#(and the specific area this apartment is in has even less crime than my neighborhood less than a mile away)

[fabulouslygaybean]

you ever see an apartment listing that seems almost too good to be true

[odos-bucket]

So I was reading @andillwriteyouatragedy​‘s incredible Brand New Day where Bruce and Clark adopt a young Dick Grayson together, and was thinking about a sort of companion story where they take in Jason together too. Using that story as a rough reference, I’m gonna say they’ve been together for a decade or so here. Dick is somewhere in his late teens. I’m figuring Clark probably offers to tag along on Bruce’s annual trip to crime alley every year. Bruce always politely declines. It’s basically become a part of the day’s bleak tradition. Clark is surprised when for once his offer is accepted. Later on, if pressed, neither of them would be able to pinpoint what was different about that night that made Bruce decide that it might be okay to have some company for once. Clark probably feels weird about it at first. Even though he’d asked Bruce if he wanted company, and Bruce had said yes, which he never would have unless he’d absolutely meant it (and Clark knows that). It still feels a little like he’s intruding on something private, even sacred. Then of course they get there, and there’s nothing going on. Superman’s senses don’t pick up the slightest hint of disruption anywhere in the neighborhood. Maybe they start patrolling around it anyways, maybe they just wander for a couple of blocks. Sooner or later they overhear someone talking about how it’s this night every year that Batman comes calling. Local criminals have picked up on the fact that if they just keep their heads down for this one specific night they can pretty much avoid him. Bruce is all grumbly about it, and immediately goes into ~strategy mode~ like, “Okay, I’ll have to start coming here on different days, on an irregular schedule.” He immediately opens up a dozen different tabs in his brain with calendars, and crime statistics, and is thinking a mile a minute, because that’s what he does. He’s kind of agitated about needing to change something that’s been a ritual for so long (because Batman has OCD, fight me) and he’s annoyed at himself for being bothered by it. Absolutely none of this sudden inner turmoil is detectable in his expression or body language. But Clark knows Bruce, knows how he reacts to things, and that there’s no way he’s not annoyed right now. He says, “Sounds like tonight will be a bust if we stay here,” then when Bruce grunts in response, continues, “We could go back to the manor. Watch a movie.” Then after a pause. “Or we could patrol somewhere else.” A moment passes. When Bruce says, “Okay,” Clark isn’t sure which suggestion he’s agreeing to, but they start back towards the car. It’s not a long walk, but they aren’t moving particularly quickly. By the time they get back to the batmobile it only has one wheel.

Clark frowns as he walks closer, before being stopped in his tracks by a surprising sound. It’s a sound that he recognizes immediately, that he hears all too infrequently. Bruce is laughing. Clark’s mouth quirks into a half smile. He takes a few steps forward, thinking about just picking the whole thing up and flying it back home. Then from a few paces ahead he hears Bruce’s low, gravelly Batman voice say, “Hi there.” Once he’s tuned in to the idea of another presence nearby, it becomes obvious to his advanced senses that someone is lurking behind the car. “Shit,” a small voice says. Bruce takes a few steps closer. “Planning on finishing the job?” He gestures to their remaining wheel. Clark shifts until he can get the kid partially in his sight without the aid of x-ray vision. He’s small, and looks to be somewhere in his pre-teens. “I got no idea what you’re talking about,” he says quickly. “Oh really?” Bruce asks. The boy glares at him. “Nice tire iron,” Bruce continues. “Comes in handy.” “I bet it does.” No sooner than the words are out of Bruce’s mouth, the tool is colliding with his shin. The boy shoots out from behind the car, and down a nearby street. Clark starts toward Bruce, who quickly gestures for him to go after the kid instead. He catches up with him in less than a second. When his hand falls onto the kid’s shoulder he freezes, muscles tightening throughout his body, and heart rate speeding up rapidly. The fear response is so sudden and extreme that Clark finds himself pulling away as if he’s been burned. The anxiety around being feared is something he’s mostly left in his past, but there’s a deep rooted insecurity within him that it still prods at. The kid stumbles when he starts to run again, and by then Bruce has caught up. They hang back, but trail after the boy at a distance, until they reach a condemned building a few blocks away. “Should we go in?” Clark asks. “Probably where my tires are,” Bruce says, before climbing through an uncovered doorway. It isn’t hard to find him again. There aren’t too many heartbeats in the area to distinguish between. When Bruce opens the door to the dilapidated room, the boy’s pulse rate jumps through the roof. Nothing changes externally about him though, and Clark wonders whether or not Bruce can tell that he’s afraid of them. There’s the slightest vibration to his words when he speaks. “Okay, take your stupid tires already. I’m sorry, all right? Just leave me alone!” Bruce isn’t looking at his tires. He’s looking around the room, no doubt noticing the same things that Clark has, mold, water damage, a broken window. The place is freezing. Then in the corner there’s a cardboard box with some pasta and canned goods in it, a small stack of books, and a mattress on the floor. “Do you… live here?” Bruce asks. “Yeah. What of it?” Bruce takes a few more steps into the room. “Where are your parents, son?” Clark asks. “Mom’s dead. I dunno where Dad is; don’t really care, if I’m being honest. Now take your stuff and go already!” He’s holding the iron up again, wielding it in a manner that’s clearly meant to be threatening. Bruce plucks it out of his hands with relative ease, inspects it, then turns it around and hands it back. “Move your thumb up like this, and you’ll have a sturdier grip. And don’t stand with your legs so far apart, it’ll put you off balance.” He sighs. “What’s your name?” “… Jason.” He grabs the tire iron back, shuffling to adjust his grip and footing, keeping his stance defensive. Bruce looks around the place again. “You can’t stay here, Jason.” “Oh yeah? Says who? I can take care of myself! Been doing it for long enough.” Bruce glances up at Clark, who can see the wheels turning in his head, before looking back at Jason. “I’d really like the wheels of my car back,” he says carefully, then hurries to continue before Jason can interject. “Can I make you a deal? We’ll buy you dinner if you reattach the batmobile’s tires?”

There’s a fast food place a couple of blocks away that’s open 24 hours. Jason agrees to accompany them, but walks a few yards behind. The employees at the place aren’t at all phased by the appearance of the two vigilantes. Bruce inspects a suspicious stain on one of the walls, while Jason and Clark look at the menu posted above the counter. They order- Bruce gets two of what Jason asks for- then go outside to eat. Bruce is lost in thought as they exit the restaurant, wondering what it would take to bring free food trucks to the area. Jason’s halfway done with his meal by the time they sit down on the sidewalk. “Do you go to school around here?” Bruce asks, wanting to put together a fuller picture of the boy’s situation. Jason gets a distant look in his eyes in response to the question. He finishes chewing slowly, swallows, then shakes his head, clearing his throat before replying. “No. Not for a long time now.” He shrugs. “I got all I needed to out of it.” “You had some pretty advanced reading material back at your place for someone who didn’t finish middle school.” Bruce recalled seeing The Odyssey amongst his few possessions, as well as a couple of Shakespeare plays. Jason shrugs again. “Reading’s not that hard.” “Some people find it very difficult,” Clark says. “Some people are stupid.” Bruce cuts in before Clark can start on the gentle reprimand he can see him preparing. “Ever think that maybe you’re just smart?” Jason gives him a curious look, like that really wasn’t a possibility that he had considered before, then takes another bite, and stares off thoughtfully. “So, Homer,” Bruce prompts. Jason nods. “It’s a fun story. Odi-seuss is a dick though.” Bruce resists both the compulsion to correct his pronunciation of ‘Odysseus’, and Alfred’s voice in the back of his head urging him to tell the kid not to swear. “What makes you say that?” He asks instead. Jason looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Gee, I don’t know, maybe all the pillaging, and murdering he does throughout the entire book.” “Poem,” Bruce corrects. “What?” “The Odyssey is a poem.” “Wait, really?” Bruce hums an affirmative. “Huh… cool. But the point still stands.” “I’m inclined to agree with you. Have you ever read The Scarlet Pimpernel?” Jason shakes his head. “It’s been a personal favorite for a long time,” says Bruce. Clark shoots him an amused grin. “I’ll keep an eye out for anyone throwing out a copy,” Jason says. Bruce frowns. “You have a library around here.” The remark earns him an unamused snort. “It’s a Gotham library; people don’t go there to read books, they go there to buy, sell and/or ingest drugs, and they tend not to be too happy with anybody who’s lingering around while they’re doing it.” Bruce feels a pang, not for the first time that night. “Jason,” he starts, before realizing he isn’t sure what to say. Jason keeps angled to watch him expectantly as he rises to deposit his napkins and bag in a nearby trashcan. “We’d like to help you,” Clark says. “Yeah,” Jason scoffs. “Right. Just how do you plan on doing that? Because I’ve heard that before. I’ve done the whole foster care thing already, and I’m not about to go through it again.” “No,” Bruce is quick to agree. “But there are residential schools in the city. We could help you to get enrolled in one.” Jason seems taken aback by the offer. “…Why?” He asks slowly. “Well for one, because kids should be in school. You’d be provided with room and board for the duration of your time there, which would leave you with less to worry about.” He reaches out to pass Jason the second takeout bag. He’s still lingering at a distance from them. “At least think about it?” “No. I mean, like, why?” Bruce’s eyebrow raises, tugging at the material of his cowl. “What’s in this for you?” Jason continues. “Why do you even care?” “It’s our job,” Clark says. “You’re job is to beat up bad guys.” Clark smiles when Jason mimes punching someone, before saying, “Our job is to help people.” Jason purses his lips. “Don’t boarding schools cost money?” “Most of them offer scholarships,” Bruce says. “I have a few friends who are deans. I could make the necessary introductions to ensure you a place at one of their institutions.“ Jason’s arms are crossed high over his chest, and his expression is set like he’s deep in thought. “I don’t want to end up stuck somewhere where someone else is the boss of me.” “How about you at least come with us to check a couple of these places out,” Bruce suggests. “Just see how you feel about them. No commitment.” Jason’s nose scrunches up. “Where exactly are these places?” He asks. “It varies,” Bruce says. “All within the city.” They watch the boy chew on the inside of his lip for a moment. “Just to see,” he says eventually. Bruce nods. “I’m not getting into a car with you,” Jason adds. “We can take the bus,” Clark offers. Jason raises an eyebrow at that, and his mouth quirks almost into a smile. “Batman and Superman are gonna ride on Gotham’s shitty public transit?” “Why not?” Clark asks. “… Okay,” Jason says, still plainly unconvinced. “Let’s meet back here,” Bruce suggests. “Tomorrow?” Jason takes a minute, but eventually starts to nod. “Sure,” he says. “Why not.” They part ways after Clark disposes of his empty bag. The heroes return to their car.

While they’re driving back Clark says, “I know that look.” Bruce pauses to take stock of his own expression, and makes sure to neutralize anything on his face that might be out of the ordinary. Clark continues, unbothered by the lack of response. “It’s your ‘I’m already deeply emotionally invested in this kid’ look.” Bruce hums noncommittally. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight,” Clark adds. Bruce doesn’t either, but that’s par for the course at this point.

Part Two

[yutaya]

Iron Fist Week Day 7: minor character/missing scene

Albert is a man. A man... with a van.

He's proud of his van. Sure it was a bitch and a half to get certified and sometimes trying to drive three freaking blocks in this city when he's having a bad enough day can threaten to put his blood pressure through the roof, but he's ground out an honest living for himself with it. That's no mean feat, in this neighborhood.

Plus, Al likes his job. It involves a lot of visiting every nook and cranny of the area, meeting loads of people at varying levels of talkative - it's a job that requires someone personable, and Al doesn't think it's too immodest to say that he fits the bill.

Staring down a fully loaded armoire, though, Al can admit to himself that there are times he's less fond of this job than others.

By the time he's got the thing down on the sidewalk, doors and drawers bound shut and with an initial layer of wrapping to protect it from pedestrian traffic while he sets up the loader, Al has mentally added two upticks to his pain-in-the-ass fee.

"Woah, can I help you with that?"

Al pauses in his transferring long enough to take a look at who's spoken. It's a white guy, 20s, a little scruffy but looks comfortable, and, most importantly, seems genuine.

Al smiles at him. "I appreciate the offer, but these need to be moved in a specific way to prevent scuffing."

"Oh." Al goes back to loading the armoire. "...Would you show me?" Al pauses again. Looks back at the guy. "I'm Danny, by the way," he adds, and smiles beatifically.

Al blinks up at the sky. Had the sun shone more brightly for a second, there? He turns back to wrapping the furniture with blankets and bungee cords. "You need to move a lot of furniture, Danny?" he asks while he works. Engaging in friendly conversation with strangers is second nature to him, at this point.

Danny, who has the courtesy to remain standing out on the street behind the van as they talk, bounces a little as he replies. "Yes, actually! My girlfriend and I have been redoing her apartment."

"Wow, big project. Hey, if you guys need stuff moved around, I've got you covered. Back and forth from the storage unit, delivering your new stuff from the store, bringing your old stuff wherever it's going... My rates are fair and, as you can see, I'd actually take care of your things." He pats the carefully cushioned furniture from his current job in indication.

Danny laughs a little, looking at it. "At least that isn't a piano, right?"

"Hey man, pianos have wheels. I can walk them right up the ramp."

Danny eyes the ramp Al uses with the handtrucks. "Isn't it too skinny?"

Al laughs again. "What kind of piano are you picturing, a grand?" As if anyone who owned one of those would be hiring Al to move it. As if anyone who owned one of those would be living in this area at all.

Danny shrugs, unbothered. "I haven't seen one since I was a kid. Maybe it seemed bigger back then." A beat passes, and then Danny continues talking, the oversharing sort of babble symptomatic of the sleep-deprived. "Anyway, we'll definitely call you for help with our stuff. And you can show me all the right ways to handle everything! I'm probably going to be doing a lot of rearranging furniture and stuff since Colleen is out at Bayard all the time now; she keeps talking about helping the community during the daytime - Colleen's my girlfriend, she's the best - and, I mean, she's right, of course, plus, we just got back to the city and I am not used to not having to do something -" he cuts himself off, lighting up. "Hey, could I get a job with you?"

Al startles. He can usually recognize when someone's coming at that angle. Granted, they usually don't seem to stumble into it by mistake.

"The shop down the street is hiring," he offers. "On the corner."

"Thanks! I'd like to work for this business, though."

Al pauses. Revaluates "Danny". There are only so many reasons someone would be looking for a moving job specifically, and in this neighborhood, the most likely scenario is one that Al has been very carefully steering clear of for 30 years.

"I appreciate the interest," he repeats cautiously, "but we're a small business. I'm afraid we don't really have the means to hire right now." It's a bit of a risk, revealing a vulnerability like that. Luckily, Albert is overstating it a bit; it won't be that easy for any of the triads to put financial pressure on him, and, well. He's stubborn. He swore a long time ago that he wouldn't go there.

"Oh, that's not a problem!" Danny says brightly. "You wouldn't need to pay me. I'm more looking for the experience, you know? I've never had a normal job, and Colleen thinks it'll be good for us to start over."

The alarm bell clanging in Al's head rises to a shriek, then falters. If this is a ploy, it is astoundingly poorly executed. If this guy is in with any sort of organized crime, he can't be more than a fledgling recruit. Al feels a moral obligation to try and steer him better, even if his self preservation instincts disagree.

"Look," Al says, watching Danny's face carefully. "I'm running an honest business, here. I'm not interested in having our name attached to anything. And, if I could offer you a word of advice?" Danny, who mostly just looks confused, nods. "Don't go saying that stuff about working for free. Depending who hears it, that's a good way to end up either severely taken advantage of, or in a coffin. Anyone you might be trying that hard to get a resource for won't be happy about you overplaying your hand."

Danny still looks confused. Al mimes swinging a hatchet. Danny's eyes go wide with clarity.

"I'm not with the triads," he says disconcertingly earnestly. "I'm the Iron Fist. I'm sworn to defend the city from people like them."

...Ok.

Well, at least this is an interesting conversation.

"If you're not with the triads, why do you want this job?"

"I guess I'm looking for something new. For fifteen years, I had one purpose. Now, it's done. Now, I need to build a new life, and..." His voice dips in a certain way with the next words, a way that makes Al's stomach sink with the familiarity of it. "...keep a promise to a friend."

Al looks at Danny, a pit in his stomach and memories in his heart. Resignation settles underneath his skin.

"You have a résumé?" he asks. At least Danny doesn't seem inclined to just throw things around, like some other shipping companies that Al could name. Royal Al Moving provides quality for its clients, thank you very much.

"I don't think so. What is that, equipment? I could buy some."

Al stares at him. He'd been expecting either an agreement to email or bring by a copy later, or a conversation along the lines of 'do I really need one?' followed by a verbal listing off of previous work or even just ability.

"Do you have any previous experience?" Al tries again. "Had any jobs before?"

"Yeah, I have," Danny says, and doesn't elaborate.

White people.

"What about ID?" Al asks, despite knowing full well he'll probably pretend not to notice if anything seems off about it.

Danny laughs a bit, seemingly unphased by his own complete lack of knowledge regarding ordinary job application/interview etiquette whatsoever. "Oh, I definitely have that. Had to fight really hard for it, too. It was almost all gone, but once everything got sorted out, we made, like, 10 new copies of everything." Danny pats around at his pockets, not appearing to notice Al's incredulous expression. "I don't have any of those with me right now, but... Ah ha!" He pulls something out triumphantly. "Business cards! I'm pretty sure my brother thought I was just going to destroy them, but my friend Jeri said it's important to always have one. It might have gone through the laundry, though, sorry."

Assuming this day can't get any weirder, like a fool, Al takes the card.

Even worn and slightly crumpled, the obnoxiously expensive quality of the original card is still clear. There's embossing and gold foil, for god's sake. The Rand Enterprises logo glints up at him almost mockingly even as the three dimensional lines of the border rise and fall under his thumb. Either seems unnecessary and frankly tone deaf for a Humanitarian Aid company, let alone both. Then again, maybe they reserve this version of the card for the executive level, those who hobnob among the elite, who need to make a certain type of impression on the too rich in order to convince them to donate well.

Because that's another thing this card reads, right there in plain English: a 9pt bold 'Daniel Rand', and under that, 'CEO'.

'What,' a little voice in Al's head wails semi-hysterically, 'the fuck?'

"Is this a joke?" Al asks out loud, vaguely surprised by how calm he sounds given the way the voice inside his head might be having a meltdown. "Am I on Candid Camera?"

But, no, wasn't he just thinking that this card is way too expensive - and thus definitely too expensive to be a prop?

"Hey, I know that one!" Danny Rand says cheerfully. "Joy and I used to watch it together!"

'Joy,' the voice in Al's head supplies. 'Joy Meachum.

'Well, at least this explains why he said he doesn't need money.

'Wait, why is he looking for a job in the first place? Is he not CEO? Did they kick him out or something? Did they disown him for wearing a hoodie with holes in it? Is that what he meant earlier when he said the thing he was doing before is over now?'

Al has never felt more rueful that he doesn't pay much attention to celebrity news.

"So," Al tries to find a way to word this that isn't 'have you been cut off or what?' "Why is Danny Rand looking for a job here?"

By "here", Al means a lot of things. This type of neighborhood, in general. Chinatown, out of all of them. At a low-wage position in a manual labor business with very little room for growth, if they're really getting into it.

"I like your name," Danny replies. It's far from the kind of answer that Al was expecting, but he finds himself unperturbed. Maybe he's hit a point where nothing is surprising anymore. "It reminds me of a friend. He was more of a Big Al than a Royal one, but I saw your logo and it seemed right."

-

(Al still pays Danny, because he refuses to be a shady business and because if he's finally getting around to setting up an employee system, he's needs to make it one that will work for anyone he might hire in the future, too. They won't all be Danny Rand. Danny keeps finding ways to immediately give it back, because he's literally a billionaire.)

[raleighliving]

Raleigh Apartment Culture

So I'm of the mind that Raleigh is a great place to live. It has my favorite things, my favorite people, and I'm too broke to move anywhere else.

Raleigh works for me, but I recognize it doesn't work for everyone. Some people had less than ideal childhoods and wanna escape the state ASAP, some just want to live closer to their dream jobs or have new opportunities. That's all fine, but what if this describes where you are now?

What if, for the sake of argument, you're outside of NC and wanna move in? Moving is expensive, time-consuming, and risky at the best of times; so you wanna make sure that wherever you're landing is at least as good as where you started 90% of the time

"But RL," I hear you say, "you make Raleigh sound like an idyllic dreamscape populated with parks and a diverse kumbayah of peoples living in harmony"

I do talk about Raleigh in a positive light but, like a life saving medicine flavored like ass, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

So before you spend thousands of dollars on moving vans, boxes, and grits; here's a crash course on what it's like living in a Raleigh apartment, coming from someone whose majority of Raleigh Living (heh) has been in apartments.

First off, location. Any realtor will tell you that location is 80% of the sale to sound profound, and as anyone who has lived in the middle of ass-backward nowhere can tell you: It sucks having to drive 30 minutes to go anywhere.

Good news: With the Raleigh Beltline and connecting roads, there are very few places in Raleigh where your trip will last longer than thirty minutes one-way. Bad News: where you set down still matters because cutting down on travel is important for car and mental health.

North Raleigh is different from south Raleigh is different from northwest Raleigh, and the locals aren't the only difference you'll find between locations. Each segment of Raleigh has something to offer, with easier access to some attractions than others and neighboring cities for when you need something outside the RDU area.

Using downtown as the center of our wheel, people generally divide Raleigh into North and South Raleigh (with distinction given for NW, SE, NE, etc when needed). N.Raleigh is considered generally more upscale, a slice of suburban living interspersed with plenty of shopping centers for families and the moderately wealthy; but it's boring as all hell.

Want some fun? Excitement in the evenings and a more traditional urban experience with bars, night clubs, strip clubs, and more? South Raleigh is your best bet, at the cost of being the "sketchy" side of Raleigh. That kind of place where you'll see a bunch of auto shops that look abandoned but haven't been closed in the past 5 years and there's at least one customer from time to time.

Of course, this is a lot of generalizing but you'll find that it's still mostly accurate. The main exception in this is Capital Blvd, a highway cutting across north and south Raleigh on the eastern half of the city; a high crime corridor that's undergoing some changes in the northern half that have (somewhat) reduced crime but most people will still associate that area with the majority of Raleigh's crime and debauchery.

More importantly, is the distinction Raleigh citizens put on inside the beltline versus outside the beltline. The I-440 and 540 highways that wrap around Downtown form the mythical beltline, and to a degree what you have access to. Inside the beltline is the majority of workplaces, stores, and shopping centers; while outside you'll still have these things just to a more... dispersed extent.

North Raleigh actually kinda exemplifies this perfectly. Living inside the beltline, you have access to places like North Hills, Crabtree Valley mall, and Triangle Town Center. Live outside the beltline, like I currently am, and you're looking at 10 to 15 minutes to the nearest sheetz for that late night double hot dog fix.

So for point one: How important is it that you're near things? The majority of apartments and rental properties are in or around the belt-line, but if you want to save some cash on rent checks the cheaper properties are gonna extend your trips a bit.

Next, what can you expect in terms of neighbors? Does Raleigh have a hip party scene full of teens renting cheap apartments and blasting trap music at 3AM?

Depends on where you live

I swear not every point is going to be this, but there's an important distinction this time that affects the type of people your complex will likely have surrounding you; are you in North or South Raleigh?

North Raleigh has a ton of pre-schools, k-12 public schools (Leesville, Hillburn, Lead Mine, just to name a few), and office complexes that make up the job market. As a result the majority of apartment renters in north Raleigh tend to be families with a few small kids or so.

As a result, living off of Glenwood North and Edwards Mill I never had any noise problems from neighbors, the worst being kids playing outside at 3PM sounding like they were being murdered (which apparently is a common thing and I apologize to any neighbors I frightened with ghastly shrieks).

What I did have a problem with, however, was the typical Karen's you hear people complain about online. Renting a property now, we have access to our neighborhood's NextDoor page and it's hilarious sometimes to go on and read the comments, but living at a certain property we had a sort of mini-Facebook for residents

That thing was always full of either people who were moving out looking to sell their furniture or people passive-aggressively challenging each other/the apartment managers with comments about things happening around the complex.

Once I logged in to see one man accuse another, without ever actually accusing someone specific ("I know who did it and they should be ashamed" type post) of putting glass beer bottles under the tires of his truck to try and puncture them. Everyone acts civil in public, but then online they'll stir the pot harder than a chef with a hand mixer.

South Raleigh, you have the schools like Shaw University, Meredith, and NCSU; so the people renting down there are typically college kids. You'll see more apartments that cater towards them like University Village or University Woods, but sometimes these places will cater to both college kids and working adults

Avoid these places like the plague, because despite sometimes having a lower cost to live there the neighbors and their shenanigans will drive you up the wall (unless you're the type to join in, then go wild).

I've had friends stay at places like University Village and The Proper (formerly The Vie, formerly Wolf Creek) who've shared horror stories. 3AM parties ending in property damage or vomit in inconvenient places, drug deals not even trying to be subtle, and maintenance workers doing nothing because regardless of the apartment conditions; no school's gonna pull their contract with them unless news articles start getting written.

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_898ddf34-82f5-11e7-b3d8-07059d248619.html

https://www.wral.com/vie-at-raleigh-residents-finally-able-to-move-into-clean-units/16887833/

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_ea8ed7aa-a092-11e8-a2af-e70af36566d0.html

Otherwise, south Raleigh apartments are largely like north Raleigh apartments; except the crime rate tends to be a little higher and you'll run into more singles and people working full time.

Otherwise, Raleigh apartment culture is like apartment culture anywhere else in the country. You have a mix of apartments catering to those just looking to live versus more ostentatious luxury apartments with fancy pools, exercise facilities, and tech packages to draw people in.

If you're renting in Raleigh, however, do try to get a roommate or two if you can manage. Even with a decent job paying 800+ on a one bedroom one bath apartment can be exhausting at best, but with even one other person that can functionally halve your expenses

So if you're a young professional, or a student, or even if you have a small family, I can safely recommend renting in Raleigh. There's plenty of places that'll accommodate you, and cater towards your needs.

But what about everyone else? Are there people who shouldn't rent in Raleigh?

No

But there are groups who I'd seriously ask to consider their other choices before picking Raleigh as a destination for their new home.

For instance, are you a member of the LGBT community? A trans or non-binary individual? Well then, first off, I want you to know that you're loved and valid. I'm accepting of who you are and appreciate everyone's right to identify how they choose, but I'm not everyone.

Raleigh's bluer than other parts of North Carolina, as I've stated in other blog write-ups, but it's still part of North Carolina unfortunately and as a result, you'll face some challenges.

I doubt anyone's gonna burn a cross in your yard or knock over your mailbox, but Raleigh doesn't offer LGBT protections for housing, jobs, or credit/lending discriminations according to the Movement Advancement Project's website.

We have support organizations for LGBT and NB individuals, plenty of high schools and colleges have Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, and there are numerous businesses downtown that cater specifically to those individuals... but we're also the state that got into a lot of hot water because of a stupid bathroom bill, and our politicians are trying to pass anti-trans sports legislation (because they now magically care about the integrity of womens sports).

By that measure, but to a lesser extent, if you fall outside the Liberal/Conservative political spectrum then be prepared to have no one to discuss your politics with outside of a few sparse networks like the DSA.

Additionally, if you don't have someone to room with or a significant other to split costs with; you may want to try searching somewhere a little cheaper.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Raleigh housing prices aren't terrible for a major metropolitan city, but we're not the best prices in the world.

You can get prices on apartments and rentals lower than say, California or New York. However, compared to other parts of NC like Greensboro or Garner; rentals are still a bit much.

On average, a Raleigh apartment can run you about $900 for a single bedroom and a single bathroom. You can find cheaper, but often times there's some risk associated (Crime levels, quality of the room, quality of the property manager, etc.) Looking for a two bedroom? Then your average price is gonna jump up to around $1,200, and this is all before utilities and cable come into play.

It's true a lot of companies around here will pay more than the $7.25 minimum wage, but most low-skilled jobs will pay around 10-11 an hour.

I guess though, that's kind of an obvious statement. "Don't live in Raleigh if you can't afford to live in Raleigh."

I might expand on these thoughts at a later time, but hopefully for now I've given you some food for thought; or at the very least an entertaining read for a few minutes.

I love my city, and I love the friends I've made in it, but the sad truth is that nowhere is perfect for everyone; leastways Raleigh. If Raleigh sounds like the kind of place you'd like to live in, at least take a day trip to come visit and see how things go that way. Visit some stores, meet some locals, and form an opinion off of more than travel blogs and youtube videos.

[dvrkprinces]

&&. ( alexander barrett ) was just spotted in amsterdam. rumor has it ( he ) is a ( 34 ) year old ( alpha werewolf ) who resembles ( jamie dornan ). ( he ) has been said to be ( quick-witted & determined ) but also quite ( cunning & hard-headed ). with all the chaos surrounding the magical underworld, ( he ) has chosen to align with ( the werewolf rebellion ). ( he ) is currently serving as ( a werewolf rebel spy in the inferno ). hopefully the city doesn’t devour them whole.

— ❝  fine. make me your villain. ❞

( hi there, kiwi here! last but not least, we have the official intro for my angsty edgelord, alexander barrett. daddy issues and brooding galore, this is a character who is exceptionally near and dear to my heart. as per usual, please let me know if you’d like to plot; i’m available through both the group’s discord and tumblr ims. ♡ )

name: alexander henryk barrett

birthplace: the bronx, new york, u.s.a.

birthday: may 3rd | taurus

scent: bergamot, violet flower, tuscan iris, campfire, black pepper oil, warm woods + ( signature cologne: noir - tom ford ) 

appearance: 6′3″ and muscular from years of working as a skilled hunter and undercover member of the werewolf resistance. with curly chestnut / honey brown hair and piercing blue eyes, he strongly reflects his irish heritage. alex prefers to keep a full beard at all time, just as a personal preference.

personality: ( + ) quick-witted, determined, intelligent, crafty, ambitious ( - ) cunning, hard-headed, hot-tempered, sly, self-serving

biography: In the heart of the Bronx, a boy was born to a starry-eyed single mother who wanted her son to be better than the world he’d entered into.

Financial instability and strife reigned over young Alexander Barrett’s life; poverty and crushing responsibilities became the weight he was forced to bear. Never truly exposed to anything but life in the projects, Alex spent most of his younger childhood years roughing around with some of the neighborhood kids and dreaming of a day when they’d all make it in the big leagues; some of his friends aspired to excel in sports, while others prayed to God that they could keep their asses in school long enough to earn degrees and get solid jobs in the more middle-class areas of the Bronx or even, God willing, another one of New York City’s heavily-populated, compact boroughs. But Alexander, with a mother who was barely able to scrape up enough money to get by for the two of them in their closet of an apartment with two weekday jobs and an additional one on the weekend, knew that getting out of the city and onto making a decent income was less than realistic. See, Alex was different from the other neighborhood kids; his mother was a runaway--an omega werewolf refugee who had escaped Ireland after she had been sold to an alpha werewolf from her pack in the hopes of reproducing and “fulfilling” her duties as an omega. After being impregnated with the alpha noble’s child, she escaped on a refugee boat leading to the Americas. Her pack, being Roman Catholic, had considered their union as concrete as marriage--and the only way Genevieve could escape her husband was through death. So she disappeared. It was there, in the heart of New York, that she raised her only son with all of the love and devotion inside of her; but, having been exiled and written off by all family and “proper” wolfish society, Genevieve found herself stranded in a foreign country as a single mother with no support, no means for a reasonable income, no resources available to her at all.

As Alex grew up under a loving, but hopelessly poor, roof, he found himself turning to the streets for some semblance of stability in a world where he feared his mother would fall under the pressure placed on her shoulders. Still, the world continued to spit on the boy from the Bronx with a hardened heart and a battered soul. And so young Alexander, pessimistic about the world around him, stumbled into a life of crime and mischief from a young age.

As soon as he was old enough to understand what poverty meant and how hard his mother–his beautiful, caring mother–worked to provide for him, Alexander decided to help her out as best as he could. As Genevieve was an Irish immigrant hiding from her past, expenses such as healthcare, as she tirelessly worked to try and obtain her American citizenship, were hard to come by. So, when Alex was too young to get a job, he’d shoplift clothes from secondhand clothing shops and would tell his mother that some of the older boys at school had traded him for it in exchange for some help on their homework; he’d snatch food from local grocery stores and would scatter it throughout their kitchen, praying to God his mom didn’t catch on. And the minute he was old enough to legally obtain a job of his own, Alex started working for one of the local car garages. First as a mechanic’s assistant, and then, finally, helping out with the cars themselves. But still, his lust for power and security–for stealing what he believed was owed to him and his mother–grew with age, and by the time he was sixteen, Alex was eaten up with the urge to control the world around him. So he hung out with kids on the wrong side of the tracks; began to make a name for himself on the streets. He made an effort not to terrorize people, but took what he thought he deserved. He was just, but stern; he was understanding, but not forgiving. He refused to let his mother become a victim of the streets, and so he made the streets his own. 

So without his mother knowing, Alexander plunged into a life of crime, putting school–and his other responsibilities–on the backburner. He was raking in more cash than he ever had before, and even more so, he was making a name of himself. His mother was proud of him for all the wrong reasons; she thought her son had gained a promotion at work and was working long and tireless hours in the hopes of helping them and saving up for an education for himself. Alex, who still worshiped and adored his mother, couldn’t bear to break her heart by telling her the truth. For a long while, he told himself that things were best this way; that it was easiest and safest for Genevieve Barrett if she didn’t know who (or, more specifically, what) her only son had become. He lied, cheated, and gambled his way out of everything. He was a smooth talker, a charmer, ruthless, and ambitious as hell. If he had to lie, cheat, and steal to help his mother afford to pay rent or put food on the table, then it was something he could live with. Easily. He was an alpha werewolf who knew that the “duties” allotted to his wolf ranking and status would soon be imposed upon him--but until that day, Alex was content to use whatever resources available to him in order to get by.

While he was a teenager, roughly seventeen years old, his mother--having never committed to any sort of romantic or physical relationship with any sort of meaning since his birth--fell into a relationship with a local restaurateur named Antonio. He owned a deli shop down the street, and though he came from a humble background himself, Genevieve fell head over heels in love with the human man who made her sandwiches every other Thursday. Alex disapproved of the relationship, having never been around the man much himself, but couldn’t bear to tell his mother and risk her ending a relationship over his own discomfort. Despite the nagging sensation deep in his gut, Alex pushed aside his ill will towards his mother’s newfound love and instead channeled his energy into street fights and the small heists and coups he hosted with other neighborhood boys. It was just the general unease of his mother entering into a significant relationship when she had otherwise feared men for years that bothered Alex, that was all; that was what he continued to tell himself, at least.

Life has an uncanny ability of catching up with you, Genevieve Barrett would have said, and the words ricocheted through Alexander’s skull like a restless bullet the day his mother died. A balmy spring evening, with promises whispering through the trees, rustling their branches and whistling through the busy city streets, Alex came home after a long day of working at the mechanic’s garage when he found his mother being forced into a van, kicking and screaming as no less than five men held her down and shackled her to the back of a nondescript van. No, not men--wolves. Werewolves with strong and thick Irish accents whom Genevieve seemed to know and fear. Blood thundered through Alex’s veins and pounded in his head as he raced towards her, screaming her name as her mother’s lover stood to the side, clad in a business suit and speaking urgently with a large and imposing alpha--the leader of Genevieve’s old clan, who had been hunting her in the years since she escaped. Alex pieced things together just as the man turned to face him, a queer smile on his face that sank straight to the pit of Alex’s stomach. The man had never loved his mother--he’d been a mole. Sent by Genevieve’s former pack to retrieve one of the precious jewels that had been stolen for them: an omega.

Alex was held back and forced to watch as he and his mother locked eyes, screaming for one another and scrabbling to reach each other through the barrier that separated them. Overwhelmed by panic, Alex nearly missed what happened next. Antonio explained to the wolves that Genevieve was barren; that she’d had a surgical procedure done to keep her from bearing and rearing any more children. Already a fugitive of the clan’s law and now virtually useless to them, Alex was forced to watch as one of the men holding his mother back took her head in his hands and twisted, snapping her neck. The grief and overwhelming flood of emotions over watching his mother executed in front of him pounded through Alex’s veins, and before he was able to control himself, he was shedding his human form and emerging as an alpha wolf, attacking and killing no less than three of the other wolves who had harmed and mutilated his mother before eventually being shot with a tranquilizer. Alex viewed it as a manifestation of his grief--the lead alpha saw it for what it truly was: the physical manifestations of an alpha wolf in full bloom.

And if they couldn’t have Genevieve, they would have him.

By the time Alex woke up, he was in a cargo holding cell on his way to Ireland; deciding he was a virile alpha and would do just fine in replacement of his mother, Genevieve’s former pack had stolen Alex from his home and transported him across the pond to serve in Ireland for their unseemly purposes. Soon after arriving at their clan’s stronghold just outside of Dublin, Alex hatched a plan to escape. He might have been in a foreign country and damn near penniless, but he had grown up a street rat who clawed his way through the food chain to emerge on top, and he wasn’t about to let that stop him now. He was able to escape from the clan that hoped to transform him into a breeding alpha, making his way through Ireland in search of anything that would tie him to his mother’s name and past.

Eventually, he found fellow rogue wolves, who would later become the foundations of the burgeoning werewolf rebellion, and joined up without hesitation. He’d never had much of a thing for authority or organized government anyway. He soon took Nadya Kingsley under his wing, a fellow werewolf from a broken home who needed a cause to call her own. She has become his closest confidant in all matters; the closest thing Alex has ever had to a “best friend” or family since his mother’s untimely death. Together, the two make an unstoppable duo and have garnered the respect and admiration of much of the underground rebellion.

It’s been close to twenty years since his mother’s death, and Alex’s current assignment for the rebellion is to infiltrate The Inferno and work as an informant to gather intel on what the fallen angels and vampires have planned in the supernatural war raging against them. Alex is cold and callous, cunning, and always thinks before he acts; he can be the loyalest of friends or the bitterest of enemies.

But above all, Alexander Barrett fully trusts nothing--and no one--but himself.

wanted connections: i’d be super down for some rebellion or werewolf-human coalition connections for alex in particular ! hit me with what you’ve got !

[shearssheep47-blog]

Hunting Com Objects

Top 10 Factors To Come To Be A Security Guard

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Content

Professional Driving Ability

Whizrt: Substitute Smart Cybersecurity Red Team

Add Your Get In Touch With Info The Proper Way

Security Vs. Presence

If you actually desire the task, an unenthusiastic answer that makes the job interviewer wonder. You wish to offer some detail regarding why you would take pleasure in the job and also how the task matches your goals. This is specifically important if the job stands for even a slight job shift or a step up to even more duty. A too-general solution that could relate to any position.You do not wish to give the perception that you're only curious about this job since it's offered.

What are security skills?

Security guards minimize theft. Often the mere presence of a security guard will deter patrons and professionals from stealing. A guard is a greater visual deterrent than just camera surveillance or a standard security system.

Professional Driving Capacity

Jewell later on efficiently filed a claim against numerous news companies that reported him as the criminal before having the truths. The vigiles were soldiers appointed to guard the city of Rome, usually credited as the beginning of both security employees as well as authorities, although their primary task was as a fire brigade. There have actually been evening security guard considering that a minimum of the Middle Ages in Europe; walled cities of ancient times additionally had actually watchmen.

Whizrt: Substitute Smart Cybersecurity Red Team

The proficiency they obtain in weapons dealing with and also handling violent dispute make ex-military workers and police officers excellent candidates for armed security. Several of the clients of personal security agencies additionally have the alternative to hire in-house security. Often times it is simpler as well as a lot more reliable for them to acquire out the service via a neighborhood security firm than to hire internally. The duties of a security guard coincide, globe about. Their task is to safeguard properties by surveillance, reporting, and preventing any kind of breach of security.

Add Your Contact Details The Proper Way

What are some duties of a security guard?

A security guard is someone who patrols and inspects property against fire, theft, vandalism, terrorism, and illegal activity. They monitor people and buildings in an effort to prevent crime.

An unique chair showed up in Europe sometime in the late Middle Ages, called the watchman's chair; this unupholstered wood chair had an onward slanting seat to prevent the watchman from dropping off throughout obligation. Technological improvements in relation to drones, facial acknowledgment, as well as robotics are anticipated to remain to boost the personal security landscape in Australia. A developing understanding of risks has caused personal security playing a greater part in reacting to crucial occurrences, such as terrorist strikes. " Public Security", an individual utilized or appointed as an (generally equipped) security officer by a government or government firm.

Richard Jewell, a gatekeeper at Atlanta, Georgia's Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summertime Olympics that was wrongly accused of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Jewell was later on free from those costs, and remained in fact the one who conserved hundreds of lives when he first noticed the questionable plan and obtained the area left.

" beveiligingsbedrijf - wat is objectbeveiliging , advertises financial growth for the Area by making sure customer retention, Gatekeeper retention, and also assistance for the advancement of brand-new organisation. " Scheduler", Security Officer project and also critical scheduling resulting in client fulfillment, employee retention and also cost maintained within District monetary plans. " In-house" or "proprietary" (i.e. employed by the exact same company or company they shield, such as a mall, theme park, or gambling enterprise); formerly often called jobs police or security authorities in the United Kingdom. A security officer shielding the entryway to an apartment building, and also managing the parking of cars in Haikou, Hainan District, China. There are much better verification techniques than passwords and also security concerns available for your company-- as well as with assistance from LoginRadius, you can adopt them promptly and conveniently.

Objects that have to acquire their security from a moms and dad object will present the alternative as handicapped, while objects that can not inherit security will certainly not show this choice.

Whereas security is always certain to an object (such a user interface or procedure design), exposure is usually depending on an expression.

Inheritance in object security dialogs is constantly shown as an option below the Parent field.

The following table gives a detailed malfunction of which items acquire security by default, and also which things will prompt you to set security throughout creation.

Security as well as presence are two unique ideas in Appian.

Visibility permits developers to offer granular directions regarding which individuals or groups should be able to see and also communicate with a specific facet of an object.

state of California also enables individuals to be detained in some circumstances. In The golden state, guards have to finish a training class that focuses on apprehension powers, and also the guard must after that rack up a perfect 100% on the final test for that course. Assuming that the guard passes the program in this fashion, he/she would certainly then obtain a certificate that allows for detention in the implementation of regular responsibilities.

How do I describe my skills on a resume?

You don't have to pull over for them, but you should, so long as you're on their property. Said security officer can make you leave property - as in, if you don't play by the rules set forth by the private property owners, you've gotta leave.

By having a professional mindset as well as strong work values, companies will be a lot more interested in considering you for promotions, new tasks, or other positive results. Security officers commonly start on between ₤ 12,000 and ₤ 15,000 a year yet this can enhance to ₤ 20,000 plus, with experience.

What should I say in a security interview?

The skills section of your resume includes your abilities that are related to the jobs you are applying for. In this section, you should list skills that are relevant to the position or career field that you are interested in, such as computer skills, software skills, and/or language skills.

We've produced a list of the leading 10 tough skills employers are seeking, with multiple examples of each. We'll additionally reveal you exactly just how to effectively showcase them on your resume to help you land much more meetings. A few of these jobs may consist of finishing your operate in a prompt as well as reliable way. Individuals who exercise solid job values are less likely to procrastinate the task at hand are the first to tip up and tackle a brand-new task.

What are your top five skills?

However, for the most part, there are three broad types of IT security: Network, End-Point, and Internet security (the cybersecurity subcategory). The other various types of IT security can usually fall under the umbrella of these three types.

We can supply for short and also lasting projects as well as will work with your budget and your worries to produce the security you require for you and also your service. security, offering the locations with expert armed security personnel for over twenty years.

This wage might raise to greater than ₤ 40,000 per year in primary and also senior security roles. We deliver on all the personal contract guard alternatives noted above, using only off duty, retired, and also prior authorities for armed security jobs.

Security Vs. Exposure

Personal protection officers, or dignitary and also executive defense, are security agents appointed to the defense of someone. Their task is to physically protect top-level as well as at-risk individuals such as celebrities as well as politicians. Police officers are employed for the City, State, as well as Communities. Off-duty policeman are usually appointed to preserve security as well as flow of website traffic at neighborhood occasions such as events as well as parades. Lots of armed guards are ex-military or police police officers.

[alexandervbarrett]

&&. word has it ( alexander barrett ) was just spotted around the city. ( he ) is a ( 35 ) year old affiliated with ( the irish mafia ). it’s been said that ( he ) resembles ( jamie dornan ). ( he ) has been said to be ( ambitious & determined ) but also quite ( short-tempered & cunning ). ( he ) is currently serving as ( the irish mafia boss ).

— ❝ fine. make me your villain.❞

( hi there, kiwi here! this is the official intro for my mafia overlord, alexander barrett; i’m excited to bring him here and finally get the chance to interact with all of the wonderful and diverse characters that the diamond ring has to offer already! please let me know if you’d like to plot; i’m available through both the group’s discord and tumblr ims! )

— In the heart of the Bronx, a boy was born to a starry-eyed single mother who wanted her son to be better than the world he’d entered into.

Financial instability and strife reigned over young Alexander Barrett’s life; poverty and crushing responsibilities became the weight he was forced to bear. Never truly exposed to anything but life in the projects, Alex spent most of his younger childhood years roughing around with some of the neighborhood kids and dreaming of a day when they’d all make it in the big leagues; some of his friends aspired to excel in sports, while others prayed to God that they could keep their asses in school long enough to earn degrees and get solid jobs in the more middle-class areas of the Bronx or even, God willing, another one of New York City’s heavily-populated, compact boroughs. But Alexander, with a mother who was barely able to scrape up enough money to get by for the two of them in their closet of an apartment with two weekday jobs and an additional one on the weekend, knew that getting out of the city and onto making a decent income was less than realistic. And, despite the drastic decrease in crime in the Bronx over the course of the last few decades, the world continued to spit on the boy from the Bronx with a hardened heart and a battered soul. And so young Alexander, pessimistic about the world around him, stumbled into a life of crime and mischief from a young age. As soon as he was old enough to understand what poverty meant and how hard his mother–his beautiful, caring mother, Genevieve–worked to provide for him, Alexander decided to help her out as best as he could. Genevieve was an Irish immigrant, and expenses, such as healthcare, as she tirelessly worked to try and obtain her American citizenship, were hard to come by. So, when Alex was too young to get a job, he’d shoplift clothes from secondhand clothing shops and would tell his mother that some of the older boys at school had traded him for it in exchange for some help on their homework; he’d snatch food from local grocery stores and would scatter it throughout their kitchen, praying to God his mom didn’t catch on. And the minute he was old enough to legally obtain a job of his own, Alex started working for one of the local car garages. First as a mechanic’s assistant, and then, finally, helping out with the cars themselves. But still, his lust for power and security–for stealing what he believed was owed to him and his mother–grew with age, and by the time he was sixteen, Alex was eaten up with the urge to control the world around him. So he hung out with kids on the wrong side of the tracks; began to make a name for himself on the streets. He made an effort not to terrorize people, but took what he thought he deserved. He was just, but stern; he was understanding, but not forgiving. And, most importantly, he’d caught the eye of some older boys who had graduated from high school already; boys who had an in with the Irish Mafia. And they wanted Alex for their own. Because while Alexander’s deadbeat, no-good father had deserted him and his mother the minute he found out Genevieve was pregnant, he had passed on his Irish temperament, his mannerisms, and–much to Alexander’s dismay–his thick head of brown curls to his only son. So without his mother knowing, Alexander plunged into a life of crime. He took up with lower members of the Irish mafia, working his way up the ladder and putting school–and his other responsibilities–on the backburner. He was raking in more cash than he ever had before, and even more so, he was making a name of himself. His mother was proud of him for all the wrong reasons; she thought her son had gained a promotion at work and was working long and tireless hours in the hopes of helping them and saving up for an education for himself. Alex, who still worshiped and adored his mother, couldn’t bear to break her heart by telling her the truth. For a long while, he told himself that things were best this way; that it was easiest and safest for Genevieve Barrett if she didn’t know who (or, more specifically, what) her only son had become. He lied, cheated, and gambled his way out of everything. He was a smooth talker, a charmer, ruthless, and ambitious as hell. He quickly surpassed in rank all of the friends he’d made in the mafia, proving that he was indispensable and invaluable to their organization. Genevieve began to notice a change in her son–one that worried her–but by the time she had decided to approach him about it, it was too late. Alexander was in too deep…and the thrill he got from working with the mafia was too large to even entertain the idea of quitting or walking away now. Besides, he knew too much; far too much.

With great power came great responsibility, Genevieve Barrett would have said, and the words ricocheted through Alexander’s skull like a restless bullet the day his mother died. A balmy spring evening, with promises whispering through the trees, rustling their branches and whistling through the busy city streets, Genevieve Barrett’s carpet became stained with the thick, syrupy taint of her blood. Her corpse was a message, her blood the price of a feud between the Irish and Italian mobs gone awry. Genevieve’s death was a message made for Alexander Barrett, the up and coming prodigy of Mob Boss Ronan Flanagan. And while her death should have cowed and evoked fear into Alexander’s heart, it served to fuel him with a rage unlike anything he had ever known before.

He would find them, the men who had taken his mother’s life from her, and he would kill them. He’d kill them all. Hellbent and on a path of cruelty and revenge, by the time Alexander had entered his mid-twenties (and been involved in the mafia for roughly a decade), he’d made quite a name of himself. Old man Flanagan, the Mob Boss himself, had taken a very special interest in the Barrett boy and, having no rightful heirs of himself, named Alexander the heir to his kingdom and fortune. And when Ronan Flanagan passed away of old age by the time Alex was in his late twenties, the Bronx Prince became the head of the Bronx-organized Irish Mob. He took over with great ferocity, making sure that his assets were protected. He’s created an empire for himself and made a name out of “poor little bastard” Alexander Barrett. And he’ll be damned if anyone ever forgets that.

In an effort to reign supreme and address feuds with the other mafia lords, the Irish Mafia took the Russian mob princess, one Tatiana Valentina, and claimed her for themselves. She had been meant to serve as a bargaining chip--as ransom for the Irish Mafia to hold leverage over the Russians--but soon, Tatiana became so much more. She became more than just a pawn in his game, and as Alex grew closer to the Russian heiress, he found himself falling into a tangled web of romance, seduction, and political drama. As Alex and Tatiana grew accustomed to their bond and their relationship, the Russians decided to retaliate, stealing Tatiana back in the dead of night. And now, without his self-proclaimed mate sharing his throne, Alex is ready to raise hell.

The Russians and the Italians have stolen from him. And it’s time the Reaper comes to collect.

[hub-pub-bub]

Wage theft is when your boss doesn’t pay you what you’ve already earned. When I learned that Massachusetts had “blue laws,” that my bosses weren’t obeying them, and had shorted me around three thousand dollars, it was wage theft. 

This was the law: retail employees were to be paid at a “premium” rate on Sundays and holidays, time-and-a-half, the same as overtime. But none of the booksellers where I worked had ever been paid it. And while not being paid overtime is a textbook example of wage theft, when I tell people, they are happy to qualify it for me with a “Well…” or an “Okay, but…” I don’t know where this instinct comes from. Maybe it’s because “wage theft” makes it sound premeditated, more like a crime. (But it was a crime!) Or maybe it’s because I worked at an independent bookstore, and indie bookstores are beloved pillars of the community. (What would that mean about the community?) Maybe it’s because it doesn’t makes sense that an independent bookstore would do something like this. Everyone knows indiebookstores are thriving! (Which is true—it’s the people who work in them who are struggling.)

I found out when I was trying to see if I could afford to take a sick day. I felt like I was coming down with something, but taking a day off meant losing a not-insubstantial chunk of my monthly take-home pay ($11.50 an hour). Since there were sick hours adding up in a box labeled “time-off accrual” on my pay stubs—and surely they had to amount to something—I went to mass.gov to check the law. But they amounted to literally nothing, as it turned out: Massachusetts businesses only have to provide paid sick leave if they have more than eleven employees, and we had ten. My “sick days” meant I couldn’t be fired for staying home sick (as long as I wasn’t sick more than five days per year).

But I learned something else. There were links to related pages and I clicked the one about “blue laws,” which I didn’t know we had in Massachusetts.

Later that day I emailed the bookstore’s owners. Is there a reason our bookstore is exempt from blue laws, I asked, or was this an oversight?

They responded the same night. They’d heard that other area bookstores had to pay the premium rate, they said, because their booksellers were unionized, but that otherwise there was some exemption. They said they would investigate, that they’d talk to their lawyer and get back to me.

After that the story gets so routine you could probably write it yourself. When I followed up a few days later, they said their lawyer was on vacation but that they’d update payroll and we’d receive the premium pay on Sundays and holidays from then on. When some of the other booksellers and I contacted the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, they only sent a form letter saying the matter was too small for them to investigate personally, but we were welcome to pursue legal action (on our own time and at our own expense). I found some free legal clinics on wage theft, but only once-a-month and while I was scheduled to work. Ten days after the first email, I followed up again; “still the same conflicting intel,” they said, “but when we told our lawyer that we started paying 1.5 for sundays and holidays, the matter dropped. (lawyers are expensive!) let me know if it’s not reflected in your check.” A coworker who already planned to quit asked the owners specifically about back pay–which I hadn’t had the courage to do—and they told her no, they weren’t going to pay it, and they said it in writing.

I ended up speaking to a lawyer, who offered to represent me on a contingency fee basis: I wouldn’t have to pay if we lost, and the bookstore would be responsible for my legal fees if I won. But he recommended I not move forward until I got a new job. It isn’t legal to retaliate against an employee for bringing a case, he told me, but, you know, it also isn’t legal to ignore blue laws.

I said thank you, I’ll consider my options.

One day in November one of the owners called me into the office at the bookstore. She gave me $500 in cash and $500 in store credit, about a third of what I was owed. I spent the store credit on gifts for the holidays and I looked for a new job. I ignored a follow-up call from the lawyer and tried not to wallow in the humiliation. I was not successful. Even now it feels like admitting something shameful: I was fooled, maybe, or I’m some kind of miser. A few people asked me, what if they can’t afford to pay back pay and they go out of business? You hear it more than once and it’s easy to forget it’s not a ransom, that you didn’t pluck the number out of nowhere. 

It’s hard to compare independent bookstores to other kinds of retail stores. Bookstores sell a cultural product and booksellers insist that bookstores can’t be compared to other retail stores because they sell a cultural product. And bookstores don’t exploit their employees more than other retail. But what grates is when bookstores market themselves as more than stores, as community hubs.

“Independent bookstores act as community anchors,” the American Booksellers Association declares, at the bottom of every page on their site; “they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.”

This same lofty idealism justifies why booksellers don’t need to be paid a living wage, like employees of nonprofits or teachers: because bookstores are so vital for the community, the assumption goes, the job should be reward enough itself. The work is so important that maybe booksellers should make personal sacrifices, working well below the value of their labor.

I spoke to around twenty booksellers while I was writing this, and I was struck by how many are willing to make trade-offs. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been. “Independent booksellers consistently describe their work as more than just a way to make a living, and more than just a means of escaping the constraints that come from working for somebody else,” writes Laura Miller, in her 2006 book, Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption; “These booksellers see themselves as bettering society by making books available.” Plenty of the booksellers I spoke to saw bookselling as a calling. Because of course they do! If they weren’t willing to make sacrifices, they couldn’t still be booksellers. And how else could bookstores get away with paying them—they, who generally have to have a college degree; who have to spend a lot of unpaid time reading across all genres and topics; who have to have at least a little knowledge about everything, from the ancient Greeks to Dog Man 7: Brawl of the Wild; who, at at least one store, famously have to correctly answer quiz questions before being hired—so little, while so successfully preserving an image as a (generally progressive) force for social good?

And it is so little. A bookseller in Southern California with eight years of experience still earns less than $20 per hour; “I can’t think of another industry where you could work for eight years and still be making that little,” he said. A different Southern California bookseller/assistant events manager earns $17.50. A bookseller/assistant events manager in the Boston area is earning $14. A former bookseller in Northern California was making $14.25, a quarter above the minimum wage. A part time bookseller in Chicago makes $13, the city’s minimum wage. A former bookseller in Minnesota was salaried after two years at $30,000 while a bookseller and events manager in Tennessee started at $25,000, six years ago, and now makes $31,500.

I started at $11 per hour and ended around eighteen months later at $11.50, and as far as I know, none of the booksellers at that store even earned $15. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Boston is $2400 per month, which I could cover if I worked 50 hours a week, didn’t pay taxes, and didn’t need money for food, utilities, medical care, or literally anything else.

The booksellers I spoke to reported quite a range of benefits—in one year, for example, a Bay Area bookseller accrued three weeks of vacation time, and in the same time period a Pennsylvania bookseller got three days. But some booksellers told me that their benefits were mostly on paper. Not being fired for calling in sick or going on vacation doesn’t make it financially viable, after all. A Minnesota bookseller told me she has ten paid vacation days per year, but the store has so few employees that taking time off means she’d have to make up the missed hours working overtime. A bookstore in California offered a health insurance program, but gave employees a fifty-cent raise if they didn’t enroll.

It’s not so bleak for everyone. Unionized stores generally fight for better benefits and act as safeguards against labor law violations; I talked to a handful of booksellers whose stores had some kind of profit sharing, which can make a big difference.

But… I don’t know. There’s a bookstore owned by people who, all evidence suggests, really give a fuck and want to do right by their booksellers. They pay at least $15 per hour, and I heard one of the owners say on a podcast how much is required of booksellers; “If you’re a college graduate, and you’ve spent all this time reading, in addition to going to college—yeah, you deserve $15 an hour. Period.” But when his interlocutor mentioned a bookstore that had profit sharing, the owner was quick to say it wouldn’t work at his store. (And it wouldn’t, yet—the store is young and not yet profitable.*) But “It’s also a matter of loyalty,” he said, and explained that he couldn’t envision employees staying longer than a year. “I would love to find a bookseller who I know would be around long enough. Right now it just hardly seems even worth doing all the work. No one would qualify, because they won’t stick around long enough.”

Tell me, what are they going to stick around for? The bookstore owner said all of his employees are part-time—they’re either in grad school or working other part-time jobs. Are they supposed to stick around for a part-time job that pays $15 per hour?

What is there to be loyal to?

IndieBound—an ABA project—has a section on its website dedicated to answering Why Support Independents? One answer is that “Local businesses create higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.” But you can also find a page at the ABA website on “The Growing Debate Over Minimum Wage,” warning that “a minimum wage increase that is too drastic could result in reduced staff hours, lost jobs, or, worse, a store going out of business.” There’s also an “Indie Fact Sheet” to print out and give to local politicians; “Many indies pay more than the current minimum wage already for senior and full-time staff,” it says; “They do this because offering superior customer service is one of their competitive advantages—it is what separates them from their chain and remote, online retailing competitors. This also helps indies retain and attract good employees.”

See? Many bookstores pay their booksellers more than the minimum wage! It’s not their problem that that same minimum wage isn’t enough to cover a one-bedroom in any state in the country. It’s not their problem that inflation has eroded the value of the minimum wage. It’s not their problem that low wages are an affront to basic dignity or that higher minimum wages save lives. They’re just fiercely committed to their neighbors and their communities.

The ABA is happy to help its member stores fight even modest wage increases. “If the minimum wage is raised,” the Indie Fact Sheet continues, “it inevitably means indies will have to increase the wages of senior and full-time staff, in addition to increasing the wages of any minimum-wage workers. This increases the ripple effect. A seemingly ‘insignificant’ wage increase can have a dramatic effect on the bottom line, sending a profitable store into the red.”

There’s no mention of the dramatic effect an increase in the minimum wage could have on employees.

At Winter Institute–an annual ABA conference for independent booksellers–there’s a town hall where members can share their concerns. According to the ABA’s coverage of the event, an independent bookstore owner went to the mic to speak about the minimum wage. “I’m very happy the staff is getting a pay bump,” she said, “but that’s a huge adjustment to make every 12 months and once you get a handle on it, then it’s going up again. I feel like this seems to be going countrywide and that is something that is extra important to our nonexistent margins.”

Why this framing? Why not ask how other stores are handling the adjustment? Why not pay employees a living wage now so as not to have to change business model every year? Why does a bookstore owner feel comfortable getting up and saying this in front of an audience of booksellers?

If your local indie bookstore skirts labor laws or advocates against them, at the expense of its employees, can you still be sanctimonious for shopping there? Is your local indie bookstore thriving if its employees skip doctor’s appointments they can’t afford? If your local indie bookstore’s trade group doesn’t have resources for booksellers on paid sick leave, health insurance, or wage theft–in an industry famous for its tiny margins–is it an industry you’d recommend joining?

“We find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being believers in social and economic justice while struggling to pay our employees a salary they can survive on,” writes Elayna Trucker on shopping local and running a bookstore; “We urge our customers to Shop Local but make hardly enough to do so ourselves. It is an unintentional hypocrisy, one that has gone largely ignored and unaddressed. So where does all that leave us? Rather awkwardly clutching our money, it seems… All of this brings up the most awkward question of all: does a business that can’t afford to pay its employees a living wage deserve to be in business?”

I am so glad I don’t have to come up with an answer. I have no idea. I haven’t the faintest idea at all.

In the end it was a tweet. I left the bookstore after the holidays and started a new job in January. In February, after a night of shitty sleep, I tweeted, “I have been spending hours lying awake at night doing nothing but feeling this intense shame like a stone in my chest about experiencing wage theft at my last job and I am sincerely just hoping that tweeting about it is enough to make it stop so let’s see if it works.”

A day or two later I got an email. “It’s filtered back to me that the $1000 we gave you to settle the Sunday pay issue,” they said, “didn’t resolve it.” They said some things about how they hadn’t known until I told them. They cut me a check for the back pay that same day.

I didn’t delete the tweet. I don’t know if any of my coworkers got back pay.

A little later, I read an article about the student-run Harvard Shop in Cambridge. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office found that the store owed almost $50,000 in back pay to their employees and $5,600 in fines for violating blue laws. “In this case, we unknowingly did make a mistake in how we were paying our students for Sunday and holiday pay,” the store’s manager said.

I only saw the article because the union I joined at my new job shared it on Twitter.

In Seasonal Associate, Heike Geissler’s barely-fictionalized account of her time working at an Amazon fulfillment center, she writes: “What you and I can’t do, because you and I don’t want to, is to think your employer into a better employer, and to compare these conditions to even worse, less favorable conditions, so as to say: It’s not all that bad. It could be worse. It used to be worse. We don’t do that. You and I want the best and we’re not asking too much.”  

I loved bookselling. I loved it for the same reasons everyone does: the community of readers and booksellers, the joy when someone came back into the store and says I recommended the perfect read, the pride when authors reach out directly to say how much my work meant to them. The free books, the discounts, the advance copies, all of it. And I do believe that bookstores can be forces for social good, insofar as bookscan be forces for social good, which I think they can. It is self-evidently better to get your books from a local store than from Amazon, and for precisely the reasons the IndieBound website gives.

But it’s not enough to Not Be Amazon, and framing bookstores as moral exemplars regardless of how they treat their employees isn’t to the benefit of booksellers. Bookstores “thrive” by hiding how much their booksellers struggle. “Any thriving I do personally is in spite of my store,” one of the booksellers I spoke to said. Working at a bookstore is not as bad as working at an Amazon warehouse; I didn’t walk dozens of miles per day and my bathroom breaks weren’t monitored. But are we willing to let that be the baseline?

*clarification added after publication

[expertshelf2-blog]

Acquiring Property In Cyprus

Acquiring Property In Cyprus

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Content

Search For Property In Cyprus

Find Apartments & Houses Available For Sale In Cyprus

Property In Cyprus

Property In Paphos

Property In Limassol

Property In Larnaca

Hot Characteristics In Cyprus

Look for Property In Cyprus

How much money do you need to retire in Cyprus?

Living in Paphos Paphos is chosen has been ranked as the best city to live in Cyprus for seven years in a row. It is a favorite destination for especially British immigrants and is home to the largest expat community.

On the other hand, the costs of consumables such as magazines and groceries are rather high, while clothing are usually based on import taxes, increasing their prices. The expense of living in Cyprus is relatively comparable to various other European nations. Nicosia is usually concerned to be one of the most expensive city on the island. While rates in Cyprus might be low for deportees from solid economic situations, the expense of living is high in connection with the typical Cypriot's income. Many expats transferring to Cyprus have actually financial savings deposited in their home countries.

Locate Apartments & Houses To Buy In Cyprus

How long does it take to buy a house in Cyprus?

All things considered, the procedure for purchasing a property in Cyprus shouldn't take more than 1 – 3 months.

Grocery stores in Cyprus often tend to be cheaper than in the UK, specifically when it comes to fruit and meat. Beer and cigarettes also often tend to be less expensive, while coffees are much more costly. There are still engaging factors to move to Cyprus, other than the weather condition. The expenses of lodging, interactions, education and learning and healthcare are all rather reduced and, generally, of good quality.

How much does it cost to live in Cyprus?

Just to live in Cyprus then you need about 600–700 euros a month for 2 people if you also put another 300 per person on leissure/entertainment (this is entirely on the person but Cyprus has so many things to do) 1300 for 2 people to retire in Cyprus + the starting cost of an appartment and a car.

Property In Cyprus

How dangerous is Cyprus?

Cyprus is generally very safe to travel to, even though it is geographically close to countries hit by terrorism and wars. Petty crime does occur, especially during the holidays and summer.

There are also enough diving chances with Cyprus offering several memorable dive sites such as the Amphorae Caves as well as the MS Zenobia wreckage. There are many beautiful beaches throughout the island and it is certainly one of my favorite components of Cypriot life. Since 2019, Cyprus offers 49 blue-flagged coastlines with a lot of them being optimal for water-sports, such as jet wakeboarding, snowboarding and water skiing.

Is Cyprus rich or poor?

Cyprus - Poverty and wealth. The people of the Greek zone are among the most affluent in the world. According to the World Bank's Development Report, Cyprus is ranked 16th in terms of per capita income adjusted for purchasing power. In 1988 per capita income was US$15,500, according to the CIA World Factbook .

Property In Paphos

As Cyprus belongs to the European Union, the country has free access to the solitary market and customs union. This implies that the island offers the exact same civil liberties as any various other mainland European nation. Additionally, on the west of the island in the Paphos region, there is typically a westerly swell which benefits searching.

Property In Limassol

Part of the allure of purchasing property in Cyprus is that homes are completely various stylishly-- as well as considerably more inexpensive-- to what you would be in line for in the UK. If you are keen to prevent the activity (and the humidity), the inclines as well as valleys of the Troodos Hills in mid-Cyprus deal a different experience of the island completely. During summer season, you can explore the local craft villages of Louvaras, Palaichori as well as Platanistassa which contain cobbled wineries, orchards and roads. As well as in between January and also March it's even feasible to ski in the shadow of Mount Olympus. Equidistant between Larnaca as well as Paphos on Cyprus's southern coastline exists Limassol, which was historically the island's primary port.

Is Cyprus good place to live?

Affordable living costs and good weather are just some of the reasons that make Cyprus a good place to retire. It is also a very safe country where English is widely spoken.

Upon acquiring property, particular taxes will certainly be due by the customer, nonetheless, specific schemes have been presented to attract foreign investors to Cyprus.

Cyprus has wrapped up treaties on double tax with greater than 40 countries, and also, as a participant of the Eurozone, has no exchange restrictions.

The quantity of brand-new builds is no place near as long as in the boom time.

Both should be supplement with a purchase of an exclusive home of at the very least EUR500,000.

Non-residents and international investors may freely repatriate proceeds from investments in Cyprus.

Nonetheless there appears to be enough need for the residential properties which are being developed as they do market rather swiftly.

Retirees from European countries have a tendency to try to find resales with title deeds nowadays while capitalists that are aiming to gain Public Relations or citizenship are choosing new builds.

Property In Larnaca

Famous for its carnival as well as wine festival, it now has a big brand-new marina and also comprehensive choice of restaurants, bars and also stores with many extravagant advancements along its sandy shores. Prior to we start speaking about Cyprus, an essential difference needs to be made.

Property In Famagusta

However, to be qualified for tax obligation residency in the country, you have to spend more than 183 days in Cyprus to be approved the tax obligation resident condition. The main languages of Cyprus are Greek and also Turkish, however English is widely utilized throughout the island. All road indicators, dining establishment food selections and Government records are readily available in English and as Cypriots find out English in school, there isn't truly a language barrier in the country. On the whole, the expense of living in Cyprus is relatively reduced contrasted to other European nations.

With a population of around 1.2 million, as well as virtually 22% of the islands populace being international nationals or deportees, it's clear that Cyprus has a lot to use. A European Union state, reduced tax obligations, simple firm structure, expanding areas as well as excellent transportation links to the remainder of Europe and also the Middle East, Cyprus really does tick much of the checkboxes for a lot of entrepreneurs. Cyprus is ending up being more and more preferred among the electronic nomad and on-line entrepreneur neighborhood. An island situated in the eastern Mediterranean sea, Cyprus is not simply a touristic hotspot, but also an ideal place to establish a base for an entrepreneur.

Given that the Turkish intrusion and also profession of Northern Cyprus in 1974, Cyprus has been divided into 2. Greek Cyprus (in the south of the island) belongs to the European Union yet Turkish Cyprus (in the north of the island) is not component of the EU-- neither is it formally identified by the United Nations. sign in to your Property in Cyprus account has actually joined overseas property profession organization, AIPP, to bring you everything you'll require to know. Among the most effective benefits of the retired life authorization British get for retiring to Cyprus are low-income tax obligations on their pensions. Pensioners can additionally obtain a duty-free importation of a car and also numerous various other individual things right into the Republic of Cyprus.

Cypriot law defines a limited duration throughout which the Agreement of Sale need to be transferred as well as stamped by the Land Windows registry. Failing to stick to this will certainly bring about you losing essential legal rights. In many cases, the Title Deeds will certainly be available for instant transfer right into your name. If this is the case, the transfer fee is paid to the Land Pc registry and you have 'completed' in the means we comprehend in the UK. A land surveyor is not a lawful need, yet if you are buying a house that has either had a lot of structure job or requires a great deal of job done, it's a good insurance policy versus awful shocks.

There are currently plans in place for a ferry solution between Cyprus as well as Greece to be rebooted, indicating another link to mainland Europe from the island. The island has two major airports; Larnaca International Airport Terminal as well as Paphos International Airport Terminal. All of which have regular trips to landmass Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan.

Cyprus is certainly not ideal, however it is an exotic little island, supplying the stability of being inside the EU, good networking chances, low tax stress and incredible weather condition for all the sunlight seeking entrepreneurs out there. It would probably be that Cyprus is in a sense a little bit behind compared to the majority of European countries if there's any type of adverse viewpoint of the island. Under these programs, foreign business owners can reside in Cyprus versus an investment which can ensure permanent home and even citizenship. Along with many trip possibilities, Cyprus additionally has a ferry as well as cruise liner terminal at Limassol Port.

Another benefit of Cyprus is their personal info protecting laws. Individual details as well as information are only shown to regional financial institutions when you open up an account. These banks are not obliged to share this information with any third parties or organisations outside of Cyprus. When it come to personal revenue tax, dividends and also passion income are also exempt from the individual income tax in Cyprus.

Who is the richest person in Cyprus?

With an estimated net worth of $11.3 billion, Norwegian-born oil tanker and shipping magnate John Fredriksen is the wealthiest person in Cyprus, that's according to CEOWORLD magazine's Cyprus Rich List Index For 2019.

As a straightforward guideline, if you 'd commission a study on a property you were purchasing in the UK, do the exact same in Cyprus. You will not be able to take a home mortgage from a UK bank to spend for a residence that rests on various dirt. Yet non-residents are allowed to take home mortgages from a Cypriot count on Cypriot property-- a specialist abroad mortgage broker will certainly aid you find the most effective bargains. Numerous abroad purchasers desire for a sun-splashed vacation home when they imagine a new life abroad. Generally, a Cypriot villa will feature a pool, terraces as well as yards and also tends to push the borders of town or within smaller sized growths.

However, British individuals that are preparing to remain in Cyprus for greater than 3 months in the Republic of Cyprus require to look for a Group F kind of residency. It might take from 5 to one year to travel through the process of obtaining this file. There likewise is a fastest way that implies purchasing a property in Cyprus for a minimum of EUR300,000. There hasn't been a rail network in Cyprus because 1951, yet Cypriots have actually been informed they'll once more have accessibility to intercity trains in the following 15 years. However, they are not always trusted and routes can be limited, numerous individuals select personal taxis.

Due to being an island and also the demand for import, there are some things which are much more pricey, as an example, vehicles. So this needs to be factored right into your spending plan when thinking about relocating to Cyprus.

[nationaldoorstep]

How Working Remotely Will Impact the Real Estate Industry | Resident First Focus

We’re becoming a more globally connected society right before our eyes. In 2010, only 1.8 billion people had access to high-speed internet. By 2016, this had increased to 3 billion. Also, according to experts, all of the world’s 8 billion people may have high-speed internet access as early as 2022.

Advances in technology boost the proliferation of high-speed internet. Companies like Google and Facebook are leading the way by testing solar-powered drones that could deliver high-speed internet to remote areas from the air. Google’s X Company aims to “create radical technologies to solve the worlds hardest problems.” Not to be outdone, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has asked the FCC for permission to launch 4,425 satellites into space as part of a plan to blanket the Earth with broadband. “SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology.”

The widespread availability of high-speed internet is already changing the way we work. Working remotely is on the rise, and it’s become more accessible than ever for companies to hire people abroad. It’s not just employees who love the ability to work from home. Employers see the benefits, too. Overhead costs are lower, and studies show that working from home can increase productivity.

The trend toward working remotely is going to have significant implications for the real estate industry. Here are a few critical considerations for real estate investors to monitor closely.

People may become less tethered to more expensive work centers. The cost of real estate is sky-high in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Boston – and with good reason. These cities are major employment hubs that attract people from all over the world in search of well-paying job opportunities. Working remotely may mean that people no longer need to live in those areas to land jobs with companies based there. They can move to cities like Park City, Utah, where the quality of life is high, but job prospects are few and far between.

“This should lead to ascending real estate values in the most beautiful vacation spots, though it will take some time for that trend to accelerate as people reluctantly leave more’ target-rich’ (from an employment perspective) environments for the tranquility of their desired turf,” according to a Forbes article on the subject.

Zapier, a San Francisco-based tech company, has gone so far as to offer employees $10,000 to move away from the Bay Area where the cost of living is lower. Zapier will undoubtedly recoup the incentive through lower overhead costs, but the company also sees it as a way to offer employees a higher quality of life by allowing them to work remotely in a less expensive area. Zapier has nearly 70 employees around the world, all of whom work remotely.

Workers may be willing to live farther from downtown. Not everyone will be able to work from home every day. It’s just not conducive to some occupations (e.g., nurses, teachers, police officers) and some employers will want their team in the office more frequently than not. Nonetheless, a Gallup survey released last month found that  43% of Americans work at least some of the time remotely. Even senior-level managers are hopping on the bandwagon, with Mark Zuckerberg being one of the most notable CEOs who reportedly works from home once a week. The newfound freedom to work from home (even just occasionally) will inevitably affect where people decide to live.

Those who long for a single-family home in the suburbs may flee the city, accepting a longer daily commute if they only have to make the trip a few times a week. In exchange, they’ll enjoy the larger homes, lower real estate prices, better schools, and neighborhoods with lesser crime that typically characterize the suburbs.

Demand for specific housing features will change. The shift to working remotely is rocketing the importance of home offices. Working from the sofa, beach, or Starbucks just doesn’t cut it anymore. It might be easy to integrate a home office into a single-family rental property, but it will be harder to provide in smaller multifamily rental units. However, this doesn’t mean multifamily owners should turn a blind eye to the working remotely trend. Many multifamily developers are now building co-work spaces into their rental properties.

“When I was looking for apartments, a lot of buildings said they had an office, but when you got there you’d find this sterile room from the 1990s, lots of brown and mauve,” explains Maani Safa, the co-founder of Etch. “A space like that is utterly useless – an office should be about invoking a feeling of creativity and calm, it should be a place I want to bring people. Otherwise, I’d stay in my apartment.” Safa ultimately leased a two-bedroom apartment at the Abington House in West Chelsea, a multifamily building that offers a modern co-working space on the ground floor. Other developers are following suit, adding collaborative work studios and computer bars as part of their amenity packages.

Based upon these predictions, it might seem as though the growth of the remote workforce is going to spell the end of cities’ popularity.

Not so fast.

While some people may relocate to more affordable areas, we suspect the demand for downtown living will remain high. Cities offer a dense collection of restaurants, arts and culture, entertainment, and job opportunities that is hard to replicate in the suburbs. People will continue paying a premium to live in walkable, transit-oriented areas for the foreseeable future.

Real estate and technology are often looked at as different realms—but there’s growing overlap between the two sectors. Real estate investors need to monitor these trends closely to understand how advances in technology will impact the future of real estate. Those who remain at the forefront will be best positioned to protect their portfolios as the market shifts.

[newyorkhomessale]

What Home Owner Should Know Before Renting Out A House

• Intro

This post may shell light and the process on how to avoid an unintentionally foreclosed on a house by the new landlord who mortgaged their first home within 12 months period. It has some useful information trained by an experienced realtor who seen lots of homeowners lose houses to a lender who foreclosed property on them because the owner didn’t understand or didn’t get a piece of advice by a knowledgeable agent.

As a licensed real estate realtor and a buyer agent, I’ve witnessed that a quite number of the first time home buyers were not adequately advice when seeking a mortgage on their residential property. Besides the financial aspect of maintaining a home on building equity, many owners did not read or understand the clauses written in a fine print by the mortgage company that calls in a loan on the residence house. It shouldn’t have been so if a buyer has taken time and searched for the expert on the home mortgaged.

• Can I Rent Out My House?

The kind of a loan acquired to mortgage a house depends on whether you can let a property. If the home is purchased for living or residence that is a single family house or multifamily dwelling, there’s a waiting period of 12 months prior to letting the house. In some cases, a homeowner must provide a valid reason to the lender for letting the property during waiting terms; the lender may consider giving approval if possible. Otherwise, the new landlord could seek to switch to a buy to rent out property mainly an investment loan installment to be repaid. On this scenario, if the landlord let dwelling, he or she must also, seek insurance on it.

 . Primary Residence after 12 Months

On the primary home, often, you get a lower discount interest rate while can put down less substantial of the down payment if the mortgage loan is for your home residence against a guest house or an investment property. And again, if the new landlord purposely bought a home for the living; and he converted it to a commercial property he or she might have committed the mortgage crime. It’s important to familiarize yourself to the waiting rules that associated with your loan; then after you’ve fulfilled the requirement of the waiting period on a mortgage, you’re freed to do whatever you decided to do next on the property, turn residence to a rental dwelling. Furthermore, if your house is situated in the neighborhood controlled by an HOA, it’s best to ascertain if any restriction regarding letting out your property.

• Lender Call In The Loan

This is where your lender may call in the loan at once when they realized a crime has committed on the loan. In some cases, the lender may choose to foreclose the property; for the landlord, that’s a nightmare sorry to say. It’s critically that you read your loan documents thoroughly before ascended it or call your lender for any unforeseen rules that come on a mortgage loan.

• Mortgage On Home

There is a various home mortgage that the home buyer can look into when applying for the load on a house. The owner who have passed the required waiting terms; can apply for another total money borrowed when you move from your primary home; landlord may want to buy another property to live in or commercial property. If that’s landlord intention, consult your mortgage lender if qualify for another loan for commercial dwelling purposes prior you rent out current home.

 • How much can I rent my house for?

• On the Amenities

A newly built house that’s less than two years old is most likely have a good appliance on site; the doorknobs worked better, the refrigerator coolant functions accurately all the time and the stove doesn’t produce fume that can cause sinuses or eye irritation at home.

• Home Value Determined Rent

Most of the rent charges to the tenants by the landlord depend on the value of your home’s market value in the area where a property is located and prime neighborhood location. Statically, the rents that homeowner charges fall between something like 0.8% and 1.1% for the house are monetary worth. The homeowner who has decided to rent out property; needs to do research on Comps or comparable research for representation of what the median and average rent is for the area of property location. The landlord should compare rent prices through six different sources and price a little higher than the average. In general, a buyer may think that multifamily property usually generated better likely investments, nevertheless, multifamily houses as a whole do not attract the same rent as single family homes do.

• Location of the Home

The prime high-class real estate location where the street is always cleaned; garbage collected more often, and no loitering flying around in the street is usual rent more high price compare to another area in the same zip code. The homeowner pays more Taxes on a prime location than any other offerings. They also charged a high percentage of letting apartments.

• Do real estate agents do rentals?

• Licensed Real Estate Assist Buyer or Seller

Having a licensed real estate agent on your side can assist home the owner or landlord in many areas; he or she may be able to bring you a potential qualified buyer whether for let apartment in your house or the future home buyer when the time called for. Quite often, an agent is preferred selling a house on a good commission than renting an apartment for a relatively less commission. He also can be potential resources for assisting renters as well in locating a more needed apartment for a renter who’s just getting started to find a place to live.

• Years of Experienced in Renting Home

A realtor who has been in the real estate business for many years is more likely have experiences in every aspect in buying or selling homes; he or she is a good position to bring a qualified buyer or seller when it’s time to sell or buy another property nearby. Most trusted real estate agents are licensed, they can assist a seller and buyer locate a home and buy the real estate; they are also in a position to negotiate the sales while the broker supervised the whole process of the transaction.

• Organization Marketing Plan

A Realty firm has several manners of getting a home sold than another, some have a good potential buyer on their database that can pull up a well-qualified home buyer who may be looking for a specific kind of house at a specific location. Other realty firms allocate or spent a percentage of their revenue on advertising searching for clients wherever possible.

• Summary and conclusion  

A new landlord who purchased a house on mortgage loan for primary residence must go through process if ought to convert residence to a let apartment; first, he or she carefully read loan documents over and over, if any part of clause on document that does not clear to him, he can seek second advice from a professional or from a well trained licensed real estate agent who works under the supervision broker in the firm. The lender may penalize a loan fraud if they find out on time before the waiting period 12 months expired; they can foreclose the property if they wish. That may be losing to the new landlord totally. Don’t let this happened to you when the house is purchased on the mortgage loan.

If you like this blog post, you can share it with a friend who may be thinking of buying his first home and needs your advice. Are you a homeowner, what kind of experience as you struggled with on your residence home or even in a commercial property?

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below:

         E: housesandrawlands@gmail.com

 Website: http://www.aapartmenthouse.com

[hmhworld-blog]

HMH World

A Firewood Rack is an Essential Piece of Outdoor Equipment Are you an outdoor sports fanatic? Do you like to hike, ski, or play sports activities, but you might be tired of paying high tools prices? Relying on your favourite sport, the fee for tools will be thousands. However, there are numerous completely different method to save in your subsequent gear purchase. Contemplate the following for ways to save a bundle of cash. 1. To begin with store round - Verify on-line and within the papers for tools on the market. It's also possible to check in your local cellphone book for sports gear stores. You will probably discover there are lots of sporting goods and outfitters accessible in your area. You would possibly even test websites like Craigslist or Offers.com to see if you can find an excellent deal. Sporting and out of doors gear can vary largely in price. Be sure you find the most effective deal. 2. Think about a trade - Many stores will can help you commerce in equipment you not use and receive credit you should utilize to purchase the items you need. You might also put an advert within the paper or online categorized to see if anybody has what you are on the lookout for. In this case, you would possibly find you could have one thing which you could commerce to somebody who has your merchandise. For those who commerce locally, you'll be able to most likely trade issues apart from equipment. 3. Test with sports corporations - Many local companies that hire tools or host sporting events will promote older equipment they no longer need. If sports gear is what you're in quest of you may also verify with native schools to see if they have gear for sale. Most of the locations offer gross sales every year. four. Verify online auctions - Many on-line public sale websites could have outside or sporting tools listed. You would possibly simply get fortunate and win your item for a low bid. Search for gadgets which can be ending soon and place the best bid ultimately before somebody can enter right into a bidding war and make the worth go up. You might also check for fast buy affords. Nonetheless, with this sort of website ensure you figure in transport and dealing with prices as well. 5. Buy last year's fashions - Many stores will provide clearance or close out fashions when the brand new fashions are coming into the store. The new models will usually have few variations for what is currently available. In this case, you get a model new product at a reduced worth simply because a brand new one has come out. These are all great methods to save cash in your next buy. Nonetheless, be sure you check the protection of any product you are purchasing. If you end up shopping for harnesses to save you from falling off a cliff or a helmet to guard you during a tackle, you wish to be certain that you can be protected. Check online review sites to make sure the great deal you discovered is recommended by individuals who have tried the product and found it safe and efficient. When shopping for sports activities and outdoor gear it can be crucial never to sacrifice price for quality and security. In case you plan on having fun with the good outdoors, you can be taking part in a convention that stretches again into antiquity. Mankind lived outdoor earlier than we invented- or no less than borrowed from caves; the idea of indoors. The first makes an attempt at creating shelter have been tents, and conveniently sufficient tents are still utilized in tenting, hiking, and backpacking right now. In actual fact, tents characterize simply certainly one of plenty of pieces of out of doors gear that almost all lovers own. Again in the age where the complete time occupation of humanity was the hunter gatherer way of life, we adopted a nomadic lifestyle. This wandering took us into climates that were not always friendly to our sensibilities. The best and handiest way to deal with that was to take shelter through the evening, as well as in inclement climate. Tents had been an effective form of shelter as a result of the tribe may bring tents with them wherever they went. They might fold up and simply transport over rough terrain. gym clothes The first tents were manufactured from animal skins, with wooden making up the frame of the tent. The method of tanning turned the skins into extremely sturdy leather, moderately than mere animal skins that will decompose shortly. The tanned hides could possibly be rolled across the picket body to protect it whereas in transport. However how do you carry a tent round? Opposable thumbs are great and all, but they aren't much use for heavy lifting. (Seriously; try supporting a considerable amount of weight along with your thumb sometime and tell me how that goes for you) Effectively, ancient men also had the foresight to invent several different issues, one in every of which was the pack. Right now there's a complete outdoor activity named after the pack; backpacking. Fashionable backpacks, tents, and different outside gear bear little resemblance to their historic predecessors. For one, instead of being utilized in each day life, and meant to hold as much as the damage and tear of use over time, trendy outdoor gear is built for minimalists. It's all in regards to the lightest weight supplies providing probably the most impression per ounce. Whether it's your backpack, your tent, or your garments, everything is min/maxed to the intense. That maxim holds true for nearly all out of doors activities as nicely. Mountain bikes, kayaking, snow sports, climbing; they all attempt to provde the lightest weight tools that will perform the job. This leads to fascinating marriages of expertise and the ruggedness of nature. Carbon fiber tent poles combine with space age materials... and sit on dirt and rocks. The irony inherent within the mating of two such divergent worlds shouldn't be misplaced on any outdoorsman. To the particular person(s) who stole the fishing gear from my garage on July 17, 2010: May you rot in hell. Sturdy phrases, aren't they? I have no tolerance for thieves, and want to have used far more graphic language. A number of express examples of improper grammar come to thoughts. Last Friday, my garage was broken into. The thieves picked the low hanging fruit; they took a few backpacks left sitting on the toolbox of our ATV trailer. Inside those packs was 15 years of gathered fishing and outdoor gear. Once we began to calculate the fee to switch the lacking objects, we had been dumbfounded. It is amazing how much we spend on outside gear. Sometimes, quality outside equipment is amassed over a long period of time. A lure right here, a lure there, it's tough to stroll out of a sporting items store with out dropping at the least $20. And when travelling, the savvy angler will at all times browse the local sporting goods vendor for specific lures indigenous to the realm. The issue is, many of the items in our packs were not replaceable. Like my dad's fishing lures or my grandfather's hand tied flies. Or the anniversary addition Leatherman I obtained as a present a number of years in the past. And then there's the Florida Gators sweatshirt I purchased throughout our anniversary vacation last spring. Outrageously expensive - no. Priceless sentimental value - completely. I ponder if the those that stole our property gave it a second thought. Do they really feel unhealthy? Do they steal as a result of they are poverty-stricken fishermen? I don't assume so. Chances are, the knives & multi-tools will be pawned and every part else will be thrown away. So in the end, it's doubtless that they stole over $1,500 of outdoor gear to net $one hundred on the pawn store. Apart from the outright anger associated with the crime, we are concerned that the thieves will return. Our garage is packed full of outside gear. A canoe, kayak, 2 pontoon tubes, a trolling motor, an ATV trailer, 2 bikes, 2 4-wheelers, tents, sleeping bags, life jackets, lanterns, instruments, and countless other out of doors treasures are stuffed into our 2-car garage. My spouse's fishing license was tucked into the pocket of her backpack. Listed on the fishing license is our deal with, her date of delivery and driver's license quantity. This makes identification theft a sensible concern. We stay in a middle class neighborhood in a small city. I can bear in mind rising up on the farm. We didn't lock our dwelling or automobiles, and the keys were left within the ignition more often than not. A lot has changed since then, and I worry now we have not seen the worst. The methamphetamine epidemic that plagues the nation combined with rising unemployment and the worst economy in my lifetime creates a recipe for increased crime in every area of the nation. Listed here are some tips to assist keep your hard-earned property protected and safe: ? Solely open your storage door when completely necessary, and do not go away it open any longer than required. It will forestall would-be thieves from inventorying your gear and seeing one thing that catches their eye. ? You'll want to hold all exterior mild bulbs changed and leave them on at evening. Effectively lit property is less appealing to a felony. selfie drone ? Preserve automobiles locked, and do not ever go away invaluable items in them at night time. ? When you have a toolbox on your truck, hold it locked at all times. ? At all times remove receiver hitches when not in use. ? If you get home late at evening from the day journey to the local lake, take the time to unpack your gear. Fishing poles, sort out boxes, and coolers left behind a pickup are irresistible bait for dishonest pedestrians. ? Boats are magnets for thieves. Until yours is secured in a storage or shop, retailer all contents indoors. ? Use locking wheel chocks or other locking mechanisms for boats and trailers saved outdoors. ? Do not go away storage door openers in vehicles parked exterior of your storage. Should you park outdoors, take them in with you each evening. ? Once you journey out of town, ask a pal or neighbor to choose of your mail and paper and verify in your property every day. magnetic lashes ? In case you go on trip within the winter, you'll want to make preparations to have your driveway and walk shoveled every time it snows. A foot and a half of accrued snow with no footprints or tire tracks is a certain indicator of a vacant residence. ? Don't go away cover-a-keys in apparent areas on your automobiles or round your private home. Would-be thieves will probably seek for your extra key under the bumper of your automotive, inside the bed rail of your truck, underneath the doormat, on the porch mild, inside the BBQ grill, and beneath the little frog on your entrance doorstep. ? Get within the behavior of conducting a security examine each night time earlier than you go to mattress. Guarantee home windows and doors are locked, garage doorways are closed, autos are locked with out valuables left inside, and outside lights are on. selfie drone ? Preserve your homeowners or renters insurance coverage present and make sure the limits are ample to cover the contents of your house and storage. ? Set up an alarm system in case you can afford it. Frequent sense, consistency, and diligence are the best strategies of holding your property safe. Why was my storage damaged into? As a result of I used to be complacent and let down my guard. Certainly one of our vehicle doorways was left unlocked, and the thieves used the garage door opener hooked up to the visor. The day before the housebreaking, our garage door was left open a lot of the day as we lazily prepared for a weekend fishing trip. Previous to the break in, my family had been diligent in conserving autos locked and property safe. But it only takes once. Do not let it occur to you - high quality outside gear should be handed down by means of posterity as household heirlooms; not stolen and pawned by thieves missing morals and values, devoid of the pleasure and integrity that is inherent in most outdoorsmen and girls. In case you are planning to go for an excursion, then you will be certain deciding to take some out of doors equipment with you. inflatable hammock It is rather obligatory to keep with you all such obligatory equipments before making up your mind to go for an outing. Now, you will be considering of the equipments to be taken along with you. Here are the details of few of them to be carried with you. Sleeping Baggage selfie drone These are probably the most essential equipments to be carried as it the one means to get comfortable sleep throughout an outdoor trip. These sleeping bags come, principally in two shapes and amongst these two; one is abbreviated as the mother-formed luggage. These sleeping baggage offer you the nice and cozy feeling as you feel within the lap of mother. The other one is of rectangular shape, however it is much less effective when it comes to heat. For those who need more place to turn and toss, then it's essential to select it. Tents To purchase tents as outside tools is not at all an enormous subject because the tents are available in a wide range. Probably the most interesting side relating to tent is that the tents are available for numerous functions like seasonal adventures, die-exhausting mountains, weekend campers, etc. Nevertheless, it will likely be sensible to purchase tents by looking for full detailed knowledge relevant to its sturdiness and long-lasting. Suppose, in case you compromise for the quality of tent, then you will have to face the worst scenario you've ever considered. You need to carry the superior quality tent with you to beat the unpredictable climate conditions. Mountaineering boots It's quite not possible to think of a perfect tour without mountaineering boots. These boots are needed for every type of outing. Although it's essential to carry climbing boots with you, but it is usually a indisputable fact that these are very costly. Spending on mountaineering boots is rather like a giant funding. Subsequently, try to buy a top quality boot so to use them for the long time period. One sort of climbing boots is Mild weight, and it is considered to be the most effective due to its two features - excellent toehold and coziness. Another kind of mountaineering boots is created for a person particular person in line with the form and measurement of the foot. These boots get just a little bit expensive as they're made for your private makes use of. And at last, to face the rainy season or to cross the water area, particular waterproof range of hiking boots are additionally accessible.

[junker-town]

LeBron James and the impossible task of the black athlete escaping racism

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is — it’s tough.”

One of the best sounds to ever hit our ears is Kanye West rapping in his 2004 smash hit “All Falls Down,” effortlessly breaking down the struggles attached to modern black life.

How he wrestles with his personal battle with consumerism, the limits of his body, and his wealth is astounding. At the end of verse two, tucked into his convincing flow and the sweet sounds from Syleena Johnson on the hook, sits a harrowing truth.

“Even if you in a Benz, you still a n**** in a coupe.”

In 11 words, Kanye issues a reminder of everything the black body must overcome to truly be free: perception. The majority’s view of black people represents a limit many can’t overcome. There’s a blockade between who they are and how they are seen.

It was notable Wednesday when LeBron James’ Brentwood home in Los Angeles was vandalized. Someone spray-painted a racial slur on his gate. James wasn’t home. But it didn’t make the incident less jarring to him. In one of his first public comments after reckoning with the racist act, James echoed Kanye, in a way.

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is — it’s tough,” James said. “And we got a long way to go for us a society, for us as African-Americans, until we feel equal in America.”

When commenting on race, James’ messaging is usually sanitized. Not here. Here James hits on the truth he often avoids saying: No one has ever escaped the stigma attached to black skin. No matter how much acclaim black people gain, or money they make, escaping the effects of American racism is impossible. It’s a symptom of the systemic issues America has made, faces, and continues to grapple with.

More specifically, black athletes have often struggled through issues of racism and hostile welcomes to white neighborhoods, like James’ entry into historically white Brentwood in 2015.

The Bacharach Giants, a Negro League baseball team that played in Atlantic City in the 1900s, faced similar hardships. Their name was granted to them, just like other white teams in the city, based on the area or neighborhood or park the team inherited. Bacharach was a famous black-inhabited park on the island.

Long before playing, the differences between the Giants and their opponents were made clear. As Black Ball and the Boardwalk: The Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City detailed, team names alone made the racial differences clear between the two.

These street name changes created subtle boundaries that were observed by both races, especially blacks, who knew they weren’t welcome in white neighborhoods except as workers.

White neighborhoods became understood as unwelcoming of black people and athletes, but that didn’t stop them from moving in. Black athletes playing for local teams had to find places to live and moved there anyway. As more and more black folk entered this domain,the risks of black people moving into white spaces continued to be publicly highlighted.

Bi-racial Hall of Fame guard Lenny Wilkens wrote in his 2001 book, Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA, about how in St. Louis his neighbors poisoned and killed his dog because they didn’t want him in their neighborhood.

We had a collie puppy named Duchess. After a while, the for sale signs weren’t enough, the cold shoulders and stony silence from the neighbors weren’t enough, the ugly glances when they saw us outside weren’t enough.

They had to poison our little dog.

...

Part of you wonders, “What will they do next?” But my wife is a very strong-willed person...if anything that made her more determined to stay. No one was going to scare us, to run us off. We had as much right to live on that street as anyone.

One of the more notable instances of this type of racism was Bill Russell’s documented fight with homeowners and vandals in Boston during his reign with the Celtics. In the ’60s, robbers broke into his home and shit on his bed for buying a house in a white neighborhood. Russell’s teammate K.C. Jones recalled the same in a 2008 interview with Boston Magazine.

“We were living in Framingham when I was a player,” Jones said. “I went to buy a house about five blocks away….The neighbors said they didn’t want any blacks to move into the house.” On another occasion, Jones applied for membership at a country club, but was told they weren’t fond of “entertainers.”

Crime and vandalism is an inescapable reality for black athletes attempting to exist in white spaces. Pro players received hate mail and death threats for decades simply for being black and playing sports. That tradition has now transferred itself to social media, with cowards skulking behind avatars and spewing hate at their athlete of choice.

The change in eras, from letters to Twitter-related racist steam, has not lessened actual hate crimes and personal racist attacks on black people and players. After the 2016 election, New York Giants’ fullback Nikita Whitlock had his home in New Jersey robbed, swastikas spray-painted on his property, and “Go Back To Africa” letters placed around his apartment. His response was, essentially, “if you’re black, this will happen.”

"It just re-establishes that no matter where you are, no matter who you are, this can happen to you," Whitlock said. "It’s about to be 2017. Oppression, violence, racism, hatred, violence, there’s no need for that."

These are constant indicators that socioeconomic status does not change how the majority views an individual’s blackness. It is not enough to simply know or say “racism is bad.” We know that. We see that. The ultimate change begins when the conversation transforms from “this is a few bad eggs” or “this is a racist city” to “America is racist.”

The behaviors of few, when consistent, are indicative of the systemic issues in place in every environment in the country. It’s not that Los Angeles, or Brentwood — famous for O.J. Simpson and how his being ignited separate conversations on race — has a history with racism. This is a collective issue, but the onus isn’t on the afflicted to right this transgression.

For the time being, James will be focused on basketball, because, really, what else is he going to do?

In that second verse of “All Falls Down,” Kanye describes running into the stifling brick wall racism can sometimes present. In Kanye’s riff on a sampled Lauryn Hill bop, there’s ecstasy in understanding his present-day America, the same America James still shares, the same America that will continue to see James — arguably the world’s most notable black athlete — as nothing more than just another black man.

“We shine because they hate us.”

And

“Floss ’cause they degrade us.”

Why?

“We tryna buy back our 40 acres.”

[fengshuiatl]

Atlanta: Word on the Street

This is the first thing I’d hand the players once they were on board with playing the game. At this point, all they’d really need to know is:

The game is set in Atlanta.

They’d be playing criminals.

The game is based on action and crime films.

They could have a character idea in mind, or could be completely clueless outside of those three points above. This was to get them to start the wheels turning and hopefully get them more interested in the world. You’ll also notice where the John Wick influence comes in pretty easily. I wasn’t subtle, heh. Additionally, this game is loosely connected to the last Feng Shui campaign I ran, set in 1996 L.A. The PCs foiled a drug trafficking and land deal conspiracy that spanned two different time periods. It also connected the Feng Shui antagonist faction The Ascended to the LAPD, drug cartels, and national level politicians. My players dealt a massive blow to them, so I did a bit of thinking about how that would look 20 or so years later.

There's a few things that everybody in this thing of ours knows about, from the biggest boss on down to the lowest corner hustler. Get familiar.

The Conglomerate - Organized crime in America as of late is an increasingly outsourced affair. The RICO Act laid a significant haymaker on La Cosa Nostra, and truly organized operations traditionally based around American gangs have fractured and splintered. One organization that's emerged and flourished as a completely homegrown entity is the mysterious Conglomerate. Having their fingers in everything from white collar crime, to jewel heists, and underworld hits, authorities liken them to an organized crime version of hacker collectives like Anonymous. No one knows of any central leader, and whenever law enforcement agents believe they have one pegged, it turns out to be a red herring. Likewise, denizens of the underworld don't have any solid idea of who is ultimately pulling the strings, and most assume that this is the result of several well-moneyed and connected individuals simply pooling their resources and coordinating their efforts. The only semblance of a hint as to who could be running The Conglomerate is that a favored target of its activities is the corporate world. Many of the aforementioned red herrings are CEOs, CFOs, and politicians who have either had their hand in the cookie jar, or were indeed using their power to lead a criminal life clandestinely. Another favorite target of The Conglomerate are drug cartels and smugglers. Curiously, rumors abound that The Conglomerate is behind some of the more recent pushes toward decriminalization and legalization of marijuana in the U.S. Working with The Conglomerate is both easier and harder than one might expect. No one ever seems to work with them directly, but nearly every hood on the street “knows a guy” or has “heard about a job” that somehow leads back to the group. These jobs pay not only in cash and valuable connections, but in a currency that The Conglomerate circulates called Denarius.

Denarius – These silver coins minted by The Conglomerate are used to pay for business and services that group provides to individuals who have completed tasks for them. Their origin comes from the Ancient Roman military, where generals had special denarii minted for their soldiers to commemorate their participation in certain battles, or specific deeds undertaken. Much like these coins, The Conglomerate's coins have special designs on their faces, a new one for each year of their minting. This year's coin design: A Wagyu cow, drinking from a large bottle of beer. While there are numerous underground businesses and services that can be patronized with denarii, the most well-known is a network of hotels known as Kakurega.

Kakurega - Kakurega are way stations for the criminal underworld, run as parallel businesses by an organization known only as The Conglomerate. Usually operating out of existing hotels, “criminals of a certain class” are able to take a load off without fear of cops, or other crooks. Kakurega operate due to a shadow economy of silver coins, granted to criminals as payment for services rendered to the owner of this enterprise. Typically these coins and the jobs from which they're earned are tendered through an individual Kakurega's manager. These coins can also be passed from one individual who's earned them to another, as a special payment for favors. When someone's ready to patronize a Kakurega, they call ahead to hotel and announce that they're a member of the “rewards program.” From there, they're transferred from the legitimate business to Kakurega staff. The exact number of Kakurega isn't known, but if you have an ear to the criminal underworld, there isn't a crook in the United States of America who hasn't heard of one.

The City of Dope - In the Southeast’s drug scene, the key moneymakers are meth, pills, and heroin. Cocaine, thanks regionally to the fall of the Black Mafia Family and nationally due to the several exposés from 1996 to 1999 linking Mexican and Latin American drug cartels to prominent politicians and police administrations, has fallen mostly out of favor with everyone but the rich and powerful. Pills are for partiers and hustlers, both for the means of staying awake. Heroin and meth are the purview of proper junkies, though in truth their audiences are really all one and the same. Though national trends for illicit drug use have dropped dramatically, rates for drug use in Atlanta and the surrounding area—particularly heroin—have been relatively high in comparison. The flow of all these drugs seems to be coming from Southeast Asia, produced by countries like Myanmar, and then trafficked by Triad gangs. Once it gets to the U.S., it somehow completely bypasses any other middlemen or other traffickers before getting to the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. The end result is a kind of Golden Triangle. Those with their ears to the ground will hear some variant of this phrase very often: “Dog food (heroin) go in ATL, crystal go in Tennessee, and e’rythang go in ‘Bama.” As far as distribution of heroin is concerned, one crew seems to have everything on lock. The Grip Boys were originally a robbing crew and low-end drug dealers (mostly of stashes that were stolen from other crews), but their leader Soup somehow connected with a supplier plugged in with the Triads and managed to gain a degree of exclusivity. Stories about how exactly that happened are varied and taken with extremely large grains of salt. Everyone in Atlanta knows who the Grip Boys are, as they are seen as the successors of BMF’s legacy, with a more outlandish sense of fashion (Soup is known for his signature sleeveless floral-print, knee length trenchcoat), and a less generous nature. They aren’t sharing with any other crews or looking to absorb any others into their number. Normally this would spell a short reign, followed by a violent end from other crews tired of subsisting on crumbs. The homicide rates in tri-state owe their spike over the past few years to those that rolled the dice on this traditional wisdom paying off.

Precious Gems - Word has gone around more than once that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office is involved in some shady dealings, as far as Atlanta’s relationship with China is concerned. Specifically, that the acquisitions for the High Museum’s upcoming exhibit on Southeast Asian jewelry and decorative artifacts don’t all come from officially sanctioned sources. Furthermore, someone based in the Atlanta is in the market for Asian artifacts of all stripes. That’s turned the area into a hotbed for black market jewels and goods. If you’re looking to fence, steal, or broker, Hotlanta is an apt nickname.

“Never sold dope, but I kick doors.” - Times being as lean as they are for drug dealers, with the near-disappearance of the small time coke market and The Grip Boys’ stranglehold on heroin, money has to be made some other way. As a result, there have been a rise in home invasions, colloquially called ‘kick doors’, all across the tri-state. Some are of the homes of honest citizens, but these are often edged out by attacks on stash houses. The former largely is the result of neighborhoods like Atlanta’s Edgewood, where gentrification have put new luxury apartments with uninformed (or willfully ignorant) consumers flush up against housing projects and inner-city residents. To quote Outkast, “Bill Gates don’t dangle diamonds in the face/Of peasants when he Microsoftin’ in the place.” Even those who aren’t normally disposed to commit crime have gotten caught up in this rash of strongarm burglaries, for the simple fact that they’ve seen one too many people forced out of their lifelong neighborhoods. The latter are purely due to the drug supply drought. In these cases, the invaders in question often consider it to be the perfect crime, after all drug dealers won’t go to the cops. Most of these jack boys learn entirely too late that drug dealers also don’t have any qualms about taking matters into their own hands, especially The Grip Boys.

[junker-town]

LeBron James and the impossible task of the black athlete escaping racism

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is — it’s tough,”

One of the best sounds to ever hit our ears is Kanye West rapping in his 2004 smash hit “All Falls Down,” effortlessly breaking down the struggles attached to modern black life.

How he wrestles with his personal battle with consumerism, the limits of his body, and his wealth is astounding. At the end of verse two, tucked into his convincing flow and the sweet sounds from Syleena Johnson on the hook, sits a harrowing truth.

“Even if you in a Benz, you still a n**** in a Coupe.”

In 11 words, Kanye issues a reminder of everything the black body must overcome to truly be free: perception. The majority’s view of black people represents a limit many can’t overcome. There’s a blockade between who they are and how they are seen.

It was notable Wednesday when LeBron James’ Brentwood home in Los Angeles was vandalized. Someone spray-painted a racial slur on his gate. James wasn’t home. But it didn’t make the incident less jarring to him. In one of his first public comments after reckoning with the racist act, James echoed Kanye, in a way.

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is — it’s tough,” James said. “And we got a long way to go for us a society, for us as African-Americans, until we feel equal in America.”

When commenting on race, James’ messaging is usually sanitized. Not here. Here James hits on the truth he often avoids saying: No one has ever escaped the stigma attached to black skin. No matter how much acclaim black people gain, or money they make, escaping the effects of American racism is impossible. It’s a symptom of the systemic issues America has made, faces and continues to grapple with.

More specifically, black athletes have often struggled through issues of racism and hostile welcomes to white neighborhoods, like James’ entry into historically white Brentwood in 2015.

The Bacharach Giants, a Negro League baseball team that played in Atlantic City in the 1900’s, faced similar hardships. Their name was granted to them, just like other white teams in the city, based on the area or neighborhood or park the team inherited. Bacharach was a famous black-inhabited park on the island.

Long before playing, the differences between the Giants and their opponents were made clear. As Black Ball and the Boardwalk: The Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City detailed, team names alone made the racial differences clear between the two.

These street name changes created subtle boundaries that were observed by both races, especially blacks, who knew they weren’t welcome in white neighborhoods except as workers.

White neighborhoods became understood as unwelcoming of black people and athletes, but that didn’t stop them from moving in. Black athletes playing for local teams had to find places to live and moved there anyway. As more and more black folk entered this domain,the risks of black people moving into white spaces continued to be publicly highlighted.

Bi-racial Hall of Fame guard Lenny Wilkens wrote in his 2001 book, Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA, about how in St. Louis his neighbors poisoned and killed his dog because they didn’t want him in their neighborhood.

We had a collie puppy named Duchess. After a while, the for sale signs weren’t enough, the cold shoulders and stony silence from the neighbors weren’t enough, the ugly glances when they saw us outside weren’t enough.

They had to poison our little dog.

...

Part of you wonders, “What will they do next?” But my wife is a very strong-willed person...if anything that made her more determined to stay. No one was going to scare us, to run us off. We had as much right to live on that street as anyone.

One of the more notable instances of this type of racism was Bill Russell’s documented fight with homeowners and vandals in Boston during his reign with the Celtics. In the sixties, robbers broke into his home and shit on his bed for buying a house in a white neighborhood. Russell’s teammate K.C. Jones recalled the same in a 2008 interview with Boston Magazine.

“We were living in Framingham when I was a player,” Jones said. “I went to buy a house about five blocks away….The neighbors said they didn’t want any blacks to move into the house.” On another occasion, Jones applied for membership at a country club, but was told they weren’t fond of “entertainers.”

Crime and vandalism is an inescapable reality for black athletes attempting to exist in white spaces. Pro players received hate mail and death threats for decades simply for being black and playing sports. That tradition has now transferred itself to social media, with cowards skulking behind avatars and spewing hate at their athlete of choice.

The change in eras, from letters to Twitter-related racist steam, has not lessened actual hate crimes and personal racist attacks on black people and players. After the 2016 election, New York Giants’ fullback Nikita Whitlock had his home in New Jersey robbed, swatzikas spray-painted on his property and “Go Back To Africa” letters placed around his apartment. His response was, essentially, “if you’re black, this will happen.”

"It just re-establishes that no matter where you are, no matter who you are, this can happen to you," Whitlock said. "It’s about to be 2017. Oppression, violence, racism, hatred, violence, there’s no need for that."

These are constant indicators that socioeconomic status does not change how the majority views an individual’s blackness. It is not enough to simply know or say “racism is bad.” We know that. We see that. The ultimate change begins when the conversation transforms from “this is a few bad eggs” or “this is a racist city” to “America is racist.”

The behaviors of few, when consistent, are indicative of the systemic issues in place in every environment in the country. It’s not that Los Angeles, or Brentwood — famous for O.J. Simpson and how his being ignited separate conversations on race — has a history with racism. This is a collective issue, but the onus isn’t on the afflicted to right this transgression.

For the time being, James will be focused on basketball, because, really, what else is he going to do?

In that second verse of “All Falls Down,” Kanye describes running into the stifling brick wall racism can sometimes present. In Kanye’s riff on a sampled Lauryn Hill bop, there’s ecstasy in understanding his present-day America, the same America James still shares, the same America that will continue to see James - arguably the world’s most notable black athlete - as nothing more than just another black man.

“We shine because they hate us.”

And

“Floss 'cause they degrade us.”

Why?

“We tryna buy back our 40 acres.”