Unfinished breakfast nook with storage
i’m a mother but would like dads thoughts.
2024.05.19 19:04 significant-hawk6923 i’m a mother but would like dads thoughts.
i have been struggling with this for 11 months now and have thought about asking here for all of it.
my daughter is 11 months old, she was born at 40 weeks so no complications or anything like that. she is a good baby but def not chill like my son, 5, who was quiet and super easy and good with anything. she is extremely particular and likes a huge amount of time and attention. i know they all do but she is what you could call high maintenance. her father is not my sons father.
her dad works full time and i’m a stay at home mom with a daily job for a couple hours every morning, i go across the street kids in tow and swamp the bar. we live in a very small town in a very rural area so this is not a big deal. i kind of have an issue with him never and i do mean never, being a parent so i don’t have to take kids with me to work. i clean fast so max it’s an hour and a half he would have them alone.
he says he can’t do diapers, when he does have her i come home and she is needing a diaper always, sometimes BADLY and i then have clothes to spot treat etc.
he doesn’t dress her or do anything else that gets her ready. if we are trying to leave for something he will sit on the couch and bitch at me not being ready while i struggle to get my son done and myself (am to the point where it’s unusual for me to be able to just brush my teeth and my hair and wash my face and put on sunscreen) and i don’t take long to get dressed because i haven’t even gotten to go get any clothes out of storage that fit me now that im not pregnant so i literally have two pairs of pants and maybe three tops that are mine and aren’t his too small tshirts.
he won’t get her diaper bag packed or get her in her car seat. he has never fed her. the days he has off that i wouldn’t have to take her to work with me he still says i have to, because he needs to sleep. (if i try to go over when the bar closes so i can sleep in the next morning until like 8/830.
when everything in the house isn’t done he tells me i have to stay up at night and get it done and used to call me lazy. he has never gotten up with her at night to feed her and she is breastfed but used to be extremely good about also taking bottles. never gets up to change her at night. religiously gets 8-9 hours of sleep every day while i have fought for four ave this whole year.
he always tells me it’s because he has a job. with my job i have to buy all of my own stuff like makeup clothes (i lost everything in a fire two years before she was born, including my house that was paid for) and anything i want to use on my face. im responsible for my own car and truck insurance. i pay the kids life ins policies and buy all of their clothes and everything else they get like easter baskets may day etc. he does do most of christmas and we split birthdays down the the middle.
all cooking, dishes, laundry, cleaning, kids stuff, paperwork, bill pay, app and mental load is on me. he complains i’m not getting enough done daily.
when i say he needs to take at least her when he comes home for an hour so i can fold clothes or something he say no, because he actually worked all day and has a job. he’s tired and he wants to relax. he finds time to put his feet up literally multiple times a day if it’s a workday at least once when he comes home well, I struggle to even feed myself anything for breakfast and lunch or go to the bathroom after seeing everything else he goes to bed by 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock while I routinely got to bed by 11 if I’m lucky.
I have an over supply of milk and have been pumping and donating to the milk bank which irritates him and he was telling me it was a waste of my time, but if I didn’t, I would lose my supply so I couldn’t even feed our daughter. i usually pump 3/4 times a day but have gotten to the point i’m lucky if i make 2, which is not comfortable.
when I ask for help, even if it’s just to play with the baby in the same room, I’m in while I’m cleaning because she does prefer to be with me. I’m told he doesn’t have time or he wants to relax or other moms make it work.
where is the truth in this hell from a man’s perspective?
i know he’s immature but this seems crazy to me. Thank you for any advice.
submitted by significant-hawk6923 to daddit [link] [comments]
my daughter is 11 months old, she was born at 40 weeks so no complications or anything like that. she is a good baby but def not chill like my son, 5, who was quiet and super easy and good with anything. she is extremely particular and likes a huge amount of time and attention. i know they all do but she is what you could call high maintenance. her father is not my sons father.
her dad works full time and i’m a stay at home mom with a daily job for a couple hours every morning, i go across the street kids in tow and swamp the bar. we live in a very small town in a very rural area so this is not a big deal. i kind of have an issue with him never and i do mean never, being a parent so i don’t have to take kids with me to work. i clean fast so max it’s an hour and a half he would have them alone.
he says he can’t do diapers, when he does have her i come home and she is needing a diaper always, sometimes BADLY and i then have clothes to spot treat etc.
he doesn’t dress her or do anything else that gets her ready. if we are trying to leave for something he will sit on the couch and bitch at me not being ready while i struggle to get my son done and myself (am to the point where it’s unusual for me to be able to just brush my teeth and my hair and wash my face and put on sunscreen) and i don’t take long to get dressed because i haven’t even gotten to go get any clothes out of storage that fit me now that im not pregnant so i literally have two pairs of pants and maybe three tops that are mine and aren’t his too small tshirts.
he won’t get her diaper bag packed or get her in her car seat. he has never fed her. the days he has off that i wouldn’t have to take her to work with me he still says i have to, because he needs to sleep. (if i try to go over when the bar closes so i can sleep in the next morning until like 8/830.
when everything in the house isn’t done he tells me i have to stay up at night and get it done and used to call me lazy. he has never gotten up with her at night to feed her and she is breastfed but used to be extremely good about also taking bottles. never gets up to change her at night. religiously gets 8-9 hours of sleep every day while i have fought for four ave this whole year.
he always tells me it’s because he has a job. with my job i have to buy all of my own stuff like makeup clothes (i lost everything in a fire two years before she was born, including my house that was paid for) and anything i want to use on my face. im responsible for my own car and truck insurance. i pay the kids life ins policies and buy all of their clothes and everything else they get like easter baskets may day etc. he does do most of christmas and we split birthdays down the the middle.
all cooking, dishes, laundry, cleaning, kids stuff, paperwork, bill pay, app and mental load is on me. he complains i’m not getting enough done daily.
when i say he needs to take at least her when he comes home for an hour so i can fold clothes or something he say no, because he actually worked all day and has a job. he’s tired and he wants to relax. he finds time to put his feet up literally multiple times a day if it’s a workday at least once when he comes home well, I struggle to even feed myself anything for breakfast and lunch or go to the bathroom after seeing everything else he goes to bed by 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock while I routinely got to bed by 11 if I’m lucky.
I have an over supply of milk and have been pumping and donating to the milk bank which irritates him and he was telling me it was a waste of my time, but if I didn’t, I would lose my supply so I couldn’t even feed our daughter. i usually pump 3/4 times a day but have gotten to the point i’m lucky if i make 2, which is not comfortable.
when I ask for help, even if it’s just to play with the baby in the same room, I’m in while I’m cleaning because she does prefer to be with me. I’m told he doesn’t have time or he wants to relax or other moms make it work.
where is the truth in this hell from a man’s perspective?
i know he’s immature but this seems crazy to me. Thank you for any advice.
2024.05.19 15:38 Zephxan A full out fallout farming game : Survival apocalyptique farming sim
~Player always get better or cooler reward for helping other~
Player race - fiver options for customization
Ghoul
No radiation damage + slow regeneration + npc more mefiant and discrimination
Glowing ghoul =
No radiation damage + slow regeneration + npc shoot on sight need to convinced them you’re sane
Super mutant =
No radiation damage + Npc are scared and treat you like an idiot and discriminate
Synthétique =
The compount will hunt you down eventually
Human = no malus or bonus
Character background :
Ghoul / glowing ghoul : Old ghoul ; new ghoul ; vault
Human : Vault ; settler ; brotherhood ; institute
Super mutant: amnesiac
Synthétique : Railroad ; Mister handy (Miss nanny) Old, new, vault.
START
New arrivant decided to etablished themselves in an old farm close to the local town and become farmer.
First objectif :
- rebuilt home by scavenging in delapited town
Possibility to upgrade town by the same way : drinkable water ; defense ; radio tower ; museum ; school ; etc…
Defend home from wild attack (animal, raiders, super mutant, ect…) with gun and eventually autonomous turrets (later game) and engage mercenary to defed (late game). The more the player amass money, the more frequent the attack will be.
Scavenger will gossip about big event and some minor event that occurred in the settlement that you participated in.
Settlement gestion :
Can recolt skin, meat (and bones?) of wild animal.
Can recolt material, used to very used weapond, (rarely) health item, (meat and corpse body parts?) on intelligent humanoïds ennemy
Carrying can either be by weight of the item or by the number of item player can carry.
Tool: Hoe ; Scynthe ; Watering can ; Pickaxe hamme
Base crop value vs transform product :
Spring : -- ++
Summer : --- +++
Automn : ++ --
Winter : +++ ---
Can sell crop and other to nearest settlement (help with settlement relationship at first) or to traveling marchant.
The river close to your home have fish in it. It take two day for fish to repopulate. If seasonal fish have all be take out, it will take two years
Can raise different mutated animal. Sell them to the town for meat (or kill them and sell them yourself ?) or keep them alive for animal product. (Animal have life span?)
Transform product : Wine ; beer ; jelly ; dried spice,meat, fish ; cheese ; mayo ; butter
Farm building :
Can buy stimpack and radaway from settlement healer or from scavenger in the town (for a more expensive price). When reach high enough relationship with healer, he will give you the recipe for both. The only way to regain life and get rid of radiation (sleep and food don’t heal). (Sickness (malus) if health too low for too long?)
Gain radiation by drinking
The main fight zone of the game is the town. In the edge : house, a small commerce (tiny to small dungeon) ; Closer to the center: Office, appartement (small to medium dungeon) ; Center : Commercial center, sky scrapper, (subway?) (normal to big dungeon.
Some raiders and some synth will drop their weapons and beg for their life if the health is low enough. Spare enough of them and you will receive letter from either : the minuteman ; the brotherhood or the railroad to thank you for sending more recruit their way. Two or three will regularly visit town.
Npc relationship possible bonus :
- Discount (from marchant)
- Recipe
- Special cut scene
- (Sometime) help on the farm
Might meet some settler in the edge of the town, scavenging like you.
Cause of relationship decay :
Romanceable npc
- # Ghoul
Special romance
- Mysterious stranger (need 10 Luck and insert condition)
Will randomly pop out of your house and pop back in. Will tell you about a lone wanderer, courrier or vault survivor he helped. Will come to your help in combat with baby in hand (if kid in the game)
If there’s kid in the game
Player will be able to have two kids. (Hatchling deathclaw will count as one if in a relationship with Deathclaw).
If player or spouse can’t have a kid (Super mutant ; ghoul ; Synth); player will get a quest about a raider camp in town. Discover all prisoner are dead except one human baby hidden by the body of his dead mother.
Quest reward : Congradulation you are a parent :D
If player can have kid; if spouse is a women, player will have to catter to their wife food craving (nothing with rare item) or face a penality in the relationship. If player is a women ; Malus in health, energy, slower deplacement and carrying capacity decrease the more and more the pregnancy advance. New choice of answer : pissed as fuck and hormonal. Spouse will insist to become a companion until end of pregnancy
Kid will go to school (town upgrade) for three day, help on the farm for three other and have a free day.
Perception : detect ennemy ; scavenging ; npc interraction
Endurence : health ; energy ; resistance
Charisma : batter ; persuasion ; Npc weariness ; # limit of resident npc in settlement
Intelligence : crafting farm upgrade (fertilizer ; spinkler) ; used weapon fixing
Agility : sneak ; weapon ; defense
Luck : loot quality ; gambling (?) ; crit chance (max starting points : 5)
Farming: Tilling - Watering
Fight: Heavy weapons- Light weapons- Melee
Defence : Dodge - Block
Stealth: Sneak- Lockpick - Hack
Endurance : Poison resistance - Radiation resistance - Thirst resistance
Persuasion: Batter - Intimidation - Persuation (?)
Scavenging : Deconstruct - Descerning eyes
Thinkering : Crafting - Engineering - Medecine
(Upgrade skill to upgrade stat? Once you upgrade a skill enough, it allow you to upgrade the stat?)
Quest :
Attempt murder on the player by the mayor once town upgrade and settler relationship high enough. Scare that they would lose their place to you to engage mercenary or try to poison you to keep their place. Force the mercenary to tell you who paid them or find a note on one of them or talk to the mayor after the attack (will be surprise to see you alive). You can :
- Bring him to justice and let the settler decide of his fate. (Will be possible to talk to him in prison)
- Execute him (will have to prove to the settler that this was auto-defense. Lose some relationship with settler)
Raides have created a camp close to the settlement. Remove them. Player will find two npc in cage. You can :
-Kill them inside the cage
Result :
You’ve find a mister handy (or miss nanny) in the town. Why not fix them?
Result : They will propose you to help you on the farm. Accept and they’ll start working the day after. Refuse and they’ll becom settler. (Possibility to make them synth when relationship high enough?)
Find a sorry scene : deadraiders; a dead deathclaw; a nest with two crushed egg a one intact egg. You can :
Result :
The river close to your house is drying. Discover the reason. The river goes into a cavern and to a lake.
Result : new fish
There’s a thirsthy and hungry homeless man at the edge of the settlement. You can :
-Give him food and water for a week
-Let him there
-kill him
Result :
-They get back on their feet and eventually open an inn in town. Will sometime offer you free drink an talk to you about stranger he hepled by following your exemple.
-They will slowly die an talk with more and more difficulty. (Which led to kill him)
-Burry him and make a small tomb or let him root there. Will get eaten by wild animal.
Guiding an injured npc to the town
Result :??
The settlement don’t have enough food for the winter and ask for your help. You can :
Help to defend the settlement (before settlement defense upgrande)
Result :??
The scientist of the vault ## think they can help you rediscover old world crop see.
Result : new seeds :D
End game quest :
The vault now trust you enough to tell you about the G.E.C.K.S. The received one that ended up defective and never received the second. They want you to go to the vault building in the center of the town and see if you can find any information about it. Vault tower will be the most difficult dungeon in the game. Beat it to find that the G.E.C.K.S was sent to a second vault that was either unfinished or an experimentation. Go the the vault ## to discover that the G.E.C.K.S had taken some damage from bad condition and bad storage. Get all the item to fix it and either fix it yourself (no money cost) or ask to a vault scientist to fix it (+++ money cost)
Result : The map surrounding your house, the vault and the town will become more and more green with beautiful tree (Process will take ### day or month or years)
submitted by Zephxan to gameideas [link] [comments]
Player race - fiver options for customization
Ghoul
No radiation damage + slow regeneration + npc more mefiant and discrimination
Glowing ghoul =
No radiation damage + slow regeneration + npc shoot on sight need to convinced them you’re sane
Super mutant =
No radiation damage + Npc are scared and treat you like an idiot and discriminate
Synthétique =
The compount will hunt you down eventually
Human = no malus or bonus
Character background :
Ghoul / glowing ghoul : Old ghoul ; new ghoul ; vault
Human : Vault ; settler ; brotherhood ; institute
Super mutant: amnesiac
Synthétique : Railroad ; Mister handy (Miss nanny) Old, new, vault.
START
New arrivant decided to etablished themselves in an old farm close to the local town and become farmer.
First objectif :
- rebuilt home by scavenging in delapited town
- scavenging town to find seed (First seed of the player)
- Scavenging town to find gardening tool
Mechanics
Upgrade house by collecting enough scavenging material (metal, stone, tape, glue, etc…) and paid the town entrepreneur to do so.Possibility to upgrade town by the same way : drinkable water ; defense ; radio tower ; museum ; school ; etc…
Defend home from wild attack (animal, raiders, super mutant, ect…) with gun and eventually autonomous turrets (later game) and engage mercenary to defed (late game). The more the player amass money, the more frequent the attack will be.
Scavenger will gossip about big event and some minor event that occurred in the settlement that you participated in.
Settlement gestion :
- Happiness (Festival ? ; npc request ; …)
- Sanitaire (Water access)
- Defense (Millitia ; autonomous turrets ; dogs)
Can recolt skin, meat (and bones?) of wild animal.
Can recolt material, used to very used weapond, (rarely) health item, (meat and corpse body parts?) on intelligent humanoïds ennemy
Carrying can either be by weight of the item or by the number of item player can carry.
Farming
Season : Spring (middle season) ; Summer (high season) ; Automn (middle season) ; Winter (low season)Tool: Hoe ; Scynthe ; Watering can ; Pickaxe hamme
Base crop value vs transform product :
Spring : -- ++
Summer : --- +++
Automn : ++ --
Winter : +++ ---
Can sell crop and other to nearest settlement (help with settlement relationship at first) or to traveling marchant.
The river close to your home have fish in it. It take two day for fish to repopulate. If seasonal fish have all be take out, it will take two years
Can raise different mutated animal. Sell them to the town for meat (or kill them and sell them yourself ?) or keep them alive for animal product. (Animal have life span?)
Transform product : Wine ; beer ; jelly ; dried spice,meat, fish ; cheese ; mayo ; butter
Farm building :
- Coop and barn
- Forge to fix used weapon
- Food storage (?)
- Money storage (no bank, credit card or debit card. Need to carry in your inventary the money life in fallout)
- Potato
- Melon
- Wheat
- Corn
- Carrot
- Gourd
- Spice seed (basilic ; persil; etc..)
- Fruit seed
- Legume seed
Fight
No power armor for the player :(Can buy stimpack and radaway from settlement healer or from scavenger in the town (for a more expensive price). When reach high enough relationship with healer, he will give you the recipe for both. The only way to regain life and get rid of radiation (sleep and food don’t heal). (Sickness (malus) if health too low for too long?)
Gain radiation by drinking
The main fight zone of the game is the town. In the edge : house, a small commerce (tiny to small dungeon) ; Closer to the center: Office, appartement (small to medium dungeon) ; Center : Commercial center, sky scrapper, (subway?) (normal to big dungeon.
Some raiders and some synth will drop their weapons and beg for their life if the health is low enough. Spare enough of them and you will receive letter from either : the minuteman ; the brotherhood or the railroad to thank you for sending more recruit their way. Two or three will regularly visit town.
Relationship
Can get a dog as a perm. Companion (can choose race?) (Can breed you dog and gitf puppy to the settlement?)Npc relationship possible bonus :
- Discount (from marchant)
- Recipe
- Special cut scene
- (Sometime) help on the farm
- (Sometime) help to defend the farm
- 2 gift a week
- 1 gift a month (After the first gift wil react more and more incomfortable, will start to lower relationship)
Might meet some settler in the edge of the town, scavenging like you.
Cause of relationship decay :
- Unlike gift
- (for some) offer to many gift
- 1 month with no interraction
- Answer choice
- Attacking townie (unkillable)
- Question choice
Romanceable npc
- # Ghoul
Robot (Synth and miste handy (miss nanny)
Super mutant
Settler
Special romance
- Mysterious stranger (need 10 Luck and insert condition)
Will randomly pop out of your house and pop back in. Will tell you about a lone wanderer, courrier or vault survivor he helped. Will come to your help in combat with baby in hand (if kid in the game)
- intelligent deathclaw (insert conditions)
If there’s kid in the game
Player will be able to have two kids. (Hatchling deathclaw will count as one if in a relationship with Deathclaw).
If player or spouse can’t have a kid (Super mutant ; ghoul ; Synth); player will get a quest about a raider camp in town. Discover all prisoner are dead except one human baby hidden by the body of his dead mother.
Quest reward : Congradulation you are a parent :D
If player can have kid; if spouse is a women, player will have to catter to their wife food craving (nothing with rare item) or face a penality in the relationship. If player is a women ; Malus in health, energy, slower deplacement and carrying capacity decrease the more and more the pregnancy advance. New choice of answer : pissed as fuck and hormonal. Spouse will insist to become a companion until end of pregnancy
Kid will go to school (town upgrade) for three day, help on the farm for three other and have a free day.
Stats
Strenght : carrying capacity (?) ; combat ; energy ; health ; defensePerception : detect ennemy ; scavenging ; npc interraction
Endurence : health ; energy ; resistance
Charisma : batter ; persuasion ; Npc weariness ; # limit of resident npc in settlement
Intelligence : crafting farm upgrade (fertilizer ; spinkler) ; used weapon fixing
Agility : sneak ; weapon ; defense
Luck : loot quality ; gambling (?) ; crit chance (max starting points : 5)
Skill
Tree skill style possibility : Path of exile ; Outer worldFarming: Tilling - Watering
Fight: Heavy weapons- Light weapons- Melee
Defence : Dodge - Block
Stealth: Sneak- Lockpick - Hack
Endurance : Poison resistance - Radiation resistance - Thirst resistance
Persuasion: Batter - Intimidation - Persuation (?)
Scavenging : Deconstruct - Descerning eyes
Thinkering : Crafting - Engineering - Medecine
(Upgrade skill to upgrade stat? Once you upgrade a skill enough, it allow you to upgrade the stat?)
Quest :
Attempt murder on the player by the mayor once town upgrade and settler relationship high enough. Scare that they would lose their place to you to engage mercenary or try to poison you to keep their place. Force the mercenary to tell you who paid them or find a note on one of them or talk to the mayor after the attack (will be surprise to see you alive). You can :
- Bring him to justice and let the settler decide of his fate. (Will be possible to talk to him in prison)
- Execute him (will have to prove to the settler that this was auto-defense. Lose some relationship with settler)
- Let him life (will leave town. Grateful to be alive but bitter to have lose his title)
Raides have created a camp close to the settlement. Remove them. Player will find two npc in cage. You can :
- Let them there
-Kill them inside the cage
Result :
- They die
- Will eventually die of thirsth
- Will come to the town and become settlers
You’ve find a mister handy (or miss nanny) in the town. Why not fix them?
Result : They will propose you to help you on the farm. Accept and they’ll start working the day after. Refuse and they’ll becom settler. (Possibility to make them synth when relationship high enough?)
Find a sorry scene : deadraiders; a dead deathclaw; a nest with two crushed egg a one intact egg. You can :
- Sell the egg
- Eat the egg
Result :
- Money
- Bost in one stat? Level upgrade?
- Get a baby deathclaw. Will be able to switch with you dog as perm companion. (If romanced the deathclaw, you spouse will leave with the hachtling for a season. When back the hatchling statut will change from animal to children and gain dialogue)
The river close to your house is drying. Discover the reason. The river goes into a cavern and to a lake.
Result : new fish
There’s a thirsthy and hungry homeless man at the edge of the settlement. You can :
-Give him food and water for a week
-Let him there
-kill him
Result :
-They get back on their feet and eventually open an inn in town. Will sometime offer you free drink an talk to you about stranger he hepled by following your exemple.
-They will slowly die an talk with more and more difficulty. (Which led to kill him)
-Burry him and make a small tomb or let him root there. Will get eaten by wild animal.
Guiding an injured npc to the town
Result :??
The settlement don’t have enough food for the winter and ask for your help. You can :
- Refuse
- Accept
- -- relationship with settler and some settler will die
- ++ reward if accept
Help to defend the settlement (before settlement defense upgrande)
Result :??
The scientist of the vault ## think they can help you rediscover old world crop see.
Result : new seeds :D
End game quest :
The vault now trust you enough to tell you about the G.E.C.K.S. The received one that ended up defective and never received the second. They want you to go to the vault building in the center of the town and see if you can find any information about it. Vault tower will be the most difficult dungeon in the game. Beat it to find that the G.E.C.K.S was sent to a second vault that was either unfinished or an experimentation. Go the the vault ## to discover that the G.E.C.K.S had taken some damage from bad condition and bad storage. Get all the item to fix it and either fix it yourself (no money cost) or ask to a vault scientist to fix it (+++ money cost)
Result : The map surrounding your house, the vault and the town will become more and more green with beautiful tree (Process will take ### day or month or years)
2024.05.19 09:33 MarvSee Magnetic Screen Door - All Informations you need
Have you ever heard of a magnetic screen door? If not, you're in for a treat!
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Hanging magnetic screen doors, on the other hand, provide a cost-effective solution for temporary use or renters, with easy setup and removal.
Sliding magnetic screen doors are perfect for patio or sliding doors, offering seamless operation without obstructing the view.
These innovative doors offer a practical solution for keeping insects out while maintaining airflow and natural light indoors. The unique design ensures that the screen neatly rolls away when not in use, maximizing space efficiency.
Due to their versatility, they can be installed on various entryways, including French doors, sliding patio doors, and single doors. The user-friendly installation process makes it convenient for homeowners to set them up without the need for professional assistance.
These innovative doors are designed to keep pesky bugs like flies, mosquitoes, and gnats out of your home while allowing fresh air to flow freely. The strong magnets strategically placed along the edges ensure that the door snaps shut behind you, preventing any unwanted invaders from sneaking inside. The convenience of simply walking through the magnetic closure without using your hands makes them ideal for busy households with children and pets.
Regarding the features of sliding magnetic screen doors, their design allows them to effortlessly slide along the designated tracks, offering a user-friendly experience that blends functionality and convenience. One of the standout qualities is their ability to be customized to fit various door sizes and types, catering to different home setups and preferences. This customization factor ensures that the door snugly fits in place, leaving no gaps for pesky insects to sneak through.
Installing these doors requires attention to detail and precision. Fit accuracy is paramount to prevent any gaps that could compromise the insect protection they provide. An improperly installed screen door may not only let insects in but also hinder the smooth operation of the door itself. Ensuring a precise installation is key to enjoying the full benefits of a sliding magnetic screen door.
Once you have measured the width and height of your door frame, ensure to double-check the accuracy to avoid any fitting issues later on. Accurate measurements are crucial for a seamless installation process.
Next, clear the door frame area of any debris or obstructions that may hinder the installation. This step will create a clean surface for attaching the magnetic screen door.
Before beginning the installation, carefully unpack all the components that come with the screen door kit and familiarize yourself with the different parts. Each component plays a vital role in ensuring the door functions properly.
Accurate measurements play a crucial role in ensuring that the magnetic screen door aligns perfectly with the door frame. Custom sizing allows for a tailored fit, eliminating gaps that could let bugs in and maintaining the aesthetic appeal of your doorway. An ill-fitted screen door may not only compromise its functionality but also lead to potential damage or wear and tear. By taking the time to measure your door frame correctly, you set the foundation for a smooth installation process and long-term satisfaction with the performance of your magnetic screen door.
Inspect all the elements of the magnetic screen door kit, including the frame, magnets, and fastening strips, to guarantee nothing is missing or damaged.
Check the PVC coated polyester mesh for any tears, holes, or weak spots that could compromise its effectiveness in keeping bugs out while allowing fresh air to flow through.
Address any issues with the mesh promptly by either repairing small damages with a patch or contacting the manufacturer for a replacement if necessary.
Ensure that the magnetic strips on both sides of the door are aligned correctly to allow for a strong magnetic closure.
Regular cleaning not only helps in maintaining the overall appearance of the magnetic screen door but also ensures proper functioning by preventing clogs and blockages caused by dirt and debris. Insects, such as mosquitoes and flies, are common nuisances that can get trapped in the mesh, affecting the door's performance. By using appropriate cleaning agents, you can effectively eliminate these unwanted visitors while preserving the durability of the PVC mesh. It's crucial to keep in mind that harsh chemicals can deteriorate the materials over time, leading to tears and damage that may affect the door's effectiveness.
When cleaning PVC mesh screens, start by removing the screen from the door frame, if possible, to clean it more thoroughly. Fill a bucket with warm water and a small amount of mild detergent to create a cleaning solution. Gently scrub the mesh with a soft brush or sponge to loosen any stubborn dirt or stains. Rinse the screen with clean water and allow it to air dry completely before reinstalling.
For vinyl magnet screen doors, use a damp cloth or sponge to wipe down the surface. Avoid using harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners that can damage the vinyl material. Regular wiping will help maintain the appearance and longevity of the magnetic screen door.
This is crucial as harsh chemicals can lead to discoloration or weakening of the PVC mesh, which could compromise the overall effectiveness of the door in keeping bugs out while allowing fresh air to flow through.
By selecting gentle cleaning solutions, you not only maintain the aesthetic appeal of your magnetic screen door but also extend its lifespan, ensuring that it continues to function seamlessly for years to come.
Proper storage of your magnetic screen door involves more than just taking it down and leaving it in the garage. To ensure its longevity, protecting it from the snow, ice, and winds is crucial. Opt for a clean and dry storage space, away from moisture and extreme temperatures. If possible, store it in its original packaging or cover it with a sturdy material to prevent dust accumulation.
For those who have privacy screens or outdoor curtains attached, make sure to remove and store them properly as well. Clean them before storing to avoid mold growth during the months they are not in use.
Another common challenge lies in fit adjustments, as the screens may require precise installation to ensure a tight seal. Improper fit can result in insects sneaking through or the door not closing securely.
Long-term durability concerns come into play as the constant opening and closing of the door, exposure to elements, and normal wear and tear can degrade the quality over time, compromising its functionality.
Proper magnet alignment is crucial in ensuring a secure and tight seal when the screen door is closed, preventing insects from entering the house. The strength of the magnets plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of the seal. Strong magnets help keep the door closed securely, maximizing its effectiveness in keeping bugs out. To enhance magnet strength, users can consider options like upgrading to higher-grade magnets or adding supplementary magnets along the door frame to improve closure reliability.
Ensuring that the magnetic screen door fits correctly is essential to prevent bugs and insects from entering your home while allowing fresh air to flow through. A common challenge during installation is getting the measurements right to avoid gaps that can undermine the door's effectiveness.
When facing fit issues, consider adjusting the tension of the screen or checking the alignment of the frame. Improper installation can lead to the door not closing properly or tearing prematurely. It's crucial to follow the manufacturer's instructions meticulously to ensure a snug fit and proper functioning.
Regular upkeep is essential for ensuring that these doors function smoothly and efficiently. Dust, dirt, and debris can accumulate on the magnetic strips and mesh, causing them to deteriorate over time.
It is recommended to clean the door regularly using a gentle soap and water solution. Checking for loose screws, damaged components, and tears in the screen is crucial. Addressing these issues promptly through maintenance and timely repairs can significantly prolong the life of the door.
These innovative doors not only keep bugs at bay but also allow for uninterrupted airflow, creating a refreshing ambiance inside the house. With the added feature of privacy screens, magnetic screen doors offer the flexibility to control visibility and enhance security without compromising on the aesthetic appeal. The incorporation of outdoor curtains provides an extra layer of insulation, helping maintain a stable indoor temperature throughout the seasons. Whether for a cozy reading nook or a lively patio, these doors cater to various preferences and seamlessly blend functionality with style.
submitted by MarvSee to ReviewsAndTools [link] [comments]
We will explore what a magnetic screen door is and how it works. We will also discuss the numerous benefits of using one, such as easy entry and exit, keeping bugs out, and saving energy.
We will delve into the different types of magnetic screen doors, how to install them, tips for maintenance, common issues to watch out for, and more.
So, sit back, relax, and let's dive into the world of magnetic screen doors!
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Key Takeaways:
- Easy to install and use, magnetic screen doors provide a convenient solution for keeping bugs out and allowing for natural ventilation.
- With various types available, including retractable, hanging, and sliding, there is a magnetic screen door for every doorway.
- Regular cleaning and proper maintenance can help prevent common issues with magnetic screen doors, such as weakening magnet strength or wear and tear.
What Is a Magnetic Screen Door?
A magnetic screen door is a convenient and versatile solution for keeping insects out while allowing a refreshing breeze to flow through your living space. Typically made of PVC coated polyester mesh, these doors feature velcro strips and magnets for easy installation and use.These screen doors are designed to fit most standard door sizes, and some models are customizable, allowing you to choose the perfect fit for your specific doorway.
The variety of colors available ensures that you can find a magnetic screen door that complements the aesthetics of your home.
Privacy screens are an essential feature of many magnetic screen doors, providing not only protection from insects but also a shield from prying eyes in busy outdoor settings.
How Does a Magnetic Screen Door Work?
A magnetic screen door operates through the use of strategically placed magnets along the edges that ensure a secure closure after entry or exit. This mechanism effectively prevents bugs and insects from entering the living space while allowing a continuous flow of fresh air through the PVC mesh material.These magnets act as a powerful force, promptly pulling the screen closed behind anyone passing through. The PVC mesh screen acts as a dual-action feature, filtering out dust and providing excellent ventilation without compromising on security. This combination ensures that homes remain pest-free, while still enjoying the benefits of a constant breeze flowing through the room. The seamless blend of magnetic closures and durable mesh makes these screen doors an innovative solution to keep indoor spaces bug-free and airy.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
What Are the Benefits of Using a Magnetic Screen Door?
Utilizing a magnetic screen door offers numerous advantages, including easy access for entry and exit, protection against bugs and insects, natural ventilation that brings in a refreshing breeze, and energy efficiency by reducing the need for artificial cooling systems.These doors play a crucial role in enhancing the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. They create a seamless transition, making it easier to move between the two areas without any barriers. This not only promotes a sense of openness but also allows for better air circulation, improving the overall air quality within the living space.
With the installation of magnetic screen doors, you can enjoy the beauty of the outdoors while maintaining a level of privacy, especially when compared to traditional outdoor curtains. These doors contribute to energy savings by allowing natural light to enter the home, reducing the reliance on artificial lighting during the day.
Allows for Easy Entry and Exit
One of the primary benefits of a magnetic screen door is its seamless installation process that enables convenient entry and exit from your living space without the need for complex mechanisms or tools.These innovative screen doors only require basic household tools to set up, making it a hassle-free addition to your home. By following the straightforward instructions provided, you can easily attach the magnetic strips to your door frame in a matter of minutes.
Once installed, the magnetic screen door effortlessly opens and closes, allowing for a smooth transition between your indoor and outdoor spaces. Its user-friendly design is ideal for those who value simplicity and functionality in their home improvement projects.
Keeps Bugs and Insects Out
The PVC mesh material of a magnetic screen door acts as a barrier against insects and bugs, ensuring a pest-free environment within your living space. Regular cleaning with appropriate agents helps maintain its effectiveness.By incorporating PVC mesh in the construction of the screen door, homeowners create a strong line of defense against unwanted critters while still allowing fresh air to circulate. The mesh structure effectively blocks out mosquitoes, flies, and other pests without obstructing the view or airflow.
To ensure continued protection, it is crucial to conduct routine cleanings using gentle agents that preserve the integrity of the material. This not only helps in removing any trapped debris or dust but also safeguards the door's durability against wear and tear due to dirt accumulation.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Provides Natural Ventilation
By allowing a refreshing breeze to pass through, a magnetic screen door provides natural ventilation that enhances indoor air quality and creates a comfortable environment. Privacy screens can be integrated for added security.One of the key advantages of incorporating magnetic screen doors is their ability to facilitate the circulation of fresh air throughout your living space. This not only helps in reducing stuffiness but also contributes to maintaining a healthier indoor atmosphere by minimizing the build-up of pollutants and odors.
The option to include privacy screens further enhances the functionality of these doors. The privacy screens provide an additional layer of security, preventing unwanted intrusions while still allowing airflow to pass through effortlessly.
Saves Energy
The use of a magnetic screen door promotes energy efficiency by reducing the reliance on artificial cooling systems, leading to potential cost savings. Combining it with outdoor curtains can further enhance insulation.When these two elements are paired together, the magnetic screen door acts as a barrier against insects and allows fresh air to flow into the space, reducing the need for constant air conditioning usage. This results in lower electricity bills and decreased energy consumption, aligning with sustainable living practices.
Incorporating outdoor curtains alongside the magnetic screen door creates an additional layer of protection from heat gain or loss, effectively maintaining indoor temperatures during different seasons. Properly sealed windows and doorways play a crucial role in preventing energy wastage, promoting a comfortable living environment without the need for excessive heating or cooling."
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
What Are the Different Types of Magnetic Screen Doors?
There are various types of magnetic screen doors available, including retractable, hanging, and sliding options, each offering unique features and installation methods to suit different door configurations and preferences.Retractable magnetic screen doors are popular for their sleek and space-saving design, ideal for single entry doors or French doors that need easy access.
Hanging magnetic screen doors, on the other hand, provide a cost-effective solution for temporary use or renters, with easy setup and removal.
Sliding magnetic screen doors are perfect for patio or sliding doors, offering seamless operation without obstructing the view.
Retractable Magnetic Screen Doors
Retractable magnetic screen doors feature a roll-up mechanism that allows for easy installation and operation, making them an ideal choice for doorways with limited space or aesthetic preferences.These innovative doors offer a practical solution for keeping insects out while maintaining airflow and natural light indoors. The unique design ensures that the screen neatly rolls away when not in use, maximizing space efficiency.
Due to their versatility, they can be installed on various entryways, including French doors, sliding patio doors, and single doors. The user-friendly installation process makes it convenient for homeowners to set them up without the need for professional assistance.
Hanging Magnetic Screen Doors
Hanging magnetic screen doors are suspended from a top rail and provide effective insect protection while offering easy passage for humans and pets through the center opening.These innovative doors are designed to keep pesky bugs like flies, mosquitoes, and gnats out of your home while allowing fresh air to flow freely. The strong magnets strategically placed along the edges ensure that the door snaps shut behind you, preventing any unwanted invaders from sneaking inside. The convenience of simply walking through the magnetic closure without using your hands makes them ideal for busy households with children and pets.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Their sleek and unobtrusive design adds a modern touch to any doorway.Sliding Magnetic Screen Doors
Sliding magnetic screen doors glide along tracks to open and close, ensuring a snug fit that keeps insects out while providing a smooth operation for users. Proper installation is crucial to maximize their effectiveness.Regarding the features of sliding magnetic screen doors, their design allows them to effortlessly slide along the designated tracks, offering a user-friendly experience that blends functionality and convenience. One of the standout qualities is their ability to be customized to fit various door sizes and types, catering to different home setups and preferences. This customization factor ensures that the door snugly fits in place, leaving no gaps for pesky insects to sneak through.
Installing these doors requires attention to detail and precision. Fit accuracy is paramount to prevent any gaps that could compromise the insect protection they provide. An improperly installed screen door may not only let insects in but also hinder the smooth operation of the door itself. Ensuring a precise installation is key to enjoying the full benefits of a sliding magnetic screen door.
How to Install a Magnetic Screen Door?
Installing a magnetic screen door is a straightforward process that begins with measuring your door frame accurately, followed by preparing the components and securing the screen door in place using the provided instructions.Once you have measured the width and height of your door frame, ensure to double-check the accuracy to avoid any fitting issues later on. Accurate measurements are crucial for a seamless installation process.
Next, clear the door frame area of any debris or obstructions that may hinder the installation. This step will create a clean surface for attaching the magnetic screen door.
Before beginning the installation, carefully unpack all the components that come with the screen door kit and familiarize yourself with the different parts. Each component plays a vital role in ensuring the door functions properly.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Measure Your Door Frame
Before installing a magnetic screen door, ensure precise measurements of your door frame to facilitate custom sizing and a secure fit, enhancing the door's overall effectiveness.Accurate measurements play a crucial role in ensuring that the magnetic screen door aligns perfectly with the door frame. Custom sizing allows for a tailored fit, eliminating gaps that could let bugs in and maintaining the aesthetic appeal of your doorway. An ill-fitted screen door may not only compromise its functionality but also lead to potential damage or wear and tear. By taking the time to measure your door frame correctly, you set the foundation for a smooth installation process and long-term satisfaction with the performance of your magnetic screen door.
Prepare the Magnetic Screen Door
Preparing the magnetic screen door involves familiarizing yourself with the components, ensuring all parts are included, and verifying the integrity of the PVC coated polyester mesh before proceeding with the installation process.Inspect all the elements of the magnetic screen door kit, including the frame, magnets, and fastening strips, to guarantee nothing is missing or damaged.
Check the PVC coated polyester mesh for any tears, holes, or weak spots that could compromise its effectiveness in keeping bugs out while allowing fresh air to flow through.
Address any issues with the mesh promptly by either repairing small damages with a patch or contacting the manufacturer for a replacement if necessary.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Install the Screen Door
The final step in installing a magnetic screen door is to follow the manufacturer's instructions to securely attach the screen door to the door frame, ensuring proper alignment of magnets for effective closure and insect protection.Ensure that the magnetic strips on both sides of the door are aligned correctly to allow for a strong magnetic closure.
- Start by positioning the door at the top of the frame and lining up the magnets on the screen with the corresponding magnets on the frame.
- Check for any gaps or misalignments, adjusting the positioning if necessary to guarantee a snug fit.
What Are Some Tips for Maintaining a Magnetic Screen Door?
To ensure the longevity and efficiency of your magnetic screen door, it is essential to clean it regularly using gentle cleaning agents that do not damage the PVC mesh. Avoid harsh chemicals that may compromise the door's integrity.Regular cleaning not only helps in maintaining the overall appearance of the magnetic screen door but also ensures proper functioning by preventing clogs and blockages caused by dirt and debris. Insects, such as mosquitoes and flies, are common nuisances that can get trapped in the mesh, affecting the door's performance. By using appropriate cleaning agents, you can effectively eliminate these unwanted visitors while preserving the durability of the PVC mesh. It's crucial to keep in mind that harsh chemicals can deteriorate the materials over time, leading to tears and damage that may affect the door's effectiveness.
Clean Regularly
Regular cleaning of the PVC mesh on your magnetic screen door, using mild soapy water and a soft brush, helps remove dirt, dust, and debris that may impede the door's functionality. For vinyl magnet screen doors, gentle wiping is recommended.When cleaning PVC mesh screens, start by removing the screen from the door frame, if possible, to clean it more thoroughly. Fill a bucket with warm water and a small amount of mild detergent to create a cleaning solution. Gently scrub the mesh with a soft brush or sponge to loosen any stubborn dirt or stains. Rinse the screen with clean water and allow it to air dry completely before reinstalling.
For vinyl magnet screen doors, use a damp cloth or sponge to wipe down the surface. Avoid using harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners that can damage the vinyl material. Regular wiping will help maintain the appearance and longevity of the magnetic screen door.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Avoid Harsh Chemicals
When cleaning your magnetic screen door, refrain from using harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners that can cause damage to the PVC mesh material. Opt for mild cleaning agents to preserve the door's structural integrity.This is crucial as harsh chemicals can lead to discoloration or weakening of the PVC mesh, which could compromise the overall effectiveness of the door in keeping bugs out while allowing fresh air to flow through.
By selecting gentle cleaning solutions, you not only maintain the aesthetic appeal of your magnetic screen door but also extend its lifespan, ensuring that it continues to function seamlessly for years to come.
Store Properly During Winter Months
During the winter months, it is advisable to store your magnetic screen door properly to prevent damage from harsh weather conditions. Consider removing and storing privacy screens and outdoor curtains for added protection.Proper storage of your magnetic screen door involves more than just taking it down and leaving it in the garage. To ensure its longevity, protecting it from the snow, ice, and winds is crucial. Opt for a clean and dry storage space, away from moisture and extreme temperatures. If possible, store it in its original packaging or cover it with a sturdy material to prevent dust accumulation.
For those who have privacy screens or outdoor curtains attached, make sure to remove and store them properly as well. Clean them before storing to avoid mold growth during the months they are not in use.
What Are Some Common Issues with Magnetic Screen Doors?
While magnetic screen doors offer numerous benefits, common issues may arise such as magnet strength variations, fit and installation challenges, and wear and tear over time that can impact their performance and durability.👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
One potential problem associated with magnetic screen doors is the inconsistent magnet strength. Due to variations in manufacturing or environmental factors, the magnetic attraction may not always be uniform, leading to gaps or ineffective closure.Another common challenge lies in fit adjustments, as the screens may require precise installation to ensure a tight seal. Improper fit can result in insects sneaking through or the door not closing securely.
Long-term durability concerns come into play as the constant opening and closing of the door, exposure to elements, and normal wear and tear can degrade the quality over time, compromising its functionality.
Magnet Strength
One of the issues that users may encounter with magnetic screen doors is inconsistent magnet strength, leading to gaps in closure and reduced insect protection. Ensuring optimal magnet alignment can help address this challenge.Proper magnet alignment is crucial in ensuring a secure and tight seal when the screen door is closed, preventing insects from entering the house. The strength of the magnets plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of the seal. Strong magnets help keep the door closed securely, maximizing its effectiveness in keeping bugs out. To enhance magnet strength, users can consider options like upgrading to higher-grade magnets or adding supplementary magnets along the door frame to improve closure reliability.
Fit and Installation
Proper fit and installation are crucial for the optimal performance of magnetic screen doors. Issues with fit and installation can result in gaps that compromise insect protection and airflow control, necessitating adjustments for a secure seal.Ensuring that the magnetic screen door fits correctly is essential to prevent bugs and insects from entering your home while allowing fresh air to flow through. A common challenge during installation is getting the measurements right to avoid gaps that can undermine the door's effectiveness.
When facing fit issues, consider adjusting the tension of the screen or checking the alignment of the frame. Improper installation can lead to the door not closing properly or tearing prematurely. It's crucial to follow the manufacturer's instructions meticulously to ensure a snug fit and proper functioning.
Wear and Tear
Over time, magnetic screen doors may experience wear and tear due to frequent use and exposure to elements.Regular upkeep is essential for ensuring that these doors function smoothly and efficiently. Dust, dirt, and debris can accumulate on the magnetic strips and mesh, causing them to deteriorate over time.
It is recommended to clean the door regularly using a gentle soap and water solution. Checking for loose screws, damaged components, and tears in the screen is crucial. Addressing these issues promptly through maintenance and timely repairs can significantly prolong the life of the door.
👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
Conclusion
In conclusion, magnetic screen doors offer a practical and efficient solution for enhancing indoor-outdoor connectivity, protecting against insects, and promoting natural ventilation. Coupled with the option to include privacy screens or outdoor curtains, these doors contribute to a comfortable and energy-efficient living environment.These innovative doors not only keep bugs at bay but also allow for uninterrupted airflow, creating a refreshing ambiance inside the house. With the added feature of privacy screens, magnetic screen doors offer the flexibility to control visibility and enhance security without compromising on the aesthetic appeal. The incorporation of outdoor curtains provides an extra layer of insulation, helping maintain a stable indoor temperature throughout the seasons. Whether for a cozy reading nook or a lively patio, these doors cater to various preferences and seamlessly blend functionality with style.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a magnetic screen door?
A magnetic screen door is a type of screen door that is designed to easily open and close using magnets instead of traditional hinge mechanisms. It is often used as a temporary solution for keeping insects out while allowing for easy access through the door.2. How does a magnetic screen door work?
A magnetic screen door works by using a series of magnets that are sewn into the edges of the screen. When the door is opened, the magnets automatically align and close the screen behind the person walking through. As the person exits, the magnets separate and the screen opens again.3. What are the benefits of using a magnetic screen door?
There are several benefits to using a magnetic screen door, including allowing for easy entry and exit without the need to constantly open and close a traditional door. It also helps keep insects and pests out while still allowing for fresh air and natural light to enter the space.4. Can a magnetic screen door be used on any type of door?
Generally, magnetic screen doors can be used on most types of doors, including single and double doors, sliding doors, and even RV doors. However, it is important to check the dimensions and compatibility of the screen door with your specific door before purchasing.5. How do you install a magnetic screen door?
Magnetic screen doors are typically easy to install and require no tools or drilling. Most models come with a velcro strip or adhesive tape that allows the screen to be attached to the door frame. It is important to follow the manufacturer's instructions for proper installation.6. Are there any downsides to using a magnetic screen door?
While magnetic screen doors have many benefits, there are also a few potential downsides to consider. They may not be as durable as traditional screen doors and may not hold up well in extreme weather conditions. Some models may also not provide as much protection from strong winds or heavy rain.👉 Klick hier für mehr Informationen
2024.05.19 08:42 GuiltlessMaple Best Car Wash Brushes
 | submitted by GuiltlessMaple to u/GuiltlessMaple [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/6gr88fgxwb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0bbadf42b26242381d553b2bd2e8ec7c49577f8 Welcome to our comprehensive guide on Car Wash Brushes! If you're looking to keep your vehicle sparkling clean, you've come to the right place. In this article, we'll discuss various types of car wash brushes, provide insights into which brushes are best suited for different surfaces, and offer tips on how to choose the perfect brush for your needs. So, dive in and discover the world of car washing accessories! The Top 12 Best Car Wash Brushes
Reviews🔗Car Wash Mop with Extendable Long Handle and Microfiber Headhttps://preview.redd.it/gabjhg6ywb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e77cd1411daa53baadc6695d02fefeedd40f81d0 I recently came across the Oyajia Car Cleaning Washing Mop Brush, and I must say, it's been a game-changer when it comes to keeping my car spotless. The adjustable handle allows me to reach all those tricky spots without having to twist and bend over, saving my back from any unnecessary strain. The chenille microfiber brush is not only soft but also extremely absorbent, making quick work of even the toughest stains. Plus, the fact that it can be easily disassembled into a mitt for interior cleaning is a definite bonus. However, one minor drawback is that the handle might be a tad too long for some users, making it a bit unwieldy to maneuver. Overall, this mop brush has made my car washing sessions faster, easier, and more enjoyable. 🔗Professionally Detailed Auto Wash Brush Sethttps://preview.redd.it/3atlofpywb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a63a71eea9772517ab7f273c2f09aaa2c76adcf I recently got my hands on the OUTIMI 27pcs Car Detailing Brush Set, and it's been a game-changer for my weekly car cleaning routine. The kit comes with an incredible variety of brushes, from detailed bristles for intricate corners to heavy-duty scrubbers for stubborn grime. I also found the drill brush set to be particularly effective in tackling tough stains and reaching those hard-to-reach areas. The car air conditioner brush has been an unexpected hero in this set. It's made such a difference in cleaning out the vents and improving airflow. Plus, the car foam drill polishing pads have made my car look so shiny and new. The woolen polishing pad has been perfect for getting a smooth finish on my paintwork. However, there have been a few cons. Some of the smaller bristles tend to shed, which can be a bit annoying. Additionally, the storage bag could use some improvement - it's a bit flimsy and doesn't keep the brushes well-organized. Overall, I'm thrilled with the OUTIMI 27pcs Car Detailing Brush Set. It's made a noticeable difference in the appearance of my car, and I couldn't be happier. 🔗Ultra-Soft Ergonomic Detailing Brush Sethttps://preview.redd.it/b9zk6fzywb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd3c56560da3a63fb635b48bb480aa173cf072b7 I recently stumbled upon the Detail Factory Ultra-Soft Detailing Brush Set Gray while searching for a solution to clean my car's intricate details without causing scratches. As a first-time user, I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was to hold and use these brushes. The ergonomic design and balanced handle made it easy to clean for extended periods without experiencing any fatigue. The Ultra-Soft Detailing Brush Set truly lived up to its name, featuring ultra-soft synthetic bristles that gently cleaned my car's interior panels without causing any damage. Its metal-free construction gave me peace of mind knowing that the bristles wouldn't inadvertently scratch my vehicle's delicate surfaces. However, the only drawback I encountered was that the brush set comes with only one brush size, which might not be ideal for those who require more variety in their detailing tools. Despite this minor inconvenience, I wholeheartedly recommend the Detail Factory Ultra-Soft Detailing Brush Set Gray for anyone seeking a high-quality, gentle solution for maintaining their car's appearance. 🔗Car Wash Brush with Spray Foam and Rotating Designhttps://preview.redd.it/quprbgazwb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2be18a575f020a9af953d330ad21239c48f1adfc I recently got my hands on the versatile Atmomo Car Pressure Washer Rotating Wash Brush. This amazing tool made my car washing experience a breeze, saving me time and energy. What impressed me most was its automatic rotation feature that doesn’t require electricity. The water flowing into the pipe creates a high-pressure driving force to power the gears and make the brush work automatically. The Atmomo Car Pressure Washer isn't just your regular car wash brush. It also comes with a detergent box that sprays foam when you need it, making cleaning even easier. You can easily adjust the hydraulic pressure too, choosing from three levels according to your cleaning needs. Its rotating design with a soft and plump brush head ensures thorough cleaning while its excellent water-absorbing capacity protects the paint. This multi-functional tool isn't just limited to car washing. It can be used to clean floors, windows, blankets, and even serve as a garden water sprinkler. Its innovative technology has made car washing hassle-free and more enjoyable. However, one downside I noticed was the brush material. It tends to shed a bit during use, which might require some extra cleanup after washing your car. Despite this minor inconvenience, I consider the Atmomo Car Pressure Washer a valuable addition to my car care routine. 🔗Car Wheel Cleaning Brush Set with Tire Brushhttps://preview.redd.it/qke0xlszwb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59a60240bece2a23f67028e7d2376d96a4cc6160 As a car enthusiast, I'm always in search of the best tools to keep my ride in pristine condition. That's why I recently came across the NIKCOSMK Wheel Brush Kit, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. This versatile kit has become an essential part of my weekly car wash routine. The Professional Wheel & Rim Clean Brush Set includes a variety of brushes perfect for tackling even the toughest grime on my wheels, tires, and rims. The soft microfiber wheel brushes are gentle on my painted, chrome, powder coated, and polished wheels, ensuring no scratches are left behind. One feature that stands out is the flexible design of the rim brush. Its ability to bend up to 360 degrees allows me to reach deep into tight spaces and thoroughly clean my wheels' faces and lips. Plus, the comfortable silicone hand grip ensures the brush never slips, even during a vigorous scrubbing session. The high-quality materials used in this kit are a testament to its durability and performance. The thick fibers of the synthetic woolie brushes hold tons of cleaning liquid and quickly remove grime from my wheels, while the metal-free construction keeps my car's paint safe from potential damage. Another aspect I appreciate about this kit is its wide range of applications. Whether I'm cleaning my car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or even my RV, boat, or lawn mowers, the NIKCOSMK Wheel Brush Kit has been an indispensable tool. Overall, the NIKCOSMK Wheel Brush Kit has made maintaining my car's spotless appearance effortless. Its unique combination of softness, flexibility, and performance makes it a reliable choice for car wash enthusiasts like me. 🔗Fitosy Complete Car Wash Brush Set for Detailinghttps://preview.redd.it/e0hdw330xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=705d54f6ae7f17c5eb719e4b798e13c9b027c8fb I recently decided to give my car a thorough cleaning and discovered the Fitosy Car Wheel Rim Tire Brush Set. I was pleasantly surprised by how well-made and versatile this kit was. The 15-inch flexible wool bristle brush stood out for me - it can bend in any direction and reach those hard-to-clean areas on the wheels. Plus, it's made of 100% metal-free materials, ensuring no scratches on my rims. Another feature I appreciated was the sturdy and ergonomic design of the handle. It's comfortable to grip and made of durable material, making it a reliable tool for long-term use. The three different sized detailing brushes also made light work of cleaning my car's interior, tackling tight spaces and nooks with ease. However, one drawback I experienced was that the tire brush, while effective in cleaning tires, seemed a bit too stiff for use on other sensitive surfaces like car carpets or leather seats. Despite that, overall, the Fitosy Car Wheel Rim Tire Brush Set has been a game-changer for me when it comes to car detailing, making the entire process much more efficient and enjoyable. 🔗Carcarez 4-Piece Long Handle Car Wash Mop Kit for Efficient Cleaninghttps://preview.redd.it/slqmz2s0xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19d9184f1d41dc05dc21d30a49c0e4a0758b16c9 I recently got my hands on a Car Wash Brush Kit by Carcarez, and I must say, it has become an indispensable part of my car maintenance routine. The 45-inch aluminum alloy long handle provides excellent reach, making it easy to clean hard-to-reach areas of my vehicle. The kit is a 3-in-1 design, comprising a car wash mop, a replacement mop head, and a car wash squeegee. It's incredibly versatile, allowing me to tackle various car cleaning tasks efficiently. The car wash mop is made of a combination of PP and chenille microfiber, ensuring thorough cleaning without scratching my car's paint. The package includes two mops, offering extra convenience. The aluminum alloy long handle is not just sturdy, but also adjustable and swiveling, enabling me to achieve a 180-degree cleaning angle. This feature has proven to be a game changer, particularly when cleaning narrow spaces. The car drying squeegee is another notable component of the kit. It quickly and safely dries flat surfaces, whether it's glass or car paint. There's no risk of water spots either, as the squeegee leaves no marks behind. It's a handy tool that has drastically cut down the time I spend on drying my car. However, there are a couple of areas where the Carcarez Car Wash Brush Kit could improve. The mop heads, while effective, do tend to wear out relatively quickly. Additionally, although the aluminum alloy handle is strong, it can feel a bit unwieldy at times, especially for those who prefer a more lightweight design. Overall, the Carcarez Car Wash Brush Kit has been a valuable addition to my car cleaning routine. Its versatile design, long handle, and efficient cleaning tools make it a worthwhile investment for anyone seeking to keep their vehicle in pristine condition. 🔗Professional 26-Piece Car Cleaning Kithttps://preview.redd.it/uhr1za01xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11920da47c305b1f90292c62f381bed31f2053d2 I've been using this car detailing kit for a few months now, and I must say, it's the ultimate car care package. From the tiniest nooks and crannies to the toughest stains on my wheels, this kit has made my car look as good as new. The drill brush attachments are particularly impressive. They've made it incredibly easy to give every corner of my car a thorough scrubbing, making sure no grime is left behind. The long handle wheel brush and tire brush have been a game-changer for reaching those hard-to-access spots on my rims and tires. The car detailing brush set is diverse, providing different sizes for various cleaning needs. The wire brushes have been particularly useful in tackling stubborn stains on the wheels. The soft car washing tool kit, with its detachable handle and water absorption cloth covers, has made windows and dashboards feel like brand new. However, it's worth noting that the bristles on some brushes may not be as soft as expected, so be gentle while using them. All in all, this 26-piece car cleaning kit is a must-have for any car enthusiast looking to maintain their ride in top condition. 🔗Comprehensive Car Cleaning Brush Sethttps://preview.redd.it/8fqyxde1xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92d7c3b014e1c12d58660c9eeb454f8a6f749266 I recently discovered the MateAuto 12pcs Car Carpet Brush Set and it's been a game changer for keeping my car interior spotless. This set includes various brushes with different sizes and bristle materials, making it easy to clean every nook and cranny of my car. The Car Carpet Brush is particularly impressive, featuring super hard synthetic bristles that can effectively scrub away dirt and grime without causing any damage to my car rugs or floor mats. The ergonomic handle makes it comfortable to use, even for extended periods of time. I also appreciate the fact that this set includes a boar's hair brush set and a natural horsehair brush. These bristles are soft enough not to scratch the interior of my car, but strong enough to clean away dust and debris. I've found the boar's hair brushes especially helpful in reaching tight spaces like air vents and lug nuts. Additionally, the set includes air outlet brushes for quick cleaning of car vents and blinds, as well as stainless steel, brass, and nylon brushes for even more versatility. It's truly an all-in-one solution that covers many cleaning tasks, whether it be rust removal or delicate household appliances. Overall, the MateAuto 12pcs Car Carpet Brush Set has made maintaining my car's interior so much easier and more enjoyable. Its variety of brushes and applications make it a must-have tool for any car owner looking to keep their vehicle in pristine condition. 🔗Ultimate 62" Car Wash Mop and Brush Kithttps://preview.redd.it/mhg5u6w1xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a56ea6bfb1f448a04f2999946afed9cb48fadce0 In my daily life, I've been using the HORDALOR Car Wash Kit to keep my car pristine. This kit includes everything you could need for a thorough car wash, even a 62" long-handle car wash brush to clean the hard-to-reach areas on your vehicle. The non-slip handle ensures a comfortable grip while you work, and won't scratch your paint job. One feature that stood out to me was the car wash kit's scratch-free design. The combination of the car bucket and grit trap keeps dirt off your car while washing, which prevents any scratches from developing during the cleaning process. Additionally, the car washing tools are made with premium materials that are gentle on delicate surfaces. However, the packaging could be improved. The Oxford bag is convenient and space-saving, but some users might find it difficult to access the tools when needed. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the HORDALOR Car Wash Kit and would recommend it to any car enthusiast looking for a comprehensive car cleaning solution. 🔗Premium 27-Piece Car Detailing Kithttps://preview.redd.it/1lfk4092xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d30bcd8d9c8f5ee400f0c0ca9d20c74f63448fc As a dedicated car enthusiast, I've had my fair share of cleaning tools over the years. However, the TTRCB 27pcs Car Detailing Kit has truly stood out among them. With its comprehensive set of brushes and accessories, it's like having a professional car wash right in my own garage. The kit comes with an impressive array of drill brushes, car detailing brushes, wire brushes, and other tools that cater to every cleaning need imaginable. From small cracks and corners to larger areas like wheels and engine compartments, this kit has got it all covered. The drill brushes are especially handy for giving the car's exterior a thorough wash, while the car detailing brushes are perfect for tackling smaller, more intricate areas inside the vehicle. The 3 different types of wire brushes are also a welcome addition to the kit, as they offer versatile cleaning options for various surface types. The air vent brush and car dash duster work wonders on removing dust from hard-to-reach areas, while the microfiber wash mitt ensures that your car stays spotless during the washing process. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the kit does not include the drill itself. Nevertheless, this minor inconvenience is easily overlooked when considering the overall quality and value that the TTRCB 27pcs Car Detailing Kit brings to the table. In conclusion, whether you're a professional detailer or a car enthusiast looking to give your vehicle a thorough clean, the TTRCB 27pcs Car Detailing Kit is definitely worth considering. Its extensive collection of brushes and accessories ensures that no corner is left untouched, resulting in a spotless and well-maintained car every time. 🔗Perform Tool Detailing Brush Set for Auto, Boat, and Homehttps://preview.redd.it/hfqmk7s2xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14b3d9f4eee06ad80656e391e9f96fe648187829 I recently decided to give my old car a much-needed makeover and came across the Perform Tool W4992 Power Brush Detailing Kit. I was initially skeptical about its capabilities, but boy, was I in for a surprise! The kit included an array of tools such as power tool brushes, pads, towels, and various sized detailing brushes, making it easier for me to tackle every nook and cranny of my vehicle. The double-sided wash mitt, in particular, came in handy as it soaked up water quickly without scratching the paint. One of the standout features was how the 3 white soft bristle power tool brushes could easily be used with my drill or impact driver, making quick work of cleaning upholstery, leather, carpet, glass, tile, and fiberglass. The two orange medium firm pads were perfect for applying wax and polishes with extra precision. However, there were some minor drawbacks. Some of the detailing brushes felt a bit flimsy, and I had to be extra cautious while using them in tight spaces. Additionally, the lack of proper product specifications and user reviews made it difficult for me to understand the kit's compatibility with various power tools. Overall, the Perform Tool W4992 Power Brush Detailing Kit has been a game-changer in reviving my car's appearance. It offers a comprehensive set of tools to help you detail your vehicle, boat, or home effortlessly. But remember, always use caution when handling some of the smaller detailing brushes to ensure they last long. Buyer's GuideGetting a car wash can be an expensive and time-consuming process. To help maintain your vehicle's appearance and extend the life of its paint job, investing in quality car wash brushes is a practical and cost-effective solution. In this buyer's guide, we'll cover essential features, considerations, and general advice about car wash brushes to ensure you make an informed purchase. https://preview.redd.it/evgweq93xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47a2fe197a739127843b66aafb9f3dd92f29d3fc Important Features to Consider
Considerations Before Purchasing
https://preview.redd.it/uko1aeo3xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=253de9d0972c01e2da938e9771d134438fff3d6d General Advice and Usage Tips
FAQhttps://preview.redd.it/d7khw744xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4bb3e504891ac633054459b6486e8217e774d7b 1. What are car wash brushes?Car wash brushes are specially designed tools used for cleaning and detailing vehicles. They come in various shapes and sizes, with features such as stiff or soft bristles, rotating heads, and ergonomic handles to suit different needs and types of surfaces.2. How do car wash brushes differ from regular brushes?Car wash brushes are specifically made for cleaning and maintaining vehicles. They may have stiffer or softer bristles, rotating heads, and ergonomic handles compared to regular brushes to provide a more thorough and efficient cleaning experience on automotive surfaces without causing damage. https://preview.redd.it/bg7wrlf4xb1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e7b7c2616e42ceeb49df59cec6bce86ec9c44d2 3. What types of car wash brushes are available in the market?There are several types of car wash brushes available, including:
4. Why should I use a car wash brush instead of a regular sponge or cloth?Car wash brushes offer a more thorough and efficient cleaning solution by providing better access to nooks and crannies, removing stubborn dirt and grime, and distributing cleaning solution evenly across the surface. This minimizes the risk of scratching and ensures a streak-free finish.5. How do I choose the right car wash brush for my needs?Consider the following factors when selecting a car wash brush:
6. How do I properly maintain and store my car wash brushes?To maintain and store your car wash brushes:
7. Can I use car wash brushes on other surfaces besides my vehicle?While car wash brushes are designed for automotive surfaces, they can also be used to clean other items such as patio furniture, boat hulls, and ATVs, provided that the brush is suitable for the material's surface.8. How often should I replace my car wash brushes?The frequency at which you should replace your car wash brushes depends on how often you use them and their condition. It is recommended to inspect the bristles periodically for signs of wear or damage – if the bristles become matted, frayed, or unevenly worn, it may be time to replace the brush.As an Amazon™ Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. |
2024.05.19 03:19 RussianLoveMachine Full Kitchen Remodel Layout Help [Long post]
The current layout in a fully gutted kitchen below: https://imgur.com/nGIH4C7
Two tricky parts to note. One, the load bearing wall that we can't shorten. Plus the corner windows that create the "rounded" top left corner start about 24 inches off the floor so you can't just put a countertop across them without bricking up the window. We are getting new windows in the kitchen so not the end of the world, but this is a brick house so more $ to change window sizes. Will mention, the closet is the only one we have for the front (not pictured but right below dining room) and back entrance, so we want to avoid getting rid of it.
We would like a large island since we don't want to re-build another breakfast nook. My wife also wants a more walk in butlers pantry (+/- dry bar in between the kitchen and dining room). There is an exhaust fan in the laundry area, so I think storing things in there shouldn't be bad. My wife is ok with closing the passage between the kitchen and dinning, but I think it's a bad idea.
Here was our initial leading layout after much deliberation. It would extent the width of the laundry/pantry by 1.5 ft (7.5 width). We would brick up the left most window on the top wall. Although, I just realized we can just shorten the window so a cabinet goes under it, but it would be close to the stove though (not sure if good idea). Btw, it was my idea to put the sink by the window rather than island because I do the dishes most often and I don't like interrupting an island. Each block is 1x1ft btw if you want approximate measurements. https://imgur.com/GL0BVv3
We talked to our contractor and he felt that bricking up a window is a bad idea (we didn't ask about just resizing to be honest). He felt that we are planning too large of a pantry given our kitchen size. He is probably right, we are simple cooks and can't say it is our passion. He recommended something more simple and cheaper (we asked him to always give us those options). It keeps the pantry/laundry width the same at 6ft, but blocks off the entrance to dinning: https://imgur.com/o1CCDFd
He is probably right about the size. However, I really don't like closing up the extra entrance to dining from kitchen and my wife kind of likes our original layout. We came up with a mix of the two (although we made the closet smaller and decided to stack the washer and dryer). This saves the pass through, gives my wife that little wet/prep bar before the dining room, and the fridge is in a slightly better spot. However, we are confused about what to do with this empty ~6' 6" x 9' 9" to the left of the kitchen and above the back door. https://imgur.com/OeI9dIc
Love to get some feedback. Thoughts on pantry/laundry size. Thoughts on layout of the 3 options we came up with so far. Perhaps you can recommend something completely different?
EDIT: updated the pictures, i realized they were out of order!
submitted by RussianLoveMachine to kitchenremodel [link] [comments]
Two tricky parts to note. One, the load bearing wall that we can't shorten. Plus the corner windows that create the "rounded" top left corner start about 24 inches off the floor so you can't just put a countertop across them without bricking up the window. We are getting new windows in the kitchen so not the end of the world, but this is a brick house so more $ to change window sizes. Will mention, the closet is the only one we have for the front (not pictured but right below dining room) and back entrance, so we want to avoid getting rid of it.
We would like a large island since we don't want to re-build another breakfast nook. My wife also wants a more walk in butlers pantry (+/- dry bar in between the kitchen and dining room). There is an exhaust fan in the laundry area, so I think storing things in there shouldn't be bad. My wife is ok with closing the passage between the kitchen and dinning, but I think it's a bad idea.
Here was our initial leading layout after much deliberation. It would extent the width of the laundry/pantry by 1.5 ft (7.5 width). We would brick up the left most window on the top wall. Although, I just realized we can just shorten the window so a cabinet goes under it, but it would be close to the stove though (not sure if good idea). Btw, it was my idea to put the sink by the window rather than island because I do the dishes most often and I don't like interrupting an island. Each block is 1x1ft btw if you want approximate measurements. https://imgur.com/GL0BVv3
We talked to our contractor and he felt that bricking up a window is a bad idea (we didn't ask about just resizing to be honest). He felt that we are planning too large of a pantry given our kitchen size. He is probably right, we are simple cooks and can't say it is our passion. He recommended something more simple and cheaper (we asked him to always give us those options). It keeps the pantry/laundry width the same at 6ft, but blocks off the entrance to dinning: https://imgur.com/o1CCDFd
He is probably right about the size. However, I really don't like closing up the extra entrance to dining from kitchen and my wife kind of likes our original layout. We came up with a mix of the two (although we made the closet smaller and decided to stack the washer and dryer). This saves the pass through, gives my wife that little wet/prep bar before the dining room, and the fridge is in a slightly better spot. However, we are confused about what to do with this empty ~6' 6" x 9' 9" to the left of the kitchen and above the back door. https://imgur.com/OeI9dIc
Love to get some feedback. Thoughts on pantry/laundry size. Thoughts on layout of the 3 options we came up with so far. Perhaps you can recommend something completely different?
EDIT: updated the pictures, i realized they were out of order!
2024.05.19 03:06 RussianLoveMachine Kitchen & laundry/pantry floor plan help!
The current layout in a fully gutted kitchen below: https://imgur.com/nGIH4C7
Two tricky parts to note. One, the load bearing wall that we can't shorten. Plus the corner windows that create the "rounded" top left corner start about 24 inches off the floor so you can't just put a countertop across them without bricking up the window. We are getting new windows in the kitchen so not the end of the world, but this is a brick house so more $ to change window sizes. Will mention, the closet is the only one we have for the front (not pictured but right below dining room) and back entrance, so we want to avoid getting rid of it.
We would like a large island since we don't want to re-build another breakfast nook. My wife also wants a more walk in butlers pantry (+/- dry bar in between the kitchen and dining room). There is an exhaust fan in the laundry area, so I think storing things in there shouldn't be bad. My wife is ok with closing the passage between the kitchen and dinning, but I think it's a bad idea.
Here was our initial leading layout after much deliberation. It would extent the width of the laundry/pantry by 1.5 ft (7.5 width). We would brick up the left most window on the top wall. Although, I just realized we can just shorten the window so a cabinet goes under it, but it would be close to the stove though (not sure if good idea). Btw, it was my idea to put the sink by the window rather than island because I do the dishes most often and I don't like interrupting an island. Each block is 1x1ft btw if you want approximate measurements. https://imgur.com/OeI9dIc
We talked to our contractor and he felt that bricking up a window is a bad idea (we didn't ask about just resizing to be honest). He felt that we are planning too large of a pantry given our kitchen size. He is probably right, we are simple cooks and can't say it is our passion. He recommended something more simple and cheaper (we asked him to always give us those options). It keeps the pantry/laundry width the same at 6ft, but blocks off the entrance to dinning: https://imgur.com/o1CCDFd
He is probably right about the size. However, I really don't like closing up the extra entrance to dining from kitchen and my wife kind of likes our original layout. We came up with a mix of the two (although we made the closet smaller and decided to stack the washer and dryer). This saves the pass through, gives my wife that little wet/prep bar before the dining room, and the fridge is in a slightly better spot. However, we are confused about what to do with this empty ~6' 6" x 9' 9" to the left of the kitchen and above the back door. https://imgur.com/GL0BVv3
Love to get some feedback. Thoughts on pantry/laundry size. Thoughts on layout of the 3 options we came up with so far. Perhaps you can recommend something completely different?
submitted by RussianLoveMachine to floorplan [link] [comments]
Two tricky parts to note. One, the load bearing wall that we can't shorten. Plus the corner windows that create the "rounded" top left corner start about 24 inches off the floor so you can't just put a countertop across them without bricking up the window. We are getting new windows in the kitchen so not the end of the world, but this is a brick house so more $ to change window sizes. Will mention, the closet is the only one we have for the front (not pictured but right below dining room) and back entrance, so we want to avoid getting rid of it.
We would like a large island since we don't want to re-build another breakfast nook. My wife also wants a more walk in butlers pantry (+/- dry bar in between the kitchen and dining room). There is an exhaust fan in the laundry area, so I think storing things in there shouldn't be bad. My wife is ok with closing the passage between the kitchen and dinning, but I think it's a bad idea.
Here was our initial leading layout after much deliberation. It would extent the width of the laundry/pantry by 1.5 ft (7.5 width). We would brick up the left most window on the top wall. Although, I just realized we can just shorten the window so a cabinet goes under it, but it would be close to the stove though (not sure if good idea). Btw, it was my idea to put the sink by the window rather than island because I do the dishes most often and I don't like interrupting an island. Each block is 1x1ft btw if you want approximate measurements. https://imgur.com/OeI9dIc
We talked to our contractor and he felt that bricking up a window is a bad idea (we didn't ask about just resizing to be honest). He felt that we are planning too large of a pantry given our kitchen size. He is probably right, we are simple cooks and can't say it is our passion. He recommended something more simple and cheaper (we asked him to always give us those options). It keeps the pantry/laundry width the same at 6ft, but blocks off the entrance to dinning: https://imgur.com/o1CCDFd
He is probably right about the size. However, I really don't like closing up the extra entrance to dining from kitchen and my wife kind of likes our original layout. We came up with a mix of the two (although we made the closet smaller and decided to stack the washer and dryer). This saves the pass through, gives my wife that little wet/prep bar before the dining room, and the fridge is in a slightly better spot. However, we are confused about what to do with this empty ~6' 6" x 9' 9" to the left of the kitchen and above the back door. https://imgur.com/GL0BVv3
Love to get some feedback. Thoughts on pantry/laundry size. Thoughts on layout of the 3 options we came up with so far. Perhaps you can recommend something completely different?
2024.05.19 01:36 Bunrakuen Game looking different / new main screen / base builder info (also slingshot)
Wassup people, I bring Discord tidings once again. If you know base stuff already, slingshot will be at bottom.
No doubt lot of you (kinda obvious from threads lol) have now experienced the shift from no longer doing the endless number monuments with blocks directly, into having 4 buildings surrounding a central block storage pile.
This is called "Base Builder", and is a currently beta feature that has been expanding to eventually come to everyone.
On the left side you have a hot air balloon looking "Logistics", on the right you have "Arsenal" that's kinda like a barracks / factory, bottom in turn is fortress / mini castle looking "Defense" or what was it. And up top you got "Town Hall".
After you set a building up, with the exception of TH (more on that in a sec) what you gotta do is spend blocks from storage to do "jobs" at them. I >think< arsenal also needs you to spend some cards from a card of your choosing? (I dont have BB yet so can't check)
After a job is finished, you'll get a decent small payout (grows with building level), including XP for the building. Once you've filled up the XP gauge, you can level the building up. This'll give you some benefits, mainly 1 skill point to use on any of the 3 skills the buildings have.
Currently only logistics skills are open, we dunno what TH's environments will do, the other 2 are just preview images that you can't unlock.
Pretty self-explanatory. 4x adds a 4x multiplier to the middle of reward gauge, and further points grow the area to make it easier to hit. More looting time is just that. Caps around 2 sec extra or so? Teleport will at random move some of your mobs, sometimes champs, from phase 1 of a map to phase 2 to give you a head start (or phase 3 if you got slingshot)
Currently the level caps for the 3 skill buildings are 100, so you'll get 99 points max to each. It >might< grow later but for now be a little careful what you put points into unless you want to spend some time doing ads to take em back for respending 5 points at a time.
Town Hall differs in the sense that it can't be leveled directly cause it has no jobs, and it only gains XP from leveling up the other 3 buildings. Due to this its always gonna lag behind a bit, and has a level cap of 50. For the most part its just for storage (until environments anyway, whenever that'll be), with the rest coming from your league. (immortal is 10k storage, god tier don't count cause not a league).
Storage full? What about events?
Unfortunately yes, blocks at this time that exceed your storage capacity will be wasted during normal play. Key phrase >normal<, because during Piggy Race and World Clash your entire loot will still count, even if you can't fit a single block more to space. This will change later, more of that in a sec.
BUT ADS-ADS-ADS
Yes, I know =w=;; I'm not all too big on the situation either. Now don't take this as absolute 100% unchangable truth since I'm not a developer, but the main boss man of theirs did tell us in Elite Chat area that their current plan to try if not solve then at least remedy the above excess block wastage and ad galore issue, by later introducing a "time machine" of some sort. This, be it a building or feature or whatever (we dunno what form yet), will take your excess looted blocks, and use them to speed up your ongoing timers. Number subject to possible change, but the value he mentioned so far was 1000 (1k) blocks for 1 minute skipped each. I'd presume its to all ongoing timers at the time, for ease of coding.
So simply said, not best situation, but it >should< hopefully get significantly better soon.
I been waiting, why no BB yet?
Its their by far most massive update to the game so far, so despite going as fast as they can (especially due to unexpected bugs) its been a little slow going. The impatience of players and their displeasure at uneven competitive scene due to this has been made known though, so their current priority above all seems to be trying to get at least basic BB out the door for everyone.
We just now on friday had a significant expansion of the percentage to what I believe is more or less 50% of the entire player base. The next stage >might< be what they were promising before this, an inclusion of everyone who has at least 100 or more bases made on the old form.
I want the purple memento to have a funny number. Wat do?
When you receive the beta, finishing the current base you are on will convert you to the new form, and take that last finished number as your mini monument at top right. So lets say you want it to say 500? Then you need to finish 499 bases, then stay on the blueprint unfinished stage of 500 until you receive beta. After receiving, complete it, and puff it should say 500 on monument.
Okay I know all that, wut dis slingshot thing?
Pretty much self explanatory, a small occasional (seemingly random chance) activity to spice up normal 2 phase maps a little. It'll appear during transition from phase 1 to 2, a gap of some sort (collapsed bridge, energy storm, void, lava, etc), with an enormous giga slingshot like in the moon battle ad of the game against that giant 999 HP tower.
There's a predetermined path you can (dont have to, but why not? more benefit) take for some extra coin, and you'll have anywhere from I believe 2 to 4-5 bubbles rotating around over the gap. Red coin bubbles reduce them, green ones give. Green blocks gives blocks of course, and green skip is 1 skip.
Most seem to quite enjoy it, no bugs that we can see, with a lot of suggestions of wishing the rewards were a little higher. No dev comment on if they'll do that or not yet, but I think it might be in beta phase still so I reckon its not impossible it might be finetuned for full release.
submitted by Bunrakuen to mobcontrolgame [link] [comments]
No doubt lot of you (kinda obvious from threads lol) have now experienced the shift from no longer doing the endless number monuments with blocks directly, into having 4 buildings surrounding a central block storage pile.
This is called "Base Builder", and is a currently beta feature that has been expanding to eventually come to everyone.
On the left side you have a hot air balloon looking "Logistics", on the right you have "Arsenal" that's kinda like a barracks / factory, bottom in turn is fortress / mini castle looking "Defense" or what was it. And up top you got "Town Hall".
After you set a building up, with the exception of TH (more on that in a sec) what you gotta do is spend blocks from storage to do "jobs" at them. I >think< arsenal also needs you to spend some cards from a card of your choosing? (I dont have BB yet so can't check)
After a job is finished, you'll get a decent small payout (grows with building level), including XP for the building. Once you've filled up the XP gauge, you can level the building up. This'll give you some benefits, mainly 1 skill point to use on any of the 3 skills the buildings have.
Currently only logistics skills are open, we dunno what TH's environments will do, the other 2 are just preview images that you can't unlock.
Pretty self-explanatory. 4x adds a 4x multiplier to the middle of reward gauge, and further points grow the area to make it easier to hit. More looting time is just that. Caps around 2 sec extra or so? Teleport will at random move some of your mobs, sometimes champs, from phase 1 of a map to phase 2 to give you a head start (or phase 3 if you got slingshot)
Currently the level caps for the 3 skill buildings are 100, so you'll get 99 points max to each. It >might< grow later but for now be a little careful what you put points into unless you want to spend some time doing ads to take em back for respending 5 points at a time.
Town Hall differs in the sense that it can't be leveled directly cause it has no jobs, and it only gains XP from leveling up the other 3 buildings. Due to this its always gonna lag behind a bit, and has a level cap of 50. For the most part its just for storage (until environments anyway, whenever that'll be), with the rest coming from your league. (immortal is 10k storage, god tier don't count cause not a league).
Storage full? What about events?
Unfortunately yes, blocks at this time that exceed your storage capacity will be wasted during normal play. Key phrase >normal<, because during Piggy Race and World Clash your entire loot will still count, even if you can't fit a single block more to space. This will change later, more of that in a sec.
BUT ADS-ADS-ADS
Yes, I know =w=;; I'm not all too big on the situation either. Now don't take this as absolute 100% unchangable truth since I'm not a developer, but the main boss man of theirs did tell us in Elite Chat area that their current plan to try if not solve then at least remedy the above excess block wastage and ad galore issue, by later introducing a "time machine" of some sort. This, be it a building or feature or whatever (we dunno what form yet), will take your excess looted blocks, and use them to speed up your ongoing timers. Number subject to possible change, but the value he mentioned so far was 1000 (1k) blocks for 1 minute skipped each. I'd presume its to all ongoing timers at the time, for ease of coding.
So simply said, not best situation, but it >should< hopefully get significantly better soon.
I been waiting, why no BB yet?
Its their by far most massive update to the game so far, so despite going as fast as they can (especially due to unexpected bugs) its been a little slow going. The impatience of players and their displeasure at uneven competitive scene due to this has been made known though, so their current priority above all seems to be trying to get at least basic BB out the door for everyone.
We just now on friday had a significant expansion of the percentage to what I believe is more or less 50% of the entire player base. The next stage >might< be what they were promising before this, an inclusion of everyone who has at least 100 or more bases made on the old form.
I want the purple memento to have a funny number. Wat do?
When you receive the beta, finishing the current base you are on will convert you to the new form, and take that last finished number as your mini monument at top right. So lets say you want it to say 500? Then you need to finish 499 bases, then stay on the blueprint unfinished stage of 500 until you receive beta. After receiving, complete it, and puff it should say 500 on monument.
Okay I know all that, wut dis slingshot thing?
Pretty much self explanatory, a small occasional (seemingly random chance) activity to spice up normal 2 phase maps a little. It'll appear during transition from phase 1 to 2, a gap of some sort (collapsed bridge, energy storm, void, lava, etc), with an enormous giga slingshot like in the moon battle ad of the game against that giant 999 HP tower.
There's a predetermined path you can (dont have to, but why not? more benefit) take for some extra coin, and you'll have anywhere from I believe 2 to 4-5 bubbles rotating around over the gap. Red coin bubbles reduce them, green ones give. Green blocks gives blocks of course, and green skip is 1 skip.
Most seem to quite enjoy it, no bugs that we can see, with a lot of suggestions of wishing the rewards were a little higher. No dev comment on if they'll do that or not yet, but I think it might be in beta phase still so I reckon its not impossible it might be finetuned for full release.
2024.05.18 21:41 AssociationMean1168 Premium Ensuite - 24/25! - The ASPEN, Leicester LE2.
 | Looking for a tenancy takeover 24/25 for a premium ensuite in The Aspen, Leicester. submitted by AssociationMean1168 to leicester [link] [comments] Encouraging sustainable travel to and from university and beyond, the building has on-site bike storage and hire available. It also provides free coffee 24/7, and has an indoor gym with a program of regular fitness classes. There is a lounge where you can focus with some independent studying, or better yet invite your friends to work on a group project, and reward yourself afterwards with a lounge on our comfy seating and a Netflix marathon. It's only a 10 minute walk from University of Leicester and 18 minute walk to De montfont University Leicester. Rent: £893 per month including bills and washing/drying & breakfast each morning made for you downstairs in breakfast bar. Shared kitchen with only 3 people. Contact me for more info/if interested. https://preview.redd.it/ivli00ien81d1.jpg?width=611&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7351f68218db63145b386dc8563a77b04a34fda5 https://preview.redd.it/z2hbdlien81d1.jpg?width=599&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d768b3c5afaedc3fc50e1b83246a359984d29bcb https://preview.redd.it/mvt6zzhen81d1.jpg?width=601&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b826435a8685eec0db4f066855ab41384d7b0f9 https://preview.redd.it/9srsj1ien81d1.jpg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5a1bfbbb8358de1d9343bf3299063987d23afd5 |
2024.05.18 21:11 Sweet-Count2557 Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives
 | Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] Thoddoo Inn: A Luxurious Stay in the Beautiful Ari Atoll Thoddoo Island, Maldives Price Level: $$ Hotel Class: 3 Welcome to Thoddoo Inn, a lavish 5-room tourist guesthouse located in the beautiful Ari Atoll Thoddoo island of Maldives. Just a 15-minute walk from the beach, this property offers a luxurious stay for travelers. With free Wi-Fi, air-conditioned rooms, and a TV, each room is equipped with all the necessary amenities including an electric kettle. The highlight of the rooms is the private bathroom with an open sky shower area, providing a unique and refreshing experience. Thoddoo Inn also features a shared lounge and each room has its own private garden area. Guests can indulge in various activities such as snorkeling and diving in the stunning surroundings. Conveniently, Male International Airport is only 68 km away. Couples particularly love the location, rating it 9.2 for a romantic getaway. Thoddoo Inn offers great value for money, surpassing other properties in the city. Amenities of Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives offers a wide range of amenities to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable stay for its guests. From the moment you arrive, you can take advantage of the convenient airport transportation provided by the inn. As the inn is located right on the beachfront, you can easily access the pristine beaches and enjoy the breathtaking views. For those who prefer not to walk, the shuttle bus service is available to take you around the island. The inn also offers room service and has a restaurant on-site, so you can indulge in delicious meals without leaving the comfort of your room. If you're traveling with pets, Thoddoo Inn is a pet-friendly establishment. The kitchenette in each room allows you to prepare your own meals, and the free wifi ensures you stay connected throughout your stay. Other amenities include laundry service, air conditioning, family rooms, and a non-smoking policy. The inn also has private beaches, where you can relax and soak up the sun in peace. Breakfast is available, and parking is provided for guests who choose to rent a car. Housekeeping services are offered, and there is a baggage storage facility for your convenience. If you're in the mood for a barbecue, the inn has BBQ facilities available. For those who want to explore the island, bicycle rental and boating options are available. The inn also provides bottled water, car hire services, and express check-in/check-out for a hassle-free experience. If you need a caffeine fix, there is a coffee shop on-site, as well as a convenience store for any last-minute needs. The inn offers currency exchange services, making it easy for international travelers. For those who want to explore the underwater world, diving is available. The staff at Thoddoo Inn are fluent in English and can assist you with any inquiries or requests. Fishing enthusiasts can enjoy the fishing opportunities offered by the inn, and the 24-hour front desk ensures assistance is available at any time. There is also a gift shop on-site, where you can find souvenirs to take back home. If you need any ironing done, the inn offers ironing services, and outdoor furniture is provided for your comfort. The inn also has a salon on-site, so you can pamper yourself during your stay. For those who prefer to cook their own meals, there is a shared kitchen available. Water sports enthusiasts can enjoy snorkeling and windsurfing, and beach access is readily available. With its extensive Contact of Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives +960 776-4022 Sosun Magu, 09010 reservations.thoddooinn@gmial.com http://www.thoddooinn.com Location of Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives Pictures of Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives Tips for Staying in Thoddoo Inn Keep the room clean and tidyOpen the windows for fresh airTurn off lights and electronics when not in useUse curtains or blinds to control sunlightKeep the temperature comfortableOrganize belongings and avoid clutterUse air fresheners or plants for a pleasant smellKeep noise levels downLock doors and windows for securityReport any maintenance issues promptly Reviews of Thoddoo Inn in Thoddoo, Maldives Book Thoddoo Inn Now !!! Tags |
2024.05.18 21:04 windkirby Animal Crossing Pocket Camp v5.6.0b Update
 | https://preview.redd.it/rt5g4izve81d1.png?width=150&format=png&auto=webp&s=e92e4177a6720fb59c74fff55aa90e86e208a9db submitted by windkirby to ACPocketCamp [link] [comments] Howdy, messy roommates. If you felt a bit tickled-pink-to-death by April’s roseate flurry of events, this year’s May just may have the cure with a foray into the airborne, outdoorsy, and adventurous. Thanks as always to Miranda, Bassieeee, and Ray for help datamining. We’ve got our airships, our kites, and our handheld birds, so let’s get our flight gear in check and take off Twitter preview image for May 2024 in Pocket Camp
https://preview.redd.it/2ns91p0jg81d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=d9a23ed4287b5cea0847f5eb253b2dacce521941
https://preview.redd.it/0doh4q4lf81d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=5511a2f38449064fe8ac13c4e11c2cf2f3e3f54e
https://preview.redd.it/p82asoutf81d1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=3975b19f113bf3402ee437050f99fa8cc67de3c1
Tip screens for Twiggy's chirpy cookie, the Bright Bird Outfit Collection, and the Birdy Wall & Floor Collection
https://preview.redd.it/eh8pjr9bg81d1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f383be223eb9a7006b97e57354772cec59bf861
And that’s all of May’s merriments! Our fellow dataminer Koopavocelot has also spotted a noteworthy notice that may be coming this month but no info yet on its contents… Hopefully it’s not some sort of end-of-times apocalyptic alert with the last of the villagers likely coming out this month. Er… right? As for June, we’ll probably get the Twitter preview in only a week’s time. June is often themed around seasonal rain or weddings as they’re what the month is known for in Japan, and given that we just had a windy-themed event this month, I’d expect more of the latter matrimania for next month’s events. But who knows? We might get some of both in a dewy bridal shower! (Or maybe something completely different.) I’ll aim to have that datamine posted for you fine folks when the update drops ASAP. Until then, thanks for reading, and remember, even if a bird is super-hunkalicious, that doesn’t make it okay to keep him as a pet! —Woodsy |
2024.05.18 18:18 Edwardthecrazyman Hiraeth or Where the Children Play: The Preparation for a Night of Demon Burning
First/Previous
The travel took on a less gloomy quality in the day that passed since Gemma’s self-reflection and although there remained a queer distance in her eyes, she seemed in better spirits in losing the weight of the words.
It was a night just beyond Wabash Crevasse that we pushed on till sunset was almost upon us and we were each tired and the food stocks ran low and so we found harbor in a half collapsed cellar where a home once stood; it was only after examining the slatted, rotted boards of the old place, fallen over, tired with decay, that we spied the cellar doors intact; sheets of door metal plied us with safety from the outside world and the interior of the place stank of mold and the deeper recesses were collapsed, but there was a cradle to crossbar the stair hatch and I put my prybar there for the night. We finished the water and canned tomatoes, and I smoked a cigarette, staving off the inevitable doom which would come with the dwindling of our supplies.
I’d peeked through the space where the doors met at the cellar’s entry and watched the full darkness there while the youngins spoke of life and the trivial pursuits of it and I hardly said a word besides.
Sitting on the lowest step with Trouble dumbly maintaining her station by me, by the low glow of the space in the threshold, I saw they’d pushed their bedrolls together and Andrew had fallen asleep with his arm over Gemma’s shoulder and her eyes glowed with shine from the crack, blinked a few times while seeing me; she too eventually drifted to sleep, and I spent time by the secured door.
Gunshots rang across the stillness, and they stirred from their quiet slumber and Gemma asked, “Harlan, is it alright?”
I moved to the space there at the doorway again and listened and watched what I could through that crack and nothing beyond came. “It’s safe. I’ll be up a bit longer. I’ll watch.”
Andrew asked, “Can’t sleep?”
“I’ll sleep in a bit. Don’t worry about me. Rest. Sleep good and we can put more behind us.
They sat up, legs crossed triangle-wise, and Gemma spoke again, “Why do you have such a hard time sleeping? It seems I’m asleep after you and only awake after you too.”
“Yeah,” said Andrew.
“It’s cool at night. I can listen to the wind.” I shrugged.
“You should be the one that tries to get some sleep,” said Andrew.
I said nothing.
They reached out their arms and I shook my head.
“Here,” Gemma said, “Move your bedroll closer.” She reached across the dirt floor of the cellar and dragged my splayed roll so that it sat beside hers.
“I’ll sleep later.” I turned my attention back to the door and ignored them till their sounds of sleep could be heard. The Alukah was nowhere and did not tap on the door that night and when I moved to sleep, I shimmied onto the roll beside them, facing away on my shoulder; the dog followed, laid on the bare dirt beside me and I held the mutt.
Though I refused a noise as they stirred in the absolute darkness, I felt Gemma’s arm fall over my own shoulder and felt Andrew’s hand touch my back, and water traced the bridge of my nose and I slept deeply thereafter.
There was no breakfast without food, and the water was gone; I felt the eyes of the dog on us as we packed up our belongings that next morning and I tried not to imagine the poor animal skinned over fire. I smiled at Trouble, patted its head, scratched its chin; she sniffed my hand like she was looking for something that wouldn’t be found.
We went west again, ignoring roads and pushed through straight wasteland where nothing was and no one was, and with every dry footfall on the dry hard ground, I wished for rain, and I wished that when it had rained, as infrequent as it was, that I had been wise enough to save what we could from the sky; that sky was red and swollen and refused to burst. We pushed on through strange dead thickets where grayed and twisty yellow branches lurched from the ground into the sky like even they too wished for an end to all the suffering. It was days more till we would see Alexandria and though I could stave off hunger (thirst too, if necessary), I was not so certain that the children would be able to push on without it; they did not complain and watched the ground in our march and maintained higher spirits than I could’ve imagined from them.
Early in the day, they spoke often, and I listened and as they wore on, their words came less and even the dog seemed in a lower mood for the unsaid predicament; me too.
Gemma broke the silence on the matter by saying, “What are we going to do about food? Water?”
“We’ll push on.”
“We could turn back?” asked Andrew.
“The more time we spend out in the open, outside of a city, the more likely it is that the Alukah will catch us unawares. Tighten your belts.” Our feet took us around a dilapidated truck, an old thing with a rusty hook which dangled off a rear arm. “Save your urine.”
They made faces but did not protest.
“Does that work? You ever drink pee?” asked Andrew.
I laughed, “I thought we’d be there by now. I took us too long by trying to drop the scent of the Alukah. That thing’s hunted us for days—last night was the first time it ain’t bothered us. It’s got me wondering why.”
Gemma piped up, licking her dry lips before speaking, “Do you think that monster ran into those scavengers we saw?” Then I caught her shooting a look at Andrew, “At least we warned them.” Her smile was faint and almost indiscernible as one.
I shrugged. “Can’t say. Don’t think it’s smart to turn back. Won’t be long and we’ll touch the 40 and then it’ll be a straight on to Babylon—couple of days—can’t turn back though. Maybe without food; that’s doable. Water’s the worst, but if it comes to it,” I paused and looked on the weathered faces of the children, on the lowered head of Trouble which followed her nose across the ground (it searched just short of frantic), “Like I said, ‘save your urine’.”
The first pains of hunger held within me brought up some reminiscence and I wished for nothing more than to hold Suzanne; I could nearly smell them and in the swaying walk which took us on past toppled townships, I held long blinks where I could nearly make out their face and if I really pushed the limits of my imagination, I could feel them. In those moments, as we passed dead places, rotted pits of despair, I could think of little more than their presence. Though I knew it was a dangerous game, hoping for more than I was worth, I hoped for Suzanne then and I wished that I’d taken them up on their offer to travel to Alexandria with them; it could’ve been home—it never was in all the times I’d gone there, but who knows? The thoughts of Babylon brought forth their gardens; the wild gardens and the water which flowed freely through their pipes. I wished I was a different person entirely and that too would’ve been better for Suzanne; how it was that they’d seen anything in me, I don’t know. How it was that they could stoop to the level of being with someone like me—I warded off that thought, because to place the blame there would certainly be unfair. I thought of my love plainly and wanted a different life more suited to them.
Imaginations played more furiously, and I remembered the evening when Dave stopped me from leaping from that roof—it’s doubtful that he even realized that he’d slowed my demise; perhaps he did know—I wished then that I could ask him. Too kind for the world. People too kind for the world were scarce and hardly worth the trouble. Yet, there I was, chaperoning those two across the wastes.
Gemma was a broken person when I’d found her, tortured in Baphomet’s well; Andrew was a dullard boy who’d lost his hand. What a silly predicament.
I stopped in my movements and swiveled on my heel to catch Andrew by the shoulder. “You still got your hand, don’t you?”
In good humor, the boy grinned, lifted the nub on the end of his left forearm to show me, “Nope.”
“Dammit, no! The hand in the jar!”
Andrew raised his eyebrows. “In my pack.”
“Stop,” I commanded Trouble; the dog hardly recognized my words and continued a way then circled back, sad eyes looking up from where she took to sit by my side. Gemma, both arms dangling loosely from her own pack’s shoulder straps, took into the circle we’d formed.
The girl asked, “What about the jar? It’s nasty, but I guess it’s his.”
“I think that’s it,” I said. I took Andrew by his shoulders, looked him in his eyes, “We could use it!”
“What?” The boy almost laughed in the display of our concern. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I think I’ve got it! It’s good for a trap.” I shook him; maybe too hard. I almost smiled. “It’s worth a shot!”
“It’s mine.” He bit his top lip, withdrew from me.
“You’ll feel differently about that,” I said.
Gemma placed a hand on Andrew’s pack and tried ripping it open. “Give it to him!” shouted the girl.
The boy whipped from her grasp, and he spun on his feet, and panic stood on his face. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”
I took a step forward, “No, not anymore.” I put out my palm, “Give it.”
Andrew nearly flinched at the thought of it and shook his head a little. “Why?”
“I told you why,” I said.
“You don’t even know if it’ll work, do you?” his words were long in protest.
The girl started again, “Andrew, please.”
He locked eyes with Gemma and once again, his bottom teeth came up to meet over his top lip and he moved his jaw methodically with contemplation.
“What does it even matter?” she asked.
“It’s mine. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“C’mon,” he said, but his pack straps fell from his shoulders, and he hunkered down on the ground and opened his bag; his right hand plunged into the recesses therein and withdrew the jar with his severed left hand. He held the object up, refusing to come up from his open pack, keeping his eyes on the ground. “Take it then.” He shook the jar; its contents sloshed with liquid decay.
I grabbed the thing, held it to skylight; the remains within had congealed and rotted and lumps nearly floated in the brownish liquid which had formed in the base of the container. I shook it and stared for a moment at the miniscule debris which floated alongside the hand; each of its digits had swollen and erupted to expose bone; some had come away in pieces. “Tomorrow,” I said and nodded.
We gathered ourselves and Andrew pulled his pack on again and we moved, Trouble still looked sorry and the boy remained quiet while the girl chattered on with questions while we took through the dying ground in a formation with the dog on point then me then the children.
“What will you do with it?” she asked me.
“Not sure yet.”
Andrew made a noise like he wanted to say something but didn’t.
“You think it will work?” asked Gemma.
“Nothing’s a guarantee. They’re smart—Alukah.”
“Smart enough to figure out a trap?”
I shrugged. “We’ll find out.”
“We could put stakes in a pit.”
“Keep on the lookout for a building. Something with multiple floors.”
With that, we moved on, found a worn, mostly destroyed road and we fell into a travelling quiet and the thought of hunger or thirst arose again, and I pushed it down—though I knew the uneasiness could only last so long before savagery would overtake the human condition; the kids seemed strong enough, but I kept an eye on the dog too. Savagery belonged not only to humans, after all.
The ground of the wastes was harder when it was quiet, and it was flatter further west. The sky—red and full of thin and transparent drifting clouds—seemed an awful sight when stared at for too long; it was the thing which stretched as if to signal there wasn’t an end in any direction, as if to declare we had much more to go till safety. Wanderlust is a thing that I believe I’ve felt before, but under that sky, with those two and the dog, I didn’t feel it at all. It was doom that I felt. Ignorance and doom. And it was all because I was certain I’d made all the wrong mistakes, and it was coming back to me. I was experienced. We should’ve had food and water. Perhaps there was some deep and nasty part inside of me that had intended to sacrifice them along the way. The words of the Alukah might have rung true: You say you make no deals, but I smell it. I think you’d deal.
Surely, I felt differently. Surely.
“Getting darker,” called Andrew as we came to where signposts—worn and bent and barely legible—told us of a place once called Annapolis and the buildings were nearly gone entirely; places, maybe places that were once homes, were leveled—I was briefly caught in imagining what it might’ve been like all those ages ago. As are most places, it was haunted like that and when we came to a long rectangular structure of metal walls—thin walls—we took it as a place for rest for the night.
It once served as an agricultural station, for when we breached its entry, there were a line of dead machines—three in all—cultivators or tillers which stood higher than any of our heads and Gemma asked what they were, and I told her I thought they were for farming. The great rusted bodies stood in quiet shadow as we came through a side passage of the building and the great doors which had once been used to release those machines from the building stood frozen in their frame. I approached the doors, lighting my lantern and motioning for the children to shut the door we’d entered through.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed the doors would roll into the ceiling and the chains which held the doors in place were each secured with rusted padlocks—I removed my prybar from my pack and moved along the wall of doors, giving each old lock a smack with the weapon; each one held in place, seemingly fused there through years of corrosion, and I rounded the cultivators once more, back to the children, near the side door where they’d discovered a rickety stair frame which crawled up the side of the wall to a catwalk; along the catwalk, a levitated box stood at the height of the structure, stilted by metal legs, and we took the stairs slowly with the dog following close behind; the poor mutt was mute save the sound of its own shuffling paws.
The metal stairs creaked under our weight and Gemma held her own lantern high over her head so that the strange shadows of the place grew longer, stranger, and suddenly I felt very sure that something was in the dark with us, but there was no noise except what we made. My eyes scanned the darkness, and I followed the children up the stairs till we met the overhang of the catwalk and I peered into the shadows, the blades of the cultivators—far extended on foldable arms—struck up through the pool of blackness beneath us and I felt so cold there and if it were not for the breath of my fellow travelers, I might have been lost in the dark for longer than intended—lost and frozen and contemplative.
“There’s a room,” said the boy, and he pushed ahead on the hanging passage, and he was the first to the door. “Boxes,” he said plainly.
Upon coming to the place where he stood, Gemma pushed her lantern over the threshold, and I saw what he’d meant as I traced my own lantern to help; the room was crammed with plastic totes and old metal containers of varied sizes. There seemed to be enough empty space to maneuver through the room, but only if one watched their feet while they walked. Carefully.
We moved to the room, and I found a stack of crates to place my lantern then motioned for Gemma to douse hers. In minutes, the place was rearranged so that we could sit comfortably on the floor; crates lined the walls precariously and we breathed heavy from the work done, but we began to unpack and upon watching the children while I rolled a cigarette, I felt a pang of guilt, a terrible summation—all choices in my life had led me here and with them and perhaps it would have been a better world for them without me.
Mentally shrugging this thought away, I lit my cigarette, inhaled deeply, and then withdrew the jar which Andrew had handed over. I held it to the lantern to examine it. The grotesqueness of it hardly phased me and I watched it more curious and hopeful than disgusted.
“I hope it’ll work,” said the boy, “Whatever it is that you plan on doing with it.” He grimaced and maintained a further silence in patting his bedding for fluff. The dog moved to him, and she pushed her forehead against him where he squatted on floor. The boy scratched Trouble’s chin and whispered, “Good girl,” into the top of her head where he’d pushed his own face.
“I’m hungry,” said Gemma; she placed her chin in her arm while watching Andrew with the dog. She sat on her own flat bed there on the floor and stated plainly the thing that I’d hoped to ignore for longer.
“I know.” I took another drag from the cigarette and let the smoke hang over my head. “The dog?”
Andrew recoiled, pulling Trouble closer into his arms.
I smiled. “It was a joke.”
Andrew relaxed, but only a moment before Gemma added, “Maybe.”
The boy narrowed his eyes in the girl’s direction, and she shrugged. “If it’s life or death.”
He didn’t say anything and merely continued stroking Trouble’s coat.
That night, we slept awfully and even in the complete darkness, I felt the cramp of the storage room and the angled shapes of the tools that protruded from the containers on all sides remained permanent well after we’d turned the light off and it felt like those shapes were the teeth of a great creature like we were sitting inside of its mouth, looking out.
Trouble positioned herself partially on my chest, her slow rhythmic breathing brought my thoughts calm and I whispered to her in the dark after I was sure the others were asleep, “I promise it was a joke.” And I brushed the back of her neck with my hand and the animal let go of a long sigh then continued that deep rhythmic breathing.
Still without food or water, the following day was the true indication of the misery to come. Gemma’s stomach growled audibly in waking and Andrew—though he kept his complaints to himself—smacked his lips more often or protruded the tongue in his mouth in a starvation for water. The room, in the daylight which peered through pinpricks of its half-decayed roof, seemed another beast altogether from its nighttime counterpart; it was not so frightening. Again, I admonished myself for the lack of preparation, but there was another thought that brought together a more cohesive feeling; we had a possible plan, a trap for the demon that’d been following us.
We went into the field to the west of the building where there was only dirt beneath our feet in the early sunlight and in the coolness of morning air, I nearly felt like a person. The sun crested the horizon and brought with it a warmth that would quickly become overwhelming—in those few minutes though—it felt good enough. I wished for the shy dew and saw none. The weirdness of holding Andrew’s rotting hand in a jar momentarily caught me and I almost laughed, but refrained and the dog and the children looked on while I held the container up and suddenly, seeing the congealed mass of tissue floating in its own excretions, I was overcome with the urge to run, the urge that nothing would ever be right again in my life, and that I was marked to be that way.
I blinked and tossed the jar to Andrew. “Say goodbye,” I said. He fumbled after it with his right hand and caught it to his chest.
“It’s strange you care so much anyway,” said Gemma, shrugging—her eyes forgave a millisecond of pity and when Andrew looked at her, still holding the jar in his right hand, she smiled and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pants.
“We’ve enough oil, I think,” my voice was raspy from it being early, “Enough for good fire, but if we use it, it’ll mean a few more dark nights on our way.”
“We’re going to set it on fire?” Andrew pondered, keeping his eyes to the contents of the jar. “It worked good enough last time. It’ll work,” I nodded, “I has to, doesn’t it?”
His dry lips creased into a brief smile, and he tossed the jar back to me and I caught it.
“Let’s dig,” I said.
Without much in the way of proper tools, we began at the ground under us with our hands, then taking turns with my prybar till there was a hole in the ground comfortably large enough to conceal a human head and I uncapped the jar and spilled it contents there and we covered it back and I lightly tamped it with my boot. My eyes scanned the outbuilding we’d taken refuge in the night prior and then to the street to the north then to the houses which stood as merely rotted plots of foundation with frames that struck from the ground more as markers than support. “I’ll take up over there across the street when it gets dark. I want you two in that storage room before anything goes off.”
“We can’t help?” asked Gemma.
“You can help by staying out of the way—the mutt too,” I said; the words were harsh, but my feelings were from worry.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we stuck together?” asked the girl.
I shook my head. “You stay in the room and keep quiet. No matter what you hear, you stay quiet and safe.”
“That’ll put you at a bigger risk,” Gemma furrowed her brow at me and shifted around to look out on the houses across the street, “There’s hardly any cover over there.”
The boy nodded, smacked his lips, and rubbed his forearm across his mouth then audibly agreed with her.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, “No matter what you hear happening outside, no matter, you don’t open the door and you don’t scream—don’t make a noise at all. Alright? Even if you hear me calling you, you don’t do it.”
“Pfft,” Gemma crossed her arms and kicked her foot against the ground. The way her eyes seemed hollowed with bruising showed that the irritation would only grow without food. “Alright,” she finally sighed.
Andrew looked much the same as she did in that; he swallowed a dry swallow then stuffed his hand into his pocket and looked away when our eyes matched.
We gathered our light oil. Altogether, it seemed enough; rummaging through the room of the outbuilding we’d earlier taken refuge within, we managed three intact glass containers—the only ones found that wouldn’t leak with liquid; two were bottles and the third was the jar that’d once kept Andrew’s hand. With that work done, we sat with three Molotov cocktails within our huddled circle of the storage room.
“Is it enough?” asked Gemma.
“We’ll see,” I began rolling a cigarette to ignore the hunger and the thirst.
Andrew took to the corner and glanced over his shoulder only a moment before a steady liquid stream could be heard and when he rotated from the wall once the noise was finished and he held a canteen up to his nose, sniffed it and quivered and shook his head.
As the sun pushed on, I scanned the perimeter outside, and they followed. Far south I spied a mass of shadow inching across the horizon and Gemma commented, “What’s that?”
I pushed the binoculars to her and let her gaze through them.
“A fiend—that’s what we called it back in the day anyway. A mutant.”
She held the binoculars up and frowned. “A mutant? So, it was once human?”
“A fiend was once many humans.” I pointed out to the horizon though she couldn’t see me doing so and continued, “If you look at the edges of its shape, you’ll see it’s got limbs galore on it. Sticking up like hairs is what it’ll look like at this distance. Those are arms and legs. It’s got faces too. Many faces.” I shuddered.
“I can barely see any details,” she passed the binoculars to Andrew, and he looked through them, “What’s it do?”
“What?” I asked.
“What’s it do if it catches a person?”
“It pulls people into it. Makes you apart of its mass. Nasty fuckers.”
Andrew removed the lenses from his eyes and held them to his chest and asked, “It won’t mess up your trap, will it?”
“We’ll keep an eye on it,” I said, “You don’t want to mess with a fiend unless you have to.”
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The travel took on a less gloomy quality in the day that passed since Gemma’s self-reflection and although there remained a queer distance in her eyes, she seemed in better spirits in losing the weight of the words.
It was a night just beyond Wabash Crevasse that we pushed on till sunset was almost upon us and we were each tired and the food stocks ran low and so we found harbor in a half collapsed cellar where a home once stood; it was only after examining the slatted, rotted boards of the old place, fallen over, tired with decay, that we spied the cellar doors intact; sheets of door metal plied us with safety from the outside world and the interior of the place stank of mold and the deeper recesses were collapsed, but there was a cradle to crossbar the stair hatch and I put my prybar there for the night. We finished the water and canned tomatoes, and I smoked a cigarette, staving off the inevitable doom which would come with the dwindling of our supplies.
I’d peeked through the space where the doors met at the cellar’s entry and watched the full darkness there while the youngins spoke of life and the trivial pursuits of it and I hardly said a word besides.
Sitting on the lowest step with Trouble dumbly maintaining her station by me, by the low glow of the space in the threshold, I saw they’d pushed their bedrolls together and Andrew had fallen asleep with his arm over Gemma’s shoulder and her eyes glowed with shine from the crack, blinked a few times while seeing me; she too eventually drifted to sleep, and I spent time by the secured door.
Gunshots rang across the stillness, and they stirred from their quiet slumber and Gemma asked, “Harlan, is it alright?”
I moved to the space there at the doorway again and listened and watched what I could through that crack and nothing beyond came. “It’s safe. I’ll be up a bit longer. I’ll watch.”
Andrew asked, “Can’t sleep?”
“I’ll sleep in a bit. Don’t worry about me. Rest. Sleep good and we can put more behind us.
They sat up, legs crossed triangle-wise, and Gemma spoke again, “Why do you have such a hard time sleeping? It seems I’m asleep after you and only awake after you too.”
“Yeah,” said Andrew.
“It’s cool at night. I can listen to the wind.” I shrugged.
“You should be the one that tries to get some sleep,” said Andrew.
I said nothing.
They reached out their arms and I shook my head.
“Here,” Gemma said, “Move your bedroll closer.” She reached across the dirt floor of the cellar and dragged my splayed roll so that it sat beside hers.
“I’ll sleep later.” I turned my attention back to the door and ignored them till their sounds of sleep could be heard. The Alukah was nowhere and did not tap on the door that night and when I moved to sleep, I shimmied onto the roll beside them, facing away on my shoulder; the dog followed, laid on the bare dirt beside me and I held the mutt.
Though I refused a noise as they stirred in the absolute darkness, I felt Gemma’s arm fall over my own shoulder and felt Andrew’s hand touch my back, and water traced the bridge of my nose and I slept deeply thereafter.
There was no breakfast without food, and the water was gone; I felt the eyes of the dog on us as we packed up our belongings that next morning and I tried not to imagine the poor animal skinned over fire. I smiled at Trouble, patted its head, scratched its chin; she sniffed my hand like she was looking for something that wouldn’t be found.
We went west again, ignoring roads and pushed through straight wasteland where nothing was and no one was, and with every dry footfall on the dry hard ground, I wished for rain, and I wished that when it had rained, as infrequent as it was, that I had been wise enough to save what we could from the sky; that sky was red and swollen and refused to burst. We pushed on through strange dead thickets where grayed and twisty yellow branches lurched from the ground into the sky like even they too wished for an end to all the suffering. It was days more till we would see Alexandria and though I could stave off hunger (thirst too, if necessary), I was not so certain that the children would be able to push on without it; they did not complain and watched the ground in our march and maintained higher spirits than I could’ve imagined from them.
Early in the day, they spoke often, and I listened and as they wore on, their words came less and even the dog seemed in a lower mood for the unsaid predicament; me too.
Gemma broke the silence on the matter by saying, “What are we going to do about food? Water?”
“We’ll push on.”
“We could turn back?” asked Andrew.
“The more time we spend out in the open, outside of a city, the more likely it is that the Alukah will catch us unawares. Tighten your belts.” Our feet took us around a dilapidated truck, an old thing with a rusty hook which dangled off a rear arm. “Save your urine.”
They made faces but did not protest.
“Does that work? You ever drink pee?” asked Andrew.
I laughed, “I thought we’d be there by now. I took us too long by trying to drop the scent of the Alukah. That thing’s hunted us for days—last night was the first time it ain’t bothered us. It’s got me wondering why.”
Gemma piped up, licking her dry lips before speaking, “Do you think that monster ran into those scavengers we saw?” Then I caught her shooting a look at Andrew, “At least we warned them.” Her smile was faint and almost indiscernible as one.
I shrugged. “Can’t say. Don’t think it’s smart to turn back. Won’t be long and we’ll touch the 40 and then it’ll be a straight on to Babylon—couple of days—can’t turn back though. Maybe without food; that’s doable. Water’s the worst, but if it comes to it,” I paused and looked on the weathered faces of the children, on the lowered head of Trouble which followed her nose across the ground (it searched just short of frantic), “Like I said, ‘save your urine’.”
The first pains of hunger held within me brought up some reminiscence and I wished for nothing more than to hold Suzanne; I could nearly smell them and in the swaying walk which took us on past toppled townships, I held long blinks where I could nearly make out their face and if I really pushed the limits of my imagination, I could feel them. In those moments, as we passed dead places, rotted pits of despair, I could think of little more than their presence. Though I knew it was a dangerous game, hoping for more than I was worth, I hoped for Suzanne then and I wished that I’d taken them up on their offer to travel to Alexandria with them; it could’ve been home—it never was in all the times I’d gone there, but who knows? The thoughts of Babylon brought forth their gardens; the wild gardens and the water which flowed freely through their pipes. I wished I was a different person entirely and that too would’ve been better for Suzanne; how it was that they’d seen anything in me, I don’t know. How it was that they could stoop to the level of being with someone like me—I warded off that thought, because to place the blame there would certainly be unfair. I thought of my love plainly and wanted a different life more suited to them.
Imaginations played more furiously, and I remembered the evening when Dave stopped me from leaping from that roof—it’s doubtful that he even realized that he’d slowed my demise; perhaps he did know—I wished then that I could ask him. Too kind for the world. People too kind for the world were scarce and hardly worth the trouble. Yet, there I was, chaperoning those two across the wastes.
Gemma was a broken person when I’d found her, tortured in Baphomet’s well; Andrew was a dullard boy who’d lost his hand. What a silly predicament.
I stopped in my movements and swiveled on my heel to catch Andrew by the shoulder. “You still got your hand, don’t you?”
In good humor, the boy grinned, lifted the nub on the end of his left forearm to show me, “Nope.”
“Dammit, no! The hand in the jar!”
Andrew raised his eyebrows. “In my pack.”
“Stop,” I commanded Trouble; the dog hardly recognized my words and continued a way then circled back, sad eyes looking up from where she took to sit by my side. Gemma, both arms dangling loosely from her own pack’s shoulder straps, took into the circle we’d formed.
The girl asked, “What about the jar? It’s nasty, but I guess it’s his.”
“I think that’s it,” I said. I took Andrew by his shoulders, looked him in his eyes, “We could use it!”
“What?” The boy almost laughed in the display of our concern. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I think I’ve got it! It’s good for a trap.” I shook him; maybe too hard. I almost smiled. “It’s worth a shot!”
“It’s mine.” He bit his top lip, withdrew from me.
“You’ll feel differently about that,” I said.
Gemma placed a hand on Andrew’s pack and tried ripping it open. “Give it to him!” shouted the girl.
The boy whipped from her grasp, and he spun on his feet, and panic stood on his face. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”
I took a step forward, “No, not anymore.” I put out my palm, “Give it.”
Andrew nearly flinched at the thought of it and shook his head a little. “Why?”
“I told you why,” I said.
“You don’t even know if it’ll work, do you?” his words were long in protest.
The girl started again, “Andrew, please.”
He locked eyes with Gemma and once again, his bottom teeth came up to meet over his top lip and he moved his jaw methodically with contemplation.
“What does it even matter?” she asked.
“It’s mine. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“C’mon,” he said, but his pack straps fell from his shoulders, and he hunkered down on the ground and opened his bag; his right hand plunged into the recesses therein and withdrew the jar with his severed left hand. He held the object up, refusing to come up from his open pack, keeping his eyes on the ground. “Take it then.” He shook the jar; its contents sloshed with liquid decay.
I grabbed the thing, held it to skylight; the remains within had congealed and rotted and lumps nearly floated in the brownish liquid which had formed in the base of the container. I shook it and stared for a moment at the miniscule debris which floated alongside the hand; each of its digits had swollen and erupted to expose bone; some had come away in pieces. “Tomorrow,” I said and nodded.
We gathered ourselves and Andrew pulled his pack on again and we moved, Trouble still looked sorry and the boy remained quiet while the girl chattered on with questions while we took through the dying ground in a formation with the dog on point then me then the children.
“What will you do with it?” she asked me.
“Not sure yet.”
Andrew made a noise like he wanted to say something but didn’t.
“You think it will work?” asked Gemma.
“Nothing’s a guarantee. They’re smart—Alukah.”
“Smart enough to figure out a trap?”
I shrugged. “We’ll find out.”
“We could put stakes in a pit.”
“Keep on the lookout for a building. Something with multiple floors.”
With that, we moved on, found a worn, mostly destroyed road and we fell into a travelling quiet and the thought of hunger or thirst arose again, and I pushed it down—though I knew the uneasiness could only last so long before savagery would overtake the human condition; the kids seemed strong enough, but I kept an eye on the dog too. Savagery belonged not only to humans, after all.
The ground of the wastes was harder when it was quiet, and it was flatter further west. The sky—red and full of thin and transparent drifting clouds—seemed an awful sight when stared at for too long; it was the thing which stretched as if to signal there wasn’t an end in any direction, as if to declare we had much more to go till safety. Wanderlust is a thing that I believe I’ve felt before, but under that sky, with those two and the dog, I didn’t feel it at all. It was doom that I felt. Ignorance and doom. And it was all because I was certain I’d made all the wrong mistakes, and it was coming back to me. I was experienced. We should’ve had food and water. Perhaps there was some deep and nasty part inside of me that had intended to sacrifice them along the way. The words of the Alukah might have rung true: You say you make no deals, but I smell it. I think you’d deal.
Surely, I felt differently. Surely.
“Getting darker,” called Andrew as we came to where signposts—worn and bent and barely legible—told us of a place once called Annapolis and the buildings were nearly gone entirely; places, maybe places that were once homes, were leveled—I was briefly caught in imagining what it might’ve been like all those ages ago. As are most places, it was haunted like that and when we came to a long rectangular structure of metal walls—thin walls—we took it as a place for rest for the night.
It once served as an agricultural station, for when we breached its entry, there were a line of dead machines—three in all—cultivators or tillers which stood higher than any of our heads and Gemma asked what they were, and I told her I thought they were for farming. The great rusted bodies stood in quiet shadow as we came through a side passage of the building and the great doors which had once been used to release those machines from the building stood frozen in their frame. I approached the doors, lighting my lantern and motioning for the children to shut the door we’d entered through.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed the doors would roll into the ceiling and the chains which held the doors in place were each secured with rusted padlocks—I removed my prybar from my pack and moved along the wall of doors, giving each old lock a smack with the weapon; each one held in place, seemingly fused there through years of corrosion, and I rounded the cultivators once more, back to the children, near the side door where they’d discovered a rickety stair frame which crawled up the side of the wall to a catwalk; along the catwalk, a levitated box stood at the height of the structure, stilted by metal legs, and we took the stairs slowly with the dog following close behind; the poor mutt was mute save the sound of its own shuffling paws.
The metal stairs creaked under our weight and Gemma held her own lantern high over her head so that the strange shadows of the place grew longer, stranger, and suddenly I felt very sure that something was in the dark with us, but there was no noise except what we made. My eyes scanned the darkness, and I followed the children up the stairs till we met the overhang of the catwalk and I peered into the shadows, the blades of the cultivators—far extended on foldable arms—struck up through the pool of blackness beneath us and I felt so cold there and if it were not for the breath of my fellow travelers, I might have been lost in the dark for longer than intended—lost and frozen and contemplative.
“There’s a room,” said the boy, and he pushed ahead on the hanging passage, and he was the first to the door. “Boxes,” he said plainly.
Upon coming to the place where he stood, Gemma pushed her lantern over the threshold, and I saw what he’d meant as I traced my own lantern to help; the room was crammed with plastic totes and old metal containers of varied sizes. There seemed to be enough empty space to maneuver through the room, but only if one watched their feet while they walked. Carefully.
We moved to the room, and I found a stack of crates to place my lantern then motioned for Gemma to douse hers. In minutes, the place was rearranged so that we could sit comfortably on the floor; crates lined the walls precariously and we breathed heavy from the work done, but we began to unpack and upon watching the children while I rolled a cigarette, I felt a pang of guilt, a terrible summation—all choices in my life had led me here and with them and perhaps it would have been a better world for them without me.
Mentally shrugging this thought away, I lit my cigarette, inhaled deeply, and then withdrew the jar which Andrew had handed over. I held it to the lantern to examine it. The grotesqueness of it hardly phased me and I watched it more curious and hopeful than disgusted.
“I hope it’ll work,” said the boy, “Whatever it is that you plan on doing with it.” He grimaced and maintained a further silence in patting his bedding for fluff. The dog moved to him, and she pushed her forehead against him where he squatted on floor. The boy scratched Trouble’s chin and whispered, “Good girl,” into the top of her head where he’d pushed his own face.
“I’m hungry,” said Gemma; she placed her chin in her arm while watching Andrew with the dog. She sat on her own flat bed there on the floor and stated plainly the thing that I’d hoped to ignore for longer.
“I know.” I took another drag from the cigarette and let the smoke hang over my head. “The dog?”
Andrew recoiled, pulling Trouble closer into his arms.
I smiled. “It was a joke.”
Andrew relaxed, but only a moment before Gemma added, “Maybe.”
The boy narrowed his eyes in the girl’s direction, and she shrugged. “If it’s life or death.”
He didn’t say anything and merely continued stroking Trouble’s coat.
That night, we slept awfully and even in the complete darkness, I felt the cramp of the storage room and the angled shapes of the tools that protruded from the containers on all sides remained permanent well after we’d turned the light off and it felt like those shapes were the teeth of a great creature like we were sitting inside of its mouth, looking out.
Trouble positioned herself partially on my chest, her slow rhythmic breathing brought my thoughts calm and I whispered to her in the dark after I was sure the others were asleep, “I promise it was a joke.” And I brushed the back of her neck with my hand and the animal let go of a long sigh then continued that deep rhythmic breathing.
Still without food or water, the following day was the true indication of the misery to come. Gemma’s stomach growled audibly in waking and Andrew—though he kept his complaints to himself—smacked his lips more often or protruded the tongue in his mouth in a starvation for water. The room, in the daylight which peered through pinpricks of its half-decayed roof, seemed another beast altogether from its nighttime counterpart; it was not so frightening. Again, I admonished myself for the lack of preparation, but there was another thought that brought together a more cohesive feeling; we had a possible plan, a trap for the demon that’d been following us.
We went into the field to the west of the building where there was only dirt beneath our feet in the early sunlight and in the coolness of morning air, I nearly felt like a person. The sun crested the horizon and brought with it a warmth that would quickly become overwhelming—in those few minutes though—it felt good enough. I wished for the shy dew and saw none. The weirdness of holding Andrew’s rotting hand in a jar momentarily caught me and I almost laughed, but refrained and the dog and the children looked on while I held the container up and suddenly, seeing the congealed mass of tissue floating in its own excretions, I was overcome with the urge to run, the urge that nothing would ever be right again in my life, and that I was marked to be that way.
I blinked and tossed the jar to Andrew. “Say goodbye,” I said. He fumbled after it with his right hand and caught it to his chest.
“It’s strange you care so much anyway,” said Gemma, shrugging—her eyes forgave a millisecond of pity and when Andrew looked at her, still holding the jar in his right hand, she smiled and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pants.
“We’ve enough oil, I think,” my voice was raspy from it being early, “Enough for good fire, but if we use it, it’ll mean a few more dark nights on our way.”
“We’re going to set it on fire?” Andrew pondered, keeping his eyes to the contents of the jar. “It worked good enough last time. It’ll work,” I nodded, “I has to, doesn’t it?”
His dry lips creased into a brief smile, and he tossed the jar back to me and I caught it.
“Let’s dig,” I said.
Without much in the way of proper tools, we began at the ground under us with our hands, then taking turns with my prybar till there was a hole in the ground comfortably large enough to conceal a human head and I uncapped the jar and spilled it contents there and we covered it back and I lightly tamped it with my boot. My eyes scanned the outbuilding we’d taken refuge in the night prior and then to the street to the north then to the houses which stood as merely rotted plots of foundation with frames that struck from the ground more as markers than support. “I’ll take up over there across the street when it gets dark. I want you two in that storage room before anything goes off.”
“We can’t help?” asked Gemma.
“You can help by staying out of the way—the mutt too,” I said; the words were harsh, but my feelings were from worry.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we stuck together?” asked the girl.
I shook my head. “You stay in the room and keep quiet. No matter what you hear, you stay quiet and safe.”
“That’ll put you at a bigger risk,” Gemma furrowed her brow at me and shifted around to look out on the houses across the street, “There’s hardly any cover over there.”
The boy nodded, smacked his lips, and rubbed his forearm across his mouth then audibly agreed with her.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, “No matter what you hear happening outside, no matter, you don’t open the door and you don’t scream—don’t make a noise at all. Alright? Even if you hear me calling you, you don’t do it.”
“Pfft,” Gemma crossed her arms and kicked her foot against the ground. The way her eyes seemed hollowed with bruising showed that the irritation would only grow without food. “Alright,” she finally sighed.
Andrew looked much the same as she did in that; he swallowed a dry swallow then stuffed his hand into his pocket and looked away when our eyes matched.
We gathered our light oil. Altogether, it seemed enough; rummaging through the room of the outbuilding we’d earlier taken refuge within, we managed three intact glass containers—the only ones found that wouldn’t leak with liquid; two were bottles and the third was the jar that’d once kept Andrew’s hand. With that work done, we sat with three Molotov cocktails within our huddled circle of the storage room.
“Is it enough?” asked Gemma.
“We’ll see,” I began rolling a cigarette to ignore the hunger and the thirst.
Andrew took to the corner and glanced over his shoulder only a moment before a steady liquid stream could be heard and when he rotated from the wall once the noise was finished and he held a canteen up to his nose, sniffed it and quivered and shook his head.
As the sun pushed on, I scanned the perimeter outside, and they followed. Far south I spied a mass of shadow inching across the horizon and Gemma commented, “What’s that?”
I pushed the binoculars to her and let her gaze through them.
“A fiend—that’s what we called it back in the day anyway. A mutant.”
She held the binoculars up and frowned. “A mutant? So, it was once human?”
“A fiend was once many humans.” I pointed out to the horizon though she couldn’t see me doing so and continued, “If you look at the edges of its shape, you’ll see it’s got limbs galore on it. Sticking up like hairs is what it’ll look like at this distance. Those are arms and legs. It’s got faces too. Many faces.” I shuddered.
“I can barely see any details,” she passed the binoculars to Andrew, and he looked through them, “What’s it do?”
“What?” I asked.
“What’s it do if it catches a person?”
“It pulls people into it. Makes you apart of its mass. Nasty fuckers.”
Andrew removed the lenses from his eyes and held them to his chest and asked, “It won’t mess up your trap, will it?”
“We’ll keep an eye on it,” I said, “You don’t want to mess with a fiend unless you have to.”
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2024.05.18 18:14 MrRaven101 Orion 3 (2018) from Moon, Mars and Beyond
2017 came and went with no notable missions. It was a busy year for NASA on the ground, however. New contracts and buildings, the re-election of Obama, and the announcement that the ISS would be retired in 2028. After many a few appeals to congress, NASA gained continued funding for both Orion and a future joint space station with the ESA and JAXA. Boeing’s Starliner was delayed into 2019, and the Crew Dragon would not be ready until 2020. So it was that Orion 3 would be the biggest mission of 2018. And it was no wonder why. Humanity would be returning to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17, and NASA was ready to promote it.
The mission was a cultural milestone in itself – it was the first time NASA would stream an Orion mission in its entirety online, and it became popular for large internet celebrities and news hosts to talk about the upcoming mission. They would be paid, of course. For the first few steps, whoever would take them, a combined audience of ~1,000,000,000 would be watching them.
Astronaut selection was tricky. NASA needed to choose a crew that had experience, but were limited in that not many of their astronauts were both experienced flight-ready. Most of NASA Astronaut Group 19 were retired (or about to), but one stuck out to the Astronaut Office: Christopher Cassidy. Much like Wiseman, he was a former Chief of the Astronaut Office, and had two flights under his belt, both Shuttle and Soyuz. He would be assigned as Mission Commander. Another that stuck out was James Dutton. He was a pilot aboard the Shuttle, and endeared to the former shuttle personnel and many NASA employees. He was selected as pilot. Robert S. Kimbrough, another Shuttle astronaut, was selected as flight engineer. Jack D. Fischer was selected as payload specialist for the mission, rounding out the crew with three NASA Astronaut Group 19 astronauts and one NASA Astronaut Group 20 member.
During training, ideas for callsigns were thrown around. NASA wanted something symbolic of their progress and the future, politics would drive them to name it something patriotic, while the public would be largely indifferent. Except a minority: the Star Trek fans. Much like with the Space Shuttle of late, they had campaigned for Orion to be named after the USS Enterprise. In the end, it would be left up to the crew to decide the names. And you can likely guess what they chose. So it was the Orion capsule for this mission would be named Enterprise, and the Altair to be named Polaris. After a long eight months of training, production, processing, paperwork, calculations and other assorted work, the mission was ready. The Ares I was rolled out to the pad, with it Polaris, and the booster launched half past three in April 2018.
But the successful launch of Polaris coincided with the news of the contracting of the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV), to none other than JAXA. It would be complete by around 2022, meaning that it would be utilized on a mission no earlier than Orion 6. In exchange for this, a seat on Orion 4 was given. The SEV would be landed by a separate Altair lander. Contracting for the non pressurized Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) also fell to JAXA, this time being light enough to be unfolded from one of Altair’s cargo quadrants in its descent stage. The LRV, which had the majority of its work done, would be ready by 2020. This meant it would fly on Orion 4.
As Polaris orbited, Enterprise was rolled out to the pad. Much like Orion 2, there would be a large crowd to view the launch. Present was former President John McCain, Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, three cabinet members, 30 mayors, 21 governors, 55 ambassadors, and 350 congressmen. A viewing public of almost 150,000 and 2,000 media representatives and personalities also attended.
After final check ups on Polaris, a go-ahead signal was given from Houston. Five minutes later, the launch countdown began. Liftoff began at 2:33 PM EST May 12, 2018. Three minutes into the flight, Kimbrough’s vitals flatlined. After a short panic from the flight surgeon, Kimbrough reported back that the sensors had failed. The fault was recorded, and the flight continued. By 2:41, Enterprise had entered its parking orbit.
For about an hour the systems were monitored, checked, and checked again. Polaris and Enterprise showed nominal performance, and procedure for relighting the EUS’s engines began.
After a short burn, Enterprise began its approach towards Polaris. After its approach, Enterprise circled her lander to check for damage or any potential issues. After this, Dutton maneuvered and docked with Polaris. Cassidy and Fischer opened Polaris’s main hatchway and conducted an inspection of the systems. After a short meal, the EUS fired its last burn to put Enterprise and Polaris in a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI). The next three days were mostly monitoring systems and conducting small course adjustments with the RCS thrusters. On May 15, Enterprise fired up its engines to insert both it and Polaris into lunar orbit.
The selected landing site was Oceanus Procellarum, a few miles off of the Apollo 12 site. Oceanus Procellarum was chosen for its relative flatness, as well as to more thoroughly inspect the region. Apollo 12 didn’t cover all bases, so Orion 3 hoped to refine the data on the site and see how the new systems reacted.
The crew were allowed to sleep, and on May 16 orbital operations began. A small telescope was installed on Enterprise to conduct surface observations. The telescope was nowhere near powerful enough to see Polaris when it landed, but it could help scope out the area. Cassidy and Kimbrough were selected for landing on the Moon, and they spent their time in orbit powering the systems and adjusting to the lander interior. May 16 also included one of the most important experiments on the mission: sunflower bulbs were carried on board, with a small amount of dirt.
This was carried in a special compartment on board Altair, but the dirt and bulb itself were carried on Enterprise. The experiment, creatively titled the Lunar Bulb Germination Experiment (LBGE), would germinate the sunflower bulbs on the lunar surface, and note any differences.
Other experiments on the mission were the Altair Specialized Experiments Package (ASEP), which included experiments ranging from solar wind to passive and active seismology. A third and equally important experiment was the Lunar Deployable Payload Module (LDPM), which would simulate the deployment of the LRV for Orion 4. These experiments were stored in the side panels of Polaris, which could be pulled down for access.
It was a lot for the first mission, but both Mission Control and the crew were prepared and confident. Overall, this experiment package would consume the majority of the seven EVAs for the astronauts. The remaining time was spent collecting samples and resting.
The landing was scheduled for around 7:00 PM EST that day. Cassidy and Kimbrough entered Polaris and gave a salute to Fischer, and sealed off from Enterprise and undocked. After clearing a distance, the deorbit burn began. Minutes later, and under almost a billion viewers’ scrutiny, Polaris touched down. The first EVA would follow a few minutes later. Cassidy stepped into the airlock, depressurized, and looked out upon the lunar surface. Viewing peaked around this time, much to NASA’s Public Relations Offices’ delight. Cassidy descended the ladder down to the lunar surface, and stepped onto the lunar surface.
“With these steps, we begin anew the exploration of our nearest neighbor, in peace and with hope for all mankind.” The immortal words by Cassidy. He looked around the surface, and waited for Kimbrough to descend. Kimbrough’s words were not as majestic - “Looks just like White Sands.” After some remarks and looking around, the two received a call from none other than President Obama, who congratulated them on the mission. Work began shortly after.
First was the deployment of the American Flag on the lunar surface. Then was the deployment of the ASEP. First was the RTG, which would power the experiments. The command station was set up with the Ion and Passive Seismometer a few feet away. After the rest were set up, the Active Seismic Experiment (ASE) began. It was a simple thumper-geophone combination, and had good results. After the experiments were tested, the crew returned to Polaris and had their rest period.
May 17 began with freeze-dried breakfast and the second EVA. This EVA would set up the Radio Antenna Stand Test Article (RASTA). RASTA was a tripod stand with a small suite of communication instruments and a dummy satellite dish. RASTA would aid the development of the Farside Radio Observing Scanning Telescopes (FROST) for Orion 5. After this was another round certifying the ASEP was functional, sample collection began. The remainder of Day 2 was checking systems and deploying the more time-consuming ASEP systems. The Solar Wind Experiment (a large sheet on a tall pole) was also set up. In orbit, Dutton fired Enterprise’s engines, altering the orbit just enough to align the capsule for docking once Polaris lifted off. Fischer did surface observations, and took many photos of the lunar far side. The last activity for Day 2 was unpacking a small retroreflector, which was placed not far off.
Day 3 would be more sample collecting and exploring the landing site. Near the site was a shallow crater about fifteen meters across. Cassidy descended the crater wall, which Houston considered a risky move. After gaining his footing, he picked up a few soil and rock samples before climbing out. It became evident this move on Cassidy’s part was worth the risk, as the samples collected would help expand knowledge and study on lunar asteroid impacts. After this Cassidy and Kimbrough returned to Polaris to store the sample bags and process data. After a routine checkup on LBGE, the crew called it a day.
Day 4 meant the deployment of the LDPM. After wrangling the pulley on the panel, Kimbrough removed the panel and, with help from Cassidy, pulled the pallet out. The pallet itself was ten feet long, but had two hinges at the front and back allowing the pallet to fit into the cargo quadrant. They detached the pallet from Polaris and tested some of the batteries and affixed parts onto it (such as the antenna and seats). Most of these parts were non-functional, and this activity was mostly a practice exercise for Orion 4. The remainder of the day was spent inside Polaris, processing and transmitting the data for NASA to work with. Kimbrough, the mission specialist, was trained with a small degree of knowledge on geology and biology. While nowhere near certified, his work with the LGBE and sample collection were invaluable.
Days 5 and 6 were like the rest: checking ASEP systems, strolling around the lander, picking up samples, and processing data. Day 6 was special, because Cassidy and Kimbrough held a live interview for major news networks. In the meantime, Fischer and Dutton conducted gamma ray and x-ray observations, surface and stellar photography, and small particle spectrometer and mass spectrometer sensing. With the research being done by Enterprise, new images could be compared with old to note and new impacts or differences. Day 7 was the last day on the Moon, and that meant one thing: packing up. Experiments and data were packed up, samples were moved into their respective locations on board Polaris, and assorted cargo were taken aboard. The SWE had its net removed and placed in storage, and the ASEP was put into “Long-Duration Mode”.
Polaris lifted off the surface of the Moon on May 23, 2018, returning to Enterprise in orbit. Polaris’s ascent stage was jettisoned, and Enterprise’s engines were lighted to send it back to Earth. After a three-day coast, Enterprise and her crew reentered and splashed down off the coast of Hawai’i at 12:24 on May 26, 2018.
Orion 3 was a record-setting mission. The fourteen-day mission logged 120 minutes of EVA time, well above any mission on Project Apollo. Time, sample and other assorted records were all shattered. The data collected could be processed for decades of research and development, and the data on the Altair lander and Orion capsule would aid in the development of their respective Block II counterparts. The mission was also a large PR boost for the program, ensuring funding for FY2019 and beyond. After all, the election cycle for the Democrat Party was only two years away and the announcement of Orion’s cancellation wouldn’t help their political base, which was slowly falling to the GOP, nonetheless after six years of the Obama administration. Orion missions up to Orion 15 were promised funding by congress, with a hopeful return on investment in international cooperation and research by 2025. This put political pressure on NASA to include more international partners in the program, much to both JAXA and the ESA’s delight. Seats for JAXA and ESA astronauts opened up for Orion 4, 5 and 7. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) would push for one of their astronauts on an Orion flight. Because of the current seat conflict, NASA responded with a resounding ‘Maybe.’
submitted by MrRaven101 to HighEffortAltHistory [link] [comments]
The mission was a cultural milestone in itself – it was the first time NASA would stream an Orion mission in its entirety online, and it became popular for large internet celebrities and news hosts to talk about the upcoming mission. They would be paid, of course. For the first few steps, whoever would take them, a combined audience of ~1,000,000,000 would be watching them.
Astronaut selection was tricky. NASA needed to choose a crew that had experience, but were limited in that not many of their astronauts were both experienced flight-ready. Most of NASA Astronaut Group 19 were retired (or about to), but one stuck out to the Astronaut Office: Christopher Cassidy. Much like Wiseman, he was a former Chief of the Astronaut Office, and had two flights under his belt, both Shuttle and Soyuz. He would be assigned as Mission Commander. Another that stuck out was James Dutton. He was a pilot aboard the Shuttle, and endeared to the former shuttle personnel and many NASA employees. He was selected as pilot. Robert S. Kimbrough, another Shuttle astronaut, was selected as flight engineer. Jack D. Fischer was selected as payload specialist for the mission, rounding out the crew with three NASA Astronaut Group 19 astronauts and one NASA Astronaut Group 20 member.
During training, ideas for callsigns were thrown around. NASA wanted something symbolic of their progress and the future, politics would drive them to name it something patriotic, while the public would be largely indifferent. Except a minority: the Star Trek fans. Much like with the Space Shuttle of late, they had campaigned for Orion to be named after the USS Enterprise. In the end, it would be left up to the crew to decide the names. And you can likely guess what they chose. So it was the Orion capsule for this mission would be named Enterprise, and the Altair to be named Polaris. After a long eight months of training, production, processing, paperwork, calculations and other assorted work, the mission was ready. The Ares I was rolled out to the pad, with it Polaris, and the booster launched half past three in April 2018.
But the successful launch of Polaris coincided with the news of the contracting of the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV), to none other than JAXA. It would be complete by around 2022, meaning that it would be utilized on a mission no earlier than Orion 6. In exchange for this, a seat on Orion 4 was given. The SEV would be landed by a separate Altair lander. Contracting for the non pressurized Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) also fell to JAXA, this time being light enough to be unfolded from one of Altair’s cargo quadrants in its descent stage. The LRV, which had the majority of its work done, would be ready by 2020. This meant it would fly on Orion 4.
As Polaris orbited, Enterprise was rolled out to the pad. Much like Orion 2, there would be a large crowd to view the launch. Present was former President John McCain, Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, three cabinet members, 30 mayors, 21 governors, 55 ambassadors, and 350 congressmen. A viewing public of almost 150,000 and 2,000 media representatives and personalities also attended.
After final check ups on Polaris, a go-ahead signal was given from Houston. Five minutes later, the launch countdown began. Liftoff began at 2:33 PM EST May 12, 2018. Three minutes into the flight, Kimbrough’s vitals flatlined. After a short panic from the flight surgeon, Kimbrough reported back that the sensors had failed. The fault was recorded, and the flight continued. By 2:41, Enterprise had entered its parking orbit.
For about an hour the systems were monitored, checked, and checked again. Polaris and Enterprise showed nominal performance, and procedure for relighting the EUS’s engines began.
After a short burn, Enterprise began its approach towards Polaris. After its approach, Enterprise circled her lander to check for damage or any potential issues. After this, Dutton maneuvered and docked with Polaris. Cassidy and Fischer opened Polaris’s main hatchway and conducted an inspection of the systems. After a short meal, the EUS fired its last burn to put Enterprise and Polaris in a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI). The next three days were mostly monitoring systems and conducting small course adjustments with the RCS thrusters. On May 15, Enterprise fired up its engines to insert both it and Polaris into lunar orbit.
The selected landing site was Oceanus Procellarum, a few miles off of the Apollo 12 site. Oceanus Procellarum was chosen for its relative flatness, as well as to more thoroughly inspect the region. Apollo 12 didn’t cover all bases, so Orion 3 hoped to refine the data on the site and see how the new systems reacted.
The crew were allowed to sleep, and on May 16 orbital operations began. A small telescope was installed on Enterprise to conduct surface observations. The telescope was nowhere near powerful enough to see Polaris when it landed, but it could help scope out the area. Cassidy and Kimbrough were selected for landing on the Moon, and they spent their time in orbit powering the systems and adjusting to the lander interior. May 16 also included one of the most important experiments on the mission: sunflower bulbs were carried on board, with a small amount of dirt.
This was carried in a special compartment on board Altair, but the dirt and bulb itself were carried on Enterprise. The experiment, creatively titled the Lunar Bulb Germination Experiment (LBGE), would germinate the sunflower bulbs on the lunar surface, and note any differences.
Other experiments on the mission were the Altair Specialized Experiments Package (ASEP), which included experiments ranging from solar wind to passive and active seismology. A third and equally important experiment was the Lunar Deployable Payload Module (LDPM), which would simulate the deployment of the LRV for Orion 4. These experiments were stored in the side panels of Polaris, which could be pulled down for access.
It was a lot for the first mission, but both Mission Control and the crew were prepared and confident. Overall, this experiment package would consume the majority of the seven EVAs for the astronauts. The remaining time was spent collecting samples and resting.
The landing was scheduled for around 7:00 PM EST that day. Cassidy and Kimbrough entered Polaris and gave a salute to Fischer, and sealed off from Enterprise and undocked. After clearing a distance, the deorbit burn began. Minutes later, and under almost a billion viewers’ scrutiny, Polaris touched down. The first EVA would follow a few minutes later. Cassidy stepped into the airlock, depressurized, and looked out upon the lunar surface. Viewing peaked around this time, much to NASA’s Public Relations Offices’ delight. Cassidy descended the ladder down to the lunar surface, and stepped onto the lunar surface.
“With these steps, we begin anew the exploration of our nearest neighbor, in peace and with hope for all mankind.” The immortal words by Cassidy. He looked around the surface, and waited for Kimbrough to descend. Kimbrough’s words were not as majestic - “Looks just like White Sands.” After some remarks and looking around, the two received a call from none other than President Obama, who congratulated them on the mission. Work began shortly after.
First was the deployment of the American Flag on the lunar surface. Then was the deployment of the ASEP. First was the RTG, which would power the experiments. The command station was set up with the Ion and Passive Seismometer a few feet away. After the rest were set up, the Active Seismic Experiment (ASE) began. It was a simple thumper-geophone combination, and had good results. After the experiments were tested, the crew returned to Polaris and had their rest period.
May 17 began with freeze-dried breakfast and the second EVA. This EVA would set up the Radio Antenna Stand Test Article (RASTA). RASTA was a tripod stand with a small suite of communication instruments and a dummy satellite dish. RASTA would aid the development of the Farside Radio Observing Scanning Telescopes (FROST) for Orion 5. After this was another round certifying the ASEP was functional, sample collection began. The remainder of Day 2 was checking systems and deploying the more time-consuming ASEP systems. The Solar Wind Experiment (a large sheet on a tall pole) was also set up. In orbit, Dutton fired Enterprise’s engines, altering the orbit just enough to align the capsule for docking once Polaris lifted off. Fischer did surface observations, and took many photos of the lunar far side. The last activity for Day 2 was unpacking a small retroreflector, which was placed not far off.
Day 3 would be more sample collecting and exploring the landing site. Near the site was a shallow crater about fifteen meters across. Cassidy descended the crater wall, which Houston considered a risky move. After gaining his footing, he picked up a few soil and rock samples before climbing out. It became evident this move on Cassidy’s part was worth the risk, as the samples collected would help expand knowledge and study on lunar asteroid impacts. After this Cassidy and Kimbrough returned to Polaris to store the sample bags and process data. After a routine checkup on LBGE, the crew called it a day.
Day 4 meant the deployment of the LDPM. After wrangling the pulley on the panel, Kimbrough removed the panel and, with help from Cassidy, pulled the pallet out. The pallet itself was ten feet long, but had two hinges at the front and back allowing the pallet to fit into the cargo quadrant. They detached the pallet from Polaris and tested some of the batteries and affixed parts onto it (such as the antenna and seats). Most of these parts were non-functional, and this activity was mostly a practice exercise for Orion 4. The remainder of the day was spent inside Polaris, processing and transmitting the data for NASA to work with. Kimbrough, the mission specialist, was trained with a small degree of knowledge on geology and biology. While nowhere near certified, his work with the LGBE and sample collection were invaluable.
Days 5 and 6 were like the rest: checking ASEP systems, strolling around the lander, picking up samples, and processing data. Day 6 was special, because Cassidy and Kimbrough held a live interview for major news networks. In the meantime, Fischer and Dutton conducted gamma ray and x-ray observations, surface and stellar photography, and small particle spectrometer and mass spectrometer sensing. With the research being done by Enterprise, new images could be compared with old to note and new impacts or differences. Day 7 was the last day on the Moon, and that meant one thing: packing up. Experiments and data were packed up, samples were moved into their respective locations on board Polaris, and assorted cargo were taken aboard. The SWE had its net removed and placed in storage, and the ASEP was put into “Long-Duration Mode”.
Polaris lifted off the surface of the Moon on May 23, 2018, returning to Enterprise in orbit. Polaris’s ascent stage was jettisoned, and Enterprise’s engines were lighted to send it back to Earth. After a three-day coast, Enterprise and her crew reentered and splashed down off the coast of Hawai’i at 12:24 on May 26, 2018.
Orion 3 was a record-setting mission. The fourteen-day mission logged 120 minutes of EVA time, well above any mission on Project Apollo. Time, sample and other assorted records were all shattered. The data collected could be processed for decades of research and development, and the data on the Altair lander and Orion capsule would aid in the development of their respective Block II counterparts. The mission was also a large PR boost for the program, ensuring funding for FY2019 and beyond. After all, the election cycle for the Democrat Party was only two years away and the announcement of Orion’s cancellation wouldn’t help their political base, which was slowly falling to the GOP, nonetheless after six years of the Obama administration. Orion missions up to Orion 15 were promised funding by congress, with a hopeful return on investment in international cooperation and research by 2025. This put political pressure on NASA to include more international partners in the program, much to both JAXA and the ESA’s delight. Seats for JAXA and ESA astronauts opened up for Orion 4, 5 and 7. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) would push for one of their astronauts on an Orion flight. Because of the current seat conflict, NASA responded with a resounding ‘Maybe.’
2024.05.18 15:56 Sweet-Count2557 Candlewood Suites New York City- Times Square in New York City, USA
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2024.05.18 15:30 QuadMagicalNESS (IN) Nightmare Basement. What are my options?
I'm located in Indiana, and I've been renting a duplex for four years now. The basement started as "unfinished" and has never been worked on, and it has turned into an absolute nightmare.
One quarter of the basement is always damp. The floor is dark black, and that dark black border goes around the entire basement perimeter. It is absolutely infested with spiders, ants, centipedes, crickets, and now I'm finding dead mice. Cobwebs everywhere. The entire basement smells musty like mold, and the basement is where the HVAC is located, and so when it kicks on, I can pick up the musty scent coming through the vents. Most of our storage from the move is down there in cardboard boxes, and all of the boxes are deteriorating and crumbling, and anything inside is getting destroyed in some way.
Not only this, a pipe that leads from the toilet/dishwasher goes down into the basement, and it has a leak, and so if the toilet flushes or we run the dishwasher, water accumulates at the bottom of this pipe in a small puddle. This puddle has now bred drainflies, flies that start off as a worm and turn into small black moth-looking flies that feed on raw sewage. So at the base of the pipe (prepare yourself) there are hundreds and hundreds of shining, black, wriggling worms. It looks like something out of a horror movie. I thought I was hallucinating the ground moving before I realized it was endless black shimmering worms slithering all over each other in a pile. And what happens when they mature? They turn into flies and emerge through the drains, and they are all over the house. I'm about to lose my mind. I already pay nearly 1400 a month for this duplex, and they get to raise the rent 3% each year.
What are my options when addressing my landlord? Can someone give me some realistic advice. I've never been in this situation before, I'm a new renter, so I'm not sure how to address this issue.
submitted by QuadMagicalNESS to Renters [link] [comments]
One quarter of the basement is always damp. The floor is dark black, and that dark black border goes around the entire basement perimeter. It is absolutely infested with spiders, ants, centipedes, crickets, and now I'm finding dead mice. Cobwebs everywhere. The entire basement smells musty like mold, and the basement is where the HVAC is located, and so when it kicks on, I can pick up the musty scent coming through the vents. Most of our storage from the move is down there in cardboard boxes, and all of the boxes are deteriorating and crumbling, and anything inside is getting destroyed in some way.
Not only this, a pipe that leads from the toilet/dishwasher goes down into the basement, and it has a leak, and so if the toilet flushes or we run the dishwasher, water accumulates at the bottom of this pipe in a small puddle. This puddle has now bred drainflies, flies that start off as a worm and turn into small black moth-looking flies that feed on raw sewage. So at the base of the pipe (prepare yourself) there are hundreds and hundreds of shining, black, wriggling worms. It looks like something out of a horror movie. I thought I was hallucinating the ground moving before I realized it was endless black shimmering worms slithering all over each other in a pile. And what happens when they mature? They turn into flies and emerge through the drains, and they are all over the house. I'm about to lose my mind. I already pay nearly 1400 a month for this duplex, and they get to raise the rent 3% each year.
What are my options when addressing my landlord? Can someone give me some realistic advice. I've never been in this situation before, I'm a new renter, so I'm not sure how to address this issue.
2024.05.18 14:17 tomesandtea [Discussion] Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey Chapters 34-40 (The Expanse Book #1)
Welcome to our fifth discussion of Leviathan Wakes. Hold onto your cool detective hats or your environment suits, because we finally get some answers to our mystery! This week, we will discuss Chapters 34-40. The Marginalia post is here. You can find the Schedule here.
The discussion questions are below. One note - this is a very popular book series and TV show, but please keep in mind that not everyone has read or watched already, so be mindful not to include anything that could be a hint or a spoiler! Please mark spoilers not related to this section of the book using the format > ! Spoiler text here !< (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words).
Now brace yourselves: here comes the juice!
Chapter Summaries:
Chapter 34 - Miller: Detective Miller and the crew of the Roci board the hidden ship (the one that captured the crew of the Scopuli before destroying it), wearing environment suits because the ship has no atmosphere - someone left the doors open. They stick together at first as they move through the ship, discovering signs of a struggle, zombie vomit, and twelve torpedo tubes big enough to destroy capital ships like the Donnager or the Canterbury. Miller uses his detective skills to determine that everyone but Julie retreated to engineering. Once there, they discover a truly grisly sight: layers of human flesh and bones are sort of fused around the reactor, which has been shut down. Naomi and Holden gasp in shock and disgust, Miller turns on his cop brain to suppress emotion and view it as a crime scene, and Amos seems… calm and able to ignore the gore. The team splits up to look for more clues.
Amos stays in engineering to start up the computers and get the reactor back online. Naomi works on the ops deck to run diagnostics. Miller and Holden head to the bridge, which wasn’t affected by the fighting onboard. Miller reviews the internal feeds and finds footage showing the captured Scopuli crew being led onto the ship, stripped, and put in restraints. Julie fights back viciously but is knocked unconscious and stuffed in a locker with a jumpsuit (which is where we met her in the prologue). The crew is left in the galley for 132 hours before they decide to make a stand, but it is quickly suppressed. One of the crew is thrown out an airlock and the others are heavily restrained as they scream and cry. Just as Miller gets to the first appearance of a vomit zombie (at hour 160 of footage), Amos yells that he’s been exposed to some radiation because the human flesh blob had damaged the reactor shielding. He decides to keep working while Alex monitors his health status from the Roci.
Then Holden calls Miller over to view one of the last feeds Julie accessed. It’s a corporate presentation video created for a man named Dresden and the board of Protogen. It features a man Miller dubs “the sociopath” because of his cold, practiced smile…and because of the content. The sociopath tells the board (and us) the history of scientific discovery on Phoebe, which was thought to just be a moon and a source of water, but became a research station when a survey found complex silicon structures in the ice. Protogen was tasked with investigating and discovered that Phoebe is not a moon but evidence of a galactic biosphere: it is an alien weapon sent towards Earth 2 ⅓ billion years ago, which never made it because of orbital mechanics. Protogen has discovered that this weapon is not alive per se; rather, it is something they’ve termed the “protomolecule” which has the ability to maintain structure while replicating other systems and manipulating them at scalable rates. Of course, they alerted the proper authorities and made sure… just kidding, they’ve secretly been doing tests. The sociopath believes that whoever controls the protomolecule will gain control of all political and economic power going forward. Chillingly, the sociopath urges them to pursue large-scale testing to understand the protomolecule and its human applications. That large-scale testing is Eros.
TL;DR - Julie found evidence that Protogen has discovered an alien weapon, branded it the “protomolecule”, and secretly tested it on the people of Eros (and probably other smaller tests). The entire war has just been a distraction.
Chapter 35 - Holden: Naomi explains that most of the messages on the comm logs have been coded, but the last one is in plain text: the captain informed Thoth Station that the ship was contaminated, everyone was about to die, and the “materials” had been secured. He also planned to send vector data so they could find the ship. The Roci crew put two and alien-symbol-for-two together: they figure out that the captain has locked protomolecule samples in his safe. They also decide that the tightbeam messages were being sent to a secret research station Protogen was using to monitor the Eros experiment. Even though the fact “Naomi is the best” is a proven concept on par with “space is cold”, she is NOT able to open the captain’s safe, so they decide to cut it out of the wall and bring it with them on the Roci. They also scuttle the ship so no one can a) recover the stealth technology and alien weapons, or b) get exposed to the protomolecule-human soup inside. (Amos would have preferred to hack the frozen dead body goo off the reactor with a chainsaw and salvage such an impressive and expensive ship, which is… another way to go.)
It’s clear that someone else with stealth tech is searching actively for this ship, but the Roci won’t see them coming so they decide to get the hell out of Dodge. Naomi jokes that their options include turning the safe over to the OPA (they’d be heroes), selling out to Mars (they’d be rich), or starting their own biotech firm (just kidding, that’s evil). When Miller checks in with Holden about a decision on where to go next, he drops a figurative bomb on him regarding actual bombs in the news. Since Holden did his best Edward Snowden impersonation and leaked the data that the mystery ships are from Earth, Mars asked a few too many questions and in response, Earth has blown up a whole bunch of Martian ships and destroyed the Deimos deep radar station. Miller ruefully gives Holden credit for sticking to his guns about his belief in “free information”. He also points out that Holden’s principles make him responsible for all those deaths and the destruction of the Earth-Mars Coalition… and possibly the universe as they know it.
Chapter 36 - Miller: The war between Mars and the Belt seems like no big deal now that Earth and Mars are fighting. Miller watches the news feeds as the conflict turns into a blockade, and he realizes he is steeling himself for an announcement of a planetary attack on Earth or Mars, but it never comes. He and Amos deal with the stress by having beer for breakfast.
Miller meets up with Holden in the med bay for their routine blood flushes and cancer treatments, and they reopen their debate about what to do with the data files and who is to blame for the war(s).
Chapter 37 - Holden: The crew of the Roci is taking a break from doom scrolling to cook fake space lasagna for dinner and bond over the food and conversation. As Holden watches the crew laugh at Amos’s belches and Miller’s wild story about cheese smuggling, he reflects that they represent all three prongs of the conflict: Naomi and Miller are Belters, Amos and he are from Earth, and Alex is from Mars. Yet they’re friends, and Holden knows this is what they have to fight for. The cheese smuggling makes no sense to Amos (why cheese and not drugs?), and Naomi points out that this illustrates how little people from the inner planets understand Belters. Earthers have free air and easy access to resources, while Belters know everything that sustains life is rare and their access to it is fragile. And this is why Protogen didn’t blink an eye before killing 1.5 million Belters on Eros: they’re “other”. Then Alex points out that this doesn’t make sense; it's a risky and unnecessarily complicated way to kill people just to satisfy prejudices. It becomes clear that Eros isn’t a hate crime, it’s a vacuum-sealed test tube to let the protomolecule learn how to do its job better by giving it access to a huge amount of biomass. The early transformations looked incomplete, as if it didn’t know how to work with human flesh yet, so Protogen was giving it a chance to train. Holden wants to know where they would even find enough people who would support an evil operation like this, and Miller promises to ask Dresden (the Protogen board member mentioned in the video) when they meet him. Something tells me that conversation won’t go well.
As the Roci approaches Tycho station, Holden and Miller take in the view of the Nauvoo, the partially constructed Mormon generation ship. When Miller says the Mormans may be in for a long and lonely death if they don’t find a habitable planet, Holden notes that this is the good kind of galactic exploration humans can accomplish (the protomolecule being the bad kind). Miller then asks Holden why he trusts Fred, and Holden explains that in addition to being the only person who hasn’t tried to jail them or blow them up since all this began, Fred is “real OPA”: he’s a politician and not part of the war-mongering factions who think they can survive indefinitely without the inner planets. When Miller points out that there isn’t a political solution to Protogen, Holden insists Fred has other skills, too. Later, Fred reads through all the information on the protomolecule and is incredulous that anyone could think to do this. Miller assures him that genocide is an old-school crime and it’s important that they stop it. Holden offers up the location of the observation station in exchange for enough OPA fighters to take down Protogen, and the right to retain custody of the safe and its contents. Fred agrees only after Holden points out that no one else can be trusted to do the right thing with a secret this big. Plus, he says Fred already knows what Holden will do with it.
Chapter 38 - Miller: It feels strange to Miller to explore the wide open spaces of Tycho Station, the fanciest place he has ever set foot on. He notices Naomi working on her hand terminal and letting her food get cold; she is too preoccupied with trying to figure out the location of the station to enjoy the amenities. As they talk, Miller is reminded of Havelock’s advice to just let go when he got pulled off a case, which jogs his memory that Havelock actually works for Protogen! (I’m surprised he didn’t get there faster; maybe everyone had a point that he was sort of a washed up detective.) He rushes off to make contact with his old buddy - probably his last real partner ever - in an encrypted drop site of a Ganymede server cluster. As he waits for a response, Miller is amused to realize he has started thinking like Holden: he feels like someone should warn the Mormans that they could potentially run into the alien creators of the protomolecule who may want to kill them. Havelock comes through, passing along the coordinates to a “very scary deep research and development lab” and asking Miller tobe discreet never contact him again so he doesn’t get killed for betraying his employer. Miller sends him an encrypted warning to quit his job ASAP and not take postings at any black ops sites, before saying goodbye for the last time to the only person that still respected him as a cop. (I may or may not be sniffling a bit at this.)
Miller rounds up Naomi and Holden so they can bring Fred the coordinates. In Fred’s office, Miller starts lecturing him about the serious nature of the mission and the need to have a solid plan with adequate firepower, not the usual OPA shenanigans. Everyone’s a little confused until they realize that Miller doesn’t know that Fred is “the butcher of Anderson Station” and a former Colonel in the Earth Navy. Fred assures Miller he’s no amateur and will plan ahead. Miller then insists that he get to come along for the assault on Thoth Station. Eight days later, the plan is set in motion and Miller begins packing his meager belongings into a very small bag, figuring he’ll never see the Roci again. Even if he makes it off Thoth alive, he’ll have to figure out a way to make money and improvise a life plan of some sort. He tries to thank Holden and say goodbye, but the Roci’s captain interrupts Miller to ask where they’ll all meet up after the mission is complete. Miller is confused at first, then overcome with emotion when he realizes Holden considers Miller part of the crew! I’m not crying, you’re crying. Actually, it’s Miller who is weeping. But he pulls himself together so he can head to the assault ship.
Chapter 39 - Holden: The Rocinante needs to sneak up on Thoth Station, so they are pretending to be a loose cargo container that broke off the Guy Molinari (the Belter ship carrying the assault team, which is pretending to be a cargo ship). They fly with everything shut down so that it’s more convincing, hoping they can get close enough to the station to do some damage before Thoth starts firing back. As they approach and are able to reboot everything needed for battle, a stealth ship is spied hanging out near Thoth Station. Then, suddenly it becomes clear that there are two small stealth ships, which will be much harder to fight off. Everyone does their jobs efficiently on the Roci, but in the ensuing battle with the stealth ships, they start to take some damage. First, the Roci is hit by a gauss cannon that goes straight through the machine shop and galley. Holden mourns his coffee maker. Amos notices a leak in the maneuvering thrusters and heads to fix it between the inner and outer hulls, which isn’t an ideal place to be floating around during a battle. This stresses Naomi out, but Holden orders everyone to stay focused. They are able to take out one of the stealth ships, but the other gets close enough to do some impressive damage to the Roci. There is major hull damage as well as loss of four maneuvering thrusters, a PDC, their O2 storage, and the crew airlock. Alex is about to destroy the second stealth ship when the Roci’s point defense cannons (PDCs) detonate an enemy warhead up close. It knocks everyone out, punches holes throughout the Roci (narrowly missing Naomi), dislodges equipment, and fills the ship with debris. Holden marvels that they are alive at all, and Alex points out that is only because the ship’s anti-spalling webbing eliminates shrapnel. They make contact with Fred, who says he’ll find them a place to land, and the Guy Molinari prepares for the assault on Thoth Station. It’s Miller’s turn to shine!
Chapter 40 - Miller: On the Guy Molinari, Miller is talking to a Belter kid named Diogo as they wait for the assault to start. Miller realizes that while he has fancy Martian armor from the Roci and experience with gunfights in station corridors, he is surrounded by inexperienced young Belters with borrowed gear, and he will likely have to watch dozens of them die during the battle. But Diogo isn’t worried; he is confident and eager to get started. Fred announces that they are ready to start boarding since the Roci gave them the “all clear”, and Miller is happy to hear his friends have survived. The assault on the station starts off rough, with Protogen soldiers fighting them in the corridors and automatic defense lasers taking out some of the Belters in the first wave. But Fred knows how to command his OPA “troops” and keep them in line, and things start to go more smoothly as they slow down and maneuver carefully. Miller and Diogo are part of a group taking shelter at Fred’s direction and fending off Protogen counterattacks, and they start to talk during a lull. When two Protogen soldiers sneak up on them from behind, Diogo is hit and Miller chastises himself for chatting during a battle and not staying alert. He thinks Diogo is dead, but he pops up laughing and streaked with white goo from crowd suppression rounds, which Miller finds an odd choice of weapon. It’s the first sign that Thoth Station may not totally understand what’s happening. The OPA soldiers cut their way through the blast doors to get to the operations center, where they find Dresden (the dude mentioned in the sociopath’s Protogen video). Fred arrives to take command of the station, and Dresden offers to negotiate, clearly misunderstanding the reason for the assault. He offers to give the OPA whatever resources they need to go back to fighting their war (money, medical supplies, weapons, ordnance) if they’ll just leave and let the station get back to their very important work. Fred points out that they know about Eros, but Dresden insists no one knows what they did there, and there won’t be a better bargaining position for Fred when Earth sends its battleships. Fred basically calls Dresden Satan, but Dresden doesn’t understand the reference.
submitted by tomesandtea to bookclub [link] [comments]
The discussion questions are below. One note - this is a very popular book series and TV show, but please keep in mind that not everyone has read or watched already, so be mindful not to include anything that could be a hint or a spoiler! Please mark spoilers not related to this section of the book using the format > ! Spoiler text here !< (without any spaces between the characters themselves or between the characters and the first and last words).
Now brace yourselves: here comes the juice!
Chapter Summaries:
Chapter 34 - Miller: Detective Miller and the crew of the Roci board the hidden ship (the one that captured the crew of the Scopuli before destroying it), wearing environment suits because the ship has no atmosphere - someone left the doors open. They stick together at first as they move through the ship, discovering signs of a struggle, zombie vomit, and twelve torpedo tubes big enough to destroy capital ships like the Donnager or the Canterbury. Miller uses his detective skills to determine that everyone but Julie retreated to engineering. Once there, they discover a truly grisly sight: layers of human flesh and bones are sort of fused around the reactor, which has been shut down. Naomi and Holden gasp in shock and disgust, Miller turns on his cop brain to suppress emotion and view it as a crime scene, and Amos seems… calm and able to ignore the gore. The team splits up to look for more clues.
Amos stays in engineering to start up the computers and get the reactor back online. Naomi works on the ops deck to run diagnostics. Miller and Holden head to the bridge, which wasn’t affected by the fighting onboard. Miller reviews the internal feeds and finds footage showing the captured Scopuli crew being led onto the ship, stripped, and put in restraints. Julie fights back viciously but is knocked unconscious and stuffed in a locker with a jumpsuit (which is where we met her in the prologue). The crew is left in the galley for 132 hours before they decide to make a stand, but it is quickly suppressed. One of the crew is thrown out an airlock and the others are heavily restrained as they scream and cry. Just as Miller gets to the first appearance of a vomit zombie (at hour 160 of footage), Amos yells that he’s been exposed to some radiation because the human flesh blob had damaged the reactor shielding. He decides to keep working while Alex monitors his health status from the Roci.
Then Holden calls Miller over to view one of the last feeds Julie accessed. It’s a corporate presentation video created for a man named Dresden and the board of Protogen. It features a man Miller dubs “the sociopath” because of his cold, practiced smile…and because of the content. The sociopath tells the board (and us) the history of scientific discovery on Phoebe, which was thought to just be a moon and a source of water, but became a research station when a survey found complex silicon structures in the ice. Protogen was tasked with investigating and discovered that Phoebe is not a moon but evidence of a galactic biosphere: it is an alien weapon sent towards Earth 2 ⅓ billion years ago, which never made it because of orbital mechanics. Protogen has discovered that this weapon is not alive per se; rather, it is something they’ve termed the “protomolecule” which has the ability to maintain structure while replicating other systems and manipulating them at scalable rates. Of course, they alerted the proper authorities and made sure… just kidding, they’ve secretly been doing tests. The sociopath believes that whoever controls the protomolecule will gain control of all political and economic power going forward. Chillingly, the sociopath urges them to pursue large-scale testing to understand the protomolecule and its human applications. That large-scale testing is Eros.
TL;DR - Julie found evidence that Protogen has discovered an alien weapon, branded it the “protomolecule”, and secretly tested it on the people of Eros (and probably other smaller tests). The entire war has just been a distraction.
Chapter 35 - Holden: Naomi explains that most of the messages on the comm logs have been coded, but the last one is in plain text: the captain informed Thoth Station that the ship was contaminated, everyone was about to die, and the “materials” had been secured. He also planned to send vector data so they could find the ship. The Roci crew put two and alien-symbol-for-two together: they figure out that the captain has locked protomolecule samples in his safe. They also decide that the tightbeam messages were being sent to a secret research station Protogen was using to monitor the Eros experiment. Even though the fact “Naomi is the best” is a proven concept on par with “space is cold”, she is NOT able to open the captain’s safe, so they decide to cut it out of the wall and bring it with them on the Roci. They also scuttle the ship so no one can a) recover the stealth technology and alien weapons, or b) get exposed to the protomolecule-human soup inside. (Amos would have preferred to hack the frozen dead body goo off the reactor with a chainsaw and salvage such an impressive and expensive ship, which is… another way to go.)
It’s clear that someone else with stealth tech is searching actively for this ship, but the Roci won’t see them coming so they decide to get the hell out of Dodge. Naomi jokes that their options include turning the safe over to the OPA (they’d be heroes), selling out to Mars (they’d be rich), or starting their own biotech firm (just kidding, that’s evil). When Miller checks in with Holden about a decision on where to go next, he drops a figurative bomb on him regarding actual bombs in the news. Since Holden did his best Edward Snowden impersonation and leaked the data that the mystery ships are from Earth, Mars asked a few too many questions and in response, Earth has blown up a whole bunch of Martian ships and destroyed the Deimos deep radar station. Miller ruefully gives Holden credit for sticking to his guns about his belief in “free information”. He also points out that Holden’s principles make him responsible for all those deaths and the destruction of the Earth-Mars Coalition… and possibly the universe as they know it.
Chapter 36 - Miller: The war between Mars and the Belt seems like no big deal now that Earth and Mars are fighting. Miller watches the news feeds as the conflict turns into a blockade, and he realizes he is steeling himself for an announcement of a planetary attack on Earth or Mars, but it never comes. He and Amos deal with the stress by having beer for breakfast.
Miller meets up with Holden in the med bay for their routine blood flushes and cancer treatments, and they reopen their debate about what to do with the data files and who is to blame for the war(s).
- Holden’s position: Broadcast everything to everyone! (I know, I know, so out of character, right?) People will understand that they’ve been set up and will turn their wrath on Protogen instead of each other. Also, these are ancient conflicts. The Belt has always hated Mars and the inner planets in general. Mars and Earth have always had animosities secretly brewing and they do military training for the inevitable showdown. Or as Miller puts it, “Not my powder keg; I just brought the match.”
- Miller’s position: Stop and consider what people will do if they hear an Earth company did this. Every other data leak has been used as an excuse to shoot at someone the other side doesn’t like. Also, people suck. They aren’t going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya just because Protogen is the bad guy. They’ll move on to shooting each other so they can be the ones to control the protomolecule. Or as Holden puts it, “Maybe Protogen is a little right. People are too dumb to be trusted with big information so we should keep hard, scary stuff a big secret. That’ll totally work out.”
Chapter 37 - Holden: The crew of the Roci is taking a break from doom scrolling to cook fake space lasagna for dinner and bond over the food and conversation. As Holden watches the crew laugh at Amos’s belches and Miller’s wild story about cheese smuggling, he reflects that they represent all three prongs of the conflict: Naomi and Miller are Belters, Amos and he are from Earth, and Alex is from Mars. Yet they’re friends, and Holden knows this is what they have to fight for. The cheese smuggling makes no sense to Amos (why cheese and not drugs?), and Naomi points out that this illustrates how little people from the inner planets understand Belters. Earthers have free air and easy access to resources, while Belters know everything that sustains life is rare and their access to it is fragile. And this is why Protogen didn’t blink an eye before killing 1.5 million Belters on Eros: they’re “other”. Then Alex points out that this doesn’t make sense; it's a risky and unnecessarily complicated way to kill people just to satisfy prejudices. It becomes clear that Eros isn’t a hate crime, it’s a vacuum-sealed test tube to let the protomolecule learn how to do its job better by giving it access to a huge amount of biomass. The early transformations looked incomplete, as if it didn’t know how to work with human flesh yet, so Protogen was giving it a chance to train. Holden wants to know where they would even find enough people who would support an evil operation like this, and Miller promises to ask Dresden (the Protogen board member mentioned in the video) when they meet him. Something tells me that conversation won’t go well.
As the Roci approaches Tycho station, Holden and Miller take in the view of the Nauvoo, the partially constructed Mormon generation ship. When Miller says the Mormans may be in for a long and lonely death if they don’t find a habitable planet, Holden notes that this is the good kind of galactic exploration humans can accomplish (the protomolecule being the bad kind). Miller then asks Holden why he trusts Fred, and Holden explains that in addition to being the only person who hasn’t tried to jail them or blow them up since all this began, Fred is “real OPA”: he’s a politician and not part of the war-mongering factions who think they can survive indefinitely without the inner planets. When Miller points out that there isn’t a political solution to Protogen, Holden insists Fred has other skills, too. Later, Fred reads through all the information on the protomolecule and is incredulous that anyone could think to do this. Miller assures him that genocide is an old-school crime and it’s important that they stop it. Holden offers up the location of the observation station in exchange for enough OPA fighters to take down Protogen, and the right to retain custody of the safe and its contents. Fred agrees only after Holden points out that no one else can be trusted to do the right thing with a secret this big. Plus, he says Fred already knows what Holden will do with it.
Chapter 38 - Miller: It feels strange to Miller to explore the wide open spaces of Tycho Station, the fanciest place he has ever set foot on. He notices Naomi working on her hand terminal and letting her food get cold; she is too preoccupied with trying to figure out the location of the station to enjoy the amenities. As they talk, Miller is reminded of Havelock’s advice to just let go when he got pulled off a case, which jogs his memory that Havelock actually works for Protogen! (I’m surprised he didn’t get there faster; maybe everyone had a point that he was sort of a washed up detective.) He rushes off to make contact with his old buddy - probably his last real partner ever - in an encrypted drop site of a Ganymede server cluster. As he waits for a response, Miller is amused to realize he has started thinking like Holden: he feels like someone should warn the Mormans that they could potentially run into the alien creators of the protomolecule who may want to kill them. Havelock comes through, passing along the coordinates to a “very scary deep research and development lab” and asking Miller to
Miller rounds up Naomi and Holden so they can bring Fred the coordinates. In Fred’s office, Miller starts lecturing him about the serious nature of the mission and the need to have a solid plan with adequate firepower, not the usual OPA shenanigans. Everyone’s a little confused until they realize that Miller doesn’t know that Fred is “the butcher of Anderson Station” and a former Colonel in the Earth Navy. Fred assures Miller he’s no amateur and will plan ahead. Miller then insists that he get to come along for the assault on Thoth Station. Eight days later, the plan is set in motion and Miller begins packing his meager belongings into a very small bag, figuring he’ll never see the Roci again. Even if he makes it off Thoth alive, he’ll have to figure out a way to make money and improvise a life plan of some sort. He tries to thank Holden and say goodbye, but the Roci’s captain interrupts Miller to ask where they’ll all meet up after the mission is complete. Miller is confused at first, then overcome with emotion when he realizes Holden considers Miller part of the crew! I’m not crying, you’re crying. Actually, it’s Miller who is weeping. But he pulls himself together so he can head to the assault ship.
Chapter 39 - Holden: The Rocinante needs to sneak up on Thoth Station, so they are pretending to be a loose cargo container that broke off the Guy Molinari (the Belter ship carrying the assault team, which is pretending to be a cargo ship). They fly with everything shut down so that it’s more convincing, hoping they can get close enough to the station to do some damage before Thoth starts firing back. As they approach and are able to reboot everything needed for battle, a stealth ship is spied hanging out near Thoth Station. Then, suddenly it becomes clear that there are two small stealth ships, which will be much harder to fight off. Everyone does their jobs efficiently on the Roci, but in the ensuing battle with the stealth ships, they start to take some damage. First, the Roci is hit by a gauss cannon that goes straight through the machine shop and galley. Holden mourns his coffee maker. Amos notices a leak in the maneuvering thrusters and heads to fix it between the inner and outer hulls, which isn’t an ideal place to be floating around during a battle. This stresses Naomi out, but Holden orders everyone to stay focused. They are able to take out one of the stealth ships, but the other gets close enough to do some impressive damage to the Roci. There is major hull damage as well as loss of four maneuvering thrusters, a PDC, their O2 storage, and the crew airlock. Alex is about to destroy the second stealth ship when the Roci’s point defense cannons (PDCs) detonate an enemy warhead up close. It knocks everyone out, punches holes throughout the Roci (narrowly missing Naomi), dislodges equipment, and fills the ship with debris. Holden marvels that they are alive at all, and Alex points out that is only because the ship’s anti-spalling webbing eliminates shrapnel. They make contact with Fred, who says he’ll find them a place to land, and the Guy Molinari prepares for the assault on Thoth Station. It’s Miller’s turn to shine!
Chapter 40 - Miller: On the Guy Molinari, Miller is talking to a Belter kid named Diogo as they wait for the assault to start. Miller realizes that while he has fancy Martian armor from the Roci and experience with gunfights in station corridors, he is surrounded by inexperienced young Belters with borrowed gear, and he will likely have to watch dozens of them die during the battle. But Diogo isn’t worried; he is confident and eager to get started. Fred announces that they are ready to start boarding since the Roci gave them the “all clear”, and Miller is happy to hear his friends have survived. The assault on the station starts off rough, with Protogen soldiers fighting them in the corridors and automatic defense lasers taking out some of the Belters in the first wave. But Fred knows how to command his OPA “troops” and keep them in line, and things start to go more smoothly as they slow down and maneuver carefully. Miller and Diogo are part of a group taking shelter at Fred’s direction and fending off Protogen counterattacks, and they start to talk during a lull. When two Protogen soldiers sneak up on them from behind, Diogo is hit and Miller chastises himself for chatting during a battle and not staying alert. He thinks Diogo is dead, but he pops up laughing and streaked with white goo from crowd suppression rounds, which Miller finds an odd choice of weapon. It’s the first sign that Thoth Station may not totally understand what’s happening. The OPA soldiers cut their way through the blast doors to get to the operations center, where they find Dresden (the dude mentioned in the sociopath’s Protogen video). Fred arrives to take command of the station, and Dresden offers to negotiate, clearly misunderstanding the reason for the assault. He offers to give the OPA whatever resources they need to go back to fighting their war (money, medical supplies, weapons, ordnance) if they’ll just leave and let the station get back to their very important work. Fred points out that they know about Eros, but Dresden insists no one knows what they did there, and there won’t be a better bargaining position for Fred when Earth sends its battleships. Fred basically calls Dresden Satan, but Dresden doesn’t understand the reference.
2024.05.18 12:58 NoonicornGamer Storage Clearout
Morning, all! My storage is getting full again, so I've got several bits going free :)
Produce/Fruit
submitted by NoonicornGamer to NoFeeAC [link] [comments]
Produce/Fruit
- Tomato (10)
x3x2 - Wheat (10)
x3x2 - Sugarcane (10)
x10x9 - Potato (10)
x3x2 - Carrot (10) x3
- Orange Pumpkin (10)
x5x4 - Coconut (10) x4
- Apple (10)
x5x4x3 - Orange (10)
Pear (10)Cherry (10)
Diner chair (cream)Froggy chair (green)- Round pillow (black)
- Elegant dresser (dark brown)
- Corner clothing rack (white, cute)
- Karaoke system
- Water cooler (white)
- Square bathtub (blue)
- Pine tree
- Dress mannequin (white, blue)
- Foosball table (blue)
- Tower of Pisa
Ancient Statue (genuine)Mystic Statue (genuine)
Butter ChurnCoconut Juice- Floral Swag
x2 Glowing-Moss DressGlowing-Moss JarGlowing-Moss PondGlowing-Moss StatueGlowing-Moss WreathGolden Bathtub- Golden Gear Apparatus
- Golden Samurai Suit
x2 Jungle Wall- Kettle Bathtub
- Light Bamboo Bath Mat
- Pan Flute x2
Project TableSuspicious CauldronWoven-Vines Hat
- Baked Potatoes x2
Bread GratinCookies- Fruit Salad
Mixed-Fruits Pie- Mushroom Curry
- Orange Pie x2
- Pear Jam
Pumpkin Curry- Pumpkin Scones
x3x2 Salad- Salad-Stuffed Tomato
Sugar CrepeTomato Bagel SandwichTomato JuiceVeggie CookiesVeggie Crepe
- Cherry-Blossom Petals (10)
x2 Star Fragments (10)- Vines (30) x3
- Glowing Moss (50) x2
- Clumps of Weeds (99)
- Hardwood (30) x7
- Softwood (30) x6
- Maximum 5 items per person for the first 24 hours, to give folks a fair chance to get something they want (one stack counts as a single item)
- Please comment with exactly what you'd like, as my DM notifications are unreliable. If you don't comment, I won't see your request!
- My internet can only handle hosting one person at a time, so I'll reserve items in the order they're requested and contact people individually to arrange collection
- If I don't hear back from you within 12 hours, the reserve will be lifted
- You're welcome to use my shops, shake for fruit, talk to villagers etc
- My time zone is BST, so I'm awake now :)
2024.05.18 11:42 Sweet-Count2557 Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives
 | Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] Experience the Ultimate Surfing Getaway at Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives Price Level: $$$ Hotel Class: 0 Are you dreaming of a tropical getaway in the Maldives? Look no further than the Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island. This charming hotel is the perfect destination for surf enthusiasts and beach lovers alike. With its prime location right on the beach, guests can wake up to the sound of crashing waves and enjoy breathtaking ocean views from their rooms. The Met Surf House offers a range of comfortable and stylish accommodations, from cozy rooms to spacious suites, ensuring a relaxing stay for every traveler. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced surfer, the hotel's surf school provides expert guidance and equipment for an unforgettable surfing experience. After a day of catching waves, guests can unwind at the hotel's rooftop terrace, sipping on refreshing cocktails while watching the mesmerizing sunset. With its warm hospitality, stunning surroundings, and world-class surf, the Met Surf House is truly a hidden gem in the Maldives. Amenities of Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives offers a wide range of amenities to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable stay for its guests. The beachfront property provides free internet and wifi access, allowing guests to stay connected throughout their stay. The complimentary breakfast included in the stay ensures a great start to the day. The rooms are equipped with air conditioning, ensuring a cool and comfortable environment. The beach access allows guests to easily enjoy the beautiful sandy beaches of Thulusdhoo Island. Other amenities include room service, a restaurant, airport transportation, laundry service, a refrigerator in the room, a minibar, and a safe. The private beaches provide a secluded and peaceful atmosphere, while housekeeping ensures a clean and tidy room. Additional amenities include baggage storage, bathrobes, BBQ facilities, bicycles available for use, bottled water, breakfast in the room, canoeing, a convenience store, diving, and more. With a variety of amenities available, guests at Met Surf House can enjoy a truly relaxing and enjoyable stay. Contact of Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives +39 333 280 0028 Ocean Beach n/n, 08040 http://metsurfhouse.com Location of Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives Pictures of Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives Tips for Staying in Met Surf House All the rooms are good and with ocean view so you don't need to worry to not get the best room. Reviews of Met Surf House in Thulusdhoo Island, Maldives Book Met Surf House Now !!! Tags |
2024.05.18 09:24 Fabulinius Once again it is "which iPad to buy" and similar questions.
This time it is even more crazy than usual. Because the new 2024 iPad M4 models require us to buy both new Apple Pencils and Apple Keyboards. The new Apple Pencil Pro is a total Marketing joke because there will be next to no apps which are going to utilize the new "features". So you are actually forced to by a new Pencil with features you probably never will be able to use (in most of the thousands of pencil related apps). Just like there are next to no apps which actually can utilize this super processor.
So what to do?
First we have to remember the "paper back" model, iPad 10. This is really the common denominator for what we can do with an iPad. Because all apps have to work on this iPad. - And it will stay that way because revenue in the iPad world comes from app sales, app subscriptions, content sale (like Netflix). If apps become model specific then chaos will erupt and revenue will fall.
All models above the "paper back" model are there to raise Apple revenue from sale of hardware. Software revenue will remain constant as our old apps also will work in the new iPad. So every time you buy a new iPad in order to run the same apps it is happy hour for Apple share holders.
When you need to drive from A to B on a daily basis you need a car. The cheapest base model of a Ford (or other brands) will be able to help you with that. So that is what you "need". You can fill all sorts of extra features and larger engines on top of the base model. It won't change how you get from A to B but it will change the experience when driving from A to B. These are things you "want" but don't "need".
All questions about things above iPad 10 are really "want" questions; not "need" questions. And that can be the subject of thousands of heated discussions. Also this time around.
A good sales person will give the potential customer two sets of arguments/reasons. One set are the reasons you, yourself need inside to justify the purchase (I WANT this thing) and another set which you can use in the company of other people (I NEED this thing). You might see this reflected if this post gets any comments. And if you really WANT the new, big iPad Pro you will probably best know both sets of answers. So that people won't think you have gone crazy.
There are always questions about "performance" on iPads. Such questions can be very relevant in the world of real computers but they are not really relevant when it comes to (most people's) iPad usage. You don't take faster notes; your Netflix movie will not be shown faster; your mail will not speed up; Internet browsing won't be faster (slowness may come from the site you are looking at); you can't read a book faster; graphic apps don't really need fast processor, they need RAM and lots of free space for their work area.
There really only are a very few situations where a faster processor can speed up things. An example is when you process a 3D scan with the app Polycam. But 3D LIDAR scans are only available on Pro iPads. So if you want that there are really only one choice: A Pro model. But it does not have to be the newest one. iPad Pro 11" 3rd generation also have this feature. As have iPhone Pro model 12 and newer Pro models. And getting the M4 processor for this will only save you a few seconds of processing time. That's all.
So. all discussion about Air and Pro features and "what I need" are really discussions about which extra features I "want" to put into my new iPad. You don't actually "need" them unless you (or others) can convince you that you do "need" them.
"How about future proofing", you may ask. This question is as old as us having computers at home; so about 40 years old. I a world where things move so fast it does not make sense to consider "future proofing". It will make more sense to be aware of "resale value" because that is probably what you are going to do anyway. (If not, then you would probably not even be considering buying any of the 2024 models.)
"How much storage do I need", you may also ask. Here you will get totally random answers in here. For some people 64 GB have been enough but there are also iPad models with 2 TB storage. - It is a bit like buying shoes on-line. Measure your feet before you buy. Nobody on reddit can recommend the "best" shoe size or shape or purpose for your feet. We don't even know if we should recommend shoes for a man or a woman. Or if you live in the Bahamas or on the top of Greenland.
But the new Pro models have OLED now! Yes and that is good for OLED lovers who think that this feature is as important as a good breakfast. - Me, I won't ever pay for it on an iPad. Because normal iPad use will put "big, fatty fingerprints" all over the screen and that will collect visible dust as well. So the OLED black will be hidden under fingerprints and dust unless you polish the screen all the time. I will much rather spend money on AirPods Pro so I get perfect audio with Spatial Audio and noice cancellation when watching a movie. Even speakers on the Pro models can't do that. And I can't use the iPad speakers when I walk around with my iPhone either.
If you absolutely "must" consider getting a 2024 iPad then read the top informative reviews from the most professional site:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/m4-ipad-pro-review-well-now-youre-just-showing-off/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/m2-ipad-air-review-the-everything-ipad/
and if you are confused about the Apple Pencil chaos you can look here:
https://support.apple.com/en-nz/108937
PS. If you really want informative answers these days you should try to go to the new ai-site and post your question there. Just the headline from a reddit post will be enough : www.perplexity.ai
PPS. Please don't kill me. I mean no harm.
submitted by Fabulinius to ipad [link] [comments]
So what to do?
First we have to remember the "paper back" model, iPad 10. This is really the common denominator for what we can do with an iPad. Because all apps have to work on this iPad. - And it will stay that way because revenue in the iPad world comes from app sales, app subscriptions, content sale (like Netflix). If apps become model specific then chaos will erupt and revenue will fall.
All models above the "paper back" model are there to raise Apple revenue from sale of hardware. Software revenue will remain constant as our old apps also will work in the new iPad. So every time you buy a new iPad in order to run the same apps it is happy hour for Apple share holders.
When you need to drive from A to B on a daily basis you need a car. The cheapest base model of a Ford (or other brands) will be able to help you with that. So that is what you "need". You can fill all sorts of extra features and larger engines on top of the base model. It won't change how you get from A to B but it will change the experience when driving from A to B. These are things you "want" but don't "need".
All questions about things above iPad 10 are really "want" questions; not "need" questions. And that can be the subject of thousands of heated discussions. Also this time around.
A good sales person will give the potential customer two sets of arguments/reasons. One set are the reasons you, yourself need inside to justify the purchase (I WANT this thing) and another set which you can use in the company of other people (I NEED this thing). You might see this reflected if this post gets any comments. And if you really WANT the new, big iPad Pro you will probably best know both sets of answers. So that people won't think you have gone crazy.
There are always questions about "performance" on iPads. Such questions can be very relevant in the world of real computers but they are not really relevant when it comes to (most people's) iPad usage. You don't take faster notes; your Netflix movie will not be shown faster; your mail will not speed up; Internet browsing won't be faster (slowness may come from the site you are looking at); you can't read a book faster; graphic apps don't really need fast processor, they need RAM and lots of free space for their work area.
There really only are a very few situations where a faster processor can speed up things. An example is when you process a 3D scan with the app Polycam. But 3D LIDAR scans are only available on Pro iPads. So if you want that there are really only one choice: A Pro model. But it does not have to be the newest one. iPad Pro 11" 3rd generation also have this feature. As have iPhone Pro model 12 and newer Pro models. And getting the M4 processor for this will only save you a few seconds of processing time. That's all.
So. all discussion about Air and Pro features and "what I need" are really discussions about which extra features I "want" to put into my new iPad. You don't actually "need" them unless you (or others) can convince you that you do "need" them.
"How about future proofing", you may ask. This question is as old as us having computers at home; so about 40 years old. I a world where things move so fast it does not make sense to consider "future proofing". It will make more sense to be aware of "resale value" because that is probably what you are going to do anyway. (If not, then you would probably not even be considering buying any of the 2024 models.)
"How much storage do I need", you may also ask. Here you will get totally random answers in here. For some people 64 GB have been enough but there are also iPad models with 2 TB storage. - It is a bit like buying shoes on-line. Measure your feet before you buy. Nobody on reddit can recommend the "best" shoe size or shape or purpose for your feet. We don't even know if we should recommend shoes for a man or a woman. Or if you live in the Bahamas or on the top of Greenland.
But the new Pro models have OLED now! Yes and that is good for OLED lovers who think that this feature is as important as a good breakfast. - Me, I won't ever pay for it on an iPad. Because normal iPad use will put "big, fatty fingerprints" all over the screen and that will collect visible dust as well. So the OLED black will be hidden under fingerprints and dust unless you polish the screen all the time. I will much rather spend money on AirPods Pro so I get perfect audio with Spatial Audio and noice cancellation when watching a movie. Even speakers on the Pro models can't do that. And I can't use the iPad speakers when I walk around with my iPhone either.
If you absolutely "must" consider getting a 2024 iPad then read the top informative reviews from the most professional site:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/m4-ipad-pro-review-well-now-youre-just-showing-off/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/m2-ipad-air-review-the-everything-ipad/
and if you are confused about the Apple Pencil chaos you can look here:
https://support.apple.com/en-nz/108937
PS. If you really want informative answers these days you should try to go to the new ai-site and post your question there. Just the headline from a reddit post will be enough : www.perplexity.ai
PPS. Please don't kill me. I mean no harm.
2024.05.18 06:26 Sweet-Count2557 Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives
 | Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] Experience the Ultimate Maldivian Island Life at Island Pavilion: Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives Price Level: $ Hotel Class: 3.5 loring the island's vibrant marine life through snorkeling or diving, or simply lounging by the poolside with a refreshing cocktail in hand. Island Pavilion provides a range of modern amenities, including spacious and elegantly designed rooms with stunning ocean views, a spa for ultimate relaxation, and a restaurant serving delectable local and international cuisine. Our friendly and attentive staff are always ready to assist you in creating unforgettable memories during your stay. Whether you are seeking a romantic getaway or a family vacation, Island Pavilion is the perfect destination to experience the true essence of Maldivian island life. Amenities of Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives At Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives, guests can enjoy a wide range of amenities to enhance their stay. The hotel offers free internet access, allowing guests to stay connected throughout their visit. The on-site restaurant provides delicious meals for guests to indulge in, while the free wifi ensures that they can easily stay connected. The included breakfast is a convenient and tasty way to start the day. The multilingual staff is always available to assist guests with any needs or questions they may have. The beachfront location offers stunning views and easy access to the beautiful beach. Room service is available for those who prefer to dine in the comfort of their own room. The kitchenette in each room allows guests to prepare their own meals if desired. Airport transportation is provided for convenience, making it easy for guests to reach the hotel upon arrival. The non-smoking rooms ensure a comfortable and clean environment for all guests. Laundry service is available for those who need it, and air conditioning keeps the rooms cool and comfortable. Family rooms are available for those traveling with children, and a minibar is provided for guests to enjoy refreshments. The hotel is a non-smoking establishment, ensuring a pleasant environment for all guests. A safe is provided in each room for guests to store their valuables. Housekeeping services keep the rooms clean and tidy, and baggage storage is available for those who need it. The hotel offers both bath and shower facilities for guests' convenience. BBQ facilities are available for those who wish to enjoy a meal outdoors. Bicycle rental is offered for guests to explore the island at their own pace. Boating opportunities are available for those who wish to explore the surrounding waters. Bottled water is provided to guests to stay hydrated during their stay. The 24-hour check-in allows for flexibility in arrival times, and express check-in/check-out options make the process quick and efficient. Clothes racks are provided in each room for guests to hang their belongings. A coffee shop is available for guests to enjoy a hot beverage, and coffee/tea makers are provided in each room. Complimentary tea is offered to guests, and currency exchange services are available for convenience. Each room is equipped with a desk for guests to work or plan their activities. English-speaking staff members are available to assist guests. Extra long beds are provided for added comfort. A fireplace adds a cozy touch to the rooms. A first aid kit is available for any emergencies that may arise. Fishing opportunities are available for those who Contact of Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives +960 745-1522 Nikagas Magu, 00010 info@islandpavilionmv.com Location of Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives Pictures of Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives Tips for Staying in Island Pavilion You will find perfect stay here Reviews of Island Pavilion in Hangnaameedhoo Island, Maldives Book Island Pavilion Now !!! Tags |
2024.05.18 06:23 TimeTeaCa 7 of the world's best black teas for breakfast
 | https://preview.redd.it/q2bb8pta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00888a1d838700dd4e58f7276eb8942cd22434a6 submitted by TimeTeaCa to u/TimeTeaCa [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/es73tota341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c309c4b27bbc2064baa850875bc701a52e0abf62 https://preview.redd.it/to2zozta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=586ad04a5992637546eec6106ec6394887538847 https://preview.redd.it/gg45spta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=022701308780f320e235b9aa65c2c00ccbd62bc0 https://preview.redd.it/5bq3zqta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1c7d9c316092b12950c4f0601a1af16cc9526993 https://preview.redd.it/bivfeqta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=344a2d3c7d1516f542cc75fb48e05e189d601eef https://preview.redd.it/qb6k4rta341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bed400e4ff44ab066d4e56c334ab2541e2fe430 https://preview.redd.it/7lnsl1va341d1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e248a4572073945ac49b6b908d6b22303d529fed Black tea is the most popular tea in the world. Unlike green tea, which is light and herbaceous, black tea has a richer and sweeter taste. As with fine wines, many variables combine to give each black tea its own unique flavor profile. These factors include the climate and altitude at which the Camellia sinensis plant was grown, how it was fertilized, the degree of oxidation that may have occurred during heat treatment, and how the leaves were cut and packaged. Black tea flavors include smoky, earthy, spicy, nutty, citrus, caramel, fruity, and honey. 1. English Breakfast Tea Drinking a mixture of strong black teas for breakfast is a British custom. The tradition began sometime in the mid-19th century. The exact selection of black teas used in breakfast tea blends can vary greatly, but popular options include Assam, Ceylon, and Kenya black teas. More expensive varieties use Keemun black tea from China, which has a slight taste of wine, fruit and pine. English breakfast tea requires strong brewing, as is customary in England, and goes well with milk and sweeteners. 2. Earl Gray Another world famous tea that first became popular in England. It is said that in the 1830s, British Prime Minister Charles Gray received a gift of black tea flavored with bergamot oil from the Chinese envoy. Orange bergamot (Citrus bergamia) is a small citrus tree with winter flowers that grows primarily in Calabria, Italy. Bergamot oil imparts a bright, delicate, citrusy flavor with floral undertones that complements the bold and assertive character of black tea. Many commercial varieties today use artificial flavors instead of real bergamot. If you want to taste real Earl Grey, stick to high-quality organic blends that use only natural flavors. Another good reason to drink Earl Gray tea is that, unlike most black teas, it contains antioxidants thanks to the addition of bergamot oil. The antioxidant (catechin) content is the main reason why green teas have received much more positive press than black teas over the years. Antioxidants help get rid of free radicals in the body, which also helps support your immune system. With this tea, you may get the best of both the antioxidant properties of bergamot and the prebiotic properties of black tea. It’s a win-win combination! Flavored with delicate notes of bergamot oil, Earl Gray is also the ideal base for delicious iced teas and lattes. 3. Assam Black Tea Assam black tea is named after the Indian region. This tea is relatively new. Tea production in India began only about 200 years ago. In the 1830s, British business interests saw an opportunity to compete with Chinese tea producers, so they moved British tea production to India. Since then, Assam has become the world’s largest tea producing region. Assam black tea grows primarily at or near sea level. The tropical climate and high rainfall, unique terroir, and processing methods give this variety of black tea a unique chocolate aftertaste. The taste can range from fresh, smoky, earthy, musky and strong to lighter with chocolate, cocoa or even sweet and spicy notes. Assam tea is a common ingredient in tea blends, used to provide a stronger base and depth. A cup of Assam tea can help strengthen the immune system. Black tea contains antioxidants that are beneficial for overall health. It also contains the highest levels of calcium, iron, magnesium and copper. You can simply drink Assamese black tea or add honey and some nut milk. 4. Darjeeling Black Tea Darjeeling tea can only be found in the highland town of Darjeeling in India, West Bengal. Some call Darjeeling black tea the “champagne of tea” for its delicate, fruity and floral notes. Tea is unique in that the leaves can be processed in different ways, resulting in black, green, white or oolong tea. However, the character of this black tea can vary depending on when it was picked. Teas are sorted according to the size and quality of the tea leaves. Four categories of tea leaves are sorted: whole tea leaves, broken leaves, fan leaves and dust. Whole leaves are the highest grade, and dust is the lowest. Fannings are small particles of leaves that are used in tea bags, and tea dust is essentially the waste left behind by tea leaves. Tea Darjeeling first harvest: Harvested in the spring after the winter break. The color of the tea is light and pure. The tea leaves have a bright and distinct floral aroma. Due to their freshness and color, first flush teas are usually more expensive than others. Second flush Darjeeling tea: has a dark amber color and a strong aroma, unlike first flush tea. The tea leaves have a purple tinge and may have a fruity flavor. Many tea testers around the world compare the taste of the second harvest with muscat grapes. The distinct aroma is due to a combination of unique weather, topography and plant types. Some tea connoisseurs prefer the second flush because of this unique aroma. Third Flush Darjeeling Tea: After brewing, the resulting tea is dark or copper in color. Darjeeling’s autumn leaves are larger than other seasons. This type of tea usually costs slightly less than first and second flush teas. Intermediate tea: Typically has characteristics similar to those of the first flush, but is often slightly lower in quality. Darjeeling black tea is best served as is, without adding milk or sugar, and drunk in the morning. If you have a sensitive stomach, do not drink Darjeeling tea on an empty stomach. 5. Keemun Black Tea Keemun is a special variety of black tea grown in Anhui Province in eastern China. He is also known as Qi Men Hong Cha. Compared to other black teas, it dries and oxidizes over a longer period of time. This black tea is quite new, having been produced since 1875. An unfortunate civil servant from the Qimen region named Yu Ganchen decided to travel to Fujian Province, which is one of the most famous tea growing areas in China, to learn all about black tea production. He used this knowledge to start producing black tea in his home region, where previously only green tea was produced. His new tea was a huge success in China and soon became famous in England. Even today it is a key ingredient in many English breakfast tea blends. This organic loose leaf tea is made from medium sized rolled leaves. When brewed, it acquires a transparent bright red color. It has a soft, slightly roasted taste and a sweet, juicy aftertaste. Because of these qualities, kimuns are often compared to Burgundy wines. The production of this tea requires a rather complex process, which is perhaps one of the reasons why this tea is so highly prized. The leaves are collected only in spring and summer, and only the buds with the top two or three leaves are used. Even after harvesting, the leaves are sorted by hand and only the best are selected for further processing. Keemun connoisseurs love it for its soft, complex aroma and taste, which includes notes of fruit, flowers, pine, tobacco and unsweetened cocoa. You can enjoy it plain or with limited amounts of nut milk and honey 6. Yunnan (Yunnan Black Tea) Yunnan black tea comes from the Yunnan province of China. Also known as “Dian Hong” (Dian is the short name for Yunnan province, “hong” means red, and when brewed it produces a coppery orange drink instead of the brown or black you might be used to). Fully oxidized tea grown high in the mountainous region of Linkang at an altitude of 1680-1900 m above sea level. Due to the highlands and mild climate, the growing season in the province is long, with harvesting occurring from March to November. The Yunnan has a light smoky aroma and has layers of caramel and cocoa with a hint of pepper on the finish. One thing that sets it apart from most other black teas is the high concentration of tender leaf buds known as “golden tips.” It is recommended to use 3.5 g of tea per 200 ml of water and leave to infuse for 3 minutes. At this point, the drink will turn a deep dark red color and the room will be filled with a sweet, smoky aroma. It can also be drunk with milk. 7. Nilgiri Nilgiri tea is grown in the southern Western Ghats, in the hills of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The word “Nilgiri” comes from Sanskrit, which means “blue hill”. Here, once every 7-12 years, the unique purple-blue flowers of Kurinji bloom and cover the landscape with bright colors. Tea is grown at an altitude of 1000 to 2500 meters above sea level. Altitude, combined with cool air and moderate sun, slows the growth of tea plants, allowing the aromas in the leaves to intensify. This is why Nilgiri tea is known throughout the world as one of the most aromatic teas, slightly sweet, medium in body and containing hints of fruit. These teas have a golden yellow color and a well-balanced taste. You may find them slightly spicy with a nutty aftertaste. This makes them ideal for making tea blends, so they can be drunk with sugar and cream. There is Nilgiri frost tea, the leaves of which are collected in winter. This special tea has a pink and sweet taste, and many compare it to ice wine. How to store tea Tea is a food product and is subject to spoilage, like other products. The main enemies of tea are sunlight, oxygen, moisture and foreign odors. You won’t be poisoned by old tea, it will just be tasteless. During long-term storage, tea loses primarily its aroma. To preserve tea longer, it is stored in an airtight, opaque container, in a dry, dark room, away from any pungent substances. In China, it is common to store tea packaged in sealed portion bags using a vacuum in the refrigerator at a temperature of +4°. This way you can preserve tea for up to 3 years. |
2024.05.18 02:30 MorelikeBestvirginia Rebuilding a ruin in paradise
 | Good afternoon Everyone, submitted by MorelikeBestvirginia to floorplan [link] [comments] My wife and I finally closed on our home, a ruin in the Azores. We have a roof and some walls and surprisingly all of the windows, but all of the electrical, plumbing and interior walls need to be redone. The surviving stone walls are about 60 cm thick, so I am trying to avoid doing any work on them to start. The existing walls basically create 4 spaces, The top left is a huge lofted L shape with gorgeous original basalt floor, I thinking to keep it open as workshop and utility space. The big carriage doors at the top open onto the driveway. The Winter Garden is an unroofed garden in the center of the house. It will be used predominantly to raise veggies and bird watch for now. Its not a space I am familiar with in homes so I'm looking for ideas on how to better utilize it The Bottom Left is the great room, a guest bath and kitchen. I am thinking Overhang on the counter between the kitchen and the great room for a breakfast bar, and TV probably on that Right wall. The right side is basically rotten out so I will be doing a lot of changes and custom work over there. One thing I am working on is building the sinks and cabinets into the huge nook under each window, (basically 60 cm by 120 cm) and in the primary suite there is an old servant's door that I want to build in another vanity there for my wife to have, its too small to use as a closet. Questions: Does anyone have any ideas what to do with a winter garden? What do we think of the kitchen layout? How do we feel about the Guest suite? It feels like I lose a lot of space into that vacuum between the bed and the door. Thanks all for your consideration |
2024.05.17 22:41 MorelikeBestvirginia Floorplan for our renovation
 | https://preview.redd.it/zc6ijdhxk11d1.jpg?width=1252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0128b5540e793b8b948e330fc7028415913fcdcd submitted by MorelikeBestvirginia to Homebuilding [link] [comments] Good afternoon Everyone, My wife and I finally closed on our home, a ruin in the Azores. We have a roof and some walls and surprisingly all of the windows, but all of the electrical, plumbing and interior walls need to be redone. The surviving stone walls are about 60 cm thick, so I am trying to avoid doing any work on them to start. The existing walls basically create 4 spaces,
Thanks all for your consideration |