html

BC Canada WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE BUZZER ( Vol. 4, Number 18) May 5, 2024 Public Transit: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow For more information check Facebook page " we ride public transit Vancouver " on X (Twitter) see NathanDavidowi1 , email to [nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com](mailto:nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com)Read Reddit transit & TransLink for a complete Weekly Alternative Buzzer ( WAB )as well as many real transit stories from real riders.Read WAB on Linkedin under Nathan DavidowiczPlease continue to send your stories and I will publish them.****Due to technical difficulties the WAB today is short of many articles.These articles will be displayed at the next issue on May 12, 2024****1. News From BC and About BC Transit & TransLink :Possible Transit StrikeWest Vancouver Blue Bus drivers and mechanics threaten strike https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/west-vancouver-blue-bus-drivers-mechanics-threaten-strike West Vancouver's Blue Bus workers vote 96% in favour of a strike https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/west-vancouver-blue-bus-strike-vote-1.7190341 https://x.com/ATU_134/status/1787128778340413452handyDART service expansion in Penticton starting May 11, 2024https://www.bctransit.com/help-determine-the-future-of-transit-in-campbell-river-04-29-2024/ Saanich pushes for free transit for teens 13 to 18 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/saanich-pushes-for-free-transit-for-those-18-and-younger-8684731 https://www.translink.ca/-/media/translink/documents/plans-and-projects/managing-the-transit-network/tsp2023_transit_service_performance_review.pdf ( 13 pages )These are TransLink's busiest bus routes and SkyTrain stations in 2023 Urbanized https://dailyhive.com/vancouvetranslink-metro-vancouver-public-transit-ridership-statistics-2023Metro Vancouver transit overcrowding back at pre-pandemic levels https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-transit-overcrowding-1.7191390 https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/180455/translink-targets-20-corridors-bus-priority-investments-tackle-congestion/?Ian Fisher explaining SkyTrain Service:https://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/05/s3e4-how-do-we-plan-skytrain-service-for-events-and-track-maintenance/MVRD Transportation Seminars, need to register:https://www.facebook.com/share/mdnabgPK7evMfLKF/?mibextid=xCPwDs Transit Podcast ( 44 mins )https://www.urbanismvancouver.com/how-do-we-improve-public-transportation-with-rmtransit/Student Transit at Moscrop School:https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/letter-more-transit-buses-at-this-burnaby-high-school-so-fewer-kids-get-trampled-8669117 HandyDART Petitionhttps://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-end-the-use-of-taxis-to-fill-handydart-service-and-bring-operations-in-house/Transit Petition and TownHall Meeting:https://www.change.org/p/demand-better-transit-now-stand-up-for-south-vancouvepsf/sharehttps://dailyhive.com/vancouvemla-south-vancouver-new-57th-avenue-bus-route-canada-line-stationsTownHall meeting is at 7 pm on May 29, 2024 at Sunset Community Centre.6810 Main St. ( between 51/52 Avenues )Why are 40 trolley buses parked? https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2024/05/02/mlas-40-trolley-buses-parked-despite-shortage/BMO Marathonhttps://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/04/bmo-vancouver-marathon-how-to-get-there-by-transit/ However, as in previous years many passengers were stranded until 11 am or even 5 pmSignage at individual bus stops was lacking and needed to provide simple sign like " NO BUS SERVICE UNTIL 11 am " some of the signage actually read : " Intermittent Service Disruptions First Bus to 930 pm "2. Transit Safety- Pedestrian Safety : Petition 10,000+ names :https://www.change.org/p/make-bc-translink-buses-and-skytrains-safer (10,388 names)Saskatoon Safety Problems:Bus stabbing on Saskatoon Transit reflects overall increase in ‘negative interactions’ https://globalnews.ca/news/10465488/bus-stabbing-saskatoon-transit-negative-interactions/ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/yV58hPKPjpauiFoy/?mibextid=xfxF2i TransLink bus catches fire in Burnaby: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/03/burnaby-translink-bus-fire/ 3. Alon Levy, RM Transit, RftV, Marco Chitti, RFC, VTPI, RE (a) https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/05/03/the-future-of-congestion-pricing-in-new-york/https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/04/30/quick-note-what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-san-jose/Construction Costs and Government-Civil Service Relations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7DUf6RQddg&t=159s 99.1 mins (b) American Cities have a lot to learn from Seattle https://reecemartin.ca/2024/04/30/american-cities-have-a-lot-to-learn-from-seattle/comment-page-1/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M14bF_DVUoI&t=58s 9 mins(c) California HSR ( CAHSR ) https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786875685149020292https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786833744617181466(d) https://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/three-must-build-regional-railways/ 4. Transportation news articles & videos from various media:(a) Montreal/Quebec Taxis ( one route is FREE )https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal-water-taxis (b) Toronto/OntarioNorthumberland riders tout return of Via Rail commuter train after 4-year absence https://globalnews.ca/news/10464493/northumberland-via-rail-train-returns/ Jonathan English about GTA Transit:https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/urbanperformanceindex/toronto/?s=03 Public transit around Ontario is about to get way faster thanks to fancy new tech https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/go-transit-ontario-faster-train-control/ (c) Other Canada Alberta-to-Montana passenger train would benefit economy, tourism: report https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-to-montana-passenger-train-would-benefit-economy-tourism-report-1.6868129 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/alberta-wants-high-speed-edmonton-to-calgary-train-commuter-rail-in-new-provincial-master-plan/ar-AA1nSGNH(d) USACalifornia mocked over $11 billion high-speed rail bridge to nowhere that took 9 years to build:https://nypost.com/2024/05/04/us-news/california-mocked-over-high-speed-rail-bridge-to-nowhere-that-took-9-years-to-build/ I'm a high school senior who commutes an hour by train to school every day. It's helped prepare me for the real world https://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-senior-commutes-hour-school-every-day-2024-4 https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/04/128639-philly-free-transit-pilot-clocks-18-million-rides?(e) International From mechanic shortages to electrification: the growing workload of Dublin Bus chief - The Currency https://thecurrency.news/articles/147379/from-mechanic-shortages-to-electrification-the-growing-workload-of-dublin-bus-chief/ From LRT to ART :https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/johor-art-multi-tiered-elevated-rail-rts-hsr-4291196 10 Cities With the Best Public Transportation, From Medellín to Stockholm https://ca.yahoo.com/style/10-cities-best-public-transportation-120000066.html

BC Canada WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE BUZZER ( Vol. 4, Number 18) May 5, 2024 Public Transit: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow For more information check Facebook page " we ride public transit Vancouver " on X (Twitter) see NathanDavidowi1 , email to [nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com](mailto:nathandavidowicz2@gmail.com)Read Reddit transit & TransLink for a complete Weekly Alternative Buzzer ( WAB )as well as many real transit stories from real riders.Read WAB on Linkedin under Nathan DavidowiczPlease continue to send your stories and I will publish them.****Due to technical difficulties the WAB today is short of many articles.These articles will be displayed at the next issue on May 12, 2024****1. News From BC and About BC Transit & TransLink :Possible Transit StrikeWest Vancouver Blue Bus drivers and mechanics threaten strike https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/west-vancouver-blue-bus-drivers-mechanics-threaten-strike West Vancouver's Blue Bus workers vote 96% in favour of a strike https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/west-vancouver-blue-bus-strike-vote-1.7190341 https://x.com/ATU_134/status/1787128778340413452handyDART service expansion in Penticton starting May 11, 2024https://www.bctransit.com/help-determine-the-future-of-transit-in-campbell-river-04-29-2024/ Saanich pushes for free transit for teens 13 to 18 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/saanich-pushes-for-free-transit-for-those-18-and-younger-8684731 https://www.translink.ca/-/media/translink/documents/plans-and-projects/managing-the-transit-network/tsp2023_transit_service_performance_review.pdf ( 13 pages )These are TransLink's busiest bus routes and SkyTrain stations in 2023 Urbanized https://dailyhive.com/vancouvetranslink-metro-vancouver-public-transit-ridership-statistics-2023Metro Vancouver transit overcrowding back at pre-pandemic levels https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-transit-overcrowding-1.7191390 https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/180455/translink-targets-20-corridors-bus-priority-investments-tackle-congestion/?Ian Fisher explaining SkyTrain Service:https://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/05/s3e4-how-do-we-plan-skytrain-service-for-events-and-track-maintenance/MVRD Transportation Seminars, need to register:https://www.facebook.com/share/mdnabgPK7evMfLKF/?mibextid=xCPwDs Transit Podcast ( 44 mins )https://www.urbanismvancouver.com/how-do-we-improve-public-transportation-with-rmtransit/Student Transit at Moscrop School:https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/letter-more-transit-buses-at-this-burnaby-high-school-so-fewer-kids-get-trampled-8669117 HandyDART Petitionhttps://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-end-the-use-of-taxis-to-fill-handydart-service-and-bring-operations-in-house/Transit Petition and TownHall Meeting:https://www.change.org/p/demand-better-transit-now-stand-up-for-south-vancouvepsf/sharehttps://dailyhive.com/vancouvemla-south-vancouver-new-57th-avenue-bus-route-canada-line-stationsTownHall meeting is at 7 pm on May 29, 2024 at Sunset Community Centre.6810 Main St. ( between 51/52 Avenues )Why are 40 trolley buses parked? https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2024/05/02/mlas-40-trolley-buses-parked-despite-shortage/BMO Marathonhttps://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/04/bmo-vancouver-marathon-how-to-get-there-by-transit/ However, as in previous years many passengers were stranded until 11 am or even 5 pmSignage at individual bus stops was lacking and needed to provide simple sign like " NO BUS SERVICE UNTIL 11 am " some of the signage actually read : " Intermittent Service Disruptions First Bus to 930 pm "2. Transit Safety- Pedestrian Safety : Petition 10,000+ names :https://www.change.org/p/make-bc-translink-buses-and-skytrains-safer (10,388 names)Saskatoon Safety Problems:Bus stabbing on Saskatoon Transit reflects overall increase in ‘negative interactions’ https://globalnews.ca/news/10465488/bus-stabbing-saskatoon-transit-negative-interactions/ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/yV58hPKPjpauiFoy/?mibextid=xfxF2i TransLink bus catches fire in Burnaby: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/03/burnaby-translink-bus-fire/ 3. Alon Levy, RM Transit, RftV, Marco Chitti, RFC, VTPI, RE (a) https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/05/03/the-future-of-congestion-pricing-in-new-york/https://pedestrianobservations.com/2024/04/30/quick-note-what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-san-jose/Construction Costs and Government-Civil Service Relations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7DUf6RQddg&t=159s 99.1 mins (b) American Cities have a lot to learn from Seattle https://reecemartin.ca/2024/04/30/american-cities-have-a-lot-to-learn-from-seattle/comment-page-1/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M14bF_DVUoI&t=58s 9 mins(c) California HSR ( CAHSR ) https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786875685149020292https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786876688405536824https://x.com/ChittiMarco/status/1786833744617181466(d) https://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/three-must-build-regional-railways/ 4. Transportation news articles & videos from various media:(a) Montreal/Quebec Taxis ( one route is FREE )https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal-water-taxis (b) Toronto/OntarioNorthumberland riders tout return of Via Rail commuter train after 4-year absence https://globalnews.ca/news/10464493/northumberland-via-rail-train-returns/ Jonathan English about GTA Transit:https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/urbanperformanceindex/toronto/?s=03 Public transit around Ontario is about to get way faster thanks to fancy new tech https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/go-transit-ontario-faster-train-control/ (c) Other Canada Alberta-to-Montana passenger train would benefit economy, tourism: report https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-to-montana-passenger-train-would-benefit-economy-tourism-report-1.6868129 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/alberta-wants-high-speed-edmonton-to-calgary-train-commuter-rail-in-new-provincial-master-plan/ar-AA1nSGNH(d) USACalifornia mocked over $11 billion high-speed rail bridge to nowhere that took 9 years to build:https://nypost.com/2024/05/04/us-news/california-mocked-over-high-speed-rail-bridge-to-nowhere-that-took-9-years-to-build/ I'm a high school senior who commutes an hour by train to school every day. It's helped prepare me for the real world https://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-senior-commutes-hour-school-every-day-2024-4 https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/04/128639-philly-free-transit-pilot-clocks-18-million-rides?(e) International From mechanic shortages to electrification: the growing workload of Dublin Bus chief - The Currency https://thecurrency.news/articles/147379/from-mechanic-shortages-to-electrification-the-growing-workload-of-dublin-bus-chief/ From LRT to ART :https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/johor-art-multi-tiered-elevated-rail-rts-hsr-4291196 10 Cities With the Best Public Transportation, From Medellín to Stockholm https://ca.yahoo.com/style/10-cities-best-public-transportation-120000066.html

I've been seeing some talk about this from time to time what with remasters being popular, and Sims 5 on the distant horizon. Now, I don't think this is going to happen, but if it DID, I'm curious what people would want to see for them to "do it right" this time.
For this question just assume that a) all the actual bugs will be fixed, b) it will be streamlined to run better on current day systems and c) all the currently expansions will be included, since they "just" had to tune them all up a bit to re-release them. Yes, it's EA, I know none of those would actually happen, but it makes it easier to jump to actual improvements rather the inevitable "I'd like X bug to be fixed!" or "I'd like to actually run without being at a crawl" or "I'd like to actually see X expansion's stuff in base game" that are going to be the first answers otherwise.
So that being said:
I'd like service sims to be tweaked. I want the option to tell a butler for instance what I want their priorities to be, and what I don't want them to do at all (one of the reasons I HATE having butlers is they use up my produce making food that I don't want them to make, generally when I'm already making something, or it's in the queue, or my sims are all asleep for a while yet and it'll just go bad. or they're off cleaning up dishes while the baby is screaming its head off from hunger in the nursery. And FFS, everyone stop clearing up the dog toys I have to leave out for my puppy to be able to chew, or the books I leave out for my toddlers to read!
I'd like to see some of the various mods' functionalities work their way into the base game. Some of those would be along the lines of bugswatting and streamlining, granted, but I'd like options to increase the size of our households, much improved story progression, ability to take pets on vacation, etc. Even if it's in a cheat menu to unlock or something.
I'd like them to slow down the clock a bit and/or (probably and) cut down the amount of time to do some things. Cooking and gardening for instance kinda drive me crazy. At least if it's something simple like throwing together a salad or something. And just getting around takes stupidly long on the game clock. I was just reading about a mod that does that, and it sounds nice, but not so nice to have to fiddle with everything else to make it work correctly relative to the time switch.
If they'd be redoing stuff I'd like to see them add maybe a world destination, with some new places to explore and things to get, maybe some new pet types. (While we're at it, the small pets shouldn't die off QUITE so quickly, especially something like a parrot.) Maybe new hobbies? Just a few new things to go with the expansion packs to buff them out a bit more and give us something new.
Let us cancel some things from our sims' queue! I'm constantly having some of my kids (but not all) have the "get on the school bus" action that I can't cancel out for instance if I want them to say eat an apple first, or if it's a snow day (which the bus gets sent anyhow). Or if my teen sim is about to get yelled at by the parent for something stupid (like getting caught coming home from prom). Or if my sim's spouse is about to yell at her for cheating because she had a love interest (not even an actual boyfriend) at university before the two of them even started dating/got married.
Change everything to do with the celebrity system from the ground up. Lose paparazzi (or have them way less intrusive and annoying), lose the whole "omg everything you do causes a rumor and makes you lose all your friends, sometimes even if you don't do anything" bit.
Lose the zombies. Seriously. Either just keep the ones from alchemy, or add some other way to get them if you want them as an actual life state.
And for Pete's sake, do like Sims 2 did and give us the *option* to take time off work for things like maternity leave. Because having children is *horribly* penalizing to any mothers who have a lifetime wish that has to do with maxing out a career.
While we're at it, maybe let us take a second lifetime wish after we complete one. It always seems silly to get one, meet it early on, and then be like "I guess my sim's life has no sort of drive or big ambition now?" Especially how early some of them can be completed.
Wow, that turned out longer than intended! So what about anyone else?

Hello! Just wondering what I should pick between these 2. For context, I'm class of 2028 entering as physics. I'm having trouble deciding because of a couple factors.
TDLR: RPI expensive but a lot of connects/opportunities, CUNY is paying me to go, I want to switch up my environment because I think staying at home won't let me succeed to my fullest extent. Also worrying about grad school + transfer. Would appreciate it if you guys read everything though, thank you either way for the help!
Cost, opportunities, standing within academic circles, environment, work/life balance and ultimately grad school. A) RPI is around ~20-21k for me, however this is because of housing + food, my tuition itself is fully covered. I'd be dropping down to off-campus housing + commuter food plan, which would be around 9k for both years I assume, but RPI's tuition steadily increases by around 2k I believe? All in all, I think I'd be getting around 80k in debt without working. I would most likely be working though, and would be contributing most of it to paying my tuition, leaving a part as personal use. Not sure but I'd assume i'd be somewhere around 70k in debt while contributing to my debt actively with work. CUNY Hunter however, would most likely pay me to go. I currently have family and friends that go that are in similar financial situations as me and are getting paid a couple thousand to go. (1-4k, within that range I believe). B) Hunter doesn't seem to have many opportunities more inclined towards physics/engineering (I know that's CCNY's thing, but I genuinely have not received any word from them on my decision. No acceptance, no rejection, nothing. Emailed them on friday to receive word on it, waiting on it now. If I did get accepted I'd most likely go between it and Hunter.) which are the fields I'm most interested. I've heard though you could still enroll within clubs between CUNYs? Not too sure about that, but that'd be cool and would help make up for the disparity of opportunities between the two. RPI however, has an abundance of physics/engineering opportunities, a lot of club competitions and research opportunities that I could explore. C) I'm interested in transferring, not because I'm unhappy with either of these schools, but I think in the case of RPI, I'd like to go somewhere with similar opportunities but much cheaper (I haven't looked a lot into transfer finaid, but I think most privates/top schools tend to give a lot of financial aid to people in my situation (lowest tax-bracket + broke as shit)) and in the case of Hunter, I'd like to try and get a more traditional college experience + better opportunities. Schools would most likely factor things like school prestige and the rigor at that specific institution, so I'd want to try and elevate that with the other factors. RPI is also apparently really well known within the engineering industry and has a really high rate return on investment. D) My home environment is a bit volatile, not in a really bad way. I can't really focus and study properly, and I don't think I'll be able to 100% put my all into work, which is why I would prefer to go to RPI. The new environment I think would really help + being able to study with friends and people within my major sounds awesome. Making friends seems a lot harder at a place like Hunter where most people are commuters and there isn't really an incentive to staying to hang out with people. On the other side, Hunter while leading to me having a more volatile situation, would have everything covered for me expenses-wise and I'd only really have to focus on studying, even if it's harder to do so. E) Work/life balance would be rough at RPI. They're apparently known for grade deflation, so I think working and doing ECs on top of that would be really tough. HunteCUNY however would be much less intensive, I'd be able to work + do ECs but with a lot less stress I presume. F) Grad school. Grad school is cool, but a bit expensive. For a lot of jobs it seems the minimum/recommendation is becoming a masters a lot of the time. I'd want to pursue grad school, but I've heard that you shouldn't have your debt be over your first year salary. Grad school after going to RPI would definitely push it past that, but RPI would make grad school admissions easier, by how much I'm not sure. For both RPI and grad school, I'd be actively applying to scholarships, but still.
Again, thank you for reading and being willing to help!

Severe Weather Alert Service
Updated Forecast
Your Updated Forecast
BREAKING NEWS

Weather Forecast Update - May 5, 2024

Forecast Today & 7 Day
National Severe Weather Map
Breaking News

Trump vows to fight 'anti-white feeling' in US. His allies have a plan

United Methodist Church votes to overturn ban on gay clergy members

U.S. officials review Israeli plan to invade refugee district in Gaza

Thousands of Madonna fans gather on Copacabana beach for free concert

Aetna will cover fertility treatments for LGBTQ people under court settlement

Drugmaker Amneal agrees to $270 million U.S. opioid settlement

Foods you shouldn't eat if you have psoriatic arthritis

GSK knew about Zantac cancer risk, attorneys tell jury in first trial

Nuts recalled, potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes

Potato chip recall

Helpful Links
National Severe Weather Map
Threat and Terrorism News

Greetings Minneapolis folks, I'm your Sconnie neighbor to the east checking in, I'll start off by saying I've never been to Minneapolis before, I am visiting for the first time in August to see Metallica rock the U.S. Bank Stadium, and I have a few questions for you guys that hopefully you can help me out with. Most have to do with visiting the stadium itself, but there are a couple that relate more to the city, so I guess these questions are more for people who have been to the stadium, preferably during concerts rather than games, but any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Also, since this is a bit long I put a tl;dr down at the bottom that has the gist of my questions.
Now, I've scoured both the U.S. Bank Stadium website, and even the Vikings website, and these are the questions I have that were not specifically answered researching from the source, so I'm hoping you fine folk can lend a hand with your first hand experience.
First with the Stadium, concerning sound quality, I know the U.S. Bank Stadium has a reputation for poor sound, though looking through other Reddit posts I've heard that the concert sound is fine on the field and lower levels. I'm not too worried about that, but since lower level seats are way out of my price range I've decided to get field level tickets.
Which leads to my first question. I'm planning on taking my mom with me, now I'll say this, my mom is a badass, an OG, old school metal head, however, being an OG means she is at the point where she can't really stand for a full two opening acts, plus the headliner, all the waiting in between, along with entering and exiting the stadium, and whatever other walking that is included. Multiply that by 2 nights, and even I will probably be feeling it in my bones by time the weekend is over.
Since I can't afford seats in a decent sounding area, and field level is standing only, I was wondering if it would be an issue if she brought a walker kind of thing. You know the ones, collaspable, little wheels, and has like a little fold down seat, I'm sure you've seen them, but I'll try to include a picture.
So my first question is, will there be any sort of issue with the event staff in bringing it both inside the stadium, and especially once we get down to the field level, I know U.S.B Stadium claims to be super accessible with seating, but the website says nothing about events where the audience is on field level. I would hate to get there just to find she can't bring something to help her, and has to sit on the ground or some bullshit. I can handle standing for hours on end, but I'd like her to be as comfortable as she can, as comfortable as one can be at a thrash metal show at least.
Next question would be the bathroom situation. I've only been to a big stadium a couple times, namely Soldier Field, and Miller Park, but have been to a few slightly smaller than stadium venues, like the Resch Center in Green Bay, or AmFam Ampitheatre in Milwaukee or the Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL, whatever the Hell they call it now, so I'm use to crowded bathrooms.
However, I've never been to an event where I was on "field level" before, so my question is... Where the Hell do I take a piss when needed. As a metal head I plan to indulge on a couple overpriced beers, and those beers need an exit strategy. So for those of you who have been on field level, what is the bathroom situation like? Are there public bathrooms inside the tunnel areas like where the teams enter the field, or portable toilets placed out on the field or, do we have to go on a hike for those lovely piss points, how does this work?
Also sort of relating to this, would we use the same enterance the football teams use to get on the field, or is there some entryway onto field level that I'm not seeing? Do they place stairs where the steats meet the field, so we have to hike our asses back into the stands to find a crapper? Again, never been to a field level event at any stadium before.
My next question is tricky, but say that as a metal head, I like to puff on something to... enhance the music... I know bringing stuff like that in the stadium is technically a no-no, but like on the level guys, how strict are they about bringing vapes and stuff inside?
That does it for stadium specific questions, now for more city related questions, and these are kind of related, and blur together for the most part, so forgive me if its a bit jumbled.
First would be, for transportation, is it better to use ride share like Uber or like the city taxi companies? Also I heard something that Uber is leaving the Twin Cities, so do I really have a choice? I've never used Uber before, any place I've been to and needed a ride I used the city taxi services, and have always had a good trip, though I know many people swear by Uber, I just barely need rides, so just calling a taxi is easier than installing a seperate app I'll only use once in a year, if that.
Next bit is a little more jumbled, but bear with me. I'm looking for more recomendations/opinions to think on, rather than concrete answers, but this has to do with places to stay/places to avoid. Now, I've had some, albeit limited experience with big cities, namely Chicago, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, so I know generally that if I'm respectful, and keep my eyes open, and mouth shut I'll be fine, however I know with any town there are also places and things to avoid
This mainly has to do with hotels, as nice of a city as I'm sure Minneapolis is, I'm not really here for sightseeing as Metallica is expensive enough, so really I'll only be at the hotel, or in a sea of Metal heads, so I'm not really concerned about safety too much, I'm more of wondering what is the best place to get a hotel/hotels to avoid, while also being as reasonably priced as possible. Also, if it helps at all, I'm not doing any driving, I'm taking a bus in and out of town, and using taxis/Uber to go from the hotel to the venue. So driving and parking is not really an option/issue depending on how you look at it.
So I guess this question is, would it be better to get a hotel closer to US Bank/the bus station, and pay more for a hotel, and hopefully less for rides, or find something more out of town, and pay hopefully less for a room, and more for rides?
For my final question, are there any Must Visit places to eat at? The only thing I love more when visiting a new place, other than seeing new things, is eating new things. Now I am but a simple working class metal head, I'm not talking about fine dining or anything fancy, I mean a burger to die for, or good pizza or Mexican food, maybe Chinese, preferable something that stays open late as Hell, since there is no more satisfying a meal than the post concert bite, when you are buzzed, having rocked your heart out, singing and jamming to your favorite tunes, you need to replenish your body and soul with some yummy take out. I have a fairly adventurous stomach, so as long as the prices aren't ridiculous, I'm open to any suggestion that is close to the stadium, or delievers to a wide area, again, don't know exactly where I'm staying at.
I guess to finish up, is there anything else that I should know before visiting Minneapolis or the U.S. Bank Stadium? Any recomendations or tips?
TL;DR:

1. Can you bring a walker like mobility aid on field level?
2. What's the bathroom situation at field level?
3. Bringing a vape in.
4. Taxi company vs. Ubers.
5. Hotels/areas to avoid.
6. Best late night take out.
7. Any other tips?

And to those who would say to just avoid the U.S. Bank Stadium for a concert, I say if you can convince Metallica to play anywhere else in the Wisconsin/Minnesota area, be my guest.
Anyways, I appreciate you all for reading this, any help or tip would be awesome. I look forward to visiting your city, and hopefully having a kickass time. Pretty much every spare dollar I have from the last year, and the rest of this year is going towards this trip, I want to be as informed as I can so I can have the most fun possible. Until then, thank you once again, I hope you all have a great day/night. \m/

Hemp drinks are big business in the United States and poised to grow even bigger. Thanks to the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, hemp-based products are at least quasi-legal across the United States – and, unlike marijuana, they’re shippable across state lines.
Companies big and small are betting on hemp-derived drinks becoming the next big thing for health-conscious, smoke-wary consumers.
Bernuth’s Pharos Brands was one of 30 hemp-derived THC beverage companies at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s January expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
According to the Hemp Beverage Alliance, hemp drink companies took up as much as 10% of the floor.
“We’re killing it here,” Bernuth told MJBizMagazine from the bustling convention hall.
Things went so well that she’s banking on contributing to a movement as well as running a successful business.
“We want to mainstream this,” she said. “We feel hemp beverages are an essential piece of destigmatizing THC.”
But when the first can of Pharos seltzer is sold in stores this spring with 2.5 milligrams of hemp-sourced THC, it won’t be sold in Montana, where Bernuth lives and where Pharos is produced.
That’s because Montana law requires any end product with more than 0.3% THC to be sold at a state-licensed marijuana dispensary.
Such rules don’t exist on the other side of the Dakotas in Minnesota, where a 2022 state law specifically allows products with low doses of hemp-derived THC to be sold through mainstream retail outlets such as supermarkets and convenience stores.
In a familiar theme, states around the country offer similar patchworks of conflicting rules.
At least, that’s the case for now.
The federal law that has allowed a hemp-derived product market worth billions to emerge almost overnight could soon change – and dramatically.
Intoxicating hemp market From drinks to gummies or smokable flower, the country’s appetite for psychoactive products sourced from hemp is enormous.
And what economist Beau Whitney estimates “conservatively” as a $28.4 billion market barely existed before the 2018 Farm Bill accidentally legalized it.
That Farm Bill, which legalized the production of hemp across the United States, was intended to be a boon for long-suffering producers of low-THC cannabis intended to be spun into fabric, pressed into oil for fuel or processed into health foods.
Hemp is also a source of CBD, or cannabidiol, which can be converted into psychoactive delta-8 THC, hence the boom in delta-8-infused products.
The latest evolution is hemp-derived delta-9 THC.
Operators with enough hemp also could extract sufficient delta-9 THC to produce and ship gummies and other infused products that are functionally identical to state-regulated marijuana across the U.S.
It’s conventional wisdom that federal lawmakers did not intend to create this new market when they legalized hemp production nationwide with the 2018 Farm Bill.
Since then, businesses including Pharos have existed in a state of uncertainty that some argue is – if you can believe it – even more confusing than the regulated marijuana industry.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has publicly declared that hemp-derived THC has “serious health risks,” and the Drug Enforcement Administration has hinted it doesn’t consider certain hemp extracts legal.
However, federal regulators have so far taken limited enforcement action. Only companies selling products marketed with unproven medical claims or marketed with packaging similar to mainstream snack or beverage brands have drawn negative attention – and then usually nothing more serious than a cease-and-desist letter.
But it’s also understood this uneasy status quo is temporary.
Depending on when Congress passes the next Farm Bill – and exactly what’s in it – the ground could shift under Bernuth’s business and the hemp-derived cannabinoid sector yet again.
The problem is, nobody knows when that might be – nor what will come next.
“Overall, the federal government is quite unpredictable,” said Michelle Bodian, the New York-based co-chair of the Vicente law firm’s Hemp and Cannabinoids Department as well as the Hemp Beverage Alliance’s general counsel.
“The longer things drag out, the more opportunity there is for issues to come to the forefront,” she added.
“It’s obviously hard to predict where those issues are going to land – in hemp’s favor or against.”
Farm Bill provisions One of the biggest and most complex measures that Congress produces, the Farm Bill is an $867 billion behemoth that covers corn subsidies, food stamps, conservation projects and, now, CBD, delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC extracted from hemp.
In theory, Congress must renew the Farm Bill every five years, when the spending allowances run out.
The 2018 Farm Bill’s provisions started running out at the end of September 2023, when Congress gave itself the first in a series of extensions.
Promises that a draft Farm Bill would soon emerge followed the first extension, but as of early February, there was still no draft bill and no timeline for when proposals would appear.
Put another way: It remains an open question whether the 118th Congress will pass a Farm Bill in 2024 at all.
If and when a new Farm Bill passes, it’s also unclear whether lawmakers will choose to wrestle with the hemp-derived cannabinoid market they accidentally unleased.
Farm Bill timeline Neither the U.S. Senate agriculture committee, chaired by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Arkansas Republican John Boozman, nor their colleagues in the House Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, responded to MJBizMagazine’s requests for comment.
In January, Thompson expressed hope that he’d be able to draft a bill and pass it through his committee in March, an optimistic timeline that hemp lobbyists considered unrealistic at press time.
Some influential lawmakers, such as Oklahoma Republican Rep. Frank Lucas, believed to be the only “active farmer” in Congress, say that Congress will absolutely pass a Farm Bill in 2024 – and that it won’t be a major departure from the 2018 version.
That is what the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp is banking on, said Chris Lindsey, the group’s director of state advocacy and public policy.
“This is more about clarifying what Congress did than it is about going in and changing the laws and creating some new regulatory framework,” Lindsey told MJBizMagazine.
But with Congress still fumbling basic tasks such as a long-term federal budget, other observers are planning for 2024 to turn into 2025 with no new Farm Bill in sight.
“I wouldn’t say I’m confident (for a 2024 passage). I’m hopeful,” said Jonathan Miller, co-founder and general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, which lobbies federal lawmakers and counts among its members prominent cannabis companies including Cronos Group and Curaleaf Holdings.
Miller believes the best window to pass a Farm Bill is the lame-duck session between the November 2024 general election and January 2025, when the next Congress – and, potentially, next president – is inaugurated.
That tiny window could, of course, slam shut depending on the election’s outcome.
Regardless of when, there’s “no consensus” for what federal lawmakers want to do, Miller said.
Hemp in the Farm Bill Most industry observers believe that Congress will seriously consider redefining what qualifies as “hemp.”
A legal definition rather than a botanical one, hemp currently refers to cannabis sativa plants with 0.3% THC or less by dry weight.
There appears to be support for raising the THC limit to 1% – a proposition that appeared in stand-alone legislation proposed in 2022 by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine.
But what about regulating CBD, which the FDA has been on notice to do for years?
And what about clarifying the federal legality of hemp-derived THC and the alphabet soup of THC derivatives that have appeared?
It seems as if the status of hemp-derived cannabinoids is anyone’s guess, though it is likely that federal lawmakers will be reluctant to interfere with state regulations.
That would be just fine for companies in places such as Kentucky and Texas, where the lack of regulated medical marijuana programs creates intense demand for a viable alternative.
The hemp market is booming under loose rules that nonetheless call for basic guardrails such as age restrictions and product-safety guarantees.
Lack of action won’t be welcome news to companies such as those trying to operate in Arkansas, where a strict ban on hemp-derived competitors to a fledging medical marijuana industry is being challenged in federal court.
As for Bernuth, she knows at least two things to be true: Hemp-derived THC is too big for the federal government to kill off entirely, and the market needs regulations such as age verification and product-safety standards.
If that means Pharos needs a unique product label to comply with laws in every state where Bernuth wants to distribute the product, she is willing to do that.
And if the rules change even more, she’s willing to adapt.
“Every business has to be flexible, so we’re definitely being as flexible as possible,” Bernuth said.
For now, the opportunity presented by hemp-derived cannabinoid drinks is too sweet to pass up.
https://mjbizdaily.com/hemp-derived-thc-producers-wary-of-us-farm-bill/

Greetings Minneapolis folks, I'm your Sconnie neighbor to the east checking in, I'll start off by saying I've never been to Minneapolis before, I am visiting for the first time in August to see Metallica rock the U.S. Bank Stadium, and I have a few questions for you guys that hopefully you can help me out with. Most have to do with visiting the stadium itself, but there are a couple that relate more to the city, so I guess these questions are more for people who have been to the stadium, preferably during concerts rather than games, but any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Also, since this is a bit long I put a tl;dr down at the bottom that has the gist of my questions.
Now, I've scoured both the U.S. Bank Stadium website, and even the Vikings website, and these are the questions I have that were not specifically answered researching from the source, so I'm hoping you fine folk can lend a hand with your first hand experience.
First with the Stadium, concerning sound quality, I know the U.S. Bank Stadium has a reputation for poor sound, though looking through other Reddit posts I've heard that the concert sound is fine on the field and lower levels. I'm not too worried about that, but since lower level seats are way out of my price range I've decided to get field level tickets.
Which leads to my first question. I'm planning on taking my mom with me, now I'll say this, my mom is a badass, an OG, old school metal head, however, being an OG means she is at the point where she can't really stand for a full two opening acts, plus the headliner, all the waiting in between, along with entering and exiting the stadium, and whatever other walking that is included. Multiply that by 2 nights, and even I will probably be feeling it in my bones by time the weekend is over.
Since I can't afford seats in a decent sounding area, and field level is standing only, I was wondering if it would be an issue if she brought a walker kind of thing. You know the ones, collaspable, little wheels, and has like a little fold down seat, I'm sure you've seen them, but I'll try to include a picture.
So my first question is, will there be any sort of issue with the event staff in bringing it both inside the stadium, and especially once we get down to the field level, I know U.S.B Stadium claims to be super accessible with seating, but the website says nothing about events where the audience is on field level. I would hate to get there just to find she can't bring something to help her, and has to sit on the ground or some bullshit. I can handle standing for hours on end, but I'd like her to be as comfortable as she can, as comfortable as one can be at a thrash metal show at least.
Next question would be the bathroom situation. I've only been to a big stadium a couple times, namely Soldier Field, and Miller Park, but have been to a few slightly smaller than stadium venues, like the Resch Center in Green Bay, or AmFam Ampitheatre in Milwaukee or the Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL, whatever the Hell they call it now, so I'm use to crowded bathrooms.
However, I've never been to an event where I was on "field level" before, so my question is... Where the Hell do I take a piss when needed. As a metal head I plan to indulge on a couple overpriced beers, and those beers need an exit strategy. So for those of you who have been on field level, what is the bathroom situation like? Are there public bathrooms inside the tunnel areas like where the teams enter the field, or portable toilets placed out on the field or, do we have to go on a hike for those lovely piss points, how does this work?
Also sort of relating to this, would we use the same enterance the football teams use to get on the field, or is there some entryway onto field level that I'm not seeing? Do they place stairs where the steats meet the field, so we have to hike our asses back into the stands to find a crapper? Again, never been to a field level event at any stadium before.
My next question is tricky, but say that as a metal head, I like to puff on something to... enhance the music... I know bringing stuff like that in the stadium is technically a no-no, but like on the level guys, how strict are they about bringing vapes and stuff inside?
That does it for stadium specific questions, now for more city related questions, and these are kind of related, and blur together for the most part, so forgive me if its a bit jumbled.
First would be, for transportation, is it better to use ride share like Uber or like the city taxi companies? Also I heard something that Uber is leaving the Twin Cities, so do I really have a choice? I've never used Uber before, any place I've been to and needed a ride I used the city taxi services, and have always had a good trip, though I know many people swear by Uber, I just barely need rides, so just calling a taxi is easier than installing a seperate app I'll only use once in a year, if that.
Next bit is a little more jumbled, but bear with me. I'm looking for more recomendations/opinions to think on, rather than concrete answers, but this has to do with places to stay/places to avoid. Now, I've had some, albeit limited experience with big cities, namely Chicago, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, so I know generally that if I'm respectful, and keep my eyes open, and mouth shut I'll be fine, however I know with any town there are also places and things to avoid
This mainly has to do with hotels, as nice of a city as I'm sure Minneapolis is, I'm not really here for sightseeing as Metallica is expensive enough, so really I'll only be at the hotel, or in a sea of Metal heads, so I'm not really concerned about safety too much, I'm more of wondering what is the best place to get a hotel/hotels to avoid, while also being as reasonably priced as possible. Also, if it helps at all, I'm not doing any driving, I'm taking a bus in and out of town, and using taxis/Uber to go from the hotel to the venue. So driving and parking is not really an option/issue depending on how you look at it.
So I guess this question is, would it be better to get a hotel closer to US Bank/the bus station, and pay more for a hotel, and hopefully less for rides, or find something more out of town, and pay hopefully less for a room, and more for rides?
For my final question, are there any Must Visit places to eat at? The only thing I love more when visiting a new place, other than seeing new things, is eating new things. Now I am but a simple working class metal head, I'm not talking about fine dining or anything fancy, I mean a burger to die for, or good pizza or Mexican food, maybe Chinese, preferable something that stays open late as Hell, since there is no more satisfying a meal than the post concert bite, when you are buzzed, having rocked your heart out, singing and jamming to your favorite tunes, you need to replenish your body and soul with some yummy take out. I have a fairly adventurous stomach, so as long as the prices aren't ridiculous, I'm open to any suggestion that is close to the stadium, or delievers to a wide area, again, don't know exactly where I'm staying at.
I guess to finish up, is there anything else that I should know before visiting Minneapolis or the U.S. Bank Stadium? Any recomendations or tips?
TL;DR:

1. Can you bring a walker like mobility aid on field level?
2. What's the bathroom situation at field level?
3. Bringing a vape in.
4. Taxi company vs. Ubers.
5. Hotels/areas to avoid.
6. Best late night take out.
7. Any other tips?

And to those who would say to just avoid the U.S. Bank Stadium for a concert, I say if you can convince Metallica to play anywhere else in the Wisconsin/Minnesota area, be my guest.
Anyways, I appreciate you all for reading this, any help or tip would be awesome. I look forward to visiting your city, and hopefully having a kickass time. Pretty much every spare dollar I have from the last year, and the rest of this year is going towards this trip, I want to be as informed as I can so I can have the most fun possible. Until then, thank you once again, I hope you all have a great day/night. \m/

Pinapaaral ako ng lola at mama ko sa private uni dahil walang available na course na gusto ko sa mga public uni, (di ko nalang sasabihin nasa reddit din fam ko, baka makilala ako hehe). Tumutulong din ako sa mga gastusin ko sa school, nag part time ako dati kaso kinailangan ko umalis, ang toxic, i'd rather starve kesa pakisamahan pa ng ilang lingo mga tao dun so rn nag fefreelance artist and acads service nalang ako. Aware naman ako na madami din kaming kapos sa class ko pero nakakahiya yung palagi nalang ako humihingi ng tulong sa mga kaibigan ko, mahal yung course ko at yung mga ibang needs for semester pero worth it nman kasi magaling din yung pag turo ng prof, yung tipong may natututunan talaga ako kaso pag activities na yung usapan nakaka pang lumo
Canvas? Utang muna sa friend, water color paper? makikipunit nalang, laptop, camera, at drawing tab? Hihiramin ko nlang pag tapos na sila, wala ako ng mga yan at umabot ako ng 2 years na umaasa sa mga kaibigan ko. Willing to help din naman sila since ako din naman lagi nilang nilalapitan pag need nila ng tulong, ako rin palagi yung nag reremind ng mga assigment or quiz sa lms, ako na din gumagawa ng activities nila at pinapagaya sila para kahit yun nalang yung bayad ko.
Nung nakaraan may naganap sa cousin ko (i wont go into details) pero di muna makakatulong lola ko, hindi muna mababayaran yung balance ko this sem so hindi ako makaka pag enroll next semester as long as may balance pa ako so kinailangan ko mag hanap ng trabaho para mahabol ko pang balance ko, so yun yung ginawa ko, napapaiyak nalang ako kasi nag sabay sabay na yung problema ko, yung putanginang job hunting ko sa mga fast food chain puro hindi nag hahire ng part time, may nakikita akong mga hiring kaso ang layo sa inuuwian ko, yung suswelduhin ko halos mapupunta lang rin sa pamasahe, at YUNG PUTANGINANG JOB HIRING SA FB MGA WALANG KWENTA, ang tino ng post hiring daw sa 7/11, alfa mart, chuchuness pero pag nag message ako for details puro investment scam ang mga putang ina.
Dumagdag pa yung group activity namin kasama yung ibang section and kinailangan ko muna asikasuhin yung job hunt and freelancing ko kasi rn yun nalang bumubuhat sa pang araw araw ko. Im aware and i admit na medjo na neglect ko sya kasi busy talaga ako pero i tried my best na hindi maging pabigat. 6 kami sa group tig tatlo sa dalwang section, kaso yung group namin sa section lang namin ang nag iintindi, balak pa sana ng leader itangal yung galing sa kabilang section if hindi pa napilit, and nakaraos din naman kami. Nag apologize ako sa leader namin and nag explain and sabi nya okay naman na daw at done na yung project, tapos malalaman ko na yung grade ko SAME sa grade ng kabilang section na last minute na tumulong... Kahit nung umpisa palang tumutulong din naman ako, ginagawa ko yung inuutos nya kahit may kaunting mali ako, ako na nag vovolunteer na sabihin nalang ang kailangan ko itama at ako na bahala, ayoko talaga i asa sa kanya, medjo nahihiya kasi ako at di ko ka close. So yun, yung nakita ko yung grade nya saamin tumulo nalang talaga luha ko. Its not that deep naman talaga pero parang yun na talaga yung last straw, umiyak talaga ako sa class room kasi academic achiever din ako and feel ko na fail ko nanaman sarili ko. Tapos sinabihan pa ako na "para yun lang iiyakan mo" hindi lang yun yung rason, THATS THE FVCKING LAST STRAWW. Alam nya yung nang yayari sa buhay ko and its fine tangap ko yung grades ko if yun yung feel nya na deserve ko then its fine pero yung sasabihan ako ng ganun ganun lang. NAG STARBUCKS SYA FOR LUNCH, may kotse sya, and sya yung typical born smart, pretty, and rich girl, situationship at acads lang problema nya and aware sya sa buhay ko tas sasabihan ako ng "ang babaw ng dahilan ng pag iyak ko" FVCK YOU AND YOUR STARBUCKS STUPID FUCKING DINOSAUR. Not to mention sinabi pa nya yun sa harap ng mga kagroupo namin and sure rinig din yun ng iba, for sure na chismis na ako or something pero puta, bahala na di ko na poproblemahin kung ano iisipin saakin ng iba.
Pero tbh ang swerte ko sa friends ko, kahit apat lang sila, willing talaga sila tumulong at mang libre sa akin ng kusa kaso hiyang hiya na ako sa kanila, nakaka guilty, if need nila ng kidney ako talaga mag vovolunteer. Also bahala na din yung trabaho, mag quit muna ako sa pag job hunt matatapos na semester ayoko ng madaming isipin, tangap ko na na di ako makakapasok next sem dahil ng balance, putang ina nalang talaga
(also im so sorry if di nyo maintindihan masyado dahil ng typo or whatever, im too tired to reread and edit, wala pa akong tulogg)