#Factoring for truckers

[artisticdivasworld]

What Is Factoring and Why It Matters

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com Factoring is a game-changer for many new truckers, especially when cash flow gets tight. Starting a trucking business is exciting, but the financial side can be daunting. Expenses like fuel, repairs, and insurance never wait, but payments from customers often do. Sometimes you’re stuck waiting 30, 60, or even 90 days to get paid for a load. That’s where…

[catenary-chad]

having the terrible realization that Caboose should be Canadian to be extra unassuming… and because some Canadian railroads used old boxcars and cabooses for radio controlling engines well into the 2010s, I was shocked to learn the Lac Megantic disaster train had one.

Pretends to be an innocuous old caboose but HE’s the one actually capable of mind control and is secretly truck—aligned.

[artisticdivasworld]

Streamlining Trucking Finances with Digital Invoice Management

Let’s talk invoices. I know, it might not be the most exciting topic when you’re out on the road, but stick with me for a minute—it’s actually smart for your business. Tired of handling stacks of paper invoices? It’s like trying to navigate rush hour traffic with a broken GPS. Papers get lost, numbers get messed up, and chasing down payments can feel like an endless loop. But here’s some good…

[avaaltechnologysolutions]

Fuel Card Integration-AVAAL Freight Management Suite

Fuel Purchase Management: Allows you to download fuel purchases and cash advances from your fuel card provider.

Driver Settlements: These transactions show up as advances, to be deducted from driver pay or reimbursed to your owner-operator settlements.

Fuel Tax Reporting: Exports the fuel purchases into the TMS Digital Mileage and Fuel Tax program for fuel tax reporting.

Compatibility: Interfaces with most popular Fuel Cards

Cost Savings: Using fuel cards can reduce the cost of filling up your vehicles, as most of them are only valid at discounted or partnered fuel stations.

Simplified Administration: Simplifies the administration and accounting process for Driver and owner/operator settlements.

Digital Records: Provides digital fuel purchase details in case the driver loses the fuel receipts.

To Know more visit -https://avaal.com/avaal-freight-management.php

[erodasfishtacos]

Let's Be Alone Together - Trucker!H Prt II

prompt: harry doesnt understand why he asked her to travel with him, why he cares, or why he seems so drawn to a girl who cant stop apologizing and is too kind for her own good.

word count: 3.8k words

warnings: depression, suicidal ideation, lack of resources (food), childhood trauma - this is not a light-hearted read so use caution for yourselves!

author's note:

the first part was posted on tumblr here

there are currently eight more installments of this up on my patreon and still being posted

I upload a piece of writing every 1-2 days.

I recently started a second tier called The OG Tier where 2

one shots (1-4kish) are posted a week.

There are currently 350 + pieces available to read

Tier I - $3 USD where you get access to main stories, everything except the mini one shots.

Tier II - $5 USD where you get access to every piece of writing!

you can check it out here

---

YN had laid back down in his bed after they had settled that she would go with him, that neither of them were attached to anyone else in any way, and all this was a bit of company - nothing more, nothing less.

Harry tried to keep his mind blank as he watched the road ahead of him.

It was a slippery slope that typically never led to happy thoughts when he lets himself be alone with them for too long at once.

They would creep in, like slow-cresting waves, and then hit him with the impact of a tsunami.

His body moved in practice, subconscious motions as he shifted gears with ease, flicking the windshield wipers up a notch because this weather was brutal and unrelenting.

Normally, Harry wasn’t concerned about such treacherous conditions where the roads were a sheet of white, snow flurrying rapidly and thick enough the clog the wind streams to make it nearly blinding.

He sickeningly enough enjoyed it because of the risk.

The higher possibility of death.

It was because what was the worst that could happen?

His truck could veer off the road.?

Hydroplane off the asphalt, hitting him into a guardrail, flipping it over until he’s falling down the steep embankment?

He would never want that to happen, only for Birdie’s sake, but if she wasn’t a factor then his answer would be different, most days.

 Harry hated to admit that there were more days than not that he thought about how much he wouldn’t mind such a thing to happen to him.

His life had never been easy, it’s why he fled his home when he was sixteen, lied about his age, and had a rough-around-the-edges older man who had hired him for some odd jobs around his mechanics shop taught him everything he needed to know about driving a semi-truck.

And as soon as he could get his commercial license, he found a job that had him driving a truck from one end of the states to the other to deliver furniture from a custom brand out of Canada.

He didn’t mind the job, except for when he was granted his time off.

It was three weeks on, two off, and for people with families, children, it was rigorous schedule but they looked forward to having the extended time to relax at home before another three weeks took them away.

Harry didn’t know what to do with himself for that two weeks.

His bosses had looked at him like he was insane when he asked if he could just not take those two weeks off.

The first time, he came back to his hometown because he didn’t know where else to go, and it hadn’t ended well - he gave his mother too many chances and it resulted in him heading back out onto the road with twelve hundred less dollars in his wallet.

He never went back, left all of his belongings at his childhood home, changed his number so that his mother couldn’t get a hold of him, and cooped up in extended stay hotels wherever he landed for those two weeks.

Occasionally, he would meet a cute girl at the local bar or a waitress at the diner who he would spend a night with.

He really wasn't a one-night-stand guy or just a casual hookup either, but he sought out those women when the thoughts got dark, when the loneliness seemed overwhelming, and he really wasn't seeking out sex as much as he was comfort and intimacy even if just for a few hours.

He never felt enough of a connection with any of them to visit on his next off-time, even if he had promised it a few times to smooth over the hurt he had caused by crushing their hopes of a relationship.

His work paid for his meals during his weeks on, he stayed in cheap hotels, and didn’t spend money on anything except necessities that his company card didn’t cover which led to quite a hefty sum in his bank account.

Enough that he could purchase on his own semi-truck, used and beat to shit, breaking down every couple thousand miles and causing more financial burden than it was worth, but it helped him start his own business.

He had his own transport company now, just his truck and him, nothing fancy or overly complicated.

He could pick and choose his work, always picking the highest paid contracts, and it really made him successful.

Enough so that he could purchase a new, top-of-the-line semi which he reasoned was the best investment because not only was he purchasing his work truck but his home as he would be living out of it.

Ever since he started his own company, with no off time because he had contracts lined up to fulfill for the next year, and then some that never gave him a break - just like he wanted, no time to get too lost in his own miserable shit that he preferred to suppress. 

No time off meant no life.

Harry hadn’t chatted anyone up at the bar, hell, he can’t remember the last time that he was even in one.

He can’t remember the last time he had sex either.

At some point, the company of a woman didn't quell those thoughts.

Sex workers knocked on his cabin door quite frequently, his flashy truck drew their attention with the hopes that he would be a generous tipper, but he always shooed them off.

He would be extra pissed if they woke him.

At some point between his first job and now, his depression had worsened to a deeper state than it had ever been in his life.

Life was a routine, monotonous and never-changing, miserable and defeating.

Harry convinced himself he didn’t need people, he only needed the open road and his dog, and that would be enough to suffice.

It was…

Somedays.

But other days (most of them), Harry found this sense of hopelessness, the weird in between where he wouldn’t do anything to end his life, but he wasn’t going to go kicking and screaming if it happened.

This world wasn’t made for him, he had told himself a long time ago.

It was destined to be a path of unhappiness from the moment he was born to the woman his mother was.

Happiness, prosperity, excitement towards life had never been an option when the woman who raised him rejected it all.

Harry couldn’t possibly start to consider his own behaviors of inviting this girl on a five-day trip with him around the country.

He was just being nice, is what he’ll tell himself because he’s fine being alone, really, he is.

It’s been this way for years; this was certainly just a blimp before his life becomes routine again.

++

Birdie is always sleeping in the passenger seat during the day.

It was weird to look to the side to see the seat empty, the expensive leather worn from the amount of time her lazy ass slept there.

However, Birdie was back with YN, tucked into her like they were the best of friends, and Harry never existed.

Traitor.

Acting as if Harry hadn't nursed her back to health when she was a puppy, too young to be away from her mother, and completely reliant on Harry to survive.

Could fool him.

Harry didn’t even want to acknowledge that Birdie has never taken to another person, ever, like she had with their visitor.

YN must have not slept well for weeks at this point, obvious by the dark circle under her eyes that had been covered with thick concealer when they’d first met.

YN didn't stir from his bed until nearly five in the evening, he had kept the blinds down, and the black-out curtains drawn so that no light was seeping in to disturb her as she slept, making up for lost time.

When YN finally does wake up, after using the bathroom, she pads up to the front of the cabin, and sits in the passenger seat, legs crossed and tucked under her as she glances out the windshield at the snowy mountains ahead of them.

Harry looks over at her, his eyes accidentally falling on her chest before they’re darting back up to her face - she wasn’t looking at him anyways but the henley she was wearing wasn’t the thickest and the pebbling of her nipples was obvious.

“Sleep alright?” Harry asks, eyes already back on the road, with this weather he didn’t have the luxury of not being vigilant.

“Yes, thank you,” YN replies as she curls her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees, and resting her chin on her kneecaps.

Harry just nods, he’s not good at conversation, at one point he was but that was a skill he wasn’t familiar with anymore.

The extent of his communication was over the radio, letting other truckers know that they’re driving like assholes or the customers he had contracts with - that was really it.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, it’s comfortable for Harry but he can tell by the way that YN keeps looking over at him and then out the window, that it wasn’t the same for her as the only noise filtering in was the engine.

“Why don’t you have a home to go back to?” YN’s voice breaks the quiet, her voice is unsure because what were they supposed to being doing on this trip together?

Was YN supposed to keep him company by conversation since her purpose to come wasn’t sex.

Or did Harry just want the physical company?

Just a body in the seat, nothing more than that.

“Why don’t you?” Harry replies in a terse tone, it was defensive because he didn’t talk about his past, to anyone, fucking ever.

He felt emotion when he thought about what his home used to be.

It trudges up anger, helplessness, desperation.

All things that his depression helped him ignore.

He isn’t an open book, the most binded close, lock-protected type because he wasn’t going to share anything that made him vulnerable, weak, and the only thing that got him to the point was recalling what a shitty childhood he had.

Shitty was an understatement.

Harry feels instant regret for his choice of words when YN flinches at his response back, arms coming to wrap around her knees a bit tighter, and that has him cursing himself out in his mind.

He didn’t want YN to be scared of him, he could tell she was already a jumpy thing which most likely came with the required hypervigilance of the work that she does, and he doesn’t want her to have to feel that way with him.

“I’m sorry,” YN apologizes, a nervousness in her voice as she positions her body more towards the door, and away from him.

Fuck.

Harry doesn’t reply because he doesn’t know how to say ‘sorry’ without showing emotion.

As he never did before, vulnerability was his worst fear, and he was going to do anything and everything possible to never show it.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you,” Harry says instead, glancing over at her but she’s looking out the window, head now resting on the cold glass.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it,” YN dismisses easily, not turning to look back over at him.

And she didn’t say it in a way that she wanted sympathy or that anything like that.

Her voice was kind and forgiving, understanding which just shows how beat down she is.

Tired enough to just accept others' behaviors because that’s easier than fighting, accepting how people talked to her because she was so used to it that it didn’t seem like anything special when they did.

And God, that made Harry feel like absolute and utter shit.

He didn’t know YN, no, but he had a feeling that she really was a sweet girl under all the anxiousness and turmoil, and didn’t deserve that treatment from anyone.

Harry doesn’t want YN to feel like she has to get used to him treating her the same way that others have but they only have a few days together.

Why did this bother Harry so much when in the grand scheme of things, their time together was so limited that he shouldn’t care like he does, and he’ll continue to lie to himself - to chalk it up to a lame excuse.

Instead of apologizing, his voice is probably still too gruff when he responds, “You shouldn’t be used to shit like that. You need to stand up for yourself, not let people walk all over you. S’not right.”

YN picks at a loose thread of the pajamas pants she’s wearing, “I shouldn’t have asked, it’s my fault. I get why you said that.”

Harry hasn’t registered guilt as an emotion he’s had for a very long time, it hasn’t been a necessity, and it’s not YN’s fault that it's pounding inside his skull right now.

There’s something about how understanding she’s being, kind and giving him every opportunity to act like it never happened, and she deserves to be treated nicer - nicer than he was treating her too.

“S’not your fault,” Harry shakes his head, his fingers knuckling the steering wheel a bit harder because going from zero to a hundred of getting his feelings back wasn’t an easy thing to try to sift through - it was overwhelming, and he didn’t know why it was happening.

YN doesn’t say anything else, props her chin back on her knees after a while and watches the open road, her eyes trailing over the snow-capped mountain tops, to the wildlife they would occasionally see off in the plateaus. 

Harry finds himself wanting to talk.

He wants to know more about her, but he can’t do that when he just shut her out.

“You can go nap again, if you want. It’s going to be at least another hour before we’ll stop,” Harry tries to keep his voice more friendly, but it just comes out flat, monotone, bored.

YN had been leaning down to scratch behind Birdie’s ear, lounging right at her feet on the floor, perpetually dozing off - “I won’t sleep tonight if I do. If I’m bothering you, I can go back there.”

She slips her feet out from underneath her, standing up with the intention to get out of Harry’s space.

“No, that’s-” Harry cuts off when he realizes he had wrapped his fingers around her wrist to stop her, light with no real intention to stop her actions.

They both look down but Harry’s dropping his hold on her, continuing where he left off without acknowledging the touch, “That’s not what I meant. I just know this can be boring. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to feel like you had to sit up here with me.”

YN doesn’t seem alarmed or angered by the touch, she didn’t try to rip from his hold or shake him off, her body language was as calm as it had been before.

It was a relief because Harry was starting to have a sense of anxiety that YN  might be scared of him or intimidating, and he knew he came off…strong, unapproachable, unfriendly is just a few ways to describe him.

However, his intention is never to make her feel fear or concern about her safety around him.

His goal in these past twenty-four hours has become the exact opposite, an intense urge to protect her, even though he doesn’t know her or what she’s been through.

“I like sitting up here with you,” YN tells him shyly, her eyes darting away from him as she moves to sit back down in the passenger chair.

It had been a miracle that Birdie hadn’t snagged it in the short amount of time that YN had been out of it.

Harry’s chest warms at the admission, but he doesn’t let it show.

Of course he doesn’t.

Fuck, she’s pretty and Harry has to look back at the road because he could just stare, admire, and try to memorize her features because each time he gets a good look, he feels like he discovers something new about her.

He doesn’t say anything back, only leans over to turn up the heat a bit when he realizes that she has goosebumps on her arms, and she smiles to herself at that - almost like she doesn’t realize that she did.

And that anger floods in because all he did was turn the fucking heat up for her and apparently that gesture, that miniscule gesture, was enough to cause her to smile which make Harry wonder what the fuck she had gone through in her life.

Harry likes her smile, he thinks that he’d like to see it more often, and that thoughts are scary to him - all of this is more terrifying than it should be because his mind was becoming occupied with her.

So much so that he hadn’t thought much about his depression, his lowness, that dank place he tries to keep his mind out of at all today when normally it’s the only thing that is circulating in his mind.

++

Harry had been very spot on when he predicted that they would hit the next town in just a little of the hour.

He hadn’t eaten yet today and with a realization that he didn’t think that YN had either.

“Did you eat anything?” Harry asks with a frown, he knows that he startles YN a bit because they hadn’t spoken in that hour, and they probably would have if Harry had shut down the initial attempt at conversation, “At all today?”

“Not yet,” YN tells him as she sits up, stretching her arms above her head.

Harry knows to keep his eyes up because even out of his peripheral vision, he can see the flash of her smooth belly as the shirt rising just the slightest, and since when did he find his eyes wandering to that of any woman before?

It seemed that every inch of her body was of interest to him.

And even though that sounds bad, it truly wasn’t in a predatory or sexual way, it was more of an awe, admiration to how beautiful she was, and how perfectly she was crafted albeit much too skinny.

He can see the outline of her ribcage when she stretches, not enough fat on her bones to disguise them at all, her hip bones more prominent than they should be, and all of this a clear indication that she wasn’t eating enough.

And was Harry the person to talk to?

No, not really.

He was skinnier than he should be too.

Depression sucked the appetite from him, but he did enough to keep his muscles, even if his ribs are showing more than his abdominal muscles at this point but it was hard to have any motivation to care about his appearance that much. 

“Aren’t you hungry?” Harry doesn’t mean for it to come out as accusatory as it did, he really needed to work on his tone.

YN pulls at the hem of her shirt, almost like she realized that Harry noticed how skin and bones she was under her clothes, “I am but I also learned how to cope with the hunger pains when I get them. I try to save my money to eat when it gets to that point, where it hurts.”

Harry doesn’t like that one fucking bit.

“You’re not going to do that bullshit when you’re with me, you got it?” Harry huffs, letting his irritation show and he doesn’t know how it translates - whether she gets that it is because it concerns him or that she thinks that he just finds her annoying.

It’s a tossup at this point.

“You’re going to eat when you’re hungry, no stomach pains, none of that shit,” Harry meets her eye, facial expressions firm to show that he means it.

“I’m sorry,” YN apologizes again, eyes wider and remorseful, “I’ll eat.”

Harry wishes he had the words to tell her not to apologize, to explain his behavior, and that it was all with good intent.

He wasn’t yelling at her, but he was concerned.

Instead of saying those things, he just grunts out, “Good.”

“Did you eat?” YN asks in return, not throwing it in his face but genuine concern in her words.

Harry holds up his coffee cup, “This is my fuel.”

“But…you have money to eat?” 

The confusion knits her brow in a way that shouldn’t be as cute as it is.

“Yeah, m’just not hungry a lot of the times,” Harry shrugs, it’s not a lie.

YN’s lip twist at the side, thoughtful as she reties the knot of the pajama pants, too big and slipping down her hips, her voice quiet like if Harry hadn’t really been listening, he wouldn’t have heard it, and she probably wouldn’t have said it again.

“I really love McDonalds.”

+

[blue-policerobot]

How did you learn about coffee? Why did you consider it a survival skill on earth?

Reading the question, he slowly pushes the coffee making materials out of the frame with his pede (foot). After discovering what's coffee, he likely may have seen what it does to someone after a few cups. He extends his leg as much as he could, then he proceeds to stand there. Blue Cop clears his throat.

"Caffeine affects the human brain by blocking their adenosine receptors." Blue Cop causally says as if he doesn't have a lurking caffeine addiction... somehow. "It promotes wakeness while adenosine is a chemical that promotes sleepiness."

"I consider it a survival factor on Earth because it prevents you from falling asleep in the middle of something important such as a class or a boring work meeting. It is helpful on late nights where you do need to get work done."

Blue Cop 100% doesn't recommend it for kids. It'll only force an addiction with side effects. He knows this because of a certain someone. We do not question why he'd offer Jun coffee on the way to Edo's workshop when they went ahead to lure Mega Trucker.

[thydungeongal]

Hello dungeongal,

I was thinking about dming a scifi table in the style of a game called Starsector, dunno if u have seen it, but its a game about being a mercenary in space and things like that, and I'd like to see if u had any suggestions for a system (ik there is "theresattrpforthat" but I dont know if their asks are closed for now)

I remember u showed a sci fi system that is comically hard with some calc for the ships movement, but I dont remember the name of it

Either way, thank u and have a good time u beautiful goblin <3

The game in question was Traveller, and I can safely say that Traveller owns. I have only read the first edition of the game, but Traveller is a game very much in the "space feudalism" subgenre of science fiction, but as a game it seems best suited for playing space truckers, as it is a game that is very opinionated about the specifics of space travel, cargo, and the prices of goods on different planets. The latest edition by Mongoose Publishing has sadly abandoned vector-based space combat in favor of something "simpler" and "more abstract" which is just sheer cowardice, but I have heard tell that one of the supplements plugs it back in. @kalichnikov went into detail on those things in the big post that set it all off:

Now, Traveller is already pretty great, but it's not your only choice if you want a sci-fi RPG. Another one that I think is pretty good is Stars Without Number. That one is basically like what if someone took the core of old-school D&D and tried building a Traveller-like out of it. I like Stars Without Number but I think it both fails and succeeds at certain things: first of all, it's very much a toolkit game but without a lot of clear guidance towards what a campaign run in it should look like beyond "a sandbox," and while it is full of a lot of good advice and tables for filling and populating a sandbox and running a sandbox campaign it lacks that X factor of being specifically opinionated in its mechanics that I think gives Traveller several clear, intersecting gameplay modes. Now, Stars Without Number is still good imo in the sense that it's a really good way to get people creating a bunch of space nobodies really quickly and sending them on adventures with minimal friction, but it's not perfect. Also in its favor is the fact that there's a free edition available which already included everything you need to run it: the Deluxe version which is the one that costs money simply adds things on top of the already fantastic free edition.

Now, if you want something that is even more crunchy than Traveller and actively hate yourself, there's also Spacemaster, a science fiction version of my favorite stupid game, Rolemaster. Here's a table.

Now, all of those games are very traditional RPGs and I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention my recent favorite, Ironsworn: Starforged. Starforged is a game that while a massive departure from the Powered by the Apocalypse framework is still heavily influenced by it, and I think it does some pretty dang cool things with that. It's a sci-fi adventure game that is specifically designed to facilitate solo play but which does also allow for more traditional guided play. It's very much a game about heavily internally motivated space heroes doing space quests and it is extremely character-driven. Besides the PbtA framework requiring a bit of getting used to when coming from more traditional games, the main difference in terms of how the act of play differs is that Starforged is deliberately anti-canon and asks the Guide to not make definitive statements about the setting until those questions become relevant, as it not only asks the group to cooperate in envisioning the galaxy but also very much want the Guide to also take part in discovering what the world is about. In that sense it's very much a game where the world is filled in as it is explored, and that is a deliberate part of its design.

Starforged does cost money, but its original iron age fantasy predecessor Ironsworn is available for free.

[democratthatlovesguns]

How greed is the main factor driving inflation.

And why didn't the Biden administration rollback the tariffs that the Trump administration set in place, if it would have reduced inflation?

Okay so, unlike MAGA republicans, the Biden administration knows that it's important to listen to expert economists on topics in which they recognize they have a great deal of bias. And the Biden administration knows how to weigh the options available and determine what is best for everyone regardless of political party.

The truth is, removal of the Trump tariffs would only have improved inflation slightly and temporarily, but the cost of removal would possibly come at great risk to the American people. That is what the experts said, and their expertise was what Biden trusted in keeping the tariffs; it was not because they were the magic potion solution to a recovering economy that Trump would have you believe.

Biden's actions, of course, are in great contrast to Trump and let's state just one example, Obamacare. Trump was shown and told many times that repealing Obamacare would result in very negative outcomes for a lot of Americans. Did he give one fuck about that? NO. He tried multiple times to repeal the law completely, and replace it with "a concept of a plan."

Back to inflation.

In the last three years, late 2021 to present, many people saw themselves rethinking their careers and their choices in life - without taking money too much into consideration. Great news for opportunist assholes like Kevin O'Leary.

What happens when a large portion of the population decides to "reinvent" themselves? Usually it means they're willing to take a pay cut to obtain an entry level position in a career they always wanted or wanted to at least try OR it means that they take a leap and try to run their own business.

That's great news to owners and shareholders of large corporations: A large wave of entry level applicants to non-union jobs. Greed dictates, as Kevin O'Leary does, that you should fire the guy working forty-hour weeks and earning his living wage after twenty years of consistent quality work; greed says "fire that guy and hire two new guys at minimum wage and if you can, no overtime pay."

And the greed does not end there.

Using "inflation" as a pretext large corporations were able to drive down the price of labor across the supply chain. Look at how many owner operators in the trucking business went out of business ... Look at why Yellow Logistics went bankrupt - they could not pay the living wage "rate" that the union needed for it's workers. A surplus of available labor in the industry resulted in starvation wages, literally. Read some of the stories out there, there were truckers literally paying to take loads instead of earning from taking loads.

And it wasn't just the truckers, people in the background like freight brokers also took big hits "because ... inflation."

So what did assholes like Kevin O'Leary do to help consumers and small businesses?

Owners and shareholders were enjoying substantial savings in manufacturing labor, transport, retail workers, all granted because "inflation" and people became scared of losing their jobs. Did they pass on the savings to consumers? Sure, in the MAGA world with alternative facts (fiction) that's presumably what they did. In the real world, they jacked up prices ... "because ... inflation."

Small retail business didn't stand a chance either. Large retailers could always negotiate massive discounts on wholesale purchases that mom and pop shops could never leverage to compete with. Anybody starting a small retail business soon found it was better to go out out business than continue to lose money.

So corporate leaders enjoyed substantial savings across the board and continued to raise prices for consumers ...

AND THEN THEY REPORTED RECORD PROFITS! IN SOME INSTANCES, MANY TIMES THEIR WILDEST PROJECTIONS.

Look at the collusion in the meat industry and companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola if you need more details.

Yet, Elon is able to convince half of the American people that "big cuts" are necessary to reduce America's debt. He's certainly not going to cut money that gets funneled to his pockets, for sure. He is going to cut social security and Medicare because we all know how frivolously old people spend their money. I mean, I understand.

It's like Senator Ron Johnson said, "Senior citizens have misused social security and that's why I want it to sunset."

TBH, many a time, I have had to drive to the club ... the strip club ... to drag grandma out of there. She's in there all like "make it rain bitches" while tossing fitties and hundeds in the air and buying everyone round after round of cognac. Grandma is all like, "fitties for them titties"! And I'm all like, "Grandma you incorrigible lesbo! What about your insulin and your rent?!" [I can use the word lesbo because I have zero lesbian friends ... That's not my preference, I just have a "military look" and people make assumptions (not unfounded).]

Anyway, so what do they do when Kamala Harris states that safeguards against price gouging should be rolled out to help the American people, and that corporations should be taxed more to pay for social benefits like health care and education (that will never be paid through bullshit trickle down economics)? They send a complete dumbass anti-Semitic asshole like Mel Gibson to call Kamala Harris low IQ and stupid when it comes to economics.

To clarify, Kamala Harris understands economics much better than Mel Gibson ever will. She also understands greed and what it can drive innocent sounding people to do.

Yes, ideally, corporations would pay zero tax ... But in such an ideal world, everyone employed by the corporation from the janitor to the CEO would earn enough from a forty hour work week (not a one hundred hour work week as proposed by Elon) to afford housing, food, health care, transportation, and everyone would still have a little left over for a Sunday steak dinner with the family and a little entertainment. This ideal world will never come to be, not because it's impossible, but because greedy assholes like Elon don't believe workers "deserve" such an existence as lowly employees.

WE DON'T TAX CORPORATIONS TO BE ASSHOLES, WE TAX THEM BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES THEIR WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES HAVE EARNED.

The people that will suffer the most under Elon's rule on government spending will be the children, the elderly, the mentally or physically disabled. When you cast your vote, have them in mind, and ask yourself how much should they suffer so that Trump, Elon, and their billionaire friends can grow their "ego" wealth.

[marshallpupfan]

Making a backstory for a preexisting character can be tough.

I'm trying to write down some notes about the Marshall backstory I promised to post. At times, I keep coming up with ideas that can't work with what we know about the character, due to them conflicting with what we've seen, or some other factor entirely. Not to mention, I'm trying, in at least some way, to make it different from what the theatrical films gave us with Chase and Skye. For example, instead of Marshall getting abandoned or being the runt of the litter, I thought that, maybe, he could start out in a pet shop. Long story short, he manages to get out, his curiosity makes him explore around, he eventually gets lost and cannot find his way back, and after spending about a week or a month on the street, events lead him to Adventure Bay, where he's taken in by Ryder... and even more stuff happens from here, but I'll save that for another time.

However, some of this can't work. A dalmatian pup, alone on the streets for such a long time? There's no way that'd happen. Dalmatians are a very expensive breed, and if someone saw one without any tags, much less an owner, they'd get picked up almost immediately. At the very least, someone would find out where he's from, and he'd no doubt get taken back to the pet shop.

At this point, I thought "well, maybe he does get taken in, but his clumsiness causes his owners to get rid of him?" Therein lies another problem; Chase was abandoned, and again, I don't want yet another backstory involving the same concept. Thus, I had to reconsider this part once again.

Then, I thought I had a solution; given his young mind, what if Marshall found a big puddle of mud, accidentally stumbled into it, found it fun and decided to play in it, and this resulted in him getting covered head to paw with mud? He's so filthy, you can't even tell he's a dalmatian anymore! As a result, people look at him and think he's some filthy mongrel. Combined with his clumsiness, everyone shoos him away and refuses to help or take him in, which is how he stays as a stray for so long.

I liked this idea for a while, until I realized a problem with it...

We've seen Marshall covered in mud in the TV series before, back in season 5, and he wasn't bothered by it. If something like this resulted in people shooing you away and refusing to help you while you were lost and scared, would you have pleasant memories of that event? I imagine you wouldn't. Thus, you'd think getting covered in mud would bring back some painful memories to Marshall, instead of the big smile he has in the screenshot above. Even the very thought of going to Adventure City scared Chase, and I imagine something like this would likely linger in the back of Marshall's mind, too.

I feel like I can't go with the mud idea... and in truth, it seems like I might have to just scrap the whole stray thing all-together, since it really doesn't seem to be working. Then again, even the pet store thing seems kind of odd for a franchise like PAW Patrol, since we have dogs like Al, who seems to be self-employed as a trucker while driving giant 18-wheel semi truck, among other examples.

...Am I'm putting too much thought into all of this? lol

If anything, I've got some other ideas I can consider, but I want to give it some time before I go inserting it into my Marshall backstory. But yeah, it might take a little longer to get this out than I thought. 😅

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s1 episode 17 "E.B.E." thoughts

i enjoyed this episode and was deeply excited for my nightly scully and mulder time. these two factors led to me taking a lot of notes tonight, even by my standards!

the first thing i wrote was "okay i read the synopsis... are they going to get CANCELLED" (thankfully this did not happen!)

the title screen reading "present day" did not predict me watching this in 2024 but i love to prove ppl wrong!!

the trucker pulled his shotgun out and fired at a spaceship which was a bold move. we need to praise him for his courage if nothing else.

then our intrepid heroes jump to tennessee!! and mulder unpacks all his little gadgets to check for aliens... aww it's endearing to me

in the interrogation room they were talking to the trucker and this man really WAS lounging about in a whorish manner like that famous post said!!!!! i was shocked!!! no decorum, not even at an interrogation!!

okay they're talking about "gulf war syndrome". i need to look something up real quick -> good lord i thought they made that up for the show but it's real and that is horrific. wow. that will be the next research rabbit hole i dive down.

(she opens her mouth to say something) (he holds his finger up) "not-not here" argument SUCCESSFULLY POSTPONED!

some background character asked scully for a pen and she gave it to her and i KNEW it was a sneaky trick... my guess was that she was going to use her fingerprints for something but in actuality it had a tracking device in there!!!!

THEY TOOK A BUS!!! new mode of transportation unlocked for our duo!!!!!!! you can tell this is fiction because it involves the US having functional public transport!!!!

mulder takes scully to his latest collection of freaks and conspirators. he says that barney is the world's most evil agent which once again raises the question: what did barney do to deserve all this?

one of the ufo nerds says "she's hot" right in front of scully which she graciously ignores. but then she says the us government is incompetent and the guy says "she IS hot" louder this time and mulder tells him to SETTLE DOWN!!!! he said that is my FRIEND and you will be RESPECTFUL!!!

(scully gives her $20 bill to a strange man) (he rips it up) she says, in the most indignant scully voice you have ever heard, heyyyy >:(

she says those guys were the weirdest people with the most outlandish theories she had ever met and mulder responds with "you think it's remotely plausible that someone might think you're hot?"

(A STUNNED SILENCE FILLS THE ROOM. MANY WANT TO KNOW WHY HE SAID THIS AND NO ANSWERS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED. HELLO???? WHAT WAS THE LOGIC HERE???? is he flirting. is this is twisted humor. scully, once again, GRACIOUSLY says nothing)

she's all mad at how self important those guys were being- "they probably think they're being tracked wherever they go!" (cut to tracking device in pen reveal) oh these silly geese!!!!!!!

mulder at home reveal!!! we haven't gotten much of this before. he promptly fell asleep on his couch lmao what a guy.

a deep throat return!!! he hands mulder a package from under his coat like they do in all the good spy media!!! shoutout to that weird old man!!

scully thinks it's weird that mulder is trusting some guy and says a line that will certainly haunt me forever: "mulder, you're the only one i trust" "then you're gonna have to trust me" (immediately proceeds to get betrayed by trusting that guy. lol. lmao, even)

he says they'll meet up at her place and reassures her with a shoulder grab and lean in that was entirely unnecessary but it brought me great pleasure

scully uses her sleuthing skills (eyeballs) to realize the alien photo deep throat gave them is very fake. she is a detective!!! but he is very angry that she won't go with him to chase this new lead!

(wait i wrote all of this next part down i loved it so much)

"i have never met anyone so passionate and dedicated to a belief as you. it's so intense, sometimes it's blinding. but there are others who are watching you, who know what i know, and whereas i can respect and admire your passion, they will use it against you. mulder, the truth is out there, but so are lies." <- banger monologue that really pissed off the man it was directed towards (even though she said she admires him!!!!!!)

when he realizes the photo is indeed a fake, he menacingly leans in towards scully and says "we're alone on this one. there's no one we can trust" and yeah it was scary but i was looking at scully's freckles. sorry (it WILL happen again)

mulder meets deep throat in an aquarium!!!! need to see him in an aquarium for recreational purposes. get him a little shark keychain in the gift shop.

but now he's MAD at deep throat for lying to him and denying the world the truth: that aliens exist! shh keep your voice down you might scare the sharks!!

deep throat says "a lie is most convincingly hidden between two truths" to which i wrote, "ooo good line"

deep throat knows mulder is being listened to electronically which made me think that if i knew i was being wiretapped, i would blast the most insufferable hyperpop i know over and over again. hello welcome to the 10 hour 100 gecs livestream in my living room, feds. i give you 20 minutes tops before you give up.

(cutscene to mulder ripping apart all of his furniture in his apartment) <- me when i get that Cleaning Urge at 3 am

ohhh the little finger hand signal means someone is listening to us !!! the intimacy of being able to communicate with someone with just a motion!

scully hails a cab which is so nostalgic for me, because i have never hailed a cab in my life and only see it happen in tv shows or movies. now we just call an uber which is like kinda the same thing but taxis popped off with the bright yellow design. sad i've never experienced that.

sometimes while i'm watching the show it will randomly go to like vhs level quality and it did that here while scully was buying a plane ticket lol

next thing i wrote was "there are only 15 minutes left they are NOT gonna solve this one boys"

mulder fell asleep in the car with his mouth wide open... that is my cringefail loser princess

the alien got away! (jk it was a trap... but i was momentarily happy for the alien)

scully was scared by this turn of events! "god mulder, i can't stop shaking"... oh, an episode 1 parallel?? (she still gets scared by these things!!! just not often!!! which makes it more impactful when it happens!!)

then they crashed a random party in the woods which i can only imagine is very good for your health, especially if its a ufo welcoming party

they very briefly got aliases to break into the government facility and i LOVE a good alias but it didn't really go anywhere. sad!

a guard is stalking them breaking into a place they Should Not Be and scully gives up and turns herself in, but mulder makes a break for it!!! "oh this isn't gonna end well," i wrote, "why does he keep doing this?"

but we meet DEEP THROAT at the scene!!! who reveals that post ww2 there was an ULTRA SECRET WORLD POWER conference during which they agreed to kill any aliens that landed on earth and that HE was one of the 3 people on earth to kill an alien!! which he did when one crashed in vietnam...

and that the innocence on the alien's face still haunts him, which is why he helps mulder out, to give him a chance to atone for his sins... a LOT to unpack there

mulder says he is trying to figure out which of these things he said is a lie and my money is on the super-secret conference. you think people had nukes but drew the lines at aliens being a safety threat to bring them all together? bffr.

but there is no resolution as to if mulder is mad at scully for throwing them under the bus as the episode ends! they just watch deep throat fade into the distance together which hopefully means it's water under the bridge.

overall i really liked this episode! it was fast-paced, involved a roadtrip, had the leads both fighting and comforting each other, confessions of admiration, secret hand signals, an aquarium, a peek into mulder's living space, him calling up some weird guys he knows... what more could you really want?

[celticcrossanon]

Hello Celta, you have had to be living under a rock not to have heard about Catherine and Charles. What’s curious to me is why did Charles release his prostate thingy almost the same time as KP talking about Catherine’s hospital stay? His is not until next week. Did he want to have some of her glory and sympathetic publicity? Is he still waiting to the most important royal like he was in the Diana days?

My second point is that an American psychic Linda The Comanche Psychic had a livestream yesterday, and many were frantic asking her about Catherine’s health. Linda is a retired ICU nurse and she said her guides were saying it was an intestinal diverticulitis/diverticulosis. She had a nurse friend with this condition and she had the exact operation with the same hospital stay and recovery time. Another person in the chat, a trucker also had the same operation. It’s where the surgeon removes a part of the infected intestine, and the stitches it back together. Because of the location of the surgery, they have to take special care to make sure it heals properly. I can imagine it takes some time because your gut is not a sterile area, and she can’t lift anything heavy, eg Louis. The origin of the disease is not clear, but it could be some are genetically inclined to get it. I imagine stress is definitely an added factor., as Catherine has taken good care of her health and diet for years This is all allegedly of course, as I doubt KP will ever clarify her medical issue.

This is just to shut down those who are saying it’s a hysterectomy. Nowadays hysterectomies are done in one day, overnight stay and you’re home. As a matter of fact most procedures are one or two overnight stay. For example, Charles upcoming prostate procedure is a same day job.

I’m wishing Catherine good healing vibes. Post operation the two people in the live stream had better health, and it solved their issue. Catherine will be ok.

Hi AnonymousRetired,

I saw the news about Princess Catherine yesterday and then about King Charles today. I think both of them will be fine, but I am going to read on both of them to make sure.

I think the double announcement wasn't done out of malice or attention seeking (for once) but was either a) both palaces wanting to get all the bad news over and done with b) using the King's announcement to divert attention from the announcement about Catherine, to try and shield her from the speculation, or c) the palaces not talking to each other about the timing of the announcements. I'm not getting any malicious vibes from the King's announcement nor any attention seeking vibes from it, just "the people need to be informed about this because of my position as King, even though I would rather they did not know" vibes. If anything, I think the King is rather embarrassed about his health issue and trying to put a good face on it.

With that healing time, I think the health issue is something that involves muscles or other bits being cut and sewn back together, like what the psychic you mentioned said, and not e.g. anything done using keyhole surgery, which has a shorter stay in hospital as far as I remember.

As you said, the main thing is to send them both healing energy and positive energy, or remember them in your prayers, or whatever you do to support their healing process. I wish them both a good recovery and better health after their procedures.

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 835: Minutemen Double Nickels on the Dime

If I were to lose my entire record collection in a fire, the first albums I would replace would be Miles Davis' In A Silent Way, Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, and Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime. Of all those albums, Double Nickels has been in my life the longest.

It wasn't the first Minutemen album I owned (that would be the Post Mersh Vol 1 compilation) nor would it be the first Minutemen album that I really fell in love with (that would be Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat), but it's the album that best encapsulates and captures all that I love about Minutemen.

With 45 songs at a runtime of over 80 minutes, it's a very dense album. As the San Pedro trio was fond of explaining, this was their "art album," which presumably means they were straying even further from the punk formula of their SoCal peers. Bassist Mike Watt ditched the pick and started playing with his fingers, nudging the band into funkier territories. Guitarist D. Boon revealed an aptitude with his instrument only hinted at on previous recordings and established his place as one of the greatest players in the punk scene. Drummer George Hurley slowed the tempos and leaned into the groove. There is very little on Double Nickels that sounds traditionally punk, unless you look back to the guitar dexterity of Television's Marquee Moon or the stabby rhythms of Gang of Four's Entertainment! To further confuse things, there were covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Van Halen, and Steely Dan on the album, and they blended in seamlessly with the original material.

It was a lot to process as a 15-year-old punk back in 1992. Minutemen had been big with my peer group in Hawaii, but I'd moved to Washington over the summer, and none of the punks or skaters I knew on the mainland gave two shits about the band. The "cool" factor for the band had disappeared in the move. But there was still something fascinating about Double Nickels, even if the music felt a bit unapproachable.

There was almost a kind of separate culture that surrounded Minutemen. Their vernacular was strange... a combination of SoCal surfer-speak, trucker slang, working class drawl, and literary sophistication. Their lyrics were both topical and cryptic. The incorporation of Raymond Pettibon illustrations in their album art added another layer of tension, mystery, and irreverence. They had a blue-collar aesthetic with a political bent and an art-minded approach. There simply wasn't another band that looked, sounded, or exuded the same aura as Minutemen.

There were Easter eggs hidden all over the album. Watt had just read Ulysses and seemed intent on mirroring the book's layers of meaning and sly humor (there's even a song called "June 16th" in homage to Bloomsday). The album title was a poke at Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55," with "double nickels" referring to the 55 mph speed limit and "the dime" referring to Highway 10, which leads into their hometown of San Pedro. The album cover, an homage to Kraftwerk's original Autobahn album art, captures Watt in his car with the speedometer at a steady 55 while the highway sign for the 10 is seen through the windshield. The sequencing of the album was an homage to Pink Floyd's Ummagumma with each member getting a side of the record to curate at their will and with all the remaining songs allocated to side D.

The music was a riddle in and of itself. Songs like "#1 Hit Song" and "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing" seemed to reinforce the album title's criticism of pop music's banality while basking in contradictions, such as the puzzling decision for Boon to drop a blazing guitar solo in the latter after singing "if we heard mortar shells, we'd cuss more in our songs and cut down on guitar solos." There's the intensely autobiographical "History Lesson pt 2" but also the self-referencing diss track "One Reporter's Opinion." The ominous and odd-timed "God Bows to Math" segues into the country two-step of "Corona." Hurley prioritized the clatter-and-scat of "You Need the Glory" as the opening to his side of the 2xLP over the power anthem of "Themselves."

And there were the lyrics to parse out. What's a punk kid supposed to make of lines like "me naked with textbook poems / spout fountain against the Nazis / a weird kind of sex symbol?" Or "the world was wrong and I was forced to march in line / but it felt like handcuffs / machines disregard my pronouns?" One moment it's "no hope / see, that's what gives me guts / big fucking shit / right now, man," but then it's "let the products sell themselves / fuck advertising / commercial psychology / psychological methods to sell should be destroyed."

I eventually made a commitment in November '92 to listen to Double Nickels in its entirety every day of the month. It was partially an endurance test. Could I do it? But it was also an attempt at deciphering what I was hearing. Surely this must all make sense somehow. And here I am 34 years later, still intrigued, mystified, and engaged by the album. I still hear something new every time I listen to it. There are still more in-jokes, references, and nuggets of wisdom to glean from it. It's a work of art that requires patience and attention, but it's also just a straight-up piece of celebratory joy and working class angst.

There's an entire world embedded in Double Nickels. It has its own language. It's own philosophy. It's own musical logic. It's own humor. It's own cultural reference-points. And it continues to be a world I want to visit on the regular.

[artisticdivasworld]

Why Factoring can be a Lifeline for Truckers During Economic Downturns

A lot of truckers are familiar with factoring, but maybe you haven’t thought about how it could be a life saver during economy uncertainty. Everyone’s feeling the pinch with fewer loads, longer wait times, and the unpredictability of when payments are coming in. Right now, cash flow is more important than ever, and factoring could be the thing that keeps your business steady while you ride out…

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

Zuma Appreciation Week - Day 5 (Skipping day 4 because it'll be posted later some other day), Favorite Outfit

Okay, THIS ONE I won't make art for it because I need to focus my still very limited time of using my laptop for other urgent commissions (got another tattoo to draw for and a whole wedding card to design!). Too bad I couldn't buy my second laptop earlier, it won't be here until the 18th and that's just the ETA, it might be delivered later (or sooner, hopefully).

I also don't have a favorite Zuma outfit. I swear I went through the entire list like seven times since when I first came up with the prompts ideas and I still can't pick...

So I'll make a top 5. No specific order.

Ready Race Rescue racing suit is of course one of my favorites. I always loved racing sports, I'm not an expert but I enjoy it and have fun watching. I still need to get the chance that Brazilian Paramount FINALLY put this special up in their list, to finally watch it in the Brazilian Portuguese dub - and have my dad watch it too, I got my love for racing sports from him XD

The First Movie outfit is really cool in my eyes too. It doesn't go too far from the classic one, but still has that cool factor, y'know? Plus I love glowy/neon lines, it totally won me over instantly.

With that mentioned, I can't go about glowy lines without including the Mighty Movie powered up suit! FOR ME, THIS IS LIKE GIVING ME A WHOLE SEASONED SALAD BOWL, I'll eat it up like it's the most delicious thing in the world-- This glowy suit feeds my glowy-lover soul, excellent feast 😂👌🏽

And they managed to work ORANGE glow, it's so easy to go a tiny bit overboard and it suddenly becomes red or yellow... Trust me, it's hard to get a good orange glow on things!

Can't leave the Aqua Pups diving suit out of this top 5 ever either, for the same reason!! It has the absolute glow-in-the-dark vibe I love so much, I really wish we'd get to see more of Aqua Pups. It felt like a step further from Sea Patrol, now going fully underwater deep ocean, AND GLOWY SUITS LIKE THEY'RE SOME KIND OF BIOLUMINESCENT CREATURES, I LOVE IT--

And finally, Big Truck Pups! I love their trucker uniforms SO MUCH. They're simple, yet with a nice cool factor, the jackets look awesome, all their colors going really well with the black shirts and gloves, plus the trucker caps! When I get to work on my Zuma looks, one of them will totally be inspired on his trucker outfit and I'll make sure to get a cap and customize it like his trucker one (I want the Sea Patrol cap too). Nickelodeon is totally missing on offering these caps as official products, I'd make sure to buy originals no matter HOW if they would just do that.

AND LAST AS AN HONORABLE MENTION: First movie re-imagined classic outfit!

Not gonna lie, I like it better than the show's classic one XD It's technically the same, but a little bit more worked/detailed, which I like it a lot. I like getting to see details on things!

[laboulaie]

Soap Opera Digest: Soaps’ 50 Greatest Couples

9. Todd & Blair: two “tricksters” who found love

“What would happen if two truckers set out to trick each other?” posited Michael Malone, the late One Life To Live writer who put Todd Manning and Blair Cramer together in 1994. More importantly, “What if the ultimate trick was on them and they fell in love?”

Calling Todd and Blair “tricksters” was being kind. By the time they met at Rodi’s Bar, he had been sent to prison for participating in the gang rape of Marty Saybrooke, and she had married the much-older Asa Buchanan for his money and faked a pregnancy to keep him. As they drowned their sorrows, the two compared notes on who was “most pathetic,” and their mutual attraction led to the bedroom.

Blair soon learned that, unbeknownst to Todd, he was the heir to the Lord family fortune. So she claimed she was pregnant, he proposed and they wed in Key West. Todd soon learned the truth and forced the lying Blair to take a pregnancy test, which - surprise! - was positive. She lost the baby, got pregnant again (with Starr) and they remarried in the famous “gold balloon” wedding just before Todd was presumed dead (he wasn’t).

Years of drama followed as Blair married Max and Todd wed Téa. But they always remained on each other’s orbit - until Todd seemingly died for real in 2003. A convoluted story followed as a man claiming to be Todd (with plastic surgery) turned out to be Todd’s unknown twin, Victor Lord Jr. The real Todd returned in 2011, having been held captive by Irene Manning. He was upset that Blair had stopped looking for him, but the tempestuous twosome reconciled.

“There is such a rooting factor for these two broken people, because when they are together they are whole,” Kassie DePaiva told Soap Opera Digest in 2012. When Todd and Blair had sex, it was a love song.”

***article is word for word but pictures are different because SOD (for whatever reason) chose to include pictures of TnB when TSJ was in the role

[stex-anon-confessions]

HEY IF WE’RE TALKING HOTNESS FACTOR. old cb. oh my god he is FINE. i have come here and thirsted over him in your askbox before and i am here to do it again. i love that weird little caboose so fucking much.

also a pet peeve of mine is when people rename him specifically. i get renaming revamped red caboose or the post 2018 caboose bc those guys don’t. have any connection to the original character design but. why are we renaming the original guy. like. cb is HIS name. why are we changing it? at the end of the day i just din’t engage with content that includes a renaming of my beloved trucker cb but i just… why?? again much love to the creatives of this fandom, you all are amazing, renaming olc cb just isn’t my cup of tea. oh the struggle of being judgmental but not wanting to upset anyone. oh well

🚋 :)

.