So I want to restock on some BOJ spf which I’m addicted to and saw it’s marked down on tik tok shop for me from $17-18 usd to $8-9 usd nearly half off and free shipping. The brands selling are Iherb and cocomint beauty. I know these companies are good but so is Walmart and they sell fake BOJ through 3rd party sellers. Does anyone know if this is safe? I got my last batch from Stylevana and it was expensive but at least I know it’s legit. I get my BOJ bar soap off Amazon and it’s legit from the source but they don’t have the SPF available on there for whatever reason. Would greatly appreciate if someone who knows would weigh in on this. Mt skin is sensitive and on accutane high doses so I cannot risk using a bunk product and ruin my skin again… thanks!

Had this idea bouncing around in my head about the little ferret guy, Etholin Esila. I figured with him being a 'merchant lord' he'd want to start cutting deals with Emma once the initial curiosity and amazement over Earth tech would have passed. Not sure where this is going, if anywhere, but just wanted to get it out of my head and onto 'paper'.
Thanks to u/DndQuickQuestion for helping with feedback on earlier drafts.
Afternoon Transgracian Academy of Magical Arts
The hulking minotaur loomed menacingly over me. "Crawling along the floor suits you well, Merchant Lord Etholin Esila!” it boomed in an intimidating baritone. “Merchant Lord, pfah! Even a mangy cur such as that Mercenary Prince has a legacy of valor and martial prowess behind his dubious title, but you?”
An accusatory finger was jabbed in my direction. “Nothing but puffery and bluster to buttress your status as a glorified shopkeep! Your ilk claims to broker fair trade between the Realms, but those with integrity and honor recognize the deceit you employ to conjure false value from nothing." It was difficult to tell if Lord Auris Ping's tirade was aimed more at myself, the Esila clan, or the concept of inter-realm commerce in general.
At the moment, I was more concerned with herding my scattered belongings back into my satchel. While rushing to my next appointment, I had the dubious privilege of colliding with this mountain of a brute. Naturally I was on the losing side of that contest, and was sent tail over head to the floor, scattering the contents of my school satchel across the polished granite. Not one to pass up the chance at a crass display of dominance, Lord Ping had launched into the rant that everyone in earshot was currently enduring.
"Look at you, scrabbling on the floor to fetch your little trinkets, a fitting match for your base and covetous nature!" Fairly pedestrian, as far as character assassination went. I’d been called far worse while helping Father with trade negotiations, sometimes at sword or stave point. One had to develop quite a thick hide when engaging in cross-realm commerce. Especially with many realms having rather… absolutist opinions about the value of goods, like Lord Ping here. But I had zero interest in contesting his assertions, despite how idiotic they were.
Haggling or arguing with Pronarthians was a singularly wretched experience. They were infamous across the Realms for their single-mindedness and a compulsive need to have the last word that bordered on lunacy. I didn’t have the patience for the endless ingratiating flattery required to bore through such stubbornness. If that wasn’t enough, a gentleman of my stature also had to consider Pronarthians’ sizeism; specifically their intrinsic respect for the larger and taller races.
And that was merely the average Pronarthian! Arguing with a belligerent lout, accustomed to deference as Lord Ping? I'd sooner try my hand at flying out the nearby window. At least the loamy soil below would give me a fighting chance, or a jagged rock would grant me the mercy of a swift end.
Instead, I busied myself putting my things in order, taking special care with one item in particular. It was a set of memory crystals I received from the Earthrealmer, Cadet Emma Booker. It was part of a ‘transdimensional cultural exchange pilot program,’ as she had described it with her nation’s peculiar bureaucratic jargon. I had previously conducted similar transactions in my initial dealings with Cadet Booker, and it was those first tentative steps that convinced me to make Cadet Booker a full-fledged premiere trade partner of the Ocean Breeze Trading Company, the pride of the Esila clan.
The myriad tomes and treatises from Earthrealm, such as the riveting "The Wealth of Nations," amply demonstrated that Earthrealm had an extremely sophisticated understanding of commerce, finance, and logistics. But it was the ‘video archive footage,’ transferred onto memory crystals for ease of viewing, that convinced me at a visceral level that these Earthrealmers were a sound investment. I felt it on my whisker-tips, as the commoners back home would say.
"May I offer a helping hand, Lord Esila?" inquired a familiar voice. I looked up to see a scaly, clawed hand extended toward me. “And perhaps a sympathetic ear? After all, that was a rather nasty bit of slander from Lord Ping, would you not agree?”
Wonderful. This nonsense again.
While I had been lost in thought contemplating Ocean Breeze’s latest windfall, Lord Ping seemed to have lost interest and resumed going about his business. Taking his place, as always, was Lord Qiv Ratom, ever ready to sift through the rubble of Lord Ping's latest ham-fisted antics for personal gain. "You will find that my views differ considerably from Lord Ping's. I, for one, admire the manner in which you extract value from your trade partners. After all, does it not require skill and cunning to convince the customer that your wares are worth far greater than their true value? Such nuance and subtlety is lost on the likes of Auris Ping, content to strong-arm what he desires from others."
I paused for a moment, at a loss for words. His tone suggested his 'praise' was sincere, but only stoked my ire further. What in the thrice-damned Hells did he think he was accomplishing? Did he really think that telling me, "Well, I still regard you as a thief, but I APPRECIATE your thieving nature, unlike that uncouth lout!" was going to win me over? Dealing with parties with this attitude to commerce and trade was tedious at best. But ever since making acquaintances with Cadet Booker, whose people's understanding and appreciation of commerce rivaled the Nexians, dealing with the likes of Ping and Ratom was nigh UNBEARABLE.
I rattled off the usual rigmarole we used at Ocean Breeze for clients we wished to keep at arm's length. "With respect, Lord Ratom, the value of the goods we sell is determined by the customer's needs and circumstances. The merchants of my clan arbitrate prices taking such factors into consideration. We see it as our responsibility to provide equitable trade that is not only beneficial to all parties, but also provides fair compensation for the tradesmen involved in executing the transaction."
"But of course, it is as you say," replied Lord Ratom with his signature oily charisma. "Fair and equitable trade, according to the customer's circumstances. Thus, you are but a facilitator of the Fates, a most humble tool of Destiny itself. And one who collects a respectable commission, at that," he continued. He stopped short of winking conspiratorially, but the impish grin playing across his features was a fine substitute. Every mote of my being wanted to shake him until he shed his skin. He continued, "Your... humility aside, my admiration of your clan's cunning and resourcefulness still stands. The insight of one so skilled is always welcome within my inner circle, should you wish to grace us with your presence."
It took all my restraint to not tell him into which orifice he could jam his charity-case friendship offer. After all, I'd been keeping far better and more like-minded company of late. Company that the Baralonian lord was likely dying to ingratiate himself with, given how Cadet Booker and her peer group had taken pains to keep Lord Ratom and his entourage of gossips at arm’s length. Instead, I left the smug reptile’s offer dangling in the air, twisting in the wind for a few agonizing moments while I finished tidying my things. Rising to my feet, I finally replied, "An offer most generous and kind. I will of course, have to consider the circumstances of both customer and merchant. Surely you would not begrudge a humble servant of Fate for waiting for the most auspicious circumstances?" Even at my best, I was hardly a master of rhetoric, so crudely tossing his words back at him was the best I could do.
"As you please, Lord Esila," replied Lord Ratom, finally sensing his return on investment wouldn't be worthwhile, leaving me alone to stew in the hallway. Such was the game played among the aristocracy. I looked down at the bundle of memory crystals in my hands, contemplating on their origin, and how Earthrealm could change how the Esila clan, perhaps even all of Rontalis, played the game.
I continued on my way, thoughts heavy once more.
Evening Ocean Breeze Trading Company, Elaseer Offices, Private Chambers
The Elaseer branch office of the Ocean Breeze Trading Company was a modest affair by Nexian standards, a second-storey affair nestled on the edge of the warehouse district. The restrained yet tasteful trappings were a calculated decision of the Esila clan, proprietors of the trading company. A fine balance had to be struck when it came to outward appearances, after all. Some measure of artful decoration was necessary to appease the Nexian eye’s obsession with projecting might and wealth, but not so much that it would attract too much attention.
Only in the private chambers would a guest finally see some personality in the decor, and a generous measure at that. These were the chambers of the nobleman assigned stewardship of these offices, Lord Rikad Esila, uncle to Etholin Esila. Colorful murals with aquatic motifs adorned the walls, highlighted with tastefully matching lacquered panels featuring artwork done in mother-of-pearl inlay. Similar decor was present in the dining room, where uncle and nephew were currently enjoying what Rikad thought would be a leisurely dinner.
CRACK!
The sharp sound rang out loud and clear in the small room, the source being a steamed crab claw, dashed to pieces on a smooth river stone placed between the two diners at the table.
Lord Rikad's branch of the Esila line hailed from the wetlands of Rontalis that opened up into the sea, and they regularly partook of the ocean's bounty. In antiquity, they were known to smash shellfish and other armored morsels against stones they carried with them to lay bare the tasty prizes within. This dining set configuration was a modern interpretation of that old tradition, with a communal stone for guests to open their shellfish.
Of course, such a homestyle service was available solely behind closed doors and shuttered windows and only then to Rikad and his close associates. Here in the Crownlands, such a 'barbarous and unseemly' artifact would be frowned upon by the prevailing Nexian culture and their gold and mother-of-pearl seafood forks that split the shell with a simple tap. But young Etholin labeled that languid dining as a boring conversational backdrop, inferior to the communal excitement of a well-placed strike.
Etholin’s spirited strike had a strong measure of anger behind it, a fact not lost on Rikad. "Steady now, lad. The aim is to crack the shell, not grind it to powder," chided Rikad, an otter clothed in well-tailored robes that melded practicality with muted elegance. He looked aged and gray compared to the ferret-like Etholin, clad in sumptuous silks and embroidery that assertively declared the young lord’s wealth and standing. Etholin hung his head in embarrassment. "Apologies, Uncle. I lost the reins of my temper."
"Well now, aggravated enough to make a mess of my dining set," observed the older gentleman. "It takes a great deal to get your humors churning like this, from my experience. So tell me lad, what urchin needles you?"
"Ugh, more Academy theatrics, what else? With Lords Auris Ping and Qiv Ratom being today’s star players."
"Ah, The Dunce and the Devil," remarked Rikad, nodding with understanding. This wasn't the first time his nephew had related the pestilent pair’s antics. "What two-act farce did they put on this time?"
"Ping opened with the usual blather about merchants being honorless tricksters, with Ratom swooping in to capitalize on the aftermath. Textbook at this point, really," explained Etholin, waving his hand dismissively. "It... it was just the way those two put forward their thoughts. In isolation, each would have been merely irritating. But with one following the other, I was ready to grind my fangs to nubs! To be cursed as a thief on one side, only to be praised as a thief on the other! It was like they were wielding ignorance as one would a greatsword, and managed to cut me with both edges! Gods, I wanted to THROTTLE the idiocy out of them!"
"‘Tis to be expected," said Rikad in consolation. "A great many noble families, even entire Realms at times, came about their status through force of arms or magical prowess, and thus they hold a dim view of commerce as a profession. It is a routine chore for us, navigating around them to find those with less absolutist views on the worth of goods, or more forgiving definitions of 'honest work'. An Adjacent Realm that does not cheat its creditors by altering the weight of its coins or debasing them with base metals and insisting otherwise while hiding behind the safety of their portal is worth its weight in gold."
"Sometimes I feel we ought to cut them out of our affairs entirely and deal with the Nexians, directly and exclusively," mused Etholin bitterly.
"Now, now, though your anger is justified, that's hardly reason for it to take hold of your mind's rudder," cautioned Rikad with a frown. "The Nexians have well-developed philosophies on trade in line with our own, but we only have the resources of a single Realm at our disposal, while the Nexians can leverage the bounty of their never-ending and mana-rich lands. Dealing solely with a behemoth that can devour us with a thought, no matter how frictionless those dealings are, is hardly my idea of a beneficial partnership."
Etholin sighed. "As always, your counsel is sensible, Uncle. Like I said, I lost the reins of my temper in a moment of weakness."
"Don't be so sour on things like this, lad. Our base nature gets the better of us at times, that is the animal within that we all struggle with. That you acknowledged such a lapse and took back the helm is proof that civility prevails. But, enough moping about!" Rikad jumped out of his seat with a little pep in his step. "Looks like we need to guide you back into good spirits, and I know JUST the thing for gentlemen such as us," concluded the elder merchant, twirling his whiskers playfully.
"Somehow I think a night at the theater or music halls will do little for me, Uncle. Or are you suggesting we seek respite at the bottom of a tankard?"
Rikad snorted derisively. "Oh please, I'm not senile yet, pup! Since when has SPENDING money brought joy to anyone worthy of the Esila name?" That made Elothin perk up a bit. Rikad continued, "No, I speak of a PROPER good time, I speak of..."
"COMMERCE!" they cried out in unison, fists held aloft in a triumphant pose. "Does that mean..." began Etholin.
"Indeed, we've just received the latest prototypes for the centralized mana ampoule, linking cords, and so-called 'mana motors'. Perfectly timed with the parts delivery from Cadet Booker not two days ago. Sukie, be a dear and clear this up, and have the remainder bundled up and sent to the young master's rooms at the Academy." Rikad motioned for the housekeepers to clear the table, then ushered Etholin to his private offices where they could discuss business strategy in depth.
Uncle Rikad’s offices were more than just a cozy place where Etholin could get a taste of home. Officially, Rikad was stationed here to oversee the administration of this branch office of the Ocean Breeze Trading Company. In reality, the office was a means to circumvent the Academy's prohibition against students communicating regularly with their home realm. Many aristocratic families employed similar cheats and dodges involving ‘familial duties’ and ‘business obligations’ to skirt the rules. If the Nexians cared about closing such loopholes, they didn’t show it. Perhaps the quaint maneuverings of their lessers amused the elves, who could say?
In this case, Rikad and Etholin were leveraging this loophole to the fullest, as they strategized on how to execute the next steps of their latest commercial venture, which Rikad would then relay to the head offices in Rontalis. As their planning session drew to a close, Rikad remarked on the time. “Well, it would seem that evening has fast become night. You are welcome to stay overnight here, as always, or perhaps you would prefer to retire to the Academy dormitories? Either way, I doubt you’d want to watch an old man doze off in his reading room listening to music.”
At the mention of leisure time, Etholin's eyes widened in surprise, and he began rooting around in his satchel. "Oh goodness, I entirely forgot!"
"What is it, lad?"
"Oh, Cadet Booker has provided us with more of her 'video archive files', transcribed to memory crystal," explained Etholin as he produced the set of crystals from his satchel, perfectly sized for the compact projection device that Rikad kept in his rooms.
"Ah, splendid! Another of the young lady's documentary presentations on commerce? Or perhaps one of her theatrical serials? Both are fine ways to while away the night."
“I’m not sure, but Cadet Booker said we would enjoy them a great deal,” said Etholin as he placed the crystal into the office's projector. As the machine spooled up, a moving image was cast onto the whitewashed wall across the room. As with all Earthrealm recordings, it was entirely mundane, bereft of any sign of manafields. Compared to mana based memory shards, Earthrealm recordings felt like faded sketches. None of that hindered the recording's impact on the viewers.
"Hoh? This is-" exclaimed Rikad, eyes lighting up in recognition.
An Earthrealmer with a thick, lustrous beard strode into view, his confidence and enthusiasm palpable despite the muted colors of the recording. The Earthrealmer’s voice rang out from the projector, carrying that same confidence and infectious enthusiasm like a barker worthy of the title of Grand Master.
Rikad and Etholin cheered in unison.
"HI! BILLY MAYS HERE, WITH ANOTHER GREAT PRODUCT!"

Here's a big fat receipt that should be added to the archive, I pulled an all-nighter compiling this into one post. Major credit goes to the vigilant members of this sub & the great information I was able to scour through .
Congrats on identifying Drake's bad behavior with women. I was unsure about the best way to present this because it requires some delicacy & subtlety. During one of my recent deep dives for another piece, I discovered something quite unsettling. I'm aware that there will be a lot of criticism to my post, but I had to say it. People will tell me it's nothing, but Drake's actions speak for themselves.
Before jumping in, I don’tunderstand why this behaviour is getting unchecked. My narrative is completely alleged & all of this is public information.
Let's start from the beginning shall we…
May, 2010: Drake calls a girl on stage fondles the girl and kisses her neck and the crowd cheers along with it. In his defense, he doesn't ask the girl her age but how does it make it any better. He still fondled her without asking for consent in front of a crowd of people.
When the girl tells him that she's only 17 he tries to remedy the situation by saying "how the hell she looks like this" and "you thick". He jokes he can't go to jail and the crowd cheers along with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp5b9dW1nrA
If this was the only time that Drake did something like this, I would have called it an honest mistake but sadly it's not it.
Year 2016: https://mtonews.com/drake-groomed-hailey-baldwin-at-age-14-then-started-dating-her-at-18
Drake knows Hailey Bieber(nee Baldwin) when she was 14 years old and has been a "good friend" to her. They know each other 'cause Hailey is bestfriends with Kendall and Kylie.
In 2016, Hailey was just nineteen where as Drake was twenty-nine. It's legal but here is the deal. Drake knows her since she was fourteen and Drake is good friends with Justin Bieber, Hailey's then ex boyfriend. Him going after Hailey immediately after her breakup with Justin makes zero sense, ethics wise.https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/drake-is-pursuing-hailey-baldwin-w20858I mean why would someone go after his friends ex who's 10 years his junior?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-90gjG044IQ
Drake also got himself a similar "h" charm necklace that Hailey had a penchant for wearing. Ignore Justin in the background for a second and here it is. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/V_91WJgGVQw
Year 2018: Drake and Bella Harris met when she was sixteen. Her dad's a famous producer. https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/drake-and-bella-harris-timeline.8088605/
When she turned eighteen Drake rented an entire restaurant for her birthday. Um what? I get that they can be friends but she's just 18 and he's 31. https://www.eonline.com/news/968171/drake-and-rumored-girlfriend-bella-harris-enjoy-intimate-dinner https://www.wmagazine.com/story/bella-harris-who-is-drake-girlfriend
Also, in 2018 Drake went after the weeknd's then ex girlfriend Bella Hadid. Abel and Drake have been mates and collaborates since 2010. Drake helped Abel to step in the spotlight while Abel helped with writing Drake's album, Take care and also lend his vocals.
After her split from the weeknd and around 2018, Drake threw Bella her 21st birthday party. Looks like drizzy really likes throwing birthday parties. https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a21999080/drake-bella-hadid-romance-references-in-finesse-lyrics/
Take note that this has happened two times where Drake has gone for his mates exes and I know Hollywood's chill with it but this just feels emotionally predatory. It's not like he doesn't know these girls, he knows them since they were teens. It's not random.
Year 2019: Billie Eilish defends her texting Drake. Drake's 33 and she's just 18. She even comments that Drake's at a level that he doesn't need to be nice to her but that's a whole different level of power imbalance. https://www.buzzfeed.com/terrycartebillie-eilish-revealed-that-drake-texts-her-creepy
Maybe I'm reaching and they are artists and Drake is interested artistically and helps her with the industry but it just weird.
Millie Bobby Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYZPKh74Li8
I can't with this interaction. For one second I was ready to ignore all of the above but this? A 33 year old texting a 13 year old girl that he misses her? and talks about boys? Tf is wrong with people justifying this? People are saying it's innocent but she was 13 and I don't think any grown man should be talking about these things with a 15 year old. Also, Millie posting this https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/09/210592/millie-bobby-brown-defends-friendship-with-drake
There is also this thing with Drake and the Kar-jenners and I don't know what to think: https://people.com/tv/kylie-jenner-drake-spending-romantic-time-togethe
https://twitter.com/WizMonifaaa/status/1467919407095681028/photo/4
https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.56014/title.drake-does-damage-control-after-referring-to-kylie-jenner-as-a-side-piece-on-old-song
Drake performed at Kylie's sweet 16:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWX-I6n-AQg
I wonder why no one is calling this out in light of the overall situation. Do other people observe this too but are they ignoring it? or am I overanalyzing this? I'm honestly not sure if this is predatory behavior at this point or if something is being misinterpreted since Drake is in the spotlight. Drake is a wealthy man, so what is going on with his management? If all that is occurring is coincidental and benign, then why are they allowing this to happen? To be honest, I'm not sure about it. I just wonder what Drake is doing with all these horrible stories coming out of the industry. The narrative around him changed over night it seems even though a lot of this has been known, but many just turned the other cheek.
Taking Drake down is just cutting out one head from hydra & another will likely take his place but what it WILL do is send a message to the higher ups that we aren’t slow & it’s just a matter of time until the truth comes out & people will have to face the music.

Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.

1. All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
2. There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
3. There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
4. All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
5. All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
6. Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
7. Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
8. Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
9. Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
10. If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
11. All valuables in the house are locked in safe
12. Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
13. Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!

During Construction During construction it is key to take detailed photos to eliminate any damages that were not caused by the construction process. I would also make a video to ensure all areas are included. All subcontractors should also take progress pictures to ensure if problems arise in the future, they will not be responsible for any work that they did not perform. Keep an on-going log of progress to the homeowners and share the pictures for there records. This will keep homeowners excited of the progress being made. When the house is gutted to the studs it is important to have construction photos showing where all utilities are run in the walls or sub floor. If there is a problem in the future there will photos showing all utility locations. Protect all flooring with plywood or floor protective. I also like to protect front door and tarp all areas where subcontractors are to be working. Make sure to cover any chandeliers/furniture/doorways with plastic to eliminate dust. Ask the homeowners if they have any concerns that they could think of. We’re all human and possibly a detail was missed! Post Construction Phase If the project went smoothly appreciation should be shown to the customer. Find out if the husband likes a particular type of liquor. Bring the wife a bouquet of flowers. Send a Christmas card to the family letting how much you appreciated the work. You know you have done a good job if they tell you they will refer you to their friends. The best compliment you could receive is a good referral. In Summary Try to find a knitch in the market, I found kitchens to be a great remodel projects. Bathrooms are tough as they are small, expensive with little profit margin with every trade involved. Windows/doors are also another great knitch as they can be installed quickly. There are so many different remodeling items that can be stream lined to make the selling installing process flawless. Once the core group subcontractors are in place the job almost runs itself. Every day is a learning experience with new materials or methods in construction. Keeping up with codes, materials, fluctuating labor and material cost is a job within itself. Anyone can be a contractor with the right mindset.

I am a long time Prime member and have had great experiences with Amazon. I got a free Walmart+ membership and the Walmart 5% rewards credit card and have been using it for the past year or so.
Walmart despite being a horrible place to actually enter does a better and cheaper job than Amazon for your home basics.
For example I ordered paper towels yesterday afternoon and they arrived less than 24 hours later. No shipping cost with the membership. The price was what you’d find in the store.
For pretty much anything Walmart itself sells, it’s way better in terms of speed and quality than Amazon. I suspect they’re losing money on the deliveries but who knows.
That said, the Walmart 3rd party bazaar is similar to Amazon and doesn’t have the selection or online shopping experience Amazon does.
So if you’re looking for a weird part to fix your dishwasher, you’re more likely to find it on Amazon at a better price.
Basically for anything we’d think was at Walmart, we check and order Walmart first. I suspect your mileage may vary if you don’t actually have Walmart stores or a distributor near you though.

** ALL WEEKEND (FRI 5/31 - SUN 6/2) *\*
Pride Tea Party Snapdragon Tea, 115 Harvard Dr. SE We're celebrating the wonderful diversity in the LGBTQIA+ community! We welcome kids of all ages, and provide children’s menus upon request. Special gluten free/vegan/vegetarian menus available upon request. Reservations required
6:30 PM Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Flix Brewhouse, 3236 La Orilla Rd. NW The rebellion begins. With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts. Experience the fifth Harry Potter movie on the big screen - along with some Butterbeer! (tickets)
** BOTH SAT 6/1 AND SUN 6/2 *\*
Sat 10 AM - 8 PM, Sun 10 AM - 6 PM Wild West Frontier Festival Wildlife West Nature Park, 87 E. Frontage Rd., Edgewood Ready to step back to the 1880's where the frontier was free, towns had merchant shops, boutiques, saloons, gambling, gold miners, gunfighters, a Sheriff and a jail. If that sounds amazing and fun, then come down and visit Jamestown. Come and see the exciting shows, campfire songs, leather crafters, gold panning, horse rides and petting zoo, all Wild West gunfights, saloons, food markets, chili competition, bbq cooking, Country Barn Dance, old fashioned chuck wagon dining. Western wear is encouraged but not required, clothing shops, local entertainment, local breweries, kids games and some for adults too (tickets)
12:30 - 3:30 PM SOLARIS - Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 sci-fi masterpiece as part of our Arthouse Classics Series! The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave NE Check out the trailer. Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 1972 - 166m - Russia - In Russian with English subtitles. Ground control has been receiving mysterious transmissions from the three remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is dispatched to investigate, he experiences the same strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his consciousness. With Solaris, the legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky created a brilliantly original science-fiction epic that challenges our conceptions about love, truth, and humanity itself (tickets)
3 - 6 PM New Mexico Take Over Alley Kats Tap Company, 222 Truman St. NE Level up as a dancer and connect to our expanding New Mexico dance community! The New Mexico Takeover Weekender is your passport to an immersive dance experience, featuring the best of salsa (Cuban, On1, On2), Bachata, and Zouk. Learn from New Mexico’s Finest: Get exposure to the top local instructors who are ready to share their passion and expertise. Expand Your Dance Horizons: Whether you're a beginner or an advanced dancer, enhance your skills across various Latin dance styles. Connect and Collaborate: Join a growing community, uniting dance enthusiasts and dance schools from all corners of New Mexico. Immerse Yourself: Enjoy an immersive learning environment that enriches your mind/body connection and opens up new avenues to dance. Experience a Movement: Beyond just technique, this weekend is about growing together, embracing diverse dance forms, and creating a united dance community in New Mexico. Get your pass now and be part of this unforgettable weekend of dance, learning, and community
** Fri 5/31 *\*
Fri 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Painting and Pastries with a Purpose Flying Roadrunner Bakery, 303 Romero St. NW Join Create U 505 and NM House Rabbit Society for a relaxed acrylic painting class! Proceeds benefit NMHRS and all the foster buns in their care. Ticket includes 9"x12" canvas, all supplies, instruction and one freshly baked pastry. The theme of the painting is "Bunnies & Berries"
Fri 6 PM 90’s Game Night Canteen Brewhouse, 2381 Aztec Rd. NE Come play some of your favorite 90’s board games! We will have nostalgic 90’s board games available to play all night long. Come kick off our 30th anniversary weekend with fun games the whole family will love! *This is a family friendly event. All minors must be accompanied by an adult
Fri 7 PM RIG Coffee & Garage - Season 3 Premiere Rust is Gold Coffee, 3732 Eubank Blvd. NE Premiere of Season 3 of the Coffee & Racing webseries on YouTube, highlighting our adventures at Biltwell 100. Join us for a live screening and music performance by featured artist Benny Bassett Music. Drink specials, giveaways, and a quick Q&A
Fri 8 PM Movie In The Park - Inside Out ABQ Food Park, 6951 San Antonio Dr. NE Free Entry! Reserve tickets now! *Movie will start at sunset. Please be patient as show time may vary* Join us for a magical movie night under the stars. We'll be screening Inside Out, the perfect lead-in to the upcoming release of Inside Out 2 in theaters. Bring your blankets, chairs, and appetite for a memorable evening. Arrive early to get your face painted by Local Locas Facepainting and truly become a part of the fun. Please refrain from bringing outside food or drinks as we have a diverse selection of food options available
Fri 8 PM Strange Mix Insideout, 678 Central Ave NW Dj Brad Cole will be playing a “Strange Mix” of Music Videos. A nostalgic return to the darker side of Alternative Classics, 80’s 90’s Dark Wave, New Wave, Industrial, EBM, Electro, Punk, Glam. Artists like NIN, The Cure, Peter Murphy, Ministry, Nick Cave, David Bowie, Joy Division, VNV Nation, Sisters of Mercy, Love and Rockets, The Clash, TKK, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Violent Femmes, New Order, Depeche Mode, Miss Kitten, Front 242, Gary Numan, Erasure, Duran Duran, Bauhaus. $10 cash, $12 CC
Fri 8 – 11 PM AfroBeats Night- 420 Friendly Herban Oasis Apothecary, 2308 Eubank Blvd. NE 420 friendly AfroBeats night! Where we smoke and vibe to some of our favorite AfroBeats, Konpa and reggae music! Dab bar closes at 10 pm, lounge closes at 11! Bring a friend
Fri 8 – 11 PM Soul & Rocksteady All Vinyl Night Tractor Brewing, 1800 4th St. NW At Barrio Hi-Fi Collectivo, music isn't just a sound-it's a way of life. We believe in the power of music to transcend boundaries, unite communities, and uplift the human spirit. With each electrifying set, we strive to create moments of pure joy and connection, spreading love and positivity to all who hear our beats. With a passion for cumbia, soul, disco, boogie, reggae, classic ska, funk, 80's R&B, 90's freestyle and everything in between, our Collectivo brings the groove wherever we go. We are Selector RootzRocka, Dj La Ruda and Dj ThreeDeuceLuce. We are excited to bring you a night of all vinyl selections! We continue our monthly free event to share our love of music and vinyl!
Fri 8 PM - 12 AM Black & Gold Kick-Off Party Hotel Andaluz, 125 2nd St. NW $10 pre-sale $12 at the door. Theme: Black & Gold. Get ready to dance the night away at our salsa and bachata social & join us at a new venue! A collaboration between Pachanga Productions & Metta Dance Collective. DJ Gabriel Goza & DK Karla will keep your gold and black shining on the dance floor. You’ll find the dance floor at the Ibiza Bar & Patio located on the 2nd floor in the SW corner. Hotel Andaluz offer 20 valet spots, arrive early and snag one! The parking lot adjacent to the hotel charges $1 for every 30 min, and of course there’s always street parking. Food and drinks available at the venue
Fri 9 PM – 12 AM Triple Nickle Band Dirty Bourbon, 9800 Montgomery Blvd., Ste 4 We are stoked to be back! Always a great time at this awesome venue! Show starts at 9pm, but might wanna show up a bit early to grab a seat, a drink, and warm up those dancing boots!
** Sat 6/1 *\*
Sat 8 AM June Volunteer Cleanup Historic Fairview Cemetery, 700 Yale Blvd. SE We are an all-volunteer organization who needs your help keeping our cemetery clean and weed free. Please bring tools, gloves and sunscreen. Trash bags, water and snacks will be provided. This month's cleanup will be headed by Gail Rubin!
Sat 8 AM – 12 PM Downtown Growers' Market Robinson Park, 810 Copper Ave NW Every Saturday from 8 am - NOON! This vibrant community event connects local farmers, growers, artisans, wellness makers, and hot food vendors with the local community from mid-April to early-November. Bring friends / family or come solo to enjoy fresh food made on sight, a variety of seasonal produce, unique arts and crafts, live music, and special programming all in the heart of downtown
Sat 8:30 – 10 AM Polly's Run 2024 Tiguex Park, 1800 Mountain Rd. NW Polly’s Run, a non-profit road race, is an annual 5K Run/Walk and Kids’ K road race honoring Polly Rogers and all the loved ones we have lost to pancreatic cancer. The purpose of the race is to raise awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research (register)
Sat 9 AM – 12 PM Family Fit Fun Fest North Domingo Baca Park, 7520 Corona Ave NE Bring your whole family to our 3rd annual Family, Fit, Fun Fest to learn about keeping fit and healthy - mentally, physically, and emotionally. Interactive Community Booths - Learn new skills and discover ways to keep your mind and body healthy and active as you visit interactive booths lead by community partners, which will include hands-on activities, games, puzzles, and brain teasers, interactive lessons in martial arts, dance, mindfulness, information on youth classes, clubs, and teams, opportunities to meet local health care providers, mental health, nutrition, eye care, and dental care for your whole family. Live Demonstrations & Performances - Watch a variety of community partners perform live karate, taekwondo, tap dance, yoga, cheer, jump rope, Ballet Folklorico, and more. Then join them, as you try some of the moves for yourself in step-by-step demonstrations. Obstacle Courses, Appearances & Food Trucks - Climb to the top of a rock-wall, make your way through an obstacle course, try the football toss or the baseball toss, shoot a hockey puck, or score a goal at interactive stations around the event! Meet and take photos with local sports teams and/or mascots and stop by the Menchie's Froyo Mobile for a sweet treat (RSVP for a confirmation email with more details)
Sat 9 AM – 1 PM SUMMER AT THE MARKETPLACE - a patio pop-up event! Poulin Marketplace, 8600 Pan American Fwy NE, Ste B We’re hosting “Patio Pop-Up Events” to bring you one-of-a-kind items from the amazing artisans in our community. A rotating offering of local artisans display their goods between 9 AM and 1 PM every Saturday, June thru July, excluding July 6. SIP delicious and refreshing summer specialty drinks. Try our new seasonal house-made blackberry syrup. Enjoy the glorious summer weather in the shade of our solar-powered patio. SHOP offerings from local artisans and Poulin Marketplace’s curated home + decor collection. BE INSPIRED by our space and stylings for creative ideas to transform your home!
Sat 11 AM Special Olympics NM Summer Games UNM Track Field & Soccer Complex, 1800 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE We will be throwing the largest Foam Party NM has ever seen!
Sat 11 AM - 1 PM Saturday at the Refuge Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 7851 2nd St. SW Enjoy live performances from Conservation Carnival. Participate in exciting ranger-led activities. Get creative with arts and crafts. Explore the beauty of the refuge with free shuttle rides. Bring your family and friends for a fun-filled day in nature!
Sat 11 AM – 2 PM Read with a Bird! Color Wheel Toys, 6855 4th St. NW, Bldg D Stop by for all ages story time provided by Birds of a Feather Parrot Rescue. There will be a contained bird present to visit with while you hear a bird story! Storytimes are at 11 am, 12 pm and 1 pm. You can also work on a free bird craft in our workspace. Birds of a Feather Parrot rescue is asking for a $5 donation per family - all proceeds help them take care of surrendered birds and get them into long term loving homes. Do you have toilet paper or cardboard tubes? Pool noodles or popsicle sticks? If you have some to spare, bring them with you - the parrot rescue uses them to provide bird enrichment for their feathered friends
Sat 11 AM - 7 PM Pride Bake Sale Fundraiser for Santuario de Karuna Vegos, 2904 Indian School Rd. NE Featuring Pride rainbow themed goodies including SDK Signature treats: Sugar cookies, chocolate peanut butter cups & of course our best selling Banana Bread! Plus rice crispy treats, Cosmic Brownies and more! Come have a delicious lunch or dinner and enjoy some baked goodies as well! We will be out on the Patio! We will also have a new batch of the new St. Francis bags that are a must have! Reminder: Vegos has moved from Carlisle to Indian School
Sat 12 PM Show Your Colors Green Jeans Food Hall, 3600 Cutler Ave NE Join us for a Pride Kickoff Party where we celebrate self-expression and unity within our community. This event is not only a celebration of diversity but also a fundraiser for local non-profits, where every contribution helps support our shared values. We will have music, drag performances, and more. Let's come together, show our true colors, and kick off Pride season!
Sat 12 – 6 PM Caribbean Celebration Manzano Mesa Park, 501 Elizabeth St. SE Join New Mexico Entertainment Magazine and Corrie Griffith of Big Happy Productions as we present the Caribbean Celebration in honor of Caribbean-American Heritage Month. The event features the culture through cuisine, music, clothing, and more, with performances and music by: Boomroots Collective, DaJarney, DJ La Ruda, Dre Z Melodi, Elovated Roots, Selector RootzRocka, Vibestrong (tickets)
Sat 12 - 9 PM Canteen's 30th Anniversary Party Canteen Brewhouse, 2381 Aztec Rd. NE What’s the 411? We are turning 30! We have been making fly brews since ’94 and we are celebrating by bringing you fresh 90’s fun all day long! Our 30th anniversary party is going to be all that and a bag of chips with live music all day, games, giveaways, and 90’s themed merch. Food, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase. This is a family and pet friendly event! We hope you stop by to celebrate with us, we appreciate the support of our customers and community. Canteen Prize for the best 90's costume! Anyone born in 1994 gets a prize! Mug Club Appreciation- 12-1pm: Mug club members stop by for a Mug club special prize! Le Chat Lunatique 1-2:30pm, Squash Blossom Boys 3-4:30pm, Doso Dirtbags 5-6:30pm, Carli’s Angels 7-9pm
Sat 12 – 10 PM Pride Celebration Bow & Arrow, 608 McKnight Ave NW Special Beer Collab Launch @ omegayeast. @ adobedisco 7-10pm
Sat 1 – 10 PM Pridezilla 2024 Tractor Brewing - Wells Park, 1800 4th St. NW Two stages roaring with local talent, benefitting Teen 'Mpower ABQ, all ages, $10 suggested donation. Emcee Nick FurioStylz. MegaBabe, Clark Libbey, Lexie Jay with Sunshine Ray, Twisted Mojo, Shoulder Voices, Sin Limite, A Band Named Sue, The Directory, Mint Green Elephants, Blame It on Rebekkah, Whatevs, Saint of Trains, True Story House Duo, Cult of Chaz, Amy Rosette, Andrew Torn, Papa Fierce, Tony Travis, Qari Booth, Leonine, Manda Baca, Dr. Doomsday (more info)
Sat 2 – 5 PM Live Music and Adoption Event OutPost 1706 Brewhouse, 301 Romero St. NW, Ste 205 Live music with Nashville singesongwriter Lani Nash and an adoption event for Cross My Paws Animal Rescue
Sat 3 – 6 PM Community Job Fair Kirtland Park, 300 University Blvd. NE We welcome all community residents and their families to come to this picnic and enjoy a day of fun. There will be food, awesome games, prizes, activities, and fellowship, as well as a drawing for gift baskets for adults and seniors. Bring your blankets, lounge chairs, and umbrellas to enjoy a fun afternoon in the park. Local businesses will come out to search for potential employees, so bring your resumes. For more info, Isshin Ryu Club 505-910-8801
Sat 3 – 8 PM Evening in Paradise 2024 Paradise Hills Park, 10111 Chaparral St. NW Hosted by Commissioner Walt Benson, this delightful and free event promises a fantastic time for the entire family, featuring a vibrant showcase of local music and entertainment that will captivate audiences of all ages. Explore the creativity of talented artisans displaying their unique crafts, enjoy whimsical face painting for children, and experience the thrill of soaring through the air on the exciting zipline. As the evening winds down, stick around for the kickoff of the BernCo Movies in the Park series. We are thrilled to present a special screening of the 2023 movie, "Wonka," under the stars
Sat 4 – 7 PM ALL REZ Kickoff Celebration Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 500 University Blvd. NE *Registration on our Eventbrite page is not required but appreciated* The Maxwell and Axle Contemporary are proud of their partnership with Diné photographer Rapheal Begay and independent curator Lillia McEnaney. ALL REZ: Kéyah, Hooghan, K'é, Iina / Land Land, Home, Kinship, Life is a traveling, site-specific, experimental photography exhibition and museological project. While the Maxwell will feature an installation opening on May 4, 2024, of Begay's photography documenting his perspectives of these cultural themes within the landscape, the traveling portion of ALL REZ will begin June 6, 2024, and take Begay's photographs back to his home community in the Axle Contemporary mobile artspace. The interior of the truck will be transformed into a welcoming space for reflection and conversation with the artist about his photographs and the cultural content held therein. As an exercise in creative place-making with the goal of fostering active storytelling, ALL REZ centers the voices and experiences of Dine community members, offering a reciprocal process of exhibition-making. At the ALL REZ: Kickoff Celebration, enjoy a unique public event in which we will have the actual Axle Contemporary Truck at the museum before it goes on its journey into and throughout Diné Bikéyah (Navajo Nation). Light fare, refreshments, and music in the museum courtyard! Rapheal Begay is a visual storyteller based in the Navajo Nation. Informed by cultural teachings and land-based knowledge, he activates landscape photography and oral storytelling traditions to document and celebrate the Diné way of life. Housed in a custom retrofitted 1970 aluminum delivery truck, Axle Contemporary is an art gallery on wheels that activates unusual venues, such as schools, restaurants, grocery stores, and city streets, thus, expanding artists' reach to diverse communities. Lillia McEnaney is a museum anthropologist, independent curator, and freelance arts writer based in Santa Fe
Sat 6 – 9 PM Gone Country Saturdays with DJ Dollabill Ponderosa Brewing, 1761 Bellamah Ave NW Kick off the evening with free dance lessons at 5 pm, followed by family-friendly music until 9 pm
Sat 6 – 10 PM Pride Kick Off & Night Market Black Wall Gallery, 2125 San Mateo Blvd. NE Music, Art, Food, Fun and Celebration AND THE FIRST NIGHT MARKET OF THE SEASON!
Sat 7 – 9 PM Rise - Pride Concert St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 5301 Ponderosa Ave NE Join Encantada: The Band of Enchantment for our annual Pride concert as we Rise Up and Rise Above the challenges of our time. NM premiere of RISE: a gay games anthem. Free concert
Sat 7 - 11 PM Pride on the Sky Deck Marble Brewery, 111 Marble Ave NW Join us for another Pride on the Sky Deck - A Drag Show Benefitting Equality New Mexico and celebrating our LGBTQ+ community! Come down to the Marble Sky Deck patio for a night of Drag hosted by Vanessa Patricks with music by DJ Justin Cristofer. Tickets cost $15 per person, 100% of proceeds go to Equality New Mexico. 21+ ONLY. Must have a valid ID
Sat 7:30 PM Nightscapes: Urban Photography Meetup On The Plaza In Old Town Many people don't think about nighttime being a good time to do photography since there's a lack of light. However, armed with knowledge about your camera's settings and the properties of light, nighttime photography can be a lot of fun. You'll learn about the best camera settings for nighttime photography. We'll also explore the kinds of light available to us and how to use that light to make some awesome photos. As always, there are exercises that will help you put your new knowledge to work (register)
Sat 7:30 – 10 PM West Coast Swing Social Dance CSP Dance Studios, 1624 Eubank Blvd. NE Join Strictly Swing NM for a fun night of West Coast Swing dancing! Great music and a fun group of dancers. There will also be a little bit of Country Two Step and Night Club Two Step to mix things up. Come out and dance with us! No partner necessary. @ CSP Dance Studios. $10
Sat 8:30 PM Movies in the Park: WONKA Paradise Hills Park, 10111 Chaparral St. NW The smell of popcorn is in the air as we're warming up the old projector to resume our Movies in the Park series! This is a great opportunity for families & friends to enjoy the great outdoors while enjoying some of their favorite movies. There is no cost to attend, and movies will always start at sundown (weather permitting). The first movie to kick off our summer series is "Wonka," which will play outside at Paradise Hills Park at the end of our #EveningInParadise event (more info)
Sat 8:30 PM – 1 AM SABOR Latin Night - EDUCATORS' NIGHT! Bama's 1865, 6007 Osuna Rd. NE DJ Gabriel Goza will be serving you the saucy Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, Merengue y Mas! Ample Parking, Safe Environment, Beautiful Venue, Good Food, Good Music, Good Vibes. 21+ / $10 cover / NO COVER BEFORE 10 PM
Sat 9 PM sumthin sumthin Backstage at Revel ABQ, 4720 Alexander Blvd. NE Galaxy Presents: sumthin sumthin w/ support from Galaxy, Geezy, Wyatt Lawson. Coming from the small surf town of San Clemente, California, Conrad Woodul, better known as sumthin sumthin has become one of the most highly admired artists within electronic music in just a few years. His passion for music was born at age four; creating drum sets in his kitchen with pots and pans and kitchen utensils. A few years later he picked up the electric guitar followed by the piano, teaching himself how to write and compose music before taking lessons. After playing in bands for some time he decided he wanted to have full control over the music he was creating and found his way into producing electronic music. Beloved by both the underground and the mainstream, his ability to bridge lightness and darkness is evident throughout his discography and cements sumthin sumthin as a one-of-a-kind artist. This duality has led him to releases on Alison Wonderland's FMUOASL and San Holo's bitbird labels, as well as appearances at Electric Zoo, Lost Lands, and Ember Shores, among others (tickets)
Sat 9 PM – 12 AM Latin Dance Party on the Patio with DJ Tony Juno, 1501 1st St. NW Salsa, Bachata, Reggaeton, Cumbia, Meringue. 21+ (tickets)
Sat 9 PM – 1 AM Pride Social: NM Weekender Take Over Maple Street Dance Space, 3215 Central Ave NE $12 pre-sale $15 at the door. 2 rooms: Salsa & Bachata/Zouk. Theme: rainbow. Flow between styles and hear from DJ Ritmo in the salsa room and DJ Karla in the Bachata/Zouk room. Dress in all your favorite colors for a rainbow party!
Sat 10 PM - 2 AM Kanye Party Insideout, 622 Central Ave SW I miss the old Kanye party @ insideout505 Cover at door. Hosted by Still Sad. 21+

Scenario: Gau Floral Store, Bedtown — 12:00 PM
Slow days. Man, Konan really missed slow days.
Ever since the destruction of the Hymnal Bazaar, his business had been on the rise. That wasn’t an issue, obviously – Konan would prefer that the flowers he spends most of his time cultivating do get sold – but the sudden uptick from maybe 5 deliveries a week to as many as 50 was beginning to make his head spin. That wasn’t even counting the people who would come into the store itself, meaning that his schedule had been drastically changed to revolve around having to actually tend the shop during the day.
The botanist sighed with relief as he ushered out the last panicked husband of the day, a quickly-made bouquet in hand and a half-hearted wish that his anniversary date goes well. Konan never realized how stressful this would actually be when things got serious, but he wasn’t complaining about the extra money he was raking in from all of the business.
“...Hm. Should have a few hours to myself now. No appointments ‘til 5, and it's noon now...” Konan spoke to himself as he went about tidying his store, stopping for a moment to admire his indoor-grown lotus exhibit. They were no easy task, but it felt rewarding after seeing them sell so fast. A lot of things started to feel rewarding recently, he thought. Thus Konan was ready to start maintaining the aquaponic pool he used to keep the lotuses healthy. It was his favorite part of the day, so he made sure to really prepare himself for it–
Tinny music blasted through handheld speakers, disturbing the peace with industrial clangs and drum hits as a distorted instrumental growled over bestial roars. The other hand held a cellphone as its owner tramped through the flower shop. Not like a bull, but more like a: “BOAR WALKIN IN, GONNA GORE YOU DEAD; COME TO OUR TOWN, WE’LL PUT YOUR ASS TO—o-oh!”
Gesticulating aggressively to her camera, she swung her arm as if to punch the lens, winding up and knocking a vase off of its table. All the domineering bravado vanished from her mean mug as she dove for the porcelain with a loud “Kyaaah!”, catching the vase before it hit the ground. Unfortunately, this jostled several other display tables, knocking their flowers to the ground instead.
She looked up to Konan, colorful petals and ceramic pieces strewn all about her. Baingan had spent the day walking through the streets of Bedtown, filming herself and her surroundings for an impromptu music video. Whether she had a license to do so was unclear, but even she had to acknowledge that making a mess of the flower store couldn’t be walked off with a string of apologies and promises to not be so loud next time. She took out a small black rectangle. “Uh... can you put it on Night Train’s card?”
Konan stared at the boisterous rap star, a single eyebrow quirked in response to the card shown to him. If this had happened at any other point in the past, Konan probably would have blown up in response to the accident. Luckily for Baingan, though, all he did was sigh and give her a frank look before speaking.
“Look, uh... Baingan? I think that’s you.” After a swift nod from Baingan herself, Konan continues. “Money won’t fix this. Those were deliveries I was going to make. Unless Night Train is cool with covering the expenses of...” Konan silently counted all of the remains on the floor, drooping a bit as he did. “...30 ₹2650 deliveries, the ₹1325 apology refund for the deliveries being late, and ₹1000 for each of the 30 decorative vases, we’re gonna have to work something else out.”
Baingan began to put the card away after she finished her mental math, knowing just how much of a scolding she’d get for having spent that much money in one place during an unapproved recording session. Baingan didn’t let her nerves bother her though, and placed two firm hands on the botanist’s shoulders.
“Let’s make those fuckin’ bouquets again, then. I’ll help you and everything!” The sneer formerly on her face had been parted by an energetic grin, paired with her bouncing up and down ever-so-slightly. Though still a bit sour looking, Konan couldn’t help but smile a little bit. He gingerly took Baingan’s hands from his shoulders and guided them back to her sides. By the looks of it, he wasn’t much of a physical person. The grimace on his face told Baingan that much, at least.
“...Sure. Fine. Thanks.” Konan turned to go grab a broom, curt words hiding the relief he felt that he wouldn’t be redoing the work all alone. It was stressful enough to wake up and see he had thirty deliveries to make today. Once he returned with the broom, he began to sweep as he spoke with the woman who just volunteered quite a bit of her time to him.
“So... what are you doing here? Doesn’t Sing Now! keep all of his employees squashed under his thumb?” Baingan could detect some disdain for her boss in the man’s voice, which was a thing she had gotten used to by now. She brushed the rather heavy topic off with a vague shrug, an answer that was seemingly also enough for Konan.
“I’m doing a music video! I was singing and everything, yeah?” Baingan pointed to her phone, then her face, then her phone, then her face. The peppy motion seemingly stunned Konan for a moment, his eyes confusedly darting between the two items for several seconds after Baingan stopped. Paired with Konan’s stark white hair, an outside viewer would likely question if these two were really just one year apart in age.
“I... didn’t say you could, but fine. Whatever. You can get back to doing that AFTER we finish getting these arrangements remade and delivered.” Konan wouldn’t ever admit it, but he wasn't letting Baingan record in his shop just for helping, but because he was actually a huge fan of the musician himself. Regulars of the Gau Floral Store could recount the many times her songs would come up on the store’s speakers, the botanist himself often caught humming them to himself when he wasn’t particularly busy.
“Awright! We’ll get these all done and then you can feature in the video too!” Baingan’s face was streaked once again with confidence. She shot Konan a thumbs up, too. Konan offered little more than a nod before he rounded up the materials they needed, and they set to work. Konan spent a surprisingly patient few moments with Baingan as he instructed her on how to create the arrangements, the direction being much more gentle than someone who knew Konan might expect.
“Okay, that’s all of them. Now let’s go.” Konan led Baingan out of the store to an alleyway between Gau Floral Store and his grandmother’s apartment, where a spare bike was laid in wait for a situation like this. “You can ride on that bike, I’ll bring mine around. C’mon.”
Scenario: Near the bridge to Sapatibhatt, Bedtown — 12:11 PM
Carol hadn’t had a day off like this in a long time. Ever since that fateful day when she’d been put on trial by the Nightblooms, she’d been nonstop occupied with every sort of task, whether it be recovering from her injuries to helping out with the reconstruction process of the museum. Her coworkers seemed to be busy with their own affairs as well, leaving Carol with much of the menial work of trying to find anything that Marvin considered “strange” enough to be an exhibit, not to mention their already existing exhibits continuing to go missing by themselves.
And on this free day, she was wandering aimlessly about Bedtown, looking for a clue. The lady in the bright orange coat walking down the street with her head in the clouds was already enough to turn a couple heads without the bright yellow and purple dots adorning her skin, a parting gift from the Nightblooms. All the eyes on her made her ever more conscious of the rashy feeling all across her body, but she resisted the itch and walked on, arms at her sides. She had someone she was looking for. At least, that was a generous way of putting it. She’d heard from a talkative crowd member after show hours about one of his students, a floral store owner focusing on Nightbloom botany. Unfortunately, that was about the only thread she had at the moment. She had been so out of it the last few months, even as she declared to help out around these streets...
As she waved calmly and merrily at passersby, attention drawn to her like a gravitational field, she lamented this directionless wandering. She felt like an alien in the city she called home; this was Rākinnagarh, just as much as anywhere else. The city she vowed to help protect, make happy with those acts of hers. And here she was, utterly lost in its streets. She tried to bat away those helpless thoughts – she was here to learn more about herself and the city, after all – but there wasn’t much she could do by herself to assuage that deep fear.
As she moved to take another step in her aimless journey, Carol gasped as her foot failed to make purchase with the pavement, causing her to fall squarely onto her face. If people were staring at the comedian before, they were certainly hiding it now. Perhaps they figured she’d had enough embarrassment for one day. Maybe they didn’t really care. Carol groaned as she lifted her upper body slightly off the ground. Nothing seemed broken, but something was off. Had she run into something? Her answer came just as quickly as she had asked it, as she noticed the large stick laying on the sidewalk, directly under her legs. Beside it was a small man in a large, green coat, knelt down and turned away from her. The comedian frowned at the man’s apparent lack of awareness, as he seemed to be busy doing... something else? It was hard to make out from her position. With another groan, she hoisted herself back onto her feet, tapping the old man on the shoulder with stern intent.
“Hey, uh, do you mind?”
The man’s head perked up at the touch, a startled look in his eyes. “Oh? Pardon me, ma’am. What seems to be the–”
His eyes instantly glanced over to the stick, and then back to the woman, a blush forming under his mutton chops. He turned fully around before picking up the stick with one hand, cradling something else in the other. As he rose, he lowered his head.
“You have my apologies, miss. Are you hurt?”
Carol looked over herself for a moment, just to make sure. Nothing was terribly wrong, the benefits of being covered almost head to toe. She shook her head. “Just be careful where you put that thing next time, yeah? This is a public street after all, anyone could’ve tripped over it.”
“Yes, yes, I agree. That was quite careless of me.” The old man frowned.
Carol raised an eyebrow, noticing the cloth the man was cradling in his other hand. “Just what were you doing kneeling down on such a busy walkway, anyhow? This isn’t really a place to tie your shoes at.”
“Hm? Oh no, no. Nothing like that,” he said, gesturing lightly to his sandaled feet. Setting his stick beside a nearby wall this time, he gingerly unwrapped the cloth in his hands, revealing a porcelain tea cup, with a few chunks from the top scattered around it.
“I had just noticed this lying on the sidewalk, you see. The craftsmanship is remarkable, though it's certainly seen better days,” the old man grunted. “It’s a miracle no one’s stepped on it. I only caught wind of it after a shard nearly wedged its way into my toes!” The man’s apologetic visage seemed to have given way to a grimace. “Talk about careless.”
A sigh escaped from the comedian. “Right, well that’s rather kind of you. Do you want me to find a trash can or something for it?”
“And just throw it away?” the small man protested. “What a waste!”
Carol raised her arms in surrender. “Alright, I hear you.” After a moment of pause, though, she crossed them. “What do you intend to do with it then?”
“Well... I haven’t quite decided yet,” the man hemmed, replacing the wrapping over the broken cup. “I could use it to fill in one of my tiles back home. Oh, I could always try to fix it up, too! I’m sure it'd look lovely as a vase for my little Syngonium.”
Carol’s eyes perked up at the mention of a flower. “Oh, are you good with plants?”
The man grinned a sly grin. “Well, my garden wouldn’t use such words, but I’ve been working with plants for well over a few years now.”
“Oh! Maybe you can help me then.” Carol was beaming. Could this be the lead she was looking for? “I’m looking for a guy around here. He runs a flower store around these parts.” She rubbed her left arm, feeling the dots underneath her coat. “Allegedly knows a few things about... Nightblooms, too.”
The man raised an eyebrow while stroking his chin. “Hmm, a flower shop, eh? Well, there are a few around this part of the city.”
Despite the crowd, the short man paced back and forth, hemming and hawing audibly. Carol watched as passersby tried to maneuver around this guy, one almost running square into him. Finally, a lightbulb goes off.
“Oh! I wonder if you’re talking about the Gau Floral Store? Meixiu’s grandson runs it. I think his name was... Kodan? Nonan? No, that can’t be right…”
The man’s questions devolved into mumbling, forcing a small smirk from the comedian. “Hey, no need to sweat the details. I think that’s just the place I’ll look. Thanks a bunch!”
Carol gave a small bow as she turned to start her journey. She took a few more steps before turning again. After another set, she stopped. The old man had tapped her shoulder with his stick. “I can lead you there, you know. It’d be no trouble.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay,” Carol said. “I’ve already taken up enough of your time. Besides, what makes you think I don’t know where I’m going?”
“You look lost.” The man shrugged.
The comedian’s shoulders slumped at having been called out so easily. “Alright, lead the way, Mr...”
Carol blinked a few times, a sudden realization blushing red through her cheeks. “Oh wow, I hadn’t even asked you your name yet.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “How careless.”
“Nonsense!” The old man smiled, holding out a palm. “Gotam. Gotam Sodhani.”
“Carol.” She accepted the handshake, matching his smile with her own. “Nice to meet you!”
Scenario: Streets of Bedtown, 12:57 PM
A meander through the streets of Bedtown managed to turn into a surprisingly jaunty stroll with Gotam’s aid. As she was led along by the old man, Carol got to know him more and more through bits of small talk. While conversation repeatedly turned to talks of the ever growing rumbles that seemed to be happening across Rākinnagarh, like the terrible incident that happened a few weeks ago down at the community center, as they conversed, it was becoming clear to Carol that Gotam wasn’t your run of the mill geezer. He was a generous soul who had a genuine love for his community. He rambled about all the kind faces he’s been fortunate enough to meet throughout his decades of city living. He even shared a few winding tales of daring aid, such as when he chased and caught a wild boar that had run off with a poor fool’s walker stuck to its face.
Carol couldn’t help but laugh. She was pretty certain some of these stories were made up, but she knew better than anyone that any good story worth its salt was entertaining first and foremost. As the two walked, she felt her shoulders relax. Though she was never good at voicing her innermost feelings, she still felt them. This guy was honest, and clearly grounded in the streets he was leading her through. In the process of exchanging stories, she almost found it easier to smile. Almost.
Gotam stopped abruptly, moving his stick out in front of Carol, the latter raising a brow at the sudden shift in movement.
“What’s up? Did we find the shop?”
The old man was facing forward, a bright smile on his face. “No, it would seem ‘the shop’ has found us!”
Two figures approached, both atop their dual-tired steeds, though one was clearly weighed down by the basket behind her, as it was practically filled with flowers. The leading figure got off of his bike, taking off his helmet to reveal a pile of stark white locks underneath. Gotam met him halfway, arms open wide. “Kolan, my boy! It’s been too long.”
The botanist expertly dodged any attempt at an embrace, the grimace on his face reminiscent of someone who’d just eaten something far too sour. “Konan,” he said with a frown. “And, it’s good to see you too... I guess.”
With introductions out of the way, Konan waved Baingan over, prompting the rapper to walk her bike up next to the botanist. “This is the last guy, boss? With all the flowers?”
“Stop calling me boss...” Konan slumped a little with embarrassment, looking away from every involved party as he regained what little composure he had left after such a stressful day. “And... Yes, this is the last order of the day.” Konan replied, putting his hands into his pockets.
He turned back to the old man. “Now, Mr. Sadhani, given the quantity of your order, and the ‘complicated’ nature of your living situation, I’m going to need you to sign a few forms.” As he spoke, Baingan produced a series of documents seemingly out of nowhere, complemented by a pen and a ‘stern’ look, though the pout splayed across her face was more reminiscent of Konan’s comical expression when confronted with physical affection than genuine malice. “Sound good?”
Gotam simply chuckled, giving Konan a pat on the arm as he walked over to Konan’s new “employee”. Carol glanced over at the large pile of flowers, an astonished gleam in her eyes. Just what was this old man going to do with all those flowers? And how was he going to carry them all? She figured these were questions that would have to go unanswered for the time being. Besides, she had a more pressing matter that needed to be addressed, and she finally had the opportunity to act on it.
She smoothly approached Konan, and made the tasteful choice of a wave rather than a handshake or the like. That seemed to fully place Konan’s eyes on her, and a change in expression made it clear he recognized her somehow.
“You... were in that one livestream. The Nojus one.” The college student cocked his head to the side, examining Carol with curiosity. “You uh... Are you okay? They cut you open pretty badly,” he added. Carol could tell that he had better intentions than the rather insensitive remark would indicate, and decided that she’d just politely nod in response instead of addressing it fully.
“That’s... Me!” Carol tried to offer an enthusiastic response, but it was hard to mask the slight bitterness she had regarding that entire situation. For one, it seemed like her comedy career was now overshadowed by that glorified workout stream, and secondly, it left her covered in the strange dots Konan’s eyes would drift toward.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about something. I’ve heard that you’re pretty good with flowers– well, that much is obvious.” She gestured to the healthy-looking bunch of flowers being prodded through by Baingan and her newly-made friend, the two sharing mirthful smiles as they admired Konan’s care for the plants.
“But I also know that your main area of research is Nightblooms, right? Your teacher pointed me towards you for this kind of thing.” Well, she didn’t approach his teacher directly, but having overheard him talk about Konan was close enough, right?
“Uh... Parabotany, but yeah.” Konan offered another embarrassed sigh as he began to explain the more in-depth parts of his interest in supernatural plants, but a look of confusion grew on his face as he was met with engaged nods instead of rolled eyes. The pair stood there for a solid eight minutes discussing Carol’s affliction and other supernatural plants around Rakin, before eventually circling back to the main topic.
After a few moments of intense stares from all angles, Konan realized that he was now encircled by the other people he had run into during the day. Pushing the old man and Baingan away, he gave what he was about to say some more thought.
“...Well, I think the best way to figure out how this is affecting your body would be... Hm...” As Konan considered his next words, he noticed an expectant glance from his new... business partner? Is that what Baingan was?
Well, he was getting stared at, and he didn’t like it, so he might as well just say the idea to make it stop.
“Weshouldrecreatethecircumstancesleadinguptoyougettingthosemarks! A friendly spar or something, I think!” Though the first part was mumbled quick and quiet, the latter part was loud and clear. An intrigued glint shone in the eye of Carol Brown, and she put a finger to her chin as she thought about the proposition. Before she could speak, though, Baingan’s rather concerned voice rang out.
“Wouldn’t we get hurt? We still have a music vid to shoot, and... Well, it’s just dangerous! I don’t think we should be throwing down just for the sake of it!” She crossed her arms and frowned a bit more genuinely than she was before, a look that seemed to send Konan directly into damage control mode.
In a flash, Konan presented the three would-be combatants with pendants emitting a strange Stand energy. “I already thought of that! These are...” Konan stopped to think. “I made them. From a Stand material. They can patch up wounds after we’re all done... no issues, right?”
With a nod from every other person possibly involved in this little bout, Konan handed out the necklaces and cleared his throat, urging Carol to speak up now that the concern was dealt with.
“For a second there, I thought you were just looking for an excuse to fight...” She put a finger in the air to stop any protests Konan may respond with. “...But I’m pretty sure you’re being genuine about wanting to help, ulterior motives or not.” When Carol met Konan’s eyes, a palpable determination glowed from the both of them.
This was the perfect moment to have a take two on that fight with Nojus. This time nobody would be grievously injured and she’d have an opportunity to learn more about what happened to her in the process. She can finally prove to herself that she’s grown past that fateful night.
Turning to look at Gotam, Carol sees the question she was about to ask was already answered: the old man was constructing his bow and arrow, shooting a meaningful look to Konan as the fellow archer readied his compound bow. Carol chuckled a bit at that, before she made her way over to her partner.
Konan, on the other hand, looked back to Baingan. Similarly, she had already summoned her Stand, the gada shining in the afternoon sun. For the first time, Konan initiated the shared smile between the two. He walked over to her, nodding with wordless respect as the two sides of this friendly skirmish faced one another.
“...Baingan, can you do the– the thing? The one people always do before a Stand battle starts.” Konan whispered a bit awkwardly into his partner’s ear, causing her to practically light up like a firework. She hadn’t had the opportunity to be her larger-than-life self for an entire 40 minutes, and that just wasn’t right!
With an enthusiastic nod to her “boss” she took a step forward, cupping her hands around her mouth. “ALRIGHT, BEDTOWN! WE’RE ABOUT TO THROW DOWN, AND WE WANNA GIVE YOU ALL A NICE SHOW... BUT YOU KNOW THE RUUULES!” The jubilation in her voice was electric, making its way to the small crowd that began to form a perimeter for this nice little spar. “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, EVERYBODY! SAY IT WITH ME ON THE COUNT OF THREE!” Even her fellow combatants prepared to join in with her. On the count of...
“ONE!”
“TWO!”
“THREE!”
“OPEN THE GAME!”
Location: A few two-story apartment buildings, with various stalls and food trucks out front in green. The map is 30x72 meters, with each square being 2x2 meters. The apartments' second floor can be reached by stairways, and there are stairways in the back that lead to the roof. The roofs are made of several planes, and in red are satellite dishes, chimneys, and other similar protrusions. The interiors of the buildings are not reachable.
As for the blue dots, they are various NPCs, all of whom have 222 physicals. The ones running the stalls have Salesman: 3, and the rest have a mixture of 3 skills that apply to a variety of different careers; however, they have to be talked to for a few moments before their specific skill can be gleaned. In other words, Carol has a wide variety of potential Skills open to her, but must spend time to figure out who does what with the exception of the people actively plying their trade. The stalls have some selling food, and some selling accessories, bangles, and other similar fare.
Goal: RETIRE your opponents!
Additional Information: The NPCs may be talked with, moved around, and generally interacted with however the players would like; however, there is an important restriction. Intentionally harming any NPCs is considered a LOSS condition, due to being out of character for either Gotam or Baingan to abide by and turning the fight into an unwinnable 3v1. Attacking pieces of Carol's Stand or otherwise stopping her from scaling out of control is fine, and they may not be actively used as human shields or similar. Otherwise, they'll generally move away from bizarre goings on and have Just Trying To Relax After A Hard Day's Work: 3, meaning that they're unlikely to be convinced to do anything that would get them involved actively in the fight, even with Carol's 5 Skill.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
I.M.P.A.C.T.	Konan Gau with Baingan Bharta	“I've found the perfect inspiration for my manga!!” Now that the day’s work is done, it's time to keep a promise. Get good footage for a music video!
Gallery of Wayward Reverie	Carol Brown with Gotam Sadhani	“In order to grow, we must defeat the mistakes of our past.”” You’ve come a long way from your first Stand battle. Show your growth!

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WARNING: LONG Ass Post!
Ok I have seen honestly a lot of shit descriptions of late. Now what you need to understand is that A: you do need descriptions because pictures themselves will not sell a product a lot of times, there is always exceptions to the rule of course! B: If you run ads the ads are there to drive people to your site who want to know more about the product so they expect to see a description.
Ok one of the biggest mistakes I have seen a LOT of is that people just use the supplier's descriptions and titles! Lets use this product as an example: summer women bodycon long midi dress sleeveless backless elegant party outfits sexy clothes Fashion Casual spot Dresses Female - AliExpress
Now first the title is a shit tile as it has nothing to do with a brand whatsoever plus its too long. The brand that we will be working with is called Vixen & Muse its a brand I am in the process of experimenting with. Now for AI (Chatgpt 4 is my go too) to understand what kind of title i need it needs to know about my brand and this is where a brand bible comes in, its all about my brand. As the AI has no clue what my brand is I have to give it some information.
Now the description for this dress is also shit as all they give you is the following:

Specifications

• Material Compositionsynthetic fiberRelease DateSpring 2022
• Closure TypePulloverProfile TypeH
• Fabric TypePolyesterTyperegular
• AgeMIDDLE AGESeasonSummer
• NecklineStraplessWaistlineNatural
• Sleeve StyleregularDresses LengthAnkle-Length
• DecorationNONESleeve Length(cm)sleeveless
• Pattern TypeSolidSilhouetteSheath
• StyleSexy & ClubMaterialCOTTON
• GenderWOMENOriginMainland China
• Brand NameHPYMRTElasticitySlight Strech
• CNGuangdongFit TypeRegulai Fit
• CollarStraplessSleeve TypeSpaghetti Strap
• styleOffice Ladystyle1casual
• model number4dressmodel number3dresses
• model number1women dressesmodel number2women dress
• model numbersummer dressstyle2sexy & club
• seasonsummerNecklineRound Neck
• genderwomen

Now half of that you dont need like middle age, gender women mainland china the brand (as you want to use your own brand name) and a few other things like the modle number and seasons plus that will NOT sell shit.
So a few things to understand first. Keep your titles between 60 to 75 characters in length as google and bing cut off at between 60 to 75 characters in length and just show ... and people are too damn lazy to click on the dots to see what it comes after. Descriptions you should hit at least one pain point (I aim to hit at least 5 pain points per description) keep the description so it is between 150 to 300 words max. And EACH description needs a meta description that is no longer than 175 characters in length. And yes, you want individual descriptions.
Now I have given chatgpt 4 my brand bible already for my brand PLUS 4 of my own AI personas, one which is a copy writer, on that is great for marketing hooks, one that does the actual descriptions, and one that takes on the role of my buyer persona to help me improve the description.
So lets start with the shit tile: summer women bodycon long midi dress sleeveless backless elegant party outfits sexy clothes Fashion Casual spot Dresses Female (way to long!)
New Title: Sleeveless Backless Bodycon Midi Dress - Elegant Summer Party Wear (66 characters)
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Meta Description: Unleash bold elegance with Vixen & Muse's Sleeveless Backless Bodycon Midi Dress. Perfect for summer parties, this dress combines style, comfort, and sophistication (164 characters)
As you can see that will grab someone's attention and will help sell the product along with the photos. Stop just copying and pasting what ever the AI gives you, I had to correct it twice before i got this! Always read what the AI gives you and GIVE the AI enough information that it can actually product good descriptions! And yes i do sell the Product team of 4 AI personas along with more than a few others.
Give the AI of your choice a brand bible, and then ask for it to do the product descriptions titles and all that good jazz!!

Roll…roll…roll…
KER-SMASH!
“Good one, Rock. One more and you’ve got yourself a turkey.” Parker Markle, owner of the bowling establishment, noted.
“Thanks, Parker”, I said, thankfully accepting another longneck, “You still going on with your renovations here?”
“Damn straight!”, he replied, “I’ve got me investors, I’ve got me plans, and I’ve even got me real building permits this time…”
Two weeks later, we’re standing out in front of Parker’s still smoldering bowling alley and Parker is on the verge of tears.
“God damn shame”, I said, trying to commiserate my friend.
“Fucking squatters. Can’t even start on the renovations without these bastards…We chuck’em out of your place and the fuckers burn the place down. Hear from the local constabulary yet?”
“Yeah”, he snuffs, “Fucker’s ain’t got a hard dollar among them; nor two cents in their heads. Sure, I can sue, but to what purpose? Look at the place. I had my investors…I had plans…I’m well and truly fucked, Rock.”
“How much you out? “I asked, “How much you need to rebuild and remodel?”
“Oh, fuck me”, Parker trembled, “At least $55-60 thou. Where the fuck am I supposed to come up with that sort of scratch?”
Ker-ching!
I chucked my empty into the bin.
SPANG!
Parker immediately, without asking, dips into the ever-present cooler and hands me an icy-cold one.
In return, I hand Parker my business Rhodium American Express card.
“What’s this?”, he asks.
“It’s my entry into the world of keggeling and conspicuous consumer consumption” I chuckled.
“What the fuck?”, Parker asked, brow furrowed like the early spring marijuana fields hereabouts.
“Use it to order your needful things”, I said, “I’ve got way more than 60 thou free on the card. I mean, let’s not go nuts…”
“You mean?” He asked, quizzically.
“Yep.”, I replied, “Your wishes have been answered…sort of.
Parker looks at me with wide, wondering eyes.
“I’m your god-damned partner.” I smiled as I lit a huge Oscuro cigar; channeling Marion Ravenwood.
“Oh, fuck”, Parker suddenly breaks into a mile-wide smile. “We’re going to be the first bowling alley to have a walk-in humidor, aren’t we?”
“Fuckin-A, Bubba.”, I chuckle, “Plus a Class-A liquor license. Enough of this Class-B slinging beer for bucks bullshit, we’re going to have us a real tavern here on the green…”
“Let me get my plans”, Parker laughs, “I never thought of going the Class-A direction.”
“We’re going to serve more than pre-nuked wings and slate-board pizza.” I said, “We’re going to have 75 lanes, a full-service tavern, walk-in humidor, 80s arcade, and real fucking food. I remember you going on and on about it before the fire. Well, I haven’t forgotten what you’re dreaming about, so fuck it, let’s just do it.”
“It might go a bit past 60 large”, Parker said, slightly uncertainly.
“Let’s just keep it under 100k and for the love of grog, don’t say anything to Esme…”, I pleaded with Parker.
“I’ll do my best”, Parker said, as a manly handshake ensued.
“This could be the start of a beautiful friendship” I nattered.
Between my American Express card and Parker’s insurance pay out, we’ve got more than enough to start selecting contractors and hire us a security team. We’ve had the plans drawn up, had all the blueprints drafted, reviewed and OK’ed by the various governmental departments.
We are ready to tear down what remains of the old place, groom the land, and begin our re-build.
But first, there’s this little problem neither of us had foreseen.
What the fuck are we going to do with over 1,500 scorched pins and 800 or so blistered bowling balls?
We’ve already ordered all new pinsetters, pins and balls; so, what to do with all the leftovers…?
What to do?
What to do?
Of course! We hold a pre-opening carnival and sell tickets to a bowling ball mortar game.
No shit! Carve out a big-ass target out in some field, and fire bowling ball mortars. The closest ticket to where the ball lands wins.
We can worry about the details later.
First, I need to gin-up a set of bowling ball mortars. We’re going to introduce the southwest to Bowling Ball Bingo!
Hell. We’ll make it a huge pre-opening event: bowling ball punt guns, food trucks, local music, games of skill, food trailers, local brewery participation, drinking and merry making.
Still going to need some bowling ball cannons.
But first, we’ll need a place to hold the festivities.
No worries.
Y’see. I know this guy…
Now, in town, there’s been a lot of building. In fact, it looks overly developed.
However, go outside of town a couple of miles, and it’s heavily rural, fallow, and all agrarian.
Then there happens to be an old Junior League baseball diamond that’s been closed for years and in an advanced stage of neglect and derelictitis. However, it’s right off the main exit highway and nestled up closely to the San Juan River. Loads and loads of area to expand and have a nice little festivity.
I know the owner, the venerable ol’ bean Gilberto Cabrera.
So, I load up with beer and cigars and drive over to see Gilberto.
He’s outside his one-up, two-down, three across shotgun shack, sipping warm Modeles and cursing every aspect of life he’s currently been assigned.
I roll up and Gilberto instinctively reaches for his trusty double-barreled Ruger, gauge of 12.
“Whoa!”, I shout. “Just me, Gil. Kindly ol’ Doctor Rock.”
“What the fuck do you want?”, he growls.
“Hey!”, I yell, “Use low tones, or you can’t have any of the goodies I brought back from Canada.”
He props the shotgun over in a corner and being the avaricious old bastard he normally is, he bids me over to the porch to have a rag-chew and he a rifle of my truck’s built-in humidor.
I wander up and present him some pure maple syrup, fresh from Walmart, a half dozen cigars and a cold 12 pack of straight from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s (“The beer refreshing”).
We sit and catch up with each other. He’s an old widower and never had time for kids, so he’s grateful to have someone at least approximately his age to rabbit on with. He’s either 70 or 125, or somewhere in between.
It’s hard to tell with some of these old, wrinkly types.
Anyways, I broach the subject of ‘borrowing’ his land in and adjacent to the old ballpark.
“What fer?” He asks.
“Well,” I reply between sips of some recently obtained Kentucky Firewater, “Parker Markle and I are partners in a new rebuild of his bowling alley, which the squatters burned to a crisp once we got the local fuzz to chuck’em out.”
“Aye?”, he scowls, “Bastards. What does that have to do with me?”
“We decided to hold an impromptu festival, a couple of days, for grand re-opening, where we’d get some folk in to cater the event, with music, maybe some carnival-type rides, local food trucks and trailers, petting zoo for the kids, maybe a pick-up softball game or two and (saving the best for last) Bowling Ball Bingo.”
“What the hell’s that last one?” He wondered.
“Well, we’ve got nearly 1,000 old and slightly scorched bowling balls from the fire. Parker’s got new stock coming in with the insurance money. So, what better way to dispose of old bowling balls by building a couple of cannons, firing the balls skyward and have them fall on some prepared ground? The ground with have a checkerboard of letters and numbers, and instead of popping up little balls at the local Catholic Church, we use bowling ball cannons to choose?”
“Gil looks at me and scoffs, “Y’know, it’s not been really too quiet around here since you moved in. I know you’re a Master Blaster, but what do you really do?”
“Nothing too exciting,” I snicker, “I just snuff oil and gas well fires.”
“Hrumph”, he snorts, “No wonder it’s like the Fourth of July hereabouts every weekend.”
“A man’s gotta stay in practice”, I chuckle back.
We both have a snort and I produce new cigars. We spend the next few hours drafting up an agreement where we can use his land to hold the festival.
But the land and facilities are in a sad state of repair.
So, I promise to fix it up if he loans it to us for pre-opening weekend.
OK, but the facilities need paint, weed removal, blading for parking, Porta Johns, marking of parking areas, etc.
I tell Gil that’s fine. We’ll do all the work necessary to get his 40-acre donation ready for the big weekend. I also agreed to cede the finished area over to the Junior League baseball concern when we’re finished. As well as give the Jr. League 5% of the take, as the area is impoverished and any little help would be smiled upon greatly.
Gil also wants a nice, little honorarium to the tune of 5% of the gate.
“Sorry, Gil”, I replied, “But that’s a NCD (No Can Do). But I’ll let you sit in the security shack and keep an eye on the gate and warn about any potential trouble”.
He seemed less than amused.
“The gate will be right next to the beer garden and I could arrange it so that you could receive free beer in exchange for your time and sharp eye.” I noted.
The ink on the agreement wasn’t yet dry when Gil stated calling for his free beer.
“In a couple weeks, Gil”, I said, handing him a 12-pack of Blatz. “This’ll hold you until then.
He was deliriously happy. Free beer. Free cigars. A minuscule dose of power over his neighbors.
“Today is going to be a long day”, I noted to myself as I pulled out of Gil’s driveway.
First order of business was getting my old D-6 Caterpillar Dozer up and running. However, it needs some work.
I’ve got an idea, but the more it fleshed out, the more I felt like Hawkeye Pierce trying to get a new pair of boots from the Army.
I think I can nuke several birds with one stone: A trip to see Clay Smith about pipe for four bowling ball cannons.
I’ve known Clay for years and he’s one of the reasons we’ve settled in the area. He runs a fabricating/machine shop and that means I don’t need to buy an outbuilding to build my own metal shop.
After the obligatory handshakes, beers and cigars, we get down to brass tacks.
Well, CRA monel steel actually.
Found some 12.000" OD {A} x 8.600" ID {B} x 3.400" Wall {C} DOM Steel CRA casing, actually from the US Navy and once was part of a battleship’s complement; unknown which boat was the donor.
Perfect for 4 cannons.
CRA refers Corrosion Resistant Alloy; special pipe composited by two different materials including inner pipe and outer pipe. Inner CRA layer (0.25~26.0mm) normally such as Stainless steel, Duplex, Nickel alloy, Titanium, Hastelloy, Monel, etc., which are suitable for high corrosion environment.
Outer base material could be seamless or welded, SAWL, SAWH, ERW, HFW, or DSAW carbon steel pipe. The carbon steel substrate provides the required strength and the CRA cladding/lining provides the adequate corrosion resistance to the product being transported. The dissimilar metals that are present through the thickness of the pipe wall bring certain challenges to welding of clad/lined pipes, because welding of such pipes is usually carried out from the outside, using a single-sided welding technique
Clay needs some welding consumables, and will cut and polish the pipe for me if I find him a special CRA cutter-welder.
So, off to see Madden Martin at his welding shop.
“Madden, I need to borrow your CRA welder.” I notify him.
“Sure, what for?”, he asks.
“I’m building bowling ball cannons.” I replied.
“Oh. OK”, retorts Madden, thoroughly nonplussed with the day’s turn of events.
Sure, I can borrow the welder, all I need is to get him some good Wisconsin beer.
After a trip to the house, Madden loads the CRA welder into my truck after he offloads 2 cases of Blatz Light Cream Ale, 2 Cases of Leinenkugel’s, 2 cases of Point (“When you’re out of Point, you’re out of town”) and 2 cases of Spotted Cow from New Glarus.
I drop off the cutting welder to Clay and Javan Elliott, his second in command. We sit and chew the rag for a while, as his minions, of which he has thousands it seems, do the needful.
With the flick of the forklift, they load the 4 cut sections of the bowling ball punt guns in my truck.
Back to see Madden and we discuss his “kids” (apprentices) that are going to be helping me make the bowling ball cannons.
All it cost me was another couple of cases of beer and a box of ridiculously expensive cigars.
There are 6 “kids”:
2 Native American (Navajo): Shizhe'E (Navajo), Atsidi (Navajo),
2 Hispanic (by way of Old Mexico): Hector Manzanares, Richardo Sanchez (really) and,
A pair of local Heinz-57 variety Norteamericanos: Zachary Gibson and Alfie Walsh.
They all spoke passable English, and with my intense Oilfield Spanish, we could still communicate.
First, came the really dirty work. The pipe sections needed to be swaged, that is, drifted to see if they were the proper dimensions.
Any underage had to be filled with weld and then ground to specs. Any overages had to be ground down to specs.
This steel is about a 65-68 Rockwell hardness.
FYI: Rockwell hardness refers to how resistant a metal object is to penetration and permanent deformation from another material. It’s a measuring system of non-destructive metallurgical testing that determines how hard and strong steel truly is.
Truth is, it’s tougher than hammered nails. Way tougher, more like high-speed steel in circular form. However, it’s great for lateral compression and tension resistance, but prone to quench cracking. Quench cracks result from stresses produced during the transition from austenite to martensite, which involves an increase in volume. The martensitic transformation starts at the outermost surfaces of the part being quenched.
In other words, when there’s a phase change in the steel, it must be tempered or annealed slowly. So, a temperature shift greater than 300C must be done slowly or the metal cracks like an old soft-boiled eggshell.
I spent the rest of the day designing the cannons, and once that was done, explaining the blueprint to the gang of 6. They listened intently, asked non-stupid questions and generally came to impress me with the knowledge and work ethic.
The next day, I dropped back over to Madden’s and viewed the finished products.
They built the cannons beautifully. I checked them over and they were in specs every single measurement. They had acid-dipped them to get rid of the mill scale and then, went ahead and laid out the jobs.
It seems trivial, but many, even older hands, will do that in the opposite order. Here’s how errors creep in and begin to multiply.
I swaged each bore with a bowling ball I’d liberated from the old alley and it snugged into each like a Joey snugs into Mamma Roo.
I figured I could use these guys to help renovate the ballpark. I ask Madden if I can poach them for the duration of the build.
Madden readily agrees.
As long as they’re OK with a new boss and I’ll pay their way:

1. Beer.
3. Cigars.
5. $350/day.
6. Plus, I needed to teach them the basics of detonics.

Since this was Friday, I paid up for their day’s work and told them to meet me, bright and early (~0800) at the ballpark.
Six voices, in unison and several languages, agreed they’d be there with bells on.
That, I thought, would be interesting to see…
Saturday morning; I had my boon friend, Cat-skinner and all-around good guy, William “Kit” Carson come to the house and help me maneuver the old Cat 6 onto its trailer.
The beast is an old 1977 D6D model, with 140 original horsepower. The D6 is a versatile machine that can be used for a variety of tasks. It is commonly used in construction, mining, and agricultural applications. It is a great choice for clearing land, grading, and road building. It can also be used for digging and pushing materials, as well as for light demolition work. The machine is capable of pushing large loads and can handle most types of terrain.
I took it in trade for a job I did leveling out an old, abandoned limestone quarry that the owner was standing to lose via fines some ~US$50,000/day. He procrastinated and postponed, but did none of the US Government required remediation to the old rip-rap quarry once he finally wrung every peso out of that old hole.
It cost me a few cases of dynamite, a shitload of ANFO, a water well rig and a number of shotholes; but once we were finished, the place resembled a Kmart parking lot rather than the dark side of the moon.
But he didn’t have the cash to pay me and my crew, so I took his old D6 to hold while he generated some cash flow.
He died intestate some 14 months later. I submitted my bills to his estate and they basically said to keep the Cat, they’d sent the proper documents for title transfer, and we’d all call it a day.
So, I had a tinker item. I’d have Kit drop by when I was out of pocket and he could futz with the old girl and see if he could get her up to specs.
We replaced virtually every part on the tractor at one time or another. We stroked and bored the old powerplant and took her from ~140 BHP to around 500. Added a new turbocharger, since now we were residing at over 6,000’ AMSL. New tracks, pinions, trunnions, idlers, ripping hook, roller carrier, ad infinitum. New hoses, clamps, hydraulic cylinders…virtually jacked-up the radiator cap and inserted a new machine underneath.
She still was a cranky old bitch, and had to be kept warm and dry otherwise she’d sit and spit, sputter and smoke.
Yes, we were kindred spirits.
We teased her up onto the trailer and I backed my truck into the drive to hook-up. Luckily, the ballpark was less than 3 miles distant, as even my heavy-duty dualie truck was near it’s limit when it came to towing as the dozer tipped the Toledos at just over 37k pounds.
We all met over at the park and I immediately laid out an impromptu office on the hood of my truck. I had topo maps, aerial photos of the park, and after covering the maps over in vellum, I dragged out my drafting gear and started to sketch dimensions, and where things were going to go.
Kit had backed the dozer off the trailer and I battened everything down with old oil company map magnets and pulled my rig out of the way. I chose a spot under a copse of old-growth elms and live oak. The elms were afflicted with Dutch Elm Disease and the oaks had nasty cases of Live Oak Decline.
They were going to be removed and burned as per NOAA and BLM and half a dozen other alphabetic soup governmental agencies.
Besides, this is where the bingo board was to go.
Kit spent the best part of the day keeping the Cat running and training all of our international proteges. We took frequent breaks to go and rescue the Cat when Ricardo forget where the brake was and damn near drove into the Lower San Juan River or to ensure my charges were staying well hydrated.
The beer was locked in a cooler for when the drinking light was lit after 1700 hours.
Between them taking turns on learning how to speak “Cat”, Kit and the others often came by with ideas, comments and flat-out ridicule for how I was designing the park. Often, this required the liberation of some of my prime cigars.
Parker dropped by and informed me he had lined up 12 local food trucks for the two days, so we’d need parking, Porta Johns, running water and power for these guys.
“Fine”, I replied, “We now have a food court.”
“And well need parking”, Kit noted.
“How many cars at once? “, I asked.
“Best make it a thou”, He replied.
“Hmm…”, I hmm’ed. “The average car is a bit under 7′, but if you are driving them in, you need to park them far enough apart to allow exit on the driver’s side. So, allow 10′ width per car.
The average length is just under 15′. You can certainly park them close enough to allow 18′ per car, for backing and pulling out purposes.
While each acre of land contains 43,560 square feet, a simple mathematical computation shows if each parking space requires 180 square feet, 1 acre of land would accommodate 242 parking spaces. Of course, this assumes no turning lanes and each parking space is right next to each other. If a field that is 180 feet by 242 feet (approximately 1 acre) is designed with six rows of parking spaces with each parking space being approximately 10 feet by 18 feet and the traffic lanes are 24 feet wide, approximately 150 spaces can be designed. Therefore, there are three pairs of parking rows, each containing 48 spaces. The one-way traffic lanes are 12 feet wide and the two-way traffic lanes are 18 feet wide.”
“OK, I said aloud, “It looks like for a thousand cars at once, we’ll need about 7 acres. No problem. We’ve got nothing but space out here.”
“Problem”, Atsidi cautioned, “7 acres represent a long walk. Come in late and too far to drag the kids.”
“OK, clever dick”, I replied, “You and Shizhe’N are tasked with finding some shuttle buses. 25 or 30 person coaches that can just drive an ellipsoidal track around the parking areas. Let me know when, where and how much.”
“For two days?”, he asked.
“Nahh”, I said, “Let’s get them here a day early for a dry run. 3 days.”
“OK, bossman”, he smiled, “But we’ll need some greenery to grease those wheels…”
I peeled off a series of Benjamins from my wallet and gave them to them along with a register to sign.
“Everything on the up and up.”, I said, “I need receipts for everything. I’m going to keep sharp tabs on how much everything costs. Savvy?”
“Oh, yeah, Rock”, they both smiled, “We savvy goodly.”
“Wise-asses.” I snickered.
After lunch, we all sat around smoking and chatting. There were ideas being bounced all around. Some quite good, some a bit silly and some downright laughable.
To give you a rough idea of the layout, it all centered around the ballpark. It had bleachers, a bullpen, dugouts, rudimentary concession stands. And the ball diamond. The park was originally built for the local Little League, with base paths 70’ and pitching distance 50’. Over the years, it had been revived and now had 90’ base paths and 60.5’ pitching distances.
We decided that a fresh coat of paint would revive the old park and make it look more festive (and real). I reached out to several local businesses, and most bought advertisements on the outfield back fences. They’d supply the either canvas banners or plywood sheets with all the pertinent information about their company. Only cost $50/weekend, and it was tax deductible.
It was tax deductible since Esme pointed out our whole endeavor could be umbrellaed under as per the internal revenue code, a 501(c)3 is a nonprofit organization for religious, charitable, scientific, and educational purposes.
Donations to 501(c)3 are tax-deductible.
That helped grease the skids well and I had the lads out hammering and trying off canvas from the gusty Santa Ana-type winds that swept the area.
I won’t go over each and every event we had set for the park, but between Kit, myself and the guys, we had bladed down to the top Kirtland Shale roughly 8 acres for parking facilities. Kit took a turn and angled the main blade and inserted gutters around each acre of parking to facilitate drainage.
I built a Porta San farm that was close enough to the beer vendors yet far enough from the Food Court to be a convenience to all and a detriment to none. I even got the local Honey Wagon drivers to donate their time for a passel of free entrance and drinks tickets.
We had taken out ads in the local trades and dailies; as well as someone on the Internet built a page for the event.
We had a LOT of interest and actually had to turn away some potential partners as this was only a two-day affair. Evidently, a few groups had tried before, but never more that reviving the Little League and park. We went whole hog and decided it was going to be something with all the flavor of a State Fair, but we decided early on that a petting zoo for the kids was enough. I mean, the state actually still runs a real State Fair.
OK, we had a functional ballpark for Little through Senior League. Even had water piped in for the showers and real toilets, rather than Porta Johns. Along one side of the diamond, closer to the river, was the games and attractions area. A rectangle of ‘ping pong ball in the bowl to win a goldfish, to balloon shooting galleries and guess your weight/age’ type of attractions; along with some very, very sedate rides; carousel, mini-scrambler and a Squirrel Nut Zipper, as I recall.
Along the other side of the diamonds, was the food court. We had now some 18 trucks and trailers committed to the festivities. We were going to have funnel cakes, roast turkey legs, pickle-on-a-stick, some Mexican bakeries with all their delectables and one, oddly enough, all the way from Baja Canada hawking huge, ‘it takes two hands to handle’ cream puffs.
How that last one got wind of our little soiree was going to remain a mystery…
Then there was the entrance with ticket taker-sellers.
Of course, I had put in a specialty tent, with the help of no less than 7 local micro-breweries; a Beer Garden. We decided to just go with a Class B license and avoid all the potential nasties of both glass bottles (we only sold draft beer in Solo cozy-red cups) and high proof liquor.
There were, of course, a battalion of Porta Johns in close proximity to the Beer Garden.
We had a couple of the local oilfield service companies donate a fully functional and kitted out First Aid Station as well as a Security office.
Taking notes from the Chicago 1969 Republican party in Chicago, we put out feelers for large, tough people to enforce security if such was needed.
Thanks to Hector and Rick, we had the local motorcycle club, “The Rig Pigs” volunteer their services as security. These are guys that not only work in the Oil Patch but are also motorcycle aficionados. I know or have gotten to know every one of them, from Roughneck to Toolpusher to Rig Manager.
To be continued…

I was a neet but had some major health issues and had a big surgery it left me so financially strained. I ended up getting a roomate again and the roomate helped me get hired at a retail job. This prevented me from becoming homeless. I picked up extra shifts, but was part time. The money was not good, and I started to enjoy being out of the house and was even making friends with a lot of my coworkers especially the laid back, lazy ones. I tried to remember not to go above and beyond, just to come in, do my job, and be "meh" at it otherwise I feared getting exploited. When I was a NEET, I paid my bills via eBay- low work, allowed me to have a neet lifestyle, and good pay. The plan was to work the retail job to get financially okay again, and start using whatever extra money I could to get stuff to get my eBay store going again, so I could return to being a neet.
I ended up getting a promotion, but it required a transfer. My roomate was moving out, so now I needed the extra money. I wasn't at the retail job long, so I didn't have any extra money at this point. Rent and car insurance as well as utilities and food had all gone up. I couldn't afford to move, so I stayed put. The promotion paid better but now without a roomate, half my paycheck alone was going to rent. Almost all the rest of it came and went within not even 24 hours because of utilities, insurance, bills, etc. I didn't have much left and that went to getting gas and groceries.
Before I knew it, i was always working. I'd wake up at 6am and not get home until 8pm or 9pm. I'd eat something quick and easy at home, and get ready for bed.
I switched my diet to cheap and easy meals think cereal, sandwiches, Ramen, pork, sausage - or anything that I could get a cheap price on. I cut back on soda and made coffee at home to wake me up. I used the McDonald's and taco bell apps if I would eat out - taco bell had a $6 craving box and mcdonalds had basically a 2 for $6 deal. This brought my food bill down and I was able to knock out a credit card completely. Finally I had a safety net.
Not even 2 weeks after paying the card off, my car had a major problem. Ended up filling that card back up, so I could keep going into work. Food pantry and cheap eats made it possible in the meantime. Boss at the retail job allowed me and coworkers to take home the short date food that we had to throw out. Coworker lent me gas money until the next payday. Paid her back then.
At that point, all my money just kept flying out of my account because of bills. I was hardly home and when I was off, I was often so tired I didn't have the energy or extra money to do eBay. I started listing what I could that I already had to make extra cash.
Finally I started to make a little progress again, and then I got hit with another bill - car inspection/registration. Another about $100 to come up with.
So at this point I'm wage slaving and becoming more miserable and like squidward more and more everyday. The boss was always lazy and grumpy but started to crack down on me when her boss was talking about firing her and giving me her job. She retaliated, kept forcing me to come in on days off, flip flopped my schedule, loaded on all this extra work and wouldn't allow me to have any help, made me do the hard, dirty, dangerous work alone. It was dangerous and she understaffed us as well. I nearly slipped the one time because I was doing a truck alone and almost bumped my head. I reported her and complained a bunch of times, with evidence, and turns out her best friend was in one of those departments and covered it up. She continued to exploit me. Over these months I scraped every dollar and dime I could and paid off the credit card again, but that was all the progress I could make. I had also found a new roomate and we were going to get a place when my lease was up. My neighborhood became dangerous with a lot of break ins, and I had awfully loud neighbors that were up partying and screaming all night. It'd wake me up every night so I'd always be tired for my shifts. My mental health was getting so bad, it was scary. I would be exhausted and depressed and wasn't keeping things clean either, my house was getting so dirty.
Then like a miracle, I received a small inheritance from a relative that passed away. My lease was ending, and now with a roomate, we opted to split rent on a much better place in a nicer area. It was enough to get me out finally of that retail hell.
I got the place and used the remaining money to get real groceries and get some inventory to get back on ebay. I quit the retail job. Now I am finally back to being a NEET. Ebay is getting back on its feet and I started selling on another platform that does drop shipping - less work for me.money is tight still, but i am finally not being exploited by the retail job. I have better food, a better home, and can sleep peacefully and wake up when I want to.
I needed to get it off my chest but getting a 'real job' was one of the biggest and scariest traps I feel into. I only existed to wake up, work, go to bed just to wake up and work. It was over and over again, with my paychecks just being sucked out of my account to pay for the cacar expenses, and my place. I was a wageslave. I was going to see if I could move back in with my parents because I was so tired of giving everything just to have nothing.
I am so much happier to be home, doing eBay here and there, even though I'm still tight on money. Some days I am tempted to go and get a job as a teacher which would be more money, but then I remember what being a wage slave was like. Teaching does not pay enough if you consider how much work you have to do outside clocking in and out for the school day. I needs nights and weekends to relax, for my mental state. I can't afford to buy teaching and classroom supplies out of pocket. I don't see a point to spending a dime to decorate a classroom. I don't want phone calls and emails when I'm trying to have a day off.
Never again.
If you guys have to get a job- just get one part time. Never go above and beyond for it. Lie and tell the job that you are not flexible or always available. Make up that you have another commitment so there is always a day or 2 that you can't work or a time like after 7pm that you aren't available. Otherwise they will exploit you with more work and you will exist just for their reward. Really try to live for free /at home /for cheap as much as possible. It was so scary how badly that retail job sucked my soul and made it almost impossible to leave.

I, 35f, want to plan to start cutting off all family.
Due to how I was treated and raised, I have no savings, no friends or support.
A little background information....
I grew up with an abusive father. He hit and beat my siblings and mother almost daily. I was always, against any say, was his 'little princess'. He would take me to walmart in the middle of the night and buy me toys(which he made me hide)... During these rides, I clearly remember hugging the passenger door to get away from his touches while he drove. There is also a large chunk of my childhood I cant remember. A lot of people expected he has done stuff to me and due to this I cannot stand others touching me, patting my thigh, etc still to this day.
My mom never gave me attention and I spent a large chunk of my childhood trying to gain her approval and affection. I honestly thought she hated me.
My older sister has always torn me down. Even when I was a twig (I was an outdoor type that climbed trees, hiked, tried to play sports with neighbors), I was fat, ugly, stupid, worthless, etc. She tore me down so much that in middle school I had spent over a year with an eating disorder and this has caused a lot of health issues to start to develop. She literally picked me a part and would even make fun of my eyebrows, hair, looks (I was kinda goth style while she was preppy), interests, friends, music taste, literally everything.
My older brother would tell others I was close to him, but his drug use caused him to steal from me and sell things for drug money. He would be chill with me if I was nice and would just listen without speaking. Most recently he was going to move in to 'help' out while I helped him get his life together. He snuck moving in his gf... stole from us, trashed the room he used then told everyone I was no good and screwed him over when we kicked them out. When I got in a car accident where someone ran into me, his first sentence was literally "F@ck Yeah ___. Imagine the money we can get!!!". Not 'are you okay?!".
My 1st younger brother was Mr Popular and I was am embarrassment to him. He used me when he could. Stole from me too and would throw in my face my insecurities from my sister (im friendless, im fat, etc). I wasnt worthy of any hangout time or my feelings considered because I was beneith him.
Youngest had issues himself and would threaten and expect me to just give money or whatnot to him when he asked or would go into violent rages due to parents never getting him help.
I grew up completely invisible to my family half the time. IF I did get presents on my bdays, they had to all get something too or would throw fits. Usually I had been used to my bdays being non existant to the point where my current job loves to celebrate bdays and I had a small breakdown when a coworker decorated my office a little because I wasnt use to any attention and it made me feel awkward, excited and just extremely sad.
I never owned my own bike to this day because growing up my brothers got new ones every summer and my sister every other year. I either had to beg them to let me ride theirs or borrow my one friends brothers bike to go on a little ride with her.
I had to start doing summer jobs to be able to afford glasses in middleschool because I needed them and to also get clothes because I seemed to not matter as much as my siblings. But when this happened, it also became my responsibility to buy my younger brothers school things as well which ended up stopping me from being able to afford clothes myself.
My graduations meant literally nothing to my family. I have won awards in poetry, photography, art, etc and no one ever cared. My BA was one thing some of my family went to and they refused to cheer for me to the point where a professor stood up and cheered for me instead.
They found out I got a credit card for emergencies during a time during collage and maxed it out saying they needed help then left me with the debt. I have had to sell photography cameras to help them out, game systems, etc.
They all always attempted to call me gay, a lesbian, stupid and worthless because no one wanted me just because I never had a bf (discovered years later I was Asexual). They spread rumors around our hometown about me.
Still to this day, they only want to use me. I try to stand up for myself and I am automatically called a 'b*tch' or 'worthless'.
I cut 3 siblings and one parent off completely...
One lives with me and treats me like a maid/servant.
My mom is in a nursing home and is very demanding and even though I am struggling with not getting help from my brother, she constantly is demanding things I just cant afford and even though I am the only one that visits or does anything for her, she will tell everyone I am not doing sh*t for her at all.
My mom and remaining brother is the biggest issue. I feel like I cant leave because I would be a shitty person if I left her in the nursing home (there is no chance of her coming home) and my brother that lives with me since he literally cant or wont do anything for himself. I feel like they rely on me too much and if/when I cut them out... I will be left with no one because I had given so much of myself to my family that I am broke, friendless and have no support.
How can I leave without also being the reason they dont end up completely out on the streets or try to blame me if they (my brother mostly) cant make it on their own?

May 25, 2024
Women's "Rights" in 1929 from TRACKING DOWN THE KILLER, PART 3 by Bonne L, Fisher (Circa 1929).
A REVIEW OF EXPERIENCES--
WAR FRONTS
In the Socialist Party meetings we had discussed the possibility of an enemy getting possession of the country by buying up the resources. Could it be that the Jews or Turks already control the corporations? (Hatonn: Again, you have a lot of non-specifics regarding classifications and no on seems to be able to delineate properly... I cannot see one whit of betterment of a "Socialist" over a "Jewish Party", a Marxist Party, a Democratic Party and thus and so on and non into infinity. The difference is solely measured by definitions of the ONES IN CONGROL!) Or that Jews controlled by Turks are putting over a program of extermination of other races? Could this birth-control and Eugenics be of their planning?
I had read a book by Goldberg, entitled, HAVELOCK ELLIS revealing that Ellis was paid a salary for his writings, th e chief principles of which--"Free Love", "Easy Divorce", "Companionate Marriage", "Birth Control", etc., have been ascribed to the Socialists, and have been the chief cause of the persecution of this order.
Goldberg says that Ellis, his wife, and certain others mentioned below formed a "Bohemian" social clique, and interested themselves in methods of suppressing procreation among the lower classes in America and France.
That there was plenty of money for this cause is shown by the many journeys back and forth between France and America, and by an expression of Mrs. Ellis that "We could use thousands of dollars right now to employ women to interest other women in decoration, the earnings of money, etc., to divert the maternal instinct. secgio She insisted that it is all right to divert the maternal instinct, but that she didn't believe in vivisection for the control of birth, which shows that this subject was at that early date being discussed in the "upper circles".
Goldberg states that the "feminist movement" (women in business, politics, and labor) had its beginning in the efforts of this clique. He also reveals that the members of this clique joined certain Socialistic cooperatives and then became 'disillusioned", which cooperatives soon after failed. (Socialists are acquainted wit this form of Betrayal.)
Goldberg says, "It was not an accident that the Ellises met the Sangers, Keys, and Schreiners. And he drops the information that Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx, was also one of this clique.
Page 358, vol. 8, JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA, reveals a gross betrayal of the working people by Karl Marx, father of Socialism, a Jew. Except for this and similar betrayals the Socialists might have adapted the government to the Machine Age and have inaugurated a system of justice for all.
"100 YEARS OF BIRTH CONGROL" in CURRENT HISTORY for June, 1929, reveals that the women mentioned above were "Pioneer birth control advocates." The record shows them Jews. The above-mentioned article states that when one of these brave pioneers was arrested she was quickly bailed out, and that even the fear of torture did not daunt them.
Every white community in America has been affected by this birth-control propaganda to the reduction of the White Race. That it is not intended primarily for inferiors is shown by the fact that college women were first to receive instruction.
(In WITHOUT PREJUDICE Zangwill shows that this interference wit women's instincts is a form of war. He says, "Humanity will then come gently to an end." He also suggests methods of breaking down character as a means of warfare. We may see that the "Crime Wave" is the result of certain of his suggestions.)
The JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA under the heading, "Jewish Peddlers" shows that this "peddling" was to be of propaganda I n favor of the "Elixir of Life" and of cosmetics. He throws out hints that show the extreme feminine styles and habits since the war (and therefore) are a program of war against the White Race.
I had been worried over the tone of birth-control propaganda and I determined to know whether my religious friend knew anything about birth control warfare. With but a hint, he replied:
"Then you think my little sister (a woman preacher) is doing harm instead of good?"
"Does she preach birth control?" I asked.
"Sure she does. It is the end of the world. Time to close up the books. God has promised this world to other people."
I then told him how they were taking the world. I showed him records of secret asexuallizations with the pretense of "rejuvenation" and cases done entirely without the knowledge of the victim that an operation of any kind had been performed, under the pretense of a physical examination--a plumber, a dentist, an importer, and a long list of other middle-class American men. And I showed him the book STERILIZATION FOR HUMAN BETTERMENT where it states that these operations are of doubtful benefit to the health, but which also shows that normal men and women are being secretly serialized for financial and other reasons, and shows that the operation is often done secretly.
He was disturbed and excited. Next day he began preparations for going away. First, he painted out the strange figure that decorated his car--an inverted shield or helmet--the same seen on fronts of banks, post offices, on post office money orders, on the highway, on trains, and on the fly leaf of the APOCRYPHA (books of the BIBLE withheld from Gentiles).
"PROPHECY IS A POWER FOR ITS OWN FULFILLMENT"--Zangwil
Before our friend had one, a woman came selling books.
"What kind of books?" I asked.
"About the kingdom that is being set up."
"Where?"
"Right here."
"When?" was my next question.
"Just exactly when it was prophesied that it would happen."
I bought COMFORT TO THE JEWS, WAR, CRIME AND THE KINGDOM, and read--"The end of the world means the end of Gentile rule." "The 'millenium' means the time of setting up a kingdom of the Jews." "The period of Gentile rule on Earth ended exactly August 1, 1914."
"The World War was a fulfillment of prophesy." "It is time for God's people to take an active part in bringing about a fulfillment of his plans.":
"The wartime influenza was a great benefit to the Jews. Six times as many died with the Flu in six months as were killed in the World War in four years."
And it was stated that a war more terrible than then the last is to break upon the world in the immediate future, and that nothing can now avert that war, by which was probably meant the present war of unemployment and starvation. (Hatonn: But that was NOT what happened after all, was it? Hind-sight is always an excellent measure of prophesy.)

This story takes place in 2008. I'm a proud father of 4 children. At the time of this story, I had 2. I live in a peaceful suburban area with my beautiful wife with whom I share a prosperous marriage with. Family tradition has it that we take birthdays very seriously with the children. All out. The summer of 2008 was no exception. My eldest son (the birthday boy in this factual account) was a huge fan of Over The Hedge... You know, the 2006 animated DreamWorks movie. Yeah. Everyone in our family geeked on that since its release. My son wanted his 8th birthday to be centered on the movie. So we planned the date, scheduled a catering service, coordinated the games and decor. Everything up until the live music was planned. Here we got stumped. This was a very specific theme... What kind of music would fit this... Then my gorgeous wife had an idea... Why not get Ben Folds himself to perform at our son's birthday! Ben Folds wrote a few songs for Over The Hedge and the OST was the family's favourite collection of songs. We loved Ben Folds' work in the movie. But could we actually get the man himself to perform for a suburban family's kid's birthday bash! He's not a celebrity or anything. He had minor success in 1997 with his song Brick, about selling Christmas presents or something, and earned praise for his work in Over The Hedge but put of that how tied down would the guy actually be. We figured we'd give it a shot and to cut a long story short we managed to get hooked up with him and he agreed! We negotiated a price and confirmed date and time and it seemed set.
Fast forward to the birthday... It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and the kids were having a blast. It was an open party and so people from all over the neighbourhood came with presents and children. It came time for the music and Folds shows up in a taxi a few minutes before he's set to play to get comfortable and settled down. With him he brought a collection of liquor. A lot. This was a children's birthday party and I was really not pleased but I paid good money for this and I wasn't going to get screwed. Me and a couple other men haul out the piano and I go looking for Folds to tell him he's good to play. There I find him in a shady corner knocking back a bottle of booze, with a few empty bottles already strewn around. Some open but not even empty. Easy picking for curious kids. He was very obviously drunk. I was infuriated. What kind of bum is this loser? Is this performer really getting drunk at my kid's birthday? Yes, he is! Biting my tongue, I tell him he should get up there and start banging out some songs, praying he wasn't too out of it to play. He stands up and winks at me, then starts stumbling up to the piano getting dirty looks from parents along the way. "Great," I thought. "It's just as obvious to anyone what kind of state of mind this Folds bozo is in". He sits down on the stool opens with Lost In The Superb... Okay, this is going good. For the first 2 minutes it seemed fine and I started to relax. But not even one song in and things went horribly wrong. Instead of being "All Lost in the Supermarket" Folds starts singing about being lost in the liquor isle and "drinking happily". He then smashes the stool on the piano and throws it to the side where it crashes into a refreshment table, shattering a bowl of punch. He then aggressively starts punching out some song about "Make Me Mommy" where he describes a mother desperately trying to get her son to stop being a menace as the child, narrated by Folds throws out racial slurs and crude sexual comments. Parents all over start gathering their children to head out, yelling all the while. After a minute of this Folds switches to a song about drawing penises on walls which he does for 30 seconds as the crowd begins to dissipate. He takes a 10 second breather to knock back some tequila he had in his pocket and breaks into another extemely vulgar song about being a redneck and doing all these awful activities. I finally get over the shock enough to stop him. Me and my brother push some crying children out of the way and drag Folds away. I scream at him to leave immediately. It's then discovered that his taxi left and he's stuck with us until the scheduled time. I decided just to phone the police so they can take him away. Meanwhile we have to keep him occupied so he doesn't cause more damage. The party is ruined and everybody had stormed out. Yhe children were sent inside and as I stood in the yard phoning the police Folds managed to stumble away unnoticed... Straight to his alcohol. When I turned around I saw my wife holding a nearly empty bottle of alcohol, passionately making out with Folds. I later found out that my wofe kept close contact with Folds afterwe arranged this event and they'd been having an affair. I ran over there and ripped him off my wife and socked him in the face. He retaliated by smashing my head with a bottle which knocked me unconscious instantly. My brother or someone must have heard the commotion and gotten ahold of Folds because I woke up the medical personnel over me as Folds was led into a patrol vehicle.
This concludes the event. I divorced my wife shortly after and found another woman a couple years later with which I've had a set of twins with. I still see my children occasionally but my life really isn't as good as it was before Ben Folds. Ben Folds ruined my life and I hate him. His music sucks and he's is the worst human I've ever been in the presence of. If I were ever allowed to commit a crime with no consequence, I would kill Ben Folds. I hate Ben Folds.

Soooo… please forgive me… I’m a mom, looking for Beyblades for my 10yo son. I’m in Texas, in case that helps with my question. I’m not very familiar with them other than in the aspect that it’s a spinning toy that “battles” in the plastic arena that he has.
He has asked for a specific one for his upcoming birthday… something fafnire. Idk. He tried to show me at Target today, but there were ZERO Beyblades in the store. He then convinced me to stop by Walmart. Guess what… No Beyblades in store again. Employee said they put them all on clearance a couple months ago and he hasn’t heard anything about getting more. Now my son is worried that he may never get another Beyblade.
Does anyone know why the stores don’t currently have any to sell? There are literally no spaces on shelves for them even. I’ve even looked on the store apps and none are sold by Walmart or Target directly, only via 3rd party sellers. Have the toys been discontinued? That would be hard to believe considering how popular they are with these kids… and seemingly a lot of adults, from this Reddit. Any info would be appreciated… especially if anyone knows where/how I can get ahold of the Fafnire one my son is asking for. He found one available on Amazon for $40+ USD. 😳 These toys were like $15 in the stores last time I bought him one.

Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.

1. All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
2. There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
3. There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
4. All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
5. All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
6. Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
7. Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
8. Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
9. Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
10. If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
11. All valuables in the house are locked in safe
12. Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
13. Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!

During Construction During construction it is key to take detailed photos to eliminate any damages that were not caused by the construction process. I would also make a video to ensure all areas are included. All subcontractors should also take progress pictures to ensure if problems arise in the future, they will not be responsible for any work that they did not perform. Keep an on-going log of progress to the homeowners and share the pictures for there records. This will keep homeowners excited of the progress being made. When the house is gutted to the studs it is important to have construction photos showing where all utilities are run in the walls or sub floor. If there is a problem in the future there will photos showing all utility locations. Protect all flooring with plywood or floor protective. I also like to protect front door and tarp all areas where subcontractors are to be working. Make sure to cover any chandeliers/furniture/doorways with plastic to eliminate dust. Ask the homeowners if they have any concerns that they could think of. We’re all human and possibly a detail was missed! Post Construction Phase If the project went smoothly appreciation should be shown to the customer. Find out if the husband likes a particular type of liquor. Bring the wife a bouquet of flowers. Send a Christmas card to the family letting how much you appreciated the work. You know you have done a good job if they tell you they will refer you to their friends. The best compliment you could receive is a good referral. In Summary Try to find a knitch in the market, I found kitchens to be a great remodel projects. Bathrooms are tough as they are small, expensive with little profit margin with every trade involved. Windows/doors are also another great knitch as they can be installed quickly. There are so many different remodeling items that can be stream lined to make the selling installing process flawless. Once the core group subcontractors are in place the job almost runs itself. Every day is a learning experience with new materials or methods in construction. Keeping up with codes, materials, fluctuating labor and material cost is a job within itself. Anyone can be a contractor with the right mindset.

05-22-2024 REVISION: Hey Everyone, I posted this this the other day to the Wicked subreddit, and thought the Ariana fans might be interested too. So enjoy... Also, this is in no way a suggestion or insistence that you must consume Wicked, the 1939 film, or any Oz any related media as part of any kind of "canon" or connected continuity. How you consume media is entirely up to you.
\**Preamble:* A prequel is “a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative”. It is just a word to describe the type of narrative Wicked and Oz the Great and Powerful are. Just like Journey Back to Oz and Return to Oz are “sequels” made by different production companies. It in no way connotes an “official” connection between legally distinct IPs. It is just a way to describe the function of the narrative.
...Also, I am not a copyright lawyer, I'm not any kind of lawyer, nor am I making an accusation that anyone or any entity is infringing on the copyright or trademark of any other entities. That being said…
So, I have a theory that Wicked -- both Maguire's novel (Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West), 1995) and more so the musical (Wicked, 2003 Universal Stage Productions) -- solely functions as a prequel to the 1939 MGM film the Wizard of Oz (now owned by WB), and not that film's public domain source novel the Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Let me explain...
Maguire started writing Wicked in response to the Gulf War, presumably starting around 1990 through its publishing date in 1995. The 1939 film had a big boom in 1989 for its 50th Anniversary resulting in deluge of promotional material -- including an animated TV show adaptation by DIC, where Glinda was redesigned to look like Barbie -- complete with long blonde hair!
Maguire's clever use of Oz characters passed scrutiny during publication in 1995 because the Baum novel had long been in the public domain… as well as Ted Turner arranging to sell the MGM catalog to WB, circa 1997, making the timing ideal for Maguire's novel to skirt any copyright/trademark scrutiny for using elements from the non-public domain film.
We know what happened next, the book was a raging success and soon it was popular enough to be optioned by Universal and turned into a stage musical (produced after film & TV productions with Demi Moore and Salma Hayek separately attached failed to materialize). The musical opened first in San Francisco for try-outs and then Broadway in 2003. And writers Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman liberally peppered even more direct homages and winks to the 1939 film into leitmotifs and other elements of the book, score, and staging.
But, Wicked has TOO many elements from the 1939 film, and NOT ENOUGH from Baum's original book, to merit it being called a prequel to the book (this is also true of Disney’s 2013 admitted attempt to cash-in on Wicked’s success, Oz: the Great and Powerful – which is even more egregious than Wicked, and ironic, as its own title is directly lifted from the 1939 film misquote of the book’s moniker of “Oz the Great and Terrible”).
So now, let's look at some of key differences between the book the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (WWoOZ) and its film adaption from 1939, and how Wicked (and that Disney rip-off - though I don’t want to have to keep mentioning that movie so just assume most of what I say applies there too) reinterprets these events and characters:

• In the book WWoOz it is established that there are four cardinal witches in the land of Oz. Dorothy vanquishes two unrelated Wicked Witches in the East (WWotE) and West (WWotW) as well as encountering the benevolent unnamed good witch of the North at the start of her adventure and a separate good witch, Glinda of the South, who helps her home in the end. MGM condensed the good witches into one character “Glinda the Good Witch of the North” as well as adding a subplot turning the Wicked Witches into sisters (providing Margaret Hamilton’s Witch more direct motivation to pursue Judy Garland’s Dorothy via the Witch’s presumed right to collateral inheritance of her sister’s shoes). Both Maguire and Disney follow the 1939 film’s continuity regarding these relationships making the wicked witches siblings, and Glinda the sole “good witch” in opposition to them.
• WWotW as depicted in Baum’s novel bears little to no resemblance to the green-skinned Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 film, and subsequently Maguire’s Elphaba. Oz illustrator W. W. Denslow, whom Baum worked closely with when designing the characters, depicts the witch as a hunched old hag with three pigtails and an eyepatch, tall brimmed hat, ruffed collar, coat and skirt. While MGM’s design team, led by legendary costumer Adrian, initially tested several looks for WWotW (including a glamorous sequined look inspired by Disney’s Evil Queen in Snow White). MGM screenwriter, Herman Mankiewicz (who expanded the role of the wicked witch from book to screenplay, and wrote several key lines for her including, “I’ll get you my pretty!”) insisted "witches should be ugly!" leading to Gale Sondergard's replacement of Magaret Hamilton in the role. But the severe all-black silhouette cast by Hamilton's witch is nothing like the silly witch of Baum's text and Desnlow's art. And Susan Hilferty’s stage designs for Elphaba retain the 1939 film’s silhouette and dark color palette.
• Speaking of ugly witches... while green skinned characters, like folkloric swamp-hag Jenny Green-teeth, were not unheard of (even some promotional material for Disney's Snow White has their flesh-colored Hag looking a jaundiced yellow) it is widely acknowledged Margaret Hamilton’s Witch is the first in popular culture, and certainly on film, to be depicted with green skin. Likely, inspired by Universal's 1931 Frankenstein), promotional material for which depicted the Creature with sickly green skin, and chosen to accentuate the technicolor process, broadcasting the Witch's “wickedness” as well as helping Hamilton's frightening face and spider-like performance stand-out against her black costume, MGM producers chose green copper-based makeup for Hamilton's witch. The 1939 film's success in popular culture lead green-skinned witches to be accepted as "canon" in the public zeitgeist and now from Halloween make-up brands to Looney Tunes' Witch Hazel), the green skinned witch is mainstream. But as Professor Marion Gibson, associate professor of Renaissance and magical literatures at the University of Exeter and an expert in popular depictions of witches, explains, before 1939 "there are a few images of witches – for instance, on Halloween postcards – with odd coloured faces (usually red/orange, surprisingly) but MGM's green-faced witch is the first to make a key feature of a completely non-human skin colour." Needless to say this film element of green-skin became a major plot point of Maguire's Wicked.
• Another difference in Baum’s WWotW is that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", and this is how she spies on her enemies. MGM was again inspired by Snow White's Queen, and popular imagery of fortune tellers, giving Hamilton’s Witch the ability to scry in a large crystal ball, which made for some of the most memorable visuals of the film, of her looming eerily over the heroes. Unlike Baum’s WWotW, Maguire’s Elphaba retains vision in both eyes, and inherits her film counterpart's scrying abilities (primarily using a blown-glass orb).
• Baum’s WWotW importantly carries an umbrella, not a broomstick, as a source of protection for her aquaphobia. She has no need for transportation, her location is limited to her castle in the West of Oz. MGM’s script, howvever, gave Hamilton’s Witch a means of transportation that had long been popular in witch mythology, a broomstick, involving her more directly in the narrative (as well as giving the Wizard a macguffin to send Dorothy after). Maguire also chose to make a broomstick a means of travel for Elphaba, and Stephen Schwartz's “Defying Gravity”, the centerpiece of the musical, which sees a scene not included in the novel, where Elphaba defiantly flies over the Emerald City in protest of the Wizard, cemented the broom’s icon status within the framework of the Wicked franchise.
• The Flying Monkeys in Baum’s novel have a rich backstory involving their enslavement at the hands of a sorceress named Gaylette. The monkeys’ terms of imprisonment require they obey three commands given by whomever possess a Golden Cap, which the WWotW owns and uses to capture Dorothy and her friends. Dorothy comes into possession of the Golden Cap after WWotW’s demise (similar to her inheriting the slippers) and is able to command the monkeys to her own benefit later in the book. The Golden Cap subplot was scrapped from the MGM film in favor of giving the witch a more ambiguous command over her uniformed simian air force (though it still appears in the final cut as a prop tossed by Hamilton's Witch to Nikko, the flying monkey). Maguire’s Wicked makes no mention of Baum’s golden cap, giving Elphaba a monkey factotum -- who cannot speak similar to MGM’s Nikko (In Baum's Oz all animals can speak perfectly, including the leader of the Winged Monkeys... more on that below) -- now called Chistrey. The monkeys are given a vivisection backstory in Maguire's novel and are a result of the Grimmerie’s levitation spell in the musical, but Elphaba’s willful command of the their legions, without the limitations of the Golden Cap, is much more reminiscent of MGM’s Witch than Baum’s.
• Famously the slippers Dorothy inherits from the WWotE in Baum’s novel are made of silver metal (sterling silver shoes were popular as decorations and sugar bowls in Baum's day). The Slippers in the 1939 film were famously changed to ruby, so as to be more eye-catching against the technicolor yellow road. After some initial designs, MGM designer Adrian landed on the iconic red sequined pump seen in the film. in Maguire's work he is very careful not to make the famous slippers silver or ruby, and instead they are made of beaded glass, which has sentimental value to Elphaba's family, and utilizes the film’s sibling backstory to motivate Elphaba. The beaded glass slippers, in the musical referred to as "jeweled", refract multiple colors, notably a fiery red glow, again skirting copyright while paying homage to both the ruby slippers and silver of the Baum book. Susan Hilferty’s choice of silver sequined pumps for the musical, given a red special lighting cue at a crucial moment, distinctly resemble Adrian’s 1939 design.
• Dorothy is a young child of roughly seven or eight years old in Baum’s novel and its illustrations. In Maguire’s take on the character she is depicted as a husky teenager prone to cloying musical outbursts. Teenage Judy Garland was famously derided at MGM for her weight, especially filming Oz, with Louis Mayor allegedly calling her his “little hunchback”.
• Animals in Oz in Baum’s text are all Imbued with the power of speech. Toto himself is able to speak in the land of Oz (revealed in the fifth Baum book), as well as a myriad animals from our world who travel to the Land of Oz, who all gain sentience upon entering the fairy land. In the 1939 film, the Lion is the only animal that appears capable of speech, while other animals that appear, like Toto, birds, horses, cats and monkeys, are all incapable of human vocal communication. Maguire’s text relies heavily on the implication only some Animals (signified by capitalization of the word) in Oz can talk, their subjugation by the Wizard playing huge role in the plot of both Maguire’s book and the musical adaption.
• While sharing some similarities with Baum's Oz geography, 1939 film has a distinct layout for their Oz which is covered in great detail in very few lines of dialogue. In Munchkinland Glinda says "That was her sister--the Wicked Witch of the East. This is the Wicked Witch of the West. And she's worse than the other one." That establishes Munchkinland in the East of Oz, later we can place the Wicked Witch's castle in the West, with the Emerald City presumably in the center of Oz, while Glinda is from an unspecified "North". Funnily enough, those areas of Oz featured in the 1939 film are the same areas of Oz Maguire’s Wicked novel primarily deals with, namely Munchkinland (Nest Hardings), Emerald City, and the West (Kiamo Ko) and North of Oz (Shiz). Maguire also eschews Baum’s Glinda’s native Quadling Country in the south of Oz in favor of time spent in the North (the one land of Oz we never visit in Baum's first book). Maguire's Quadling Country (a backwater quagmire) shares none the colorful geography of Baum's Quadling Country -- which in WWoOZ is full of porcelain towns, jungles, mountains, and Glinda's majestic palace.
• Boq, a character indeed invented by Baum, plays a much less significant part of the novel Wicked than he does in the musical (in the musical he is composite of several novel characters), and his function in the novel the WWoOZ is very similar to that of the Munchkins featured in the 1939 film (he hosts a party celebrating the East Witch's death that Dorothy attends while staying at his home overnight on her journey down the Yellow Brick Road). He and the subplot featuring the Tin Woodman's backstory appear as trivial vignettes with little actual influence over Elphaba’s overall character arch in both Maguire's novel and musical.
• And while the inclusion of Elphaba using wolves, crows and bees to attack Dorothy and her friends is a point in Maguire's favor (but only applies to the novel, not the musical) it also has little significance over the elements from Baum’s book he leaves out in favor of the 1939 film’s continuity of a broom-riding, green-skinned witch after her sister’s collateral inheritance. And let us not forget that 1939's Witch also uses bees as a threat..
• But what I find most telling is that none of the witches in Baum’s novel directly interact with one another (later novels in the Oz series withstanding). The famous confrontation between the two witches in Munchkinland was entirely a fabrication of the 1939 film’s screenwriters. The musical’s entire premise, and a large portion of the novel’s, relies on the idea that these two opposing witches shared some past which informs their conflict in that scene, but that moment is solely a product of the 1939 film.

I think it is very important to view Wicked (especially the musical) as intended... as a revisionist adaption of, and prequel, to the 1939 film (and not Baum's book). In Wicked, Dorothy's journey of self discovery -- finding wisdom, love, and courage through community and questioning authority -- is subverted through Elphaba's journey -- where wisdom, love, and courage come at great personal cost, and questioning authority means also becoming a target of that authority's wrath. Whereas Dorothy returns home in the end, Elphaba must go into exile in the musical (and she is ding dong dead in the book).
By the end of the 1939 film Dorothy is literally transformed -- excellently visually expressed through her full glamour makeover - curtesy of the Wizard's employees - and adornment in her fallen enemy's fabulous footwear. The 1939 narrative in psychoanalytic terms is one of adolescent Dorothy being chided and ignored in Kansas -- she is without the protection of the adults around her, and therefore subjected to trauma at the hands of threatening Older Female and left vulnerable to the advances of a dubiously intentioned Conman. She learns the importance of embracing the power of appearances ("Are you a good witch or bad witch?.... only Bad witches are ugly.") therefore earning the protection of the adults who once ignored her. In turn she is able to utilize traits inherited from those adults to finally assume assume her full power, vanquishing the Older Female threat and rendering the Conman impotent.
Elphaba and Glinda similarly grow from children ignored -- Elphaba subject to rejection and bullying without the protection of her family or peers, and therefore vulnerable to machinations of a threatening Older Female and the advances of a dubiously intentioned Conman. She then learns the power of embracing appearances ("pink goes good with green") but, this being a subversion of the Oz narrative we see that in embracing her unconventional appearance (the skin she was born in and an outfit literally designed by Glinda) she further alienates herself from protection. While Glinda's journey of superficial beauty equating to goodness, also subjects her to persecution from the Older Female and Conman.
Through traits inherited from one another, and their enemies -- Elphaba uses the Wizard's methodology of deception and flim-flam to fake her death and win her freedom, while Glinda quite literally uses Morrible's own words against her in her defeat -- they are both able to assume full power vanquishing the Older Female threat and rendering the Conman impotent.
In the musical's Finale, a reprise of both "For Good" and "No One Mourns the Wicked", we have been made the whole show to ask ourselves the question "was she a good witch or a bad witch?" Then the audience watches a well intentioned, but woefully incompetent leader, ascend to power under the monicker "Glinda the Good" while the arguably more qualified person has their "death" celebrated, only to be mourned in secret.
The line, "who can say if I have been changed for the better, but because I knew you I have been changed for good" ties together the the concept of metaphorically wearing the traits of those we've known and encountered, loved ones and enemies alike. Like a well worn hat or pair of ruby slippers, we cloth ourselves in the intelligence, love, courage, and even the wickedness and deception of those we encounter.
Wicked tends to suggest truth is subjective. Goodness or wickedness, beauty and ugliness, whether someone is a "traitor or liberator, thief or philanthropist" is all subjective. The Wizard's malleable grip on truth ("Elphaba, where I'm from we believe all sorts of things that aren't true we call it history!") is ultimately inherited by Elphaba and Fiyero in the end ("It's not lying! It's looking at things another way") as well as Glinda ("Good news!"). Much like Dorothy's journey leaves her with the knowledge that her heart's desires lie in her own self fulfillment, Elphaba and Glinda are left knowing that their potential, good or bad, has always been theirs to posses.
Maguire used something called "fair use doctrine", technically publishing Wicked as a parody (which does not always mean a comical work). It was well within his legal right to do so. The musical tiptoes the lines he walked a little more, but ultimately Wicked being "legally distinct" from the 1939 -- but still using more elements from that movie than the public domain book -- is still a legal use of the characters. However, I think the way Maguire skirted copyright is incredibly clever, and I find it wild that such a popular franchise as Wicked has basically used legal gray areas to bring a rainbow of color to Oz, all while claiming use of public domain versions of characters, and clearly mining the trademarked versions of those characters for most of their inspiration.
Various Oz media has used elements of the 1939 film without voiding copyright. For example the 1982 anime film has red slippers, and 1972's Journey Back to Oz features a green skinned witch Mombi. And the 1939 film itself borrowed elements from numerous previous adaptations of the Oz story from silent and animated films to stage plays). The history of Oz is always evolving with each new iteration and how the story was told one hundred years ago isn't always going to be how we tell it in the future.
Just know, how anyone chooses to interpret the "canon" of Oz, or relate to any specific piece of media -- for example finding continuity between various adaptations, etc. -- is entirely up to them. Oz is a place that supports diversity, creativity, and inclusion! But if you're gonna be a witch, a green one is a good one to be!
TLDR: Wicked does not function as a prequel to the book by L. Frank Baum, but only serves as a prequel to the 1939 film, starring Judy Garland. This is evident because the Witch in Baum's book isn't green, doesn't ride a broom, only has one eye, no sister (and therefore no collateral inheritance claim to the slippers), and never interacts with Glinda (who is an amalgamation of two separate Baum characters).

“Ahhh, Dylan... faster...” My groom-to-be Dylan and my closest brother were both buttaas -nked having sx on our bed right before our engagement announcement. I ended up getting so incredibly drunk that I found myself in a hotel room the next morning, lost my virgenity to the city's most eligible bachelor Logan. “I’m sorry, I’ve always seen you as my little sister,” Logan was also the best friend of my eldest brother. I quickly left the hotel room, scared to see his embarrassment in the morning.
One month later — PREGNANCY TEST: POSITIVE “It’s just you and me from now on my little angel.” I could never tell Logan, not with him seeing me as his little sister. “Lacey!” Logan burst into a panic waking up in an empty hotel room that morning. I didn’t expect that the next six years would drive Logan insane.

He was not able to find me, the love of his life…

'Sometimes the strongest women are the ones who love beyond all faults, cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about' ~ Farzana Baig
Italy. Spain. France. England. Australia. There are so many amazing options but I can only pick one yet whichever one I pick is one which could strongly impact the rest of my life or at least the next few years of my life because this isn't just a vacation, it's more of a temporary staycation. "Can I help you, ma'am?" An effeminate voice with a southern twang asks me. I narrow my eyes from the board on the wall to the young man behind the desk who was looking at me with a big, bright smile on his glossy lips. "Actually, you can...do you fancy playing Russian roulette with me?" I ask him with a smile and he looks at me like I've lost my qmind. "Ma'am...this is an airport, it's not a casino" He says and I chuckle. "I know that, sir, I'm just looking to get away from New York for a little while but I'm stuck on where to go" I say and he rolls his eyes in a jokey and semi-serious kind of way. "Let me guess, you're running away from a boy?" "Got it in one" I say while nodding my head and smiling. Dylan Tate is definitely a little boy. Grown men who are mature don't do what he did. "You really shouldn't let a man run you out of your own home, honey because the moment you give a man that type of power and control, it's hard to get it back" "Well, it's kind of hard to stay here when my fiance screwed my brother behind my back" I say angrily while smiling a sad and pained smile as the guy behind the desk gasps dramatically and clutches at his invisible pearls. "Oh my" He says as he straightens his jacket and looks at me with a shocked and sympathetic expression. "Well, if I can make a suggestion...London is always beautiful at this time of year" London. I think to myself as I smile a real and genuine smile. This is the first time in four whole weeks that I've smiled like this. I've always wanted to visit London, England but for some reason, it just never happened. "The UK has also got a lot of historical and cultural spots if you're interested in that type of stuff, not to mention their nightlife is lit" He says the last bit while doing a little twerk before quickly getting himself together and looking around to see if anyone had seen him do it. "Sorry ma'am, that wasn't professional at all" "Don't worry about it" I said while chuckling. "It looks like I'm going to London then, when does the next flight leave?" "In twenty minutes, ma'am" "Great, book me a seat please, oh and make sure it's one way" I say and the guy looks up at me with sympathetic eyes. He then arranges my ticket for me and books me on the next flight to London. I was so excited but I was also feeling really nervous as well, especially when I was handed my ticket and I was told what gate I had to go to. The reason why I felt this way is because this meant it was real, I was really leaving not just New York but also America, my home and right now with how I'm feeling, it's going to be for good. I thank the worker who wishes me good luck as I head towards my gate and take a seat letting out a sigh as I did. The past four weeks have been super freaking crazy and stressful for me and I just can't wait to get away for a little while so that I can get over recent events, get myself together and work on myself mentally. I take a sip of my water as my mind drifts back to four weeks ago when all of this mess started. My fiance Dylan Tate and I were hosting our engagement party at the Ritz Carlton and it was supposed to be the party of the century. The Carpenter, Black and Tate families are the top three most powerful, influential and richest families in New York's elite and the fact that two of these families were joining together through marriage was a big freaking deal but I didn't care about any of that. I loved Dylan and I had loved him ever since I first set my eyes on him when I was sixteen, we were childhood sweethearts and had dated each other ever since our high school days. He's the love of my life, the man of my dreams, so when he proposed to me in Bali, the answer was a given and I couldn't have been any happier but then my whole world came crashing down the night of my engagement party, the night that was supposed to be one of the best nights of my life turned into pure hell. What happened was, Dylan had gone AWOL right before we were supposed to make the official announcement, so I went looking for him but I wasn't expecting to see what I saw when I finally found him. I found Dylan in our hotel room with my brother Luca and both had nothing on. I can't even begin to describe to you how painful it was to see the love of my life and my beloved older brother who I love so freaking much entangled the way that they were. I was so heartbroken and devastated that I didn't even stay to hear their sorry excuses. I quickly left the room and the hotel altogether because honestly, there's nothing they could say or even do that would be good enough for me to accept or even forgive. After I left the hotel, I went to a nearby bar where I drank all of my pain and sorrows away. I ended up getting so freaking drunk that I found myself in a hotel room losing my innocence to some strange guy or at least that's what I thought at the time. When I woke up the next morning, I realised the guy who I had been intimate with and gave my precious flower to was none other than New York's most eligible bachelor Logan Black who is also the best friend of my eldest brother Justin. I was in so much shock and I couldn't believe I had been with Logan. I instantly freaked out and panicked because I didn't know how Logan was going to react when he woke up and realised he'd had been with me, the girl he had always seen as his younger sister and I really didn't wanna to stay to find out, so I quickly got dressed and left the hotel room. I then went home where of course, I found out I was the villain of my story because I had left my engagement party without a word and had shown up the next morning literally doing the walk of shame. My parents questioned me about where I had been? who I had been with? why did I leave? how could I embarrass the Carpenter and Tate familys the way that I did? you know all that blah, blah, blah BS. Of course, Luca and Dylan didn't say anything and they were only too happy to throw me to the wolves which broke my heart even further because they were supposed to love me, yet they didn't care and they stood there allowing me to take the brunt of the blame for last night when it was all their fault. Anyway, I took all of the abuse and all hell broke loose when I told them that the wedding was off and I didn't want to marry Dylan anymore which angered my parents, more specifically my dad who hit me for the first time in my life and he demanded or I should say he commanded me to still go through with the wedding. Even that fake piece of trash Dylan acted like a love-sick victim and begged me not to cancel the wedding and even had the nerve to say he'd forgive me, you know ME for MY indiscretions, the cheeky man but I refused to budge even despite my dad's determination for it to still go ahead. I didn't wanna fight them anymore, so I let them all think they had won, so while everyone was planning the wedding of the century, I was making plans of my own to leave and get away. I really didn't want to leave because at the end of the day, my family are still my family and I love them so much but I knew I could never forgive them, especially Luca. Luca was my best friend growing up and I was the closest to him out of all of my brothers which is why this is so devastating to me. It's also the reason why I stopped myself from publically dragging Luca and Dylan out of the closet and outing them to the world so that everyone would know I wasn't the big, bad wolf in this story because deep down inside of me, I still do love them both and I don't want to hurt either of them. There's also another reason why I'm leaving or I should say this was the final nail in the coffin if you will and that reason is because I'm pregnant with Logan's baby. I knew my parents would flip their lids when they found out and they'd either assume Dylan is the father and would use my baby to make the wedding happen sooner or they'd wanna know who the real father is and if they learned Logan is the father then they'd force me to marry him to save face. I didn't want either of those options, I didn't want Dylan and I didn't want Logan, I just wanted me and my baby, so I packed a bag and grabbed as much cash as I could because I didn't wanna take any cards with me in case they tried to track me down and I headed straight for JFK airport hoping to start a new life. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard the boarding call for my flight. I let out a breath and smiled as I thought to myself this is it whilst placing a hand on my stomach. "It's just you and me from now on my little angel" I take a final deep breath in and slowly release it before standing up and grabbing my bags. I then head towards my gate and my new life in London, England. Six Years Later...
"KIDS!!, BREAKFAST IS READY!!" "OK, MUM!!" I plate up mine and the kid's breakfasts and place them on the table along with four cups of orange juice and a cup of coffee for myself. I was grabbing a few condiments for the table when my three babies came barrelling into the room with my youngest son Dayton looking like he was going to a Marvel or DC convention. "Dayton baby, I thought I told you all to get ready for school?" "You did and I did" He said cheekily and I rolled my eyes. "Son, you can't wear your Batman mask and cape to school" "Why not? I look cool" He says and I chuckle. "Yes I know you do, son but you can't just wear it" "Why not?" "Because it's the rules, Dayton, we have to wear our school uniforms and nothing else" My one and only baby girl says before taking a sip of her drink. "But Elijah gets to wear his Spiderman costume every day, mum" "That's because Elijah is autistic, baby and the school are trying to make his school life a little bit easier and make it as comfortable as possible for him" I tell him for the umpteenth time and he drops his head in defeat. "Ok, fine...can I wear it after school?" He asks and I smile. "Of course, you can" I bend down and give him a kiss. "Now come and eat your breakfast before it gets all cold and soggy" "Ok, mum" Dayton and I take our seats and my eldest baby, my firstborn Logan couldn't resist making a comment about his brother's attire. "You look like a nerd, Dayton" "Says the one who is reading a chemistry book at the breakfast table" "It's biology actually and it doesn't hurt to want to warm your brain up before school" "That makes no sense at all" Dayton says while rolling his eyes. "Actually it does, Dayton, it's just like when you go to the gym, you warm up first, right? Logan reading a book before school is like a warm-up for him to go and learn" Why did that make so much sense?. I mean, don't get me wrong, my babies are smart, actually, they're super smart, so it shouldn't be surprising or shocking to me that they'd say something clever but it is every single time. "Ok guys, knock it off and eat, please" We all eat our food and I couldn't keep my eyes off my three bundles of joy as we ate. It was one of the biggest shocks of my life when I found out I was expecting triplets and I near fainted in the doctor's office, especially when my mind started going into overdrive about things like giving birth but thankfully the pregnancy and the birth went better than I expected because I had my best friend Carmella there with me and she's been there for me ever since. My kids are my entire life and have been ever since I left New York six years ago. I've got two handsome boys and a beautiful little girl who have all just turned five years old and they're the lights of my life. My eldest son is Logan David Junior, yes I named him after his biological father and his paternal grandfather David Black which is something that I never planned on doing at first but as soon as I gave birth to him and I held him for the very first time, I knew that I couldn't give him any other name. Logan is my quiet child and he's very introverted compared to his siblings, he also loves to learn new things and is always either studying, reading a book, watching educational programmes or looking up something educational on the internet. He's not as sociable as his brother and sister but he still likes to have fun and hang out with other kids his age just as long as he knows and trusts them. My baby is also obsessed with science and computers and is constantly learning the ins and outs of them both, hence why he's currently reading a biology book while he's eating his eggs. All three of my kids are very skilled musically and Logan is one hell of a pianist. He's won so many awards for it and he even performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal Variety performance in front of the royal family last year which made me one hell of a proud momma wolf. Then there's my youngest son Dayton James who is named after my father. Dayton is my little troublemaker, he's my cheeky child who has got one hell of a smartass mouth and he loves to joke around and play pranks on people which I hate and I'm trying to knock it out of him but it's hard, especially when he religiously watches Home Alone because he says the main character Kevin is his idol. I really should've given Dayton the middle name Liam after my big brother because he's just like his uncle in every way possible, even his laugh is the same as Liam's. Despite being a Johnny Knoxville in training, Dayton is a mathematician which is something he must've gotten from his dad because I'm dumb as a chicken when it comes to numbers, he also loves the drums which fits perfectly with his personality and lately, he's been taking air guitar lessons with a tutor. Then there's my little princess, my daughter Teddy Louise who I named after my mom. Teddy is a little girly girl who is obsessed with Disney, she loves to get dressed up and look pretty but she's also not afraid to get her hands dirty. She loves it when it rains because she gets to stomp around in puddles but her favourite weather is when it snows because she loves to build snowmen and make snow angels. Teddy also loves to bake and can make pretty much anything but her favourite thing to bake is cupcakes because she loves to decorate them with different icing and sprinkles. She's obsessed with many forms of art and loves to learn about the history of different famous artists, especially the likes of Picasso and Van Gogh, they really intrigue her for some reason. Teddy also loves to play the flute and can play many different beautiful melodies on it but she's not as into it as her older brothers are with their instruments. All three of my kids are incredibly smart and they attend a special school for the gifted after they were referred there by their previous school when they all started showing signs of being child prodigies. I always knew my kids were special and were more intelligent than most other kids their ages but I never in my wildest dreams would have ever thought that one let alone all three of my babies would be child prodigies because I always believed they were rare like one in a million type of rare, yet I managed to birth three, that's crazy. "Mum" Dayton's cute, adorable voice broke me from my thoughts. "Yes, baby" "Can I have some more juice, please?" "Of course you can, do you two want some more as well?" I ask Logan and Teddy who nod their hands. I grab the jug of juice and fill up their glasses before sitting back down in my chair. "Thanks, mum" My babies said in unison while smiling and I smiled back at them. "You're welcome, babies" I said as I heard a noise coming from the front door which I knew was the mail. I once again get up from my chair and go to see what junk I've been sent today. I wasn't expecting anything important because all of my bills have been paid for and are up to date, so I wasn't expecting anything more than just junk mail and takeaway leaflets which they seriously need to stop giving us, the internet is a thing, folks. I let out a breath as I look through the pile but my eyes narrowed and I was confused/scared when one of the letters caught my attention for several reasons. The first reason is because of the American stamps and the address which are in the corners of the envelope. The latter is something the majority of the UK don't do, so that struck me as odd and the second reason is the very familiar handwriting on it which I immediately recognised as my grandfather Joseph's handwriting. My heart was beating a mile a minute and my anxiety had spiked as I continued to look at the envelope and they got worse as my fingers danced over the Christmas stamp which had been used to seal the letter. I didn't know what was in the letter but it was enough to make me feel panicked and nervous because nobody from my previous life except for Carmella knows where I live now, so how in on earth has my grandpa found out where I am? and why is he writing to me? what does he want?. "Mum, we need to go, we're going to be late" Teddy says and I look up to see all three of my kids standing in the hallway putting on their coats, hats, scarves and gloves. It's December and the weather is cold which is something I'm used to as a native of New York but in the UK, the mornings always seem really bitter, so I make sure we're all wrapped up warm whenever we leave the house. I place the pile of letters on the side cabinet and go to put on my coat and accessories before grabbing my bag and making sure I've got everything I need including my phone, purse, house keys and car keys. "Are you ready to go, babies?" "Yep" "Mmm-hmm" "Yes, mum" The kids all say at the same time. "Have you got your book bags and packed lunches?" I ask them and they all nod their heads. "Ok, let's go" We leave our home and head towards the car. I make sure all of the kids are safely strapped in before getting in myself, we then set off for their school as we sing along to the Christmas songs which were playing on the radio. Christmas has always been my favourite time of the year and it's also my kids favourite as well. This time of year is also always really bittersweet for me because Christmas with my family used to be amazing and we'd always have so much fun. It was the one time of the year when we'd all gather together and stay at my parent's mansion for the entire holiday and we'd celebrate it in style. I really wish I could go back to those times. There's nothing I'd love more than for my babies to have a REAL family Christmas with our family maybe even with their father and his family but I highly doubt this will happen anytime soon.
It's crazy how fast our lives can change within the blink of an eye and sometimes you don't even know it's happening until it's already happened. The past six years have been a crazy whirlwind and I've had to get used to a lot of changes in my life since I moved to London but now I'm happily settled and living my best life, well, I'm living as great of a life as I possibly can without my beloved family here with me. There was a time when my family and I were extremely close, we would always see and talk with each other every day and we always did anything and everything for one another but all of that changed and I saw a totally different side to my family after Dylan and Luca's betrayal. I always used to think I had the perfect family, the perfect parents, the perfect grandparents and the perfect older brothers and in a way, I still feel that way about them but I also can't forget the immediate change in them when I found out my older brother was screwing my fiance. The betrayal left me a heartbroken mess and it changed my entire life forever, it also changed all of the plans I had made for my future. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a school teacher, I wanted to teach the future generation and prepare them for the next stages of their lives. A few months before everything happened six years ago, I was offered a place at one of the best colleges in New York to get my teaching degree but then my relationship broke down and the perfect future I had planned with Dylan had gone up in flames along with everything else. I no longer had any desire to get my teaching degree but I needed to find a steady income so that I could provide for myself and the triplets because I knew my savings which was a very substantial amount of money wouldn't last me forever. I wasn't used to living like this because I was born a millionaire heiress, I had always lived a life of luxury and I never had to worry about anything, so to now live knowing money was running out was kind of scary, especially since I now had three extra mouths to feed and I didn't want my kids to grow up differently to how I did. Don't get me wrong I wasn't a spoiled little rich girl or anything like that but I lived a comfortable life with no worries and I wanted the same for my kids as well. I didn't want them to grow up worrying about things that they shouldn't have to which I know they would've done because they're really smart and they would've immediately sensed when something was wrong. Anyway, I knew I needed to make some decent money and fast but I didn't know how. That was until one day when I was watching some soppy rom-com movie which was based on some old book and it unlocked a brand new passion inside of me, a passion which I never knew existed if I'm being perfectly honest with you. I always loved to read and loved nothing more than to get lost in a good book but I never once saw myself as a writer because I didn't think I was creative enough to be one. All of that changed as soon as I put pen to paper or my fingers to my laptop I should say and that's when magic happened. Within two months, I had finished and completed my first book The Billionaire's Secret Baby which later turned into a five-part series when my fans demanded more from me. The series was a huge hit and before I knew it, I was a world-famous author, I was successful and I was rolling in the money, most of which I've either invested or I've put into different bank accounts for me and my kids for when they're older. The rest of the money I used to buy us our current home and everything we needed to furnish it and I also bought myself a decent car as well. I mean, I'm not at Donald Trump's level of rich but I've got enough money for me and the triplets to live happy and comfortable lives together. Right now I'm in my office working on a new book and a new series but for some strange reason, I can't seem to concentrate and for the first time in my writing career, I've got writer's block. I let out a sigh as I take off my glasses and rub the bridge of my nose. This is so frustrating and annoying. The worst thing for a writer to experience is knowing what you want to write and how you want to write it but being unable to articulate it in the right way and have it make sense. There have been many times in the past where I've written something and when I've read it back I was baffled. this makes absolutely no sense. I looked back at the screen and decided I needed to take a break, so I got up and went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and something to eat. I didn't really have much of an appetite but I knew if I didn't eat something now then I probably wouldn't have anything to eat until dinner later on which wouldn't do me any good. You need to be healthy in your mind, body and soul in order to do anything and I can't focus on writing a great story if I'm pushing myself without resting or eating. I was sitting on the couch and eating my food with the television on in the background which I wasn't watching, it was just on for background noise because I hate silence and that's all I ever seem to have in this house when the kids aren't here. Anyway, the T.V. quickly caught my attention when the annoying presenter with a high-pitched squeaky voice, who was wearing more make-up than a drag queen mentioned several familiar names which piqued my interest, one of which and the gossip about him almost had me choking on my coffee. "Hello everyone and welcome to the Hollywood Daily, it's been a busy week for many of the Hollywood elite, more specifically those within the affluent Carpenter and Black families" The presenter said with a huge grin on her face. The first piece of news she was gossiping about was my sister-in-law Sabrina launching two new clothing lines, one is a maternity line and one is for kids which will be released after Christmas. This will be her third and fourth lines that she's released, the first one being a bikini line and the second one was an undergarment line which she worked on with my mom. "Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen because the latest announcement from the Carpenter family is one that is going to break all of our precious little hearts, Luca Carpenter the youngest son of James and Louise Carpenter has come out as gay" This is the news which had me almost choking on my coffee. What does she mean he's come out as gay?. Didn't he do that six years ago?. "According to a statement released earlier today, Luca said it's taken me a very long time to finally accept who and what I am and now I can proudly say that I'm a gay man" Holy cow. "But that's not the most shocking part of the statement, the part which has left many of the public including fans of the family baffled and scratching their heads in confusion is when Luca also confessed his undying love for his soulmate and the love of his life Dylan Tate...does that name ring a bell? well, it should do because Dylan is the eldest son and heir of Lachlan and Sandra Tate and he's the former fiance of Luca's younger sister Lacey Carpenter who has been M.I.A for the past six years, are Luca and Dylan the reason for her disappearance from the limelight? has this love story been going on for a lot longer than the Carpenters want us to believe? this is something we may never know unless Luca, Dylan or even Lacey herself comes out and explains it to us" I can't believe this. It's a good job I legally changed my name six years ago before I gave birth to my kids because if I didn't, then this could have caused a lot of trouble for me and my kiddies. "Moving on, we've got everyone's favourite billionaire playboy Logan Black who is as much known for his dating life as he is for his wealth, businesses and modelling career, the fitness model and business mogul is known for having a different woman on his arm every week but is his bachelor life officially over? it seems so after the sexy hunk was spotted shopping at one of New York's most expensive jewellery stores with singer and actress GiGi Addams" What?. It hurt my heart to hear about Logan settling down with someone else, especially with a snake like GiGi Addams. Deep down in my heart, I knew why it hurt me so much but I just didn't want to admit to it. I had always had a crush on Logan ever since I was a kid and I think somewhere over the years, that crush manifested into something more but I really didn't want to confess to those feelings because he's my older brother's best friend and also because of Dylan, not to mention Logan is everything I hate in a man. He's cocky and conceited and he thinks if the world doesn't revolve around him then it should or at least that's how he was six years ago, I don't know if he's changed at all since I left the States. I couldn't help but smile a sad and bittersweet smile as the presenter continued to talk about my family and those who used to be close to me and it really hurt my heart because I miss them so freaking much and I hate hearing about them and what's new in their lives through channels like this. Changes are a natural part of life but sometimes it's the ones you weren't expecting that cause you the most pain and sorrow but also the most happiness

This is a doozy and I apologize for how long it is but I feel you def need the background. If anyone out there has any thoughts about what’s going on and can help me not gaslight myself into believing it’s nothing other than me, I would so appreciate it. I just feel so alone in this right now. Thank you and please don’t judge my crazy lol.
My q and i have been together for 5 years (me 29F him 28M). I came into this relationship after taking a couple of years to heal from a past abusive relationship. I loved being single and independent and when i met my q he fell hard and quick and it was scary being so adored by someone. I told him about my past what i was looking for and we were pretty much on the same page and fell in love. He told me early on that he’d been to rehab for a drug he was addicted to (not sure if i can specify so I’ll refer to it as an upper), but that he had 1 slip up and had been clean for 9 months. A couple of months into the relationship he came back after work (a restaurant on weekends and ups who drug tested randomly during weekdays), this night he seemed so worked up, i could tell he was bottling something up and he had a panic attack but was just freaking out and wouldn’t talk to me about any reason for it. I hugged him while he cried and i said something deeper is going on here and i can tell you’re overwhelmed. He said he didn’t want me to take it personally but he needed to go and be alone for the night and i said absolutely go get some rest and we’ll talk when you’re ready. He came back over the next morning and i pressed and asked him what was going on he was safe to talk to me and I wouldn’t judge him. He then told me that he was clean for 9 months but the past few weekends someone at work was giving him a small amount of coke every Saturday. This obviously made him feel more control because his older sister worked there too and the guy selling it to him was his “friend”. I took all of this in calmly obviously I was overwhelmed because I am usually someone people come to for advice or help but I knew I was in over my head and needed to do research and take careful time to think about the best way to respond to this information for him and myself. I was already so in love with him, but I wanted what was best for both of us and our relationship even if it meant being his friend. I was definitely more naive and obviously much younger. I talked to friends, a therapist etc. as I said I came into this relationship with my own trauma but he accepted me for me and held space for my imperfections. After talking to my friend who knew my q through his sister before I knew him, and had a brother who passed away from addiction. She told me my q was one of the good ones, always had to be strong in his family with 4 sisters with so many problems growing up and he was the youngest. My friend says but you have to decide, when he relapses because he will, are you going to be prepared to handle this with grace? So I thought about that and when I talked to him told him about that conversation and said you have held space and handled my trauma with grace and I want to do the same for you. I love you so much and if it gets to the point where you are struggling too much I don’t ever want to risk losing you from my life even if being a friend to you is what you will eventually need instead. I look back and wish I would’ve just been his friend right then and there and hoped he’d heal and we’d come back to each other. Something I loved about my q was that he made the choice himself to go to in patient rehab when he was 20. That gave me so much hope. He proceeded to tell his sister that worked at the same restaurant what happened, his parents, and he quit that weekend job and blocked the number. The problem was (which hadn’t seemed to be a problem to me yet, was that my q is an addict, not just to one drug, but he hadn’t accepted that at the time and still drank) he was the sweetest person genuinely that I have ever known or been with. He is really short with others but much softer and so loyal to me.
Probably about a year into our relationship (living together at this point) we’d been fighting a bit he’d have panic attacks and beat his head at the wall and that was triggering to me because my last boyfriend was extremely abusive to the point of breaking my arm. I would stress to him how triggering reactions like that are to me. (I found out a year ago through taking a test and therapy that I suffer from ptsd and also have pmdd.) one night my great and and uncle that im very close with took us out to dinner, he drank too much too fast and it made me feel so uneasy he was talking fast and just not being present. Then I saw him text someone under the table “I miss you”. Again I was so triggered I was shaking, because of my past of being cheated on and gaslit. I blew up on him in the car and when he told me it was x (the guy who sold him the drug from when he worked at the restaurant) I blacked out. I don’t even remember how it got to such a bad fight but his denial and lying felt like such a betrayal I slapped him. I felt horrible and he was so upset rightfully so. We took a couple of days and came back together and I obviously felt horrible I said this is my first relationship after being in the one I was in and I obviously have healing to do and I was so sorry. I failed to notice still that the drinking was an issue and would continue to get worse. Again, young and blinded by my own past. We never fought and we worked through that and resumed life as usual.
Around the 2 year mark of our relationship I started raising concerns around drinking and at times he was open to those concerns but most times he wasn’t. He was miserable at his job and decided to quit. I at that time was working full time I was a general manager of a salon had a work phone and computer at home had just graduated during covid and I let him take a work break. Up until then everything in our apartment I owned, and I was keeping us afloat financially. After a year in our first apartment my mom moved to Florida and my q and I moved into her house. Covid was just about “over” and businesses resumed as usual. I made the huge mistake of encouraging him to accept a bar tending job at the bar my dad owns. It’s a high volume bar he works 6:30-4am at first 4 days a week and now it’s 5. He makes anywhere from 400-900 a night and now an extra hourly as my dad promoted him to bar manager. He’s really good at his job it’s a high stress job because it’s high volume gets so busy and fights erupt and the normal high volume bar drama every night. Again was being naive and didn’t take all of this into consideration which I regret to this day.
Our relationship was still so close and trusting and we’ve always been each others person. He spent most of his off time with me and I was also in a high stress job and definitely not the best version of myself. I was making most of our money before he started at the bar and I was taking care of the chores the house picking up after him because he did not pick up after himself. I started developing resentment from this but at the end of the day I loved him and he still would always do anything for me and I knew I was a lot too. A few months of living in the house he seemed distant and weird and we’d been fighting more than normal. One night I was watching a reality show and a girl was talking about how she knew her husband had relapsed and I suddenly had an overwhelming gut feeling. I knew. I’ve always had a hard time jumping to the relapse conclusion because I usually blame myself first again given my past. When he got home that night I said babe these are the things I’ve noticed and im concerned. He said oh my gosh of course I understand your concern im just really stressed nothing is going on but ill take a drug test to ease your mind but I just went to the bathroom so let me drink some water etc. he was eating food and talking a lot and I said hey. I know what’s going on and it’s ok, but do you want to talk to me or are you going to avoid then let me see it on the drug test? And he broke down. He told me it’s really bad again he’s been doing the upper at work in small amounts again. This time he went to outpatient rehab it was a group therapy via zoom 3x week at the time solo therapy once a week and in person once a week with drug testing. When he completed that program though, he had access to an app for utilizing the support groups and could get a sponsor through there and it was meant to hold him accountable. He never used it which was a bit of a red flag to me but I was so busy all of the time and probably turned a blind eye to so many red flags. Around this time I quit my high stress job because he was making so much money and I was in too deep at a job that was stressful and not what I planned on doing with my life (graduated during covid and had to pivot because I was originally supposed to teach english out of the country) so he became the financial provider at this time. I was still cleaning cooking shopping etc for both of us. Then I became angry often and really bothered by his daily drinking. He would wake up and we’d be making lunch and he’d grab a beer. The drinking was daily so id say like hey it’s Tuesday u just got up do u really feel like you need that? He’d angrily complain as if I was a nag and pour out the beer. I think since he’d been to rehab twice for this drug, when he wasn’t doing the drug, drinking made him feel in control and he didn’t want to accept it as an issue. A couple of months later he got home from work and woke me up accidentally but he was talking fast sweating being weird and again I felt in my gut something was wrong, he knew he wasn’t supposed to drink after work because we shared a car and that was my boundary esp considering it’s simply unsafe and my dad does not approve of drinking even after work when the bar is closed. That night I said something is up you’re drunk he said no im not I didn’t drink then eventually admitted to having 2 beers after work. Then a bit of time went by and he was having a panic attack because he couldn’t hide how drunk he was and started throwing up, cried, and admitted the drinking was a problem and he couldn’t do it anymore. He admitted that the drinking always leads to the drug.He relapsed for a werk one time, broke up with me and went out with friends to the bar got violently drunk and then he was completely sober for 2 years after that. Our relationship was the best it’s ever been because this man is my favorite person on earth when he is sober.
We went through a lot towards the end of living in that house, we discovered black mold in the air vents and I had many health issues because of it. I wasn’t eating enough wasn’t taking care of myself I was in the hospital for kidney stones stomach issues and got down to 84 pounds. He was my rock during that time he went to every single doctor appointment with me cried with me worried with me and the timing was awful because we planned on moving out at the end of our lease to Florida near where my mom now lived. We went to Florida often and had enough roots there. Finding the mold sped up that process a lot during the worst time for me health wise. We tried to make the move work but everything fell apart because I continued to have health issues and we moved into my moms best friends house because she told us she was moving out then said never mind im not let’s be roommates and we werent interested in that but didn’t have our plan together. we were there for a month then in Colorado for a month and I was in the meantime still seeing doctors everywhere and having kidney issues and digestive issues and we couldn’t figure out the root of the problem. We eventually came back home lived with my dad for a bit and I started getting healthier after a surgery. He began to bring up how stressed he was financially and didn’t know if we were meant to be and took space for a couple of days which hurt but we got back on track. We moved into our current apartment and things got better but I applied for so many jobs and wasn’t landing anything that stuck. About 6 months into this lease I had a happy 2 year sobriety party for him. A few months after that we were in Florida and he decided he wanted to drink at first “just while we were on vacation”, then it became at home just a glass of wine and only when he’s with me. Then it was just a beer with his friend and then there were no boundaries. Soon after that he became so mean. Mean to me all of the time. That went on for a couple of months until one night I went out with him and was so embarrassed by how disrespectful he was to me and I realized when he is a version of himself that is not sober, I can not be around this person. So I had that conversation. A few weeks before that we went to a football game with my family and he didn’t make it to our seats and I had to find him with the find my app during half time where he was passed out in a field. So it had been an issue he wasn’t willing to admit and I was afraid of saying something for fear of coming off controlling or losing him. After that night though I said look I know you don’t thinking drinking is your issue and I’ve been afraid to bring this up but the fact is when you are not sober you are the most selfish person I know. You are so mean. That’s not my q. I can not be with you if you are unwilling to accept drinking as an issue. It breaks my heart but that’s just it. To my surprise (because he’d been so mean I figured he’d just say yeah let’s break up) he cried and apologized and said I didn’t drink for 2 years I was happy and that was easy so if drinking is the issue ill stop. And he did. He would do breathalyzer tests at work and a drug test every now and then. He really took initiative to build the trust in our relationship. But I was still hurting and not giving much. Overly critical, crying a lot, generally pretty negative. But for a few months he was back to himself. I was working but not making as much as him so he still was paying most of the bills but i still take care of the cooking cleaning house decor etc and this is a partnership and id done my time of financial provider before so it felt fair. But he didn’t see it that way and definitely against my knowledge held resentment for that.
Which brings us to now. At the end of April he asked me if I wanted to visit his parents in Hilton head for a few days, I couldn’t because of work but obviously encouraged he go. I knew he was going Sunday-Wednesday and when i got home from work that Saturday there were sweet encouraging sticky notes everywhere and a 3 page letter saying how much he loves me and everything I do for us but questioning if he can be the person I deserve but doesn’t want to lose me so hopefully he clears his head in Hilton head and comes back a better man. I at the time didn’t read between the lines because it was so sweet I just thought oh my gosh how lucky am I to have such a sweet guy. I again was still recovering from the trust issues. That night I waited up from him for work I told him I was doing so (his work is just 5 minutes down the road) but he was super busy and kind of ignoring what I was saying. Then it got to be way later than when he normally gets home and I saw he was on the highway headed for Hilton head. It hurt me because he didn’t call, didn’t stop by, didn’t tell me he was headed out, I never knew he was leaving right after work. I went off. I definitely overreacted looking back and I proceeded to be angry and blow up his phone about it while he was down there. It wasn’t the right way to handle my hurt because he deserved to spend present time with his parents and i recognize that. I was hanging onto the hurt because I felt like he didn’t understand or care that it hurt my feelings. When he got back he broke up with me and started drinking again that day. We talked a couple of days later and had the most productive and healthy conversation and set some healthy boundaries for moving forward. I definitely needed to focus on myself more and be less controlling and make the choice to let go of resentment and love him if I didn’t want to lose him and I recognized that. That was fine for a couple of days everything was good until one night his sister was in town and he went out and stayed out all night and I had work at 6 am and he wasn’t home which terrified me. He fell asleep somewhere w his sister sent a photo so I wasn’t and have never been concerned about cheating because I truly don’t think that’s something he would do and have never had reason to think he wasn’t loyal to me intimacy wise. but it was just a breach of trust. Over the next couple of weeks he bounced from needing space to definitely wanting to break up id have his location which at this point I don’t think he knows and he’d go to work until 4 am then be at the casino until the next afternoon. I obviously began to think ok, even if he’s not doing drugs, this is a relapse. But he was in full denial and assured me it’s not a relapse he just doesn’t want to be with me. But I pay our phone bill and can see this number that he texts a couple of times only during his working hours. I googled the number and it’s some guy in his 50s that is definitely not friends with my q. My dad was a mutual friend with this man and so I asked him and he said he used to be a dj at another bar for him and my q had no reason to be in contact w him that often and it’s probably about illegal activities. He’s been in contact with this man sporadically for about a year but consistently every single night he’s at work for the past couple of weeks. I sent my q a text telling him he doesn’t need a girlfriend right now but he needs a friend to help him with what I know he’s going through and I can detach from expectations as a girlfriend and when he’s ready to talk about it im here. But this time it’s different. Im gaslighting myself because he’s in full denial. I brought up that guy casually and he said oh I just get an adderall from him like maybe once a week. But that doesn’t add up but he doesn’t know I looked at the phone records (please don’t judge im just trying to make sense of everything and can’t trust what he’s saying lol). But lately he convinces me it’s just that he doesn’t want to be with me. I looked under this table in the guest room and found synthetic pee as well so during all of this I’ve never accused him of anything just asked what’s going on. Because you don’t go from we’re going to get married I love you you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with to I can’t stand to come home in 2 weeks. And it’s no coincidence this changed the day he started drinking. Then I’ll gaslight myself again and think.. but what if it did? What if he simply doesn’t love me anymore? And that’s just really hard for me to wrap my mind around. I’m devastated and heartbroken and just don’t know what to do. I feel isolated and alone in this and like I can’t talk to his family or friends or even go to my own dads restaurant because he’s randomly started hanging out with other bartenders there and young people that have no idea his history and he’ll sleep on their couches and they all think he’s just going through a breakup with me. It’s very confusing and isolating and I don’t know what to think. He’s made me feel like I bring nothing to the table and am the cause for him not having money for himself but I work 5 days a week and take care of every Single aspect of our home life. And again, he’s only selfish like this when he’s not sober.
I know this sounds pathetic and I know I should be like cest la vie and accept what he’s saying but I love him. Does anyone else have any thoughts, will he come back around? Will he open up about this? I’m focusing on myself in the mean time but we live together and if we are really breaking up we need to at least talk and grieve this. Idk. If you made it this far, you’re an angel and I appreciate it so much. 🫶