After looking it over, I decided to buy it, and most of what he said was true! It only really has some surface rust, but nothing I can't take care of with a wire brush and some Fluid Film or POR-15. Same with the floor pans, everything is pretty solid, but there is some surface rust. Beyond that, it runs, drives, and stops!
It does need a few things though:
• Oil change & oil pan gasket • New tires • Alignment • New battery • Some dents pulled • Running lights • Brake adjustment
Would really like to get a new cover for the convertible top since that's missing on the car. Not sure on the technical name, but if anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears! It's the storage cover that goes over the top while you're driving with the top down. I'm also on the hunt for the "center stack" for the radio... The whole assembly is missing, and I'd really like to have music in the car that's not just a Bluetooth speaker. Someone already added aftermarket speakers, but the radio is completely gone.
Other than that, I'm super excited! I'm heading over to O'Reilly's after work tomorrow to pick up some oil. The previous owner left behind the oil pan gasket and a new filter, so plus there! If anyone else knows of anything else I should check for it to be "roadworthy" let me know.
Like I said, this is my first classic, so it's all very new to me 😊

A bit of a long post today summarizing Stannis's character journey through the books. Don't read if you don't mind a little Stannis dickriding. Sorry not sorry.
When I first read AGOT, I thought Stannis was pretty cool. Ned mentioned that he was a hard mfr, so I respected that, even if he didn't make an appearance. It also added to the mystique that this guy who hadn't showed up yet was massing an army just a couple dozen miles from King's Landing with a sorceress. Overall great side character in the first book.
Next book, he's at his worst (which is still pretty good, anyway). Pre-Renly assassination, Stannis was kind of a jerk. One line that stuck out to me was the "not allowing laughing at his feast" part. He wasn't mysterious anymore, he was just a guy with a small army and a huge navy groveling about what is rightfully his but wasn't granted to him. Stannis mostly stops his groveling after Renly's death, though, and gets his act together. The Blackwater was probably my favorite sequence in the books. The idea of guys charging across a burning bridge of ships redeemed whatever qualms I had about him before. He had an army willing to charge across a burning bridge of ships. Compare that to the dicking around that Renly did for most of the second book, hosting tournaments and feasts at every minor holdfast he came across.
Stannis's character development up to this point is minimal. He's stayed mostly the same, although with less complaining, since he has a larger army. After the Blackwater is really what this post is about, because that's when he changes the most.
He realizes now that with his army basically reverted back to what it was pre-Renly, and with much less of a navy, that he can't hope to win any land campaign against any of his opponents in the South. He can't gather Tyrell swords, and he has no gold to buy a lot of mercenaries. So he sits on Dragonstone and becomes reclusive and despairing.
Then Davos comes back, and so begins the best bromance in Westeros (i'm willing to debate this with my life). Unlike the BS other version, he smiles and is very happy that Davos came back. He appoints a commoner as Hand of the King, knowing he's the only one to give him honest advice. Never done before (to my knowledge). "Then we will make new lords" is such an awesome line. Davos is one of the purest people in Westeros, and 100% deserves it. I realized that if Davos was supporting Stannis wholeheartedly, and Davos was basically an angel by Westerosi standards, Stannis couldn't have been that bad of an option for King.
I think what turned a cool but sometimes annoying character into a legend was his saving of the Wall, at Davos's insistence. He listens to his hand, leaves tiny garrisons in Storm's End and Dragonstone which he's probably confident will be starved out or taken within the year, and heads north. He bets all this on the word of his Hand and a single letter. All the other Kings and various claimants, who had more men than he did, didn't spare anybody. Stannis brings his entire army.
Few of the birds that Aemon) had sent off had returned as yet. One reached Stannis, though. One found Dragonstone, and a king who still cared.
So Stannis lands and disembarks, taking the wildlings by surprise. I think "Stannis! Stannis! STANNIS!" was what turned most Stannermen into what we are today. He defeats 40,000 warriors in an even larger column with 2,000 mounted knights and men-at-arms. He saves the Night's Watch when no other King would, preventing a full-on wildling invasion. I know some people say they wouldn't be as bad as some others say, but nobody can control a horde of 100,000 undisciplined people who just got past a massive wall. There would've been a fair bit of looting and killing.
Then, he listens to Jon Snow, offers to legitimize him and accepts his rejection. He thinks he should attack the Dreadfort, and even though he's famed for being stubborn, he sees reason, and decides on a march on Winterfell. He completely breaks with his character when he also listens to more advice that says he needs to court the mountain clans. He gains three thousand men from this venture. Overall, doing great.
Even if the North is only supporting Stannis to get a Stark back in Winterfell and kill the Boltons, I don't think they'll betray him either. The Great Northern Conspiracy is probably a vast collection of smaller conspiracies, all wanting to get a Stark back ruling the North, as a King or not. Just my thoughts, though, it's completely open to interpretation.
So he rallies whatever remains of the North to him, and liberates Deepwood Motte, giving it back to its original house, getting their support as well. He keeps valuable prisoners and helps to keep an army full of multiple ethnicities and dialects afloat long enough to smash the Freys. He has a great plan which I believe will work.
This is how far Stannis goes in the books. I might update if Winds comes out. I have no delusions, Stannis is doomed by the narrative, but I think (hope) George will do him a service and allow us to have the satisfaction of seeing him string up Roose and Ramsay, and then go out like a boss against the Walkers.
CONCLUSION
Overall, he went from a spiteful man who was, although the better candidate for King than his brother (i'll debate this in the comments if you want) only thought of his rights, and not of his people, at the beginning. Quote:
Surprisingly, Stannis smiled at that. “You’re bold enough to be a Stark. Yes, I should have come sooner. If not for my Hand, I might not have come at all. Lord Seaworth is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne.” Stannis pointed north. “There is where I’ll find the foe that I was born to fight.”
Unfortunately, that probably won't work out for him, but Stannis is, without a doubt, the greatest of the candidates living. In the Clash of Kings era I wouldn't have said this, but GRRM has shown that he does bend, like when he courted the mountain clans or learnt to serve the people to gain loyalty, not the other way around.
I hope I get to see him roast Ramsay on a spit.

Once upon a time, on a kingdom far away, there lived a boy named Juan. Juan was a poor boy who lives on a small village. He was a kind and has a gentle soul, though he have a broken heart. Juan has fallen in love with a beautiful girl named Daisy.
They had known each other ever since they were little, and their love has grown strong everyday. But Daisy's father was a very wealthy king who do not approve Juan in his sight.
One day, Daisy's father arranged for her to marry a wealthy prince from another kingdom. Despite her protests, Daisy was forced to accept her father's decision, and she left the village, leaving Juan behind with a broken heart.
Juan could not bear to see Daisy marry someone else. He decided to sell his broken heart to the highest bidder, in the hope of winning Daisy's love. Juan travelled to the capital city where he put his broken heart for sale. Many wealthy suitors came by and offered Juan a fortune for his heart, but Juan refused them all determined to only sell his heart to someone who truly love Daisy. Finally, a young prince named Jack came and offered to buy Juan's heart. Jack was in love with Daisy, and he promised to use the heart to win her back from the wealthy prince. Juan agreed and sold his heart to Jack for a small portion of money. But as soon as the deal was made, Juan realized his mistake. He had sold his heart to the wrong person. Jack was not in love with Daisy but rather with her wealth and status. He used Juan's heart to win Daisy's hand in marriage, but he treated her poorly and abused her.
Daisy was devastated by Jack's betrayal, and she begged Juan to take back his heart, but it was too late. Juan's heart was now a part of Jack, and he could not reclaim it anymore. In the end, Juan was left with a shattered heart and learned a lesson. He realized that true love cannot be bought nor sold, and that it is better to suffer with a broken heart than to sell it to someone who does not truly love.

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Holy moly, what a wild ride this week!
Gallery/Proof: https://imgur.com/a/m4kI4gk
I began listing items for sale last week on the Silverbugs discord, got busy and forgot to list them here.
Look at my history! Big sales in the past.
I prefer no brokemiddle-man on sub $2000 buys.
I am solid for shipping and communication and I spare no expense on reinforced tape! Have a ton of references!

Bundle and save big!

1. 4x 2012 1kilo Australian Koala's - $1150ea+Shipping / $4000 bundle shipped.
2. 20x - PCGS MS70 Graded 30th Anniversary - 2016 American Silver Eagles - $85ea+shipping / $1600 together in the PCGS Package shipped
3. 2012P Australian Year of the Dragon Kilo MS70 NGC - $1500 Shipped
4. 2015 American Platinum Eagle Proof w/ Box and CoA - $2250 Shipped
5. Republic Metals Sequential Kilo Silver Bars - $1200ea+shipping / $2200 bundled Shipped
6. 4x - 10oz Bars (Silver Gold Bull, Silvertown, Royal Canadian Mint) - BELOW SPOT!!! - $320 separate / $1200 together shipped.
7. 2x - Tiffany 14kt Gold Tie Bars w/ Box/Bag - $320ea or $600 together shipped.
8. 2x - 1g 2017 Chinese Gold Panda in sealed Mint Packaging - Not breaking these open so $260 for both of them, shipped.
9. 2x - V75 Silver Proof ASE w/box - $360ea or $700 together shipped.
10. 3x - Panamerica 2Ozt Silver Octagonal Coins - $85ea or $250 together shipped.
11. 2x - MS70 2013 $1 Australian Silver Platypus Map Coin - $110ea +Shipping or $220 Shipped.
12. 5x - 2023 Australian Year of the Rabbit 1ozt Coin - $42ea or $200 shipped.
13. 10x - 1oz Silver .45acp Bullets, not breaking the bundle - $310+shipping
14. 1 - 4Ozt Guaranteed $100 Bullion Bar w/ COA - $170+Shipping
15. 1.3g PCGS Certified Gold Nugget - $130+shipping
16. 3.0g Australian Gold Nugget in Card - $585 shipped.
17. 3x Various 30g Silver Pandas - $32ea - $90+shipping together.
18. Commonwealth Bundle - 8x 1ozt rounds from the commonwealth countries Britannias, Superman Canadian, Chinese New Year Canadian: $32ea+shipping or $240 shipped!
19. 5x - .50cal Silver Bullets - $325ea+shipping / $1600 together shipped
20. 3x - Krugerand 1ozts - 2 of these are in a COA - $100 shipped.
21. 10ozt Englehardt Bundle - 3 poured 2ozt bars, 4 1ozt Englehardt Prospector Rounds - $340 shipped!
22. Catch 22 Bundle - 22ozt of silver in 2 bars and a gun! - $680 shipped
23. There Be Dragons Bundle - 2x 5ozt 2018 Niue rounds and 5x Australian 1ozt Dragon Bars - $550 shipped
24. 4x - 2016 Queens Breasts 2ozt Rounds - $295 Shipped
25. 6x - ASE Randoms in Retail Packaging - $225 Shipped
26. Zi:Sin with some Ghosts Bundle - These are getting rarer to find, I priced them reasonably - $750 Shipped.

Negotiable. DM Me. Must have history for transactions.
PPFF, Zelle, Venmo, Cashapp or Cash.
This is likely round 1 of 4 for my inventory shuffle. --- I have A LOT more coming soon.

I know it’s not ideal, just wondering if anyone has experience using a 30” for both waterfowl and upland.
For context on my location… Manitoba, Canada. I have access to essentially endless acres of prairie, bush and woodland in the province.
There is a lot of waterfowl opportunities and sharp-tailed grouse in the fields are my favorite hunt. Ruffed and Spruce grouse are plentiful too and I’m often in the woods chasing those later in the season.
The reason I’m asking, is there’s a few nice old wood furniture pumps for sale in my area with 30” barrel im considering buying.

For those who have followed my other posts, myself and STBXH are still living together. I’m currently applying for jobs to earn money for both lawyer fees and to keep a roof over my head. So for the most part, the husband has said that his reason for cheating and wanting a divorce is that he has done so much for everyone all his life that now he just wants to be happy. Then a couple of days ago he said that he has been wanting out of the marriage for 7 years ( 3 kids ago 😩) and thought cheating was the easiest way out. Now he says he wants out because from the very beginning of our marriage he has been afraid of my reactions to discussing things he wants to do. For example: in 2016 he wanted to buy a car but was “afraid of my reaction” so he bought the car without telling me and waited for my reaction when the car was delivered. A recent example: I was getting dressed and went to put on my shoes but couldn’t find them. I asked had he seen them and he said he sold them because we needed money for the water bill. He didn’t tell me because he was “afraid of my reaction”. Btw both are real scenarios and neither time did I freak out or melt down. My thing is what’s up with the changing reasons for divorce? Is it affair fog or just him grasping at straws? I think the last reason is the most ridiculous as I have never flipped out on this man until I found out he was cheating.

By Jason Lemkin
A little ways back I put together a list of things sales reps recently said to me as a buyer of SaaS products … that killed the deal:

• “You are wasting my time”. I don’t think many folks say this aloud to prospects, but many B-tier reps say it internally — and think this all the time. No. A prospect’s time is always valuable. Sales is there to serve, and help a prospect find the best solution to their problem. If sales was routed the wrong lead, that’s the company’s fault, not the prospect’s.
• “Our product does [key feature]” — when it doesn’t. If I’m buying a product I haven’t used before, the AE is my guide. If he/she tells me things that aren’t true to close the deal, I’m out. I’m buying a solution. I need to know for real if it solves my problem — or not.
• Constant bashing of competitors. Not only does that make the company look insecure — it makes me want to go test the competitor instead. Even worse (see prior point) is when they say something about a competitor that isn’t true.
• Forcing me to talk to an SDR first. SDRs are great, but oftentimes SMBs don’t want to be qualified. Personally, I want to try, use, and buy. I lose patience here and move to a vendor I can just deploy without being forced to talk to an SDR that just wants to force me to get on the phone and screen me but doesn’t get me going now.
• Wrong / painful economic terms, even if price itself is OK. I’m basically an SMB these days. I don’t like annual contracts, and I especially don’t like being railroaded into enterprise-type contracts — multi-year with no outs. I don’t have patience for any contract that is so long it requires legal review. Let the buyer buy the way they want. And let especially SMBs out if you don’t deliver for them.
• “I’m turning off your trial” — and other threats. Yes, you have to do that. But a sales rep needs to do it the right way. Threats don’t work. How about “Your trial is about to end — I can extend it a week if that helps? Let me know what I can do to help you get going with us!” Then — I’m in.

Anything else to add to Jason's list?

For context I Bought a El Camino last November and recently started working on it in the early spring time. Fuel pump was bad swapped the carb got rid of the smog equipment replaced the radiator, only to finally turn it on and find a bunch of oil in my coolant. It has a 305 in it currently and a machine shop in my area quoted me about 750 for resurfacing and to bore and to hone. I would do the head gasket replacement myself, but I'm wondering if it would be worth it to drop 750+ cost of pistons, or to just save up some extra money and buy a new crate engine. Even ignoring the engine altogether and just rework everything from the back to the front and get there slowly over time. If anyone has any ideas on where to start and ideas on what would be the best avenue for cost and time I'm all ears.

So for now I mainly plan to visit Capitoline museum(s) and National Roman museum(s). Why "s" in bracket you may ask, because ironically even tho I want to visit those I'm not completely sure how many collection of museums include in one. For instance National Roman museum also include Baths of Diocletian and some others as far as I know.. Are baths of Caracalla part of some museum? Do I have to pay a ticket for every individual of those museums, how many are they actually? Is the Capitoline museum also multiple museums actually? Also the same question am I buying one ticket for all or I need to buy for every museum individualy, how many of them are there.. My head is hurting, can anyone guide me through so I can go prepared and make a complete experience out of it? I saw so many recommendations for museums, but as I searched for them I got the feeling that some of those recommendations are just part of the big daddy museum and I'm so confused which is which. I'm into ancient Rome so feel free to give some additional guides and recommendations (if museum pls mention if it is part of some bigger's museum complex 😂).

I've read people's opinion on it and why it makes sense vs the one's who don't like it. Watched gameplay from different people. played multiple games with this rework trying out different strategys. No matter what is going on it's just awful to play. I genuinely don't see why they did this and most of the people who like it can't even explain why. Most just like it because it's a (new) support because it's a support without caring about the character. Others want it to happen whether because they hate going against Moji or the low pickrate excuse even though kinnesa and strix exist. So like the other actual Moji mains or people who know how she operates and her history. I'm going to explain everything wrong with this rework and why it shouldn't happen.
 

Spit & Sparkle

\ \ I have multiple problems with this change. Let's start with the fact that sparkle now self slows you for 20% when used. It used to be 10% which was one of the main issues that we wanted to be removed but kept it now it's at 20%. So now Moji has a ball and chain on her and anyone with extra speed will outrun Moji's heals and damage. Thought supports was supposed to stay with the team. Not have a hard time keeping up with them. No wonder Moji she tells Po-Li to go faster. In order to do it you have to stop healing, then heal, and do it again which means you have less healing. Unless of course they're glued to the point which won't happen in most cases since people have to constantly move in different areas because of what's happening.
Also when it comes to attacking and running away you might as well stay still. Where are you going while being self slowed for 20% while having a big hurtbox? Everyone in this sub just forgot about her big hurtbox which makes Fighting even more of a issue. Even if you use morning breath which takes off 4% of self slow. You still have the big hurtbox issue and less options for better cards which most of them suck that I'll slightly explain later as well. Self slow should be gone in general. It should have never stayed especially when they decided to remove it for everyone else.
Second issue is her damage. There was a reason why she did 1,000 damage and not 450. Not only that but they removed her ability to mark enemies by default. You can with a talent but I'll get to that later. Spit does the main damage and now sparkle does limited tickle damage which also means you're wasting your heals. Who thought this made sense in the slightest. You have to use that in order to kill your enemies faster. When your done you have to wait for it to refill to attack the next enemy coming when no one else comes to help making you helpless. Or you somehow kill the enemy because it's hard to do unless low health. You have to use the rest of it to heal your team which you won't have enough of. This is painful to use.
Third issue is it has heal ammo like IO that runs out quick. Yes you can mark your team but it still isn't enough and doesn't fix the main problems. Her main healing is short range. Name one healer in the game that has a short range in healing. They also have to manually heal with sparkle which other manual healers especially auto or assisted aim healers can do way better. God forbid if they have to come back into battle and try to heal a low health teammate with spit which you will miss multiple times. So what's the point of healing with this character. Moving on to Magic Shield
 

Magic Shield

 
This ability doesn't do much for her team or herself and she should have kept magic barrier. This ability feels like a worse version of Torvalds removed talent alternating current. Instead of delaying your death by 1.5 seconds you delay it by one attack and take the next few shots before being able to run away. The only possible use of it is a niche build and team where you run with a flank while having the card harmonious. With the card you are basically a walking dispenser that shoots with the flank you will hug through most of the game. We already have enough niche things that can be pretty boring and are hardly used. Torvalds had multiple of those. Moji doesn't need it too.
 

Scamper

\ \ You can now run indefinitely with it. They removed bunny hopping but then they brought it back when they realized that she was a literal bunny. When they brought it back though they nerfed the speed and the bunny hops. It's so noticeable that it's not any different from the scamper ability when it comes to speed. The only good thing about it is when you do the advanced tech when trying to spray. That is until that 20% self slow puts a ball and chain on you. This doesn't fix her main issues and they made it worse beilieve it or not. Here's there reason on doing it.
Due to changes to how Scamper functions, Bunny Hopping will be weaker at base than it was prior. In order to feel similar to how it did on Moji prior, you'll want high levels of both Boop and Morning Breath to allow those same flings across spaces.
This is completely wrong because when did we ever had a card that decreases self slow. Your really trying to tell me that Moji players, grandmaster Moji players, and bot Moji didn't know anything about it??? Guess it was hidden in the game the whole time. Plus it doesn't even change the speed of bunny hopping because you nerfed it and nothing in her cards effects it. So in order to maintain any kind of speed I have to put points into morning breath which is pretty a forced have too in game. Also who uses boop to increase the speed after using scamper. No one used it because bunny hopping was way better than that because you're able to move while attacking and defending yourself. Anyone running it was basically throwing without knowing. Not even maxing out scoot will save you. Your just delaying your death with that maxed out 20% damage reduction and giving them more ult. Seriously if using regular scamper made you die when trying to escape. What's making it indefinitely going to do?
 

Bon Appetite

\ \ This one really amazes me because they actually put part of yummy into base kit that we asked for halve what. Except there is no ult percentage and gives 50% of maximum health instead of 1000hp and ignores anti-healing. Problem is. This ult is now basically worse than pips ult and atlas setback. They changed everything else but the ultimate in order to keep the old Moji play style that is pretty much dead. They clearly want her to be glued to her team and with this ultimate you make them have to run to the opponent to eat it. The main use now for it is to use it for defence which is horrible because it's so easy to predict it. Most characters can either block, CC immune, dodge, and other things to ignore being ulted. Even with the cancels it won't work. You had a better chance of using it because you can attack regularly, use the magic barrier combo, and other methods to make people take the ultimate. Without magic barrier she less uses for her ultimate. It's now a long charging ability and is terrible. Now for the talents.
 

Spit Shine

\ \ Spit now heals them for 350 and increases their Movement Speed by 20% for 2s. Why is this reworked Moji's only true support talent. This talents fine until you realize that it's also goes against Moji and the team. Let me explain. Remember how Moji has 20% self slow when she fires. Well now that the team is moving at 120% now you're basically moving at 60% and they're outrunning you. Some characters can move even faster and you will basically be at a speed of 40%-60%. So if you felt forced using morning breath you will using this talent and have to make it 5 points. Even with morning breath maxed out. You will be moving at 60%-80% and will be forced to use scamper and may get attacked by a enemy and can't run or hurt them enough. You're just a bad assist healer with some use that is not enough.
 

Jubilation

\ \ Reworked to "Magic Marks are now instead applied to enemies. Detonating at least 7 stacks of Magic Mark deals bonus damage, up to a total of 800". I'm aware that she is a support but they still don't know why she did 1,000 damage in the first place. With this talent you no longer have the ability to use the secondary to heal people. This talent will bring these types of players.
The ones who like old Moji and then realizing that they changed so much that flank Moji is not possible. Instead they may go damage and heal from time to time. Another one is that someone uses it for defence while mainly healing the team and forcing two supports to play in the match. The last one is someone you will see more often is someone not able to play Moji or the talent well. Youthought grohk going damage and seris flanking on the same team was bad. Get ready for her to join the team. Your going to ask them so who is going main support and who will play tank and it's television static. The seris will stand around too much and do a bunch of questionable things. Grohk only has some heals because they were there when they played damage. The Moji is struggling to do anything with it. The seris will plug and the bad grohk player will say something crazy before leaving a millisecond later.
No matter what you do with the talent based on your skill. Nothing just works for reworked Moji including the cards. The damaged worked because she had magic barrier and damage combos with it. Without it she can't do anything when she's is in danger including running away with the giant hurtbox.
 

Realm Runner

\ \ When entering Scamper, leave a magical dust cloud behind that applies a lingering heal for 600 over 3s. Dust cloud lasts 4s.
Moji mains have been wanting toot I mean realm runner in base kit for awhile because it's not a real talent. It's a better version of scurry and when it's in base kit then she would actually be able to use the other two talents and do better without ruining gameplay for anyone. Instead they kept it as a talent to play the old Moji. What old Moji...you got rid of almost everything Moji who is basically just a echo champion at this rate. You turned a forced talent into a throw talent.
The dust cloud we wanted back is just a sparkly circle on the ground that people won't be able to see. Plus is like back then where the team can see it and no one else. Otherwise people will know where she is and take her down. Why.
 

Cards

\ \ None of the cards have any synergy with each other at all. You're basically forced to use morning especially with the healing talent at 3-5. Since default ammunition for sparkle is terrible you will definitely need 3-5 points for symbiotic. Dense woods never needed any points above 1 and was a decent filler card for old Moji. However since this is reworked Moji. Don't think it's worth using since you will try to be around the team constantly and should already be enough. Now we have 5-9 points for ourselves so what can we do. Uhhhh. Well damn.
Oh I didn't mention this earlier but remember how spit shine and Moji's 20% self slow makes the team run away from her. Well the card natures blessing gives allies 5% extra speed when they get hit by spray for 3 seconds. So you can max this out at 25%. Instead of being 40-60% slower than faster teammates being healed with there speed cards and abilitys. 60% slower when trying to healer teammates without anything making them move faster besides you. This is how fast you will be moving compared to them.
You will be moving at 15% at worst to 55% when trying to heal teammates while trying to heal them as they really outrun your heals. With morning breath maxed out you will mainly be moving at 35%-75% while healing. No one has tested this character at all.
Anyway you can look at the cards and get some ideas as we move on to the long time Moji bugs. So for the people who been playing Moji or about to with support Moji. Get ready to deal with these long time annoying bugs.
 

Weapons/Armor

\ \ Fluffy
Increase your maximum Health by {5050}.
Peppy
Generate {0.40.4}% Ultimate Charge when triggering a max stack Magic Mark.
Symbiotic
Increase your Sparkle capacity by {66}%.
Will-o-the-Wisp
Increase your Movement Speed by {55}% for 4s after getting an Elimination.
 

Sparkle

\ \ Dense Woods
Increase the duration of your Magic Marks by {0.80.8}s.
Greater Good
When an ally receives max Magic Marks, they gain a {2020} Health Shield while marked.
Morning Breath
Reworked to "Decrease self-slow of Sparkle by 2020%"
Nature’s Blessing
Allies gain {55}% Movement Speed for 3s after being hit by Familiar Spray.
 

Magic Shield

\ \ Cozy
Magic Shield Heals allies for {66} every 0.25s while its being channeled.
Glimmer
Reduce Magic Shield’s Cooldown by {0.10.1}s when detonating a max stack Magic Mark.
Harmonious
Regenerate {31}% Sparkle and Ammo for affected allies every 0.25s while channeling Magic Barrier.
Shimmering
Allies affected by Magic Barrier gain {33}% Crowd Control resistance for 4s.
 

Scamper

\ \ Boop
Increase your Movement Speed by {88}% for 2s after using Scamper.
Scoot
Reduce the damage you take during Scamper by {44}%.
Scurry
Heal for {2020} every 0.3s during Scamper.
Wobbles
Gain {1010}% Slow resistance while using Scamper.
 

The Bugs

\ \ It isn't a paladins games without mentioning the bugs. Here's what to expect when playing her so you don't get confused.
If a seris or Kasumi is on the team and attack the same enemy as you. Your marks will reset back to zero everytime they attack. Now can this somehow happen when trying to heal the same teammates. No idea but anything goes with paladins.
If you mark a enemy, shoot spit at them and die. Despite the mark being there the game will for some reason make you do zero mark damage.
A enemys hurtbox when turned into a cookie is really weird. You can touch them multiple times and still won't be eaten until they finally do. Sometimes they may turn back to normal even though you clearly deserved it. Last part hasn't happened to me and I hope it doesn't. What's even weirder is that even though you can't eat them from the front from time to time. Even when they're literally on your head and jumping around. You can definitely eat them from behind with no misses. Why has this not been fixed.
When being ulted by furia that's supposed to give 30% extra damage. You will instead receive 9% extra damage. I don't think this happens to no one else besides maybe jenos too.
These bugs are still relevant for reworked Moji. The other ones are not there like snack attack so I won't mention them. I even have videos for these bugs too. Don't think because these videos are old it means that it no longer happens. The horse bug is old and that has been going on for years including other things.
https://www.reddit.com/Paladins/comments/tvfhlg/a_video_of_multiple_moji_bugs_happening_ill/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/Paladins/comments/z33w1x/yeah_that_makes_sense/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
 

Conclusion

\ \ I know they want to do something with her but I don't buy it that they did this because they cared about Moji. Moji hardly got any changes for years and I mean rarely a update to anything about her even though we're telling them what to do and then they rework them. They did thid because they didn't have funds for a echo champion since that was mentioned in the exact same post when talking about changing moji. Paladins has a history of someone who works on the game saying they will do this or mention a thing. Whether or not people like it or not which most of them we didn't like. They will still do it like echo champions.
This is the wrong way to go about it and no warning was ever given. To people who think well people ask for support/tank in the past. Those people now see that Moji is actually better than how people depicted her in late season 2. Plus those people no longer play the game and had a whole different idea when paladins was different back then. It's one thing to say I want a support. It's another when it comes to a type of support and what they have but everyone can't explain it because they simply hate Moji based on the comments. There are some characters I hate going against and when there character gets gutted I don't cheer in excitement. I would hate that to happen to my favorite characters. I simply want a certain thing nerf if it's clearly too much but without ruining them. I only suggest a rework or change to a certain thing if nothing else can work and is something people can agree on that benefits everyone.
These changes don't benefit anyone including the ideas since no one asked for these specific things. I would just revert it and actually listen to Moji mains needs to make her a better character. Not just Moji but every character. Especially the non human characters because they stay ignore them including people wanting ruckus Aerial Assault in base kit. Rather you guys fix the actual issues than do stuff like this. Including finishing unfinished maps instead of a unnecessary map rework making them worse to play on and never fixed.
That's all I have to say. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Actually have a real opinion and thoughts and not repeat the same thing over and over without making a actual point or I'm ignoring it.

G,day everyone
So about 12 months ago i did everything to make my house as smart as i could that was worth doing. With google home.
One issue i keep having is devices like google mini will just disconnect from the network and wont re connected even after a reboot, i have to reboot the router and the mini to restore it, but geez its annoying having one device not connected i can be in another room with its own mini and the one that isn't working goes of its head again.
But my reason for this post is i bought about 18 Lenovo smart bulbs for the whole house, all top of the line colour changing one's, Now one has blown its connected to wifi but no lights on. Tried everything to reset it but failed. One bulb isn't the end of the world. But when i tried to buy a new one i couldn't find any one that sold them. So i called Lenovo tech support and they said yes they no longer make smart home products, so i would be unable to buy another one of any kind. Very helpful Lenovo, they did say if i sent it back i would get a refund but that does not help me. And i also had the issue of my Samsung fold 5 would not open the lenovo app, would just say there is a bug in the software and closing it. I think that because their old shitty app hasn't been updated in years that it now doesn't support new devices. So i had to get my old shitty tablet just to remove the device from the app. But then when i tried the app on the tablet it kept saying server is busy try again later, took me about 10 goes before i could get in once, just to remove that one light. And i can no longer control the app or settings on my new phone.
So i bought a Tp link bulb to replace it and a cool little ptz camera they also made and both claim to work with google home.
After unlinking the lenovo app to remove just one device i added the new TP link light bulb and it works ok now but the colour temps are different, its bright white is different to the Lenovo light next to it. So I've got different colour lights now next to each other, so that's a pain, or start replacing them all with TP link bulbs.
The camera connects to the google home app ok but when you go to view the camera or do anything with it, you just get a notification that you cannot view or control the camera in google home, has to be a separate software or has to be display screen like chromecast or a nest device. Is it really that hard for google to show me whats going on within the app? All the other cameras work on with google like the doorbell camera why cant it show another camera.
Sorry rant over.
TLDR: Lenovo have stopped making smart products so tough luck if you need something replaced, and TP link stuff doesn't work well with google home.

What's going on $FFIE family? I just wanted to post this video here and hope you all can check it out because the gentleman in it brings up some really interesting points that I wanted to outline.
Before we begin just a quick disclaimer:
**Disclaimer: I am in no way a financial advisor, nor am I giving you financial advice by writing this post. This post is just a reiteration of the YouTube video I'm posting here and am essentially just reiterating what this gentleman is suggesting in this video. So at your own discretion, please use this information for educational purposes ONLY and not to guide you in your financial decisions. As always, investing involves lots of risk. Any decisions you do make regarding investing is done at your own will and accord. I'm am making this post just to open up communication and discuss what you all think about this video and the information presented.
**Disclaimer 2: I am some random guy over the internet and the individual in the video is too. This is just one individual's thoughts on the matter and he or I could be totally wrong.
(please watch the original video from yesterday then watch the video attached to this post) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQbCyv9wIAk
(please watch the video from today that I reference in this post) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHEU939Ncp8
Let's Begin!
Essentially, he discussed in a previous video that possibly millions of shares that don't exist are floating around out there, there was 95% short interest on $FFIE currently; however, these CAT numbers are likely not true and its possible that the short interest is actually a lot higher - while the short sellers are saying that they can sell off all of these shares in anywhere from 30-60 minutes. If you are paying attention to the price, we all know that these clowns cannot do this because they would:
a) have to take a massive loss if they did this.
b) this great community is gaining momentum over them and are owning more and more shares, which is causing us to control the supply of the shares available on the market
Part b) is very important because what the man in the video is explaining is that, the amount of shares that are being reported available are much more than what is actually in circulation. Why does this matter? Its possible that these guys are doing something called 'naked short selling'. This is an illegal practice which involves market manipulation. How does it work? Let's take the scenario we are in.
So to briefly summarize what the normal short sellers hope for is:

1. borrow $FFIE shares from their brokerage at a high price, with expectations price will fall
2. They sell off the shares for the high price
3. They buy the number of shares they need at the price the shares dropped to, return the borrowed shares back to the broker and profit the difference.

Where we get the drop on the short sellers:

1. short sellers borrow $FFIE shares from brokerage at a high price, with expectations price will fall
2. We buy lots and lots of shares and control the supply amount of shares that are available on market by holding them
3. short sellers need the price to come down, otherwise they sell at the higher price and lose money, but get the borrowed shares back to return to their broker to make them whole

What the man in the video is explaining may be happening:

1. short sellers originally and illegally said they had 'borrowed' shares from a broker and are looking to sell them (prior to our large movement or during and up until the present moment)
2. they then 'sell' the shares (that again they don't have) to a potential buyer. That buyer pays these naked short sellers money but they never receive the 'borrowed' shares they were promised.

Just a note before I go on:
I see a lot of people giving each other shit for panic selling. I'm not saying that this wasn't happening or called for, but some of these drops could have been from these naked short sellers who were manipulating the stock price downward illegally? How?

1. the hope of the naked short seller is that in general, they will do this to drive the price down forcibly, buy the stock back at the lower price and then provide the original buyer with the stock to make everyone whole. In turn, they pocket the difference. As you can tell, there is fraudulent behavior in this method and its also manipulating the stock negatively (which is of course an SEC no no).

Here is why: If these sellers come around and tell people they have stock that they don't actually have, this creates more supply of stock (although this isn't the case and this 'stock' that they 'own' doesn't exist. If we look at simple supply and demand, this means there is more supply of the stock, so this causes the price of the stock to drop, as a result).
So in our situation that we are in right now, is unique and as the days go on, we're exposing these naked short sellers. The reason for this is because we are getting to a point where volume is stabilizing and we are owning more and more stock as a community. So then you have to ask yourself, if this is the case, where are they even getting stock to sell and still bringing the price down at these levels? The answer is that they likely are naked short selling and bringing the stock price down illegally and manipulating the price.
Now before you all freak out (too late I'm sure) - this information may actually be a really great thing for us and these people who are working against our efforts. As Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.'
Why is this difficult for us:
Obviously, whether we hold or not, these individuals can drive the price down (so long as they can keep this charade up - BUT and its a big BUT - there is a time limit and problem with this (this is the good news, I promise)).
Why is this beneficial for us:

• It exposes the potential strategy of those on the other side of our trade - so we can create a counter strategy against this.
• According to FINRA's rules, there is something called a threshold list. If a company gets on this list (which $FFIE has made it on the list), it means that there are individuals that are shorting the stock, but not paying the shorts back over consecutive days. We know this is happening in general, but as the guy in the video discusses, the amount of shares that are being shorted (he says potentially hundreds of millions) and the short interest %, do not make sense, nor does it make anymore sense of how long they are saying it would take to pay the shorts off (30-60 minutes). So its likely that these individuals cannot cover these shorts at all, and there potentially could be reason to believe that they are way in over their head and likely are manipulating the stock to bring it down with their desperate attempts we've seen so far.
• Based on my second point, this is really important because opened shorts on the threshold list have a time limit to be FTD (Failure to Deliver). As of today, we are on day 5 of being on the threshold list with FTD (according to the man in the video). FINRA rules require that if the shorts on the company remain on the threshold list for 13 consecutive days, the short seller must immediately close out their positions by purchasing the shares and in the case of naked short sellers, they may be subject to margin calls with the broker if they can't buy the shares outright (in our situation, this would be the case because they are hesitant to buy, since we are keeping the price too high for them - in turn, this would cause the short seller's account to fall below a maintenance margin and the margin call would be initiated (again sometime after 13 consecutive trading days of them not buying the shares). Also, even in some rare occurrences, the brokerage can take a loan against them and will get the money from them by possibly taking other assets through legal action. The man in the video mentions that a lot of times, these individuals wind up also getting fined and write this off on their taxes.
• This is huge because this gives us somewhat of a timeline of about how long they potentially have to buy back their shares before they truly start running into problems. It doesn't mean on that day that this is it and we get our short squeeze, but I would think that this could possibly shorten our timeline down and gives us a better idea of how long they have to make a move and kind of how things may progress from there. It could take longer than this, its not set in stone.

**Remember: Those who are doing naked shorts are doing so illegally. They literally are telling people to give them money for shares that they don't have, with the hope that they will buy lower priced shares after they've driven the price of the shares down from a top, by introducing shares that don't even really exist into the market. They are in trouble if they cannot hand over the shares to the seller who gave them the money. That won't really last long. The pressure is definitely on because they are committing fraud. So there is that for them to deal with too.
So to summarize (TLDR):
Naked short sellers are potentially working against us by illegally driving the price down through selling shares that they don't have. Given that the amount of shares being short sold (in the hundreds of millions) probably cannot be delivered in general because they aren't real, the stock having very high short interest % (probably much more than what is actually being reported) and the CAT numbers are telling us that these individuals can buy the shares they borrowed back in anywhere from 30-60 minutes (despite us all owning, holding and in some ways controlling more and more of the supply of the stock), this is hard to believe that any of this is true. Since we now have this information, we can anticipate what these mfers are going to do, which is illegally drive the price down so that they can try and delist the stock from the Nasdaq and buy back the stock for cheap, and eventually get their way.
What can we do?

1. Keep the price above a dollar to avoid Nasdaq delisting.
2. Keep buying and holding shares to wait these fuckers out until sometime around June 4th or 5th because at that point, they will start feeling the pressure and according to FINRA, this would be 13 consecutive days of them not paying their shares back, which can result in potential margin calls and their brokerage may liquidate their assets to buy the shares back at the higher price or slap them with a loan against the naked short sellers, if it ever gets to that point (at a later date) - remember though, this may drag on past this point, its not a guarantee but something I'd like to ponder with you all more about.
3. Pay attention to any other news regarding the company and keep up to date with the fundamentals as well

I may have completely misinterpreted this video because the gentleman takes us in a legal direction and looking at the matter in that way. However, I feel that this information could still be favorable for us all.
He may be right, he may be wrong - but you all tell me what you think.
Let's discuss further!
P.S. I'd like to give a shoutout to ProfessionalAd's post (find it here: https://www.reddit.com/FFIE/comments/1cxcy4g/i\_swearif\_everyone\_would\_just\_read\_and\_comprehend/), where he discusses how to shut off lending of $FFIE and to set buy limits on orders to prevent short sellers from under bidding us. Please check it out whenever you have a minute.

Hello again velo, It's me. The guy that rides uphill in Japan. On my last post I mentioned some differences in racing in Japan saying it was for another post. Well, there appeared to be some interest in me making that post. As I mentioned then... I tend to ramble. I'm an English teacher at a small high school which leaves me with a lot of free time. I enjoy spending that time researching anything from training methodology to obscure Japanese history. I decided to use some of that time to write about road racing in Japan and it turned into... well, whatever this is. It's (sort of) a guide to racing your bike over here. I've organized it into sections, so feel free to read it all or skip through them. At the end I've attached racing adjacent notes as well as a small bio.
If this post is not appropriate for this subreddit, I understand. And while I don't want to self-promote I spend most of my time reading about Japan not only because I live here, but also because my wife and I host a podcast. We mostly ramble about our lives here as foreigners. It's mostly cultural, but as long time competetive cyclists we often talk about bikes too. We host a website where I write random articles, which is where this is ultimately hosted, with photos. If you're curious you can google my username and find us.
I tried to think about things I've learned along the way and put it into writing for anyone in the future that might move to Japan and have an interest in racing. If you have any questions or see any information gaps, feel free to ask! In September we'll be moving to the Netherlands... so maybe I'll have to do this all over again then. Anyway, without further rambling, here it is.
Race License
There are actually quite a lot of road events throughout the country. However, many are marketed towards recreational cyclists. Going as far as incorporating anti-competition clauses in their rules. So what do you do if you want to race? For starters, you’ll head to the Japan Cycling Federation’s website and register for a license. It’s in Japanese, but with the magic of Google Translate it shouldn’t be too hard to navigate. This is also for those currently residing in Japan. I think otherwise you would need an international license issued from your country’s governing body.
While on their website you can check the calendar of events that are scheduled. But, it’s not as simple as where I am from (USA) where once you have a license you can register yourself for almost any event and just show up.
Race Organizers
In most cases while the JCF is the licensing body, they are not the event coordinator. Events are hosted by a number of different governing bodies within the country. There’s the Japan Intercollegiate Cycling Federation (JICF), Japan Cycling League (JCL), prefectural federations such as the Yamaguchi Cycling Federation and finally the Japan Bicyclist Club Federation (JBCF). There are a lot of Js, Cs and Fs in the acronym lexicon over here. In this post I’ll be focusing on the JBCF because it was sold to me as Japan’s premier race organizer and the highest level of racing in Japan. It also seems to have the most robust calendar of events.
Declaration of my bias and shortcoming: The JBCF is the only organizer I’ve had any meaningful experience with. No, they’re not paying me. However I have won a cool towel, a coffee cup and some bar tape at their events. Actually I’ve given them quite a bit of money…
Teams
So you’ve got your JCF license and like me you’ve decided to participate in the JBCF. What’s next? Register for a JBCF account, sign up for events, race your bike? Almost. You do need to register for an account. After that, you need to find a team. That’s right, you need to be registered with a JBCF team to participate in races. This was a surprise to me and also a barrier to entry at first. As a new resident of Japan I didn’t know anyone here let alone a team that would let a random foreigner join.
How’d I do it then? Well, the first team I joined was through a friend of a friend of a friend. My second and current team I ended up getting to know because I took a bunch of KOMs around my new home. I guess Strava KOMs are worth something after all. If you’re looking for a team you could start by asking local shops, they often have a club organization that you can sign up for. If you’re desperate you can also make your own team. It used to only require two people, but I think they increased that to three or four.
Costs
I’m writing this in May of 2024, so the costs will be current as of that month. The USD to JPY conversion is sitting around 1 USD = 155 JPY.
Your first cost will be the JCF license fee. In my case, an elite rider over 23 years old, it was 5,000y for an e-license and 6,300y for the physical one. My first year I used the e-license, but my second year I paid for the physical one as a cool souvenir.
Beyond the license. You’ll need a team kit (bibs & jersey) and you may also be required to pay the athlete registration fee. To join my E1 team in 2024 I paid 43,000 yen. That included one team kit and the registration fee plus some small accessories (gloves, bottle, etc.). In E1 I paid all my own entry fees, which were approximately 8,500y per race.
My JPT experience was a special case. I paid roughly $1,200 (usd). But I received two kits (jerseys & bibs), a speed suit (SS skinsuit), windbreaker, vest, socks, etc. I also had the benefit of the “pro” treatment at races with lots of assistance. Was it a cold rainy day? I could ask for embro and they’d oil me up with a little massage. Needed a bike wash, snacks, or a trainer to warm up on? All provided. And all of my entry fees were covered. I never paid those out of pocket. It was a really cool experience and honestly I think I got my money's worth just in the races that I attended, let alone all the extras. Plus the team was above and beyond hospitable. A really great bunch of people.
Categories
Once you’re on a team you’re good to go! So which category should you race in? The JBCF has 5 big categories: Japan Pro Tour (JPT), Japan Elite Tour (JET), Japan Feminin Tour (F), Japan Youth Tour (Y1 & Y2), and the Japan Masters Tour (M). JET is further broken down into E1, E2 & E3. The general idea is male riders start as E3 and through results they work their way up to E1. If they’re highly motivated they’ll target a placement on a JPT Team.
Unfortunately for the women, I believe there is only one lump “Female” category. But in one of my most recent races a woman lined up with us for our race start. So that may be an option. For the Youth there’s U19 & U17. Masters is similar to the women’s category and I believe there is simply one “Masters” event, without age ranges.
Using what I know (USA Cycling Categories) I’ll try to make a comparison. E3 is your Cat 4/5 or Novice rank. E2 is around Cat 3/4 and E1 is roughly one big P/1/2/3 field. JPT is something like the US’s Domestic Elite field. Some JPT teams (and even some E1 teams) are UCI Continental teams. Although, honestly, some JPT riders are probably equivalent to strong Cat 3s.
In America I raced as a Cat 2 on the road, albeit I was a pretty weak 2. My first year in Japan I raced JPT and was able to hang in the peloton and finish events. My second year I raced as an E1, where I was very competitive and able to fight for podium finishes. That’s my experience and my basis for the above comparisons.
Events
Once you’ve got all the above figured out, it’s time to finally race! The JBCF organizes the following events: Road, Criterium, Hill Climb, Time Trial and Track. Criterium, Time Trial & Track are pretty similar to what you’d find anywhere else in the world. So for this post I’ll really just focus on Road and Hill Climb.
It’s worth noting that except for track, all of these events take place on public roads. But, unlike the USA, it seems the general rule in Japan is that for a race to be a “race” the roads need to be closed to traffic. Sounds great, right? Right! Or, mostly. Japan is a beautiful country with incredible scenery and fantastic road riding. Unfortunately, the JBCF uses very little of this. I think to minimize inconveniencing locals, cut costs, and make their lives easier, most of these events will take place on already closed circuits or around agricultural land (where no one lives or drives anyway). In practice they are “public” roads, but they only need to shut down one or two entrances to close off the entire loop.
Many “road” events are just very long short circuit races. A popular venue that hosts multiple races throughout the season is the Gunma Cycle Sports Center. This is a defunct cycling theme park built in the 1980s with a paved 6 km circuit. Some of the races in the higher categories can be up to 150 km! That’s 25 laps! And, they’ll be pulling riders. When I was racing JPT it was often a big accomplishment just to finish a race. It was a common occurrence for a break to get established with the big teams represented and the rest of the field to sit up, inevitably getting pulled before being lapped. It’s not uncommon for well over half of the field to DNF early on in these longer races. Sometimes to add a little spice to your life, they’ll run the course in the opposite direction one weekend.
So, I’m biased, but that style of “road racing” wasn’t for me. That’s what led me to the Hill Climb. At first, I thought it was just an uphill TT. But, it's a mass start! The last one I did was Mt. Ontake HC which was a 17.7km race gaining 1,150 meters in elevation finishing at an altitude just under 2,200m. I finished in 51 minutes. It’s more like an uphill criterium. You might explode, but you won’t get pulled. It’s also, of course, point to point.
Good things to know about a Hill Climb are the controlled descent and luggage delivery. When you finish you’ll be waiting at the top of the climb for all other riders and categories to finish. Sometimes this means you’re waiting for an hour or more! Thankfully the morning of the race you can give a bag to the organizers and they will deliver it to the top of the mountain. This is a great way to make sure you have extra layers and snacks waiting for you. Just make sure it’s packed in a bag that you can then easily carry with you on the descent.
Be extra mindful of the forecast. At Ontake in 2024 we started at the base of the mountain in temperatures around 16 celsius. At the summit it was 7 degrees and it started to rain! Thankfully I had a teammate who had driven to the top (you must register your vehicle) and he gave me a lift back down. If you’re riding down, the descent will be done in waves which are chaperoned and controlled by officials on motorcycles.
Registering
I can only tell you my experience and I’m not certain that this is how it always works. When I was in the JPT, I never paid for an event. Each team could send six riders and the team manager made a selection based on which riders requested to go to which event, they would then register you to go. In my E1 team I haven’t run into any rider maximums (we only have a few E1 riders), and I pay for each event. I still tell the team’s manager which event I want to travel to, they register me, but then I pay them back.
The Day Of
The JBCF events have been very organized. The week before they will release a list of registered riders along with a technical guide. The technical guide will include information about the course, where to park, where to check in, how to pin your numbers and more. It’s only in Japanese. Google Translate will be your best friend. Or if you’re lucky you may have a teammate that can speak some English and help you out.
Usually the check in process begins a couple of hours before the start time. You’ll go to license control and pick up your numbers and timing chip. If you’re doing a hill climb and need to, this is also the period of time you drop off your luggage to be taken to the summit. Get kitted & pinned up, then go to the “vehicle control”. They will check your bike against a jig, kind of like what the UCI might use, as well as check the weight (take your bottles off the bike when you hand it to them) and make sure your numbers are pinned correctly. A keen eyed inspector may even look at your helmet to make sure it has the JCF certification sticker. You could possibly be told to change helmets if yours doesn’t have the sticker. When they tell you that everything is OK, you’ll go to the table and sign the box with your name.
There are also meetings that will be happening. But, you shouldn’t have to worry about that. If the team manager can’t be present they will send an “attendant”. This person is responsible for going to the meetings and reporting back to the riders.
Podiums & Prizes
Look how far you’ve come. After all that you’re headed to the podium, which in many events will be six deep. What should you expect? Maybe a cool trophy or a medal? It’s even better. How about a formal certificate signed and stamped by the JBCF President! That’s right, you’ll be receiving an A4 sheet of paper. And yes, when they hand it to you they’ll turn it to face you, use both hands to hand it over and bow. And yes, you should receive it with both hands and bow in return. I plan to frame and hang mine like some kind of college diploma. You’ll probably receive a prize as well. Something like what I mentioned earlier in this post, a towel, cup, umbrella, etc.
Where’s the money? If you want to hold a giant cheque with a big number (because it’s in yen) you’ll need to be racing in the top category, JPT. In this category the podium is only three deep. One time in a race I had a teammate finish 3rd and win some money. I never saw any of it, which was fair as I didn’t really contribute to his result. And I never podiumed myself. So I’m not sure how the payout actually works. Did he get to keep it all? Did the team take it? Who knows. I hope he kept it all, he’s a great guy.
Other Notes
Gachinko Cycle TV & Photo Galleries. Almost all JBCF events are live streamed & archived on YouTube! There’s a company called Gachinko Cycle TV that provides coverage. This includes camera motos as well as stationary cameras. A lot of photographers also come to the events and a photo gallery is posted on the JBCF website after the events take place.
Events & Categories. Not every event will be run for every category. A motivator for me to move from JPT to E1 was that not every hill climb has a JPT category, but they all seem to have E1. My first time racing at Ontake I was in the “Open” category and not eligible for any points or placement.
Outlier events. There are some events like the Niseko Classic (Gran Fondo World Championship Qualifier) and the Tour of Okinawa. These are one off events which are not part of the JBCF or any other federation I mentioned above. But, they are “real” road races on closed roads. There are also plenty of “cookie” rides. But be aware, like mentioned earlier, many of these explicitly say you shouldn’t come and try to ride for a certain time. I think it’s related to what I’ve been told about races having to take place on closed roads. These cookie rides likely have no traffic control. And instead of a cookie, you might get a bag of dry rice to cook later. Happened to me once.
The Hill Climb might be Japan’s most accessible event. There are actually quite a few of them around the country outside of the JBCF and they can be registered for on SportsEntry - I don’t think you need a JCF license.
What about other disciplines? I’ll toss this in here at the end because I think it’s worth mentioning. If you’re not racing Track, Cyclocross or Road… you’re not going to be doing much racing. Mountain biking is still very much in its infancy here in Japan. Despite its incredible landscape, there’s a shocking lack of good mountain biking. My wife and I moved here from Western North Carolina and she’s a former Age Group XC National Champion as well as podium finisher in events like the Pisgah Stage Race and Collegiate Nationals in STXC, XC & Omnium. So believe me, we have tried to find some good mountain biking here and it’s rough.
There are some lift-access downhill courses and we actually went to one for a “gravel” race which my wife won. This was held on what was essentially a non-technical STXC course. Disappointing is a bit of an understatement. There IS Grinduro Japan… but it’s insanely expensive and again, not really a race.
This honestly has had a big impact on our decision to ultimately move away from Japan. But, keep an eye out for developments in places like: https://www.minamialpsmtb.com/ https://namba.ngo/ https://www.nsd-hakuba.jp/iwatake_mtb_park/en/
Cyclocross has a big following in Japan and the calendar appears to be full of events throughout the season. If we were staying long term, I’d be buying a cross bike. Unfortunately I don’t have one, so I never got into that scene while living here.
Although this is mostly about racing in Japan, if you come here to race you’ll also (hopefully) be riding your bike for fun. Please be aware some laws work differently here. Although I’ve never personally run into trouble I’ve been told things like: bikes MUST use the crosswalk if turning across traffic (no turning like a car turns) & that bikes CANNOT exceed 30 km/h (a bike shop owner told me this). My wife and I have often talked about this as well… while in the USA drivers can be malicious towards cyclists, Japanese drivers are often blissfully ignorant towards them. Always ride defensively. Drivers will make eye contact with you and proceed to pull out in front of you expecting you to either not be traveling with speed or to stop for them. Even in “polite” Japan, the Car is King. I’ve had far more close calls with drivers here than I had in America. Having said that, it’s still a wonderful country to explore by bike.
Who Am I?
If you read all of this, thanks! I hope that you learned a little bit about road racing in Japan. But, who am I? I’m an American from Western North Carolina, now living in Japan. Ishikawa Prefecture to be specific. I’ve been a cyclist since 2011 when I bought my first road bike. In America I’m a Cat 2 on the road and an XC MTB Cat 1 with extensive experience training for and racing in a variety of disciplines. Road riding and racing is my true love and I honestly only got into MTB to hang out with my girlfriend. I guess it was worth it because the only National Championship medals I have are from Team Relay & Team Omnium. Oh, we ended up getting married too. So that was cool. I also got into the gravel craze thanks to the plethora of racing options in the South East. I’ve stood on multiple podiums with the internet’s favorite privateer, Dylan Johnson. And I’ve dabbled in bikepacking, bike touring & ultra endurance riding. Really, I’m just a guy that thinks about bikes too much.

Can I get a title for my bill of sale 9 months later?
Not sure if this is where to ask something like this but:
I bought a car in September with a bill of sale (i usually wouldn’t buy one without a title, but it was an emergency car). I was supposed to go to the DMV and transfer it under my name and get a title asap, but then an issue happened on the dmv’s part - then on my part.
Long story short, time got away from me and it’s now it’s May and I have yet to transfer it.
But now i’m getting ready to sell it again. I’m just curious if the CA dmv will even still allow me to do it because it’s been so long?

How Retailers Can Win with FFIE

Coordinated Strategy:

1. Buying and Holding Shares:
   • Buy in Large Quantities: Retail investors need to buy significant amounts of FFIE shares to increase demand and limit the supply available for short sellers. This creates upward pressure on the stock price.
   • HODL (Hold On for Dear Life): To create a sustained short squeeze, investors must hold their shares and avoid selling during initial price surges. Holding shares limits the availability of shares for short sellers to buy back, maintaining high demand and driving the price higher oai_citation:1,Is The New Meme Stock Rally Led By GME, AMC A Repeat Of 2021? Vanda Research Says No: 'Chances We Reach That Stage Are Low' - GameStop (NYSE:GME) - Benzinga oai_citation:2,Renaissance acquired GameStop and AMC shares ahead of meme stock rally - Hedgeweek.

Estimating Shares to Hold:

• Critical Mass: The exact number of shares needed to hold varies, but the key is to accumulate a substantial portion of the float. For example, during the GameStop squeeze, retail investors held a significant percentage of the available shares, leading to a massive price increase oai_citation:3,Is The New Meme Stock Rally Led By GME, AMC A Repeat Of 2021? Vanda Research Says No: 'Chances We Reach That Stage Are Low' - GameStop (NYSE:GME) - Benzinga.
• Sustained Holding Period: The duration for holding shares can vary, but it often spans several weeks to months. The longer the shares are held without selling, the more pressure it puts on short sellers, especially as margin calls force them to cover their positions.

How Long Can Hedge Funds Last?

• Short Position Covering: Hedge funds with short positions can sustain for a limited period, particularly if the stock price continues to rise. They are subject to margin calls, which require them to cover their positions by buying back shares at higher prices, leading to further price increases.
• Financial Resilience: Some hedge funds may have the financial resilience to hold their positions longer, but significant losses can force them to liquidate their positions to prevent further damage, as seen with Melvin Capital during the GameStop squeeze oai_citation:4,Is The New Meme Stock Rally Led By GME, AMC A Repeat Of 2021? Vanda Research Says No: 'Chances We Reach That Stage Are Low' - GameStop (NYSE:GME) - Benzinga.

Hedge Funds' Attack Plan with SEC Rule 201:

• Short Sale Restrictions: SEC Rule 201, the alternative uptick rule, is triggered when a stock’s price drops by 10% or more from the previous day’s closing price. This rule restricts short selling to prices above the national best bid, preventing short sellers from driving the price down further during high volatility oai_citation:5,Key Points About Regulation SHO oai_citation:6,A Traders Guide to the Short Sale Rule (SSR)/Uptick Rule.
• Trading Halts and Liquidity Management: Hedge funds may push for trading halts to manage liquidity and prevent further losses. They might also employ strategies to create temporary price dips to trigger Rule 201 and limit further short selling.
• Risk Management: Hedge funds will use advanced risk management techniques, including hedging with options and diversifying their positions, to manage exposure and mitigate losses during a short squeeze oai_citation:7,www.sec.gov oai_citation:8,Short Sale Circuit Breaker.

Conclusion:

Retail investors can win by buying and holding substantial amounts of FFIE shares, maintaining pressure on short sellers, and staying united in their strategy. The exact number of shares and duration of holding depend on the market dynamics and the level of coordination among investors. Hedge funds can last as long as their financial resilience allows, but significant upward pressure and sustained holding by retail investors can force them to cover their positions. Understanding SEC Rule 201 and its implications can also provide strategic advantages in managing short sale restrictions and market dynamics.
BASICALLY IN APE SPEAK…

1. BUY AND HODL: Buy as many FFIE shares as you can and HOLD them tight. The longer we hold, the more pressure on short sellers. 💎🙌
   
2. UNITED WE WIN: Our strength is in our unity. Together, we can create a massive short squeeze. 🦍💪
   
3. KNOW THE RULES: SEC Rule 201 stops short selling if the price drops 10%. Use this to our advantage! 📚
   
4. BE STRONG, NO FEAR: Don’t let fear or doubt shake you. We’ve seen what we can achieve when we stay strong. 🚀
   

APES TOGETHER STRONG! TO THE MOON! 🌕🚀 All ChatGPT

I 24F took in my younger sister 17F in October. She had texted me during school that day saying she didn’t feel safe, when she got home she texted me our code word. I left work as soon as I could and made a lame excuse to go over to my family’s home. My parents 41F and 57M were standoffish so I stuck to my lame excuse and distracted them. My sister ran to my truck and ducked down. I left and around the corner we self reported her runaway to the proper authorities. We reported to CPS everything that happened and led up to that day and have worked with the system since including the sheriffs office and detectives. I won’t say what exactly we went through but our dad has been arrested on 11 charges, 2 of which are capital crimes. Through all of this she has lived with me and my husband 24M in our home we purchased just a month before she ran. We’re both suffering PTSD and depression from everything that happened and she has been seeing a therapist. Unfortunately my sister and I present very differently. I took the quiet way out of that house so I could still have access to my sisters when I moved out, my sister has fought every step of the way since leaving for justice. It’s admirable and I don’t want to sound like I don’t love her and understand how hard all of this is, but my sister has been rude to my husband and I, condescending about my education, complaining we’re never home when we go to work, picking fights with me, complaining we can’t afford to buy her a car, etc. Needless to say it makes it feel like everything we do is not enough and never will be and has led to changes in how we want to handle her turning 18 in 3 months. My husband and I started working on a rental contract to give her and ourselves protection when she turns 18. She can rent her room and bathroom for $350 a month with all basic groceries, utilities, washedryer and all the supplies, kitchen and all the supplies, and streaming services included. There are rules that are basically keep your spaces clean, keep the common spaces clean, respect all members of the household, let us know in advance if you’re having company over and give us extra time if you’ll be having company over and hosting in common areas so we can make sure we don’t have plans overlapping. We did decide that for disrespecting the rules or us there would be a financial penalty after a certain amount of times a month of failing to do these things because we currently have no recourse for her consistently fighting with me until I cry, leaving messes in the kitchen I get to clean up, and just generally not respecting our home. There are clauses to have those penalties removed and added in for her protection because it’s meant to protect everyone if any arguments or issues come up. My husband, being frustrated after 8 months of her purposefully upsetting me or starting fights then asking us for things and guilting us for them not being done immediately because we need to work to pay bills, wants to drop this in front of her when she turns 18 and give her two options: sign the contract and stay with us or find somewhere else to live and provide us with a lease by the end of August (her birthday is early in the month). I felt that was unfair to drop with no warning so I gave her a heads up about it so she wouldn’t be startled when the time came. After talking with her therapist, she’s decided we’re a**holes for not just supporting her (emotionally and financially) after she turned 18. I’m on the fence and frustrated. So AITA for asking my sister to sign a rent contract or move out after she turns 18? P.S. my husband has been very patient with her and the first few months just brushed everything off. He’s only to this point because there’s been no improvement whatsoever and she has been apathetic to everyone and has even ridiculed me for crying or being at all emotional.

Game’s currently on sale on switch and I’ve never played this one. I was going to buy it at launch but I heard that it wasn’t a great rerelease? I was wondering if they patched it up a bit, or even if they didn’t if $20 sounds fair for what we ended up getting?
Thanks in advance for your advice/help!