#Travel Agency Management System

[trawexonline]

Travel Agency Management System

Travel Agency Management System

Discover New Insights and Possibilities with Our Industry-Leading Corporate Travel Management Software

Trawex is a leading web-based end-to-end Travel Agency Management System . With benefits from Trawex, you can:

Distribute your travel products online

Take Control of your business

Streamline working procedures to increase business efficiency

We boast the advanced travel booking software model, including hosting services to offer a travel agent system that is always accessible, has no upfront costs and no operational hassles. Our travel management software offers a simple but using the latest technology solution, with a complete suite of front, mid & back office system.

Key Features are:

1. Travel Agent Software - Online reservation system

Multiple Language & Currencies

Easy element reservations (Hotels, Flights, Packages, Tours, Attractions, and many more) and dynamic & static packages

B2B, B2C, B2E, White Labels & 3rd Parties

2. Travel Agent Software - Mid & Back Office tools

Dynamic communication of reservations to/from suppliers and allocation release

In-house contract and allocation, calculation sheets, self-operation such as tours and flights

Self-defined rules for markup, commission, cancellation fee, etc

A wide variety of operational and decision support reports

Other finance, acquisition and business tools

Trawex is the leading travel technology company that provide travel agency management system to travel agencies, tour operators, and travel companies across the world.

We provide web-based end-to-end travel operator software that comes complete with a comprehensive online reservation system with mid and back office tools, with travel management software to travel agencies, tour operators and travel companies can sell products online, manage business and automate working procedures to increase business efficiency.

Our system is based on a simple principle which is to enable our customers to sell everything and anything related to travel. Our core product categories include hotel, flight, car, and travel packages.

Our travel agency management system allows managers to book, monitor, and evaluate travel in the industry. Our travel agency management system usually refers to a network that offers a stock of flights, travel policy, and documents, but this also applies to the entire process of handling business trips.

Complete Travel Agency Management Software for Travel Agency Which Becomes Key to Success in the Travel Industry.

It is essential to understand the most impact features when comparing travel agency management system. Our travel agency management system empowers you to customize the travel plan, so it works and lives any time anyone books a ride.

Our travel agency management system refers to a platform that offers travel inventory, travel policies, and reporting, but this can refer to the overall process of managing corporate travel.

One of the foremost features in a travel agency management system is the travel policy. We offer excellent travel agency management software to make sure hassle-free travel business with user-customizable features like hotel and flight booking, car rentals, tour packages and many more.

Our travel agency management system delivers advanced solutions for travel management companies all over the world. Our travel agency management system is a software application offering a special and comprehensive solution to streamline business processes for high-volume travel.

Trawex is the world's leading travel agency management system provider that offers travel management software for travel management companies across the world. We provide travel management system for international and domestic flight, hotels, transfers, sightseeing and holiday packages.

Take Advantage of Our Web-Based Travel Agency Management Software Solution Based on the Most Successful Travel Companies in the World.

We develop travel agency management system to make your travel business simpler, faster and more efficient. Our travel agency management system is designed to help travel professionals including travel agencies, tour operators, travel management companies, destination management companies and travel companies to respond effectively to their customers' necessary.

Our travel agency management solutions provide users with a tool for booking and automatically reporting their travel purchases, rather than using individual agents or submitting self-purchased receipts to an expense management product.

Our travel agency management software improves visibility between managers and employees regarding corporate travel, and allows accountants and managers to run reports and reimburse employees.

The products in this category provide built-in, expense management and tracking features, but travel management software focuses specifically on reporting travel expenses.

Our main objective of the travel and tourism management system is to develop a system that automates the processes and activities of a travel and the purpose is to design a system using which one can perform all operations related to travelling. Our travel agency management system is designed to help your organization run more efficiently.

Furthermore, our sales, implementation, training and customer care teams are ready to help you anytime. Our travel management software enables you to have increased control over the activity taking place inside your travel agency and operation.

Trawex is a fully featured travel agency management software designed to serve startups, agencies. We provide end-to-end solutions designed for all devices.

The travel business needs keep on increasing day by day and valuable expertise from Trawex will provide you with every single idea that meets the eye. We provide travel management system that is tailored to client requirements for travel website purpose. We offer a range of customizable options, powerful management tools and reporting functions.

We have been designed to respond to the way that your business is run-supporting your corporate travel needs from a seamless, simple platform. Our innovative platform provides all the features needed by travelers, travel managers, and finance to get their job done.

Our modern travel agency management system helps you discover new insights and possibilities. We can help you and your employees save money and time, delivering tangible value back to your organization.

Our special and flexible features designed for travel agents seamlessly integrate all trips whether self-booked through intelligent processing, planning, customization and flexibility. At Trawex, we understand how complicated it is for the service providers in the travel industry to deal with a variety of challenges on a day-to-day basis.

That's why we arise with comprehensive travel agency management system with intuitive, user-friendly, feature-enriched, and flexible. We develop using up-to-date technology and state-of-the-art procedures to elevate the expansion speed while bringing forth the growth.

Our travel agency management solution enables corporate companies to adhere to company policies, while efficiently facilitating the business travel requirements of its employees.

For more details, Pls visit our website:

[skiltravel]

Corporate Travel Management in India: Overcoming Common Challenges with SKIL Travel

Corporate travel has evolved from logistical arrangements to a key element of business strategy, recognized as a strategic tool that enhances organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage. It significantly influences employee productivity by facilitating face-to-face meetings, networking, and collaboration, which foster innovation and improve teamwork. Travel also motivates employees by offering professional development and exposure to new markets. Financially, effective travel strategies can yield cost savings through negotiated rates and optimized itineraries, while poor management can lead to excessive expenses. Companies with strong corporate travel management systems gain better visibility into spending, aligning travel with financial goals and often achieving substantial ROI through new contracts and partnerships. Let’s read more about that.

Overcoming Common Challenges in Corporate Travel Management

Corporate travel practices impact brand perception. Companies that emphasize a sustainable corporate travel management system and employee well-being enhance their reputation and appeal to clients and potential employees, reflecting the growing importance of corporate social responsibility.

Cost Control:

Managing travel expenses effectively is a top priority for any organization. Factors like fluctuating fuel prices, dynamic airfares, and fluctuating currency rates can significantly impact travel budgets.

Employee Safety and Security:

Ensuring the safety and well-being of employees while traveling is paramount. This includes addressing potential risks such as political instability, natural disasters, and health emergencies.

Compliance and Regulations:

Navigating the ever-changing landscape of travel regulations, including visa requirements, immigration laws, and security protocols, can be a daunting task.

Data Management and Analysis:

Collecting, analyzing, and utilizing travel data effectively is crucial for identifying cost-saving opportunities, optimizing travel policies, and improving overall travel efficiency.

Sustainability:

Incorporating sustainable travel practices into corporate travel policies is increasingly essential. This includes minimizing carbon emissions, supporting eco-friendly accommodations, and promoting responsible tourism.

Optimizing Travel Strategies with a Dedicated Travel Management Company

Many organizations are turning to professional travel management companies (TMCs) for expert guidance and support to address these challenges. A corporate travel management agency offers a range of services, including:

Travel Booking and Itinerary Management: Streamlining the booking process for flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements, ensuring seamless and efficient travel experiences.

Cost Control and Budget Management: Implementing cost-saving strategies, negotiating competitive rates with travel suppliers, and providing detailed travel expense reports.

Risk Management and Duty of Care: Ensuring employee safety and well-being through comprehensive risk assessments, emergency response plans, and 24/7 travel assistance.

Policy Compliance: Ensuring compliance with all relevant travel policies and regulations, including visa requirements, immigration laws, and corporate travel policies.

Data Analytics and Reporting: Providing detailed travel data analysis to identify cost-saving opportunities, optimize travel policies, and improve overall travel efficiency.

Sustainability Initiatives: Integrating sustainable travel practices into corporate travel programs, such as promoting carbon offsetting and supporting eco-friendly accommodations.

SKIL Travel: Your Partner in Business Travel Excellence

SKIL Travel is a leading travel management company in India, offering a comprehensive suite of services to meet the diverse needs of businesses. With a deep understanding of the Indian travel landscape and a commitment to customer satisfaction, SKIL Travel, one of the prominent corporate travel management companies in India, provides a range of services, including:

Customized Travel Solutions: Developing and implementing tailored travel programs that align with each organization's specific needs and objectives.

Technology-Driven Solutions: Leveraging cutting-edge technology to streamline travel bookings, provide real-time travel updates, and enhance the overall travel experience.

Expert Travel Consultants: A team of experienced travel consultants who provide personalized guidance and support to travelers at every journey stage.

Focus on Sustainability: Promoting sustainable travel practices and encouraging eco-friendly travel choices to minimize the environmental impact of business travel.

Data-Driven Insights: Providing comprehensive travel data analysis and reporting to help businesses optimize travel spending and improve travel efficiency.

By partnering with SKIL Travel, businesses can streamline their travel operations, reduce costs, enhance employee safety, and improve their travel experience. Contact SKIL Travel today to learn more about how our expertise can help you navigate the complexities of corporate travel and achieve your travel management goals.

[themesflat]

5 different demos for only $59 😲 Choose your preferred demo for your website 🚀

Vitour is designed to be your perfect companion for creating an amazing travel and tour booking website. Whether you're a travel agency, tour operator, or travel enthusiast, Vitour offers everything you need to showcase your adventures and attract customers.

Features: ✅ Beautiful Design: Eye-catching and modern layouts to captivate visitors. ✅ Easy Booking System: Seamlessly integrated booking functionality for tours, hotels, and flights. ✅ Responsive Design: Ensures your site looks stunning on all devices. ✅ Customization Options: Tailor the look and feel to match your brand. ✅ SEO Friendly: Optimized for search engines to help you rank higher. ✅ Multiple Demos: Get started quickly with pre-built demos designed for different travel niches.

With Vitour, you can effortlessly highlight destinations, showcase tour packages, manage bookings, and share travel blogs. It’s all about making your travel business stand out and providing your customers with an unforgettable experience.

Ready to take your travel website to new heights?

Embrace Vitour and turn your travel dreams into reality! 🌍🚀✈️

[travelsbackoffice]

Optimizing Business Travel: Effective Strategies for Management and Efficiency

Discover the art of seamless business travel management with our comprehensive guide. From cost-effective booking solutions to streamlined itinerary planning, we offer practical insights to enhance efficiency and productivity on your corporate journeys. Learn how to navigate travel policies, leverage technology for smoother experiences, and prioritize traveler satisfaction. Elevate your travel management game and unlock the full potential of your business ventures.

[igtsolutions]

Enhancing AI Services with Computer Vision: Transforming Perception into Intelligence

Experience the transformative potential of computer vision in artificial intelligence. Witness how this advanced technology empowers solutions to extract, comprehend, and respond to data from images, videos, and visual inputs. By harnessing cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence, computer vision becomes the digital equivalent of human vision, revolutionizing industries. Explore the seamless integration of AI and computer vision, revolutionizing how we interpret the visual world.

[mariacallous]

For much of living memory, the United States has been a global leader of scientific research and innovation. From the polio vaccine, to decoding the first human chromosome, to the first heart bypass surgery, American research has originated a seemingly endless list of health care advances that are taken for granted.

But when the Trump administration issued a memorandum Monday that paused all federal grants and loans—with the aim of ensuring that funding recipients are complying with the president’s raft of recent executive orders—US academia ground to a halt. Since then, the freeze has been partially rescinded for some sectors, but it largely remains in place for universities and research institutions across the country, with no certainty of what comes next.

“This has immediate impact on people’s lives,” says J9 Austin, professor of psychiatry and medical genetics at the University of British Columbia. “And it’s terrifying.”

The funding freeze requires agencies to submit reviews of their funded programs to the Office of Management and Budget by February 10. The freeze follows separate orders issued last week to US health agencies—including to the National Institutes of Health, which leads the country’s medical research—to pause all communications until February 1 and stop almost all travel indefinitely.

The confusion is consummate. If the funding freeze continues through February, and even beyond, how will graduate students be paid? Should grant applications—years long in the writing—still be submitted by the triannual grant submission deadline on February 5? What does this mean for clinical trials if participants and lab techs can’t be paid? Will all that research have to be scrapped thanks to incomplete data?

Even if Trump fully reverses the freeze on research funding, the damage, multiple sources say, has been done. Although for now the funding freeze is temporary, the administration has shown how it might wield the levers of government. The implication is that withdrawing funding could be done more permanently, and could be done to individual institutions, individual organizations, both private and public. This won’t just set a precedent for the large East Coast or West Coast universities, but those located in both red and blue states alike.

While always an imperfect arrangement, science in the US is largely funded by a complex system of grant applications, reviews by peers in the field (both of which have had to be halted as part of the communications pause), and the competitive distribution of NIH funds, says Gerald Keusch, emeritus professor of medicine at Boston University and former associate director of international research for the NIH. According to its website, the NIH disburses nearly $48 billion in grants per year.

When it comes to medical research, America truly is first, and if it abdicates that position, the void left behind has global ramifications. “In Canada, we have always looked to NIH as an exemplar of what we should be trying to do,” says Austin, speaking to me independently of any roles and affiliations. “Now, that’s collapsed.”

Science is, in its very nature, collaborative. Many consortiums and alliances within scientific fields cross borders and language barriers. Some labs may be able to find additional funding from alternative sources such as the European Union. But it is unlikely that a continued withdrawal of NIH funding could be plugged by overseas support. And Big Pharma, with its seemingly endless funds, is unlikely to step up either, according to sources WIRED spoke with.

“This can’t be handed off to drug companies or biotech, because they’re not interested in things that are as preclinical as a lot of the work we’re discussing here,” says a professor of genetics who agreed to speak anonymously out of fear of retribution. “Essentially, there’s a whole legion of university-based scientists who work super damn hard to try to figure out some basic stuff that eventually becomes something that a drug company can drop $100 million on.”

The millions of dollars awarded to high-achieving labs is used to fund graduate students, lab techs, and analysts. If the principal investigator on a research team is unsuccessful in obtaining a grant through the process Keusch describes, often that lab is closed, and those ancillary team members lose their jobs.

One of the potential downstream effects of an NIH funding loss, even if only temporary, is a mass domestic brain drain. “Many of those people are going to go out to find something else to do,” the professor of genetics says. “These are just like jobs for anything else—we can’t not pay people for a month. What would the food service industry be like, for example, or grocery stores, if they don’t pay somebody for a month? Their workers will leave, and pharma can only hire so many people.”

WIRED heard over and over, from scientists too fearful for their teams and their jobs to speak on the record, that it won’t take long for the impact to reach the general population. With a loss of research funding comes the closure of hospitals and universities. And gains in medical advancement will likely falter too.

Conditions being studied with NIH funding are not only rare diseases affecting 1 or 2 percent of the population. They’re problems such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s—issues that affect your grandmother, your friends, and so many people who will one day fall out of perfect health. It’s thanks to this research system, and the scientists working within it, that doctors know how to save someone from a heart attack, regulate diabetes, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of stroke. It’s how the world knows that smoking isn’t a good idea. “All of that is knowledge that scientists funded by the NIH have generated, and if you throw this big of a wrench in it, it’s going to disrupt absolutely everything,” says the genetics professor.

While some are hopeful that the funding freeze for academia could end on February 1, when the pause on communications and therefore grant reviews is slated to lift, the individuals WIRED spoke with are largely skeptical that work will simply resume as before.

“When the wheels of government stop, it’s not like they turn on a dime and they just start up again,” says Julie Scofield, a former executive director of NASTAD, a US-based health nonprofit. She adds that she has colleagues in Washington, DC, who have had funding returned to their fields, and yet remain unable to access payment through the management system.

Austin says that already the international scientific community is holding hastily arranged online support groups. Topics covered range from the banal—what the most recent communication from the White House implies—to how best to protect trainees and the many students on international visas. But mostly they’re there to provide support.

“I’ve had a lot of messages from people just expressing gratitude that we could actually get together,” Austin says. “There’s just so much unaddressable need. None of us has the answers.”

Scientists, perhaps more than any other profession, are trained to “learn and validate conclusions drawn from observation and experimentation,” says Keutsch. That applies to the current situation. And what they observe during this pause of chaos does not portend well for the future of the United States as a pinnacle of scientific excellence.

“If people want the United States to head toward being a second-class nation, this is exactly what to do. If the goal is, in fact, to make America great, this is not a way to do it,” says the genetics professor. “This is not a rational, thoughtful, effective thing to do. It will merely destroy.”

This story has been written under a pseudonym, as the reporter has specific and credible concerns about potential retaliation.

[teh-tj]

Greenbelt Maryland. Or, how America almost solved housing only to abandon it.

**I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I AM JUST AN ENTHUSIST! DO NOT TREAT MY OPINIONS/SPECULATION AS EDUCATION!**

During the Depression America faced a housing crisis that rhymes with but differs from our own. It’s different in that there wasn’t a supply issue, there were loads of houses in very desirable areas, but they were still unaffordable as people’s incomes collapsed causing a deflationary spiral. While the housing supply subtly grew and succeeded demand, people simply couldn’t pay the meager rents and mortgages. Herbert Hoover failed to manage the Depression, while his inaction is greatly exaggerated, his policy of boosting the economy with works projects and protecting banks from runs failed and the depression only got more pronounced in his term. In comes Franklin Roosevelt, a progressive liberal much like his distant and popular cousin/uncle-in-law Teddy. Franklin’s plan was to create a large safety net for people to be able to be economically viable even if they’re otherwise poor. These reforms are called the New Deal and they did many controversial things like giving disabled and retired people welfare, giving farmers conditioned subsidies to manipulate the price of food, a works program to build/rebuild vital infrastructure, etc. One of these programs was the USHA (a predecessor of America’s HUD), an agency created to build and maintain public housing projects with the goal of creating neighborhoods with artificially affordable rents so people who work low-wage jobs or rely on welfare can be housed.

In this spirit, the agency started experimenting with new and hopefully efficient housing blueprints and layouts. If you ever see very large apartment towers or antiquated brick low-rise townhouses in America, they might be these. The USHA bought land in many large and medium-sized cities to build “house-in-park” style apartments, which is what they sound like. Putting apartment buildings inside green spaces so residents can be surrounded by greenery and ideally peacefully coexist. Three entire towns were built with these ideas outside three medium-sized cities that were hit hard by the depression; Greenbelt outside DC, Greenhills outside Cincinnati, and Greendale outside Milwaukee. The idea was to move people out of these crowded cities into these more sustainable and idyllic towns. There were many catches though, the USHA planned for these towns to be all-white, they used to inspect the houses for cleanliness, they required residents to be employed or on Social Security (which basically meant retired or disabled), they also had an income limit and if your income exceeded that limit you were given a two-month eviction notice, and you were expected to attend town meetings at least monthly. While the towns didn’t have religious requirements they did only build protestant churches. Which is an example of discrimination by omission. While a Catholic, Jew, Muslim, etc could in theory move into town they also couldn’t go to a Catholic church, synagogue, or Islamic center without having to extensively travel. Things planned communities leave out might indicate what kind of people planned communities want to leave out. Basically, the whole thing was an experiment in moving Americans into small direct-democracy suburbs as opposed to the then-current system of crowded cities and isolated farm/mine towns. This type of design wasn’t without precedent, there were famously company towns like Gary and Pullman which both existed outside Chicago. But those lacked the autonomy and democracy some USHA apparatchiks desired.

The green cities were a series of low-rise apartments housing over a hundred people each, they were short walks from a parking lot and roads, and walking paths directly and conveniently led residents to the town center which had amenities and a shopping district. Greenbelt in particular is famous for its art deco shopping complex, basically an early mall where business owners would open stores for the townspeople. These businesses were stuck being small, given the income requirements, but it was encouraged for locals to open a business to prove their entrepreneurial spirit. Because city affairs were elected at town meetings the city was able to pull resources to eventually build their own amenities the USHA didn’t originally plan for like a public swimming pool or better negotiated garbage collection.

These three cities were regarded as a success by the USHA until World War II happened and suddenly they showed flaws given the shift in focus. These towns housed poor people who barely if at all could afford a car, so semi-isolated towns outside the city became redundant and pointless. The USHA also had to keep raising the income requirement since the war saw a spike in well-paying jobs which made the town unsustainable otherwise. During the war and subsequent welfare programs to help veterans, these green cities became de facto retirement and single-mother communities for a few years as most able-bodied men were drafted or volunteered. Eventually, the USDA would make the towns independent, after the war they raised the income limit yet again and slowly the towns repopulated. As cars became more common and suburbanization became a wider trend these towns would be less noticeably burdensome and were eventually interpreted as just three out of hundreds of small suburban towns that grew out of major cities. They were still all-white and the town maintained cleanliness requirements; after all they lived in apartments it just takes one guy’s stink-ass clogged toilet to ruin everyone’s day.

By the 1950’s these towns were fully independent. Greendale and Greenhills voted to privatize their homes and get rid of the income limit all together so the towns can become more normal. Greenhills, Ohio still has many of these USHA-era houses and apartments, all owned by a series of corporations and private owners. Greendale, Wisconsin property owners have demolished most of these old houses and restructured their town government so most traces of its founding are lost. But Greenbelt, Maryland still maintains a lot of its structure to this day. Greenbelt has privatized some land and buildings, but most of the original USHA apartments are owned by the Greenbelt Homes, Inc cooperative which gives residents co-ownership of the building they live in and their payments mostly go to maintenance. Because Greenbelt was collectively owned the House Un-American Activities Committee would blacklist and put on trial most of Greenbelt’s residents and officials. Though they didn’t find much evidence of communist influence, the town was a target of the red scare by the DMV area, residents were discriminated, blacklisted, and pressured into selling their assets. While Greenbelt did commodify some of the town, the still existing co-ownership shows the town’s democratic initiative to maintain its heritage. The green cities desegregated in the 50’s and 60’s depending on state law, Greenbelt was the last to desegregate under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while discrimination persisted for years by the 1980’s the town would become half non-white, today the town is 47% black and 10% Asian.

Though these towns largely integrated with a privatized and suburbanized America, they do stand as a memorial to an idea of American urbanism that died. They were designed for walkability and were planned to be more democratic and egalitarian towns, with the conditions that came with segregation and government oversight. You can’t ignore the strict standards and racism in their history, but you can say that about many towns. How do you think America would be different if more cities had green suburbs that were more interconnected and designed for community gatherings?

[city-of-ladies]

"Mycenaean women put their own spindles to splendid use, producing luscious cloaks and long, richly patterned or striped skirts. Far from resigning themselves to the weaving rooms, they travelled in chariots, performed songs or poetry to the accompaniment of lyres, and carried wheatsheaves for public ceremonies and rituals, as vibrantly coloured frescoes from the palace at Mycenae reveal. In one of the most enigmatic paintings, one woman holds a sword, another a spear, while two tiny men, one painted red and the other black, float mysteriously between them, like toy models or thought bubbles. Through their contact with the divine, perhaps, the women pictured gain agency over the men’s fate. Hera, Zeus, Poseidon and a female birth and death goddess known as Potnia were among the deities the Mycenaeans are known to have worshipped. While Mycenaean women clearly played an important role in religion, their political position within the palaces was weaker than that of their Minoan counterparts, and secondary to the men’s. Each Mycenaean palace complex was presided over by a male ‘wa-na-ka’ or wanax.

Surviving clay writing tablets provide just as fascinating an insight into the lives of women in the real palaces of the Mycenaean era. The fullest collection of tablets comes from a pair of rooms in the palace complex of Pylos, but Knossos, the former Minoan capital, was also a key repository. A total of 4,476 tablets have been preserved across the two sites. Among these there are references to more than 2,000 different women. Unlike Linear A, the Minoans’ writing system, the Mycenaeans’ similarly syllabic Linear B has been successfully deciphered. Working (as opposed to non-working elite) women were denoted by signs resembling an abstract impression of the female form. ‘Woman’ was conveyed by two dots for breasts, legs joined to suggest a long skirt of the kind Mycenaean women wore, and a curved line where her head would be, suggestive of long or dressed hair (in the sign for a man, by contrast, there is a straight line for the head).

The women referred to in the tablets were employed in a wide range of jobs, many of them familiar from the Homeric epics. In the Odyssey, women grind wheat and barley, ‘the marrow of men’, at mills. There were ‘flour-grinders’ at the palace in Pylos. In both epics, women weave, whether royal or servile. Andromache works in the Trojan palace with a loom and distaff while ordering her servant women about their work. Helen embroiders a purple cloth with scenes from the Trojan War as if she were telling the story of the poem herself. And as we have seen, Penelope weaves and unweaves a funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes. The women who wove at Pylos and Knossos were no less versatile in their handiwork. They managed something like a textile industry, producing goods for export as well as the palace community, and worked in groups according to specialism. There were wool-spinners and carders, linen- and leather-workers, finishers and headband-makers for horses. These women usually worked separately from men, but at Pylos there is evidence that at least two women, Wordieia and Amphehia, formed part of a mixed leather-making group. 

Working groups were the modus operandi at the Mycenaean palaces. Women were usually accompanied by boys and girls, presumably their own children, as they went about their tasks. Many were divided also according to their geographical region. Pylos was split into sixteen districts over two provinces, Nearer and Further, separated by Mount Aigaleo. The palace-workers came from more than 200 named places, some of which may have been local streets, while others, including Lemnos, Miletus and Knidos, lay further afield. It is possible that, like the Sidonian (Phoenician) women carried to Troy by Paris in the Iliad to weave fine robes for the court, some of the women working in the Mycenaean palaces had been enslaved.

Although the women were engaged in hard, practical labour, their work was recognised as highly skilled, and the Mycenaeans took some pride in it. Men were sometimes described on tablets as being the offspring of women of particular crafts, for example, ‘sons of flax-workers’. Female workers were allocated the same amount of food in the regular distributions as their male counterparts, and twice as much as their children, whereas in Babylonia, men typically received three times the female ration.

A mysterious senior class of priestess at Pylos known as ‘keybearers’ (did they open and close shrines within the palace complex?) even owned land. A landowning keybearer named ka-pa-ti-ja (‘Karpathia’) was wealthy enough to donate almost 200 litres of grain to the palace, probably for a religious festival. Given the historical prominence of women at the court of Pylos, it is fitting that a mythical Pylian king should intervene in the dispute over Briseis in the Iliad. Old Nestor urges Agamemnon to return the woman to Achilles and to end their feud."

The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World, Daisy Dunn

[alexanderwales]

The Index

This is an index of things I've written and posted online, with minimal descriptions because most of them have blurbs if you click the link. This list is not exhaustive, especially because there are a bunch of short stories and dribbles in various places. If something you liked is missing, let me know.

Web Serials

Worth the Candle - Juniper Smith is a teenaged Dungeon Master who ends up in a world filled with all the things he dreamt up for his campaigns, along with signs of his friend who died months earlier. This Used to be About Dungeons - Five teenagers live in a house together, bake bread, tend the garden, and occasionally fight monsters in dungeons. Thresholder - Thresholders travel from world to world, fantasy one minute and scifi the next, always encountering an opponent, growing stronger as they battle. Shadows of the Limelight - Fame gives you superpowers, and Dominic just saved the world's greatest hero from defeat in full view of a large audience. Glimwarden (unfinished) - A small town huddles around lanterns that keep the darklings at bay. Four teenagers must grow in power as the darkness encroaches. The Dark Wizard of Donkerk (unedited) - Two men steal a baby from an orphanage, then find out he's too cute to sacrifice and raise him as their own.

Fanfic

The Metropolitan Man (Superman) - Lex Luthor attempts to unravel the secrets of the alien. A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good (Superman) - Superman gets really into effective altruism. Instruments of Destruction (Star Wars) - A fable of project management aboard the second Death Star, through the eyes of Admiral Tian Jerjerrod. Branches on the Tree of Time (Terminator) - Sarah Connor is working as a software engineer at UCLA when a naked man shows up on her doorstep. A Bluer Shade of White (Frozen) - Elsa can make life, and Olaf is smarter than he looks.

Shorts

Eager Readers in Your Area - Artificial intelligence has left authors scrambling for readers. Charlotte clicks on an ad. Variations - An orc visits an art exhibition where she feels out of place. Contratto - Julia takes a job as a marketer, working for the vampires to keep their secrets safe. The Randi Prize - James Randi offers a prize for anyone who can demonstrate supernatural abilities. Coming Home - After a long time isekaied to a fantasy kingdom, an errant father has coffee with his estranged son.

I also post short stuff to this very tumblr, which can usually be found under the #microfiction tag unless I forget. Usually this is mirrored on AO3, unless I'm lazy.

Web Comics

Millennial Scarlet - Lamont Pearce is a gig economy demon hunter whose mother ran a government agency meant to defend against Hell. Worth the Candle - A webcomic adaptation of the web serial

Non-Fiction

The AI Art Apocalypse - Slightly outdated thoughts from 2022. Why to Write a Sex Scene - Observations on the narrative purpose of carnal pursuits. Game Review: Underhill - This review contains no screenshots, because this game does not exist. Writing: An FAQ - Accumulated wisdom from 4 million words and counting. Creating Interesting Magic - A much-requested post on making interesting magic systems (and characters, and plots, and worlds). How to Write a Web Serial - It's both easier and harder than you think. The Trouble with Writing Nazis - On giving villains too much credit. Interesting Things to do with Time Loops - Exploring the boundaries of the conceit.

[rainbowsky]

Hey RBS.. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead. Do you think Globalfever fansite is being managed directly by someone from GG/DD’s team. Many a times I wonder how that site able to get tickets to all of our boys events and capture such close up candid shots of GGDD unless she is part of their inner circle?

Example today - https://weibo.com/7320958826/OydEkDN0w

not sure if it’s original or edited.. from that video it looks like XZ acknowledged her words of Jiayou and bye bye

Hi Natashayishan, thanks! I hope you're well, and that you have a wonderful week too! 😊

Here's the video for those who don't have access to Weibo.

To answer this question I'm going to start by explaining a bit of background about fansites and how they function (I'm by no means an expert, but here's my understanding of how it all works).

Part 1 - Fansites in General

There has been a lot of talk about fansites over the years, and some have faced accusations, criticisms, confusion, suspicions, theories both positive and negative for a very long time. I think they're largely misunderstood by a lot of fans.

For example, it's not uncommon for people to believe fansites are stalkers, or that they shamelessly profit from the unauthorized use of a star's image or footage, or that they're organizations that exist for the purpose of exploiting stars.

This isn't really how it works at all. In general, a fansite is just one fan who follows a star's career and enjoys sharing photos and videos they take of that star. Plain and simple. Some fansites involve more than one person, but most are just made up of individuals.

Yes, they sometimes make money selling photo books and other merch, but that money tends to go back into supporting the star -buying endorsement products, arranging events and giveaways, buying or upgrading equipment needed to create fansite content (cameras, computer equipment, software), paying for tickets (many of which are overpriced reseller tickets) and travel/accommodations to attend events, etc.

It might seem glamorous - and there's undeniably a glamorous aspect to it - but to me it looks very stressful, like a huge headache. These fans generally have their own lives and careers outside of fandom, so coordinating everything, waiting in lines, standing in the rain outside appearances and events, not to mention the pressure to attend events and post regular updates, and all the haters and antis they are constantly dealing with, the amount of stress and frustration they deal with must be immense.

It's a lot of work, and for this reason, fansites don't always stay fansites. Some retire as their real life interests and obligations shift. One of my favorite GGDD fansites - Midnight Dream - retired a few years ago. 😢

Fansites are an important part of any celebrity's support system. While no - they aren't part of a celebrity's team or on their payroll, they do play a huge part in helping to bring attention to a star and build buzz around them, their projects, their appearances, events and other activities.

If you want an analogy that might help it make more sense to you, just look at some of the sports fans across the globe who will follow all the matches, follow team developments, team picks, managers and training, and share all that info on blogs, podcasts or dedicated sports fan sites.

This is very similar. They're just really dedicated fans who build a following by being where we can't be, and sharing their experiences so that we can feel like we were there, too.

And they provide the fans and the stars an immense, immeasurable service IMHO, despite what we might agree or disagree with about the way fandom culture works. The content they capture and share is almost always far more intimate (generally without being invasive), and of a far higher quality than that of the professionals hired to cover these events on behalf of media agencies and management.

Fansites do get some official support from time to time. For example, there are events where fansites can get approval - almost like a press pass or a security pass - to attend and be in certain locations within or near facilities to take photographs, video, etc., but they are not hired or compensated by the star or their team.

A lot of it is also largely unknown/unknowable, so it's hard to be sure of the details. There are always going to be rumors and claims. For example, there have been claims that during SDOC Yibo was allowed to invite 4 fansites to come to the finale, and of the 4, he chose 3 BXG fansites and only one solo site. I haven't seen proof of that, but the claim was making the rounds a lot at the time.

One thing we do know - he chose a fansite photo to give to Yangkai when he was courting him to join his team in season 4. (Of course, solos made a huge stink and Youku ended up editing the footage to remove the photo, but we saw what we saw).

There are other examples of GG and DD interacting with or showing acceptance of their BXG fansites. I started looking for some references and then realized it was not something I have time for or interest in. I'm not here to give a comprehensive analysis anyway, I'm just here to give a simple-ish answer to your question. If others want to discuss that in the notes, that's fine.

So, hopefully some of that background info will have answered parts of your question, and gives you more tools to evaluate things on your own moving forward.

Part 2 - Global Fever

As for Global Fever specifically, well... Global Fever is one of the most treasured BXG in the entire fandom. This dedicated fan has been following GG and DD BOTH, since they debuted. She is more than just a CP fan, she's been a supporter of their individual careers since day 1.

Yes, since back when Yibo was still the White Peony.

She became a CP fan in the natural way - by seeing her faves work together on The Untamed, by watching them interact and by following them and their careers. No, she doesn't work for their teams (they both have dedicated teams of their own, and they don't need to pay fansites who - after all - will do this stuff for free). It's just that she's recognizable to GG and DD because she's been a fixture in their lives for so many years.

And this is something solos need to get their heads around: BXG are fans too. I think there's this conceit among solos that THEY'RE GG and DD's fans and BXG are something else, but in reality (and, no doubt, in the eyes of GG and DD) BXG are their fans too.

Never could that be more apparent than when a dedicated fan like Global Fever jiejie is calling 'Zhanzhan, jiayou!' and 'byebye!' as he's boarding an elevator on the way to the stage. Of course GG recognized her and smiled at her. Of course.

[wild-west-wind]

Hi 👋As a Park Ranger (interpretative, like me?), I assume you know all about how the NPS was formed- most of the land was brutally, illegally taken from the local tribes. I've been having a moral dilemma about my role in the national park system. I love educating the public and being a positive influence, but am I upholding an oppressive system? I know that if I were to switch to education or to museums, it'd be the same question. What I'm asking is: how do you reconcile with that?

I mean, this is true of all the land in the US, so it's bigger than the park service.

Before I dig into this as a white person, here's what Deb Haaland has to say:

I think that the Park Service has a lot to reckon with historically, and I think parks lately are showing some interest in trying to do that. From big parks like Yellowstone bringing diverse Indigenous stakeholders to to table on management decisions while also supplying buffalo to regrow and strengthen herds thousands of miles away, to Canyon de Chelly's requirement that tourists travel into the canyon only with a Navajo guide in recognition of the location's sacred nature, to Pipestone National Monument celebrating ongoing traditional pipestone quarrying, to advocacy for protection by the Department of the Interior at Bears Ears.

As a (pretty much entirely) white interp ranger, I understand that I'm living in someone else's home, but I was living in someone else's home when I lived in LA too, and none of that is unique to the US. And honestly I think, for the tremendous flaws of the National Park idea, at least we try to preserve things. In a lot of colonial nations that hasn't been the case.

I think more National Park Sites should form better relationships with local tribal governments, and see what they want. Different people have different relationships with different places, and will want different things. I think the Park Service should open the door to co management more, and encourage more opportunities for Indigenous people to tell their own stories and not leave it all in the hands of randos like us. I think we're moving the right direction in that regard.

The fact of the matter, in the end, is that none of this begins or ends with the Park Service. It's a puzzle piece, a tool used to enact, enforce, repair, undo, and uphold the ideals of a nation that has never effectively dealt with its past, present, or future. I think protecting land from development and preserving natural spaces is a valuable, albeit naive, goal. It can't be done in a vacuum though. As I look toward a future of the National Parks, I see a lot more Native involvement in their management. That will look different in each site, in reflection of the different cultures there. I can't speak to what that will look like for anywhere in particular, but it is happening already, and as educators it's part of our job to explain the whys and hows of that to people who don't get it, and who think sharing will mean losing something they love. At the end of the day, that thing they loved was broken, and there is good momentum behind fixing it, and most people can understand that given time.

I think it's good that you feel guilty. It means you're paying attention. I think the important thing now is to turn that into momentum and passion. Figure out what you can do and do it.

[nirbobharvey]

Hurricane Milton Resources, Emergency Contacts, and Recovery Assistance

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Potential Devastation from Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton’s impact on Florida could be catastrophic. Forecasts show a Category 4 storm, and officials urge everyone to prepare for the worst. The potential damage from this hurricane could include:

Winds up to 150 mph – These extreme wind speeds can tear roofs off homes and businesses, uproot trees, and snap power lines. Flying debris could cause significant property damage and put lives at risk.

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Watch this video to grasp the dangers of storm surge (a storm surge of 15 feet is expected with Hurricane Milton).

Power outages – Downed power lines will likely cause widespread outages. These outages may last days or weeks, leaving communities without access to essential services.

Tornadoes – Hurricane Milton’s powerful system could spawn tornadoes, particularly in the eastern parts of the state, causing additional destruction.

Watch this video to see Hurricane Milton’s approach to Florida’s west coast.

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Federal and State Resources

In the wake of Hurricane Milton, Floridians will rely on various state and federal agencies to provide essential services. Below is a list of important contacts and resources for emergency assistance, shelters, and recovery support:

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Website: fema.gov Phone: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)

Services: FEMA provides disaster relief assistance, including temporary housing, emergency financial aid, and infrastructure repair.

American Red Cross

Website: redcross.org Phone: 1-800-RED-CROSS (733-2767)

Services: The Red Cross offers shelter, food, and medical support during and after disasters.

Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM)

Website: floridadisaster.org Phone: 850-815-4000 State Assistance Emergency Line: 1-800-342-3557 Florida Relay Service: Dial 711 (TDD/TTY)

Services: FDEM coordinates state-wide emergency response, disaster recovery, and evacuation orders.

New Image Roofing Florida

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Services: New Image Roofing Florida provides full-service emergency roof inspections, patching up damaged roofs, installing temporary tarps, and providing long-term roofing solutions. The company will also coordinate/attend adjusters meetings with your insurance agency.

Florida Power & Light (FPL)

Website: fpl.com Phone: 1-800-468-8243

Services: FPL provides power outage reporting and updates on restoration timelines.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

Website: floodsmart.gov Phone: 1-888-379-9531

Services: NFIP provides information about flood insurance policies and assistance with claims after flood damage.

Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)

Website: fdot.gov Phone: 1-850-414-4100

Services: FDOT manages road closures and traffic conditions. They provide real-time updates about safe evacuation routes and road repairs after a storm.

Local Florida County Emergency Services

Each Florida county has emergency management teams coordinating shelters, first responders, and relief efforts. Check your county’s website for specific contact numbers and resources. At-risk counties include:

Charlotte Citrus De Soto Flagler Glades Hardee Hernando Hillsborough Manatee Pasco Pinellas Sarasota Sumter

Visit WUSF (West Central Florida’s NPR station) website for valuable local information, emergency shelter, and guidance.

Website: wusf.org

Hurricane Season Risks and Preparedness

Florida’s hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. Hurricane Milton is hitting just as the state braces for more potential storms. The danger doesn’t end when the hurricane passes. After a storm like Milton, communities are left vulnerable to future weather events. The risk of another hurricane striking Florida before Milton’s recovery remains high.

Weakening Infrastructure – After Milton, homes and businesses will be more susceptible to damage from weaker tropical storms or hurricanes. Unrepaired roofs and weakened structures could collapse or fail under minimal pressure.

Flooding Risks – Milton’s heavy rainfall and storm surge will saturate the ground and fill waterways. This will leave communities vulnerable to even small rain events, with the potential for additional flooding.

Power Restoration Delays – With Milton causing widespread outages, the power grid may remain unstable for weeks, making it difficult for residents to recover fully before the next storm hits.

Preparing for Future Storms – Residents must begin making plans now for the rest of hurricane season. Stock up on supplies, make sure your property is secure, and stay informed about future weather developments.

Additional Tips for Hurricane Preparedness

To ensure the safety of yourself and your loved ones, follow these guidelines when preparing for a Hurricane:

Evacuate if Ordered – Listen to local officials and immediately evacuate if you are in an evacuation zone. Delaying could put your life at risk.

Secure Your Property – Install hurricane shutters, trim trees, and secure outdoor items. Consider having your roof inspected by New Image Roofing before the storm hits.

Prepare a Disaster Kit – Include essentials like water, food, medications, flashlights, batteries, and important documents.

Stay Informed – Official sources like FEMA, FDEM, and the National Weather Service offer updates and information.

Read more about hurricane preparedness at newimageroofingatlanta.com/hurricane-preparedness-a-comprehensive-guide

Hurricane Milton Resources and Recovery

In this article, you discovered information about hurricane preparedness, potential severe damage to roofs and homes, post-hurricane emergency services and resources, and how to repair your home and roof after the storm.

Your awareness and preparedness for Hurricane Milton (and coming storms) will minimize damages and help you return to normal in the storm’s aftermath.

Lack of proactive measures and delayed action will leave you uninformed, in life-threatening situations, and severely challenged to get your home and roof repaired after a hurricane sweeps through your community.

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Sources: fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-milton climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/hurricane-milton-rapidly-intensifies-category-5-hurricane-becoming nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/150217.shtml?cone

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To see the original version of this article, visit https://www.newimageroofingatlanta.com/hurricane-milton-resources-emergency-contacts-and-recovery-assistance/

[bucketkicked]

a new muse has joined the ranks: yū fujimoto ! *

❝ just admit it, you love me 'cause i'm a rascal ~ ! ♡ ❞

* Yu is pretty much an original interpretation of the character Lup.in t.he Thi.rd. I absolutely recommend the series and movies (both of which there are several!) ♡

BASICS:

Name: Yū Fujimoto, (Fujimoto Yū, 藤本 悠 )

Alias / Nickname: Arsene Lupin the Third, Lupin, Lupin III

Age / Birthday: Somewhere between 25 and 35 (per police reports), August 10th

Height:  5'10"

Gender: Female, she/her

Orientation:  Bisexual, strong female lean

Occupation: Master thief

ABILITIES / SKILLS:

Thievery skills, such as: lock picking, stealth, glass cutting, sleight of hand, climbing, persuasion/acting, etc.

Racecar driving (a hobby of hers!), piloting a boat and other vehicles

Acrobatics / flexibility

Strategizing (a girl loves planning!)

Sharp shooting (mostly to disarm or injure)

Master of disguise (incredibly good at makeup and costuming, not to mention voice impressions/imitations)

Escape artist

Multilingual (Japanese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin)

PERSONALITY:

Lupin is extremely goofy and doesn't take much seriously. She likes cracking jokes, even to the police! She thinks taunting them is funny but takes any arrests like a champ (mostly because she manages to get out!). She enjoys leaving notes and doodles behind at the sites of her heists. Humor, however, tends to be a huge defense mechanism for her and has a habit of pretending things are fine when they really aren't.

However, Lupin is an incredibly soft-hearted person. She's a hopeless romantic times ten and tends to get crushes easily. That being said, she does like to woo people and flirt. She'd never cheat, though, that'd just break her heart.

Does thievery for, well, the obvious reasons, but also because she loves a good challenge and chase. If it's not obvious, she's a thrill seeker. Despite her devil-may-care attitude, she's really a brilliant mind with a strong imagination.

Even if she's a thief, she has a strong sense of justice and fights injustice. She's even gone so far to foil the crimes of worse criminals. Lupin never steals from those in poverty, only seeming to target the wealthy and well-off. They can take the loss! She'd never harm a woman or child, however, even if the object in her sights is something really special. She stays away from murder and even helps those who are less fortunate.

Besides racing, she enjoys fishing, nightclubbing, gambling, playing pool, watching TV, and travelling. She really enjoys eating international cuisine and wine but also enjoys tea and coffee. She smokes on occasion, and she prefers the French brand of cigarettes Gitanes.

HISTORY:

Currently known as one of the world's most notable and notorious thieves, Lupin III is under the watch of the likes of Interpol and other government agencies. Likened to a Carmen Sandiego figure, her heists are big and bold, going from banks to museums to mansions alike. If she can steal it, she'll sure try!

Known for her use of gadgetry (some of which she invented/built herself!), she's quite a hard catch. However, she's not perfect, having been imprisoned many times. The real catch? She's hard to stay caught! She's escaped as many times as she's arrested.

Despite some witnesses stating she's died at least twice; Lupin is still somehow kicking. This is due to a mysterious amulet she'd plundered from a museum one day, giving her nine lives. Maybe the love Egyptians had for cats ruled in her favor! The amulet ended up back in the exhibit, but Lupin was alive and well despite losing her steal. She's on life number 3, lending itself to her name: Lupin the Third. She thinks third time's a charm, and maybe it is!

Unfortunately, with such infamy comes copycats. Lupin's been framed for grievous crimes, those of which she'd had to track down the perpetrators for. She prefers to clear her name herself, 'cause the legal system sure won't!

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS:

Lupin took her alias from the great fictional thief Arsene Lupin! She doesn't tend to use her real name unless she knows she can trust you. It also makes her harder to track! Good luck catching an Arsene Lupin the Third, suckers!

For when she has to do some serious undercover work, Lupin has a feminine persona named Ayumi. She often wears red and has short, blonde, and curly hair.

Lupin has a very notable laugh, ehehe!

Three is Lupin's lucky number! Things that happen in threes is a good omen to her.

She seems to have a lot of strengths? SO WHAT'S HER WEAKNESSES? Women, mischief, and extreme curiosity.

[travelsbackoffice]

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[chaiiitime]

It Happened One Summer Night

Summary : Stranded at the airport, Adriana Montero Mundt would do pretty much anything to get to her sister’s wedding, including getting into a tiny car with Daniel Ricciardo — even if she pretty much hates him Pairing : Daniel Ricciardo x OC!Fem Word Count : 3,500

Masterlist | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Chapter 1

“Are you sure? Can you check again?”

The lady behind the counter at the Barcelona airport's information desk gave her an overly patient smile, “Yes Ma’am, I’m sure. Unfortunately, the car rental agency no longer has any cars available and we don’t know when flights are going to resume. But –“ Her fingers clacked rapidly on her keyboard, “I can book you on the next available flight to Jerez. However, I cannot give you any reassurances when that would be.”

To say Adriana Montero Mundt was having a crappy day would be an understatement.

First, she’d nearly missed her flight from London to Barcelona because of a last-minute meeting with an important client. And now, her flight to Jerez had been cancelled because of a freak technology glitch in the airport’s systems which had effectively grounded all flights out of Barcelona. No one knew when flights would resume and there apparently were no cars available to rent, more or less leaving her stranded.

Which wasn’t so great considering she needed to be in her hometown of Jerez for her baby sister’s wedding in four days.

She was about to argue with the lady again when her phone began ringing. The lady looked pointedly at her phone before craning her neck to look at the long line behind her. Adriana got the message loud and clear — she needed to get out of the line.

With a sigh, she stepped aside to answer. “Hey sis!” Carmen was on the other end. “Any updates?”

Adriana slowly massaged her temples. She could feel a headache coming on. “No,” she answered, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. The last thing Carmen needed was any additional stress right before her wedding.

“All flights have been cancelled. No one knows when they will resume." She paced along the glass windows looking out on the tarmac.  So many planes neatly lined up in their little big boxes.  All of them useless because they couldn’t take her to where she needed.  “It can be in an hour or a day or even more, and there’s no cars available for hire.” She stopped pacing, trying to sound hopeful for Carmen’s sake. “But don’t worry about it – I’m sure I’ll find something soon.”

“Actually, I may have a solution for you.” Carmen’s voice sounded way too bright.  “You know Daniel Ricciardo, right? George’s mate?”

Nononononono. Adriana didn’t like where this was going.

“Anyway, George just mentioned he’s flying in today as well. He just got off the phone with him."  Adriana winced at Carmen’s excitement bubbling over the phone.  “Turns out, he was meant to take the same flight as you to Jerez but he's been a bit luckier. He’s managed to snag a rental car and –“

Nononononono.

“He’s happy to give you a ride.”

Suddenly, the headache that had been threatening since her flight landed, was beating right at the base of her skull. She could feel the band of her pencil skirt biting into her belly and her stilettos pinching her feet. She inwardly cursed at herself for taking that last-minute meeting.  If she hadn’t, at least she would have had the time to change in more comfortable clothes rather than having to dash to the airport in her work clothes.

The last thing she wanted right now was to face a ten-hours plus drive with Daniel freaking Ricciardo.

~

DANIEL WATCHED AS Carmen’s sister tottered her way across the parking lot. There was no other way to describe it other than tottering because who the hell wore such a tight skirt and heels to travel?

He wished he hadn’t picked up George’s call. He could have been making his way out of Barcelona right now, with the windows down and some good music on.  Instead, here he was — waiting for Adriana Montero Mundt.

Daniel prided himself on being friendly with everybody. That was what he was known for, right? So, when someone blanked him out, it kind of pissed him off. He’d been nothing but nice to Adriana the two times he had met her and both times, she’d been nothing but glacial towards him.

She was snooty, as his Nonna would say, and Daniel usually couldn’t care less about these kinds of people. So, it bothered him that his memory of her was so accurate — and detailed: the wavy dark hair, the vibrant green eyes and most importantly, the beauty mark à la Cindy Crawford.

It attracted the eyes to the fullness of her lips. It tempted Daniel to test out the lushness of her mouth — which was so not going to happen because him and her, they were like water and oil.

They didn’t mix.

“Hello, Daniel.” Her voice was cool and oh-so-carefully modulated. “Thank you for giving me a ride. I hope it isn’t too much trouble.”

Civil and polite. He could do that.

“No worries. We’re headed the same way.” He bent down to pick up her suitcase to put it in the boot.

“It’s ok. I can —“

“It’s alright.” Daniel cut her off as he heaved her suitcase into the boot. How much stuff did one need for a weekend? He nodded towards the passenger door. “It’s getting late. I want to get on the road as soon as possible.”

The inside of the car was stuffy from being in the sun for so long, the leather seats warm against the back of Adriana’s knees. Daniel already had the windows down in an attempt to get the warm air out. She resisted the urge to ask him to turn on the AC. After all, she didn’t want him to think she was difficult or whatever else he thought she was.

“Here.” Daniel handed her the map he had picked up from the rental agency desk. He had roughly traced out the route to Jerez with a pen. With one hand on the wheel, he set up his phone in the cup holder and slowly backed out of the parking spot. 

“Google Maps say that Jerez is about ten hours away, give or take.”

He watched her out of the corner of his eyes.  She was studying the map so intently as if she could come up with a faster route.

“My plan is to make it halfway to Valencia for tonight. Hopefully, we can find a place for the night there, and be back on the road early tomorrow morning. If nothing goes wrong, we’ll be in Jerez before noon.”

She pursed her lips as she folded the map and handed it back to him. “It sounds like a plan.” 

Daniel hated the note of surprise in her voice. Yeah sure, he didn’t have a fancy degree like her but he wasn’t a complete idiot – he could very well come up with a plan of action without her help.

He sent up a silent prayer of help because he knew this trip was going to be a nightmare.

~

TWO HOURS LATER, they were finally making their way out of Barcelona and onto the motorway. Both of them — as well as Google Maps — had vastly underestimated the time it would take to drive through the city at peak hour.

It had gotten so hot in the car that Daniel had given up and rolled up the windows to turn on the AC. Adriana watched him now, his fingers beating lightly to the country song he had put on. He looked relaxed and completely at ease behind the wheel.

She had to give him credit — he was a surprisingly patient driver. Sure, he had fidgeted a lot — continuously playing with his phone, sometimes picking at the skin around his nails, or craning his neck to look at other cars while constantly muttering to himself — but, he hadn’t once lost his temper as he had navigated through the horrendous traffic. Adriana knew, if she had been the one in the driver’s seat, she most probably would have pulled her hair out in frustration.

That didn’t exactly match the image of Daniel Ricciardo she had in her mind.

Adriana didn’t particularly like Daniel, which was a bit harsh, she admitted to herself, given how she had only met him twice before now.

Carmen had always told Adriana that her worst trait was that she was a bit too quick to judge people. Was she a bit too judgemental? Sure, yeah, but it was a label she’d wear proudly when she was almost always right and when her judgmental ass was what made her a damn good lawyer. So, had she then been a bit too quick to judge Daniel?

Maybe.

She remembered very clearly the first time she had met him. It had been at Carmen’s and George’s engagement party. She remembered him walking in and feeling that instant shift in the room’s energy.

Larger than life. There was no other way to describe Daniel.

There was something magnetic about him that just pulled people in. Maybe it was the smile or maybe it was the nose — it made his face that much more interesting. It made you want to take another longer look at him, grab a sketch pad and sketch that side profile — even if you were not an artist.  Adriana had been annoyed at herself for finding him attractive because one look at him, and she had him down pat.

She knew his type very well — rich, good-looking guy who thought he was god’s gift to women. He’d take you on a thrilling ride and discard you without a second thought once he was bored. And her assessment had proven correct as she had watched him flirt his way around the room, even when he had come to the party with a date.

So, by the time George had introduced them, Adriana had been distinctly cool towards him. She’d politely rebuffed all his flirting attempts. She dealt with enough big egos like his every day at work, she didn’t need to be another notch on his bedpost — or whichever other way Mr. Daniel Ricciardo kept track of his conquests.

Adriana chanced another look at him now. The afternoon light casted his face into golden shadows, the light almost bouncing off the bump on his nose. He was truly a handsome man – it was a pity he was such an asshole.

~

SHE NEARLY GROANED another country song came on.  

God, Daniel sure liked his country music.

Adriana didn’t understand that kink he had for playing the cowboy. Carmen had once shown her a picture of him riding into the paddock on a horse in all his texasboo glory.  That facial hair was — for lack of a better word — an inspired choice. 

She had to admit though, no one but Daniel could have made that look palatable.

“Can we change the music?”

Daniel was surprised to hear her speak. She had barely said anything since they’d gotten on the road and Daniel had been dying over here trying not to make conversation – he didn’t take silence, comfortable or otherwise, very well.

“Sure.” He said as he handed her his phone. 

Sometime during the drive, she’d pulled her hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck and kicked off her heels — it made her look soft, almost vulnerable. The pale pink polish on her toes felt incongruous to the image of her he had in his mind.  He would have thought she would have gone for a darker colour, one more evocative of her sharp edges. Daniel actually felt like a pervert for noticing her feet — like one of those weirdos who lurked on wikiFeet rating people’s feet.

He definitely was a weirdo for knowing wikiFeet existed, he thought to himself.

“Do you even listen to all these songs?” She had her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she scrolled through his playlist. There must be nearly a thousand songs, or even more, on there and most of them were artists she had never heard of before.  All very underground, all very niche. All very —

“Your music choice is so pretentious.” Oops, she hadn’t exactly intended to say that out loud.

“What do you mean pretentious?!”

“Well, all your songs are from artists I’ve never heard of.” She fully turned towards him, holding his phone screen out to him. “Don’t lie and tell me you don’t go out of your way to listen to artists other people have never heard of to be —” She air-quoted, “—cool.”

“Of course, I go out of my way to look for new songs! Why does that have to be a bad thing?” He turned the blinker on to overtake a slower car in front of them. “Music is important. It feeds your soul. You need a song for every moment of your life.”

Adriana blinked up at him. She hadn’t expected such a passionate response from him.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he gestured towards her. “What’s your favourite song? Like that one song that brings you back to an important moment of your life?”

Adriana drew a blank at his question. She didn’t want to think about what it said about her and her life that she couldn’t even come up with a favourite song in that moment. God, when was the last time she had actually listened to a song? Maybe read a book? Her job consumed her every waking moment that she never really stopped working till her head hit her pillow at night.

She felt oddly exposed by his question. She hadn’t expected Daniel, of all people, to send her into a philosophical spiral about her life. She shrugged it off and pulled up his Spotify. 

Oh, he was going to hate this song. She couldn’t help the smirk when she saw Daniel barely holding back the wince on his face as the song she had chosen started to play.

“What?” She asked with smug satisfaction. She’d known he would be just the type of guy to hate Coldplay, especially Paradise.

“Nothing. It’s a good song.”

Adriana had to suppress a laugh at his pained admission. “It is a good song.” She leaned back in her seat, turning her head to look outside, drumming her fingers along to the music.

It was still light out, the summer evening looking deceptively early even as the clock on the dash showed it was well after 8 p.m. She wasn’t sure how much longer it would take to reach Valencia. They’d lost so much time getting out of Barcelona and queuing up at the toll booth that she feared they would reach Valencia too late to find a respectable place for the night.

She tried to surreptitiously look at the speed Daniel was doing. Why is this guy doing the speed limit? What was the use of him being a Formula One driver if he was not going to take advantage of an empty highway and Vin-Diesel it?

She cleared her throat and tried to look as nonchalant as possible. “Do you want to switch? I can drive for a bit.”

Daniel glanced over, trying to determine why she suddenly wanted to drive. “It’s ok. I’m fine driving.” He really didn’t trust her behind the wheel, but he was not going to say that aloud.

“I’m just saying — ” she nonchalantly eased back in her seat, crossing her ankles. “We’re going to be reaching Valencia later than we originally planned anyway, and we’ll have to be on the road early next morning. That doesn’t leave you much time to rest up. So, if I drive now, you can rest a bit and will not be too tired when we get on the road early tomorrow.”

“But it’s ok though —” she shrugged. “— if you don’t want to let me drive. I just wanted to help out.”

Daniel couldn’t dispute the logic behind her reasoning. He was starting to feel a bit tired anyway, it wouldn’t be too bad if he could sit back for a bit. “Ok, fine. Let me just pull over.”

“Great!” Adriana flashed him a brilliant smile as she bent down, picking her heels and throwing them in the back.

~

DANIEL HAD BARELY clipped his seatbelt on that Adriana peeled away from the shoulder. 

“Wowowo, Michael Schumacher, slow down!”

He definitely didn’t have her down as a speed demon.

“What?!” She threw him a defiant look. “I’m barely going over the speed limit. Anyway, you’re an F1 driver — isn’t speed kind of your thing?”

“My only thing right now is for me to make the end of this trip alive.” He was smiling as he said it, his body relaxing as he stretched his legs in front of him. 

The speed definitely didn’t bother him.

Adriana settled down in the driver’s seat. It was actually nice to drive — the warm breeze in her hair, the empty highway, the Spanish flat plains stretching out on either side of the road. It was the perfect therapy to let go of stress.

“So …” Daniel was tapping his fingers along to the music. “Excited for the wedding, huh?”

Adriana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The man had managed to stay quiet all while he was driving, but now he seemed unable to sit still. 

“Sure.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows at her blunt answer. “Your enthusiasm astounds me. Tell me more,” he said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, but not all of us are Mr. Funny, Outgoing and Popular,” she irritatedly pushed back her hair. “Some of us are reserved and quiet, and that’s fine.”

“There’s a fine difference between being reserved and rude.” Daniel muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Daniel flashed her his most media-trained smile.

He should let this thing go. He should just sit through the awkward silence. He really should not — “Have I done anything to you for you to hate me like that?”

Daniel surprised even himself with that question. 

He hated conflict, so he didn’t know what possessed him to ask her this question outright. Heck, he hated confrontation so much that he even stopped to chat with Zak fucking Brown every time he saw him in the paddock, even after the man had almost ended his career.

“I don’t hate you,” Adriana swiped at the stubborn strand of hair that the wind kept blowing into her face. “I just don’t like you.”

“And why is that?” Daniel turned towards her, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Sure, you’re —“ she gestured towards him, “charming and funny and people think you’re nice. Which you are, but you’re also arrogant.”

Daniel cut her off with a sardonic huff. “Babes, I’m an F1 driver. Being arrogant is a pre-requisite. If I don’t believe I’m the best, I might as well not step in the car.”

“Oh, I’m not done!”  She gripped the steering wheel even tighter. “You’re vain. You think just because you’re good-looking, you’re god’s gift to women — you expect women to just fall at your feet.”

Was he vain about his looks? Maybe, yes. He’d grown up an awkward kid — he’d been self-conscious about his nose, his hair, his crooked teeth. So, when he’d woken up one day in his twenties and realised, he’d somehow grown into his looks, had he taken advantage of women throwing themselves at him? Shoot him, any other guy in his shoes would have done the same.

He was about to give her a piece of his mind, but she was not done apparently.  "On top of that, you have this need to be the centre of attention. You like to have your needs catered to, which is why you always date women much younger than you. That way, they're always eager to do what you want without you having to give them anything back in return. You can keep them in neat little boxes without having to change much about your life."

This touched a sore string with Daniel. He knew he could be selfish, he had to be if he wanted to stay in Formula One because racing was the most important thing in his life — above everything else. He was not perfect or blameless, but he worked damn hard to be a better person. So, it angered him that she could sit there and allow herself to enumerate his supposed sins.

"Don't sit there on your high horse and pretend like you don't have any flaws while you thumb your nose at everybody else. The fall from your high horse is going to hurt."

She laughed derisively, the sound brittle even to her ears.

Daniel looked thunderous, his eyebrows furrowed into angry dashes. Who was she to judge him when she’d most probably been handed everything on a silver platter in life? What did she know about the struggles, the sacrifices he had to make to get to where he was? 

"Even if I am guilty of all the supposed flaws you've just listed, that doesn't justify why you hate me." He held up a hand to stop whatever she was going to say. "I have been nothing but nice to you since we met. So, I don't get this hatred you have against me."

She vaulted towards him, her eyes no longer on the road. Anger had heightened her colour, her hair coming almost undone from the bun she had put it in. "Don’t pretend like you don’t know!" Her words were sharp like darts. "I heard the comment you made about me to George at his birthday party."

Daniel looked stumped. "What comment?"

“Don’t pretend as if you don’t know!”

“No seriously, what comment?!”

They glared at each other, her eyes blazing with anger, his with suspicious defiance. Suddenly, there was a horrible grating noise. It felt like something was clawing at the floor of the car, the brakes screeching as Adriana tried to bring the car to a stop.

Fucking hell, she had run over something.

Next Chapter >>

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

FEB 3

Friends,

I really hate to send you another email today, but I have to. 

Elon Musk vowed yesterday to unilaterally cancel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of government grants after he and his goons gained access to the Treasury Department’s vast payments system over the weekend. 

The Treasury system disburses $5.4 trillion a year, or 88 percent of all federal payments, including social security checks. David Lebryk, who had spent more than 36 years in government and was responsible for overseeing the payments system — resigned abruptly Friday rather than turn over the system to Musk. 

In short, the world’s richest man bankrolled Trump’s re-election campaign to the tune of some quarter of a billion dollars. In return, Trump tasked him with running a so-called “department of government efficiency,” and allowed him to get his hands on the keys to the kingdom. 

But Musk hasn’t been confirmed by Congress. His “department” was never authorized by Congress. No one other than Trump has given Musk any authority. No one knows exactly who Musk’s goons are; they have not been vetted yet are handling some of the most sensitive personal information in the government. 

Not even Trump has the authority to stop your Social Security payments, let alone your Medicare or Medicaid or unemployment insurance or your food stamp benefits. 

Yet Musk and his goon squad assert they’re able to do so if they believethose payments are illegal. 

Musk boasted on his social media site X that he was “rapidly shutting down . . . illegal payments.” But who is Musk to decide that a payment is illegal? 

Musk’s boast came in response to a post on X by Mike Flynn, Trump’s disgraced former national security adviser, that contained a spreadsheet showing government payments to a number of Lutheran charities (which, by the way, are doing important work, and obtained the grants legally), Flynn claimed that the screenshots showed “there are MANY more organizations cashing in on our hard-earned money.”

But how did Flynn — who Trump pardoned in 2020 after Flynn pled guilty to lying about his contacts with Russians — obtain a screenshot of those government payments? And what else do Flynn, Musk, or any number of Trump insiders know about government payments made to any group or individual? 

The conflicts of interest are wild. Musk’s own companies are government contractors that get paid through the Treasury’s payments system. Others contractors compete directly with Musk’s companies. Musk’s goons with ties to the tech sector could benefit financially from steering federal money this way or that, 

And why in hell does Mike Flynn have this kind of access? After pleading guilty to a federal crime, Flynn has spent the last few years as the headliner for the ReAwaken America Tour (or RAT for short), a traveling carnival of MAGA politics, Trumpian “prophecies,” anti-vax rhetoric, COVID-19 conspiracies, and Christian Nationalistic messages of revenge against those who oppose Trump. A regular on the tour with Flynn was Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI. 

Other Musk goons have gained access to the U.S. Agency for International Development, following a clash with security officials over the weekend. They have effectively closed the agency. 

Reminder: USAID is an independent organization whose independence is codified into law. “It’s a coup,” said a current USAID official. It was unclear when, if ever, the agency would be up and running again, the official added.

Last week, Musk’s goons locked career civil servants out of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management containing personal data on millions of federal employees, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades, and length of service.

Senior career employees at the Office of Personnel Management have had their access to some of the department’s data systems revoked.

The actions inside OPM make it harder for anyone outside Musk’s inner circle to know what’s going on.

Friends, this does seem like a coup. Offhand, I can think of at least eight federal laws that have been broken by Musk and his goons over the last few days, and at least two provisions of the U.S. Constitution. 

Much of this occurred over the weekend. “Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!” Musk wrote on X on Saturday. 

Hello? Musk’s “opposing team” works for you. Musk works for Trump and Musk. 

Musk and his goon squad are riding roughshod over the institutions of our government, negating decisions that hav been made by Congress. They are trampling on our democracy, and getting information about you that they have no right to have. 

Democratic lawmakers along with any Republican lawmakers who still possess a shred of integrity should immediately seek an injunction from the federal courts to stop this pillage. 

Meanwhile, you might call your senators and representatives in Congress and tell them you don’t want Elon Musk messing with your Social Security or anything else. That number, again, is 202-224-3121.

The departure of Mr. Lebryk and potential for interference with the nation’s payment systems comes when the Treasury Department has begun to use so-called “extraordinary measures” to prevent a government default after a suspension of the debt limit expired. 

Members of the departing Biden administration were alarmed by the request, according to people familiar with their thinking. The people making the requests were on the Trump landing team at the Treasury Department, according to a current White House official.

The inquiries into the Treasury Department’s payment processes have been led by the Musk allies Baris Akis and Tom Krause. Mr. Akis, a relative newcomer to Mr. Musk’s circle, is a venture capitalist who during the transition has focused on the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

Last weekend, Mr. Krause, the chief executive of a Silicon Valley company, Cloud Software Group, again pressed Mr. Lebryk for access to the system, according to two people familiar with the request. Mr. Lebryk declined, the people said.

Mr. Akis and Mr. Krause did not respond to requests for comment.

After the request, Mr. Lebryk sought meetings with Mr. Bessent, the agency’s new secretary, and the Treasury Department’s new chief of staff, Dan Katz, to discuss the situation, according to the people familiar with the matter.

After meetings with Mr. Katz and Mr. Bessent, Mr. Lebryk was placed on administrative leave, two people said. Other career officials will oversee the payment processes after Mr. Lebryk’s departure.

Mr. Akis has made similar inquiries at the I.R.S. about its information technology as part of an effort to automate tax collection, according to people familiar with the matter. During the transition, Mr. Akis asked to visit a major fiscal service center in Kansas City, but was rejected by agency officials, one of the people said.

It is not clear if Mr. Akis has an official government role.

Mr. Krause is now working at the Treasury Department and has an employee badge, according to three people familiar with the matter. Mr. Krause has also led interviews of current U.S. Digital Service employees, many of whom are expecting to be laid off after the technology unit was renamed the U.S. DOGE Service.

The decision by Mr. Musk’s efficiency team to integrate into the federal government, rather than set up an outside body, has been driven by its view that burrowing into the existing U.S. Digital Service will give it greater visibility into federal spending. That, Mr. Musk’s team believes, could give it the ability to take drastic action over spending by giving it access to computer systems across the government.

During last year’s presidential campaign, Mr. Musk pledged to secure about $2 trillion in spending cuts, More recently, he has halved that goal. On Thursday evening, Mr. Musk claimed on X that cutting $1 trillion “would mean no inflation” because of anticipated economic growth. “Super big deal,” he said.