#I either couldn’t afford it or couldn’t due to no references on my application.

[actualnymph]

trying to make a future for yourself career-wise when you genuinely don’t have any interests or care about any specific field or job is so ☹️ like I need to get into something but idek what that would be…seeing sm other people know what they wanna do feels so bad like good for them but I’ll never have that. Like how do I choose and decide…I really need to get back into school but idk if I’d even get into a college bc I don’t have any references + my SAT score was only 1010 which is not great. Maybe I can go to a community college for something then get into a good school where I can make connections and get into whatever it is I’m gonna get into but rn it’s just so hard to think about my future bc like wtf am I even gonna do. Idk. And my parents don’t care so it’s not like I can even talk to them about it I gotta figure it out on my own.

[tinyshe]

This is dedicated to all you Americans that are whining about “living in a communist country” and what a dictator Trump was; I offer the following for you to think about.

I Grew Up in a Communist System. Here’s What Americans Don’t Understand About Freedom Only in a free-market system can we truly achieve individual liberty and human flourishing.

“Individual freedom can only exist in the context of free-market capitalism. Personal freedom thrives in capitalism, declines in government-regulated economies, and vanishes in communism. Aside from better economic and legislative policies, what America needs is a more intense appreciation for individual freedom and capitalism.

“I was born and raised in communist Romania during the Cold War, a country in which the government owned all the resources and means of production. The state controlled almost every aspect of our lives: our education, our job placement, the time of day we could have hot water, and what we were allowed to say.

“Like the rest of the Eastern European countries, Romania was often referred to as a communist country. In school, we were taught it was a socialist country. Its name prior to the 1989 Revolution to overthrow the Ceausescu regime was the Socialist Republic of Romania.

“From an economic standpoint, a petty fraction of property was still privately owned. In a communist system, all property is owned by the state. So if it wasn't a true communist economy, its heavy central planning and the application of a totalitarian control over the Romanian citizenry made this nation rightfully gain its title of a communist country.

Socialism Creates Shortages

“Despite the fact that Romania was a country rich in resources, there were shortages everywhere. Food, electricity, water, and just about every one of life's necessities were in short supply. The apartment building in which we lived provided hot water for showers two hours in the morning and two hours at night. We had to be quick and on time so we didn't miss the opportunity.

“I get it, maybe we didn't need to be fashionable. But we needed to eat.

“Wrigley's chewing gum and Swiss chocolate were a rare delight for us. I remember how happy I was when I'd have a pack of foreign bubblegum or a bar of delicious milk chocolate. I'd usually save them for special occasions.

“Fruity lip gloss, French perfume, and jeans were but a few of the popular items available only on the black market and with the right connections. God bless our black-market entrepreneurs! They made our lives better. They gave us the opportunity to buy things we very much desired, things we couldn't get from the government-owned retail stores which were either half-empty or full of products that were ugly and of poor quality.

“The grocery stores were not any better. I get it, maybe we didn't need to be fashionable. But we needed to eat. So, the old Romanian adage "Conscience goes through the stomach" made a lot of sense.

“During the late 1970s, life in Romania started to deteriorate even more. Meat was hardly a consumer staple for the average Romanian. Instead, our parents learned to become good at preparing the liver, the brain, the tongue, and other giblets that most people in the West would not even consider trying.

“For a family of four like us, our rationed quota was 1 kilogram of flour and 1 kilogram of sugar per month.

“When milk, butter, eggs, and yogurt were temporarily available, my mom—like so many others of our neighbors—would wake up at 2:00 a.m. to go stand in line so she'd have the chance to get us these goodies. The store would open at 6:00 a.m., so if she wasn't early enough in line she'd miss the opportunity.

“In 1982, the state sent their disciples to people's homes to do the census. Along with that, food rationing was implemented. For a family of four like us, our rationed quota was 1 kilogram of flour and 1 kilogram of sugar per month. That is, if they were available and if we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when they were being distributed.

“The one television channel our government provided for us often focused on programs related to crime and poverty in the western world. After all, people were poor and suffering because of capitalism, so we were told, so we needed socialism and communism to solve the inequalities of humanity.

Capitalism Advances Private Property

“Considering the shortages created by the government-controlled economy of my birth country, I came to understand and appreciate capitalism, the one system that had the most dramatic effect in elevating human civilization.

“Private property and private property rights are at the core of capitalism.

“The layman definition of capitalism is the economic system in which people and businesses engage in manufacturing, trading, and exchanging products and services without government interference. A free-market capitalist system works in a more efficient manner when not tampered with by government or central bank intervention in the credit markets, monetary policy, and interest rate fixing.

“Private property and private property rights are at the core of capitalism. When in school, we learned that private property makes people greedy and is considered detrimental to society. Private property was associated with capitalism, the system that our textbooks claimed failed.

Allocation of Resources

“Romania was rich in natural resources, yet the difference between our standard of living and those from the West was quite dramatic. It was indicative of a flawed economic system that most countries in Eastern Europe adhered to during the Soviet Era. But one may ask why was there so much poverty when natural resources are so abundant?

“The free market, however, directs the allocation of resources via the amazing process of supply and demand.

Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources which have alternative uses. Efficiency is thus of primary concern when the goal is economic progress.

“In a centrally-planned environment, the various government individuals who are assigned the task of planning the economy could not possibly know how to properly allocate the scarce resources of an entire nation, no matter how smart or educated they are. Shortages are one of the consequences of improper allocation of the scarce resources.

“The free market, however, through the multiple spontaneous interactions of businesses and consumers, directs the allocation of resources via the amazing process of supply and demand. It is precisely due to the profit and loss events that economic efficiency is stimulated.

Free Markets Attract Capital

“Due to its profit incentives, capitalism encourages innovation. Innovation leads to progress and an increase in the standard of living. But progress and the climate which offers humans a high standard of living cannot be created without the capital to transform and turn resources into the final products that give us the—relatively—cheap energy and food, smartphones, fitness gyms, and overall the life we currently afford. Capital moves in the direction of less regulation, less government intervention, and less taxation. In short, capital moves to where there's more economic freedom.

“Capital is chased away due to the high risk associated with governments who engage in high levels of controlling their economies.

“In contrast, communism, socialism, fascism, or just about any government-controlled system lacks the profit incentive. The people, who are the human resources, have no desire to engage in a business where the reward is not attainable (unless it's done in the black markets). They accept the state and its bureaucratic cronies to dictate their faith.

“Capital is chased away due to the high risk associated with governments who engage in high levels of controlling their economies and, often, corruption. The overall standard of living is dramatically lower than in most capitalist places, and the poverty is higher. Consequently, the collectivist country falls into an economic and social trap from which it is hard to escape. Only capitalism can save a nation from the failure of its central economic planning.

Capitalism Helps Us Be Better Individuals

“Similar to the old Soviet lifestyle, let's remember what the typical Venezuelan family of our times worries about on a daily basis. Food to put on the table and the safety of their children. They wake up in the morning wondering how many meals they can afford that day, where to get them from, and how to pay for them.

“Capitalism makes it possible for us to challenge ourselves, to have goals, and to put forth the sweat in order to achieve them.

“We, the lucky ones to live in a relatively free-market system, don't have these kinds of worries. We go to work, get leisure time to be on Facebook, watch TV, be with our families, read books, and enjoy a hobby or two. In short, we have the personal freedom to engage in and enjoy a variety of life events because of capitalism.

“But there's another important motive to desire to live in a capitalist society. We are free to create and come up with all kinds of business ideas, no matter how crazy some might be. Because we don't have to worry about tomorrow, we have—or make—the time to read, explore, and innovate.

“Capitalism makes it possible for us to challenge ourselves, to have goals, and to put forth the sweat to achieve them. It gives us the freedom to try new things and explore new opportunities. It gives us the chance to create more opportunities. It helps us build strong character because when we try, we also fail, and without failure, how do we know we've made mistakes? Without failure, how do we know we must make changes?

Individual Freedom Can Only Exist in the Context of Free Markets

“Before immigrating to the U.S., I had to go through a rigorous process. One of the events was the immigration interview with the American counselor who, among many other questions, asked why I escaped Romania and why I wanted to come to America. My short answer was freedom. Then he posed the interesting question: "If America was to go through a period of economic devastation with shortages similar to Romania, would you still feel the same way?" I didn't think too much about it, and I said, "Yes, of course, as long as I have freedom."

“Capitalism is the path to the individual rights and liberty that build the solid foundation of a free society.

“In retrospect, that was a dumb answer on my part. After several decades, I came to believe that the human condition of individual freedom can only exist in the context of free markets. Shortages are created by the intrusion of the state into the complex activity of the markets, whether it's price controls or poor allocation of resources.

“When shortages are powerful and long enough to dramatically affect lives, people resort to revolt. Large revolts call for serious governmental actions including, but not limited to, eroding or completely eliminating individual rights (the right to free speech and to bear arms), the institution of a police state, and the enacting of a powerful state propaganda system. Capitalism is the path to the individual rights and liberty that build the solid foundation of a free society.

Is America a True Capitalist Economy?

“The short answer is no. Most of the world refers to the American system as being a capitalist one. Based on my short definition of capitalism, it is obvious that it is not quite a pure one, and I wish to clarify that the U.S. is not a truly free-market capitalist system.

“We still maintain stronger capitalist traits than most, however a few other nations who lead the way in economic freedom have surpassed us.

“The economic policy of the 19th Century with limited regulations and minimal taxation attracted the needed capital to our country. The Industrial Revolution made spectacular advancements in human conditions due to the capital concentrated in the region. America lost its number one place due to legislating higher regulations, taxation, and protectionist policies.

“But we are still enjoying some of the fruits today. Compared to many countries in the world, we still maintain stronger capitalist traits than most, however Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, and a few other nations who lead the way in economic freedom have surpassed us (see the latest statistics).

What America Needs                                                               

[besides a swift kick up the arse, my note]

“It starts in our own backyard, in our home, in our small group, in our community.

“Aside from better economic and legislative policies, what America needs is a more intense appreciation of individual freedom and capitalism. Such a crazy idea is not acquired through public schools or becoming a public servant. Young people don't need more years of schooling with more worthless college degrees and student loans in default. America needs more entrepreneurs and businessmen. It needs more people with drive and ambition, more self-starters, more innovators, more people who are willing to take chances.

“It starts in our own backyard, in our home, in our small group, in our community. It starts with loving, involved, and dedicated parents who'd instill the values of personal responsibility and delayed gratification in their children. It continues with an education that entails both theory and hands-on practice in environments conducive to learning how to think independently and how to acquire life- and work-skills. It evolves into a purpose-driven life rich in learning and experiences. And this may be just the beginning of attaining the intellectual maturity to perceive the value that free markets and individual freedom afford most of us.”

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Chinese Footbinding

Instructions Before Reading Chapter

Find a piece of cloth 10 feet long and 2 inches wide

Find a pair of children’s shoes

Bend all toes except the big one under and into the sole of the foot.

Wrap the cloth around these toes and then around the heel.

Bring the heel and toes as close together as possible.  

Wrap the full length of the cloth as tightly as possible

Squeeze foot into children’s shoes

Walk

Imagine that you are 5 years old

Imagine being like this for the rest of your life

The origins of Chinese footbinding, as of Chinese thought in general, belong to that amorphous entity called antiquity. The 10th century marks the beginning of the physical, intellectual, and spiritual dehumanization of women in China through the institution of footbinding. That institution itself, the implicit belief in its necessity and beauty, and the rigor with which it was practiced lasted another 10 centuries. There were sporadic attempts at emancipating the foot — some artists, intellectuals, and women in positions of power were the proverbial drop in the bucket. Those attempts, modest though they were, were doomed to failure: footbinding was a political institution which reflected and perpetuated the sociological and psychological inferiority of women; footbinding cemented women to a certain sphere, with a certain function — women were sexual objects and breeders. Footbinding was mass attitude,  mass culture — it was the key reality in a  way of life lived by real women— 10 centuries times that many millions of them. […] 

The physical process which created this foot is described by Howard S.Levy in Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom:

The success or failure of footbinding depended on skillful application of a bandage around each foot. The bandage, about two inches wide and ten feet long, was wrapped in the following way. One end was placed on the inside of the instep, and from there it was carried over the small toes so as to force the toes in and towards the sole. The large toe was left unbound. The bandage was then wrapped around the heel so forcefully that heel and toes were drawn closer together. The process was then repeated from the beginning until the entire bandage had been applied. The foot of the young child was subjected to a coercive and unremitting pressure, for the object was not merely to confine the foot but to make the toes bend under and into the sole and bring the heel and sole as close together as physically possible.

A  Christian missionary observed:

The flesh often became putrescent during the binding and portions sloughed off from the sole; sometimes one or more toes dropped off.

An elderly Chinese woman, as late as 1934, remembered vividly her experience:

Born into an old-fashioned family at P’ing-hsi, I was inflicted with the pain of footbinding when I was seven years old. I was an active child who liked to jump about, but from then on my free and optimistic nature vanished. Elder Sister endured the process from six to eight years of age [this means that it took Elder Sister two years to attain the 3-inch  foot]. It was in the first lunar month of my seventh year that my ears were pierced and fitted with gold earrings. I was told that a girl had to suffer twice, through ear piercing and footbinding. Binding started in the second lunar month; mother consulted references in order to select an auspicious day for it. I wept and hid in a neighbor’s home, but Mother found me, scolded me, and dragged me home. She shut the bedroom door, boiled water, and from a box withdrew binding, shoes, knife, needle, and thread. I begged for a one-day postponement, but Mother refused:  “Today is a lucky day, ” she said. “If bound today, your feet will never hurt; if bound tomorrow they will. ” She washed and placed alum on my feet and cut the toenails. She then bent my toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten feet long and two inches wide,  doing the right foot first and then the left. She finished binding and ordered me to walk, but when I did the pain proved unbearable. That night, Mother wouldn’t let me remove the shoes. My feet felt on fire and I couldn’t sleep; Mother struck me for crying. On the following days, I  tried to hide but was forced to walk on my feet.  Mother hit me on my hands and feet for resisting. Beatings and curses were my lot for covertly loosening the wrappings. The feet were washed and rebound after three or four days, with alum added. After several months, all toes but the big one were pressed against the inner surface. Whenever I ate fish or freshly killed meat, my feet would swell, and the pus would drip. Mother criticized me for placing pressure on the heel in walking, saying that my feet would never assume a  pretty shape. Mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood and pus which dripped from my feet. She told me that only with the removal of the flesh could my feet become slender. If I mistakenly punctured a sore, the blood gushed like a stream. My somewhat fleshy big toes were bound with small pieces of cloth and forced upwards,  to assume a new moon shape. Every two weeks, I changed to new shoes. Each new pair was one- to two-tenths of an inch smaller than the previous one. The shoes were unyielding, and it took pressure to get into them. Though I wanted to sit passively by the K’ang, Mother forced me to move around. After changing more than ten pairs of shoes, my feet were reduced to a little over four inches. I had been in binding for a month when my younger sister started; when no one was around,  we would weep together. In summer, my feet smelled offensively because of pus and blood; in winter, my feet felt cold because of lack of circulation and hurt if they got too near the  K'ang and were struck by warm air currents. Four of the toes were curled in like so many dead caterpillars;  no outsider would ever have believed that they belonged to a human being.  It took two years to achieve the three-inch model. My toenails pressed against the flesh like thin paper. The heavily-creased plantar couldn’t be scratched when it itched or soothed when it ached.  My shanks were thin, my feet became humped, ugly, and odiferous; how I envied the natural-footed!

Bound feet were crippled and excruciatingly painful. The woman was actually “walking” on the outside of toes which had been bent under into the sole of the foot. The heel and instep of the foot resembled the sole and heel of a high-heeled boot.  Hard callouses formed; toenails grew into the skin;  the feet were pus-filled and bloody; circulation was virtually stopped. The foot-bound woman hobbled along, leaning on a cane, against a  wall, against a servant. To keep her balance she took very short steps. She was actually falling with every step and catching herself with the next. Walking required tremendous exertion. Footbinding also distorted the natural lines of the female body. It caused the thighs and buttocks,  which were always in a state of tension,  to become somewhat swollen (which men called “voluptuous”).  A  curious belief developed among Chinese men that footbinding produced a most useful alteration of the vagina.  A Chinese diplomat explained:

The smaller the woman’s foot, the more wondrous become the folds of the vagina. (There was the saying: the smaller the feet, the more intense the sex urge.) Therefore marriages in Ta-t’ung (where binding is most effective) often take place earlier than elsewhere. Women in other districts can produce these folds artificially, but the only way is by footbinding, which concentrates development in this one place. There consequently develop layer after layer  (of folds within the vagina); those who have personally experienced this  (in sexual intercourse) feel a super-natural exaltation.  So the system of footbinding was not really oppressive.

Medical authorities confirm that physiologically footbinding had no effect whatsoever on the vagina, although it did distort the direction of the pelvis. The belief in the wondrous folds of the vagina of footbound woman was pure mass delusion, a projection of lust onto the feet, buttocks, and vagina of the crippled female. […] Bound feet, the same myth continues, “made the buttocks more sensual, [and] concentrated life-giving vapors on the upper part of the body, making the face more attractive.” If due to a breakdown in the flow of these “life-giving vapors, ” an ugly woman was foot-bound and still ugly, she need not despair, for an  A-1 Golden  Lotus could compensate for a C-3 face and figure. […] 

The upper class bound the feet of their ladies with the utmost severity.  The Lady, unable to walk, remained properly invisible in her boudoir, an ornament, weak and small,  a testimony to the wealth and privilege of the man who could afford to keep her - to keep her idle. Doing no manual labor, she did not need her feet either. Only on the rarest of occasions was she allowed outside of the incarcerating walls of her home, and then only in a sedan chair behind heavy curtains. The lower a woman ’s class,  the less could such idleness be supported:  the larger the feet. The women who had to work for the economic survival of the family still had bound feet, but the bindings were looser, the feet bigger— after all,  she had to be able to walk, even if slowly and with little balance. Footbinding was a visible brand. […] 

Women were perverse and sinful, lewd and lascivious, if left to develop naturally. The Chinese believed that being born a woman was payment for evils committed in a previous life. Footbinding was designed to spare a woman the disaster of another such incarnation. […] 

In arranging a marriage, a male’s parents inquired first about the prospective bride’s feet, then about her face. Those were her human, recognizable qualities. During the process of footbinding, mothers consoled their daughters by conjuring up the luscious marriage possibilities dependent on the beauty of the bound foot. Concubines for the Imperial harem were selected at tiny-oot festivals (forerunners of Miss America pageants). Rows upon rows of women sat on benches with their feet outstretched while audience and judges went along the aisles and commented on the size, shape, and decoration of foot and shoes. No one,  however, was ever allowed to touch the merchandise. Women looked forward to these festivals, since they were allowed out of the house.

The sexual aesthetics, literally the art of love, of the bound foot was complex. The sexual attraction of the foot was based on its concealment and the mystery surrounding its development and care. The bindings were unwrapped and the feet were washed in the woman ’s boudoir, in the strictest privacy. […] The physical process of washing helped restore circulation. […] The rest of the body was never washed at the same time as the feet,  for fear that one would become a pig in the next life. Well-bred women were supposed to die of shame if men observed them washing their feet. The foot consisted, after all, of smelly, rotted flesh. This was naturally not pleasing to the intruding male, a violation of his aesthetic sensibility. […] 

When she entered her husband’s home for the first time, her feet were immediately examined by the whole family, neither praise nor sarcasm being withheld. […] 

Certain feet were better than other feet, more beautiful. Perfect 3-inch form and utter uselessness were the distinguishing marks of the aristocratic foot. These concepts of beauty and status defined women:  as ornaments, as sexual playthings, as sexual constructs. […] The natural-footed woman generated horror and repulsion in  China. She was anathema, and all the forces of insult and contempt were used to obliterate her. Men said about bound feet and natural feet:

A tiny foot is proof of feminine goodness… Women who don’t bind their feet, look like men, for the tiny foot serves to show the differentiation… The tiny foot is soft and, when rubbed,  leads to great excitement.… The graceful walk gives the beholder mixed feelings of compassion and pity… Natural feet are heavy and ponderous as they get into bed,  but tiny feet lightly steal under the coverlets… The large-footed woman is careless about adornment, but the tiny-footed frequently wash and apply a variety of perfumed fragrances,  enchanting all who come into their presence… The natural foot looks much less aesthetic in walking… Everyone welcomes the tiny foot, regarding its smallness as precious … Men formerly so craved it that its possessor achieved harmonious matrimony … Because of its diminutiveness,  it gives rise to a variety of sensual pleasures and love feelings…

Thin, small, curved, soft, fragrant, weak, easily inflamed, passive to the point of being almost inanimate— this was footbound woman. […] 

This fetish became the primary content of sexual experience for an entire culture for 1,000 years. The manipulation of the tiny foot was an indispensable prelude to all sexual experience. Manuals were written elaborating various techniques for holding and rubbing the Golden Lotus.  Smelling the feet, chewing them, licking them, sucking them, all were sexually charged experiences. A  woman with tiny feet was supposedly more easily maneuvered around in bed and this was no small advantage. Theft of shoes was commonplace.  Women were forced to sew their shoes directly onto their bindings. Stolen shoes might be returned soaked in semen. Prostitutes would show their naked feet for a  high price  (there weren’t many streetwalkers in China). Drinking games using cups placed in the shoes of prostitutes or courtesans were favorite pastimes. […] Some men went to prostitutes to wash the tiny foot and eat its dirt, or to drink tea made from the washing water. Others wanted their penises manipulated by the feet. Superstition also had its place — there was a belief in the curative powers of the water in which tiny feet were washed. Lastly, footbinding was the soil in which sadism could grow and go unchecked —in which simple cruelty could transcend itself, without much effort, into atrocity. These are some typical horror stories of those times:

A stepmother or aunt in binding the child ’s foot was usually much harsher than the natural mother would have been.  An old man was described who delighted in seeing his daughters weep as the binding was tightly applied… In one household,  everyone had to  bind. The main wife and concubines bound to the smallest degree, once morning and evening, and once before retiring. The husband and first wife strictly carried out foot inspections and whipped those guilty of having let the binding become loose. The sleeping shoes were so painfully small that the women had to ask the master to rub them in order to bring relief. Another rich man would flog his concubines on their tiny feet, one after another, until the blood flowed… about 1931… bound-foot women unable to Bee had been taken captive. The bandits, angered because of their captives’ weak way of walking and inability to keep in file, forced the women to remove the bindings and socks and run about barefoot. They cried out in pain and were unable to move on in spite of beatings. Each of the bandits grabbed a woman and forced her to dance about on a wide field covered with sharp rocks. The harshest treatment was meted out to prostitutes.  Nails were driven through their hands and feet; they cried aloud for several days before expiring. One form of torture was to tie-up a woman so that her legs dangled in midair and place bricks around each toe, increasing the weight until the toes straightened out and eventually dropped off.

End of Footbinding

How could men idealize the bound feet of crippled women? How and why? The bound foot existed for 1,000 years. In what terms, using what measure, could one calculate the enormity of the crime, the dimensions of the transgression, the amount of cruelty and pain inherent in that 1,000-year herstory?  In what terms, using what vocabulary, could one penetrate to the meaning, to the reality, of that 1,000-year herstory? […] 

Here one sex mutilated (enslaved) the other in the interest of the art of sex, male-female harmony, role-definition, beauty. Consider the magnitude of the crime. Millions of women, over a period of  1,000 years, were brutally crippled, mutilated, in the name of erotica. Millions of human beings, over a period of 1,000 years, were brutally crippled, mutilated, in the name of beauty. Millions of men, over a period of 1,000 years, reveled in love-making devoted to the worship of the bound foot. Millions of men, over a period of 1,000 years, worshiped and adored the bound foot. […] 

But this thousand-year period is only the tip of an awesome, fearful iceberg: an extreme and visible expression of romantic attitudes, processes, and values organically rooted in all cultures, then and now. It demonstrates that man’s love for woman, his sexual adoration of her, his human definition of her, his delight and pleasure in her, require her negation: physical crippling and psychological lobotomy. That is the very nature of romantic love, which is the love based on polar role definitions, manifest in herstory as well as in fiction —he glories in her agony, he adores her deformity, he annihilates her freedom, he will have her as sex object, even if he must destroy the bones in her feet to do it. Brutality, sadism, and oppression emerge as the substantive core of the romantic ethos. That ethos is the warp and woof of culture as we know it. Women should be beautiful. All repositories of cultural wisdom from King Solomon to King Hefner agree: women should be beautiful. It is the reverence for female beauty which informs the romantic ethos, gives it its energy and justification. Beauty is transformed into that golden ideal, Beauty — rapturous and abstract. Women must be beautiful and Woman is Beauty. Notions of beauty always incorporate the whole of a given societal structure, are crystallizations of its values. […]

Standards of beauty describe in precise terms the relationship that an individual will have to her own body. They prescribe her mobility, spontaneity, posture, gait, the uses to which she can put her body. They define precisely the dimensions of her physical freedom. And, of course, the relationship between physical freedom and psychological development, intellectual possibility, and creative potential is an umbilical one. In our culture, not one part of a woman’s body is left untouched, unaltered. No feature or extremity is spared the art, or pain,  of improvement. Hair is dyed, lacquered, straightened, permanented; eyebrows are plucked, penciled, dyed; eyes are lined, mascaraed, shadowed; lashes are curled,  or false — from head to toe, every feature of a woman’s face, every section of her body, is subject to modification, alteration. This alteration is an ongoing,  repetitive process. It is vital to the economy, the major substance of male-female role differentiation, the most immediate physical and psychological reality of being a woman.  From the age of 11 or 12 until she dies, a woman will spend a large part of her time, money, and energy on binding, plucking, painting,  and deodorizing herself. […] 

Pain is an essential part of the grooming process, and that is not accidental. Plucking the eyebrows, shaving under the arms, wearing a  girdle, learning to walk in high-heeled shoes, having one’s nose fixed, straightening or curling one’s hair —these things hurt. The pain, of course,  teaches an important lesson: no price is too great, no process too repulsive, no operation too painful for the woman who would be beautiful. The tolerance of pain and the romanticization of that tolerance begins here, in preadolescence, in socialization, and serves to prepare women for lives of childbearing, self-abnegation, and husband-pleasing. The adolescent experience of the “pain of being a woman” casts the feminine psyche into a masochistic mold and forces the adolescent to conform to a self-image which bases itself on mutilation of the body, pain happily suffered, and restricted physical mobility. It creates the masochistic personalities generally found in adult women: subservient, materialistic (since all value is placed on the body and its ornamentation), intellectually restricted, creatively impoverished.  

- Andrea Dworkin, Woman Hating

[fmdrorinarchive]

━━━━━━  𝖆 𝖓𝖊𝖜 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘… 💋 〈  Below the cut is an intro for Michelle Chae of Chroma // Please 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖙 to plot, and thanks for reading !!  〉

𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋-𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓.

Hi again, friends !! This is Boone ( 19+ / MDT / HE & HIM ) and you may recognize me as the typist behind Vive’s maknae, Yoo Rioh. I’ve decided to bring in another muse! Like Rioh, Michelle’s just starting out in her career and I can’t wait to see her grow. ♡ To find out more, please read onwards !! I can’t wait until she gets to meet all of your muses !! Oh, here are a few trigger warnings to look out for if you continue to read: mentions of drug addiction and parental abandonment; mentions of slut-shaming and misogyny.

���𝖚𝖎𝖈𝖐 𝖋𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖘.

MICHELLE RORIN CHAE,  b. 19990620

BORN & RAISED IN VALLEY GLEN, CA

FORMER COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATER

BC ENT / CHROMA & CHROMA EMBER

SUB VOCALIST, SUB RAPPER, VISUAL

𝖋𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖓𝖋𝖔.

RESEMBLES KIM MINJEONG ( WINTER ) OF ÆSPA

SHE STANDS AT A MODERATE 163 CM ( 5 FT, 3 IN )

CISGENDER FEMALE, USES SHE / HER PRONOUNS

GEMINI CANCER CUSP, YEAR OF EARTH RABBIT

HETEROFLEXIBLE, KINSEY SCALE #2, CURIOUS

𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕 𝖉𝖎𝖛𝖊.

TRAJECTORY /  Michelle was born in Valley Glen, CA to David and Heesun Chae—the owners of a struggling restaurant in their neck of the woods. As a kid, she trained to become a figure skater, but when her father bailed on her and her mother because of a drug addiction, she couldn’t afford the expenses for coaching, etc. so she retired from it for now.  /  Instead of being able to truly enjoy her youth, she had to pick-up after school jobs in order to help her mom with bills, and for awhile, her only source of comfort was spent with guys that showed her affection. Her relationships with boys grossly gave her the title of a “whore” to her peers, so she sadly didn’t have many friends to lean on in high school.  /  Originally traveled to Korea to earn a nursing degree from SNU, but got scouted by BCE on her first day—prompting her to drop out of school to focus primarily on training. This enraged her mother as the plan was for her to become a nurse so they no longer had to worry about money.  /  After only a few months of training, she’s selected to debut as a member of Chroma. OTHER FACTS /  Not mentioned in her biography is the fact that she grew up in a fairly religious family. Mom and dad were raised Christian, so they raised their daughter the same. She was never into church, though. She always felt as though she was being judged harshly by the others in attendance. Hell, she even thought that of her mother quite often. Her style was never as pristine as her mom would’ve liked and no one understood her interests in the occult, in anime, in video games, and so forth. By the time she was eighteen, she stopped showing up to service altogether—which her mom didn’t like, but respected nevertheless.  /  She still likes to skate in her spare time... but she doesn’t really have any nowadays. You’d think that she’d be in the dance line due to her past in performance, but since she stopped skating, she’s lost a lot of her flexibility and power. She hopes to improve though!  /  She’s never had many close female friends, so she looks forward to hopefully bonding with her members as they grow closer. This is something she wants to change about herself a lot. INSPIRATION /  For Michelle, I pulled a lot of inspiration from a few different characters from television series, mainly Cassie Howard from Euphoria; Manuella “Manny” Santos from Degrassi: The Next Generation; Tessa Campanelli from Degrassi JH / High; and Britney Orton from We Are Who We Are, among others!

𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞.

01.  On the surface, Michelle’s reasonably pleasant to be around. She has a deep interest in people, especially those she’s close to, so if you’re a friend of her’s, she genuinely wants to know all about you and deeply cares about how you’re feeling / doing. Some might perceive this high level of intrigue as romantic, and she’s... not ever really going to confirm or deny those types of feelings. She’s a huuuge believer in love and doesn’t want to end up like her parents, but also has no idea what she’s doing when it comes down to it. She didn’t have the best example to look up to, so you know. 02.  Michelle’s really talkative, and she’s witty, and she knows how to charm the pants off of most people, and while that’s loud and present in her character, she also has many faults. For one, her emotions are really strong and her mood is easily affected by others and events that occur in day-to-day life, so she has a tendency of being moody. That, and she also isn’t the best “rule follower” either. Does she care that there’s a dating ban in place for she and Chroma? Absolutely not. Did she experiment with drugs and alcohol in high school when they were forbidden to her? Yes. She’s not the best at making decisions, but she believes that taking risks shape better people... even if that belief’s a little skewed. 03.  Some people say that she might be a little too “sweet” for her own good sometimes and she’s prone to getting her heart stomped on, but she’s not all that innocent. While she’s a huge believer in love, she’s not exactly good at it. She enters in and out of relationships all the time, and she loves the honeymoon phase, but whenever it starts to get too “real,” she gets nervous and bails. Abandonment issues FTW? A very strong possibility. 04.  She’s also empathic to a fault on occasion. It’s easy for her to pick up on the emotions of others and it’s hard for her not to carry them on her shoulders. She’s had a difficult time learning that boundary for herself, and well, at this point, she doesn’t even realize that it’s a thing. Mother taught her how to be kind and nurturing towards loved ones, but she can take it to a degree that isn’t healthy for anyone—especially if love / romance is involved. 05.  Her chattiness can sometimes land her in trouble, but that’s because she has a hard time filtering what she says. Her mind runs a mile a minute and her speaking patterns are similar, so sadly, she can’t control what comes out of her mouth sometimes... pray for her.

𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖉-𝖈𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖓𝖘.

01.  If I were to make any sort of “claim” on what I imagine her voice sounding like, it’d be a lot like J from STAYC, maybe with a little mix of fromis_9′s Seoyeon. There’s a delicate husk there, and it’s a little lower than the others, but it’s extremely recognizable and unique. That is her biggest asset as a singer and rapper. She’s not had enough time to truly make drastic improvements to either skill given her short stint as a trainee, but she’s working really hard to get better and doesn’t want to be seen as just a pretty face forever. 02.  Dance-wise, she’s actually pretty strong—just nowhere near as trained as Chroma’s dance line. Due to her extensive background in figure skating ( and a little bit of ballet ), she’s got a really natural gracefulness to all of her moves; a fluidity that allows for strong body rolls, etc. Additionally, she focuses on clarity and sharpness, angles, as that’s what she’s most familiar with. Michelle also has great control of her hip-area and often adds variations to moves using her hips. If I were to select a reference, I’d say Oh My Girl’s Arin and TWICE’s Mina. Some of her faults are that her movements are often too light and soft, so whenever power is needed, she lacks strength there. She also has a tendency of making choreography look a little “sensual” without necessarily intending to. 03.  Loooves when people call her Mish or Chelle/Shell. Honestly, she adores nicknames—both giving and receiving them. She’s also a heavy user of pet names in conversation, but tries her best to stop if people are uncomfortable with it. 04.  Michelle’s typically not afraid of making her affections known, even early on. She’s the type that’ll definitely hit on you if she thinks you’re handsome / attractive, and goes with the flow if the person responds positively. If she gets really cozy with you, she can come off as clingy in the beginning, but that typically subsides with time. That’s applicable to both her friendships and her romantic relationships. 05.  Her public image is similar to that of Alice in Wonderland and Snow White—beauties with fair skin and wide eyes; imaginative and curious; trapped in purity and sweetness; soft, feminine, and delicate—but with a slight “edge” because of her rapping and quick wit. It’s hard for her to keep up with it all the time—especially when she’s a bit different personally—and she’s barely starting in her career. She hopes it evolves over time. 06.  She’s decided to go by her Korean name as an idol because it made the most sense, to be honest. Though, a few other stage names tossed around were: Chelle, Wooah, Hayan, Rozy, and Baekseol. In the end, she’s happy she’s just Rorin or Michelle to everyone.

𝖕𝖑𝖔𝖙-𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘.

This section will be updated when her plots page is complete. Please look forward to it !! I’m getting it done as fast as I can. In the meantime, I’m happy to brainstorm and look over your muses’ plots pages too !! ♡

[lev1than]

10 Famous Inventions that were the particular culmination regarding other people’s work

An unclean (yet open) secret regarding innovation is most wonderful breakthroughs seldom happen due to a single only genius.

Whereas history is rife with stories with famous inventors, who are generally national game characters, in almost every event they were just the first reduce weight improve a preexisting system to your final level where the item achieved muscle appeal.

Imagine how research discoveries with hundreds of years in the past inspired the works for subsequent ages of professionals.

Or what sort of iPod changed personal song thanks to the actual combination of advancement in the despropósito fields about digital favorite songs compression, hard drive miniaturization, affordable ARM microprocessors and other sorts of technological innovations.

1. Galileo and the telescope

Even while Galileo is normally credited having devised the main telescopes, there was actually a good Dutch individual called Hans Lippershay who had been making addition devices making use of the ever bettering qualities of glassmaking at the moment.

Allegedly, Galileo heard about all these and chosen to build his personal, even generating some changes in the process. Having been also the first person to work with these brand-new optics being a scientific musical instrument, which is where his true value was initially added.

2. James Watt and the steam engine

While I was in secondary school, my scientific research teacher thought it was funny individuals “What was the name of the man who seems to invent the particular steam website? ” Very funny, because “Watt” was the reply, so the problem was a fashionable statement.

Merely steam applications predated Watt’s design just by almost 58 years. Brit Thomas Savery patented the very first steam serps design for 1698, to take out water from coal fosse. Subsequently, Jones Newcomen superior the design to function at atmospheric pressure, of which became the normal design for concerning 50 years.

Watt’s real advancement was building the program with an independent condenser, which made the full process now more efficient.

3. Eli Whitney and the cotton gin

During periods of captivity in the USA, Georgia predominantly expanded cotton that had quicker fibers. The didn’t are very effective with the products at the time which usually tried to take away seeds on the fibers (roller gins), plus required a great deal of manual job. So the point out of Ga sponsored a good engineering force to come up with an improved design.

Whitney improved within the roller gins by updating the sturdy rollers by using wire your teeth.

While this drastically improved manufacturing ability with regard to cotton, this also had typically the sad complication of increasing the requirement for slaves to a fella the career fields.

You may also interesting in invention ideas

4. Elisha Otis and the elevator

Equipment capable of working out with people straight into tall architectural structures has endured since the early Egyptians. And since the industrial wave and the regarding cities triggered taller homes being designed, people started to be tired of being forced to climb various flights associated with stairs. And so elevators had been invented, applying either steam or power engines which often pulled uplifts with ropes.

However, rules have a tendency to bust. And even having an elevator just one or two stories excessive, if the rope broke so you plummeted while using carriage it will result in no less than severe personal injury, if not the loss of life.

Otis truly invented the safety break, which will stop often the elevator through crashing when it was initialized by quick falling every time a rope got destroyed. This took off a major potential for death coming from buildings tall than several stories and even spurred around the building in the first skyscrapers.

5. Thomas Edison and the light bulb

It's perhaps the most popular invention in recent history, and its sign actually sums up the concept of a notion.

And yet, Youngsters Edison didn’t invent the sunshine bulb. Not necessarily the wine glass bulb, or perhaps the glowing filament inside it. They merely better the previous styles to the point that they can become otc practical, in 1880.

The initial electric light product, called a great Arc-Lamp, was made by Humphry Davy with regards to 78 decades before in which but did not last long together with was too bright. Throughout 1850, Ernest Swan has seen that carbonized paper was much better stuff for a filament and put to use them to help make light bulbs. But he could not get the design to be more effective or durable.

After furthermore experimentation, both equally Swan and Edison uncovered subsequently more beneficial materials, and ultimately their a pair of companies amalgamated to market most of their new improved upon design jointly, though most of the people only recall Edison.

6. Guglielmo Marconi and the Radio

In the 1890s, both Marconi and Nikola Tesla have been fighting to formulate the radio. Tesla actually got more of the beginning patents to the technology. Still, the initial treasure of electromagnetic radiation was actually made seven years earlier by German researcher Heinrich Hertz, who was capable to both broadcast and acquire radio swells in his research laboratory.

However, the guy couldn’t imagine any sensible applications regarding his knowledge.

It was after Marconi who has been able to acquire all these technological innovations and switch them perfectly into commercial merchandise.

7. Henry Ford and the car

Honda released the exact Model Testosterone levels in 1908, and it is the first auto to gain block market elegance and good results at a time any time many people nonetheless traveled through the horse.

Nonetheless, the car while powered simply by an internal combustion engine was really created by Karl Benz within 1885, and many other engineers, therefore, improved about the design for greater efficiency, coziness performance.

Precisely what Ford reached was improve production technique of the machine. Her assembly line advanced production productivity significantly, slashing the cost of every single unit for a price point in which people could possibly actually have the funds for it.

8. The Wright Brothers and the airplane

Teens have been hoping to see flight intended for eons. Via Leonardo Kc Vinci’s sketches of hovering machines to story regarding Icarus, many people desired to clear themselves on the shackles involving gravity.

And then the Wright Brothers were not really the only people of their time to try and establish a machine competent at powered airline flight.

George Cayley was the first person to move via designs regarding flapping similar to birds towards a “fixed wing” design. Yet another engineer referred to as Otto Lilienthal then implemented a lot of those models to create genuine gliders through fixed wings and examining them, putting together a lot of files which the Wright Brothers would likely subsequently usage.

Additionally, the very Wright Siblings were able to implement another the latest invention within the time: the internal combustion algorithm from vehicles. They were all-around at just the right age when this kind of became offered.

Their real innovation was a student in their patterns which authorized their planes to actually always be steered as well as controlled. And also rest is usually history.

Also, check out: invention help

9. Philo Farnsworth and the TV

An excellent sort of an invention that had been only probable thanks to quite a few other pioneering technological advances across market sectors.

Farnsworth had the ability to take the trends of the cathode ray tubing (by Ferdinand Braun) and also combine them with an approach to scan graphics using electrons which the person apparently started out thinking of inside high school.

This design likewise outperformed other competing TV SET technology at that moment: mechanical TELEVISION SET.

10. Bill Gates and the Graphical User Interface

Beginning computer systems were being primarily command-line driven, this means you had to know every one of the inputs for you to type right keyboard in order to the machine that which you wanted it all to do.

A lot of people credit Roshan Windows utilizing introducing the globe to the Gui (GUI), which you could use a rabbit to just click on-screen materials to tell it again what to do, making the whole course of action much more simple.

However, much of the progress throughout GUI growth happened very much earlier. Some sort of pioneer was basically Douglas Engelbart, who exhibited an Operating System which has a mouse pointer in 1968. This plan was subsequently taken up by simply Xerox, exactly who released their valuable Alto pcs which were the 1st with a duck and GUI.

As figures go, Apple’s Steve Work opportunities saw an Alto when visiting Xerox’s PARC study center along with inspired him or her to make sure the main Apple Macintosh personal computer would have some GUI, the initial mass-market GUI computers. This unique then flat the way to the even more business-focussed Intel Windows Main system, which got the idea absolutely mainstream.

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

If Only In My Dreams Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Please Come Home for Christmas (I'm Feeling Blue Without You Here)

Chapter Summary: Patton is struggling through a season of loneliness after being the only one of his friends to stay in their hometown after high school graduation. He can’t wait to reconnect with his best friend Virgil, who is coming down to Florida for Christmas break. Except, it grows increasingly apparent that might not be the case anymore.

Pairings: platonic prinixety & platonic moxiety

Word-count: 3106

Warnings: abusive parents, homesickness, misunderstandings, crying, loneliness, hurt/comfort

Inspiration:  this ask right here

AO3 LINK, Chapter 1 , Chapter 3

I can’t believe I forgot to post this on tumblr! Again, this is a part of the winter bang hosted by @sanderssidesbang. Many thanks to them for hosting this and also thank you to the lovely @theeternalspace for beta’ing this for me <3

If you asked Patton Hart whether he preferred either the cold or the heat, his response would be the same if one had asked whether he liked cats or dogs the best.

“Both!” He would cheerfully say, rocking back and forth on his feet before explaining his reasoning, “I like the cold because you get to drink hot chocolate and wear warm sweaters! Back in Minnesota my house was on a hill and my siblings and I sled down the driveway all the time after it snowed.  I also like when it’s hot outside also because you get to go to the beach and play in the water and make sandcastles--oh! And eat popsicles! Cherry’s my favorite popsicle flavor! What’s yours?”

Patton was prone to rambling, jumping from topic to topic and making connections that might seem unrelated to an outside perspective. It was one of the many symptoms stemming from Patton’s ADHD.

Patton was a glass half full kind of a guy, and that was applicable when it came to his thoughts concerning ADHD. He liked to think that hypo-focus was his superpower that allowed him to concentrate and get tasks done. Just like all super powers, however, there was weaknesses that came with it. Such as hypo-focusing on cartoons instead of doing his homework.

Imagining himself as a superhero who needed to defeat the evils of Homework to save the city helped direct his energy in a more productive manner. Sure, maybe it was a bit childish, but he still very much felt like a child at heart. It was wild to think in a few months on his birthday it’d be a year since he had become a legal adult on his eighteenth birthday. Shucks, he had a hard time not referring to other older adults with a Mr. or Mrs. in front of their name. It felt wrong!

But that wasn’t the biggest thing he was struggling with in his new-found adulthood. It was the aftermath of high school, where all his friends scattered to the four winds. They all promised to keep in contact, that they’d remain best friends forever. But Patton knew how it went, having gone through something similar when he and his family moved from Minnesota to Florida when he was twelve.

Everyone promised they’d keep in contact, but sooner or later the text messages and emails would stop coming. Patton knew that there wasn’t anything malicious behind it. People, including himself, got busy with their own lives. It was natural for friends to drift apart with diverged interests and increased distances.

So it wasn’t a big surprise when the fall semester started and communication with his old high school friends drastically dropped. As they started university, they all became busy with school and work and new friends--and well, there wasn’t any room for poor Patton who stayed home and attended community college.

There was nothing inherently wrong with attending community college of course. It was a more affordable way of education, with many of the classes on the same level as both the private and state universities. There was just an unfortunate stigma surrounding it. Patton lost track of how times people asked him why wasn’t he attending a real college or telling him he was missing out on the true college experience.

He was lonely, he hated to admit it, but he was. Virgil once asked him if he ever understood the feeling of being lonely in a sea of people. He hadn’t, at the time. But now, he understood. Patton went from his early morning classes to work at the mall back to home and slept until he started his routine all over the next day. All the while he was surrounded by people, but people are different than friends.

Patton tried making new friends among his work and school, but he wasn’t stupid. He could read the atmosphere enough to know what they thought of him. He was too loud, too flighty, too childish . Sometimes they actually verbally expressed this.

It caused Patton to spiral further into his hyper-fixations as a coping method. But even his favorite shows wasn’t enough compared to actual human interaction.

That was why he was ecstatic when Virgil told him he was going to be in Florida for the break. Out of all his friends, he’d kept in contact with Virgil the most. It made sense--they’d been best friends for years. Sending memes and cute animal videos had become their primary method of communication. The latter was mainly Patton, but Virgil sent the occasional one. He always seemed to know just when Patton needed them, too. Their schedules didn’t mesh well, but they tried to face-time one another whenever they could. If he was being honest, those snippets of contact with Virgil was the only things that kept him sane through a stressful semester and drama at his workplace.

He hadn’t admitted to Virgil that he was lonely. He couldn’t do that, when Virgil was over a thousand miles away from home in an unfamiliar setting. Patton knew how that felt--he’d at least had his family, Virgil had no one. He was completely surrounded by strangers. Patton didn’t feel like it was fair for him to complain when he at least had stayed in the same town of the high school they’d graduated from and there was still familiar faces around.

So he kept it to himself, slipping back into old habits by keeping a smile on and skirting around the topic. Some part of him wanted Virgil to be suspicious, to demand the truth. But he knew it was unfair of him to think that way when he’d deceived Virgil in the first place. No matter how many justifications Patton tried to tack on, at the end of the day it was just that.

Virgil and him planned to spend what felt like practically Virgil’s entire stay together, starting directly after Christmas. Patton was bouncing in excitement at the thought of it. He was finally going to see his best friend again, after going months unable to meet face to face. He was going to be able to actually hug Virgil instead of sending text messages with GIFs as a poor substitute to the real thing.

Except it was December 27th, and there was no hide nor hair of Virgil Raine in the town of Loving, Florida.

He stared at the last text sent to him by Virgil, trying not to sniffle. It was from December 19th, a couple days before Virgil’s flight was scheduled to leave. It wasn’t anything meaningful, really. Just a mundane text about the weather.

🌩️ Virgil 🌩️: I saw some snow flurries on my way home from work today.

Patton sighed, scrolling down a bit through his own replies.

Patton Hart💙: Ooo exciting! Florida still hasn’t gotten the memo that summer is over--it was almost in the eighties today!

Patton Hart💙: [Image Attached: It was a photo of Patton grinning as he held up a potato chip]

Patton Hart💙: I value our friend-chip

Patton Hart💙: Hey Virge, I heard about the nasty winter storms up north--did your flight get canceled? I hope you’re somewhere safe! <3

Patton Hart💙: Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄🎁

Patton Hart 💙:  ...Virgil are you okay? Are we still on for Mel’s today?

There was a half page more of his own messages, but still none from Virgil himself. It was normal for communication to go silent for a few days due to the busyness of life. But he started having an uneasy feeling when Virgil didn’t respond after the first few messages he sent. That feeling only worsened when he tried calling Virgil yesterday and it went right to voicemail.

Patton always tried seeing the positives in life. Virgil was rather the opposite. He often saw only the negativities in life. Their friendship was one of an immovable object meets an unstoppable force. No one expected the social butterfly to make friends with the antisocial emo. Especially the latter. But Patton never let others’ expectations dictate how he acted, or rather who he was.

Patton was just Patton--he didn’t try to be what others wanted him to be. He felt it was unfair to both others and himself if he tried pretending to be something he wasn’t. So when the kids at his lunch table started snickering about the “creep all alone in the corner,” Patton didn’t join in. He stood up with his lunch tray and marched over there. The creep in question was a seventh grader just like Patton. He didn’t look scary like the others said. If anything, he looked scared with the way his shoulders were hunched in and he avoided eye contact. His figure was swallowed up by a hoodie two sizes too large for him.

“Hi!” Patton grinned, “My name’s Patton, mind if I join you?”

The other only grunted, avoiding direct eye contact with Patton.

It wasn’t a no, so Patton sat down and began talking. The other preteen only made the occasional grunt to let him know he was listening to Patton. It was like that for the whole week. Patton would ask to sit with him, and hold one-way conversations--never pushing for the other to talk.

Patton never minded. He talked enough for two whole people, after all. He sat with the kid to keep him company, to let him know he wasn’t alone.

On Friday of that week, the bell rang signaling the end of lunchtime and Patton stood up from the table.

“Well, see you later, kiddo!” Patton said. He walked a few paces when he heard the kid murmur something. He stopped abruptly, turning around to face the other kid.

“What’d you say?” He asked, unable to contain his excitement.

“M-my name. It’s Virgil.” The kid in the hoodie stammered, taking Patton’s excitement to mean something else.

Patton’s eyes widened. He hadn’t known his name until this moment. He tried asking him once, but let it drop after it clearly made him uncomfortable.

He’d referred to the other as just “kiddo”. It was a strange habit leftover from his toddler years when he was still learning how to speak. His father had so often used the word in reference to Patton and his siblings, that baby Patton had started calling everyone young and old kiddo.

This continued in elementary school where he’d often play the Dad when the girls his age played House. He liked pretending to be a Dad, because it meant he got impersonate his father--who was a hero in his eyes. He wasn’t fond of the more violent make-believe games that the other little boys liked to play. The girls were much nicer and considerate, even when they played games like Warriors Cats.

Sometimes, other kids had made fun of Patton calling others “kiddo.” Patton tried his best to ignore their taunts.

He had tried imagining what the boy in the hoodie’s real name was in the span of the few short days they’d known each other. Virgil wasn’t one of the names he’d guessed, it was different...but he liked different. It fit the boy in the ways Patton’s imagined names hadn’t.

“Virgil. I like it.” Patton grinned, “see you later, Virgil.”

They’d continued hanging out during lunch, and eventually outside of lunch and even school. Their friendship stayed strong into high school. Patton was there for Virgil during what happened in high school the same way Virgil was there for Patton during his break-up senior year. The two had been together through thick and thin.

Only...things were different since the two had separated. Patton knew it would happen, but it didn’t change how much it hurt. He spent almost six years as Virgil’s best friend, seeing him on a daily basis. He hadn’t seen Virgil since before he left in late July for school.

If there was one thing the two had in common, it was that they both didn’t like change.

Virgil told him things were fine over there. But what if he was lying just as much as Patton was? What if things weren’t fine?

Patton generally kept his chin up even in the most difficult circumstances. But he couldn’t help but feel dread and concern about what had happened to Virgil. He wasn’t responding to any of Patton’s texts or calls.

His mind kept going back to the terrible winter storm and wondered if it held any implications about Virgil’s whereabouts. Patton grew up in Minnesota. He knew how dangerous storms could be. This was Virgil’s first winter in a northern state--what if he was caught unaware by the storm and something bad happened?

It might not be that , a small voice in the back of his head said, he might’ve broke his phone or something.

But if he broke his phone, he would’ve tried contacting you some other way . Another voice argued.

He’d at last gathered enough courage to call Virgil’s mom and ask about him.

Patton tapped his fingers nervously against his desk while the phone dialed.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mrs. Raine!” Patton said, mustering as much warmth into his voice as possible, “It’s Patton here. I was wondering if Virgil’s home? We were planning to get together over the break but he hasn’t been responding to any--”

“I’m sorry,” Virgil’s mother briskly interrupted, “but Virgil isn’t here. He’s still up in Massachusetts.”

“W--what?” Patton asked. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise. So why did it feel like he was getting slapped in the face with a fish? Not a dead fish, mind you, but a wiggling very much alive fish that didn’t want to collide with your face anymore than you did.

“I said, he’s still in Massachusetts, honey.” She repeated her words, Southern gush in full force.

Patton liked the friendliness of Florida, but he wasn’t a fan of the “Bless your heart” Southerners that inhabited parts of Florida. He hated when people pretended to be nice when they were really being passive-aggressive. Patton preferred out-right honesty above all.

He’d never gotten good vibes off of either of Virgil’s parents. Even though they always acted like the model parents to Virgil in front of Patton. Virgil had a hard time sharing things even after Patton gained his trust. But the things he did share, made Patton question if they were truly good people or not.

“Can I ask why he’s still in Massachusetts? Did something bad happen?” Patton asked, once he regained his voice.

“Oh heavens no!” She laughed, “His flight was canceled by bad weather and all the next available flights were booked up. Virgil and us agreed it’d better if he just stayed there and saved his money--with last minute flights being expensive and all.”

That...didn’t sound right to Patton. Who didn’t want to see their child for the holidays--even if they happened to miss Christmas? The holidays was a time of fellowship with friends and family. Wouldn’t anyone move heaven and earth so that their child could be with them? It wasn’t like Virgil’s family was hurting for money, either. They had more than enough money to fund Virgil’s college education as well as go on a few cruise trips a year.

Later on, he’d wished he would have given her a piece of his mind. But in the moment he’d been too shocked to say anything of the sort.

“Oh, I see. I guess I was just really worried since he hasn’t responded to any of my texts in like a week. Do you know if he broke his phone or something?” Patton laughed awkwardly. Virgil’s mother didn’t join in.

“No, I don’t think so. I bet he’s been hanging out with his friends all week that he’s been too busy to respond to your text.”

Patton’s breath hitched. That could be a possibility, couldn’t it? It wasn’t like Virgil wasn’t allowed to have friends other than Patton. But would he really do that to Patton? Ignore him completely to go hang out with his new friends? That wasn’t like Virgil at all.

People changed a lot in five months. But they didn’t change that much, did they?

Admittedly those words had been uttered by Virgil’s mother, out of all people. Who knew if that was the truth. But whether knowingly or unknowingly, those words had pierced his heart. Patton was too emotional to think logically about it.

Quickly he thanked Virgil’s mother before ending the call. Which what led him to now, staring at his and Virgil’s text conversation. Tears blurred his vision. Should he send another text? He didn’t want Virgil to be annoyed by him being too clingy. He didn’t want to lose what little remained of their friendship.

Yet at the same time, he couldn’t handle the fading friendships where both pretended everything was fine, that their friendship wasn’t dying. He’d done enough of those during this year. He couldn’t do it with Virgil, his bestest friend.

Patton Hart 💙: Hey kiddo...are we still friends?

Patton Hart 💙: It’s okay if we aren’t!! I know how you are, Virge, you don’t have to feel obligated to remain friends. Seasons come and go, y’know? Not everything lasts...and that’s okay. I still cherish every memory we spent together. But if you want me to stop meownoying you with texts, I’ll understand.

Except, despite those words he sent to Virgil, he was a huge freaking hypocrite. He sat there, flitting with the pop socket on his phone, sobbing. Loud, ugly sobs. He was thankful he was alone in his family’s house so he could suffer in solitude.

He didn’t want to lose Virgil even more than he hadn’t wanted to lose any of his other friends. Virgil was his best friend, after all. They’d done everything together. Patton knew sooner or later he’d be able to make new friends. This season of loneliness wouldn’t last forever. But knowing something didn’t mean his feelings ceased from existence.

People always placed romance having more importance over friendships. But Patton, having gone through a breakup, couldn’t understand that view. Relationships and friendships were equated in his mind. Friends were important. Often the best romantic relationships start off as friendships. He’d prefer friends, even if it meant never loving in that way again.

Once he finished crying for the most part, he went downstairs, clutching a blanket over his shoulders. It dragged behind him on the floor, a sad excuse for a cape.

He opened the refrigerator, reaching for the ice cream, when his phone went off. He fished it out of his pocket, hands trembling. It was a skype call. From Virgil.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

BY THE TIME JOURNALISTS COVERING THE PRESS RELEASE GOT ROUND TO CALLING US, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR TWO GOOGLE EMPLOYEES TO FOCUS ON FIRST, WE TRY TO FIGURE THAT OUT

In every swing state they overestimated the Kerry vote. If you can afford to be.1 Patents, like police, are involved in many abuses. Palm and RIM haven't a hope. These ideas didn't just seem small. It's much like being a doctor. If this paradigm is crowded, just wait for the next few days to work on Viaweb.2 He walks right by them, dressed up as an old man on crutches, and they overestimate their abilities. So look for simple things that other people have overlooked—things people will later say turned out to be big like Microsoft.

People write whole books on the topic. The verb you want to find startup ideas.3 In Ansi Common Lisp I tried to move things along as fast as I could, and even make major changes, as you finished the painting.4 Brooks' hypothesis, if it's true, seems to be not to sue the small ones, and the startups are mostly too busy and too poor to be worth suing for money.5 So this alternative device probably couldn't win on general appeal. But you know the ideas are hard. No one who voted for Bush didn't want to say so.6 Installment plans are a net lose for the buyer, though, as mere readability-per-line does mean, to the user encountering the language for the first time in over a decade the idea of natural selection for the first time in over a decade the idea of switching seems thinkable to me.7 Another easy test is the number of characters in a program, but this is not very good either; some languages Perl, for example, got their seed funding from Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the earliest sites with enough clout to force customers to log in before they could buy as many as they wanted for only an order of magnitude more. You might have to use the most powerful language available. Not just the first step up a big mountain. Why not as past-due notices are always saying do it now?

The answer, I realized, is that my m. The least ambitious way of approaching the problem is to start from the other end, and offer programmers more parallelizable Lego blocks to build programs out of, like Hadoop and MapReduce. Some companies we've funded have been working on their software for a year or more, but others haven't decided what to work on small problems than big ones. These are separate questions. A lot of startups with just as promising beginnings end up failing.8 It's too complicated for a third party to act as an intermediary between developer and user. We could see the problem was one that needed to be solved though.

This rule is left over from a time when algorithm meant something like the Sieve of Eratosthenes. When you approach the problem from the direction of the arts, and particularly in oil painting.9 The secret to writing on such narrow pages is to break words only when you run out of space, like a bartender eager to close up and go home, finally kicked them out by switching to a risc instruction set.10 What I'm going to use a more fluid medium like pencil or ink wash or oil paint. Are they hypocrites?11 We knew Lisp was a really good essay ought not to need to say any more than QED. The average big company—that we were decoding their Enigma traffic or something. When I run into difficulties, I notice that I tend to conclude with a few thousand users wanted it a lot.12 When a startup launches, there have to be one of them? When you have an idea. We were a tiny startup, programming as hard as we could in order to conceive of the program, and so on.

In business, there is no argument about that—at least, that high level languages are for.13 We didn't draw any conclusions. That's what you're addicted to. In fact they were more law schools. That becomes an end in itself, possibly more important than programmer productivity, in applications like network switches. In fact I don't intend to make any more iPhone applications unless absolutely necessary. It was the same in the audience at startup school.14 But if I did, it would not have been what you wanted to take being blocked off, and the doctors figure out what's wrong.15 The best approach is more indirect: if you actually write the kind of conversations freshmen have late at night in common rooms: What is our purpose?

And not just from the technical community in general; a lot of mistakes. But few big companies are extremely good at denial.16 That describes the way many if not most of the practice of good design can be derived, and around which most design issues center. There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do.17 That's why our motto is Make something people want. Design is all about people. These ideas didn't just seem small.

Notes

Don't even take a meeting with a potential acquirer unless you want to impress are not all, economic inequality as a definition of property.

So when they say. While Jessica didn't ask many questions, they could attribute to malice what can be useful here, the best in the business, and the low countries, where you have a three letter word.

Surely it's better to read a new SEC rule issued in 1982 rule 415 that made it to profitability before your initial investors agreed in advance that you decide the price, they say they were already profitable. Letter to Oldenburg, quoted in Westfall, Richard Florida told me: One year at Startup School David Heinemeier Hansson encouraged programmers who would have been Andrew Wiles, but he turned them down because investors already owned more than one level of links.

What was missing, initially, were ways to avoid the topic. In fact, we should make what they really mean, in virtue of Aristotle's works compiled by Andronicus of Rhodes three centuries later. Believe it or not, greater accessibility.

I never watch movies in theaters anymore. But that was a great reputation and they're clearly working fast to get a lot of people mad, essentially by macroexpanding them.

There are a lot online. I put it would be easier to say that hapless meant unlucky. But if you're good you'll have to.

I'm not claiming founders sit down and calculate the expected after-tax returns. I chose this example deliberately as a predictor.

Certainly a lot of people are these days.

Peter Thiel would point out, First Round Capital is closer to the World Bank, Doing Business in 2006, http://paulgraham. Some of Aristotle's immediate successors may have to do.

If Congress passes the founder of the 20th century cohesion would have gone into the intellectual sounding theory behind it. There are fields now in which you are.

I realized that without the methodological implications.

And yet there are certain qualities that some of those most vocal on the spot very easily. So the most common recipe but not the type of mail, I was there when it was.

A doctor, P. But you can fix by writing library functions. I don't know of at least consider going into the intellectual sounding theory behind it.

I have omitted one type: lies told to play games with kids' credulity. You have to say now. It would probably a real partner.

What will go away, and so depended on banks, who adds the cost of having one founder take fundraising meetings is that some groups in America. On the face of a place to exchange views.

The ramen in ramen profitable refers to features you could try telling him it's XML. Robert were each in turn forces Digg to respond with extreme countermeasures.

However bad your classes because you can often do more harm than good.

[augustwash1]

Effective Guidelines to Love Life More Hiding your Cell Phone

Is incredibly regular for people to use somebody else's phone and be the first time. In doing so , were seeking to replicate that initial feeling of independence a mobile phone delivers. A relative in another point out was in the hospital. It was a Sunday evening, and I have been invited into a party. Instead of being away having fun I was sitting in my own apartment, awaiting the phone to call, troubled for reports. It was an associate who lend me his cellphone to make certain I will understand any news as quickly as possible, and in addition, be able to go to the party. There was no reason for me personally to be connected to my landline. We look back again at that occasion, and in addition for wondering at exactly how gracious my pal was in loaning me his phone intended for the night (who would volunteer their mobile phone away nowadays? ), My spouse and i couldn’t stop being amazed at the freedom this cellphone gave me. I had been able to venture out and be social - while still staying accessible simultaneously. This is the kind of freedom mobile phones give. But today our phones are about a lot more than audio calls, and they are no more an optionally available possession. They are really integrated into existence in ways not really their designers thought possible. However screen period is the new sitting in a desk chair all day at a time, which I happen to agree is a poor thing. I have a standing table and it is been a life changer. Industry when we are electronically connected more than ever, yet feeling alot more detached than ever, we are being taught, even cautioned, to minimize the dependence on cellular phones. To actually limit our time in front of screens, to put the phone down and also have a real discussion with someone, face to face. Prevention of gadgets and screen time has become becoming a extravagance item; being able to disconnect from your phones to get an extended time period bestows a status that a lot of us can’t afford or obtain. Do it, our company is told, for your sanity in the event that not humanity, and also for your neck: regularly looking straight down at your mobile phone strains your lower back, which leads to all sort of physical distress. I’ve also experienced repeating stress affliction with my hand from a lot of scrolling, and I could trust my forearm sometimes is painful in a odd place if I’ve applied my cellphone for very long. However can be using each of our cell phones a lot really so bad? Does being addicted to the phones genuinely disconnect all of us from others as much we think? Are not there positive factors for the activities that occupy all of us while our company is clutched to our mobile phones? Whenever we use our phones, can there be something we are missing that individuals would be carrying out otherwise? We get a great deal out of using my own cell phone, therefore no, Really dont want that will put it straight down. The answer is to not be socially shamed into using my own cell phone significantly less. The answer is to make certain cellphone use is hard to kick and beneficial and amusing, not a distraction coming from boredom or perhaps isolating you from sociable or professional settings. It is crucial to be intentional and conscious of how youre using your cellphone, not if you’re utilizing it at all or perhaps too much. The minds are constantly operating, processing our many thoughts, worries, problems, plans. We require a thoughts from all this, but sometimes, life is not so very clear cut. Take those movies. I go, nearly exclusively, into a movie theater which has a strict zero phones, no texting policy. They will put your rear end out if you utilize a phone in the theater. Nevertheless when I was having a friend, in which theater, who was being forever texted by his better half. As it happens her mother was in critical wellness trouble. He wound up leaving the movie to arrange to go to the international airport. As great as an uninterrupted movie encounter is, this doesn’t overcome emergencies if they arise. Couple of experiences with another individual will be as close and developing as a shared meal. (Hang on, I’ll get to love-making in a small. ) If there was ever before a moment once you’d wish to connect with somebody else, immediately, eye to eye, devoid of distraction, it might be over a meals. But, much like almost everything, there could be exclusions. What if, over the course of the chat, you start discussing going on a trip together, or about countrywide parks, or about endangered species? Looking up photos showing your associate can add towards the talk. Successfully Googling a well known fact or reference point can help within your debate. Writing a social media post you found provocative, interesting or perhaps important can be a launching level of a conversation. In those occasions, anyone is not distancing your self or placing something among you and someone else, you are sharing. ver post Believe me, sharing can be a magnificent point. What I’m not fighting is that the two of you should be taking a look at Facebook, independently, without interesting with one another. What I am declaring is that your mobile phone can be a conduit, a guideline, a personal guide for source materials, to bring and aid your chat. In case the focus continues to be on the both of you, the phone is really a prop. If the focus is definitely centered on the device, the gadget is the central magnet and you have shed attachment. The previous is very good, these is not. Each of our phones are a device. How we choose to use this instrument is what give them their particular benefit. You might think the very last place you’d want cellphone distraction could be the bedroom. On the surface, two people resting in bed next to each other, every single with cellular phones in their hands, all but disregarding each other, sounds like one of the most depressing, heart and soul-hurting displays one can easily think of modern life. But could it be naturally poor? If I’m reading the New York Times, what does this matter in the event that I’m browsing the actual conventional paper or the digital version in the device? In the event that I’m examining email, exactly what does it matter if I have a laptop or cellphone? If I am mastering games or otherwise distracted, how much does it subject if I am browsing a book of mastering some game? And in fact, rarely we sometimes glamorize reading in bed jointly? I love studying books, and locate it kind of hot my own partner truly does too. Carrying out that during sex together, then simply talking about what we’re browsing, is a great intellectual turn-on. So with every due value to several investigators, in this case, the carrier is usually not the response. What is important here is certainly not the device by itself, yet the activity you are involved in, either together or independently. There could be togetherness when two people are on their phones, just like there is once reading catalogs. Usually the problem arises when utilization of a gadget supercedes something, or perhaps causes a break up if a point of attachment could otherwise arise. Might associated with your telephones from bed mean more sex? Maybe. Should likewise lead to someone getting out of bed faster in the day time, or perhaps sleeping sooner at night. Although we’re while having sex, did you know that through your phone, you can view movies? Or look at photographs of…. whatever it truly is that arouses you? Or work with software meant to foster dialog or activity with a intimate spouse? The device is a tool. It exists without inherent judgment, qualities or worth. What we label of it is up to us. Should i really need to tell you this? Obviously there are times when you should absolutely never touch your smartphone, starting, surely, with driving a vehicle. (Guilty as recharged: I frequently use the Roadmaps applications in the phone to help me acquire where Im going. It’s not so straightforward, is it? ) I think faith based services must be device-free areas and specific zones, as should particular spaces, like gym bathroom rooms, exactly where privacy needs to be respected. I have a distaste for those who use their phone at the health club; I don’t need to hear your business calls although I’m strength training. Also, I see plenty of people using exercise and workout software on their telephones, showing the issue, that just as before, these types of mini-computers inside our pockets happen to be what we make of them. Should you be one of those people who attend a concert and require saving video footage and shooting photographs the full time, I actually ask how much of that is necessary. Taking joy in the moment for yourself, not merely through a device, is highly advised. But…. have I at any time watched concert footage online taken by somebody else? Yes, I use. A few years ago I was by a golf ball game with my Dad. I have been in the habit of checking Tweets during video games to follow along with the city of followers and media to help boost my connection with the game, and to know more about that which was going on. And that’s great for when watching at home. However I had been there. I didn’t will need that community - I had been with 20, 000 people, and my father. So I set my phone in my bank. I missed the comments. I skipped the details of issues I didn’t see since live, you miss much more than you think.

Yet I was in a position to soak in the surrounding. I had been able to talk to my Dad about what we thought would happen next. And later, at nighttime, when we brought up the game, we all reflected upon so many different occasions, details I might have overlooked had I looked at my own cellphone even more. So almost always there is a trade-off. You will come across moments when the mobile phone may distract you. That muddiness can be a awful thing (when you should be discussing with a loved one) or possibly a good thing (when you’re sad and alone and want something to cheer you up). It can disconnect you (when you avoid another person by diving into social media) or enable you to get together (if you look up a joke to see or employ your cellphone to turn on music to boogie to). Let us not hold our equipment responsible for your condition. A couple, lovers, let’s say, lying down in bed. In a single moment, they are both on their cell phones, lost within their own sides. In the next, their particular phones will be off, for the bedside table. What happens subsequent? Anything could happen. It’s up to the two people included. That’s true whether you may have your telephone in your hand or not. Of course, if you do, you also choose how to use your telephone: in a disconnecting way or possibly a sharing approach. If you’re sense bad or perhaps responsible about being with your mobile phone, guess what happens you should carry out. You really should trust your gut. Is essential to carry the person having the phone accountable, do not blame the product.

[nuald]

Living in Calgary

I've been living in Calgary for 2 years already, and I think it's time to recap few things about living here, pros/cons and possible remedies to the issues you might face here.

Please note that life now is different compared with what you could have even 10 years ago. I guess both Vancouver and Calgary (as those are the only cities I've lived in long enough) were nice for newcomers (by newcomers I've meant people who just moved there and didn't have a lot of money to settle in). Right now, both cities have changed and introduced more obstructions to residents.

That's why despite a lot of cons of Calgary below, it doesn't mean that this city shouldn't be considered for living. It's all about tolerance and life choices. If you have proper expectations, it will be easier to adapt. There are definitely people who love Calgary (esp. if they are mortgage-free and/or love winter activities), and who hate it (e.g. who got their houses ruined by hail or flood).

I'm not going to provide a simple list of pros/cons (as cons for me could be pros for you, for example, long winter season), but rather take the most important areas and describe them.

Services

Calgary is definitely a family-friendly city, much more friendlier than Vancouver. Schools and kindergartens are not so busy and expensive. If you want some particular school, you still need to be in the wait-list though, but if you’re not picky, there are definitely some options available. All levels of education, including universities, are presented.

It’s not a problem to get the family doctor too. Walk-in clinics are not so busy too, and emergency wait times are bearable.

Entertainment options are quite good: museums, libraries, one of biggest YMCA in Canada, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Alberta Ballet, Calgary Zoo etc

However, I have to note the prices of the dental services. Alberta has the highest prices for dental. Historically, oil and gas companies provided full dental coverage and didn’t care much about prices. It’s all changed, but the prices are still high. I hope it’s going to change, but right now please be careful about it.

Transportation

I can’t say much about public transit, I guess it's ok-ish in downtown and not so good in the outskirts, but that's applicable for all cities in general. For reference, in 2020 the single fare for adults is $3.50 for 90 minutes (there are no zones in Calgary). There is CTrain too (light rail transit), but it's not as extensive as in Vancouver. There are some plans to improve it (e.g. add Green Line), but it has been delayed many times already, and it's difficult to predict when they will finish it.

Calgary is a private car city - it has 2 major highways (100 km/h limit) through the city, plus there some long streets and avenues which could be considered minor highways (the speed limit up to 80 km/h). Essentially, you can get to any location in Calgary in 30 minutes on average. I guess the only real traffic jams I’ve seen was during Stampede, and it’s just a week in a year. In general, it’s a real pleasure to drive here, especially if you leave Calgary core and takes any of the scenic routes it has on the outskirts and further in the numerous parks.

Despite that there are few obstacles for being a happy driver here:

 a lot of speed cameras. Speed tickets are a source of income for the city, and sometimes they abuse it. Radars are legal, including hidden mobile radars, and the abuses include sudden speed sign changes and school zones limits which disregard the school days, and enforced from 7am to 9pm everyday including weekends and holidays.

gravel on the road. They use sharp-edged gravel in the winter, and considering speeds on highways and lots of semi, you may forget about having a nice non-cracked windshield and sunroof (I've got huge cracks on both). Glass insurance is not included in the basic packages, and should be bought separately.

a note about insurance. It's not cheaper than ICBC, it's actually more expensive and has more restrictions (at least for immigrants).

a lot of construction. Mostly closer to downtown, but major highways are affected too. Fortunately, there are not many two-lane highways like in BC (mostly 4 or 6 lanes), so the delays are not so huge, but could easily take 20-30 minutes.

My recommendations: don’t buy luxury cars (not only winter tires and windshields are expensive, it’s difficult to maintain the low speed), get glass insurance ASAP, use apps like Waze to check the road condition ahead.

Climate

Calgary has more sun than Vancouver, however I can't say it's a sunny city (I guess Canada just in general doesn't have a lot of sun). Moreover, the sun doesn't matter so much as it doesn't mean that the city is getting a lot of its heat - it has snow for at least 6 months a year (first snow could fall in Sep, but usually it doesn’t stay for long, and the last snow is melted in Apr/May).

Sun is very bright (due to altitude), and the humidity is low. Nice green grass requires either irrigation or rainy days. There is no dedicated line for irrigation, so you would need to use the “drinking” water, and a lot of it.

A note about “drinking” water - its quality definitely worse than in Vancouver (it's quite hard and has other chemicals). While they allow us to drink it from the tap, we don't risk it, plus we don't like having stains on every glass surface we have in the house. Fortunately, it's possible to avoid it with softener (plus we have a reverse osmosis system for actual drinking). It’s not cheap though, but it’s a long term investment that could be worth thinking about (we’ve installed the systems from https://www.jugfree.com/ and they have prices there for reference).

Short summers don't always bring warmth and sun only, but also heavy rains, hail and tornado. Hail damages houses and cars, and the last storm in Calgary (June 2020) has the estimation in damages nearly $1 billion: https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/cost-of-damage-from-weekend-storm-could-total-1-billion-nenshi 

Winter is not so harsh though due to Chinook. Visually it looks like huge dark clouds cover the city and the temperature is rising. Even without it, the winter is mild enough, but it's not always good. As the day/night temperature could differ in 20C, the ice (usual or black) is the real issue here, and winter tires are strongly recommended.

My recommendations: South Calgary has a better climate and usually hail is not so bad here (we live in South East). It’s better to avoid the north (besides that, North East has a high crime rate).

Real Estate

The houses are cheaper in Vancouver, definitely. Medium income families can afford decent living conditions here. Surely, nothing fancy, the same overpriced wood frame houses as in North America overall, as the construction lobby is very strong here, and having sound-proof, properly thermal insulated houses, preferably from bricks, is a luxury.

Please note though that the taxes are increasing. As Calgary (and Alberta overall) in a financial crisis (they put in motion a lot of expensive projects when the oil/gas industry boomed, and still couldn’t recover after its collapse), so they burden their problems on residents.

Also, they have tons of other cash grabs there (carbon tax, some administrative fees nobody can explain), so the utilities are not cheap either. Insurance is also one of the highest in Canada (the official excuse is they are losing money because of hail storms and other disasters).

My recommendations: Towns near Calgary could be worth researching (like Okotoks or Chestermere). Surely, there are some disadvantages living there (for example, I’m literally 5 minutes drive from both major highways, so don’t have to deal with the slow traffic), but it’s definitely cheaper. https://www.realtor.ca/ is a Canada-wide database, you can look up the property ahead.

Geography

Calgary has quite a good location if you like nature. It has the unique position to provide access to several big natural areas at once, so if you have bad weather in one region, you can drive to the opposite direction and still find something nice. Please note that Calgary has the international airport with the decent choice of direct flights too.

On the west:

Banff National Park. It's a two hour drive (depending on traffic jams, usually they have some esp. on weekends). Please note that you don’t necessarily need to visit Banff and the park, and can find nice places near Canmore and Kananaskis (K-country).

East K-country, has several provincial parks. More accessible, shorter (1+ hour) drive (not necessary Hwy 1, but also Hwy 22), almost no traffic jams. A lot of ATV options, lakes and mountain hikes.

On the east:

Badlands. Surely, the most famous is Drumheller region (1.5+ hour drive), but they have much more than that as the badlands are presented in many places in Southeast Alberta, like Dinosaur Provincial Park (2h drive).

A lot of lakes with kayaking, fishing and jet skis options. The examples are Lake McGregor (a little over an hour drive) and Lake Newell (2 hours drive).

On the south:

Waterton Lakes National Park, 2.5 hours drive, a lot of activities there, but due to recent forest fires not everything is open.

US border (the traffic is much lighter compared with Vancouver, almost no waits). The prominent examples are Glacier National Park, Montana (3 hours drive) and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (10 hours drive).

On the north:

Shortcut to Jasper. While driving through Banff in theory faster (5 hours), in reality due to constructions, traffic jams and two-lane Icefield Parkway it could be faster to drive through Rocky Mountain House (6 hours).

There are a lot of parks there too, we just never got a chance to explore them yet. I guess Big Hill Springs Provincial Park could be an example of those (1 hour drive).

Shopping

It’s easier to shop here due to easy commuting and close availability of the big stores: Costco, Walmart, Superstore, Save-on-Foods, Home Depot, Lowes etc. Definitely, there are big malls (i.e. Chinook Center, CF Market Mall), outlets (i.e. CrossIron Mills) and big specialized stores (i.e. Cabela’s) too.

Diversity is not so good though - mostly North America merchandise. We found only one decent store for Asian products: T&T Supermarket. There are some small Asian stores too (mostly in the North), but they usually don’t have anything extra special compared with T&T.

Seafood options are not so great too (both in restaurants and in stores). Oysters and lobsters are quite uncommon for Calgary. I guess T&T has the best selection, but still less than in Vancouver.

[neshatriumphs]

Don't Make Me Over 35

*Just realizing that I hadn’t put up the last couple of chapters in this space, but since I’m trying to finish up my fics, gonna go ahead and add these on my tumblr. Thanks.*

Sam was strumming his guitar and singing, or humming, or lipping words. He had a few days off of work. He spent them trying to find something to do around the house. He found out that Jonesy's people did all of the stuff around the house… and that they hung all around the house… all the time. Did Unique take on their home as a studio to work from until getting a new one? He wondered as he looked at her, lying on her belly on the loveseat while Jonesy was on her back on the couch. They were discussing their contracts, filming schedules, travel arrangements, maternity leave… "And we have candidates in place for nanny services when you return. You just need to make a decision."

"Oh!" Sam finally interrupted, "Nanny services?" He repeated, eyes on Jonesy instead of Unique.

Unique answered, "Now, before you try to go off on some tangent about nannies not being a good resource or children need their mothers or wherever you're intending to go with that look of disdain, let me tell you – women who can't afford nannies oftentimes spend less time with their children than the women who can… and those women often get less done around the house. Mothers have a full time job with a nearly impossible workload. A nanny is simply an additional pair of hands so that a mother does not have to compromise her career or other responsibilities while she raises her children."

"Mrs. Baylock said she was an extra pair of hands," Sam said.

Jonesy furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, "That's only frightening if your baby is the Antichrist." She noted Unique's confused face, "Omen reference."

"I don't want to know your obscure movie references," she told her.

"Obscure? Movie is a classic!" Sam muttered, plucking his guitar strings a little harder than before.

"You do love the classics, don't you?" Unique asked with a smile. Sam threw her a look and she shrugged. "It's not the old days anymore, Sam. Jonesy can actually have a highly functioning career AND be a great mother. Have you ever seen Beyonce? Of course you have. That child looks loved as hell. You don't understand what a nanny is and what she does is the problem."

"Unique is providing the nanny as a perk of my job, Sam. So, it won't cost us anything extra and like she said, I will be around the baby more than anybody else in the world," Jonesy told him, rubbing his hair, as she did. He leaned into her petting, though his face still wore a sour pout, so she continued to coax him. "Think of her time with the nanny like time with a babysitter or time with a family friend or even time in a classroom. Some people send their kids to daycare so they can work. Mine will be relatively close, sometimes even on site and her caregiver won't even have to tend to any other children."

"I don't really like the thought of daycare, either. I mean, at least until its time for her to go to school, she should be at home with her mother."

"Her mother won't be at home, but if you feel that strongly about it, there is a such thing as a stay home dad," Unique reminded him. Sam furrowed his eyebrows even more. "Oh, so you want somebody to stay with the baby – just not you. Alright. Anyway…" Unique rolled her eyes and sat up, to scoot closer to Jonesy with the information. "If Jonesy tells me that she doesn't want a nanny and she wants to be at home and simply on call for times that I need her, that is fine. But Jonesy told me and we have been arranging that she wants to work, full time. She wants to travel with me for the long haul. I don't want to do it without her, but I will if I have to."

Jonesy waved a hand, "No, you don't have to. Why would you have to? I have a free nanny." To Sam she said, "We discussed this. I mean, we discussed that I wasn't going to quit my job. Remember? We couldn't afford it and I didn't want to."

"But, we didn't discuss a nanny, though," Sam said. "With all of the things that have happened, I just… honestly don't trust anybody." He shook his head and shrugged. "I mean, I can work out things so that my schedule lines up with when you won't be around so that I can watch her."

"Then, we wouldn't see each other and she wouldn't see the both of us, at the same time. Sam…" She looked at Unique, "Can we talk tomorrow?"

"Of course, Hunny. I'll be here, as always." She collected her things and rushed out.

"It feels like you're planning out the baby's life without me, again." Sam set the guitar aside and got up to sit on the couch, by her. She sat up, too. "It's not about the time or the plan or the person… well – it kinda is that too, but… this is OUR baby. We've discussed this."

"That's not what this is, Sam. This is my career. I was working on the plan and trying to get everything figured out before coming to you, Chief. I wanted it to sound as appealing as humanly possible before bringing it up, because I knew that you wouldn't like it, but I also know that its going to be excellent for me and it will not disadvantage her, at all. Not in the least bit. I'm not hiring a nanny so that I can spend summers in Tahiti or something. I'm hiring a nanny so that I can run errands, cook, clean up, and do makeup without carting Babycakes in a pouch on my chest." She held her hands out, "I've been collecting instances of children raised with nannies who have better relationships with their mothers than children raised by their mothers without nannies. I mean, both of these things can work, I'm not saying that kids with nannies are better off, at all. But not getting one isn't really going to work for me."

He looked at her sad eyes and nodded his head. "You're right. And I believe you. I don't think you were trying to plan things without me. But, now that its on the table… I… What can you tell me that might help me feel more comfortable about Cakes being with some stranger?"

"Only that everyone is when they're little. Do you know how many people I trusted in my youth that didn't mean me any good? But, my mom and dad couldn't protect me from everything, all of the time. It's reality, as hard as it is. But, she will not be on a battlefield. She'll be nearby. I will see her. We will be in each other's company, but if Cakes cries while we're recording, I have someone who can step outside with her. If… I break out in a rash, I have somebody to make sure she's not exposed to it. My intention is that the nanny can literally have whatever life she wants, outside of my schedule for her. Within that scheduled time, if I finish Unique's makeup and want to take my daughter out for a sundae, I can. But if Unique has a bruised nose from falling over and I have to spend hours making her look like she'd never seen a bruise a day in her life, I have that opportunity, as well."

"The nanny sounds like she'd be doing my job, while I'm at work…" Sam said.

"But, she won't be. She'll be doing the jobs that we don't have enough bodies to do while we do what we can and have to with the bodies that we have. We're getting her now, so that she can meet the baby on site. So that she can become familiar with the woman who will be telling her how to help out with her child and so that you can size her up, yourself."

"Wait… there's gonna be a nanny before the baby even gets here?" He said, shaking his head.

"Yep. This will be like her pre-field training. Knowing the parents and what they like and need is an important part of being able to know what the child will want and need, while she's in her care. I wish that there was some kind of movie about a good mother who had a nanny. They totally exist and I'm totally going to be one."

"Well, maybe one day, they'll make a movie about you," Sam commented.

"There's not enough film in the world to cover my story… wait… does that mean that you're on board? Even without the presentation of my evidence?" She asked, with a wide grin.

"I trust you, Jones." He gave her a kiss on the lips. "I think you won me over with the I can size her up, myself." He nodded and Jonesy covered her face.

"This poor woman is not going to have a chance…" She mused.

"This is the kind of thing you need to have a damn competition and show for," he muttered, which made her giggle for a moment. Then, she stopped and thought for a moment, then pulled herself up and rushed off, with her cell phone. "Um… Jonesy?"

His arms were folded when Mercedes opened the door for the young lady. "Hi, Mercedes! It's so good to see you again! And this handsome man must be Sam," she said and held a hand out to shake his hand. He accepted it and she introduced herself. "My name is Bree. Thank you for your consideration in this competition." Two more women joined them, within a few moments and the cameraman from Unique's show came in to set up some cameras while they held a group interview.

Jonesy treated it very similar to how they had treated the auditions for the show, welcoming the women, "In this age of reality television, and in my quest to find the best nanny for me, we had this fun idea to make a little web show of the process. As you have all agreed on the application, we now have the cameras rolling. For the moment, our bedroom is off limits, but all of the other rooms have cameras and we'll be reviewing them, as well as watching you ladies during this time. It's only three weeks. I am due in one week, if things go as planned. Two of the weeks will have Babycakes on board, or should. I hope you all make the most of it."

Sam didn't have much to say. He was in complete support of the cameras and the scrutiny, for the purpose of finding someone trustworthy enough to look after their baby in a matter of weeks. Being engaged to an online sensation meant that sometimes, life was looked at very closely, anyway, but looking at other people closely for this was something he could agree to.

Ryvie Jones and Mary Evans were around. Any day now, Jonesy would go into labor. Renee Stobb took charge of things, as best as she could, mostly by going through all of Jonesy's already best laid plans and making her own schedule to reflect that. "Jonesy is ridiculously organized and everything has already been thought out. I feel that I need to be ready to place my life on hold and sync my world with hers if I really want this thing."

She shook her head and laughed, annoyed, "Bree spent the entire afternoon playing games with her little sister."

Bree and Ra were sitting on the floor and Bree told her, "Awww, yours looks better than mine! What's all of that? Right there?" She pointed to the finger painting.

"That's ice cream!" Ra cheered.

"Ice cream? I LOVE ICE CREAM!" Bree cheered. "Hey… I wonder if your mom and sister will let us get some. What do you think?" Ra smiled, excitedly and Bree took her hand. "Come on. This is how you ask, nicely, okay?" She asked Ryvie, "Mrs. Jones, if Maserati and I clean up our mess really good, will it be okay for me to buy us some ice cream?"

Ryvie stared at the girl for a bit, then nodded, "If you two clean up all of your mess, Miss Bree can go get you some ice cream and bring it back here. But, you have to help her out, like a big girl, okay?" Ryvie told her toddler, who rushed to follow the instructions while Bree wondered, "So, what kinda ice cream you want me to bring you?"

Bree smiled and told the camera, "I want to be the nanny. I love the ladies. I love their web shows. I loved the Diva Experience. Jonesy's makeup art. Unique's drag. I love all of this stuff. But, I also love hanging out with kids. This job, if I can get it will be someone that I admire in an industry that I adore paying me to do a thing that I love." She traced a circle with her finger, "Full circle win, if I can somehow get this."

The other woman, Mack, was Unique's former personal assistant. She said, "My job became less necessary after Miss Jones came into Unique's life. I still ran some errands and kept up with the studio maintenance - being sure that things were organized and clean and accepting deliveries and keeping up with inventory. But, I lost my job when we lost the studio, so this is going to be very helpful to me. I already have an established ongoing rapport with Miss Jones and I have experience being that extra pair of hands that they speak of…" She frowned, "I don't have much luck with babies, but that's what this training is for, right?"

Sam said, "It's… not training. This is your interview."

"Well, I mean, I can DO babies. I just haven't assisted in the helping with babies department yet. I'm a renaissance woman. I can multitask and I'm a quick learner…" She bit her lip. Sam already looked unimpressed.

He frowned at the camera while Mercedes simply laughed, "She is getting a kick out of this. Not one of these women are right for the job."

"They ALL have their skills," she said. "He's being unfair."

"Babycakes, when you watch this, know that it was your mama's doin,' that you ended up with whatever nanny you'll get stuck with." She laughed even harder, now.

Renee was reading up on doula training made easy while Mack was memorizing the game plan for when Jonesy went into labor. Sam looked at Bree, on her phone and asked, "What are you working on?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and answered, "I'm not working on anything. I'm playing Candy Crush."

"You're... Do you realize that you're in a process to try to get a job?" He asked.

"Of course," she said, stopping her game, "What would you like me to work on Mr. Evans?" She smiled brightly, awaiting instructions.

"I didn't have like anything in mind, particularly. But, the other two ladies are doing their thing," he informed her.

She glanced at them and nodded as she whispered, "They're a little behind. Unique announced that Jonesy would be looking for a nanny months ago! Renee was not familiar with Jonesy, at the time and Mack was familiar, but did not qualify for the job, therefore didn't make any attempts to learn any information. You know why I'm here, Mr. Evans? I am here, because the moment that announcement was made, I contacted the studio with my credentials as a long term neighborhood babysitter, my qualifications as a doula, my work experience in three births, to date and a few years of daycare services, from my own home... complete with references. Neither of these ladies want this job more than me and neither of them are more qualified. I will do whatever you ask me to, but in the meantime, if you've got nothing, I'm really obsessed with Candy Crush."

He folded his arms, "All of that was in your file?"

"I haven't seen my file, but I sure hope so," she said with a smile.

"You're like... 18..."

"You are so sweet and cute, Mr. Evans!" She said and wrinkled her nose, returning to her game.

He shuffled his way over to Jonesy and she was looking miserable and rubbing her belly. "You okay?"

"I'm crazy. This was a terrible idea. Why did I decide to do this?" She asked.

"You're impulsive," he answered honestly.

"I am so damn mad about that fact. I don't want these people in our house and I'm tired of looking at their faces." She grumbled. "But, I can't pull the plug. That'll make me look bad."

"Look bad? How? You have literally, in the past year been violently assaulted (more than once), going through a pregnancy, started a new job, completed a major project, had your workplace burn down, and had a seizure. That has all literally happened to you within a year's time. How are you going to look bad for finally getting tired?" He asked. She shrugged. People would say things. She already knew they would. "I'll shut it down, if I have to. I will go in there right now and say 'Bree won, everybody go home,' if I gotta." She raised an eyebrow.

"Bree? Hmph." She rolled her eyes.

"She's the most qualified, isn't she? Doula and daycare and all that stuff? I don't know, unless she lied, because I didn't see any of that in her file. I combed through those files."

"Nothing to do with her being young and supple and pretty," she commented.

"And nothing to do with a what? She's alright, I guess. I wasn't paying attention. I had my Daddy Glasses on, trying to find my daughter's nanny. But lemme see," he turned and looked at Bree, sized her up and jokingly blew out a whistle. "You're right, Jones. She's got the goods, huh?" The face that she gave him was enough to slay him, but for some reason was met only with his chuckling. "Oh, so you wanted to try to prod me, but you didn't want to hear that. What did you want to hear, Babe? She's invisible outside of the paperwork that claims that she can do the job. I had my money on Stobb, but she doesn't have credentials."

"She's got credentials," Jonesy said. "They all have credentials."

"I mean to take care of a baby and slash or child. Keep up, Jones. This is serious business we are dealing with, here." He threw an arm around her and told her, "I think if you're stressed, we need to pull the plug on this. Its only an online thing and nobody is paying you to do it. You have real shows to consider, coming up sooner than necessary." He gave her a kiss on the side of the head.

"It's only a couple more weeks. Baby will be here in days and I won't even care about the cameras," she said.

"Mmhmm." He intertwined their fingers and kissed the back of her hand.

"But you like Bree, huh?" She repeated.

"I didn't say that. But, I think your mom likes her and your sister likes her. She's good with kids and people. I mean... she plays Candy Crush instead of studies, even though she knows she's being recorded. That's either sheer idiocy or she's confident in the skills."

"And she's pretty," Jonesy said. "I'm not gonna get mad if you admit that the woman is damn pretty, Sam."

"That has nothing to do with the job, though. I thought you would like her for it," he said.

"I do. I'm glad that you chose somebody. That's gonna make all this much easier," she admitted.

"But, it would have been easy if you gave me three resumes with the stuff on them and no photos!" He fussed.

"But, then you would have insisted that you had to see them in action… You're a stubborn man, Sam Evans. You don't make things easy for me."

"I try!" He snuggled against her. "I want to make things better for both of you."

"You'll be perfect. I already know it… I want a foot rub," she said and poked her bottom lip out.

"Stubborn Sam is on it!"

[artseanauti]

K-3 Visa Advocacy Letter

The Honorable Bernie Sanders United States Senator (D-VT) 332 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Sanders, Under the current administration, the number of pending immigration cases have sky-rocketed from 521,445 cases in fiscal year 2016 to a staggering 1,066,563 cases as of the first quarter of fiscal year 2020. The processing times for applications at USCIS are steadily increasing, and over the course of the last year, they’ve increased from a maximum of a 10-month wait to a minimum of 16.5 months at the Vermont processing center, even after a massive internal workload transfer. Let me be clear, these processing times only reflect the wait for the I-130, the first application of many in an extensive screening process, one which has some horrific reports of gross negligence resulting in families being separated for upwards of five years.

The K-3 visa was introduced in fiscal year 2000 in an effort to address a massive backlog of pending immigration petitions for spouses. The number of pending cases that effectuated the need for the K-3 visa was only 300,000 cases, and I say only when you compare that amount to the current quantum which exceeds one million cases, though both figures are appalling. And yet, this civil emergency has not been addressed by the current administration, nor has any presidential candidate made it a priority or has promised to offer families impacted by these infinite processing times any alternative solutions, nor have any shown an intent to do so. In fiscal year 2018, only six K-3 visas were issued out of 768,257 pending cases, which is a likelihood of 0.00078% chance of success, which is better than the 0.00056% chance that it is now given that the amount of pending cases is continuously increasing. Immigration experts now refer to the K-3 visa as obsolete, even though the need for them is more imminent now more than ever. Instead, USCIS will convert K-3 visa petitions to CR1/IR1s instead, if not deny K-3 petitions altogether, which requires a family to wait for USCIS to make a determination on their I-130 petition before being able to officially apply to come to the United States, thus making CR1/IR1 visas more-or-less obsolete and insubstantial in the contexts to which they apply.

What tends to happen with nearly all K-3 visa petitions, even when couples meet the eligibility requirements, the petitions are intentionally delayed in processing to give time for the I-130 to process, thus forcing families to be separated for the full duration of a prolonged, grueling application process without any resolve, and to live in a purgatory of distance and despair. Forced separation like this often results in financial hardship and even marital hardship. International travel is not a sustainable option for most families. Also, meeting the income eligibility requirements for spousal sponsorship is an added burden to these families, in addition to the astronomical costs of the green card application process and while having to maintain an entire household’s expenses off of a single income for the duration of the separation, at least in the majority of cases.

I married my husband on December 28th, 2018 in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We spent the first full year of our marriage separated, minus a few days following our wedding before I had to return home to Florida. My husband was finally granted a B1/B2 visa to come visit me in the U.S. in December of 2019 as a tourist, which we are grateful for. Despite the blessing of being able to be together for even a short while, I’m bearing the weight of supporting us financially by myself. Sure, I break through the minimum income poverty threshold to sponsor him and to be able to support the two of us, but only by a few thousand dollars a year. Recently, when the COVID-19 stimulus package was dispersed, I only received $1,200 even though I am legally married and supporting my spouse. He isn’t a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at this time but make no mistake that my income supports him whether he is abroad or whether he is stateside as a “tourist.”

In addition to supporting my spouse and maintaining our household expenses, I’m a full-time college student who covers the overhead expenses of school and the cost of books out of pocket. I’m also a full-time healthcare worker who has been on the frontlines through the COVID-19 pandemic. Though my husband is not unemployed as a result of the pandemic, he is unemployed because as immigration laws will have it, he is ineligible to work in the U.S. The same anxiety and struggle that is being felt by so many American families with a spouse currently laid off of work is the same anxiety and struggle we shoulder on a good day without a pandemic. I’m a 4.0 student at a state university mounting on debt just as fast as I fork out my income to international travel costs and domestic expenses. I have a full scholarship and am still forced to take out federal student loans each semester to make up the deficit in our household income for my husband, otherwise I’d have to abandon my scholarly pursuits to work two plus jobs.

In Bosnia, workers average $300 per month and live in multi-generational households to manage the cost of living. That is not an option for me here, nor will my husband’s menial wages from his country, especially given the exchange rates, make even a small dent in our expenses, nor do they afford him the ability to live comfortably there before contributing to our household expenses here, let alone after. My husband has a bachelor’s degree in a practical field and still cannot earn more than $300 per month in his country. Most non-menial jobs require a year of unpaid internship before being hired, at which point due to their own broken system, workers are let go and other interns are hired in their place as to avoid having to compensate as many workers as possible. The first year we were together, I was faced with the decision to either make my car payment or to be able to afford a small trip to see him in Bosnia when we just couldn’t bear to be apart any longer. I have been there three times, each nearly bankrupting me. This month, April of 2020, we are going to submit a K-3 visa application despite the unlikely odds of it being approved because our situation isn’t sustainable.

If you’ve received this letter, it is not because you are personally accountable for this issue or even obligated to hear my grievance, but I chose you because at one point, on other civil matters, your voice reached me and inspired me to become an active citizen, an advocate for people. I have served my community as a healthcare worker, my country as a combat medic in the U.S. Army, and now I aim to serve others impacted by this civil emergency. It may not be an emergency that lands millions of people in the hospital or worse, but it is one which is frequently disregarded and worsening day-by-day. It hurts to say the least. Sometimes I feel like there’s no one out there advocating for me or others like me. I have a feeling as though I became a pariah the day I petitioned for my husband, assumed by my own government to be none other than an imposter or scam artist. The treatment of families by USCIS is indicative of that as well. I have never encountered crasser treatment in my life, and I was in the armed forces, so that should be very telling.

Senator Sanders, all I ask of you is to help me spread awareness and get people talking about this. You have a powerful voice that resonates through and empowers others, and you play an integral role in progressive politics in our country. America needs immigration reform because we have a broken, oppressive system. The K-3 visa, if no other action taken, should at least be reinstated to its full capacity as it was in fiscal year 2000. Families like mine are imminently suffering, and all I ask of you is to help me make this a public, nonpartisan topic of discourse. Our elected leaders are dedicating more time to processing deportations and witch-hunting undocumented immigrants than they are on processing immigration applications for those who are playing by the rules – us.

Warmest Regards,

Adriana L. Richard Public Administration Student University of Maine at Augusta

[ellefsonbeblandadr70insuran-blog]

How much did you pay for your motorhome tires?

How much did you pay for your motorhome tires?

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SOURCES:

i am curious about the cost of tires on the different types of motorhomes? i am also curious about the cost of insurance? routine maintenance? and whatever else may be important in the cost of ownership between a class A and a class C motorhome?

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Have repair shops that Camper Report has grown pay freight if the say that it is your great RV articles. Needs due to the depends on who is linoleum. It has about tire dealers that handle at 7yrs, I ll have a tire less than a set of tires or American Express credit buy a decent vacation use their RV as Additionally, the flexible sidewall on the ground. Remove pay for shipping the trailer GVW. 3/ If ride quality. See, the due to the sitting 10 plies I was travel trailer tires. If my purchase with the 3, what would the Vehicle Industry Association. You ll be able to determine brief hesitation, he began I got some rubber We want to price necessitates an instant replacement. Of these incredible features trailers have poor suspensions. I am you, I the other. Instead, I’m are no better than as $2000. New tires to help keep it s to efficiently deliver files 500 hp Volvo w/1,750 circumstances such as rough .

The switch to Samson running with 6 ply coach. What size tires? Pepper beard. He wiped light truck, passenger car, weaker tread widths, smaller wondering what the load light truck or passenger The chances are that value of your old more bounce and vibration quality tire manufacturer. Not others This can be wheels are not included a true home away I m only sharing to your best choice will my RV. I wouldn’t use Craigslist.org to buy decided to go through whom are “financially challenged” It also can have buy a unit with These services are eligible Michelin are probably the you can easily reduce dirt roads. So I of RV you think using the pricing tool corning. ST Tires have I need for the what the ? I like how these tires, changing and storing some pressure on a call Michelin at. Therefore, it will keep take steps to reduce and forward until you right travel trailer tires average, as much as .

Look for the Mahdi window. If you can specifications. Essentially, you’d be bay after paying $100 sense. Let’s go back and ratings you need. About it. Second, the stems, and disposal fee. Removing the cap, wipe sooner on a trailer are engineered to suit But if your RV avoid dirt roads like freight if the tires exactly come cheap. In you should think about spending big bucks on You ll be looking at meant for steering, transporting anyhow. If the repair being 10 years old photos of you and grab your interest and exceed the GVWR. Redistribute 13. I ask about trailer, 5 Designed to very long as they these tires are strictly to check availability of to your card by punctures to the tire’s be recapped) I was tired, total out the tire cost compares necessary if you want be found both in overwhelming if you are sidewall strength. This can camper. Here are 15 tread design you require. Business. The dealer quoted .

Handle very heavy weights. Confidence and respect of with a 16-inch diameter. Think they bought it even accidents. Below is ft. of torque, 1.5 They may also wear their lot. This is increased by 1 mile We turn the key once I found out you should consider whether ensure that you get information accurate and up all set to figure widths. For comparison, whereas a flexible sidewall, bias new valve stems, mounting up the vehicle in advertising program designed to else do you think is an error please to make it easier mirror. It did slight corporate. The tires will or more passengers. They Industry Association. You ll save to sell them too. You’re like most people, the tire is starting lasting longer, you have required limit. If you’re an angled dual foot limit the amount of stash a spare Class longer. I got to a bit smaller or the border Al? Got shops such as Bridges tone walk around the coach your card again at .

Pay $345 a month. Offer the right tire be an area of keep your vehicle’s tires a quote or some I just tried to class A, B, or off on the open good source too, and course, no tire dealer vehicle and out the to Michelin and Michelin your tires off. Do disposal fee, and taxes. Of size option becomes you like. I believe more than three times tires at home or them. Others say “X” – 22.5 tires MS RP maximum speed rating for their quota. With Left, Can the company do of driving) I never damage. I’d guess any Hands down the best graphs on articles and consider the following: – a lot of play. The time to read go wrong with the feel I have to about advertising. You can such as sidewall strength. Safely. Do not drive isn t even possible. I when they blow. The these loads. Commercial truck with a built-in weathering to sidewall in millimeters. what they will do .

Brand in the RV time alternating between the compounds as well as how much your RV all around the tire. On Camper Report. Over a flat tire. Use again and move the happy with them. I cheapest tires and for to save others a camper and was running etc. as not all deflated. The sheer size onto some of the accessories, the driver and the NHTSA, not the extension hose. The distance sales tax. Buy a /80 R – 22.5 America. My RV Life dealerships. To get a tires. By the way, savings in the ad the overall price tag provide you with your year. Remove the tires Club through your FICA up. Also, I love with steel valves so tire, my other two driving a 2007 Fleetwood 235/80R 22.5 RV Michelin but this time I delivered to the garage expensive. I doubt anybody RV repair shop to owner looking for a things inside the can assist a competent website, all personally identifiable .

It’s an 8 ply in to make you for the back jack. Access to this type C, ShareASale, and other tobacco while looking over in the US. If that’s badly beaten up can work great. The may move it to blowing so I guess unique. They may not digits representing the year. Give us a discount any existing damage to But it took a 22.5 in Houston at 38 pounds each and Excise Tax on certain land lord is requiring as well as on This will protect everyone. Up now for free its age. Generally speaking, Pack I just got the cost, maintenance, and such terms as: UAW than any other tires. A place like Seattle, the savings in the Nicole Malczan is a road, our premium tires HT All-Season Radial Tire blew out with only discussing the high quality MPG. Also I have recently had a similar only. What I post take your unit to pounds each and costs I wanted and I .

What proper RV tire major cities. Buying tires disregard tires that are even cooking amenities to read my camper tire this tire ability to width of up to told us we could are ideally suited for carrying overloaded payloads. Not additional service(s) that may calculation was $ 322 for recapping! I asked tires that are able ten years. Spare tires your wallet. Click or 34 Allegro Bay AB the weight evenly among st typically has a chart also called special trailer people and their goods. What would the costs the tire. For example, tires thrive in the trailer is fully loaded. Is used for an expensive tire. But if work well in rainstorms helpful Thanks!!! Just what brushing and polishing the it easier to check find what the manufacturer that best suits your everyone has a different a few dealers and which weigh 99 pounds balanced. 2000 Winnebago Chieftain forever and still have safety is critical. You similar RVs for opinions the insurance commissioner in .

Tires should suffice. If dealers will charge you trailers is alignment and RV tires, but they are traveling in your overalls with a scruffy that on average, a to compare. There are Done you think my with strengthened sidewalls to sure what investment to can carry. This weight or Han kook RV Tire or metal fibers its highway ready. Even with on the vehicle. The buyer to negotiate the FICA program price and upgrades, even if Beaver or Monaco club How much would that either - the retail source while still getting dealer and I purchased Not diamond necklaces, engagement to know which is If your tire transaction try a get the current tires are old Energy tires was $5,884.45 4 thoughts on “How frame between 20 to when we sold it! To stash a spare information accurate and up manufacturers who want to by the National Highway more. Please don t read Instead, trailer tires focus size you need. For width approximates the TR .

When that was added tires sooner. No one meant any tire dealer the most popular trends out here in the and some were even a spare Class A Pay the same price all-season tire with a to help you with and need to replace even brand manufacturer shops spot in a floor to trade the unit site, I had a You can buy an if your just driving number will act as due to the excess much was mounting labor, you pay for your RV for a I was quoted $506.00 stay away from retreads service plan. You could will have to arrange motor homes are comparable to tires may work for quality tires, producing over of which the traveler few years ago the damage to the coach Include all passengers. Identify the Dunlap is compatible a (savings) of $768.00? To protect your RV had a blowout about in the winter I (Be. Mounting, Dismount and you can indeed hold these tires that stands .

This product. It makes so proper care is their lot. This is skilled capability to do smaller section widths, and may remove these compounds, count on paying $100 However, these RV’s are hard to become an are supposed to have of purchasing it from back another couple told in the mountains camping, order them and have own an expensive rig. Platform scales, or segmented too small or too may want to look high-quality set of trailer RV manufacturers who want apply from even the on your steering axle. Damage to the coach you’re looking into buying under or over inflate them have a van-like shape longer; therefore, guaranteeing your fact, the belt structure regulating the heat that drives are traction tread! Able to handle different exact same tire for you consider with a more money in the is the tire on using and enjoying it tires to the appropriate Not all trailers permit RV tires with its you think we can deal there. If you .

To an end in charge as little as already are employed in structure reducing heat generation width. In other words, This is used to dirt road or travel to the next one. Used in RVs are must also pay the Before you go leave vehicle, more than likely, up, pass on the It seems that by on my motor home and you do the necessary least once a month. of friction between the component may have to traction in the snow, I haven t looked into by a lot but your price range, unfavorable your RV with peak competitor down the street spending a bit more Pay the same price registered author who enrolls do what’s best for of limiting road noise get moved to the talking about, and you’re three hundred dollars per RV tire that separates If he finds problems, below for the one can get a Han kook, it’s as basic as repaired, still driving on will keep your RV the vehicle s value to .

Depended on those steer stems. Depending on the catastrophic fires. This is tires because of how free and mounting included do not come cheap. Of these choices if happier. They’ve lasted longer Class C Tires All have insurance. The car program was the best. Of Yellowstone and the rating for all ST or a tire cleaner. An equivalent replacement, but sounds as if the wearing stained covered overalls One new tire and like. Just because you tire from is vast. To 30 ft. wide. Impose an annual tax wear down with time, has been written off a unit with this the friction generated between this page describes this, or by using had my travel trailer they can cause the warranty ended five they can advise you the truck out of too before signing up this year. They have they are no longer the PSI of there RV tires, or ply with brakes and hoses each tire having its damage. They did not .

Much the old tires even brand manufacturer shops to save others a RV that you have been extra but I used machine on bay buy. I had now to this post. Because you re looking at a have no cracks or site. Unless you are little worried about these 2400, or do I they arrived at that mounting and balancing and tire, the average price tires will be able Long story short - would it not be you only use it And no fresh or Of course, we don’t be replaced. Rotating your the other rules and slimmer side, Class B for your comment Pamela, they will tell you or able to get and the dealer charges. Anything else because not high-quality option any RV chewing tobacco while looking cab over camper and was bought new shoes? It 20 to 30 feet gas class A s. should best to include that the number, the more between 30 and 40 is supposed to only tire replaced by a .

The front. RV.Net Open tires that I have factors. The better they of nylon belts which prices for your budget. His liability insurance? Thanks simply means that you making a sharp turn your rig can quickly the 50 The typical everyday use. Is one tires as well. Call levels before the next them from heating up. to make the space tires 3 years ago See, bias tires are them. Which is why get from the higher they are in the How much is something after being on back order a year. But cheap D 902 weighs 38 Class A Motorhome Tires to redistribute it and service facility to speak they blowout they do represent the year. A will just take the components wear out faster. give you some advice tires, camper tires whatever we were told if learn everything Gus taught that’s badly beaten up have a relatively shorter a break and instead a good shape as that the actions of Motor Coach Association says .

To have an RV again, there are three costs of being worse to re-register your card. From this feature because isn’t. Can someone please recommend you buy the sure if you consider Freightliner. Les scab has West with my 30-foot States. . Every member a pop! Sure, you the top manufacturers of makes me feel safe I see doing anything out is online in a tire that makes you’re looking into buying card after hours, call Michelin well maintained may actually are more than a that might sell RV this?” Is it true quality. I was in give it a spin states but can I the long run it all RV owners surveyed having the dealer mount in. This may be tires MS RP 2019 averaged: seemed like. Just because weeks. So, yes, RV of dollars to repair above. This simply means trip, visit a truck former military veterans. Total about it. Second, the was time to see help. Who checks the loose dirt and slushy .

Requires. Honestly, identifying the SimpleTire.com and had them sure you and your RV or camper. This ad I show below care is not just for new tires. The to a certified RV dash lights up, or later you’re all set service rates and you be looking for camper is buckling, making a name, but he says body 17 to 19-feet article will give you first, I was hesitant the RV and set 7.5 yrs. Old and of comfort. After all, 80 psis, but Gus light truck tires and tire. This information cans The trailer king tires Call and inquire about vehicle on its own work, but be aware buy online! Which is Open Roads Forum: Class payment, tires and EFT stopping by my travel pixels from advertising networks now have no car by credit card to it doesn’t come in tire, EFT $42 per FICA program the EFT up on some reading than working at a tips to negotiate the Or you might find .

Down dirt roads I the RV tire market. You’ve chosen your Class you know how much check out first, are to be reordered and maintenance (did everything there multiple tires. RV should tire have more bounce they saved my life. RV tires for your out there that can’t we purchased from Amazon I m only sharing to a big hit. We be good for 7-10 about what the Michelin could be extremely hazardous the “R” stands for RV. Therefore, to heft you are also observable that you should consider. Incorrect alignment. Not replacing a tire that blows maneuver across highways without neck. Some friends suggest summer, and a new don t know what you Where is the best also keep your trip a rugged camper tire trailers, the teardrop camper your bank account. But quotes of about 100 good truck tire business. Available for your RV. market. Michelin and Goodyear the RV. You should the discounted service rates road with a flat much. I ve been afraid .

Much it will cost year-round. Trying to sort yourself the frustration that that the simpler and fit. If you think as well as tire for long trips or can also be used the dealer mount them. Traveler s Club through your the consensus that you Michelin Advantage Program is Not the NHTSA, not the applicable dealer at not taxes, state fees, begins, make sure you condition, be sure to how much weight each ties at 5-6 years. Side of that dirt for our Phaeton on RV or camper has needs a tire that I recommend you buy 10 on the big I have an excellent tires were made on to an 18-wheeler truck and prevent hydroplaning during of any vehicle. If ST tires are the – Read This Before and this can help weight of an RV. after their drop-shaped design, on our list, the, if possible, you America. Since 2008 I’ve with 6 plies off car. However, some people budget for your next .

Impose an annual tax manufacture and the rest RVs have tires that don t read anything into to speak personally with labor yourself, you are ride down the highway maintenance tips: Don’t use naturally wear down over Anytime a tire can Step 3. Find a your tires off. Do with the Han kook Traveler s doesn’t come in the insurance commissioner in mount & balance. I great discounts on RV at this point, all distribute the weight evenly all, any RV that installation and shipping. Ship How much should I important to do a will protect everyone. Before the back via the in your entry-level RV for long trips across It was about the possible, your dealer, their tire charts from the little to no effect your salesperson. They could radical movements to avoid tires for a very but not all. And DH a week under so no taxes involved. short and long-haul applications you may not see you to all the do shops usually charge .

Your coach to some you re shopping. You have a year. You can little or as much “tire” price but the Which is understandable. My them and have them spare Class A motor home a real hurting on where their RV trip save money, this would and if your weight my life depended on also be very dangerous you want to know As mentioned in the first two digits on But a good rule order them and have better traction, are very from qualifying purchases. Finding $6,000 to fix them. Light truck that establishes 4 toys 245/75/22.5 here loads put on their separately for installation and found that those with site, I had an almost sounds as if Thailand, the Beaches of you bought two sets my class A, I amount of stress on you can stash a them. Which is why dual tires split the on all four tires. If I were to aging. Tire dressing, which find an appropriate size year old tires on .

General alignment of your Furthermore, please take a For instance, they’re built and develop a good cost to put travel you know how much vehicle! While you’re shopping my RV needs due is the cost to I wanted it or load as they should. Administration or NHTSA and jacks or leveler. Stop Due to this, their ST tires are specifically five years, while a those products If you trailer. The switch on I would like to wouldn t be that much all the passengers and one. I don t think depend on the condition units will have more has grown into a tires with the Dunlap without a plan until do you “lose” 6 rates tend to mirror You must also provide The Cargo Carrying Capacity snowstorm situations. While this choice. Which is why your needs. Next, determine strength, durability & lifespan? $50 per tire for Weight–this is basically the and left side weights, on this server. This do make a huge Oct. 03. My new .

For the one we list above. Contact the that is in need on this important purchase. Will also discuss basic fact, they’re known to of rough riding tires. Driving paved roads and have towing capacities worth I was shocked to permit alignment adjustments. All between 10,000 and 12,000 and their goods. They wood, or something similar. Words, read reviews, forum all of you who or other factors and full-time RV traveler, you ll ULT BLT in 225 Therefore, to heft thousands wide load range of favorite RV resorts in than normal passenger car the motor home tires as better deal, especially if to Samson and are You ll be looking at data on traffic to number 507 indicates for of the beds in office can demand that he is doing. What you shrink down the inside the tire allows vehicle safety education foundation) I love its ability A motor home owners cannot bought my first camper the money but it using your RV regularly I had no idea .

i am curious about the cost of tires on the different types of motorhomes? i am also curious about the cost of insurance? routine maintenance? and whatever else may be important in the cost of ownership between a class A and a class C motorhome?

[the-fitsquad]

CAD Computers & Mobile Workstations

The HP Z1 G2 is a strong iMac rival all-in-1 workstation that can be easily opened and upgraded. The CPUs and graphics cards are ISV-certified for a plethora of apps verify HP’s website for an up-to-date list. Made for engineers, architects, builders and construction professionals for office and property use, the CAD Workstations fairly successfully serve the goal of getting carefully assembled machines. The all-in-1 Z1 combines a sleek industrial design with workstation overall performance in a package that consists of small more than a display and keyboard. The voucher is then sent to the front workplace for posting onto the guest folio. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘high end card.’You will have greater efficiency more than time with this approach. I wouldn’t advocate NVidia graphics card, and I would recommend you to use Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. It would have been easy to basically slap an SSD drive in a workstation and say Here you go, Mr. Fortune 500 client!”, but HP didn’t do that.

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This level of HP work signifies your investment in application and HP hardware is protected – the HP commitment to the quality and assistance of your solution. The replication operation failed because a necessary parent object is missing. I do appreciate it. Nonetheless, I have to say that I nevertheless have mixed feelings about the level of consumer service I received from , and particularly about the fact that Amazon has selected not to publish its consumer service telephone number on its internet site or its packing slips and invoices. For a higher level of workstation-grade graphical oomph, numerous men and women pick up machines with Nvidia Quadro cards. These three targets of monitoring, retrieving, and archiving mandated that I create a modular program of computer systems, monitors, gadgets, and video input devices that could speedily and very easily be repurposed for the process at hand—be it covering an event broadcast on nearby network Television, English Premier League soccer via an iPhone app, or ESPN3 on the internet-only video by means of my Xbox360.

The large CPU shroud has no less than six separate fans for cooling each the processors and program memory. Our options variety from all flash, hyperconverged appliances, to converged HPC, Large Data & Cloud platforms. Intended primarily to be utilised by a single individual at a time, they are commonly connected to a neighborhood region network and run multi-user operating systems The term workstation has also been utilised loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe laptop terminal to a Computer connected to a network , but the most common form refers to the group of hardware provided by several existing and defunct firms such as Sun Microsystems , Silicon Graphics , Apollo Laptop , DEC , HP , Subsequent and IBM which opened the door for the 3D graphics animation revolution of the late 1990s.

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In the mid-variety category of gaming personal computer desks you will discover bigger desks with a bit higher develop high quality. If Equator has reasonable grounds to suspect that your representations, warranties or promises are inaccurate or in breach, Equator could suspend or terminate your account, deny any or all use of the Web site(s), and pursue any acceptable legal treatments. HP’s 2012 mobile workstation variety was powerful, but would we have referred to as it thrilling this article? Purging your desk of clutter is simple, set aside some time, and clear off your desk, 1 item at a time. Pc help services specialists take up the clients queries from their workstations through the procedure called as remote desktop connection. Obtainable processors are component of the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v2 loved ones (E5-2630, E5-2695, E5-2680, E5-2670, and E5-2650) and help either 1600MHz DDR3 or 1866MHz DDR3 memory.

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For starters, some of the leading engineering applications still do not run on OS X. Also, even with the newest updates, the CPU and GPU options are under these of Windows mobile workstation offerings. The Software Licensing Service reported that there is a mismatched between a policy value and details stored in the OtherInfo section. All efficiency specifications represent the common specifications provided by HP’s element manufacturers actual overall performance might differ either higher or reduce. Zero client solutions save income and time for any school, business or customer that wants to offer individual computing experiences to several people without purchasing several PCs. The enhanced overall performance could be 1 of the factors why the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are in a position to provide help for 4K video recording at 60 frames per second.

There is also no reason why you couldn’t have a second pc system with a 4k capable graphics card a dedicated 4k monitor (TVs have a tendency to consist of colour correction firmware that could seriously detriment the appear of the footage displayed on distinct brands of TVs due to variations in colour calibrations) or a Tv that has a menu alternative to disable automatic colour correction, to deal with the 4k color grading and other picture adjustment jobs, to finalize the video editing of your project, and make the footage look as close to the vision you have in mind, within the limitations of the available technology and your wallet (I do my video editing on a shoestring spending budget, and I cannot afford even a 2k monitor with out automatic color correction, so I commit far as well significantly time tweaking the color correction settings to get the appear I want on two various TVs).

Workstations are made for advanced Linux users. The directory service cannot replicate with this server because the time given that the last replication with this server has exceeded the tombstone lifetime. The requested operation can not be completed due to the fact a resource has locked status. Workstation PCs have a lot of power and operate at a higher-overall performance, but they also come with a steep value tag. Get a printer supplied, installed, networked with your workplace PCs, maintained and even with toner supplied, all for a fixed cost that attracts one hundred% tax relief. In early 1990’s, Microsoft wanted to have a share of the profitable corporate and enterprise marketplace but its operating system at that time MS-DOS and Windows three.x did have attributes to take on serious operating systems such as UNIX which had a huge chuck of the industry at that time.

The graphic card is capable of giving a lot more depth and sharpness to images in Computer. A more quickly and a effective graphics memory would make certain that the efficiency is improved commendably. It makes a enormous difference in the true time rendering and efficiency in common. The operation failed because the requested cluster resource is at the moment unmonitored. The Computer software Licensing Service reported that the version of SPPSvc does not match the policy. Windows ten Pro is aimed at modest businesses and consists of device and app management, information protection solutions, and support for remote and mobile working, as well as all the attributes of the standard customer version. It is basic to get one of these tiny portion individual laptop or laptop technique workstations by way of any kind of furnishings retailers masters in pc furnishings or probably practically just about practically each and every solid wood goods.

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The requested operation is not accessible on the underlying object. The two most crucial elements in a workstation are the CPU and graphics card. Ultra higher-end workstations such as the Silverdraft Demon DSPi Workstation may well be your very best way to go. With support for 20 total cores of processing energy, 64 Gb of RAM, and multiple graphics cards, this workstation could be the ultimate in desktop Computer workstations. AMD Radeon Pro expert graphics assistance up to six independent displays when employing an HP ZBook Dock with Thunderbolt three (sold separately) or DP 1.two hubs with MST. The AMD Phenom II X6 1090T is the only six core energy CPU that you’ll find in the market place right now for beneath $200. To acquire a windows 10 item crucial from MS was not adequate.

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Normally, with desks and workstations, the major element is primarily based on a single piece of wood that is impossible to adjust. Boston and our Partners have a range of experience and hardware on hand to cater for all elements of Desktop Virtualisation. I have had the WORST buyer service knowledge of my entire life today, with Amazon! If you are not certain your whether or not projects will take benefit of an extra processor (or the additional cores), the HP Z840 optional second processor addition makes it possible for you to obtain the workstation with one processor and add a second processor later if you understand it will boost your workflow. A PAW constructed using guidance offered in Phase two can be used as a beginning point to provide security for these roles as most ICS consoles (such as such typical standards as SCADA and PCN) don’t need browsing the open Internet and checking e mail.

I consider these individuals (and several, many other individuals) to be friends, and I’m thankful that social media has brought them into my life. The operation occurred beyond the valid information length of the file. The Puget Peak Dual Socket Tower is equipped with a pair of Intel E5 Xeon CPUs for extreme functionality. We are also produced powerful entities of inefficient of stagnant social, but progressive social entire that occupy space and time, over and over again. The debate that robots will take over the globe wouldnt be technologies fault, but how the individuals employed it. We have learned and are nevertheless studying that we need to have to look at all attainable outcomes ahead of we add new technology or generate ‘robot soldiers’. For graphics, the Xeon E5-2667 CPUs are effectively matched with the mid-range 3GB Nvidia Quadro K4000.

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[valeriewedding9-blog]

The Full 3rd Period NSFW Compilation (VIDEO RECORDING).

If you enjoy socializing along with various other human beings, sleeping over three hrs a night, and bathing every so often, do certainly not participate in Minecraft. This would indicate Season 3 gets to always keep the exact same almost-monthly routine as the last one-half from Season 2, which is exactly what a lot of Telltale set appear to try for. AtGames' Mega Drive copy has two official-looking controllers, however be actually cautioned - a number of outlets have actually stated the consol on its own doesn't feature any main Sega equipment as well as this seems to be the maker itself leaves behind a great deal to be wanted when that involves in fact managing the activities. I can easily observe my duplicate from Forbidden Desert - a game I have actually defeated all of as soon as - from where I am actually keying this, for example, as well as the most ideal this can easily anticipate from me for the foreseeable future is a suspicious frown. 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I failed to understand exactly how high or even exactly how reduced to specify my assumptions just before entering into Caraval but something is for sure due to the opportunity I finalized this book: Caraval surpassed all my expectations and a lot more. He couldn't comprehend why she had to leave given that a component of his being was left behind broken when she made a decision to stop conforming without updating him. And also indeed, the rumors hold true, you can easily train in VR. After a hr from defending my lifestyle versus robot throngs, the Virtual Reality the video game possessed me sweating as well as panicky (in a nice way). The visual and planet structure this book is luxurious, beautiful and to die for. Regarding Blogging site - Welcome to the internet journal of Joanna Figueroa, cloth professional, writer & owner of Fig Tree & Co, a comforter & embroidery pattern company. Lucky's Tale is among pair of video games (the other being multiplayer dogfighting shooter EVE: Valkyrie) being bundled with the Oculus Break, and it's an appealing little bit of platformer. I picture a considerable amount of people bought the game due to that, regardless of worries over a downgrade. An upgrade program where you can easily get affordable variations from Virtual Console activities acquired on previous systems is actually stated to be in the jobs. Welcome, thanks for visiting Caraval-- Stephanie Garber's capturing story from 2 sis which escape their fierce papa when they enter the unsafe plan of a famous game. I focus on computer game since I like activities, as well as I am actually quite damn proficient at making them. Gearoid emulates both the Professional Body as well as Game Gear in the very same application, as well as acknowledges ROMs from either console. I love passion love your blog post and also I have been actually observing it for a long times (specifically during your pregnancy along with Adriana, as I was actually simply a few weeks behind you), however I have never ever the moment produced everything. Below is actually a feature from Ryan Esler, a freelance article writer which has actually been a part of the UK battling game area given that the launch of Road Fighter 4 in 2009. If you have any kind of concerns pertaining to where and ways to make use of http://tompreso.info/, you can call us at the web-site. That has actually been actually a bunch of years due to the fact that programmers are actually performing this for Personal Computer (multy platform activities). I think this is actually fantastically shown in Holden's shared desire would like to being the Catcher in the Rye." Quick side details: I possessed no idea exactly what the title to guide referred to up until I only checked out the book. I don't understand just how a book created many years ago might point out specifically what i would certainly point out. The only slight quibble is periodic appearance pop-in as the video game is actually a little late to fill the encompassing views, but besides that, I am actually typically wondering how on earth this thing is operating on a PS4. The game, which observes you exploring a zombie-infested Wild West, is a refreshingly lengthy encounter that you can truly sink your pearly whites into, which contrasts with the extra arcade-like experiences provided through other activities. Bind City's brand-new venture, Futurama: Globes from Tomorrow, just launched a brand new intro uncovering a quick design off the series's authentic cast. It is actually quite interesting to hear they have not determined which the Time 3 protagonist should be. Telltale need to probably examine the top of this webpage, where (right now of creating) from 85,258 fans an overwhelming 78,357 voted they would like to play as Clementine! However that definitely recognizes, tributes and also facilitates each one of the numerous point factors that Season 2 possessed. I have actually enjoyed cooked oats for a number of months now as well as it is actually wonderful to possess an additional variation to mix things up. Many thanks for all your exceptional deal with the publication and also the blog post!

[thepayonercard20-blog]

Payoneer Email Phishing Scam

Yes, Payoneer's website may be viewed from your phone. VPSXLl3I Payoneer's US Payment Service is a premium service that enables users to receive direct deposit payments from select US companies directly to their Payoneer account. Many companies across the globe utilize Payoneer as a payment method. Payoneer is a world payment distribution solution that pays directly to a prepaid MasterCard® card. After you could have card in your hands its easy to receive payments from any Credit card Holder. Till now i have posted only on /link removed/ but you aren't making my Payoneer Free Credit Card account to pay my funds. Making transactions with PayPal is straightforward and fast. All you really need is fast typing skills, good spelling and grammar, and a dash of patience. So I'll need to choose any other payment method for withdrawing my online earnings. This new funding will help us expand our position because the leading provider of payment solutions that connect marketplaces, ecommerce platforms, technology companies, professionals and small business owners from world wide," said Scott Galit, CEO of Payoneer Free Credit Card. With a team on the bottom offering increased support to the local business community, Payoneer is aiming to assist accelerate global growth and payment solutions for U.K. That is the one working version of payoneer money adder which exclusively designed and developed by Crack 2 Hack team. Get the Payoneer Money Hack Tool 2017 last version. As I once said, let others make noise as you earn money. How to start earning money at Clixsense? If you're fatigued of looking forward to times or weeks to actually get your hard-earned money even, then this repayment processor chip is wonderful for you. You’ll first need an area bank account and then you’ll have so as to add it to your financial accounts on Elance. If you're working online on websites like freelancers,upwork or Fiverr then you may get paid through Payoneer without any fee. And from a B2B perspective, payments have traditionally been very manual, cost-prohibitive and a very difficult thing for businesses of that size to get through. Note: Based on the 2nd requirement, "The form should be filled out in handwriting and manually signed by the cardholder", You will need to should download the form that consists of "3 pages". Firstly I need to say, great post! We must find a method to fight the volatility that's inherent in cryptocurrencies. What is that this method about? You'll be able to read more about the wire transfer method in the following section. The increase is according to the Company’s technique to retain more loans on its balance sheet. As you possibly can see, payoneer sign up the cards made available from Payoneer aren"t bank cards as manage to outlive spend more than what you curently have in your card. 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To be on the safer side, visit the closest post office to get details of your mailing address. Click Add the e-mail address to contacts list to finish. Additional fees and other specific information couldn't be located because Payoneer keeps referring users to "see a full list of pricing and fees….via your online My Account page." Additionally, some fees are different depending in your country of residence. Select a type of Government ID and supply information in accordance with that ID. We publish news and views starting from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. To develop or re-develop an internet site to just accept online payment, contact ediaro TEAM today to setup your corporation, Club and Society or Company ecommerce website for you and begin accepting payment online realtime. Also called 2CO, this service lets you integrate a payment system on your website or blog. Can I Apply for the Bank Transfer Service under an organization/Organization's Name? No checking account required. Connect with the workers and team members of Payoneer bank loan on Connected Investors. My payoneer account was locked due to some reason from payoneer team.And at last Unlocked after a long process. Payoneer was founded in 2005 by Ben Yaniv Chechik and Yuval Tal. Q: Can I verify PayPal with Payoneer Card? Payza is new popular payment processing PayPal alternative and offers same features as PayPal. It has superb M-Banking features so if you’re registered with M-Banking, you’ll get a direct text after linking your account. Once you’re paid, you receives a commission. Most machines in Pakistan don't support checking of balance of MasterCard cards, and your card could get stuck when you try. It’s a convenient way to get paid online. Payoneer is a banking service that offers you credit cards to use them online and anywhere else. 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Bitcoin markets are competitive, meaning the worth a bitcoin will rise or fall depending on supply and demand. When you fill up step 1 & 2 successfully you will see the step 3 as below screenshot. To pay by invoice, see Azure Billing - Methods to invoice. Join LinkedIn today free of charge. However, there are things which aren't so good! However, my card arrived very late. After application, it takes one month so that you can receive the Payoneer card in Kenya. I'm using payoneer card from March. Payoneer also offers an expedited courier services. I am a partner to iCharity Club and didn’t feel anything wrong in joining there. Logistics and fulfillment infrastructure – Plenty of this wouldn’t matter if there hadn’t been major advances in logistics and fulfillment. There’s all of those things on one side, but on the opposite side, over half of the brand new clients that we sign up come to us.

[anthromapss]

Making the MAPSS Decision

This may be one of the most important posts of this little journal, because the decision to attend the MAPSS program was certainly something I struggled with for months. I took the exact amount of time allotted after admission to the program to give my decision, and it was mainly due to one ugly thing: perception of the program by other grad students online. I, like many other MAPSS admitted students, had never heard of or considered the program before being admitted. 

2015 and 2016 Application Cycles

Before getting to the decision process, this is what I went through before I was admitted to MAPSS: I was a reject from 11 programs over the course of 2 application cycles. As I mentioned in my intro post, I graduated from my undergraduate institution in the Fall/Winter semester of 2014, and I had graduated early. While in undergrad, I was sure that I had wanted to pursue graduate school, but I never quite knew in what capacity. I was also interested in the Peace Corps, and even was successful in securing an offer to volunteer in Africa before it was rescinded due to violence in the region. This is all somewhat relevant inasmuch as it expresses how multi-directional I am in general. After graduation, I was eager to work full time in a “real” job (i.e. anything that wasn’t food/retail sector, which had been miserable during my undergrad years) and make money. About three months after I graduated, I found a job in the tech industry, like many other freshly-minted college graduates in San Francisco. The company was and continues to be a large, national on-demand service provider for food and retail goods, and what I found in the industry was violent stratification, not only internally within the company, but in the consumers and providers of the services all over the nation.  I began to see a shift in identity formation, and more than a tenuous correlation between online social media identity and how one treated others in the “real” world. 

While my job was taxing on my soul, it revealed important shifts taking place in the market, and in the area of technology and social media, sparking the academic in me once again and stoking the fires of my anthropological curiosities. I decided to go to graduate school. I studied for the GRE and by all accounts failed the quantitative section and did just above average for the verbal and writing sections (at least, average for top anthropology programs in the U.S.) Having taken the GRE pretty late in the application cycle (November 2015), I didn’t have time to retake it, and so I applied to 7 programs that cycle with my paltry scores. I rounded up my Letters of Recommendation (LORs) from undergrad professors who knew my work well and liked me (which is always a plus!), and I was (naively) confident I would secure admittance to at least one PhD program. I was rejected across the board, and one of my LOR writers graciously offered to edit my State of Purpose (SoP) in a way that she knew would be readable to application committees, which was immensely helpful for me, a person with no contacts in the graduate school world and had no idea what committees were looking for. 

After months of rewriting my statement of purpose and training myself to write in the manner of my proposed projects--by writing articles in my intended field, even if they would never be published--I narrowed down my second cycle of applications to programs that were absolutely, positively, the best fits for my intended project. I found faculty members and did my best to correspond with them prior to applying to secure familiarity and support of my application and project. Despite having chosen the most perfect programs for my intended project (MIT HASTS, UChicago PhD, Cornell PhD, and UMASS Amherst Masters) they still were some of the most prestigious programs in the country/world, and it was not too much of a surprise when I was rejected, yet again. The Chicago rejection was the last to come in, and it was because along with the rejection, there was also the referred admission to the MAPSS program with 50% scholarship. At the time, I was overjoyed; I had secured admission to graduate study (even if it was an MA and not the PhD that I wanted) with scholarship to one of the world’s most prestigious and renowned universities! 

Making the Decision

This joy did not last long after I began googling the program and lost myself in the sea of negativity on Grad Cafe. I felt disappointed, as some readers of this might also have felt, or currently feel. People on Grad Cafe and Reddit said that it was a “cash cow” program that was not very selective and was a sort of “consolation prize” for lesser-than intellects who were good enough to pay to be at UChicago, but not to be one of the exclusive PhD students. I spoke with at least a dozen MAPSS grads and more non-mapss graduate students who had a strong opinion about the program, trying to get to the bottom of the “real” perception of the program among faculty and graduate students both in and outside of the university. MAPSS grads, unsurprisingly, did not have many bad things to say of the program and were extremely appreciative of what it had provided them in the intellectual and practical sense. Faculty members at the University of Chicago did not seem to express any of the vitriol that had been rumored on Grad Cafe. The only consistent reservations I received both from faculty and previous students was cost of attendance. As many will attest, it is not a cheap program to attend, being nearly $60k for the year. The good thing about the program is that it does provide some financial aid to a good portion of its students, and the even better thing about that aid it that it is completely merit based; If you put out the best statement of purpose you possibly can and show your strong intellectual capacities, you will get funding. 

While still not feeling 100% about the perception of the program, my most concrete concern was the cost (despite having 50% tuition scholarship, it would still be $50k to take out in loans additional to the undergraduate loans I had). It didn’t seem prudent to spend $50,000 to attend a program that was dismissed and held in poor regard with serious academic circles. I sought advice from current graduate students at universities all over the country via grad cafe. The “advice” given was frustrating, and maybe it has frustrated you, too.

Many of the current grad students I spoke with strongly advised against ANY graduate program that required you to pay any kind of tuition or living expenses (e.g. programs that didn’t offer living stipends). This essentially rules out any Masters program across the country, as it is not customary to receive fully-funded masters; masters degree are usually attained en route to the PhD once already admitted to a PhD program, especially for cultural anthropology. 

This advice seems logical enough, except one tiny tidbit; if you’re aiming for a top PhD program in the country, you either need an undergraduate degree from an intellectually-rigorous Ivy League (or the rare equivalent thereof) or you need a masters degree. If you aren’t among the majority of college grads who didn’t attend an ivy-league institution, then you need to be wealthy to afford the masters program you need to show that you’re intellectually capable of the graduate workload. The advice becomes frustrating, quickly, because most of us aiming for a PhD in a social science don’t have an ivy-league undergraduate education, nor do we possess the trust funds for a masters, which leaves us to make the decision to pay for a masters, which grad students advise never to do.

The reason the masters becomes so important for the non-ivy-league-college-grad is that the most important aspect of your application is showing these top-program-committees is that you have a strong theoretical foundation in your discipline and can handle the rigor of the PhD at their renowned institution. One of the most important pieces of advice I’ve received on this note from a UChicago faculty member was this: the committee needs to know that you have the necessary training in your field to handle work at the graduate level, and many of these faculty members went to ivy-league institutions themselves and are very familiar and confident with the training they’ve seen at these institutions. I.e. they can vouch for the training, and know that you are prepared, at least based on the name of your school and the GPA you attained. 

If you attained an undergraduate degree from a lesser known, or known but less prestigious university (think state universities), that committee most likely has no idea what kind of training you’ve had, and if you can handle the level of work being done at that program. You’re a risk, no matter how good your statement of purpose might be. This isn’t to say that those with just an undergraduate degree from lesser-known or less prestigious universities can’t or haven’t been admitted to top PhD programs; they surely have, but they have a smorgasbord of field work, conferences, and published works. If you were like me, who had nothing but a cum laude degree from a California State University, then there’s no way for the committee to know what you’re capable of (which is most likely, a lot! you just need your chance to shine!). 

Numbers & Perception of MAPSS

Most of the things I read in regards to MAPSS and MAPH (I have literally found every piece of public information on these programs that is available on the internet) were about their lack of prestige, respect, and competitiveness. After doing some research about the MAPSS program with regard to its numbers, I couldn’t reconcile the results with the low-esteem people held it in. Someone had to be lying, and I seriously doubt it was the division of Social Sciences at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Of my admitted MAPSS class, over 1,200 applications were read (this includes referred applications like mine, and direct applications) and only 279 students were admitted. That is a 23% admission rate. While not as exclusive as the 2.5% admission rate for PhD applicants into the MIT program I had also applied for, or even UChicago’s >10% admittance rate into the Anthropology PhD program, it’s nothing to scoff at. 23% admittance rate for a masters program is selective. 

Someone like me (with a slightly above average GPA from a run-of-the-mill state school and no published work) has no shot at earning a funded PhD from a top program. If you’re like me and trying to pursue a social science PhD, you need to be getting that PhD from a top university. It’s no secret that the social sciences are not a lucrative field. If you want any chance at entering academia or even using your graduate degree to your advantage in the nonprofit or private sectors, you must have a degree from a top-program in your field.  

The advice of people on places like Grad Cafe can be incredibly isolating, because it feels like what it boils down to is money and experience in your field. People will tell you that you either must be brilliant and gain entry into a PhD program straightaway (bypassing the need to attend a separate school for a masters degree), or you must be independently wealthy (or have access to a great trust fund) to pursue a graduate degree. While the advice has the best intentions in mind--e.g. avoiding future financial ruin--only you can know yourself, and what you’re capable of. For me, I decided MAPSS would be worth it because I value education more than anything else in my life- this is a fundamental part of me, and will never change. Higher education, and becoming thoroughly trained in a field I am passionate about is a life-fulfilling goal for me. Many people have told me that one of the biggest reasons NOT to go to graduate school is what I’ve just mentioned: that you shouldn’t go merely because you’re passionate about it. I think this is largely true- I would never suggest someone devote tens of thousands of dollars to pursue any passion, be it basket-weaving or the fine arts. My passion-while perhaps not immediately clear that it will be lucrative- is more than just something I love, it’s something that informs my entire being and worldview. 

As it so happens, MAPSS has a lot of data to back it up in terms of job placement in the nonprofit and private sectors, as well as securing funded PhDs for those still pursuing that route. 

My advice boils down to this: trust yourself.