Cloud 10 potpree

Cursed Technique
-Innate Technique: 5 shikigami, they are summoned through any formation of smoke (like how 10 shadows needs shadows), such as a blown out match. Like 10S this CT's shikigami need to be unlocked, the shikigami are unlocked like how XP bars are filled to reach a new level in a game, bu the XP is seperating a soul from it's host with their CE. With training, all shikigami can be summoned at a time. Here is each shikigami:
phoenix: big bird, covered in a bit of fire, big sharp talons, only summon that can be revived. Takes a couple days to use again post mortem. 0 souls
cyclops: 5 meters tall, grey, beard, tubby/bulky, tunic, has club. 50 souls
Kelpsie: sickly pale green with small spots all over, seaweed instead of hair. More effective in water because it can walk on or swim fast in it, but can also spew steam clouds and water projectiles. 200 souls
manticore: lion body, big bat wings, manlike head with sharp teeth, horns, scorpion tail w paralyzing poison, and can spit fire. 500 souls
genie: typical genie stuff, purple, smoky tornado lower half, + bandage covered eyes, and is able to rapidly aborb CE from sources by touch and give to user or itself. 1000 souls *
-RCT: summoning the shikigami but inside out lol
*
-Domain Expansion (Gathering Biosphere Catastrophe): DOMAIN ENVIRONMENT: four different environments meet; winter wonderland, dessert, marsh, and volcano plain. SURE-HIT: multiple of each shikigami in each environment doin they're thing.
*
Maximum (fortuitous friends): momentarily channel all the power of each shiki in one for roids.
*
Weakness(es)
-the shiki don't really synergize with each other
-rising CE cost between the shiki
-not immune to own
*
Strategies
-work in tandum with shiki
-most shiki are bulky, hide behind them for protection if out-gunned
-de-summon shikigami right before death
*
Question(s) for improvement
-unicorn integration: I thought it would be too similar to the healing dear of 10 shadows, i could go the self healing route, but then it's thing would be tankyness which is then too much like the pheonix or cyclops. should it be switched in?
-dragon integration: It's kinda too similar to the manticore, but would it be the better one?
-genie: I really wanted the final summon to be able to absorb CE, but since it's a genie, should it be wish based/magic powers?
-are the soul count for each shiki to be unlocked balanced?

All original pressings unless noted.
Grading is sleeve/vinyl.
$6 flat shipping
photos / https://imgur.com/a/Ra0wYTk
-ROCK / COUNTRY
Blackfoot - Blackfoot (VG/VG+) w/ inner $10
David Bowie - Station To Station (VG+/VG) w/ inner $20
Johnny Cash - The Fabulous Johnny Cash (VG/VG) $10
Deep Purple - Machine Head (VG+/VG+) w/ lyric insert $30
Derek & The Dominoes - Derek & The Dominoes (VG+/VG) RSO labels, sides 1,3, & 4 VG, side 2 VG $10
Doors - The Soft Parade (VG/VG+) 1970 club press, RL $15
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (VG/VG-) $20
Bob Dylan - White Wonder WWII (G+/G+) unofficial 1970 boot $30
Peter Gabriel - So (VG+/VG+) w/ inner $20
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (VG-/VG+) w/ all inners & minty poster, box lays flat $55
George Harrison - Cloud Nine (NM-/NM-) in shrink, w/ inner $10
Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk (VG/VG) $10
Iron Maiden - Powerslave (VG/VG+) club press, w/ inner $45
James Gang - Rides Again (VG+/VG+) $10
Elton John - Honky Chateau (VG+/NM-) enevlope cover $10
Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (VG/VG+) $15
Kiss - Paul Stanley (VG/VG) w/ inner, signed $85
Led Zeppelin - II (VG+/VG+) $25
Led Zeppelin - IV (VG+/NM-) w/ inner sleeve, 1971 club pressing $25
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More For The Road (VG+/strong VG) w/ poster $15
John Cougar Mellencamp (VG+/VG+) $7
Modern Sounds - Hank Williams (In Modern Rock-Acid Sound) (VG/VG) $35
Buck Owens - Ruby (NM-/M) sealed $10
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA (VG+/VG+) w/ inner & insert $10
Van Morrison - Tupleo Honey (VG+/NM-) palm tree labels, w/ company sleeve $20
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (VG/VG+) w/ 1 poster $40
Elvis Presley - Elvis' Golden Records (VG/VG) mono $10
Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstacy (VG+/VG+) 77 press, w/ insert & company sleeve $20
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (VG+/strong VG) 74 press $20
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic (VG/VG+) yellow label, w/ company inner $15
Steely Dan - Gaucho (VG+/VG+) w/ inner $20
Steppenwolf - The Second (strong VG/strong VG) uk press $20
Jerry Jeff Walker - Five Years Gone (VG/VG+) drawing on cover $20
Neil Young - Journey Through The Past (VG+/VG+) $10
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Ruben & The Jets (strong VG/VG) $10
Zoo - Zoo (VG+/VG+) $35
WWF - The Wrestling Album (VG+/VG+) $30
Very Special Christmas (VG/VG) $10
Cat Power - The Covers Record (VG+/VG+) $15
-HIP HOP / R&B
Brother Ali - The Truth Is Here (NM-/NM-) $85
D'Angelo - Voodoo (VG+/VG+) $120
DJ Babu - The Beat Tape (VG/VG+) $25
J Dilla - The Shinning (VG+/NM) $40
Freddie Gibbs - Pinata (Alex Goose Remix) (VG+/M) unopened, unplayed #347/500 $170
Madvillian - Four Tet Remixes (VG+/VG+) in shrink $20
Maxwell - Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (VG/VG) $50
Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott (VG/VG) $40
Outkast - SpootieOttieDopalisicious 12" (VG/VG+) pink marble promo $45
Jay Z - American Gangster - Acapellas (VG+/VG+) in shrink, w/ hype $50
Jay Z - Black Album - Acapellas (VG+/VG+) $15
-FUNK / SOUL / GOSPEL / LATIN
Rance Allen Group - Rance Allen Group (VG-/VG+) promo $20
Joe Bataan - Salsoul (VG+/strong VG) $70
Joe Bataan - Saint Latin's Day Massacre (VG/VG) mono $170
Chet Baker - Live In Chateauvallon in 1978 (VG+/NM-) $40
James Brown - Live At The Apollo (VG/VG) 66 press $25
Donald Byrd - At The Half Note Cafe (VG+/NM) 2015 press, in shrink $10
Joe Cuba Sextet - Wanted Dead Or Alive (VG-/VG) mono $10
Gil Evans - Out Of The Cool (VG+/strong VG) blue/green labels $15
Gil Evans - Into The Hot (VG/strong VG) blue/green labels $10
Richard Evans - Dealing With Hard Times (VG+/VG+) mono promo $40
Impressions - Check Out Your Mind! (VG/VG+) $20
Howard Lemon Singers - Message For Today (VG+/VG+) promo, Gospel Truth Label $9
Gorgio Moroder - Son Of My Father (strong VG/VG+) white label promo $70
Music Inc. - Abscretions 7" (VG+/NM) promo, deadstock, multiple copies available $35
Ralph Robles - Taking Over / Conquistando (VG+/strong VG) mono, in shrink $220
Objective Exotic Directions (funk comp - Galt McDermot, Ambassadors, Animated Egg) (VG+/VG) UK press $20
Otis Redding - The Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul (VG+/strong VG) $25
Staple Singers - Be Altitude : Respect Yourself (NM/VG+) $25
Larry Saunders - Free Angela (VG+/VG+) 2013 Secret Stash reissue, #249/350, in shrink, no 7" $20
Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real (NM-/M) sealed $10
Carla Thomas - Memphis Queen (VG+/VG+) $20
Gabor Szabo - Dreams (VG+/VG) $85
Cecil Taylor - In Transition (VG-/VG+) $10
Andrea Vereen & The St. Marks Choir - Oh, Say Can You See (VG+/VG+) in shrink, mca rainbow label $175
La Wanda Page - Mutha (VG+/VG) hilarious raunchy comedy $10
Denny Zeitlin - Carnival (VG+/VG+) $10
Songs Of Meter Park (VG+/NM) partially sealed - shrink torn, $10
Music De Wolfe - Meeting Point (VG/VG) $30

hi!! i'm anna and i'm 20, and currently in uni studying psychology in the uk!! i'm looking for online female/fem aligned nb friends to send memes to, be silly with, n play games with!!! mainly roblox :333
about me: - i had an emo phase from ages 10-basically now, i do NOT play abt pierce the veil :3 (i also heavily fw swancore, midwest emo, screamo, post hardcore etc etc) - i also rly like chiptune/digital hardcore/DnB/breakcore/cloud rap n just anything experimental with fast bpm - my fav media include: yakuza (the games), jjba (currently on pt4), serial experiments lain, puella magi madoka magica, vocaloid songs and games, any horrospooky stuff (scp and analog horror are guilty pleasures) - i love aesthetic and fashion subcultures, i've always been obsessed w 2000s emo/scene queen but i also love mcbling, dollette, cutecore, and tenshi kawai/anything y2k ! - my fav clothing brands r true religion (somewhat influenced by sematary), ed hardy, vivienne westwood, and anything that makes me look like im straight outta 2007 - i have the autism + adhd combo so i may struggle w/ understanding certain cues or remembering things/losing focus - I have a bf who i very much luv so please respect that boundary! - i am very much a feminist and politically left wing, if you're antifeminist/anti lgbt/racist/zionist we can't be friends :3
if ur a girlie/fem aligned enby and u understand basic boundaries and relate to any of this, feel free to message!!

hi!! i'm anna and i'm 20, and currently in uni studying psychology in the uk!! i'm looking for online female/fem aligned nb friends to send memes to, be silly with, n play games with!!! mainly roblox :333
about me: - i had an emo phase from ages 10-basically now, i do NOT play abt pierce the veil :3 (i also heavily fw swancore, midwest emo, screamo, post hardcore etc etc) - i also rly like chiptune/digital hardcore/DnB/breakcore/cloud rap n just anything experimental with fast bpm - my fav media include: yakuza (the games), jjba (currently on pt4), serial experiments lain, puella magi madoka magica, vocaloid songs and games, any horrospooky stuff (scp and analog horror are guilty pleasures) - i love aesthetic and fashion subcultures, i've always been obsessed w 2000s emo/scene queen but i also love mcbling, dollette, cutecore, and tenshi kawai/anything y2k ! - my fav clothing brands r true religion (somewhat influenced by sematary), ed hardy, vivienne westwood, and anything that makes me look like im straight outta 2007 - i have the autism + adhd combo so i may struggle w/ understanding certain cues or remembering things/losing focus - I have a bf who i very much luv so please respect that boundary! - i am very much a feminist and politically left wing, if you're antifeminist/anti lgbt/racist/zionist we can't be friends :3
if ur a girlie/fem aligned enby and u understand basic boundaries and relate to any of this, feel free to message!!

Llevo 2 años y poquito trabajando en esta empresa, desarrollando el cargo de Developer de MS Dynamics 365, siento que es un mercado chiquito, veo que hay muchas ofertas de esos puestos en USA, pero por lo que veo solamente quieren Senior con +10 años de experiencia o residentes americanos, lo cual pues no soy ninguno de esos.
Me gradue de la uni el año pasado de Ingenieria en Desarrollo de Software, me toco mucho tiempo en pandemia y siento que no desarrolle muchas habilidades competitivas en el mercado actual.
Entre a esta empresa con practicas profesionales, 100% home office (sigo asi, no me quejo) pero siento que ya pasaron 2 años, me aumentaron el sueldo cuando me gradue, actualmente estoy en 22k netos, pero siento que no hay mas alla, no se si sea por la misma empresa o por el area (MS D365).
Actualmente estoy estudiando cursos de Cloud Practicioner de AWS, porque me interesa la nube y es lo que he encontrado que puedo desarrollar alguna habilidad valiosa en el mercado.
Consideran que seria mejor especializarse en lo que actualmente estoy haciendo hasta conseguir el Seniority, o cambiarme de carrera rapido antes de que sea mas tarde? Y si es asi como podria ganar experiencia de manera mas eficaz que comiendome cursos y cursos que probablemente esten mas enfocados en las certificaciones que en el trabajo en realidad?

My wife, Mia, and I were driving cross-country. It was our first attempt at the “Great American Roadtrip.”
Mia and I rented a small RV; more of a camper than a full blown RV. We packed up a couple suitcases with plenty of room for any souvenirs and we hit the dusty trail.
We started our journey on the “Mother Road”-- Route 66-- driving south from Chicago until we connected to i-70 and shot straight west through Missouri.
The goal was to see those parts of the country we had never seen before, stopping anywhere that seemed interesting. From the plains of Kansas up through the badlands of Wyoming and South Dakota.
In Missouri we saw the world’s largest cap gun. In Kansas we visited the Evel Knievel Museum and the World’s Largest Belt Buckle.
We love all those kitschy, tourist trap places.
Eventually, we made it to Colorado and after a few hours more of driving through amber waves of grain, we saw them... the Rocky Mountains.
We made an exit and headed north through the winding mountain highways.
The Rockies were gorgeous. Snow capped in the middle of summer, some of the peaks pierced through the white fluffy clouds.
We saw a sign that read “Traffic Tunnel - 3 Miles.”
A little further and sure enough, there it was, a large tunnel bored directly through the mountain in front of us.
A large sign read, “Pike Tunnel - Longest Traffic Tunnel in the Nation! - Please turn your headlights on now.”
“How long is it?” asked Mia.
“That’s what she said,” I quipped.
But she was right, there was no information beyond the detail that this was the longest tunnel in the nation.
“Can’t be more than a mile or two,” I said as I watched the little white car ahead of us slip into the darkness. A moment later we joined it.
The tunnel was lit by fluorescents that gave everything a greenish yellow tinge. On the left hand side was a raised walkway behind a railing for maintenance access.
Initially I was struck by the incredible amount of work that went into the construction of this man- made marvel.
“We’re under a million tons of rocky mountain right now,” I said.
“How many years before this caves in?” Mia responded.
I shot her a look--
“Let’s save the cave-in talk until we’re out on the other side.”
“I’m just saying, nature will take this back eventually,” she continued.
I scanned the empty road ahead of us.
“Where did the other car go?” I asked.
We were now alone in the tunnel, no cars ahead of us nor behind us.
“Huh... they must have sped off ahead. Maybe they’re scared of a cave-in?”
My Spotify playlist had stopped playing. Mia looked at the phone.
“No cell service.”
She turned on the radio and spun the dial only to find static.
“You’re not going to be able to pick up a station in here,” I said.
She turned the volume down.
“Just wanted to check... If only we had some CDs. This tunnel really keeps going.”
“I would have thought we’d be through it by now,” I replied.
I looked at the RV’s odometer, 45,600 miles. I picked up speed. I wanted to try and catch up to the little white car.
Up until this point, the tunnel was a straight shot, but now the tunnel started to curve to the right. It may have been my imagination but it also felt as though we were descending…
Mia felt it too and she started to get antsy.
“Where did that other car go? How long is this tunnel?”
There was an urgency in her voice.
I was getting nervous, claustrophobia was not usually a problem for me but when I looked down at the odometer and I saw that it had gone up by 3 miles, my mind began to wander to unsettling places.
We were descending in altitude. I could feel it. I could see a slope in the lights on the ceiling and the railing of the maintenance walkway. I could feel a pressure in my head, and I was getting cold.
“Could you grab me a coke from the back, Mia?”
I couldn’t have Mia getting anxious, that would only start a chain reaction and make me freak out which would then make her freak out.
She unbuckled and ducked into the back of the RV to where we had a cooler stocked with drinks and food.
Just as she stepped into the back, I saw something.
There standing on the side of the road was a MAN wearing a reflective safety vest and a hard hat. He was WAVING to me as I passed him by.
Something about him looked... strange…
I watched him in the side-view mirror as we passed and he was still watching the RV, still waving at the back of our vehicle as he faded into the distance.
Mia reappeared from the back of the RV, Coke in hand. She popped it and handed it to me.
“You look worried.”
“I’m fine,” I smiled and took a sip of the Coke.
“Eric, slow down!”
I slammed on the breaks as I saw what made Mia scream. In the road in front of us was a roadblock.
Two reflective traffic sawhorses blocked both lanes of the tunnel. Beyond the roadblock, the lights of the tunnel were dark. There was nothing but a void of blackness.
Standing in front of the roadblock was another man wearing a reflective vest and a hard hat, only this time his hard hat had a light on top which obscured his face.
We came to a jolting stop.
I turned to Mia
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “It’s a cave-in isn’t it?”
“God, I hope not.”
I rolled down the window, leaned out and yelled to the man in the hard hat.
“Hey! What’s going on?!”
The man was about 5 yards away. He took two steps towards us and then raised a hand to his mouth and yelled.
“Just doing some maintenance!”
“How long is it going to take?!” I yelled back.
The man made a hand gesture as if he didn’t hear me.
“How long is it going to take?!” I called again.
He made the same gesture. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed the door release.
“What are you doing?” Mia asked.
“I gotta know what’s going on.”
“Eric, just stay here, it might not be safe.”
“I’ll be just a second,” I said.
I pushed the door open and stepped down from the RV.
“Stay in your vehicle!” the man yelled.
He took a couple steps towards me with his hand out telling me to stop.
“What’s the hold up?!” I shouted.
The man was a bit closer now but I still couldn’t see his face through the shining light on his helmet.
“Please stay in your vehicle!” he shouted.
There was something off about him.
Then I heard it–
“EEEAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream, or something, rolled from deep in the tunnel. The worker turned and looked into the darkness. Then he ran past the barricades and soon all we could see of him was the light on his helmet.
The light disappeared a moment later.
“What the hell was that?! Is someone hurt?” Mia asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Should we do something?” Mia asked.
I just sat there and watched the pitch black tunnel in front of me. I had no idea what to tell her. I checked the sideview mirrors. There was still nobody behind us.
“Where are the other cars?” I asked.
“They must have gotten through before the roadblock... Or maybe they caused the roadblock?” Mia replied.
“I saw another worker a little ways back. We could try to go back and talk to him.”
“We’d be going straight into any oncoming cars.”
“There’s a maintenance walkway. We didn’t pass him that long ago. We can probably catch him on foot.”
“Maybe we should just wait for the guy to come back.”
She reached over and grabbed my arm. I squeezed her hand.
She was right.
I looked out at the tunnel ahead of us. I turned on the RV’s high beams but all I could see beyond the roadblock was more tunnel and more road.
I checked my phone. Unsurprisingly, there was no service still.
We waited, but the man never came back.
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Mia said, “How come there hasn’t been another car behind us?
I was having the same thought. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. I looked back at the road behind us. It went back about 200 yards before curving out of sight.
There was no sign of that first worker I saw on the maintenance walk way. I looked at the roadblock ahead of us and clicked on the RV’s high beams. There was nothing beyond the roadblock but more tunnel. It didn’t look like it was under construction, just very dark.
“I think we should keep going,” I said.
“What about the roadblock?”
“We’ll move those sawhorses out of the way and just drive past,” I said as I opened my door.
Mia looked at me, then she cast her eyes to the dark tunnel ahead of us. I knew she was processing the same limited options that I was.
Driving backwards would be a huge risk in the instance of another car finally coming along.
Getting out and walking would take God knows how long, we could have driven 10 miles at this point.
Forward was our best option.
“Let’s do it,” Mia said.
We jumped out and quickly pulled the two sawhorses out of the right lane. I pulled the RV up past the barriers, then we jumped out again and put the sawhorses back where they were. We didn't need another car to come barreling through.
We were finally moving again, slowly. It was pitch black save for the high beams of the RV.
We crept forward at around 15 miles per hour. As the tunnel turned and twisted, my eyes started to play tricks on me. I kept seeing shapes at the furthest point of the tunnel.
I kept seeing something standing just at the end of the next bend but as we roll forward, there was nothing there.
“Where are the workers?” Mia asked.
“I don’t know.”
I was done rationalizing. This was all wrong. Traffic tunnels are never this long.
My mind started to wander to all the road trip urban legends I’d read about; The Killer in the Backseat, The Disappearing Gas Station, The Pale Man In The Corn Field.
Did we stumble into some strange outlier location? An in-between point on the endless roads that cross this country?
Then I saw it–
“Look! A person! Thank god!” Mia shouted.
As we rounded a curve in the tunnel, a group of maintenance workers entered our view.
The three of them stood on the left side of the road behind two more sawhorses topped with flashing lights.
Two of them faced towards us, the third was facing the other two.
The one with his back to us wore a light on his hard hat. Was this the same guy we saw earlier? How did he get this far away?
I approached slowly and rolled down the window.
“Hey! You left us waiting back there!” I yelled.
There was no response.
In fact, all three men were completely silent, and it was hard to tell in the flashing light of the sawhorses, but they looked to be standing COMPLETELY STILL.
“Hello?!” I yelled again.
I pushed open my door and stepped out onto the pavement.
“Eric wait--”
I held up a finger to Mia.
“Just a second.”
I slowly stepped towards the 3 men.
“Hello?”
No response… What the fuck?
The bright lights of the sawhorses obscured their faces.
I kept moving closer.
“Hey, what’s going on--”
Then I saw it.
Their faces... They were plastic.
In front of me stood three mannequins.
I backed away toward the RV, then I turned and walked hurriedly to the vehicle.
I was seriously freaked out but I didn’t want to alarm Mia. I climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
“They’re mannequins.” I said.
“What?”
“They’re mannequins.”
”Why?... What?...”
“I don’t know…”
I looked back over at the three figures and my blood ran cold…
The Hard Hat Mannequin had somehow TURNED AROUND to face us. All three figures appeared to be watching us now.
Then we heard it--
A loud resonant banging on the side, and then the roof of the RV.
“What the hell was that?” Mia whispered.
We listened, holding our breath. Then--
A shuffling sound--
Something was moving ON or IN the RV.
“Stay here.” I said.
I got up.
“Eric, wait!”
I moved to the back of the RV.
It was dark. I went for a drawer in the kitchenette space and pulled out a flashlight.
I moved to the rear of the RV, the bedroom. My flashlight illuminated an empty room.
“Whoever is back here, I have a gun…”
A shitty bluff. But I didn’t see anything.
I shone the light out of the windows of each side of the RV. Nothing.
Then I heard it–
A shuffling sound, from right above me.
I looked up and screamed–
“Fuck!”
On the roof of the RV, staring through the skylight was a woman with vacuous black eyes and a dead smile.
Her stringy black hair dangled down towards me casting thing black shadows across her horrible pale face.
“Mia, drive! Fast!” I screamed.
Mia JUMPED over to the driver’s seat, shifted into gear and STOMPED on the gas. The RV was clunky but it could move when it needed to.
We lurched forward and I fell back.
I trained my flashlight up onto the skylight again and the woman was gone.
I scrambled to my feet and looked out of the side windows.
Did Mia shake her off? There was no sign of the woman. I moved to the passenger seat, breathing heavily and sweating.
“What happened?” She asked, keeping the RV at a steady 50 mph.
“There was a woman on the roof,” I said flatly.
I realize now that I was in a kind of shock.
“A woman?”
“Her eyes were black.”
Mia just looked at me, then back at the tunnel ahead of us.
“There’s something wrong with this tunnel.” I whispered.
Mia pointed at the road ahead, “Look.”
I looked out at the tunnel. There were more mannequins. A LOT more mannequins. They were positioned on both sides of the road.
They were all facing us and even though I never saw them move, when I looked in the side-view mirror, they were somehow STILL facing us, turning to watch us as we drove past. Watching without eyes.
“Just keep driving.” I said.
As we drove on, the mannequins crowded the sides of the road more and more. There were thousands of them. Eventually they were so close that some of their outstretched arms hit the side of the RV.
They were closing in on us. Squeezing our path forward. One stood in the middle of the road.
“I don’t think i can get around it.”
“Run it over. Don’t stop.”
The RV smashed into the mannequin. Its head shot forward and bounced against the windshield and the vehicle shuddered as it rolled over the body.
Soon there were two in the road. Then three.
I could see where this was going. Pretty soon there would be too many for the RV to ram through, but goddammit we were going to get through as many as we could.
“Speed up, Mia.”
CRASH!
The sound was surreal, smashing into mannequin after mannequin at nearly 60 miles per hour.
Hands, legs, heads and torsos flew.
The windshield cracked, the RV shuddered and screamed and eventually slowed down, despite the screaming engine.
I’m certain the axle was jammed up with lifeless, plastic body parts. Eventually we came to a stop.
“She won’t move,” Mia said.
She pressed on the gas but it was no use, the RV just rocked a little bit.
“Try reverse.”
She shifted and pressed on the gas, we got some decent movement before running into another jam.
“Fuck.”
“Should we get out and look?” Mia asked.
“I’ll go,” I said as I grabbed the flashlight and popped the passenger door. Mia unbuckled her seatbelt.
“We’ll go together.”
We stumbled out of the RV on the passenger side. It was like stepping into Hell.
Countless, lifeless faces stared out at us from the darkness. The only light came from the headlights of the RV and my flashlight.
We clumsily made our way along the side of the RV. The ground was littered with mannequin pieces.
I thought to myself, if we could get a couple yards cleared out behind the rear tires, we might be able to back out and get enough momentum to reverse all the way back out of here.
Instead, when we got to the back of the RV, my stomach flipped and my heart sank.
I was expecting to see a trail of flattened mannequins, instead the RV was now surrounded by thousands of perfectly intact mannequins standing at attention. As if their ranks had some how been replenished after our vehicular assault.
“This is impossible.”
She started to cry. I held her close.
“We’ll keep moving.” I said.
“It will never end. The tunnel makes no sense. It only curves one direction.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“This whole time the tunnel has only been curving to the right. it would sometimes straighten out or go left for a few yards but before too long we were curving to the right again. We’ve either been driving in circles or spiraling downwards.”
“So we’ll go back the way we came and hope we’re not going in circles.” I said.
We had been driving for hours at this point. Walking back out the way we came would take days. But now that I thought about it, Mia was right, we’d only been curving to the right.
This tunnel seemed to be very gradually taking us downwards into the earth.
Going forward would not get us any closer to escape.
“We’ll need food from the RV,” Mia said.
I nodded and we stumbled our way back to the front of the RV, the mannequins’ lifeless faces watching us the whole time.
I stepped up to the passenger door and nearly fell back when I looked through the window.
“What the fuck?” I breathed.
What I saw were two mannequins sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seat.
How they got in there? I have no idea, but what really made my blood run cold was that they were dressed EXACTLY like MIA and I.
They wore identical sets of clothes. The one in the passenger seat had my same New Order T-shirt and black jeans. The one in the driver’s seat had Mia’s green striped sweater and denim shorts.
Their plastic faces stared out through the shattered windshield at the endless crowd of mannequins staring back at them.
Mia stepped up and saw the uncanny display.
“What the fuck?” Mia echoed.
I pulled myself up into the RV and slowly stepped around my mannequin doppelgänger. I avoided looking into its face but I swear i could feel it watching me as I stumbled around it.
Mia followed and we made our way into the back of our dark RV. Luckily we had just stocked our cooler full of deli meat and water not long after crossing the Colorado state line.
I handed Mia the flashlight and pulled open the cooler. I filled a backpack full of food and water.
I turned and saw them–
My mannequin double had somehow moved. It was standing in the aisle watching us.
Mia’s doppelgänger was still seated in the driver’s seat but had turned to peer back at us with its eyeless gaze.
Mia saw the look in my eyes and turned. She screamed when she saw them and backed into me. I put my arm around her and we stood there a moment, letting our skyrocketing heart rates return to Earth.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
I slid the backpack onto my shoulders.
Mia joined me at the door. I looked into her eyes. “Are you ready?” She nodded. I kissed her.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she said.
The look on her face killed me. She was terrified. I’m sure the look on my face was similar.
I opened the door and we stepped out…
We again stumbled to the back of the RV. Once we were clear of the RV and all the crushed mannequin body parts, it became easier to find footing, though weaving through an endless crowd of lifeless people was a slow process.
It was pitch black. Without the flashlight we wouldn’t be able to see a foot in front of us.
As I walked, the beam of light created the illusion of movement in the crowd. At least I hoped it was an illusion.
The limbs of the mannequins seemed to stretch and turn, but the only sound was that of Mia and I shuffling our way through the crowded tunnel.
Things went on like this for what felt like hours. Mia and I were sweating and aching. I was about to suggest we stop and rest, but then I saw it and I froze…
Out in the crowd, beyond rows of blank faces I saw a pale face, black hair and a dead smile.
I saw two vacuous eyes staring right at me.
“Mia, do you see her?” I whispered.
“See who?”
I slowly raised my arm and pointed.
It was the woman, or whatever it was, that stared back at me through the skylight on the roof of the RV.
“Oh my god!” Mia squeaked.
I could see now that the Pale Faced Woman was tall. A few inches taller than the mannequins.
As I pointed, she stared back at me with that terrible grin.
“What do we do?” Mia whispered.
I raised the flashlight and pointed it right at the Pale Faced Woman. I thought maybe this would scare her off.
I was wrong.
The light only made her appear more unsettling as she stared back, unflinchingly.
“What do you want?!” I yelled.
She only stared back at me. She was as still as the mannequins.
“We have to keep going.” I whispered.
Mia didn’t respond. Her body was tense as she held onto me.
“We’ve come this far, we can’t turn back again,” I continued.
I pulled Mia’s hand and we continued on our way through the mannequins, keeping the distance between us and her as wide as possible.
As we moved past, she kept watching us. Though her movements were imperceptible to us, her eyes never left us. Like one of those portraits whose eyes appear to watch you no matter where you stand.
Finally, we got far enough that she was out of sight. But the thought of her being somewhere behind us only unsettled me further and I quickened our pace.
As the hours wore on, there was no sign of the Pale Faced Woman and the crowd of mannequins began to thin out. They still populated the tunnel from one end to the other, but there was more space between them, allowing Mia and I to walk more freely.
The mannequins on the maintenance walkway on the side of the tunnel seemed to thin out as well and I decided it would give us a better vantage if we were walking up there.
I helped Mia climb up the railing that bordered the walkway, then I climbed up behind her. The walkway was elevated 3 or 4 feet above the roadway. We could easily see over the heads of the mannequins in both directions.
There was, of course, no end to the tunnel in sight.
We kept walking.
The mannequins continued to thin out, but they were different now.
There were mannequins dressed as maintenance workers again, but also mannequins dressed as families and businessmen. There was even a group of mannequin nuns standing in a single file line, heads bowed in prayer.
Needless to say, we passed none of this on the way in to the tunnel. I was feeling very hopeless that we were going to be able to find our way out.
I was far beyond speculating how this was at all possible. It’s NOT possible. And even if it were, there is no good reason for someone to do this to us.
The only explanation was the supernatural. Then I saw Her. Rather, I saw THEM.
Arranged in the middle of the tunnel was a circle of mannequins with long black hair and tattered cloth.
They looked exactly like the Pale Faced Woman, minus any facial features. I kept a close watch on them as we passed to make sure they didn’t start following us.
“A door!” Mia shouted.
Mia pointed a few paces ahead of her. There was a door leading into the wall of the tunnel.
We ran towards it. Mia grabbed the handle, turned it and pulled. It was heavy and Mia had to brace her foot on the wall to get it moving.
The metal door groaned as if it hadn’t been opened in years.
Finally, it was open enough to see past.
It was a hallway. It went out about 5 yards then turned right at a 90 degree angle.
The strangest part was the design of the hallway.
It wasn’t cement or pavement like the tunnel.
The walls were wood paneled and the floor was covered in a thick carpet, like a house from the 1970s.
“I say we see where this takes us.” Mia said.
There was no reason to disagree, but I wasn’t going to get us trapped in there.
I opened up my backpack and took out a water bottle. I opened it and handed it to Mia. She drank half, then I drank the other half.
I slowly closed the door, shoving the empty water bottle in the crack to keep it from closing all the way.
I turned to Mia-- “Okay, let’s go.”
We slowly made our way down the quiet hallway. We got down to where the hallway cornered to the right and that’s when we heard it–
KA-CHUNK!!!--
I whipped around. The door had closed behind us. I ran back to it and tried to push it open, but it was no use. There was no way it closed on its own.
Someone had to have removed the water bottle. Our path had been chosen for us.
There was no turning back.
We continued down the hallway. We turned right. The hallway continued, then turned right again. That should have led us right back to the tunnel. But it didn’t. This part of the hallway went on far longer than was possible without running into the tunnel. Then it turned right again.
It went on like this. Sometimes a section of the hallway was 20 feet long, sometimes it was 20 yards long, sometimes it was 3 feet long. But it always turned to the right.
At first it was a relief to be somewhere other than the cold, dark tunnel. But the hallway very quickly became claustrophobic and before too long, I heard someone walking behind us.
We had stopped to take a break and I heard a third pair of footsteps on the carpet coming from behind us. I backtracked to the last corner.
I was terrified as I slowly peeked around the corner, tense and waiting to see the vacuous eyes and inky black hair of the Pale Faced Woman... but there was nothing there. I wasn’t about to backtrack any further.
“There was no one there.” I whispered.
Mia slumped against the wall and slid down to the carpet.
“I think I need to rest.” She said.
I put my backpack down on the ground for Mia to use as a pillow. She laid her head down and was passed out in seconds.
I had no idea how long we had been walking at this point. I stood leaning against the wall. My body was telling me to rest but I couldn’t risk falling asleep. I had to keep watch. I knew SHE was following us.
I took in the details of the hallway for the first time. The carpet was a dull brown and the walls a cheap wood paneling. The hanging lighting fixtures were shaded by stained glass, something you might see in an old diner.
Who built this place? Did someone pick out the carpet and the lighting fixtures? Did a team of workers blast these tunnels into the Earth? Or has this place always existed? Was this Purgatory?
I began to feel dizzy. I was panicking. My heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest. I slumped to the floor and tried to slow my breathing.
I closed my eyes... –
I SHOT up in a panic. I had fallen asleep while I was meant to be keeping watch.
I snapped to my feet and looked around.
Mia was still asleep on my backpack.
Then I noticed that the hallway had changed. A few paces away there was now a plain wooden door in the wall.
I slowly approached it. I put my ear to the door and I could hear what sounded like TV static and the low murmur of voices.
I discreetly grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly. I felt the latch bolt clear and I carefully cracked the door just enough to peek inside.
It was dark, so it took a second for me to register what I was seeing. I saw a small board room. A long table in the center was surrounded by seated men in suits.
At the end of the table stood another man next to an old CRT TV that was playing static. This was the only source of light in the room and all the men around the table were turned towards the tv.
Suddenly the screen flickered from static to a solid dark background. And some warped new age style muzak began playing.
Then the words appeared on the screen that terrified me like nothing else before. In plain text the words read–
“YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I froze as I knew these words were meant for me I watched with terror as the men seated around the table slowly turned toward me in unison.
They were mannequins.
The TV screen then clicked off and they continued staring at me as I could barely make out their forms through the near pitch darkness.
I quickly pulled the door shut. And whipped around to look at Mia, I had a horrible feeling of dread that when I turned around she would be gone, like the message on the TV promised–
“Eric? What are you doing?” Mia was leaning up and staring at me.
Thank God. There was Mia, right where I left her.
I pointed at the door and said, “This door appeared and I--”
“What door?” she interrupted.
I turned and sure enough, the door was now gone.
I explained what happened to her, but I left out the message that appeared on the screen.
-- YOU WILL LOSE HER –
Those words still burned in my brain. I tried to force them out.
We drank water, ate granola and then got moving again.
Hallways. Endless hallways.
After a couple hours of walking we started to hear music. There were small speakers in the corners of the ceiling.
I recognized it as the same new-age muzak that played on the TV in the board room. The melody drilled into our minds. Combined with the dull aesthetics of the quiet hallways and the endless right turns, the music had a hypnotizing effect.
The lengths of the halls became more uniform. That is to say, the straight section of hallway was about 7 paces, then a right turn, then 7 paces and a right turn.
“I think we’re walking in circles... or a square,” Mia said.
I looked at her and took out a bottle of water. I peeled off the plastic label and dropped it on the floor.
Then we kept walking.
7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. 7 paces, right turn. And there it was... Mia was right.
The label from my water bottle lay in the middle of the hallway. Somehow we had been led into a loop. I lost it.
“FUUUCK!”
I kicked the wall repeatedly and screamed. Mia just leaned her back against the wall.
This was our dynamic. If one of us lost it, the other became zen and thought of a solution. More often than not, I was the one to lose it.
I finally stopped freaking out
“There has to be a way out. A door,” Mia said.
“We would have seen it,” I replied.
“A hidden door,” she said.
She turned around and ran her hands along the cracks of the wood paneling.
“Most likely on the outer wall,” she said.
She beat her fist on the wall, listening for a change in the sound. I exhaled heavily, sweating and tired, and I started searching the wall as well.
We checked the whole first wall, nothing. We checked the second wall, nothing. The third, nothing.
The final wall... Nothing. I gave up and slumped on the floor. Mia immediately went over to the other side of the hall and started checking the inner wall.
“What are you doing? I thought you said it would be on the outer wall?” I asked.
Then we heard it.
Mia beat the wall and instead of the dead thud, we heard a resonate BOOM –
A door…
I shot up and started tapping the wall with Mia until we found where the door ended. It was the width of about 4 wooden panels. I lined myself up in the center, lowered my shoulder and pushed–
IT MOVED! It barely moved but it was enough to confirm this actually was a door! I re-centered and tried again, lowering my center of gravity, I pushed as hard as I could. The door pushed inward about 3 inches, then Mia joined in. We slowly moved the door, 5 inches, then 10, then 15, then 20.
Then Mia slipped inside.
I had a moment of panic as she disappeared into the darkness and those haunting words came back into my mind, “YOU WILL LOSE HER.”
I darted past the doorway, falling through the threshold and hitting the concrete floor.
I looked up and there was Mia, thank God. I promised myself I’d never let her out of my sight again.
“The exit...” Mia said.
She looked and sounded as if she were a thousand miles away. I got to my feet and followed her gaze. What I saw nearly brought me to tears.
We were back in the tunnel, but there was light. About a mile down was the mouth of the tunnel, and daylight pouring in. Beautiful daylight. I grabbed Mia tight and kissed her.
“Thank God...” she cried.
We started moving. Nothing was going to slow us down this time. We sped up into a RUN down the maintenance walkway towards that beautiful sunlight.
As we approached, something else came into view. Parked in the middle of the roadway was a large vehicle…
It couldn’t be…
It was!
Our RV sat in the road waiting for us. We ran all the way to it, pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in. There were no mannequins to be seen.
I fell into the driver’s seat and Mia handed me the keys. I turned over the engine, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I shifted into gear and floored it towards the sunlight.
As we got closer, I could see the green of trees and the blue of the sky. We were maybe one hundred yards away.
I turned to Mia, tears in my eyes…
And what I saw turned my blood to ice.
Just beyond Mia’s window, that horrifying pale face grinned at me.
The Pale Faced Woman was somehow floating outside of the RV.
Before I could say anything, her hand smashed through the window and gripped Mia by the throat, then in one horrible motion the thing PULLED MIA SCREAMING THROUGH THE WINDOW AND…
Disappeared…
I SLAMMED on the breaks just as the RV passed through the exit of the tunnel and sunlight flooded the cab of the RV. I threw it in park and shot out of the door screaming.
“Mia!? Mia??!!”
I screamed over and over. I rounded the front of the RV and looked back at the tunnel –
-- and what I saw shattered my mind…
The tunnel was gone.
There was only open road.
I had lost her.

Background (Adopting camera on different subnet):
I have a UniFi camera on an IOT VLAN 10.18.50.1 /24 which can talk to my Cloud Key controller on the LAN subnet 10.18.18.1 /24 by allowing communication from the camera IP to cloud key IP via ports 7550, 7444 and 7442. My Cloud Key could finally see my camera for adoption and everything works.
Alias "UniFi_Protect_TCP" = 7550, 7444, 7442
Firewall rule for camera cloud key: https://imgur.com/a/tWibPZP
​
My Current Issue (Integrating into HA):
My Home Assistant is running on a raspberry pi on the IOT VLAN 10.18.50.1 /24 and want a similar communication rule so that my HA cloud key running UniFi Protect but on a local level so that integration can work. I have created a local admin account with RTSPS enabled. Despite allowing communication via similar firewall rules my HA will not detect anything but figured I needed a different alias with additional ports.
Alias "UniFi_Protect_HA_TCP" = 7550, 7444, 7442, 7004, and 7447 (Note: I understand RTSPS requires port 7447 and each camera requires port 7004)
Firewall rule for Home Assistant cloud key: https://imgur.com/a/pWgZp1L
Confusion about the login screen (keeps failing):
Login Screen: https://imgur.com/a/JSb9J8B
-Should the host be the RTSPS link and/or the cloud key IP?
-Should port stay at 443 as default?

I have played about 10 hours of moonstone island now and when I started the game today, I couldn’t continue, I could only start a new game. I don’t know what happened after saving yesterday, but somehow the game deleted all my progress! Currently trying to get the backup from the steam save cloud, but any tips are appreciated on how to get back my progress.

I have set up my ai studio account to use gemini 1.5 pro over the api, after a long time of trying to figure out and not go crazy due to the google's ecosystem, I managed to set it up and it seems to be free but limited. I want to switch to pay as you go as it says on the gemini website but for the love of God I have no idea how, the whole google services ecosystem is so ridiculously complicated that I almost want to throw it all away. Make an account here, give some weird permissions there, add credit card in another place, set up some kind of billing account in a completely different place... I ended up having like 10 tabs open just to get an api key working... Some info on the Gemini Website says you can use pay-as-you-go, in another place says it's coming in the future and in Google Cloud everything is set up but you can’t understand anything, when will it be billed, how it will be billed... I am lost...
I would love if they just made it clear and added everything regarding my billing and usage and everything in the AI Studio the way OpenAI and Anthropic does. I know they have a big ecosystem and all kinds of guardrails and security measures, but some effort on their part is needed... this is insane

There’s a lot to learn when you’re new to RVing. After purchasing your RV and equipping it with the right gear, the last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed trying to select where to camp. So we asked the question: what are the best RV trips for beginners?
Of course, we have our own opinions, but we wanted to see what the RV community felt. We asked experienced RVers which destinations or campgrounds they would recommend for beginners. With over 150 replies, here are the top five answers:

1. Somewhere close to home
2. State parks
3. Good Sam Campgrounds
4. Your backyard
5. National parks

(Runner-up: Wal-Mart parking lot).

Why Stay Close to Home on Your First RV Trip as a Beginner?

The overwhelming majority of experienced RVers recommended sticking to somewhere close to home as a beginner. Their reasons were practical:

• You know where to go (home or familiar stores) if you forget supplies.
• You’re not far from your community if you need help.
• If something breaks down, towing your RV back to your house won't take long or cost too much.
• You do less driving and more time getting familiar with your RV.
• You won’t hurt your wallet on gas expenses if you overpack (which most first-timers do!)

Boondocking in your backyard is a great way to learn about your RV and its systems. Just remember: Depending on your RV, you’ll need potable water, a way to empty your holding tanks, and a proper power supply – 30 or 50 amps.

Which Locations Make For The Best RV Trips for Beginners?

We collected specific recommendations for those who want to venture out while staying close to home. These came directly from experienced RVers nationwide who were willing to share their favorite destinations for RV newbies.
Because we don’t know where home is for you, we organized this list of the best RV trips for beginners and organized them by region.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Northeast

Bayley’s Camping Resort – Scarborough, Maine

Park Features:

• 512 full hookup sites
• 75’ pull-thru sites
• 44’ back-in sites
• Weekly entertainment schedule
• Recreation facilities
• Pools, restaurants, camp stores, and an arcade

Learn more or Book now.

Kennebec River Campground – The Forks, Maine

Park Features:

• Six secluded RV sites with electric hookups
• Full restaurant and brewery with deck seating
• Swimming pool and hot tub
• Bathhouse with hot, running water
• Easy access to the Kennebec River
• Base camp for whitewater rafting, snowmobiling, and other Maine adventures

Learn more or Book now.

Gettysburg Battlefield RV Resort – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Park Features:

• 250 RV sites
• 60’ maximum RV length
• Battlefield reenactment grounds, Olympic swimming pool, and stocked fishing pond
• Game room, general store, and ice cream parlor
• Canoe, kayak, and paddle boat rentals
• Themed activities, nature trail, and laundry facilities

Learn more.

Quechee / Pine Valley – Hartford, Vermont

Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp service)
• 85’ maximum RV length
• Off-leash dog park and activity field
• Bike, canoe, and banana bike rentals
• Heating swimming pool (open 5/27 to 9/5)
• Saturday hay rides, playground adventures, and family fishing at the pond

Learn more or Book now.

Cherrystone Campground – Cape Charles, Virginia

Park Features:

• Open seasonally from 4/1 to 10/31
• 181 full hookup 30 amp sites (87 wateelectric only 30 amp sites)
• 121 full hookup 50 amp sites
• Private beach, beach entry pool, and two Olympic-sized pools
• Lazy river, mini golf course, and four fishing piers
• Daily shuttle service into Downtown Cape Charles

Learn more.

Holiday Trav-L-Park – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Why They Recommended: “The place is pretty big (but tight, please know HOW to drive). It has seven pools, a bar, a restaurant, laundry, concerts, and a little trolley that will take you to the beach for even more entertainment.”
Park Features:

• 700 RV sites (full hookup and wateelectric only)
• Wooded, partly shaded, or open site locations
• Maximum RV length varies by site type
• On-site laundromat, Safari Cafe, and eight tiled comfort stations
• Trolley from the cafe to the beach and beyond
• Dog park, bike path, and convenience store

Learn more or Book now.

Virginia Beach Holiday – Virginia Beach, Virginia

Why They Recommended: “They just put in a lazy river and a brand new pool. It’s state-of-the-art!”
Park Features:

• Full hookup sites with 50, 30, and 20 amp compatibility
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Two heated pools, a lazy river, and a splash pad
• Trolley stop for exploring the nearby Virginia Beach waterfront
• Community bonfire, dog park, and electric vehicle charging station
• Bicycle, golf cart, and pedal cart rentals

Learn more or Book now.

New River Gorge Campground – Lansing, West Virginia

Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Views of ponds, sunsets, and nightly firefly displays (seasonally)
• Catch-and-release fishing
• Hiking and biking trails, swimming, and kayaking nearby
• Nearby rock climbing, rafting, and horseback riding

Learn more.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Southeast

Wind Creek State Park – Alexander City, Alabama

Park Features:

• 586 campsites with wateelectric hookups
• 157 waterfront campsites and 268 full hookup sites with sewer
• Two laundry facilities at the marina and a bathhouse
• Archery range, fishing, and mini golf course
• Boat rentals, horseback rides, and zipline canopy tours
• Sunday services, swimming area, and outdoor pavilions

Learn more or Book now.

Everglades Isle – Everglades City, Florida

Park Features:

• 59 full hookup RV sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Concrete pads (waterfront and inland) with daily trash service
• Clubhouse laundry facilities and complimentary Wi-Fi
• Luxury clubhouse with drinks, food, billiards, movies, and more
• Fitness center, office space, and veranda seating
• Lounge area, salon, and spa

Learn more or Book now.

Orlando / Kissimmee – Kissimmee, Florida

Why They Recommended: “Orlando has the best prices all year round! It’s in close proximity to Universal Studios, Disney, Disney Springs, lots of attractions, several grocery stores, and restaurants. Target even ships deliveries there.”
Park Features:

• Full hookup RV sites with 134’ maximum RV length (30 and 50 amp)
• Bike rentals, mini pocket park, and access to the public bus service
• Dog park, outdoor pavilion, and fitness center
• Heated swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna (open year-round)
• Electric vehicle charging station and taxi service
• Jump pad and playground for the kids

Learn more or Book now.

Fisheating Creek Outpost – Palmdale, Florida

Why They Recommended: “The lots have much more space than most parks. You are not three feet from your neighbor.”
Park Features:

• 18,000+ acre wildlife management area
• 48 full hookup RV sites (5 of which are ADA-accessible)
• The swimming area at Depot Lake
• Large pond with two islands near the Camp Store
• Canoe rentals and Riverside Cafe (open seasonally)
• Large screened recreation area with central bathhouse

Learn more or Book now.

Big Lagoon State Park – Pensacola, Florida

Park Features:

• ~75 campsites (some RV or tent, some tent-only, some RV-only)
• 40’ maximum RV length
• Swimming, boating, fishing, and paddling
• Biking, stargazing, and geocaching
• Access to the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail
• Boat launch, playground, and amphitheater

Learn more or Book now.

Jetty Park Campground – Port Canaveral, Florida

Park Features:

• 358 total sites (variety of water-only and wateelectric hookups)
• Bathhouses and communal fire pits.
• Views of rocket launches from Canaveral Air Force Station
• Shuffleboard courts and horseshoe pits
• Daily arrivals and departures of cruise ships and submarines
• Camp store and nearby fishing pier

Learn more or Book now.

Smith Ridge Campground – Campbellsville, Kentucky

Park Features:

• 80 campsites (62 with water and electric hookups)
• Flush toilets, showers, fire rings, and potable water
• Kid’s playground and easy access to miles of hiking trails
• Frisbee golf course, boat ramp, and swimming beach
• Fishing pier, marina, and picnic areas

Learn ore.

Mountain Stream RV Park – Marion, North Carolina

Park Features:

• 44 full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Access to Buck Creek along two edges of the campground
• Five miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Dog park, kid’s playground, and outdoor pavilion
• Camp store and bathhouse with showers and toilets

Learn more or Book now.

North Myrtle Beach RV Resort – Little River, South Carolina

Park Features:

• Oversized full hookup sites and a fully-stocked camp store
• Views of the nearby Intracoastal Waterway
• Swimming pool with a slide and splash pad for the kids
• 60-slip boat dock with observation deck
• Live music every weekend during the summer
• Food and drinks on the water at the Tiki Bar and Grill

Learn more or Book now.

Myrtle Beach State Park – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 140 standard water and electric campsites
• 138 full hookup sites
• All sites are located about 300 yards from the beach
• 30-40’ maximum RV length
• Beach access for pets and bikes is restricted to certain time periods (see site for more info)
• Nearby access to birding, fishing, swimming, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and more

Learn more or Book now.

PirateLand Family Camping Resort – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 748 full hookup sites
• Access to free Wi-Fi and daily trash pickup at each site
• Gated entrance with 24/7 patrol crew
• Eight climate-controlled bathhouses with toilets and showers
• Fully stocked camp store, outdoor chapel, and laundry facility
• On-site water park with Olympic swimming pool, lazy river, and more

Learn more or Book now.

Ocean Lakes Family Campground – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Park Features:

• 859 full hookup sites with free Wi-Fi
• 649 concrete pad sites with 45’ maximum RV length
• 19 total beach accesses
• Three-acre family fun center with game center, mini golf, swimming pool, and more
• Volleyball, shuffleboard, and basketball courts
• Nearby Ocean Lakes Nature Center Discover Lab with more than 10,000 shells and fossils

Learn more or Book now.

Anchor Down RV Resort – Dandridge, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 170 concrete full hookup sites
• All sites at least 50’ long by 18’ wide (sites differ by type and location)
• Basketball, gaga ball, pickleball, and volleyball courts
• Boat, jet ski, and golf cart rentals
• Leash-free pet park, beach area, and campground cafe
• Saltwater kiddie pool and large pool with waterslide (open Memorial Day to Labor Day)

Learn more or Book now.

Cherokee Dam Campground – Jefferson City, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 44 total sites (39 with water and electric)
• Views of the lake and mountains from nearly every site
• Sites require a two-night minimum stay
• The use of a water pressure regulator is highly recommended
• Nearby access to swimming and birdwatching
• Large public boat ramp nearby

Learn more or Book now.

Melton Hill Dam Campground – Lenoir City, Tennessee

Park Features:

• 61 total sites (35 with water and electric)
• Sites require a two-night minimum stay
• Two bathhouses with showers and flush toilets
• Designated swimming area
• Canoe and boat ramp access
• Free dump station access

Learn more or Book now.

Camp Margaritaville RV Resort and Lodge – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Park Features:

• Full hookup concrete campsites
• Complimentary Wi-Fi and cable TV
• Nearby Fin City Entertainment Center with arcade, bowling, billiards, and more
• Nearby pool recreation area with water slides, lazy river, and kid zone
• Pet park, camp store, and kid’s playground
• Live entertainment, breakfast buffet, and barestaurant

Learn more or Book now.

Little Arrow Outdoor Resort – Townsend, Tennessee

Park Features:

• Luxury and standard full hookup RV sites
• Luxury sites with outdoor sink and cabana
• Standard sites with paved patios and fire rings
• 24/7 coffee lounge with playroom and movie/book exchange
• Zero-entry pool with grottos, hot tub, and splash pad
• 1-2 miles of quiet, peaceful hiking trails

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Midwest

Sycamore Springs Park – English, Indiana

Park Features:

• 30 and 50-amp sites with a 55’ minimum site length
• Full hookup, wateelectric, and primitive camping available
• Free firewood and fire pits on all sites
• Modern restrooms and shower houses
• Family-friendly camping with no alcohol allowed on the grounds
• Fishing, hiking and picnicking available

Learn more or Book now.

Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort – Santa Claus, Indiana

Park Features:

• Open season 5/1 to 10/31
• 146 full hookup 50-amp sites
• 110 full hookup 30-amp sites
• Gem mining, golf cart rentals, and take-out dining
• Swimming pool, dog park, and water park
• Free shuttle service to the theme park and water park

Learn more.

Grand Haven State Park – Grand Haven, Michigan

Park Features:

• 48-acre park with Lake Michigan to the west and the Grand River to the north
• 174 paved campsites
• Steps away from the beach and the river
• Scenic views of the Grand Haven pier and two lighthouses
• Boardwalk along the Grand River for fishing or walking
• Accessible playground, picnic area, and modern restrooms

Learn more or Book now.

Otsego Lake State Park – Gaylord, Michigan

Park Features:

• 155 campsites (split between the North and South campgrounds)
• Half-mile sandy beach with designated swim area
• Kayak, paddleboard, and canoe rentals for day-use
• Nearby access to the Iron Belle Trail for hiking, biking, and snowmobiling
• Fishing pier and boat launch
• Designated beach area for metal detecting

Learn more or Book now.

Itasca State Park – Park Rapids, Minnesota

Park Features:

• 223 drive-in campsites in two campgrounds (160 electric-only)
• 60’ maximum RV length
• Seasonal dump station available in the Bear Paw Campground
• Interpretive exhibits and year-round naturalist programs
• Two-hour excursion boat tours of Lake Itasca
• Nearby restaurant and cafe (open seasonally)

Learn more or Book now.

Silver Dollar City Campground – Branson, Missouri

Park Features:

• Full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Picnic table and fire ring at each site
• Kid’s playground and swimming pool (open 5/28-9/5)
• Nearby theme park, water park, and dinner cruises
• Clubhouse with supplies and an air-conditioned lounge with Wi-Fi
• Complimentary shuttle service into Silver Dollar City

Learn more or Book now.

Lake Mcconaughy State Recreation Area – Brule, Nebraska

Park Features:

• Seven developed campgrounds
• Reservable and first-come, first-served campsites
• Reservable beach camping in 17 designated zones
• Reservations required 5/20 to 9/10
• Archery range, swimming, and playground
• Boating, fishing, and hunting

Learn more or Book now.

Mt. Gilead Holiday – Mt. Gilead, Ohio

Park Features:

• 150 acres of walking trails
• Dog park, playground, and fishing ponds
• Golf driving range
• Zero-entry swimming pool (open 5/26-9/4)
• Golf course rentals, sand volleyball, and ‘The Bonfire Bar’

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the South

The Woodlands RV Resort – Heber Springs, Arkansas

Park Features:

• 71 full hookup sites
• Five minutes from beaches, boat ramps, restaurants, and a golf course
• Easy access to hiking and biking trails
• Swimming pool, playground, and fishing pond
• Bathhouse, laundry room, and dog run coming soon

Learn more or Book now.

Sarah’s Seaside RV Oasis – Grand Isle, Louisiana

Why They Recommended: It’s the most laid back!
Park Features:

• Full hookup sites (30 and 50 amp)
• Family and pet-friendly
• Walking distance from restaurants, shopping, and bars
• Renowned for nearby world-class fishing and birdwatching
• Seasonal events like holiday decorating contests, seafood boils, movie nights, and more

Learn more.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Southwest

Mather Campground – Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Park Features:

• 327 primitive campsites with fire rings, a cooking grate, and a picnic table
• Flush toilets and drinking water spigots throughout
• Free dump station at Camper Services nearby
• Generators not permitted in Pine Loop (sites 265-319)
• Easy access to a paved walking and biking trail leading to overlooks and the visitor center

Learn more.

Tucson Lazydays – Tucson, Arizona

Park Features:

• 360 full hookup sites
• 73’ maximum RV length
• Pet-friendly sites, dog park, and dog wash available
• Two swimming pools, a hot tub, and a sauna (open year-round)
• Mini golf, bike rentals, workout room, and more

Learn more or Book now.

Caballo Lake State Park – Caballo, New Mexico

Park Features:

• Seven full hookup sites
• 98 water and electric (30 amp) sites
• 10 water and electric (50 amp) sites
• Three boat docks and two boat ramps
• Playgrounds and visitor centers with interactive exhibits for the kids
• Fishing, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and more

Learn more or Book now.

The Best RV Trips for Beginners in the Northwest

Coloma Resort – Coloma, California

Park Features:

• 43 full hookup sites
• 45’ maximum RV length
• Sewer hookups are available at off-river sites only
• Calendar of naturalist-led activities available (summer months only)
• Exclusive riverfront access with nearby kayaking, tubing, and rafting
• Swimming pool and children’s playgrounds
• Wireless internet throughout the campground

Pro Tip: You must cross the Mt. Murphy Bridge to reach this campground. Here are the height and weight restrictions for that bridge:

• Max Height: 13' 6
• Max Weight for 2 Axle vehicles: 12 Tons (24,000 pounds)
• Max Weight for 3 Axle vehicles: 19 Tons (38,000 pounds)

Learn more or Book now.

Arrowhead RV Park – Cascade, Idaho

Park Features:

• 116 full hookup sites
• Easy access to the Payette River for fishing or paddling
• Shuffleboard and horseshoe pit for family entertainment
• Communal firepit on the edge of the river
• Recreation room with books, board games, and movies

Learn more or Book now.

St. Mary / East Glacier – St. Mary, Montana

Why They Recommended: “Beautiful views right from the park!”
Park Features:

• 75’ maximum RV length
• 30 and 50-amp sites
• Large hot tub, pool, and sauna (seasonally)
• Kayak rentals and easy access to the Lower St. Mary Lake & River
• Dog kennels and dog walking service (for when you want to explore nearby Glacier National Park)

Learn more or Book now.

Cape Blanco State Park – Port Orford, Oregon

Park Features:

• 52 electric hookup sites with water
• Easy access to wildlife viewing, fishing, and horse trails
• Beach access and hiking trails
• Flush toilets and hot showers
• Lighthouse and Hughes House for historical tours

Learn more or Book now.

Seven Feathers RV Resort – Canyonville, Oregon

Park Features:

• 182 full hookup sites
• 60’ maximum pull-thru size
• 55’ maximum back-in size
• Hotel and casino across the street
• Indoor heated pool and hot tub
• Fitness and media centers

Learn more or Book now.
Want to add your advice to our poll? Click below to join the conversation!
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=776034604566862&id=100064809877965&mibextid=WC7FNe
Which destinations would you recommend for first-time RVers? Share your tips in the comments below.

📈 A*mazon's *1Q24 total revenue of $143.3 billion grew by 13% year-over-year. This growth was achieved by focusing on expanding selection, providing faster delivery, and offering customer-saving benefits such as grocery delivery and promotional events. The company also saw strong growth in its third-party logistics business and advertising services. Additionally, the AWS segment experienced accelerated year-over-year revenue growth of 17.2%, up from 13.2% in the previous quarter.
💰 In the first quarter of 2024, Amazon reported its highest quarterly operating income ever at $15.3 billion, which was a significant increase of 221% year-over-year or $10.5 billion. The North America segment operating margin was 5.8%, representing an improvement of 460 basis points year-over-year, while the international segment operating margin was 2.8%, illustrating an increase of 710 basis points year-over-year. These improvements were attributed to strong operational performance and lower cost to serve, including benefits from regionalization efforts and savings from more consolidated customer shipments. Additionally, the AWS segment saw its operating income increase by $4.3 billion year-over-year. The company highlighted that the majority of the recent cycle of cost optimization has been completed, leading to improved leverage in managing infrastructure and fixed costs, particularly in the AWS segment. However, it also mentioned that it anticipates a meaningful increase in capital expenditures in 2024, primarily driven by higher infrastructure CapEx to support growth in AWS, including generative AI, indicating that it is focused on driving efficiencies across its business to support strong growth.
🔮 Looking ahead, Amazon has provided forward guidance for Q2 net sales, expecting them to be between $144 billion and $149 billion, reflecting a projected growth of 7% to 11% compared with the second quarter of 2023. The company anticipates an unfavorable foreign exchange impact of approximately 60 basis points, emphasizing its cautious yet optimistic outlook.
🚨 The call also highlighted several risks, including:
1/ Capital Expenditures and Infrastructure Investments: With the accelerated growth in AWS, especially with generative AI demands, there is an expectation of meaningful increases in capital expenditures in 2024. This increased investment in infrastructure could affect short-term profitability, even though it signals confidence in long-term growth.
2/ Competition and Market Saturation: The company operates in highly competitive sectors like cloud computing (AWS), e-commerce, and advertising. It faces intense competition from other tech giants and emerging players.
Want to learn more about 1Q Earnings? See us at https://www.earningsdigest.ai/stock/analyze/DPZ-2024-Q1

So I've been radio silent, but I'm kinda back now. This is the beginning of my rewrite for this fic. Unfortunately I'm gonna take a bit to make the next part, this is due to me being part of the ficnnap. So future parts are gonna take a while to get going, hopefully I'll be functional enough to sit down during the summer and write a bunch.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the fic. Any feedback would be nice :).
<<================================>>
Welcome to the XCOM archives, what would you like to search for?
Search: Psionic Imprints, Class Administrator - level 9
Please input access code: ******************
Access Granted... What Psionic Imprint would you like to view?
Search: Board Member Elias Meier, Director
Beginning playback of Imprint... standby...
`Psionic Imprint Subject: Elias Meier, Exhausted Director'
Date [standardized Human time]: June 27th, 2136
Humanity learned it was not alone in the year of 2015, when it was viscously attacked by a hostile alien force intent on colonizing Earth. But humanity fought back, with the formation of XCOM. For the first time in the entirety of human history, Humanity stood as one. And we won, barely and not without consequences. Countries fell apart, or were briefly colonized; or in the case of Advent, for a couple decades.
Of course there was also the aliens that were invading. After some time it was found out that all of them of them were enslaved, controlled and distorted by the Elders.
Or Ethereals if you wanted to be pedantic. God I have had enough of pedantic people.
After a few tense decades, the aliens had slowly filtered into human society. The Vipers forming Sisterhoods, Mutons forming tribes, Sectoids getting into everything, Andromedas forming a haven for their people, and Chryssalids... once thought to be a dying race, surging back to life in 2077 and becoming a horrendous problem for everybody. There were a couple others but I couldn't be bothered to remember them.
Ding a little ring tone sounded, reminding me of my wretched job. I groaned, and waved my hand. I heard a dial up sound, as the system connected. Finally it connected, and one of the voices I dreaded hearing started speaking.
A monotone male voice, the voice of an emotionless thing created by XCOM to make death. "Hello Meier. I have a report, Wraith unit sent to System Gliese-832c has returned. A sapient alien civilization has been discovered. It is not what we expected though."
Wonderful, great even... God this is gonna be a whole thing to handle.
"Explain Odin, I will have to schedule a meeting about this new discovery."
"I have sent a data packet to your computer, which you would see if you looked at it sir"
How the fuck has he developed sarcasm? Has he always had this quirk or did he create it just to personally fuck with me?
I sighed and spun my chair around, away from the great view of my office window. The office I was trapped in was decently sized, the large desk with two 57 inch monitors on each side. The room was 10 feet tall, and 20 feet from door to window, and 12 feet wide. There was a seating area with two couches and a coffee table. A large drink cabinet flanked by two busts on pedestals, and a foyer sitting on the opposite wall flanked by tall standing plant pots with ferns. The entrance was double doors that looked like wood, but were actually plasma and explosive shielded metal doors.
On the left monitor was a display of the planet baring alien life. It was tidally locked, and was inhabited by... sheep, literal fucking sheep. Course they had paws instead of hooves and had no nose but still, literally just fucking sheep. They were apparently called Venlil. They had a decent population, and were part of a larger federation with an unknown number of species. They were at war with 7-8 feet tall nazi space crocodiles, and were deathly afraid of anything "predatory".
I glanced at a small box that appeared, it was an addendum by Dr. Valhen regarding the Venlil. It was a hypothesis regarding their physiology.
Experimental Codex Simulations put them at a 21.53% chance of surviving to a century with current physiology. Likely hood of genetic modification to weaken species at 71.89%.
The addendum pointed out the knocked knees, and the absence of a nose being the most likely areas of modification. I quirked an eyebrow up. I know Dr. Valhen had experience tearing open modified aliens and modifying people at an extreme levels. But still this had to be stretch.
"I have done my own calculations sir, and I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. Valhen sir." I stared pointedly at my monitors before sighing and rubbing my face.
Hmmm whom do I trust more? The mad scientist that walks around in several different metal bodies, or the psychopathic Codex who was created to be unnaturally good at killing. Hmmm good question... how about neither and say fuck it.
"OK Odin. Would you kindly contact the rest of the board and notify them about an emergency meeting?"
"Of course sir, I have already notified them about the scheduled meeting."
... Fucking prick. Oh well if I'm going to be sitting through a meeting I'm going to atleast drink some of the piss flavored water called vodka to pretend I can get drunk.
I stood up and walked over to the drink cabinet. A small round drone that was more of a floating camera came out of the ceiling and followed me. I opened up the cabinet and selected the highest proof alcohol I could find. After popping the bottle and grabbing a shot glass I walked back to my desk. Sitting down as an encrypted channel lit up my right side screen. I pressed on it and poured a shot, the small camera drone hovering in front of me just beyond the desk. The right monitor lit up as 6 people connected.
The Heads of Military, Research and Development, and Diplomatic Affairs were all in the meeting. Dr. Tygan and Dr. Shen heads of R&D, General Zhao and General Kelly heads of Military, Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman heads of Diplomatic Affairs.
Dr. Tygan didn't look a day over 30, even though he was older than myself. His white coat looked immaculate, and his glasses clean. But his posture and eyes spoke of a man who was debating falling over asleep or shooting someone in the face. Dr. Shen had safety gear on, his clothing stained by machine fluids and sweat. He looked more alive in his 40's than Tygan, and behind him was a scene of a bustling space yard. General Zhao was prim and proper, his posture rigid and his face completely neutral. General Kelly looked to be in a ships captain quarters, his General uniform replaced with a mandatory protective jumpsuit. He looked like he was just woken up, a steaming cup of coffee sitting before him. Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman looked... normal, they had proper uniforms on and looked like they had been working for a while but still had plenty of energy.
I shot the glass back then looked back at the drone, which had moved to be above the monitor. "So... I have received a report from Odin, and it is the reason for this meeting. Have any of you received the report as well and viewed the contents?"
Dr. Shen squinted at something behind the camera, before bending back and nodding. "Yeah I glanced at it, doesn't really affect my operations honestly. Besides I doubt that they could even get close to the OCDM. That thing can wipe out all kinds of stuff. "
Ms. Clark palmed her face, an exasperated look on it. "Could we not immediately discuss killing these new extraterrestrials? For all we know they number in the hundreds of species, or dozens. Not to mention we do not know the full extent of their technology. They could be much more powerful than us for all we know!"
General Zhao spoke up, a dismissive look to his face. "I have already run through some of the internal information of the Wraith unit. It appears that they have relatively the same level of technology as us. In fact they are actually inferior in some areas. For instance they practically have no cybersecurity. We could shut down their whole planet with a button press."
Ms. Clark groaned as she put her face in her hands. Mr. Freeman just leaned back looking tired. He raised a hand, a ding from the system notifying that he had a question. "Have we attempted to secure a direct access to their network? The more we know about these aliens the better. For all we know they have plans on dealing with "predatory" aliens. We could be signing the death certificate of humanity if we don't investigate more."
Clark looked up with shock and anger. "Yo-you can't be serious Mr. Freeman?! We haven't even attempted communication with these people and you're already planning on spying on them?! We should talk to them first, not just assume they are gonna be murderous!"
Everyone else on the meeting glanced around, the unsaid thing hanging in the air. Clark was very new to the board, and had grown up in New Russia. One of the European countries with the most amount of aliens. Everyone else had either only interacted with aliens as acquaintances, or killed them. Not to mention that XCOM was literally formed with the intention of pushing an invading alien empire off Earth. It had a long and bloody history with aliens, not to mention some of the things that it had done to aliens in service to Humanity.
General Kelly just sighed as he took a long sip of his coffee. Putting it down he crossed his hands in front of him. "We're getting off track people. We need to decide our course of action moving forward with these Venlil and their allies. I would recommend sending a civilian science vessel alongside two Avengers and a Hammer. The Hammer ship can operate in Stealth mode in the alien system, while the Avengers act like Cargo Ships. This allows us to put on a good face while still ensuring that our assets will be protected."
There was nodding across the board, everyone seemed to reluctantly agree on something for once. Then they all stared at their cameras, obviously waiting for myself. I sighed and poured another shot. "I concur with Kelly's plan, but I would also like to have Mothership Valhala on standby with Fleet Alpha. I would like you Kelly to command it, if you are too busy General Zhao will command instead."
Kelly and Zhao looked shocked by what I said. But they both donned neutral faces quickly afterwards. Zhao raised a hand, the system dinged signaling that he had a question. "May I ask why you are requesting this? Last time I actively commanded was for Operation Living Mausoleum and we all know how that turned out."
I shot back the glass and pointed at the camera. "That Operation was fucked from the very beginning. There was jack shit you could've done to prevent the casualties that occurred. Not to mention that you can't compare yourself to the Commander, he was inhumanly good at what he did. Hell from what I hear the man could practically see into the future. So quit it, stop beating yourself up over it. You're one of the greatest generals I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside with."
Zhao's face briefly clouded with a dark brooding look as I talked. But when I finished it lit up in surprise. He must still be beating himself up over that shit operation. I still remember reading the reports and feeling afraid about the future of XCOM. But thankfully Valhen managed to control the damn thing, and Diplomatic Affairs quelled the fires that had started from it.
"This meeting is concluded. Get back to whatever you all are doing." One by one the channel sent quiet. Tygan just stared into space, a vacant look on his face. "Tygan? Tygan!" He jumped in his seat, finally coming to. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "Tygan... it's getting worse... you really should reconsider your stance."
He looked up, a fire in his eyes. He put his glasses back on, tapping his fingers as he did so. "Well I won't. I'm not gonna stoop down to Valhen's level of depravity. The procedure is completely experimental and for all I know it's a miracle that I'm even still alive. I am almost 200 years old. If my mind is finally failing then so be it. I have played God long enough."
He left the channel right afterwards, only for another person to appear. It was Dr. Valhen and she had no camera feed. All I could see was a noise graph. "Meier... I would like to... make a... request- demand... I would like to attend the mission."
I slammed the shot glass on the table. "Absolutely not, I don't care what you're reason is. My final and only answer will be no. So kiss my ass, and go back to cutting apart death row inmates and war criminals."
…After a few seconds of silence and the graph not moving, it started laughing. That laugh told me more than enough. "Oh Meier, naughty naughty Meier... keeping me away from the new toys? How cruel of you... forgive me... I will honor your request..."
She... it left the channel. I closed it up, and spun my chair around. The window allowed me to view the Appalachian Mountains in all their splendor. In the distance I could see the camo fields of ships shifting as they moved about. I stared at the bottle before corking it and walking back to the cabinet.
This is gonna be an absolute shitshow. For all we knew we are boldly striding towards a war that will be the end of humanity once and for all.
End of Imprint
[Next]

I've been having a bug that started about 3 months ago and hasn't stopped since. It's made the game nearly impossible to play. It effects a friend of mine on nearly the same hardware as well, and it seems to happen more frequently when I play with him, or when him/I host the lobby. If one of our other friends host it, the issue doesn't seem to occur as often, if at all.
I've uninstalled the game completely, multiple times. Reinstalled the game, the only thing that seems to have any impact is going into my user folder and deleting the entire thing and all the shader caches. It is extremely annoying as it's to the point now where every 2-3 games I get this crash and I'm stuck at the load screen forever.
When viewing the game log, the only thing I can find is a CryCloud error (messageid: 441) 10, and if you watch the log, it gets to loading just sits there...forever.

<18:09:01> Stopping UI state machine 'start_menu_final_v2/PopupChecklist'... <18:09:01> Stopping UI state machine 'chat/Chat'... <18:09:01> Stopping UI state machine 'multiplayeFlow'... <18:09:01> CUIFrameworkInput: Removing cursor scope chat <18:09:01> CUIFrameworkInput: ApplyMouseVisibleImpl(-1) <18:09:01> CUIFrameworkInput: Mouse is set to invisible <18:09:01> [CryCloud] Sending request: Invoke (0x02000043) remotely on server with messageId = 441, grainId = 0, bodysize = 0 <18:09:01> Starting UI state machine 'ui/Loading'... <18:09:01> [CryCloud] ERROR (messageid: 441) 10 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] COnlineGameLobby::OnLobbyCustomDataChanged sid=7411632 (channel 3) <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] CGameLobby::MatchmakingSessionQueryCallback() got user data Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] mission=, Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] [CG] CGameLobby::GameRulesChanged() newRules=InstantAction, Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] CLobbyFsm::Update() processing event(eRET_StatusChanged) in state(eLS_Lobby). Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] CLobbyFsm::Update() transition from state(eLS_Lobby) to (eLS_PreGame) by event(eRET_StatusChanged) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] [CG] CGameLobby::EnterState() entering state eLS_PreGame(5) from eLS_Lobby(4) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] [CG] CGameLobby::OnGameStarting() Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> CMissionComponent::SetSessionMissionData for session 3 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] CLobbyFsm::Update() transition from state(eLS_PreGame) to (eLS_ConnectToGame) by event(EImpulse::eLFSMI_Update) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] [CG] CGameLobby::EnterState() entering state eLS_ConnectToGame(11) from eLS_PreGame(5) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] ConnectToCoreGame(): join command: connect 00000003,23.82.9.135:22873 <18:09:01> [Hunt Online] Waiting for engine to start connecting <18:09:03> [CryCloud] RECV messageid: 10 <18:09:03> [CryCloud] RECV messageid: 10 <18:09:03> [CryCloud] Sending request: Invoke (0x0200003f) remotely on server with messageId = 442, grainId = 1458171, bodysize = 2 <18:09:03> [Hunt Online] CLobbyFsm::Update() processing event(EImpulse::eLFSMI_ConnectStarting) in state(eLS_ConnectToGame). Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:03> [Hunt Online] CLobbyFsm::Update() transition from state(eLS_ConnectToGame) to (eLS_Loading) by event(EImpulse::eLFSMI_ConnectStarting) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:03> [Hunt Online] [CG] CGameLobby::EnterState() entering state eLS_Loading(12) from eLS_ConnectToGame(11) Lobby: 7411632 <18:09:03> [CryCloud] RECV messageid: 442 <18:09:03> [CryCloud] Sending request: Invoke (0x0200003f) remotely on server with messageId = 443, grainId = 1458171, bodysize = 52 <18:09:03> [CryCloud] RECV messageid: 443 <18:09:05> [CryCloud] Heartbeat Sent <18:09:05> Game rules class: InstantAction <18:09:05> CMissionComponent::SetSessionMissionData for session 3 <18:09:11> [CryCloud] RECV messageid: 10 <18:09:14> ============================ PrepareLevel levels/cemetery ============================ <18:09:14> Initializing default materials... 

I have done literally everything I can think of. I've updated and reinstalled my drivers multiple times, I've updated my BIOS on the off chance that could cause it, I've totally removed the game, deleted every reference to the game in the registry and in the steamapps folder. I briefly thought having my integrated GPU enabled might be causing it, so I disabled that in my BIOS as well to no difference. This is the only game I have this issue with whatsoever, and it's been happening for months and seems to become more and more of an issue every single patch. I've been trying to find a way to contact crytek support, but there doesn't seem to be a single functional link to that up anymore.
My specs are below:
CPU: 7800X3D Mobo: STRIX B650E-F RAM: G-Skill DDR5-6000 GPU: ASUS RTX 3070

Hey guys! I’m planning a trip to Central America this October to both visit rainforests (cloud forests specifically) and the beach to surf. I’ve been mainly researching Costa Rica, but I want to consider other options as well. My rough plan is to spend half our time in a rainforest environment and half surfing. I want to hike some longer trails (5-10 miles) in the rainforests to really get out there, and would prefer not to have to be guided. Also I know October is the wet season, I think the rain will be pretty sick in this environment. For the surfing part, I have only surfed once but as an expert snowboarder, I feel I could pick it up quick, so I’m looking to surf an intermediate break that I could still learn on. If you have any reccomendations for areas to visit, hostels to stay in, itineraries, or other things to do in between, please let me know!! Anything helps!

Comparison of Military and Government Contract Prices
To understand the potential financial impact for SoundHound AI if it secures government and military contracts, it is helpful to compare these opportunities with the highest bids from established defense and technology contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, BAE Systems, NSA, and CIA. Here’s a detailed comparison:
Military Contracts

1. Lockheed Martin
   
   • F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program: The F-35 program is one of the most expensive defense projects in history, with estimated costs of over $1.5 trillion over its lifecycle . Annual contracts can be in the range of $10-$20 billion.
2. Raytheon Technologies
   
   • Patriot Missile Systems: Contracts for the Patriot missile defense systems have reached over $10 billion .
3. BAE Systems
   
   • Typhoon Aircraft Program: The Eurofighter Typhoon project has seen contracts totaling over €100 billion (approximately $110 billion) for production and support across multiple countries .

Government Contracts

1. National Security Agency (NSA)
   
   • Cloud Computing Contracts: The NSA has awarded contracts worth up to $10 billion for cloud computing infrastructure to support its operations .
2. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
   
   • Cloud Computing Contracts: Similar to the NSA, the CIA has invested heavily in cloud technology, with contracts awarded to Amazon Web Services (AWS) reportedly valued at up to $600 million annually, totaling billions over several years .

Comparison to SoundHound AI’s Potential

1. Voice AI Integration in Defense Systems: If SoundHound AI secures contracts for integrating voice AI in defense systems, such contracts could be valued similarly to high-tech projects like cloud infrastructure. Initial contracts could range from $100 million to $500 million annually, potentially reaching billions if scaled across multiple defense systems and countries.
   
2. Public Services and Healthcare: Government contracts for public service applications of AI can be substantial. If SoundHound AI secures multiple contracts in the $50-$100 million range, these can cumulatively amount to billions over a few years.
   

Projected Revenue for SoundHound AI
Given the scale of military and government contracts, SoundHound AI has the potential to secure significant revenue streams if it successfully penetrates these markets. For example:

• Command and Control Systems: $100 million per contract annually.
• Training and Simulation: $50 million per contract annually.
• Public Services Integration: $50-$100 million per contract annually.

If SoundHound AI can secure 10 such contracts globally, the revenue potential could easily exceed $1 billion annually. Over a decade, with the expansion and renewal of contracts, the total revenue could reach $10 billion or more, similar to the trajectories seen by defense giants in specific technology niches.
Conclusion
Comparing SoundHound AI’s potential contracts to existing high-value military and government contracts highlights the substantial revenue opportunities. With strategic positioning and leveraging its technology, SoundHound AI could emulate the success seen by companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and others in securing large-scale, long-term contracts worth billions of dollars. This strategic move into government and military sectors could dramatically increase SoundHound AI’s market value and revenue, positioning it as a significant player in the AI industry.

relatives offered to buy me a perfume and i’d say my budget is max $60 but idk which one to get? idk much about perfumes or how to describe them but i LOVEEEE them anyways. my favourite perfume and the one i use everyday is chocolate musk oud. other scents i love are kayali 28 and b&b vanilla noel so if u can notice a pattern in my taste then lmk. i would like smth along those lines. here are my opinions on some other perfumes i have, hope u can help base recommendations off of these : Dolce & Gabbana light blue : EW NO i really don’t like this one it’s so citrusy and it kinda smells like another perfume i have called moschino or smth i hate both Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet : i like it. it’s light and floral types and feels classy 9/10 Bottega Veneta illusione : it’s the most unique perfume i’ve ever smelled, and it lasts so long and feels elegant. 8/10
i really wanted the kayali one but i think $138 is too much. So i was thinking of cloud or billie eilish since i’ve heard only great things. Please help!!

We’re trying to price out a solution for a LIVE STREAMING product that might require the server (or cloud) to receive 50Mbps of data total 24/7/365 from up to 10 residential users and to send 200Mbps back out to up to 10 residential users.
The stream data has to be secure or securable, no BS like unlisted youtube accounts.
Peer to peer is probably not an option given the residential limits.
Beyond that, we’re open to any ideas.
The server environment doesn’t matter much, give us a bare metal rack and we can figure it out.
Individual RTMP accounts or anything like that could also work, the stream data does not have to go through the same servers.
Bandwidth cost on solutions like AWS and individual RTMP providers appears to total out to around $10,000 a year right now, from what I can find.
That’s not unreasonable but I feel like I’m missing some better options.

So a few days ago it was my friends 18th we were all drinking cause it was an 18th and we’re British. Recently I had an issue where I over drank so I was making sure I wasn’t too drunk and didn’t want to drink too much. We were there from 3.30 till 7:30 after which we went to a pub until 9. Between the hours of 3.30 and 7:30 I had 3 drinks, a watered down sangria, a Moscow mule that was a bit strong and a weak Moscow mule. I was a bit buzzed but no where near drunk. When we got to bar my cousin took it apon himself to take away my drinks because ‘I was having too much’ (I ordered a Malibu and coke) I got annoyed at him and told him off, my friends told me off for raising my voice. I understand that, probably not the best place but I wasn’t raising my voice much and he was clearly being a dick. Then everyone wanted to do a birthday shot as a group and my cousin ordered them while I was away from the table and they completely left me out because ‘I’m meant to be controlling my drinking’ and I’d just had a cider and got another drink (it was about 8:30 at this point we planned on staying until 10 and that was gonna be my last drink to sip on). I did drink the cider a bit quickly (half an hour to 40 mins) but that’s because they spent ages taking a group photo and I’m self conscious about smiling so I held the bottle to mouth instead (it was meant to like an action shot in bar not a staged everyone smile at the camera). I got annoyed at my cousin for leaving me out. When I get annoyed I tend to gesture a lot and I accidentally wacked him in the face (It was a genuine accident, I’m dyspraxic and have terrible hand eye coordination) I tried to apologize but I didn’t get time before he was up trying to cave my skull in. My face is still bruised. The next day I get messages from 2 of my best friends. 1 says it was cause I was drinking too much (he treated me like I blacked out which hurt considering I was very obviously not drunk) and I need to show the group that I’m responsible, which is bullocks cause I had Less then most that night and told him such, he flat out denied it, saying that people were watching what I drank (clearly they weren’t). The other believed that I purposely hit him. Both defended my cousin for hitting me repeatedly and no one’s told him off for anything. I feel hurt and honestly combined with other realizations I’ve heavily considered just leaving the friends group.
I don’t think I drank too much (I’m a big lad so it takes a lot get me drunk) I’ve given them and my cousin so much and yet people have just completely thrown me under the bus.
I’m sorry for the long post but I needed to vent and see whether I’m not being clouded by my own feelings. So AITA?