#also got another airline giving us a similar call and then their issue was the vanity had a little soap mark

[izzyliker]

airlines love to call us like umm.. :/ we need a MAJOR DEEP CLEAN. in one of our TOILETS. as soon as POSSIBLE. and then we go in and they’re like Hello we put a bunch of bloody tissues from someone’s nosebleed in a plastic bag in the toilet can you please take it away from our plane

[noahtechno]

GreenGeeks Best WebHosting Service

Fun fact: do you know why Facebook moved its massive data center to Northern Sweden?

That’s because servers run hot, and cooling them down is expensive. Might as well keep them in a cold part of the world.

But more to the point in this GreenGeeks review: maintaining servers uses a ton of energy.

In fact, the Internet is one of the largest polluters in the world. Data centers account for 2% of the world’s CO2 emissions, about the same as the airline industry.

Well, if that’s a concern for you, I’ve got good news because the ‘green’ in GreenGeeks refers to their commitment to providing eco-friendly web hosting.

This is how it works, according to their website:

The platform is designed with a maximum use, no waste mindset.

For every amperage the company pulls from the grid, it matches it x3 in the form of renewable energy via the Bonneville Environmental Foundation

So they claim your website could be operating on a 300% green hosting platform!

While a growing number of hosting providers take the problem of energy seriously, (here’s an example from DreamHost), GreenGeeks really puts their ethos front and forward.

But what about other pros and cons, features and alternatives? Let’s put GreenGeeks through the wringer to see how it fares.

Table of Contents

GreenGeeks Prices

GreenGeeks Pros & Cons

What is GreenGeeks used for?

When not to use GreenGeeks hosting?

GreenGeeks Backups

GreenGeeks and WordPress

Final GreenGeeks Review Comments

Frequently Asked Quesitons

GreenGeeks Prices

Let’s first look at how much it costs per month to host your website on GreenGeeks. The first option is for shared hosting (the one most website owners need). You��ll also find that they offer WordPress web hosting. As far as I could tell, there is absolutely no difference between the WordPress and the shared hosting option.

As always, we’ll only be mentioning the regular price, which is what you pay after a first year at a discounted price. The first 12 months can be 50 – 70% cheaper.

                      Ecosite                LiteEcosite       ProEcosite Premium

Price (after renewal)$10.95 / month$15.95 / month$25.95 / month

You can purchase the plans for 12, 24 or 36 months. There is a significant discount for the longer terms, as you can see below:

GreenGeeks also offers VPS hosting, which comes with better performance, but a lot of limits depending on the plan you choose.

Price$39.95 / month$59.95 / month$109.95 / month

Finally, I should also mention that GreenGeeks has a few add-ons you can purchase to expand your hosting capabilities. These include:

Dedicated IP address: $48 per year

Premium AlphaSSL Wildcard: to secure SSL on multiple subdomains all at once.

WHMCS license: useful for resellers who want to bill hosting to their clients (note that GreenGeeks does offer a reselling option).

Last but not least, you’ll have to pay $25 for every backup restore, if you do it more than once per month (the first one is free).

What can you expect from each GreenGeeks plan?

As you can see in the above table, there’s a lot of unlimited stuff with their shared hosting and WordPress plans. That includes:

Unlimited bandwidth (or data transfer, which means the same thing)

Unlimited disk storage

Unlimited databases

Unlimited email accounts

Free SSL

The key limits to keep an eye on are maybe the number of ionodes, which is another way of saying the number of files on your site. It’s a very large number, mostly there to ensure you don’t abuse GreenGeeks’ generosity by hosting a file sharing website.

GreenGeeks Pros & Cons

Pros:

Green-minded: GreenGeeks is attempting to offset their server’s electricity consumption by using as much renewable energy as possible.

Unlimited data bandwidth: you can host one or multiple sites with complete peace of mind when it comes to visitor numbers and bandwidth.

Unlimited data storage: your site can be as large as you like, so good for video, high-res photos and ecommerce with loads of products. Just keep an eye on the number of files. Hosting more than 150,000 could void your plan’s contract.

Server locations: three continents to choose from, the US, Canada and Europe.

Heavily reduced long term plans: it’s not unusual to pay less for 24 or 36 month plans, but GreenGeeks is slashing their monthly prices by up to 70% for long term users.

Cons:

Missing advanced features: serious website owners and developers will need to look elsewhere for staging or premium DNSs.

No team management: it’s not possible to add multiple account users and to give permissions.

Lack of free backups: you get one automatic backup every 24 hours. One free restore per month, but the rest are paid. Not good enough.

Outdated design: Not a deal-breaker, but the whole system could do with a new coat of paint, which could also help with the user experience.

What is GreenGeeks used for?

I’d say GreenGeeks is best for website owners with green goals in mind. You can even show one of their green badges, to highlight on your site.

The generous bandwidth and storage is advantageous for those who own multiple sites. As far as the performance to price ratio goes, it’s good, and becomes more acceptable when you buy a long term contract of 24 or 36 months.

When not to use GreenGeeks hosting?

Anyone managing a team should consider that inviting others to join the account isn’t possible, and the lack of developer-friendly features could be a big no-no for certain businesses.

Developers with complicated workflows that need staging areas probably won’t be big fans of GreenGeeks’s platform either.

GreenGeeks Backups

Backups and restore are one of the areas I start considering a lot more these days when it comes to choosing a web host. A Sod’s law states: if something wrong can happen, it probably will, and at the worst possible times. This happened to us, and please learn from our mistakes when I say you should backup as often as possible.

GreenGeeks cPanel Backup Feature

Anyways, this is how it works with GreenGeeks. Option 1 is to use the cPanel backup tool. I’s a bit clunky and manual but by no means too difficult to do:

Login and click on the appropriate site’s cPanel button

Click Backup in the Files section

Click Home Directory under Download a Home Director

You can also download a database instead, or a full Zipped account backup, which is what you’ll need to keep on your local drives.

A couple of important things to note:

If your account is larger than 10GB in size, the whole cPanel backup option will be disabled. You’ll have to pay $5 per backup.

cPanel backups saved to your home directory will be deleted automatically after 48 hours, so it’s better to download the ZIP file locally.

The first monthly restore is free. After that, each restore costs $25. Note that it’s not unusual to restore at least a couple of times if there’s an issue (e.g. you chose the wrong backup to restore).

Option number two is to download files manually using an FTP program. If you use a CMS like WordPress or Drupal that also means you’ll need to backup databases. I always find that a big pain to do, and also slow. Which is why a better backup tool would have been useful.

GreenGeeks and WordPress

Although GreenGeeks has a special section on their website for WordPress hosting, I couldn’t find a difference between these plans and the share hosting ones.

In any case, here’s what you get for both if you want to install the world’s most popular CMS.

Easy installation: it’s not 1-click, but they use an install app called Softaculous, which simplifies the process for you. Maybe 4 or 5 steps, which you can read about here.

LiteSpeed Cache plugin: it’s a caching plugin that will make WordPress run faster on your site when properly configured. Be aware this is not GreenGeek’s own solution, but just a generic plugin they recommend.

LiteSpeed Cache Settings

To be honest, I feel like all the WordPress-optimized stuff is mostly there for marketing purposes. If you are really serious about WordPress experts (and you have the budget for it), I’d consider other options like Kinsta or WP Engine. SiteGround is also a great option if you need something a bit more affordable.

Final GreenGeeks Review Comments

GreenGeeks is certainly the provider we’ve tested that’s the most committed to protecting the environment. It’s an admirable choice, and businesses with a green goal will certainly be pleased to hear that they can host a website with a reliable performance, price, and low carbon footprint.

But there are nevertheless a few downsides to consider. The lack of advanced options like staging and team management features can be a dealbreaker for professional business owners. The limited backup features may be not enough for most.

And if you need a top-performing host, other (and more expensive) solutions like SiteGround, Kinsta or WP Engine could be considered.

It’s also not the cheapest provider out there. For example, at renewal DreamHost is more affordable and offers similar performance levels.

> Try GreenGeeks risk-free for 30 days

Frequently Asked Quesitons

How Do I Pay for GreenGeeks?

You can pay via all major credit cards and PayPal. No checks, money orders, wire transfers or Western Union payments.

Is Everything Really Unlimited?

Yes. Just keep in mind that there is a limit on the amount of files you can keep on your sites, though. It’s a really high number, so mostly a precaution against file-sharing websites.

Can I Get My Money Back?

There is an unconditional 30-day money back guarantee offer.

Is There an Uptime Service Guarantee?

Yes, if your website hosting drops below a 99.9% rate, GreenGeeks will refund some of your hosting fees.

Is GreenGeeks Really Environmentally-Friendly?

They’re certainly advertising as such. In practice this is how it works: GreenGeeks tells the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) how much electricity they use. The foundation calculates how much green energy they’ll need to use to make up for it. GreenGeeks purchases that amount in renewable energy.

So it’s not like their servers use less energy than standard hosting. However, they are certainly committed to making up for what they consume, and using as much green energy as possible.

Get GreenGeeks Now

[royvelasco]

Top Things To Do In Chiang Mai

Just like most of the South East Asian Cities on the tourist route, Chiang Mai offers limitless Buddhist temples spread throughout the city. But what really stands out with this popular city north of Thailand is its rich history and colorful culture that still blend into the modern time.

If you’re already tired with the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, Chiang Mai might be the place for you. It can still give you the hyper vibe Bangkok has but with a more laid-back feeling into it. It is still a province and far off from the capital, so expect to get a rustic, slow-paced, stress-free environment from time to time, which is actually a good thing!

I can actually compare it to Bali. You can party yet find relaxation at the same time. Though instead of beaches, you’ll be on the mountains here in Chiang Mai.

How To Get To Chiang Mai?

Your best bet in getting to Chiang Mai is flying in to Bangkok. Numerous international airports fly in to Thailand’s capital so that wouldn’t be a big issue.

Once you’ve stepped in to Bangkok, either you can stay for a few nights (recommended!) or go straight to your destination. Taking the night bus or train is the most famous option for budget travelers, yet flying in to Chiang Mai can also be cheap. Take note that the bus and train can take between 11 and 14 hours of travel. Make sure to check airlines like Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air, & Nok Air as well as they offer cheap flights domestically.

How To Get Out Of The Airport (Chiang Mai International Airport)?

I actually had done enough research on how to take the public transportation from the airport to the Old City, where most of the attractions and accommodations are. There is an option which looks like the most local one called Songthaew or a shared pick-up taxi (usually red in color) available once you exit the arrival hall. I’ve also bumped into an article online mentioning about airport shuttle vans with designated stops in the Old City. And of course, your “trustworthy” airport taxis ready for your service for a steeper price.

Despite of these options I got, I hadn’t taken any of them since good thing, Grab is available in Chiang Mai. Grab has always been a reliable travel app here in South East Asia. It works like Uber that has reasonable pricing and you’ll most likely get a safe and comfortable ride.

Well to be honest, I was rooting for the Songthaew but I was unsure on how to take them. LOL! I was seeing a lot passing by but it looked like some were privately hired. It was not clear to me which one to take and what to do next once I’ve hoped in. I also didn’t see any airport shuttle vans or at least a counter or a queue for them. I was just grateful that Grab was available. :D

What To Do In Chiang Mai?

Chiang Mai is known to be the most visited city in northern Thailand. Most activities in this part of the country can be seen here that’s why you’ll certainly never run out of things to do in Chiang Mai. My 3 days of stay in this beautiful city might be a quick one yet I can say that I had witness most of its beauty. Listed below are the top things I didn’t miss out on this amazing place.

1. Do Temple-Hopping

You might already be templed-out if you have been traveling to Indochina for quite some time now. I’m pretty sure that you have seen countless similar looking temples throughout your trip and the last thing you want to see is another temple.

Chiang Mai might be an exception. I have checked out some of their famous temples and I can say that they differ from one another. Unlike the temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia (which are great by the way), temples here in Chiang Mai feels homely and simpler in structure. They are way less intimidating despite of the golden Buddhas and other statues all around.

Below are some of the cool temples I was able to visit:

Wat Chiang Man

Wat Chedi Luang

This temple is my favorite in Chiang Mai as it has an impressive ruin chedi (pagoda) at the center of the temple ground.

Wat Phan Tao

This temple was not listed on my itinerary but I was able to visit this on my way to Wat Chedi Luang.

Wat Lok Molee

Wat Phra Singh

Wat Sri Suphan (Silver Temple)

Make sure to visit this temple at night to witness its illuminating beauty.

Situated up in the mountain with an astonishing view of the province, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is considered to be the most popular for tourists. Unfortunately, I was unable to visit this temple as it is quite far off from the Old City.

2. Experience The Night Market

There are a few amazing night markets to choose from when you’re here in Chiang Mai but the most popular would be the Sunday Night Market or also known as the Walking Street along Ratchadamnoen Rd. It’s a kilometer stretch of delectable cuisine, artsy souvenirs, and cool local events.

Evidently, this only takes place every Sunday from 4PM until around midnight.

  3. Learn How To Cook Thai Cuisine

I’ve always been eager to try a cooking class ever since I started traveling. Food has always been a big part of all my travels and what better way to know more of the local cuisine than trying to make them by yourself!

I almost had the chance when I was in Penang, Malaysia but was out of time. I found the cooking courses in Luang Prabang, Laos quite expensive on the other hand. The perfect moment came when I visited Chiang Mai!

Thailand definitely is the best place to savor on a gastronomical experience. I was able to enroll for a 3 Dishes - Half Day Course for a reasonable price (the cheapest I saw online) under Mama Noi Thai Cookery School. This activity is available online via Klook and Kkday. If you’re new to Klook, make sure to sign up HERE to get a Php150 reward!

  4. Eat A Lot!

Thai cuisine has always been one of my favorites ever since. No trip to Thailand is complete without trying their authentic food choices.

If Pad Thai is screaming in and out of Bangkok, you might need to ditch that delectable plate for now and focus more on another local noodle dish made popular up here in the north.

Unlike Pad Thai that is dry, Khao Soi is another noodle dish served with a creamy spicy curry-like coconut broth.

Khao Soi Khun Yai is one of the popular stalls in the area that sells Khao Soi. I actually had my lunch here before I went to Wat Lok Molee which is just across the road.

I had this sweet Longan Juice to pair with my spicy Khao Soi.

Tip: Make sure to go here early as they only run from 11:00AM to 2:00PM and usually sell out quickly.

  Some travelers even continue their journey way up further to places like Pai, Chiang Rai, and even Luang Prabang in Laos. But Chiang Mai indeed has these countless attractions your eyes can enjoy. I could also say that this is a great place to retire. No doubt a lot of digital nomads has found a home in this charming ancient city with a modern twist. I can describe Chiang Mai as a city away from the hustle. Despite of the city thriving its way, Chiang Mai still manages to hold its tradition making it an authentic city that catches every traveler’s heart.    

DISCLAIMER: Information above is based on my actual experience during my visit on March 2018. Details like prices, contact information, etc. may change due to different factors. Feel free to comment down below for updates. The conversion rates are estimated and current as of writing.

NOTE: I own all the images used on this blog post unless otherwise stated. Please don’t use these for any purposes, unless you acknowledge the owner. Thank you.

[gwoongi]

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗎𝗌 ✰ taehyung (3)

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗎𝗌 kim taehyung / reader genre: zombie apocalypse au words: 5114

“This won’t be forever, Y/N,” he said, with such a sincere and genuine voice that you felt your stomach knot and churn, a lump forming in your throat. Suddenly you need another drink of water. “You won’t be sad forever.”

warnings: graphic content, death references, gore, swearing, dark themes

a/n: some people really might dislike the flashback additions i add, but they’re pretty much there to add context to the situation + to also develop the characters more, without me adding unnecessary dialogue or details which will slow each scene. omg also a note, (potential writer bias here), but y/n is a very . troubled character, and so she really isn’t this “strong unaffected leader”, she has some issues + i hope the story reflects these issues respectfully ((bc i worked rlly hard))

01. denver ↝ 02. holiday with me ↝ 03. sad forever ↝ 04. surely ↝ 05. scorpion ↝ 06. shakespeare

5 WEEKS LATER.

At nobody’s surprise, the car ran out of gas around three days after Oklahoma. Since leaving the car on the side of the road in the middle of Oklahoma, it had been just Taehyung and yourself, walking the open road, deprived of water and a place to sleep. It was impossible to tell where you were now, walking like biters yourselves, staggering across the dusty roads.

Waking to the sound of refreshing birdsong, you squinted in the tawny sunlight. Rolling your head to your shoulder, your gaze landed on Taehyung crouched before you, the back of his hand pressed against your forehead worriedly, a frown etched to his lips.

You yawned, and he moved away his hand. “You’ve got a fever.”

A shaky laugh left your lips. “Ain’t that funny.”

His boots shifted on the gravel of the floor inside the multi storey car-park, your back leaned against the graffiti covered wall. A halo above your head in yellow spray-paint, Taehyung figured you looked pretty despite looking as you’d expect in an apocalypse. Though, he didn’t bet that he looked any better.

“Tired?” he asked, cocking his head to look at you as he zipped up his backpack.

“My legs hurt,” you admitted quietly, voice hoarse. “Thirsty.”

“Me too,” Taehyung muttered, stroking hairs away from your damp forehead. “We’ll find somewhere to stay, I promise, and I’ll find us something to drink. Just...don’t close your eyes, okay? Try and stay awake for me, okay?”

Keeping your eyes open as he helped lift you off the floor felt like the most impossible thing in an impossible world. “I’m gonna die from dehydration. Isn’t that hilarious?”

He grunted, supporting your weight. “We can’t afford to think like that.”

“‘m gonna die on you,” you continued, attempting to walk without his help. “I’m the leader and I’ve led you to death.”

“Don’t think like that,” Taehyung replied, out of breath slightly as he carried himself and your weight down a short flight of stairs. Despite being your companion crossing the country, he wasn’t sure if he was comfortable enough calling you a friend, yet. There was a tension, an unspoken thing between the two of you - a refusal to get to know each other, but an urge to know everything at once. Taehyung never asked questions, feeling he wasn’t close enough to get the answers. Still, same as before, he needed you to survive, and you needed him, now more than ever. “You can’t let it guilt you. Stop talking, it’s gonna wear you out. Just stay quiet and keep walking, okay? I’m right here.”

“I’m the worst leader.”

“Nu-huh. You’re the best leader, okay? You’ve got us so far. Don’t give up now, come on.”

Heaving himself forwards through the closed iron door, a flood of light made you grimace with a loud hiss, bringing your sleeve to cover your eyes as Taehyung carried you across the length of the car-park. Occasionally he would stumble, jumping you back up straight with an arm around his shoulders, your legs giving away and dragging like a doll across the concrete.

“Hey, hey, stay awake, okay?” Taehyung said, his voice more frantic now, as he crouched his head to look at your face closer. The sweat had opened up your pores, and your dark circles were even more prominent as a feature of your face. He didn’t mind. “Eyes on me, Y/N. Can you hear me?”

An incoherent grumble was good enough and he cursed softly, walking quicker across the park, his breaths laboured and a line of sweat building up at his hairline, his fringe sticking like mixture to a bowl to his forehead. Each step was followed with a breathless, “please,”, his fingers tightening on your skin, his heart physically hurting at the thought of letting you down...just a bit further, now. Just a little bit further-

Losing his steps, stumbling over his own feet as you hung limp by his side, Taehyung let you fall to the ground with a soft exhale of breath, your hair spilling out like a halo around your head. The sun was hot on his skin as he bent over you, checking for a pulse, relieved when he found it. By now, you were unresponsive.

He was panicked- his hands trembled as he cradled your face in his hands, calling you back to him, searching for a response in your face. Never before had he felt so afraid at the thought of being alone in this world, alone without a companion- without a possible friend. Without you.

“Stop right there!”

Hands still cradling your face, Taehyung looked up immediately, his eyes squinting in the midday sunlight. In a few seconds, they focused on a dark silhouette standing on top of a barricaded storage container, painted a navy blue with the words, “WILL SHOOT ON SIGHT!” sprayed on. Clearly he hadn’t noticed that. He was mostly thankful they hadn’t shot on sight. The figure did not move, standing still with their gun pointed in his direction. Without looking, too, Taehyung could sense about three other bandits pointing guns at him, masks pulled up over their faces, caps covering eyes.

“Please-”

“Are you infected?” the same voice called, gruff and loud. A shooter nearby shot down an approaching biter, slow in movement but regardless, still a threat.

“What? No, we-”

“Is she bit?” the voice repeated, pointing the gun at your body laying on the floor, sweat pooling by your arms. Taehyung looked down at you worriedly and then looked back up.

“No!” he was confident.

The figure lowered their gun for a moment. “Is she dead?”

“No,” Taehyung replied without a second of breath. “No! We’ve been walking for days and we ran out of water. She’s dehydrated.”

A second shooter scurried across the top of the container. “The girl’s down. Not a threat.”

“Anybody who’s not us is a threat.”

The second shooter frowned behind the mask. “Give them the water. They ain’t a threat to us yet. You’d want them to do the same.”

Although he seemed irritated, the first figure lowered his gun and pushed past the female shooter, hopping down from the container onto the floor. The girl remained indifferent, glancing at Taehyung in the middle of the street. Wordless, she waved her hand and the containers swiftly shifted, as if on cue, revealing a gate into a cluttered road, decorated with newspapers and large crates with, “NORTHGATE” engraved on them. Taehyung let out a sigh of immense relief, shifting to collect you in his arms, and without objection, moved towards the gates.

NEW YORK CITY, DECEMBER, 3 YEARS AGO. 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK.

“What a way to spend Christmas.”

Taehyung had never spent a Christmas away from his family. Of course, with his sister being a second year student at NYU, she was breezing through her second Christmas away with ease. To the corner of her dorm room, a Christmas tree shedding bristles stood at an angle, with ugly decorations and a sponge at the top acting as the star- “Christmas on a budget,” she said when he mentioned it, and he laughed. In a room further down the hall, her roommates finished wrapping their gifts to give out in three days time, and Taehyung, amongst the sound of carols, focused his attention on the thickening pile of snow on the windowpane outside, the frost glued to the glass in web decorations.

“Tell me about it,” Taehyung replied animatedly, turning his attention to his sister who sat down on the circle carpet in front of him. She wore a bright green jumper decorated in gingham and flashing bulbs sewn into the wool, and plain black leggings with fluffy red and white socks. On her hair, a set of reindeer ears finished her look, meanwhile Taehyung settled with a similar jumper and bare feet, numbed by the fire.

His sister’s dorm sufficed as home. For now, at least.

“I can’t believe we can’t make it home this year,” she continued, dunking a Custard Cream into her hot chocolate. “You think they’re okay back home?”

“We can’t afford to think any different,” Taehyung replied, trying to remain optimistic. But with upper-New York in quarantine, and evacuations running almost daily, he was finding it harder to hang onto hope. “We’ll catch a flight when the airlines are back open. Knowing Dad, he’s probably taken them all to Grandma’s place. For comfort, and safety, while the raids finish. Did you hear about the riots in Detroit the other day?”

She nodded. “Scary stuff. I did some research before the internet shut down in the dorms, and it doesn’t look as extreme in Korea. I mean, the President was assassinated and there’s currently no stable Government, but, aside from that, everything seemed to be in working order. Daegu was fine, at least. I didn’t look anywhere else.”

At that, Mandy, a second roommate, stepped out from the thin corridor. “I heard England was the same. Brits executed their prime-minister a few nights ago. There was articles about them wanting to have Tom Hiddleston as the leader of the UK, which, to be honest, sounds pretty good. I’d go visit.”

Laughing, his sister thought nothing of it. She turned to Taehyung with a gentle gaze, not enough to cause panic, but enough to send a message without words.

“Did your friends leave campus already?” Mandy asked Taehyung, switching on the kettle. The TV fizzled to a static and she frowned, “great. Looks like the power’s cutting out too. Is it this bad in the Halls?”

“We still have internet. And, a few left campus. I think Zac is still in the dorms, though. He hasn’t left in a couple of days. He said he wasn’t feeling well. Figures he got sick from walking past the quarantine zone. I didn’t wanna take chances so I haven’t been there in a couple days.”

“Maybe you should stay here for the night,” Mandy offered kindly, sipping her freshly brewed tea. “I mean, until the storm has thawed. If Zac is sick, we don’t want you to catch it. We can drop by on the way to the student store in the morning and get your things. I don’t think the airlines are gonna reopen anytime soon, and subways were closed months ago, and I don’t think we’ll catch a ride on the bus in this weather. We’ll have to hole up in here until the military says it’s safe to leave.”

Taehyung accepted, taking a blanket from Mandy after she hurried to their storage closet to fish one out, with pillows spare for the couch, a new makeshift bed in front of the roaring fire.

“We’ll be together if anything bad happens,” his sister said, in a whisper, minutes before mandatory curfew at 9pm. “Promise?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung replied, his hand gripping her own. “I promise...”

PRESENT DAY. [x]

At the sound of bed sheets rustling, Taehyung jolted awake. Unable to differentiate the past and the present, Taehyung opened his eyes expecting to see the fireplace, and the Christmas tree, and his sister on the circle rug. Instead, he noticed an unfamiliar room, drowned in a desert-beige, the light peeping in from a rectangular barred window.

He dragged the chair he had fallen asleep on closer to the army bed you were lying on, the noise as grating as the sound of chalk on a blackboard. Checking for injuries, his hands smoothed away strands of hair from your face, the trembling anxiety faded but still present if he really concentrated.

With a groan, you tried to sit up, but his hands came to your shoulders and settled you back on the canvas sheets. “Where are we?”

“How are you feeling?” he asked, avoiding the question.

You pondered the question- “stiff. But I’m okay. What is this place?”

Taehyung looked over his shoulder at the empty room. “You were passed out on the road when they found us. We were headed for their camp and they stopped me for questioning. They let us in, gave you water, let you rest.”

“Oh,” your voice said, scratchy. By the headboard of the small, iron bed, Taehyung reached for a glass of warming water, handing it to you quickly. “Thankyou.” You swallowed half the water. “Are we staying here?”

Taehyung looked hesitant, taking a sip from the almost empty cup and setting it back down on the table. “I don’t know if we can trust these people. At the very least, we’ll stay for the night. They could give us some supplies to leave. I’m already running low on ammo, and we have nothing left to eat. I don’t think we have any other choice but to stay.”

You knew that there was no other way. Despite his efforts to keep you down, you shuffled back up off the bed, your back leaning with a heavy thud against the drywall. Taehyung pushed back on his chair, his hands knitted together anxiously as he watched you grimace, and scratch your throat absentmindedly.

“How long have we been here?” you asked.

“Not long,” Taehyung said quietly, looking the window to see the falling sunlight change angles. “It’s been a couple hours.”

“Are they at least nice? Does the camp look secure?”

Taehyung opened his mouth, but paused, trying to find the right words. “It’s not a camp. It’s more like, a street. A small little community of really angry people. I didn’t get to look around much, but I overheard one of the shooters saying that there was another small group of survivors outside near the farm. But, from what I heard, I think we got lucky being let inside.”

Having nothing of value to say in reply, you simply stayed quiet. Picking the skin around your nails, Taehyung shuffled back on the chair and pulled it to the wall with the window, standing on the plastic and peeking outside. The window was on the ground, meaning you weren’t, and he gulped at the sight of jeep wheels driving past, and black boots, similar to the military. It reminded him of New York, and the night before the bombing of the quarantine near NYU. He cringed and moved away, placing the chair back near the bed and hovering nearby, debating whether to sit or stand.

“You talk in your sleep, too,” you said quietly, meeting his gaze as it fluttered up from beneath his overgrown fringe. He offered a lopsided smile, curious yet nervous all at once.

“Yeah? Must have picked it up from you.” Instead of the chair, he sat on the bed. “Did I say anything funny?”

“No. Most of it was mumbles,” you replied, smiling up at him.

Taehyung laughed through his nose, his face downcast and fingers twiddling in his lap. “Ah, pity. I wish we still had cameras, you could have filmed it for fun.”

“I wish I still had my camera, so I could look back on my life before now,” you answered, after a short delay of silence. “Remind myself of people’s faces. Manipulate myself into thinking this is all a dream.”

Without really thinking, Taehyung reached to grip your hand. These days, he hasn’t really thought at all. You looked up at him, comforted at the way his hand felt on your own, smoothing circles into the skin of your knuckles, exploring the lines on your palm, fingering each separation. Oh, how beautiful it was, to find comfort in the presence of someone you barely knew, but trusted entirely.

“This won’t be forever, Y/N,” he said, with such a sincere and genuine voice that you felt your stomach knot and churn, a lump forming in your throat. Suddenly you need another drink of water. “You won’t be sad forever.”

Before you could reply, the door swung open, and his hands moved from your own back to his lap. He rose, too, reaching for the back of his jeans, gripping the pistol tucked inside.

The same female shooter from the container entered, her rifle swung over her shoulder, skin sweaty and tanned from the camo tank-top she wore underneath her black jacket, discarded somewhere. Taehyung remembered the details.

“She’s awake, then.”

“Yeah,” you replied bluntly, polite enough to suffice as gratefulness. “Thank you. For letting us in.”

The woman sighed, her shoulders sagging in the movement. “Well, no need to thank me yet. It’s still being cleared with the boss. Rules are rules. Feeling better, at least?”

You nodded slightly, staring at Taehyung as he chose to speak for you. “Can we leave this room, yet? It’s stuffy, and I think she’d like to walk for a while, isn’t that right, Y/N?”

He stared at you, sending messages without words. You nodded again, “please.”

Rolling her shoulders, the woman stepped to the side, leaving space for you to both walk out. “Don’t make yourself too at home, but you’re free to look around. Inside this building is restricted to outsiders, but the outside near the farm is free. There’s another group of survivors nearby- they’re cranky and hostile, but, they had children. We never refuse kids.”

Already, you were learning little things about this place. To be truthful, you didn’t even know what to call where you were- were they captors? Saviours? Enemies? You hesitated to jump to conclusions, instead moving to follow Taehyung out of the confined room with a curt nod and no words. The woman didn’t seem to mind; she slammed the door shut behind her and pointed her gun in the direction of a raised shutter, leading out to the luscious-looking farmland out back. She didn’t follow. She took off in a different direction, signalling to her group with words neither you or Taehyung could understand.

“I have a really bad feeling about this place,” you admitted in a low voice, sticking to Taehyung’s side like glue. The faint smell of sweat and grime that would have repelled you now comforted you instead, and without wanting to come across as unnecessarily clingy, you gently held onto the back of his shirt, letting him lead you out into the scorching sunlight.

“Hopefully,” he began, setting off towards the red and white barn pushed towards the corner of the premises, “we won’t be here long. As soon as we’re clear to leave, we will.”

Realistically, Taehyung knew what happened to newcomers who joined groups where everything felt perfect. Nothing was ever truly perfect, he thought, especially so in a post-apocalyptic world where dead people were coming to life to eat people. Taehyung had seen the movies, bought the T-shirt, played the game- he knew what happened. However, he hoped humanity had changed. He was willing to give this place a chance. If he wanted to survive another night, he’d have to.

The barn was ordinary looking, painted a brick red with white outlines, the picture-perfect barn that every farm had on TV. Surrounding the barn, a field of dead crops created a barren landscape that everybody felt familiar with, the weather not being right to grow crops. Approaching the barn, Taehyung paused when he noticed a young child running out, chased playfully by a Saint Bernard whose pants were louder than birdsong.

It had been a long time since he had seen a child. Or a dog.

He headed towards the barn, smiling affectionately when the little boy looked over with curiosity, his eyes widening in surprise and fright and he yelped in alarm, running back inside the barn. Taehyung hesitated, making you stiffen behind him as the dog growled in your direction, only halting when a man came out of the barn with the child cowering behind his leg. He didn’t look old enough to be a father, but a lot had happened since the outbreak. The man smiled nonetheless, his smile being nothing but warm and inviting.

“Hey, look, it’s the newbies.”

“Newbies?” you mocked without thinking. Although Taehyung gave you a look of mild disappointment, the man did not deter, in-fact he laughed and placed his hands on his hips.

“It’s good to see new faces,” he said earnestly. “They don’t bring in new people often. Welcome.”

“I’m Taehyung. This is Y/N, we won’t be here long,” Taehyung promised, stretching out a hand and shaking the man’s. The man laughed shortly, constantly smiling. His energy was like a breath of fresh air, almost enough to convince you that everything was normal.

“Namjoon. This here is Daniel. Not mine, of course. There’s a couple others in the back of the barn,” the man- Namjoon- replied. “I wouldn’t place your money on getting out of this place so easily. We’ve been here for a few weeks now. We planned to stay for three nights until Jenny’s fever levelled out. They took her in for testing. Said she’s in care, but we haven’t seen her since then.”

Taehyung moved to greet Daniel, crouching to his level. Meanwhile you stared blankly at Namjoon, an expression of doubt and question on your features. He noticed, but didn’t comment.

“They won’t let you visit?” you repeated. “Why?”

Namjoon shrugged, nodding for you to follow him into the barn. “Apparently their main building is off-limits to outsiders. A lot of them in here think she’s dead already. But, it’s nice to keep holding onto hope.”

Without approaching too closely, you made note of the six people in Namjoon’s group, not including himself and Daniel, who was still outside with Taehyung, giggling innocently. What they lacked in looks they made up for in numbers- you hadn’t seen a group look so wrecked in such pristine conditions. Namjoon had turned away, taking a seat on a bale of hay, stroking the Saint Bernard behind his ears lovingly.

“What is this place?” you asked, inching towards the dog whose tag read Leo.

“They don’t really tell us anything since we’re outsiders,” Namjoon began, occasionally looking up to make sure you were listening. He did that a lot. “But, a lot of their crates say Northgate. Nate says it’s a military name, but we obviously can’t prove that from in here, can we?”

“Is it...safe?”

Namjoon hesitated. “I don’t know. The barn is secure. I don’t know much about the actual camp. We mostly stick to ourselves and do whatever they ask. We’re in their territory, after-all. It started out good; they had enough food to go around, we joined them for dinner in their halls and there used to be pigs out in the fields. And then, it changed. They reduced our food supply and gave us small jobs to help out. We’re doing it for Jenny, mostly, otherwise we would have tried to leave. One of our group members, David, left a few days ago.”

“They let him go?” you gasped, trying not to sound too unconvinced that he made it away. But, as expected, Namjoon nodded, thinking purely of the situation. You wondered if it was an act, a coping mechanism. The look of life and hope in his eyes made you feel somehow guilty.

“They asked us if we wanted to leave a few days after the food began running out. David was the only one to pick up and head out.”

Why didn’t you leave?

In reply, however, you said nothing. Nothing seemed like the right thing to say in that moment. Seeing someone so hopeful for the world to change made you feel at ease, almost comfortable in the new and unfamiliar setting. After petting Leo, you stood, turning around to head back towards the entrance to the barn. Daniel hurried past you on your way out, a smile on his face, hair now tied into a bobble above his forehead. Taehyung stood alone, now, outside, watching Daniel leave with a smile.

“Making friends?” you asked, referencing Daniel.

Taehyung nodded with a hum. “I love kids.”

Meeting by his side, you stood in silence, both looking out towards the giant building you walked out of. It looked bigger on the outside- a giant bricked building, with modern windows and a slightly falling apart roof, but intimidating in size and length. It seemed never-ending.

“Taehyung,” you started, your voice quiet so that Namjoon or anybody else wouldn’t hear, “I really don’t like this place. I don’t think we should stay.”

He looked over at you with a frown. “You heard what he said. They’ve been here weeks and still haven’t left.”

“I don’t like that,” you insisted, shaking your head. “I’ve seen thousands of movies like this one, Taehyung. I’m telling you- this is exactly what happened in Season 4 of the The Walking Dead. They get to the safe place and then suddenly find out that the people they’re staying with are cannibals-”

“You’re being paranoid.”

“No,” you reasoned, looking at his face, “I’m being realistic, as usual. Look, it’s your call. If you wanna stay...we will. I’m just putting it out there. Something doesn’t feel right about this place.”

Even though he sighed, Taehyung said nothing; instead, he nodded, patting your shoulder comfortingly. He continued to stare out towards the building, and his mouth dropped to a circle when he noticed two groupies heading in your direction, accompanied by a larger, more plump woman. He pointed it out silently, nudging your shoulder, and as you looked up, you recognised the same woman from earlier, and a shooter that Taehyung seemed to recognise as he jolted in discomfort by your side.

“I see you’ve found the barn!” a voice nobody recognised called from across the lot. The larger woman came into view, the sun bouncing off her skin, a natural highlight made from sweat and grease blinding you as she got closer. “Hi, I’m Rose. You must be the two newcomers everybody’s talking about.”

She looked at you specifically, “it’s good to hear you’re back on your feet. I heard from Snowdon here that you were passed out when you arrived. How do you feel?”

You squirmed. “I’m okay. I was just thirsty. I appreciate the water.”

“You know what,” Rose started, her voice elevated in pitch as she turned to address Snowdon, the female member you barely knew, “I think we should run some tests on this young lady. Make sure that nothing is wrong. Just for safety precautions, of course.”

“No, oh no,” you replied, perhaps a bit too quickly for everybody looked at you with alarm. Rose raised her eyebrows subtly, and Snowdon paused in movement entirely, “I’m fine. Really. I don’t think you need to take any tests. I feel great.”

“Only if you’re sure,” Rose said in reply. She looked silently at the two members behind her and they turned without further word. “I just wanted to let you know that you’re perfectly welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Unfortunately, we can’t let you leave just yet, at least not until we know it’s safe to reopen the gates. Until then, you’re welcome to stay in the barn with the others. Dinner is usually at around sundown, sometimes it’s earlier depending on the weather.”

Taehyung, now slightly uncomfortable, nodded stiffly. “We won’t be of any trouble. As soon as it’s clear, we’d like to head out. We’re with a group, but we got separated. We’re on our way to them, now. We can’t be late.”

Rose smiled, her face like plastic. She reminded you of a robot. “I do hope it’s doable.”

The sound of Rose’s voice must have alerted the others further in the barn, as the sound of footsteps made you look away from the woman and back towards the entrance, where several people you only saw from a distance came out, tanned and burnt, parched and weak. Daniel bounded forward with childlike interest, meanwhile a woman who looked like his mother, or something similar, tumbled after him.

“Excuse me,” the woman said meekly, her voice quiet in comparison to Rose’s challenging authority. “I was wondering if Jenny was alright? We haven’t heard from her in weeks. Is she okay? Is it possible to see her?”

“Where’s Mommy?” Daniel asked, innocent and oblivious to the world. Rose continued to smile.

“I can arrange you to see her,” she suggested. “Only two of you, though. The others do not take so kindly to strangers. I can allow you and the little one access to see her.” She reached for a walkie-talkie burrowed in her pockets, “Nevis, please come out to the barn. The little one and his friend request to see the patient in Room 16. Show them the way.”

At that, Namjoon came out, shielding the sun from his eyes. “She’s okay?”

“Barely,” Rose nodded. She seemed to not care for Namjoon, and turned back to Taehyung suddenly: “forgive me for seeming so...brash, but I must ask if you have any weapons. It’s against the rules.”

You fought all urge to give away Taehyung’s pistol tucked in the back of his jeans. If she knew that there was a weapon there, she didn’t show it. Taehyung shook his head and folded his arms.

“Nothing,” he lied smoothly. “We ran out of ammo before we got here, and when Y/N fell, I couldn’t carry everything. I dropped most of the stuff along the way. The guards took the bat and the rifle. I have nothing else.”

Rose hummed quietly. “Very well.” Nevis joined her side, the same man as before. He had removed his mask, revealing a gruesome scar across his cheek, a hollowness under his cheekbones. He remained emotionless as Rose showed him Daniel and the woman, and without question, he led them towards the building.

Watching as Rose followed, the group left behind at the barn remained quiet in return. The group went back inside, and Namjoon joined by your side as the shutter to the building closed with privacy, separating the barn and the rest of the camp entirely. It seemed to be quieter, then, without the whir of machinery and occasional scream, which you guessed was either from outside the camp or the cannibalistic lair you were putting money on existing.

“I know you have a gun at the back of your jeans,” Namjoon said simply, looking at neither you or Taehyung but straight ahead. “Let’s hope nobody finds it.”

Taehyung gulped. “Yeah.”

Namjoon looked over then, and it felt weird not seeing a smile on his face. For the first time since you had met him, he looked serious.

“I won’t say anything,” he said honestly. “And if it’s any consolation- I don’t trust them either. I just do and say what I have to to make it easier to stay.”

NEXT CHAPTER.

[windandwater]

back from Finland and my nightmare flight situation got really fucking funny (and awful) at the end so I’m gonna tell you the whole goddamn thing. cut to save you from Airline Stories.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had to sprint through Heathrow to get to a flight, and it wasn’t my fault. that turned out to be just the beginning but here’s what happened.

airline randomly decided to change my flight to an earlier time

I found out about this from a 3 am text that I read at 8 am on my way to work

cool I have to leave work much earlier

I do that. it was about to rain in New York so it was a good goddamn thing. no subway delays at all.

I sit at the gate for a bit. an hour before boarding, there are still zero airline employees to be found

what the fuck.

I google my flight number. it is not at the gate I’m sitting at.

great.

I walk over to the new gate, the lady there explains “it got changed.”

fine. I’m still on time.

….

the flight is not.

the rain started while I was in the airport and New York is gridlocked, and they barely had enough flight attendants to take off

I check my flight information. I have a connection in Heathrow that’s an hour after my flight and my flight is delayed…you guessed it. an hour.

I’m definitely gonna miss my connecting flight

I accept this (I am on a lot of anxiety medication) to deal with when I get there (thank you, medication!) and go to sleep (so. much. medication.)

arrive in Heathrow

announcement on the plane says that the connecting flight to Helsinki is also delayed, and to see them up front if you are getting on that flight

so I talk to them

“they’re leaving at 8:20 (it is now 7:50), so you can make it but you have to BOOK”

me: “GOT IT.” *takes off*

*accidentally knocks off a baby’s blanket. does not stop, like an asshole. yells EXCUSE ME to every British person in the way, while elbowing them, I’m from fucking New York, MOVE*

“few people runnin' about” happens

gotta go through security first

lady at the desk spins her computer monitor to show me what it says when she scans my boarding pass: “please proceed directly to gate 9”

me: “TRUST ME I FUCKING KNOW”

someone in front of me for some reason has every glass bottle in the world, doesn’t speak enough English for the security people to explain that it’s fine so long as there’s  no food or liquid in them

somehow I get through and make it to the gate

“if you had been 10 minutes later you would’ve caught us, but you’re good!”

phew.

find out later that my family had a similar yet worse experience in Frankfurt. ha.

turns out that was only the fucking beginning. because I still had to come back. here’s how that went.

day 1:

I’m supposed to fly out Saturday at 3 pm. my brother is flying out Saturday at 7 am. Friday night, we are on our way to the BnB and I double check my email.

surprise! my flight has changed. now at 7 am.

ughhhhhhhhhh

fine. I’ll just go to the airport with my brother.

we do that. Air BnB host nice enough to wake up and drive us—for a price, but a pretty good one.

they had a sauna and I had to skip out on using it (I only got to do it once) and I was pretty upset. fuck you, airline.

get to the airport at the asscrack of dawn

I check my email in the car one more time

….

wait a second

the date on this is for Sunday

fuuuuuuuuuuck

screw it, I’ll wait around until their service desk opens and have them put me on a flight

1 hour: nothing

I try and call them. on a janky phone that has issues with phone calls

customer service is closed, because Europe

call the US number

customer service is open and in English but it rings a few times and then I get a message in Icelandic and it hangs up.

….I’m never flying a Scandinavian-based airline ever a-fucking-gain.

2 hours: nothing

fuck. this.

I start googling hotels by the airport instead. check into one. get a shuttle there. room itself isn’t too expensive, but not money I really have.

oh fucking well

I pass out.

wake up, have to leave the hotel to get lunch, come back and read Yuri on Ice fanfic

oh daaamn this hotel has a sauna

tight

get smoked reindeer pasta at the hotel restaurant

go to sauna again

go back the fuck to sleep

day 2:

airport shuttle at the asscrack of dawn but this time I’ve slept all day

feeling annoyed but optimistic. this will suck but at least I’m rested.

get to the airport

once again they have changed the airline on me. this was not self-evident in the email

haul my ass to the right terminal. thank fuck there are only 2.

that last sentence is foreshadowing

in line for getting my ticket (b/c of course I can’t check in at a kiosk) and two people in front of me are going through the same shit. airline answered their phone calls tho and promised them money back

feeling more hopeful

am now flying through Amsterdam. they can’t print my connecting flight boarding pass. I will have to get it printed at the airport when I get there.

there is only an hour between the flights

I am hit with a sudden premonition of doom

but am still hopped up on anxiety medication

here we go again!

make it to Amsterdam with no drama

phone battery is dying. my external battery stopped working abruptly and there’s no charger on the smaller planes. it wouldn’t charge at the gate; was plugged in but draining. I turn it off. charges 2%.

more foreshadowing

I get off the plane and have to ask where to go to get to the correct airline. someone directs me. it’s a different terminal. I run-walk over there, knowing what’s about to happen.

passport control. spend 5 minutes panicking that I don’t have an e-passport b/c I don’t know where to look for the logo. turns out it’s on the front cover! I’m a dumbass.

get there. can’t check in/print off boarding pass

oh boy

have to wait in line for a service rep

this wait takes 35 minutes

I get to the front. my seat reservation somehow does not exist

she manages to print off my ticket. and call them to tell them I’m coming.

looks me in the eye: “you run.”

me: “I run.”

I do that.

new gate is 2 more terminals away

Amsterdam is fucking big and I have now run across 3 terminals of it.

the Dutch are better at moving out of the way than the English

I make it to the gate and people are there yelling “New York? New York!!” make it on the plane. phone won’t charge. ...... great.

no podcasts for me! I watch a Stonewall documentary, a gay rom com, and a slew of nature documentaries.

at least I’m on brand.

make it to New York in one piece. meet a nice German lady and everything.

it was hell coming back here from Greece but from Scandinavia it’s fucking amazing.

anyway

slight panic after going through passport control. I handed them my receipt, promptly forgot I did that, then got my baggage and began looking for my receipt to show to the next set of cops.

receipt was gone

ummmmmm

I empty out my entire bag

nothing

I ask the lady next to me if they kept the receipt

she says yes they did and I nearly collapse. guess there’s no next set of cops this time around. it’s different every fucking time.

she sympathizes. we have a nice chat. she has family in Helsinki and just got back from Greece and Italy.

Scandinavians are not friendly. FUCK I missed New York.

because some people will assume otherwise if i don’t say so: it was not a white lady. I really really missed New York.

I manage to make it to my subway stop with no more drama than wondering why I’m the only person on the train

I realized literally this morning that it’s almost a holiday weekend. oops.

make it to my apartment door

they installed a new front door while I was in another fucking country

(there were issues with the old one)

sign on the door says go see the super. who never answers his door, only the phone.

my phone battery is now at 10%

….

super’s not answering his phone. or the door.

7%

text and call neighbors who live near me. leave messages. try not to panic.

feel raindrops

look up

there’s a storm cloud coming in

I hear thunder

this is the point where I started laughing

I try the super’s other number

“uhhh you changed the door”
 “you were sleeping!”
 “I was in FINLAND!” 
“okay, give me a minute, I’m on my way”

5%

turn phone off

super appears. I am not soaking wet and laughing hysterically. yet. if he’d been any later it would’ve been another story

make it inside. plug in phone. it’s at 3%

answer all my family’s frantic texts, order food delivery, take a shower, go the fuck to sleep, and sleep 14 hours. felt fucking great.

go to work today because it’s 4th of July and if I don’t I’ll only be in for two days. oh well!

[katherinelhughes]

Ireland Impressions

I just returned yesterday from a five-day trip to Ireland with my daughter, Isabelle.  She is applying to grad schools, and this last summer I let her know that I had AAdvantage miles that needed to be used.  I thought she might use them to travel to interviews, but it turns out that in the world of Biology, the schools pay for prospective students to come interview.  I realized yet again that I chose a difficult field--as a free-lance professional violinist, I’ve gotten used to paying to play, so to speak...  Anyway, she suggested that we take a trip to Ireland.  She works in a lab with someone who had gone there on his honeymoon, and he had very enthusiastically recommended that she go.

Without going into a lot of detail, Isabelle had a run-in with a virulent virus (I know that’s redundant) in September.  The virus caused some frightening seizures which resulted in two hospitalizations.  We weren’t sure that we would be able to go on our trip, scheduled for the end of November.  So when Isabelle got the okay from her doctors, it was excellent news, in many ways.

We had held off making hotel reservations, but fortunately the end of November is off-season in Ireland.  Ordinarily I would have done a lot of research to decide where to visit and where to stay, but the last-minute nature of our planning made that impossible.  Maybe the more spontaneous approach to this adventure made it more satisfying.  Also, thanks to crowd-sourced reviews of everything on the internet, gone are the days of toting guidebooks around.  Our last big trip was to Munich and environs--eight years ago--and we definitely did that the old-fashioned way. 

Okay, I’ll get on with it.  We actually had five full days in Ireland, bookended by two days of travel.  The airline travel was unremarkable, which might be remarkable, now that I think of it.  Our plan was to spend one night in Dublin, two nights in Galway, one night in Cork, and the last night back in Dublin.

Day One: Dublin

Our hotel was just south of the River Liffey in the City Centre.  We took a cab there from the airport and dropped off our suitcases so we could immediately start exploring.  On our way to see the library at Trinity College, we ran across a cool exhibit of art books at a gallery.  A good start.  At the library we learned that only a facsimile of the Book of Kells (the famous medieval manuscript) would be on display that week.  Not a big deal, especially since the library itself was awe-inspiring.  I overheard someone saying something about Harry Potter, and we learned that they had shot a library scene there.  It was also featured in one of the later Star Wars movies.  Did that make it more meaningful to me?  I’m almost ashamed to admit that it may have...  We also visited the Guinness Storehouse in the early evening.  It’s described as a “brewery experience”.  A bit too theme-parkish for my taste, but I definitely know more about the process of brewing beer in huge quantities!  The top floor bar where we had our complimentary pint has a 360 degree view of the city.  We had two great meals that day, both at pubs.  I have a much different impression of what pub food is now--many vegetarian and even vegan options.

Day Two: Dublin to Galway

A few days before our trip, I literally awoke in a cold sweat about driving on the left side of the road.  My colleague Catherine had given this advice, to be used as a mantra: drive on the left and look to the right.  We were picking up the rental car, and I would be the only driver--Isabelle isn’t able to drive for six months from the time of the last seizure.  The weather was pretty intense--driving rain and wind.  I thought it was charming that so many people apologized for the weather.  We had escaped just before a big snow in Chicago, so I kept assuring folks that we had seen worse!  The driving challenge turned out to be my position on the right side of the car.  It took me an entire day of Isabelle saying “Mom, you’re over the line!” to get used to centering the car in my lane.  Driving on the left side wasn’t as weird as I had thought it would be.  And I think the roundabouts are brilliant.  They keep traffic flowing, and cause fewer accidents than traffic lights.

We had breakfast/early lunch at Tyrrellspass Castle, and continued on to another castle at Tullamore--Charleville.  Evidently, they have an annual music festival there called Castlepalooza.  They were shooting a rock video when we arrived, and we weren’t able to go in, but the drive up to it was downright magical.  That was a word that kept popping into my head over and over.  The rain and temperate climate cause the vegetation to be green, even in late November.  That, along with the mist and ancient trees, conjured up images of fairy tale enchanted forests.

We decided that we would go directly to the Cliffs of Moher since it looked like it would be rainy the following day.  The drive up there was pretty harrowing.  We were on rural roads that narrowed without much notice, and I was still trying to hone my new driving skills.  What a reward when we arrived though!  The cliffs at the edge of the Atlantic are ruggedly breathtaking.  Because it was off-season and relatively late in the day, there were very few tourists.  And there were sheep grazing right next to the trails--even a proverbial black sheep.  They are the “Shaun the Sheep” type with the black faces, and both Isabelle and I are big fans.  It’s too bad that today I started thinking about the fact that they are livestock and not pets...

When I started the car at the Cliffs, two warning lights came on.  We looked them up--Electronic Stabilization Control and Emission Control.  I figured we could make it to Galway, but we knew we would have to address the issue the next day.  Thankfully, we did get there with no trouble.  Our hotel was once again in the City Centre.  About a block away was a Christmas market with food stalls and some carnival rides.  Before we left home, I had wondered how commercial Christmas would be in Ireland.  We learned that decorations generally go up a day after Halloween, so I guess that the US isn’t the only place that extends the holiday to last over two months.  But to us, everything looked so quaint suspended over cobblestone streets.  There is also an upscale Irish department store, Brown Thomas, that does some wackily inventive holiday windows.  In Galway, one featured a male mannequin with an owl’s head.  We had another great dinner--excellent farm to table food and a vegan local beer.

Day Three: Galway

We finally had a chance to sleep in!  Then, unfortunately, we had to drop the car at an Enterprise-approved car repair facility for diagnosis.  It was very close to the City Centre, so we walked to the Fisheries Watchtower (museum) and the Galway Museum.  The wind was fierce--equal to anything I’ve experienced in Chicago, but that weather was over by 2 PM or so.  At the museum, we learned about the ancient and more recent history of the city, including the Irish uprising against the British.  I know through 23andMe that my DNA makeup is 41% British and Irish, the largest percentage in the mix.  23andMe doesn’t specify English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish--I’m probably all of the above.  We're pretty sure that the Hughes name comes from Wales, and our background is pretty thoroughly Protestant.  I grew up with the impression that the Reformation was a positive thing, and that the Protestants held the moral high ground.  But in this phase of my political thinking, my belief is that religious differences have most often been used to justify` the lust for power and the control of natural resources and goods.  I also just finished an amazing book on the trip--”Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire” by Kurt Andersen.  The US was founded by some pretty crazy Protestants, and I can’t take much pride in the ways that they behaved.  Anyway, the visit to Ireland has led me to wonder what my ancestors’ political roles were in these struggles for independence.

We had savory pie for lunch--mine was kale and wild mushroom, locally sourced again, with spelt flour crust.  Isabelle and I agreed that it was our favorite meal of the trip.  We had to go back to the car repair place, and they informed us that we needed to get a replacement vehicle.  This gave us the opportunity to talk with the lovely young woman from the Enterprise facility in Galway, the longest conversation we had with any local on the trip.  The replacement car was newer and better, and they gave us a free day’s rental, so it was a win-win-win situation!  We briefly visited the gorgeous Galway Cathedral where a nice man let us in even though they had just officially closed.  We also heard some Irish traditional music, and ate at yet another farm to table restaurant.  Incidentally, the prices were really reasonable compared to Chicago prices for similar food.

Day Four: Galway to Cork

Isabelle figured that Limerick would be a great place to stop on our way to Cork.  We ended up spending much more time there than we had planned.  After a great mocha (my first time trying oat milk) and breakfast, we went exploring.  There was a mostly ruined castle, King John’s Castle, that had an excellent museum component that inspired more rumination on the conflicts between the different factions in the British Isles.  And very nearby was the 850 year old Cathedral of St. Mary.  Very impressive to us Americans when we’re inside a building with that kind of history...

We decided to visit Blarney Castle on our way to Cork, and it was much more captivating, and much less touristy than I had imagined.  As we approached the castle on foot, we passed signs that read “90 minutes to the Blarney Stone”, “60 minutes to the Blarney Stone” etc.  We were once again grateful that we were there in the off-season.  Our wait to kiss the Blarney Stone was...0 minutes!  Yes, we did it.  There are many stories about the Stone, but the most common is that it gives you the gift of gab, and not in a good way.  But I figure I can use the gift of gab--everyone always tells me that I’m too quiet and very private.  Wow--it may already be working, since I’m writing this long involved post about our vacation!  Surrounding the castle is a gorgeous park that is truly a botanical garden, including a poison garden.  That traditionally would have had medicinal plants that “will either kill you or cure you.”  There were huge redwoods, oversized rhubarb plants, a spectacular fern garden with waterfall--magical, you might say!

We went on to Cork, found our B & B, and went into the City Centre for another excellent meal.  We wandered around, figuring out what we wanted to do there the next morning.  There was a large courtyard with a light display called “Glow” that was set to open the next day.  Also a ferris wheel that seems to be a standard part of a Christmas market--who knew?  Our B & B was pretty cool, but the woman who ran it seemed disappointed that we hadn��t opted for the breakfast part of the equation.  We had our sights set on a coffee place we had seen on our reconnaissance mission...

Day Five: Cork to Dublin

We did go to the Bean and Leaf, and it was very near to the English Market that we planned to visit.  The English Market is a covered food market that houses a huge variety of fresh grocery items.  We wondered about the origins of the name, and found out that the English or Protestant Corporation that ran Cork untl the mid 1800′s founded it.  It catered to a wealthy clientele while the Irish Market catered to the working class folk.  Now, everyone goes there, and they have all of the super-trendy foods that you would find in an upscale grocery store in the states.  We bought a few things there, walked around a bit more, and got in the car to head to our last big adventure. 

Almost as ubiquitous as the sheep on the hillsides were the rainbows.  We saw a few every day that we were driving, including a couple of double rainbows.  The conditions were perfect--light rain, followed by the sun breaking through the clouds.  Now I understand the whole leprechaun and pot of gold at the end of the rainbow image.  They seem so...magical!

I think it was the vinyl record store we checked out in Cork that got us onto the subject of rock operas.  On our next car ride we listened to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”.  It was one of the few times we listened to music in the car.  Most of the time the British-accented Google Maps lady was telling us where to go--”take the slip-road on the left.”  Thank goodness for Google Maps!  It would have been difficult to navigate all of those one-way streets with me driving on the left, using an old-fashioned map...  Anyway, it was a pretty long stretch on a main road to get us to our next destination: the Wicklow Mountains at Glendalough.  The same mountain range extends into Dublin where they’re called the Dublin Mountains.  It was astoundingly beautiful there--and the smells were so fresh and fragrant.  We hiked a very short trail that took about 50 minutes, but it gave us the flavor of the park.  We had lunch at the Glendalough Hotel.  And that reminds me--many of our servers, especially in the Dublin area, were young Eastern Europeans.  Evidently, Ireland is a very popular place to look for better job opportunities, and a better life in general.  We did remark on the fact that we saw very few people of color though.  I want to find out why that is the case.  It does make me wonder about ethnic and religious homogeneity.  Would I have felt such an affinity for Ireland if I weren’t white and culturally Christian?  

On the way down the mountain and back to Dublin, we listened to “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull.  Isabelle had never heard it before.  I thought it had an appropriately Celtic feel, and was loosely in the rock opera genre.  We listened to a few Irish artists as we were making our way back into Dublin in Friday evening traffic.  We checked into our last hotel, did a bit of last-minute souvenir shopping, and ate at a pub with live music.  The two musicians played mostly traditional Irish music, but also included a few American tunes.  It was kind of a fitting transition since we would be heading to the airport in the morning.

I am so grateful that Isabelle was well enough that we could make this trip.  She was a great traveling companion, and our energy levels were very well matched.  We shared a similar idea of the optimum balance between planning and spontaneity.  I’m not sure how to wrap this up except to say: Travel with your adult children!  Go to Ireland in the off-season!  Enjoy the rainbows!

[iguana012]

2017 Japanese Nationals: Post competition analysis

Hello and happy new year to everyone! We have all survived yet another intense bloodbath, we have safely arrived to 2018 and we can talk about it now and forever after to our children and grandchildren. Yes, it’s the Japanese Nationals, also known as The Nightmare Before Christmas. As you know, once you get invested in figure skating, specifically Japanese figure skating, you can never enjoy Christmas as you once did when you were blissfully unaware of the existence of this event they call Japanese Nats. This season’s Nats has been feared for a good while as it was shaping up to be the event where people’s hearts would inevitably be broken. The event where the 2018 Olympic team was decided was possibly the fiercest competition in the ladies’ event in Nats history as no less than 7 ladies were battling for only 2 spots at the Olympics and Worlds. Japan ending up with 2 slots for their ladies was one of the biggest sins of 2017 if you ask me. Until the very last moment you couldn’t really guess who’d go and who’d stay home. But make no mistake, the girls who unfortunately had to stay home are much better than some of the other ladies in the world who will go to the Olympics. It’s not hating, it’s just the reality. Meanwhile the men’s event was gonna be a much less exciting and intense event from the moment Yuzuru Hanyu had to withdraw due to the injury he sustained in practice back at the NHK Trophy. However, even if the depth was nowhere near the spectacular last group of 6 from the 2013 Nationals, it still turned out to be a good competition. That said, here’s my personal analysis of the 2017 Japanese Nationals!

THE LADIES

At the beginning of this season, I bet nobody would have thought the Olympic team would be Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto. In fact most people, including myself, thought Mai Mihara would be a lock and Wakaba Higuchi would eventually join her. Satoko was recovering from a serious hip stress fracture and couldn’t jump at all as of October, while Kaori had just turned senior and didn’t skate very well in the beginning (4th at US Classic where Marin Honda won, 5th at Rostelecom where Wakaba Higuchi was 3rd). But by Skate America, both ladies were able to put two clean back to back programs and they were 1st and 2nd in the event. Meanwhile Wakaba Higuchi, who started the season with a bang (217 total score at the Lombardia Trophy, two medals in the Grand Prix) started piling up small mistakes towards Nationals and Mai Mihara’s programs weren’t appreciated by the judges as she consistently got some of the lowest PCS among Japanese ladies. Marin Honda wasn’t much of a factor from the very beginning as she wasn’t quite ready for the intense fight for spots. A member of the World team in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Rika Hongo didn’t have much of a chance in front of the new seniors. But in the midst of the Olympic chase, junior Rika Kihira landed three triple axels at Nationals, the first lady to do so since Mao Asada. If she repeats the feat at Junior Worlds, she will officially repeat Mao’s record. 

7. Marin HONDA (SP, FS)

Marin was originally going to do a tango in her SP but changed her mind when she heard a song in the car and thought it was the perfect music for her. So she ended up skating to The Giving by Michael W. Smith and many people loved it. It’s really obvious when a skater loves the music they’re skating to. The emotional connection, as well as projection to the audience is deeper and more natural. 

The program was very sweet and warm but her performance at Nationals was a bit subdued as she kind of skated through the motions and didn’t really connect to the music. All I could think of after the program was, well, that was cute and sweet but it’s not something I’d look at and say wow that’s a complex, multi layered program that would be a hit at the Olympics. She actually maintained focus and got her spin levels this time (something she always struggles with) but a bad landing on the 3Lo (which I think is one of her best jumps) and a step-out / touch-down was costly in a deep field. 

Her FS this season is Turandot, a choice inspired by Olympic Champion Shizuka Arakawa. Marin made no secret out of her wish to compete at the 2018 Olympics and the media fell in love with her, she got a lot more sponsors than the other ladies (Japan Airlines, Ghana and KOSE to name a few); big companies that you usually see attached to names such as Mao Asada and Yuzuru Hanyu. People were more than ready to send her to the Olympics. But that dream couldn’t come true when she skated her long program at Japanese Nationals and popped a couple of jumps. Every time I saw this program I was a bit puzzled at her expression in the opening pose. I’m struggling to find any reason for her to flash a playful, idol like smile to the judges when her music is Turandot. She actually smiles a lot during the program and I found that distracting. Turandot is supposed to be a beautiful but cold princess and any prince who wishes to marry her should answer three riddles or else he dies. The red dress she wore for this program was absolutely gorgeous and as many people noticed, very similar to Yuna Kim’s Turandot dress. 

PROS: Marin has a lot of natural talent. Her skating skills are sublime and she looks like she’s skating on clouds. She has a beautiful face and a beautiful smile that everyone loves and a playful personality that can easily attract cameras. She loves and feeds off the attention she gets. A very charismatic performer with solid basics that could become a real star if she put a little more effort. 

CONS: Marin’s main problem is perhaps the lack of focus. Most of the time, she has trouble concentrating on the things that count and has lost important points just for not hitting her spin levels. She doesn’t have the greatest jumps and her toe picking technique is weird at best, but she gets decent height and beautiful flow. While she is a very skilled performer, she doesn’t have a wide interpretative range and is basically skating with a playful smile even when the music doesn’t require her to do so. She is still very young, is obviously enjoying a lot of love and adoration and will hopefully become more focused as she gets older. 

6. Rika HONGO (SP, FS)

Rika skated the best SP in a while here and got awarded with a 70 score and 3rd place after the short. Her SP is O Fortuna and it’s the same program as last season but I think her performance at Nationals was the best she ever did. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and skated with passion, power and conviction. She opened with a huge, fully rotated 3F-3T combination and you just knew she was in for a fight as she has a habit of underrotating the backend 3T when she’s injured or nervous. Spins aren’t her forte; she doesn’t hit the most aesthetically pleasing positions and doesn’t get a lot of speed. But she was 100% connected to her music (you could even see her lip sync when they showed close-ups) and she communicated very well with the audience. I loved the landing of the 2A right in time with the musical note. The step sequence was amazing; not the best posture and the movements seemed unfinished at times, but it was very expressive and could easily draw you in. She had people cheering and clapping for her from the moment she performed her last spin. Well deserved standing ovation and it was so good to see her so happy. 

Her FS set to the soundtrack of Frida is another gem of this season. Rika hasn’t enjoyed a good long program since Riverdance a couple of seasons ago and while this isn’t as popular as Riverdance, it still fits her like a glove. The 3F-3T was perhaps not as confident here as it was in the SP but she went on to land a beautiful tano 3S. The axis of the 3Lz was completely off and she fell; since falls were so rare in the competition, this one unfortunately stood out. I thought the step sequence was lovely though not as free and convincing as the short. Another fall on the 3Lo and it was clear that she would end up being left behind in the rankings. I also thought her interpretation was absent in the second half of the program as mistakes started piling up. 

PROS: Most Japanese ladies are known for having beautiful movements, soft skating skills and gracefulness but Rika Hongo usually puts out different, dynamic performances that can be equally enjoyed by the audience. In fact she is widely appreciated for bringing a quirky side to skating. Her jumps are big but she doesn’t have a good lutz edge and can sometimes underrotate. Even if she’s not going to the Olympics, she was a constant presence on the podiums and in competitions in the post Sochi era. 

CONS: It’s become increasingly difficult for her to keep up with all the young skaters coming from juniors. She’s not very consistent and has struggled with injuries in the past. Her posture issues are well known and she hasn’t fixed much about her hunched shoulders. She also doesn’t have the best skating skills in the field. 

5. Mai MIHARA (SP, FS)

Can you believe someone many people bet on being on the Olympic team finished 5th at Nationals? It was mostly because of her SP, Libertango, which turned out to be a not-so-good choice for her this season. While the intentions for her to expand her performing range are appreciated, perhaps this wasn’t the right season to experiment. I thought she started the program fairly well here and although her movements were not nearly sharp enough for this type of music, her interpretation was in the right mood. I don’t know if it’s just me or if her jumps have become smaller lately. The 3Lz-3T was smooth as always. She was obviously happy to land the combination but skaters tend to break the mood when the relief of landing the jump shows on their face. Not the fastest spins. That thing she does rolling her hips isn’t the most natural movement for her. The fall on the 2A was really, really unfortunate. That was not the first time she had a problem in the SP (3Lz-3T-boards at the French GP comes to mind) and she instantly got disconnected from the music and skated with a blank face for the rest of the program. The 3F is a great jump for her, lovely transition out. By the time she finished the program, it became clear that she wanted it to end as quickly as possible. 

Her FS, Gabriel’s Oboe, is more in her comfort zone but it still didn’t leave the best impression on the judges. It’s a lovely program and a fan favorite but one has to wonder where things go wrong for the judges to not want to reward it in PCS. Of course it’s the obvious problem of the Japanese ladies getting underscored as a tradition but in Mai’s case that can’t be the only reason. It’s cute, it’s uplifting and heart warming but perhaps it’s a bit too one note? There aren’t any ups and downs, just safe skating from the beginning to the end. She landed all of her jumps but it still didn’t have the wow factor of a cleanly skated long program. It’s not rich in transitions and her upper body movements need work. Aside from the relief of landing her jumps, she doesn’t show much in her expression either. The girl has been through a lot, she deals with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and this disease has kept her out of the second half of her last junior season. She enjoyed some success last season in the absence of Satoko Miyahara and has gained plenty of fans who appreciate the pure style of her skating. 

PROS: Her jump technique is usually very solid and she is known for her effortless take-offs and landings. She also maintains very good flow. She can usually get very high TES and she had an extra jump in the second half of the FS this season. Also known for her consistency. She can only become better and better from here on. 

CONS: She needs something to stand out. Every element of her skating has room for improvement and perhaps she is still searching for her personal style. 

4. Wakaba HIGUCHI (SP, FS)

Wakaba almost went to the Olympics. Almost. She worked very hard to be taken into consideration for the team and if Japan had 3 spots, Wakaba would have been on the team. This is a skater who enjoyed a boost in popularity this season, mostly due to the fan favorite long program Skyfall. No doubt Wakaba has improved in all aspects of her skating from the last time we saw her skate Scheherazade at the World Team Trophy. I would even say she’s the closest to “the complete package” with her powerful jumps and performing skills. She was at her best at Cup Of China where she arguably should have won over a less cleaner Alina Zagitova. But she was not up to her usual standards at the Grand Prix Final and the trend unfortunately continued at Japanese Nationals. 

While I’m not a big fan of her Gypsy Dance SP, she is able to take the choreography and make it her own. She’s very good at projecting to the audience. The shoulder shimmies were surely a hit among skating fans. The program is playful, fun and extroverted just like she is. She gets effortless speed and she is very powerful. The placement of the 2A is a great match for the musical structure but unfortunately she singled the jump here and it ended up becoming an invalid element. She was able to focus for the rest of the program and she landed a gorgeous 3Lz-3T combination - the best among Japanese ladies. She doesn’t get as much distance as she gets height but her jumps are no doubt a wow moment in the program. I still wonder why she insists risking a 3F seeing as she very often tends to take off from the outside edge, but she did it at Nationals and I love the transition out. The step sequence is amazing and not a single movement is left purposeless. That’s a very well choreographed sequence and I can’t help but love the beautiful and natural blend of music and movements.

The FS was a bit more “nervous” than the SP. The thing with Wakaba is that when she’s completely focused on her program and doesn’t let the jitters reach to her, she is a very skilled performer. But when the nerves kick in, her interpretation looks anxious and she disconnects from the music. That’s especially bad in the free because she has showed that she can bring the audience on its feet when she gives a good performance, but when she loses focus and starts worrying about her elements, the program inevitably suffers and becomes a shadow of its true potential. Wakaba skated a careful program at Nationals but when she’s on, she’s electrifying. She gets so intense that if I were judging her and she pointed a finger gun at me, I’d fear for my life. She can also become playful and confident, skating like she knows all your secrets and can always use them against you. The choreo sequence is so great. The split jump into the besti squat is so badass. The part where she walks on the tips of her blades and throws a knowing side eye at the judges; love it. The doubled salchow - not so much. At this point everyone let out a loud sigh as they knew what that meant. The 3Lz-3T in the second half of the program is always so risky; the 3T tends to get much less distance than the 3Lz and is in danger of being underrotated. The spiral after the step sequence is a bit eek - not the prettiest lines there. Love the haircutter at the end, she gets great speed and her free arm hits some nice positions on the notes. 

PROS: Great all-around skater. Dynamic jumps, nice skating skills, decent spin positions though not always the most aesthetically pleasing lines. Great performer; I think she’s been underrated for a while but I’m glad a program like Skyfall gave her the opportunity to shine. She has a distinct skating style, powerful and intense, which makes her stand out from the rest. 

CONS: Nerves. Not saying she totally bombs her programs, but it’s the small mistakes that take away points and performance quality. I think she wanted to go to the Olympics a bit too much and the impatience worked against her. Hopefully it’s a lesson learned and will overcome the small problems in the future. 

3. Rika KIHIRA (SP, FS)

Three triple axels in a single competition. One in the SP, two in the FS. That says it all about this young girl who had a monstrous TES in the free and is turning out to be a force to be reckoned with. As if this event wasn’t intense and high quality enough, Rika came in and threw some of the most effortless triple axels I’ve seen. She’s also improved from a presentation standpoint and is no longer the awkward junior from last season. She missed Junior Worlds last season but this season she will hopefully not only compete but also skate two clean programs and step on that podium.

Kung Fu Piano is an interesting choice for her SP. So is the color of the dress (costume designer Satomi Ito is the real MVP). She’s still slightly rough around the edges compared to other Hamada students but I have no doubt everything she lacks now will come in time. Love the fact that she opens with a layback spin; a bit of a break from the layout monotony. And then the triple axel; it’s like you don’t even know what hit you. She goes into the jump without the slightest hesitation and she lands equally confident, with a lovely running edge out. 13.46 points for that jump alone! And then it’s a 3F-3T combination way in the second half of the program, talk about technical brilliance! A shame about the doubled lutz, otherwise this would have been unreal. It just blows your mind. 

She’s skating to La Strada in her long program, a piece most Japanese fans associate with Daisuke Takahashi’s Olympic bronze medal / World gold medal winning long program. She seems so relaxed, it’s like she’s not about to jump two triple axels in the next few seconds. And then she lands the jumps like it’s second nature and never once breaks the mood of the program. The spins could be a bit faster; she’s not the best spinner around. The axis of that 3Lo was actually a bit scary; I’m glad she was able to stay on her feet. The fact that she doesn’t show any anxiety at all is refreshing. Final TES 79.53. That will be hard to beat once she improves her components and the PCS catches up. 

PROS: Sound technique, triple axels and possibly quads in the future. No doubt a technical prodigy. Already gaining popularity as a junior, can only imagine the hype when she turns senior. 

CONS: Not the best spins, skating skills and lines but I do believe she’ll get there. She’s still only 15. 

2. Kaori SAKAMOTO (SP, FS)

Surprise, surprise! It’s the girl almost nobody considered for the Olympic team. Kaori is fresh off juniors and she’s been slightly inconsistent in the past. However she truly rode the wave towards the Olympics and was the only one to become better and better when it actually counted. It was only last season when she finished 7th in the same competition but went on to get a Junior Worlds bronze behind country mate Marin Honda, who got silver. While everyone else was busy stressing out over placements and scores, Kaori waltzed through this Nationals with the best #YOLO attitude and was even bewildered in the kiss & cry when she realized she didn’t win the competition. Skating last in the free skate was truly the most important test for her and she passed without any problems. Her selection over Wakaba Higuchi was received with little to no protests. 

The SP set to Moonlight Sonata is a good example of a good backloaded program. The jumps kick in as the music gets more intense. And she has the best jumps of all Japanese ladies, so why not show them off using the best method? She gets amplitude as well as distance and you’re left amazed every time she jumps one of those 3F-3T combinations. The best part about her combinations is the fact that the 3T gets virtually the same height and distance as the 3F, making the combo look truly spectacular. She is a decent spinner, but her skating skills are not among the best. She’s not the most graceful skater, and her lines could use some work. Very rough around the edges but she just came out of juniors after all. 

The FS is the kind of program you’ll either love or hate. Skating to the soundtrack of Amelie, Kaori changed the color of her dress to a much visually pleasing red. The program fits Kaori’s quirkiness overall but there are a lot of stops and breaks, two footed skating and not as many transitions. The pantomime is also not the most convincing. The 3F-3T was not the most confident here as the 3T seemed a little bit off axis - a problem she used to struggle with in the past. I wonder if it’s a wee bit awkward having to wave at someone in the audience in the middle of the program. There’s a huge break after the step sequence with a lot of miming and not as much actual skating. The part where she bends over is maybe a bit too much; I didn’t like it when I first saw it and I still don’t like it now. But she gets plenty of time to charge her batteries for what’s coming next. The flutz is often very obvious though she works very hard on her take-off edge. Great response from the audience, they were clapping for her even before she started preparing for her final spin. 

PROS: The best jumps in the business hands down. Great resistance to pressure and a bright attitude that helps her focus on the important things. 

CONS: Not the best skating skills and transitions, not the best lines and a still juniorish performance style. Aside from her jumps, everything else has plenty of room for improvement. 

1. Satoko MIYAHARA (SP, FS)

In a miraculous comeback from one of the most serious (and probably rarest) injuries a figure skater can suffer, a stress fracture of the hip joint, Satoko won her 4th National title and an automatic qualification to the Olympic Games. During her long comeback to competition, she also suffered 2 additional injuries, one in her ankle after she skated at Mao Asada’s ice show in July and another one in September, once again in her already affected hip. She was banned from jumping, especially toe jumps, up until October and for a while it seemed like it was impossible for her to recover so quickly. Mie Hamada suggested they start preparing for the next Olympics in 2022. But the unthinkable happened and she showed up at Skate America in a much improved state compared to NHK Trophy just two weeks prior. And while the technical panel there gave her the benefit of doubt on a few jumps, the general idea was that maybe she was ready to challenge for an Olympic spot after all. 

Many skating enthusiasts enjoyed Satoko’s long program last season, set to The Planets suite and a little bit of Princess Leia, and were hoping to see it again this season considering that her appearances last year were cut in the middle as a consequence of her hip injury. But she showed up with two brand new programs this year, both Japanese themed but in general different from one another. Her SP Memoirs Of A Geisha choreographed by Lori Nichol has quickly become one of the fan favorites this season. While the performance at Nationals lacked that extra spark she displayed at the Grand Prix Final, it is worth noticing how she never lets her jump issues affect the rest of the program and you’re sure to get one heck of a performance even if, knock on wood, she doubles or singles all of her jumps. And this is what happened here; this is the most nervous I’ve seen Satoko like, ever, and all of her jumps had tight landings (including the 2A!), the underrotation was there, it was called, but she more than made up for it in PCS. She knew she let the nerves affect the overall quality of the program and she was not pleased at all. Which is partly why we got the most amazing FS two days later. 

The FS Madama Butterfly is Tom Dickson’s work, and he has wanted Satoko to skate to this piece since forever. But they wisely waited for the right time for Satoko to perform it to its full potential and it happened right in this competition. I’m known to be a Satoko fan so I’ll spare the superlatives for this program - I’ll just say she has never displayed as much freedom, emotional depth and audience projection as she showed at Nationals. It was the most inspirational skate of her career. I feel like this program is less about the actual story of Madama Butterfly and more about her own story overcoming a potentially career ending injury. The scene of Cio-Cio-san’s suicide is included towards the end of the program, culminating with the arabesque spiral in the choreo sequence; but instead of the program ending there like the opera, there’s an abrupt change once she lands her final 2A and it’s almost like she wakes up from a dream or like she is able to change her destiny as “Un Bel Di Vedremo” - an aria that shows Cio-Cio-san imagining the return of Pinkerton - plays once again all the way to the end of the program. So she went through the toughest and most challenging times, but in the end, quoting the actual lyrics of the aria: “One fine day we'll see / A thread of smoke arising / On the far horizon of the sea, / And then the ship appears”. 

PROS: Some of the finest skating skills in Japanese skating, some of the most intricate steps, the best spins (fast, centered, hit the most aesthetically pleasing positions, the layback is to die for), the most refined lines, most purposeful use of arms and body movements in general, the ability to adapt to the changes in music and choreography and last but not least, consistency. 

CONS: The jumps. They’re small, they’re prerotated, sometimes underrotated, they have enough flaws for many people to cancel out everything I’ve listed in the “pros” paragraph. I’d say she needs to work on the technique but the truth is that it’s what she’s always been doing for the past years and there are some serious physical limitations that prevent her from “flying high”; I’ve talked about them in this post so it’s a bit pointless to mention them again here. 

THE MEN 

In Yuzuru Hanyu’s absence, the National title was 99,99 % sure to go to Shoma Uno and the only other question was who was going to step up and claim the 3rd Olympic spot - although even here, Keiji Tanaka came in having done some steady progress while Takahito Mura was losing some of his athletic ability. So Keiji claiming the only spot left actually came to no surprise for me. The competition was overall better than I expected it to be but obviously less exciting and less intense compared to the ladies’ event, which is why I won’t go into much detail with the men. 

Yuzuru and Shoma haven’t competed against each other since Worlds - or to a less official extent WTT - and will only face each other at the Olympics. This is as exciting as it is terrifying IMO. Shoma has never officially beaten Yuzuru in competition, but his chances of an Olympic gold medal are still very high. Although there’s not much of a national depth at the moment, it’s actually the first time two Japanese men have this many chances of taking two of the Olympic medals. Perhaps Tatsuki Machida had more than 50% chances of making the podium in Sochi but it’s way more than that for both Yuzuru and Shoma this time. 

That said, it’s about time Shoma Uno gets his stuff together and sticks to the jump layout he’s most comfortable with because he’s made numerous mistakes this season. I read that’s exactly what he’s planning on doing and I say good for you son. It was long overdue. I can’t say I’m emotionally invested in his programs this season (his long program Turandot is recycled from the 2015-2016 season - with some changes that I’m not necessarily fond of) but they do showcase his strengths: beautiful flow, deep edges, speed, intense looks, some nice gif material worthy slow motion replays and all that. His lack of transitions and richness in crossovers has been talked to exhaustion all over the internet but I’m one of those who think they don’t mean weak skating skills. His skating skills are still strong but as it is the case with many men nowadays, he has to spend a lot of time preparing for the big point getters - the quads. His jump technique isn’t the best; he has more prerotation than the other men, and if he doesn’t do the crossovers and whatever else he needs, he won’t land them / will pop them / will underrotate them / you name it. At the end of the day, all skaters have to adjust to the requirements of the current judging system and if that means sacrificing things for the benefit of other things that are sure to be rewarded, then that’s what they have to do. 

I do have to say though, what the hell was that 2A-4T attempt. Why. Delete it from existence. 

Keiji Tanaka is hot and cold, but he was close to hot at Nationals. He came and did his job, he dealt fairy well with the pressure and landed his quads - that 4T in the FS though damn he just came and threw that DOWN. His biggest issue, as with many other skaters, is consistency. But if he calms down at the Olympics, he can surprise everyone with a good placement. 

Kana Muramoto is such a star; ever since she took the place of Cathy Reed, the new Muramoto/Reed team has been overflowing with charisma. I will be hardcore rooting for them at the Olympics. 

Can’t say much about Miu Suzaki / Ryuichi Kihara except oh crap a Yuri On Ice program at the Olympics (you know they’re gonna get those views) and poor Narumi Takahashi. 

All in all the ladies’ event could have been a separate competition in its own right; those girls are really top level and I expect all of them to expand their medal collection in the next 4 years. Oh yeah and to bring 3 spots back. 

[giannisbct-blog]

A wild ride

Right so I am finally getting round to do this as I have been putting it off for a few weeks so if it doesn’t make sense or I miss things, oh bother. So far this semester we have had a new idea each week. We get tot the end of the week and then we hate it and want a new one. Since my last blog our idea moved to looking into something that used the location of instagram photos to show how the originality of photography (particularly travel photography) has started to die due to social media. We thought of maybe a camera that when you take a photo it actually gives you a photo someone else has taken in a similar area or an average of images taken in the same area. Another idea was to do an installation that did something with heat maps or geolocations on maps or just something of the likes but that went downhill. To develop this I wrote some code in Python (which was a very steep learning curve) to essentially map the locations of photos onto a google maps map. The issue is that Instagram didn’t want to give us access to any public data that wasn’t published by ourselves or by them so we were not going to be able to get the data that we wanted and all we had to go off was the instagram supplied geolocations. So I turned to twitter as I knew that with their API they would be able to give us access to the data we need, unfortunately they literally got back to me today granting me access and I applied for it 3 weeks ago so I am glad we have moved on.

Our next idea (which we have decided that regardless if we like it or hate it we have to roll with it because we are far to deep in the semester to change again) revolves still around social media but how the Bystander affect is amplified through social media. The Bystander Stander effect was first coined by Bibb Latane and John Darley after the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder in New York City in which it was reported in the New York Times that there were 38 witness and not a single one called the police or tried to intervene. The concept is that people are less likely to help someone or intervene in a situation if there are other around who are as capable as they are, so it acts as a diffusion of responsibility. They also went on to mention that individuals monitor the behaviour of those around them to determine how to act. So in the situation where no one is helping then someone is less likely going to help but as soon as someone helps, everyone else becomes more willing. This has been referred to as the ‘Helper Effect’ by Ken Brown in his TED talk, where he explains that the bystander effect can be a negative but as soon as it becomes the helper effect it becomes a positive. 

In the age of social media, the bystander effect shows up in different forms. Firstly, there are the people who film events or situations instead of helping out or intervening. The classic example is when United Airlines dragged the passenger off the plane because they had over-booked it. In the videos posted online, there is a woman that can be heard screaming and telling them to stop but not a single person gets up and tries to intervene. These people want to capture these situation and then post them online in order to gain popularity and likes and don’t appear to care if the person is helped or not. On the other side is the people who watch these videos and don’t do anything except “like” and keep scrolling. By extension you are part of the bystander effect as you haven’t intervened but you have witnessed it. It is the same sort of thing as people who post things to “bring awareness to a problem”, you aren’t soling it or fixing the issue and chances are the people who see your content won’t either so you are all just sitting idly by watching. The same sort of thing I notice in the BCT, a lot of projects aim to “raise awareness” but how many set out to actually try and fix the issue. Ironic because that is sort of what our project is too. Back to social media though, the most common form of the bystander effect is posts that have the picture of a sick child and then it says ‘100,000 likes to save his life’. People like it and feel they are doing good but at the end of the day the person who posted the image isn’t waiting for that number to tick on over from 99,999 likes so he can get to work. There is even an entire website set up specifically for viewing horrible things like this called Live Leak and people will literally post videos of people getting killed and others will watch it

So what are we going to do? Well we initially thought of setting up a scene that people can look into and in the middle there is someone who has injured themselves or maybe even are dying. The audience would be able to view the situation but not be able to interact with it at all except that they can “like” it. We would then have a leaderboard that they could see who has liked it the most and therefore “sent more prayers and thoughts” or raised more awareness or helped more, but in reality the situation hasn’t changed. The idea that this is the only way they can interact reflects how removed we are from situations like this due to social media. Since then though I thought about the idea of making it an AR installation, so to have maybe only our project description of the floor and when someone views it through their camera the scene appears, so taking the physical completely out of it and only having the digital. I have looked into how to do it and even have some trials done, just need to run it by the team and get into it.

References:

Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 8(4p1), 377.

Ken Brown (2015) TEDxUIowa: The bystander effect is complicated – here’s why | Ken Brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufs8cKyzLvg

Badalge, K. N. (2017) Our phones make us feel like social-media activists, but they’re actually turning us into bystanders [Article]. Retrieved from https://qz.com/991167/our-phones-make-us-feel-like-social-media-activists-but-theyre-actually-turning-us-into-bystanders

M.Heene, M.Wicher, M. Kainbacher, P.Fischer, J.I.Krueger, T.Greitemeyer, C.Vogrincic, A.Kastenmuller, D.Frey (2011)  American Psychological Association: The Bystander-Effect: A Meta-Analytic Review on Bystander Intervention in Dangerous and Non-Dangerous Emergencies https://www.uni muenster.de/imperia/md/content/psyifp/aeechterhoff/sommersemester2012/schluesselstudiendersozialpsychologiea/fischerkruegergreitem_bystandermetaana_psybull2011.pdf

[orbemnews]

Robinhood’s Existential Moment ‘The entire community is outraged’ Robinhood had to raise $1 billion from investors yesterday to help it cover cash demands during the week’s trading frenzy, while traders and lawmakers sharply criticized the online broker for halting some trading in Reddit-touted stocks. In short: The consequences of the mania in GameStop, AMC and other stocks are becoming more concrete — and, in Robinhood’s case, more serious. The surge in trading forced Robinhood to raise cash. As waves of investors poured into the markets, Wall Street’s central clearing hub, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, demanded billions more in collateral from brokerages to shield it from the volatility. Robinhood, which had already drawn millions from its credit lines to meet margin requirements, turned to existing investors for additional capital so it wouldn’t have to impose further limits on customer trades. A more detailed explanation: Brokerages post money with the D.T.C.C. to cover customers’ transactions while they wait for the trades to settle. With such a big surge in trading, the clearing hub wanted more assurance: “It’s the D.T.C.C. saying ‘This stuff is just too risky,’ ” said the Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Larry Tabb. Other online brokerages also cited the D.T.C.C. as a factor in decisions to impose trading restrictions. Robinhood faces a loss of confidence from customers. After becoming the venue of choice for small investors, the app risks alienating a core customer base — and feelings of betrayal over the trading limits may be harder to address than annoyance over technical outages. (Small groups of protesters gathered in New York and outside Robinhood’s Bay Area headquarters yesterday.) “Brokers are now ‘protecting’ customers as a facade so that they can appease their institutional backers,” one individual trader told Bloomberg. “The entire community is outraged.” It’s also feeling the heat from Washington. An unlikely mix of lawmakers — including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ted Cruz — accused Robinhood of imposing trading limits to help out hedge funds caught out by the retail trading frenzy. The heads of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee called for hearings. It poses a big challenge for Robinhood’s policy team, including its chief legal officer, Dan Gallagher, a former S.E.C. commissioner. Does the populism angle hold up? Though many traders and commentators — including The Times’s Kevin Roose — see the GameStop mania in part as an internet-enabled pushback against Wall Street elites, financial bigwigs like the investment firm Silver Lake were among the big winners.“Are you entirely sure there aren’t wealthy people on both sides?” Senator Elizabeth Warren asked yesterday. Lost amid the noise: What about the companies at the center of all this? AMC, for one, is reportedly considering selling shares to take advantage of the huge run-up in its stock, further adding to its cash reserves while many of its theaters remain closed because of the pandemic. What happens next? We have some thoughts: Does Robinhood’s business model need a rethink? It couldn’t raise capital by increasing transaction fees, because it doesn’t have any. The company benefits from more trading — but more trading also means it needs more capital. Going public will help give the company more sources of financing, but this kind of frenzy may emerge again and again. Will lawmakers and regulators step in, perhaps with higher margin requirements for brokerages to prevent similar runs in the future? That might make trading costlier for users, which would be politically awkward. How will Wall Street reckon with the rise of social media as a market force? Hedge funds are already poring through Reddit and Twitter for the next GameStop, but short-sellers in particular may now be at risk of ruin by masses of small traders who have found a new strategy. HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING G.M. announces the end of petroleum-powered vehicles. The automaker said it would sell only zero-emission cars and trucks by 2035, an ambitious goal that could reshape both the automotive and oil and gas industries. Democrats prepare to pass stimulus measures without Republican support. Biden administration officials and Congressional leaders signaled that they would start the process for approving the measures through reconciliation, as new data showed that the economic recovery faltered late last year. WeWork weighs going public via a SPAC. The office-space company has held talks with blank-check funds to join the public markets, DealBook has learned, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal. It is also considering raising more money from private-market investors, which may be more likely. Another Covid-19 vaccine shows promise, except against a new strain. Early trial data on a treatment by Novavax showed nearly 90 percent efficacy, but less than 50 percent against a coronavirus variant in South Africa. Facebook might sue Apple, escalating tensions between the tech giants. Facebook has considered formally accusing Apple of anticompetitive actions in its App Store. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple’s Tim Cook continue to take shots at each other over their diametrically opposed privacy practices and business models. Two more thoughts on GameStop On the media: After the financial crisis in 2008, the financial news media was blamed for not blowing the whistle — or not blowing it loudly enough — before the collapse. It made many of us acutely aware of our responsibility to look out for the so-called little guy. The GameStop situation turns this on its head: The investors piling into the company’s shares say they don’t want — or need — protection. In fact, they argue that by urging caution, the media is actually protecting hedge funds and the Wall Street establishment. There is no question the “system” could be changed to level the playing field. Which “side” is the media supposed to be on? The answer, simply, is the truth. On short sellers: Traders identified GameStop as ripe for a “short squeeze” rally because of a peculiar development: more than 100 percent of its float was sold short. That is, more of its shares were out on loan to investors than were available to trade. (The average S&P 500 company has less than 4 percent of its float sold short.) Is it something nefarious? Not really: There’s a technical answer, but put simply, betting against GameStop became so popular that chains of traders were lending shares that they had already borrowed to others who also wanted to short the stock. So, when someone in the chain asks for their stock back, it can set off a messy cascade of buying and selling as the shares make their way back to their original owner. The stocks at the center of this week’s mania all had high “short interest,” amplifying the scramble to buy shares to return to lenders before they got even more expensive. “Look, before I begin my prepared remarks, I want to preemptively state that we will not be commenting nor answering questions on the recent activity in our stock price.” — Doug Parker, the C.E.O. of American Airlines, at the start of the company’s earnings call on a torrid day for its stock price. Facebook’s ‘Supreme Court’ makes its first rulings Facebook’s Oversight Board issued its first round of decisions yesterday, overturning four of five decisions in which the company removed posts that it said had violated policies on hate speech and violence. So far, 20,000 cases have been submitted for review by the board, which is made up 20 journalists, scholars and former officials and judges. What does it mean for Donald Trump’s ban? The board is still debating its highest-profile case: Facebook’s suspending the former president’s account after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. This week’s decisions could bode well for Mr. Trump, but as our colleague Shira Ovide writes, that eventual ruling will have bigger stakes: “Should Facebook continue to give world leaders more leeway than the rest of us?” For more about the oversight board, the co-chairs wrote an Op-Ed for The Times. Davos goes virtual It’s the final day of the World Economic Forum, normally held this time of year in the exclusive Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland. The gathering of the global elite went virtual because of the pandemic, so the C.E.O.s and heads of state who gather amid snow-capped mountains beamed in from their offices and living rooms instead. What caught our eye this week: Climate change is a perennial conversation topic at Davos, but this year businesses appear to be taking more concrete action to address it. More than 60 corporate chiefs committed to a set of environmental, social and governance measures that they will disclose for shareholders and other stakeholders. Specific, standardized measurements of things like environmental impact are in short supply, but influential investors like Larry Fink of BlackRock have been pushing for more disclosures, and threatening to divest from companies that aren’t forthcoming on E.S.G. metrics. John Kerry, the White House’s special envoy for climate change, also made a high-profile appeal to business leaders to prepare for “a zero emissions future”; Bill Gates talked carbon markets; and a new book by the forum’s founder, Klaus Schwab, and its head of communications, Peter Vanham, frames it in the context of “stakeholder capitalism.” Catch up on all the sessions at the forum’s live blog: Here’s the session with Mr. Kerry; here’s one on digital inclusion moderated by Andrew; and for something different, here’s a chat with the star architect David Adjaye. THE SPEED READ Deals Shares in the survey software company Qualtrics jumped 40 percent in its New York trading debut yesterday, after pricing its I.P.O. above expectations, while the boot brand Dr. Martens rose by 20 percent in early trading in London today, after its I.P.O. priced at the upper end of its range. (Reuters) The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said it planned to go public through a direct listing. (Bloomberg) The gaming company Roblox delayed its I.P.O. after the S.E.C. raised questions about how the company recognizes revenue. (Reuters) Politics and policy President Biden’s nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland, reportedly favors a former aide, the Kirkland & Ellis litigator Susan Davies, to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division. (The American Prospect) During his presidential campaign, Mr. Biden warned family members about their business dealings, telling one of his brothers, “For Christ’s sake, watch yourself.” (Politico) Tech Elon Musk news: SpaceX is said to be close to raising new funds at a valuation above $60 billion, and after he changed his Twitter bio to one word, “bitcoin,” the price of the cryptocurrency soared. (Business Insider, CoinDesk) SoftBank reportedly approved $600 million in loans to four top executives to let them buy shares in the company, potentially netting them a huge windfall. (FT) Best of the rest McKinsey is reportedly in talks to settle investigations by state attorneys general over advice it gave to opioid manufacturers. (WSJ) It isn’t just GameStop: the joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin is having a moment, thanks to Reddit. (CNBC) We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com. Source link Orbem News #Existential #Moment #Robinhoods

[traveladventuresinnepal]

All About Aviation Industry

We live in a period where sparing time is more basic than setting aside cash. Maybe this is the reason air transportation, which prior was exclusively held for the amazingly rich or for crises, is presently being utilized comparable to its rivals, i.e., rail and street transport. The quantity of travelers flying has expanded multi-overlay over the recent many years, and the check is as yet on the ascent.

A couple of many years prior, just the develop, created, and rich countries like the United States, the nations of Europe, Japan, Singapore, and so on were the ones that had air network with principle homegrown urban communities and furthermore worldwide objections. In any case, presently, the quantity of nations associated with one another via air has expanded significantly, and that didn't stop there. The homegrown air availability has likewise spiked, associating numerous urban areas in various nations.

The created and well off countries, yet additionally non-industrial nations like China, India, and Brazil, and so on have increased a ton as a result of developing air network. Has the network has improved, yet in addition the experience of going via air has improved. Let us investigate the angles that have changed altogether in the previous few decades.

Traveling Time

Air travel, which has been the quickest method of transportation directly from its origin, has gotten significantly quicker over the long run. The departure from the Australian subcontinent to London was, and still is among the longest flights known. During the last part of the 1950s, the urban areas of Sydney and London were associated by Qantas Airways of Australia. The outing at that point was a 4-day venture with an incredible 55 hours noticeable all around and the flight contacting the ground at six places other than Sydney and London. The aircraft actually runs between the nations yet in an alternate manner. The New Kangaroo Route 2018, as Qantas Airways calls it, associates Perth to London ceaselessly or contacting down anyplace else. The excursion presently takes 17 hours noticeable all around, covering more than 9000 miles noticeable all around in one take off.

It isn't even the most time noticeable all around or the longest distance canvassed in a solitary take off. As planes got progressively effective and mechanically progressed, trips with significantly longer broadcast appointments and excursions were made conceivable. Another endeavor by Qatar Airlines among Auckland and Doha is since longest flight, covering a stunning 9025 miles in a solitary run (or fly) enduring 16 to 18 hours noticeable all around. Envision the travelers sticking to their seats that long!

Buddha Air, Nepal’s Best Domestic Airlines

Inflight Meal

There is a motivation behind why the early flying time frame was named the 'Brilliant Era' of flying. At the cost that travelers at that point paid for the movement was repaid by the food and refreshments served during the journey. However, the aircrafts had their own arrangement of issues to manage. The flyers of the mid 1920s needed to manage weight issues when there were situations where travelers were weighed prior to loading up. A similar principle applied to the food, which limited the measure of food being conveyed into the sky. As the planes improved and the excursions longer, the food improved and more sultry. Food was something other than an endurance fundamental. Trips of the mid 1930s had kitchens, which had the option to give a hot supper and a lounge area where the travelers would gather and have a dining experience open to question.

At that point, during the 1940s came the frozen food time, on account of which an assortment of suppers were served in the sky. As the airplane got greater, the quantity of travelers flying expanded thus circulated feast extra rooms. In any case, presently, personalization got significant, contrasted with offering brought together extraordinary dinners over the traveler gathering. The aircrafts by and by permit travelers to arrange food of their decision prior to boarding, which would be conveyed straightforwardly to their seats. For example, iFLEAT, is a versatile based assistance that conveys food requested by the traveler from an eatery, directly to their seats. The administration is currently connected with Air Berlin and is wanting to connect with more aircrafts later on. Despite the fact that in-flight cooking suppliers will feel the effect of this administration, it is a mutually advantageous arrangement for the traveler, as one gets the food of one's decision to eat, just as for the aircrafts as they can presumably hold their clients by permitting them to do what they like.

In-flight Connectivity

An ongoing study of aircraft travelers has expressed that Wi-Fi was a higher priority than nourishment for the travelers going via air. This shows how associated individuals are to the web. Also, even the carriers are attempting to hold existing clients and draw in more clients by giving diversion and network to them. Numerous aircrafts as of now are offering Wi-Fi in probably a portion of their flights, however the explorers need to purchase the administration.

Aircrafts give free web access just to the voyagers in top of the line. Large names in the flight business like Etihad, Finnair, Lufthansa, and so forth give web access on all or a portion of its armada, however at an expense to the traveler. On the opposite side, there are not many others like Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, and so forth that give free Wi-Fi admittance to its travelers. There are numerous explorers out there petitioning God for this to occur in all the carriers, and I also trust it happens soon. With the quantity of voyagers expected to twofold by 2035, as indicated by a statistical surveying firm a lot more changes will be made by the aircrafts to draw in new travelers and hold the current ones.

[bradleycts]

(7/11/20)

I have done some research today looking at two artists in particular who I feel link to the work I have set out to do. These artist include David Blandy (performance artist, multimedia) and Larry Achiampong (Performance artist, sound and sculptures). These artist have a common interest surrounding race, class and the anthroprocene. They have actually worked together on a piece created using Grand Theft Auto V. The game world was used as the location for a series of videos using a voice over to talk about issues surrounding race and class.

In addition both artists have created pieces regarding the world we live in today and the environmental impacts human cause. This anthroprocene era where human have a greater effect on the worlds outcome rather than the natural order of the planet.

David Blandy explored this in his piece called “The World After” this is a film instillation as well as interactive one, through the use of a table top board game. Inspiration is derived from a place in Essex called Canvey Wick on Canvey Island, the location for an oil refinery in the 70s. However this idea was abandoned in 1973 due to an oil crisis. Once the location was abandoned it allowed for nature to take back what had been lost and flourished once the human presence was removed. The location became one of the most biodiverse places in the UK with over 2,000 invertebrate species! This is an example of how fast nature can reclaim its place. This reminded me of recent events with corona virus, as mentioned by my lecturer Samantha Humphreys within a matter of weeks the environment seemed like it was improving with the halt of airline operations and less people commuting in there personal vehicles. The aim of Blandys piece to me seemed as though he wanted to warn people of what could could happen to human kind if we followed our inevitable role in destroying the universe. David Blandys work considered the local area he was working in which was Essex. The considerations of the wildlife and people, would there be underground communities, and would they be aware of each other. How would time effect people living in a world without structure? What would happen when other communities crossed paths? These are interesting thoughts for me to consider in my own work as I intend to study post apocalyptic situations! I have got valuable ideas from Blandys work. (davidblandy, 2019).

Looking at Larry Achiampong and his work I was fascinated with his series called “The Last of Us”. I was initially enticed to explore this since the last of us is also a popular PlayStation game that is set during the time of a post apocalyptic zombie timeline. Although this wasn’t the case, I found similarities in the work titled “And Yet We Grow” (part of The Last of Us series) references colonial histories and their relationship with the anthroprocene – and the flourishing of decay. The work involves signs made form seed paper containing traditional British wildflowers which have been hand written on with chalk over and over again resembling a school chalk board. The boards are placed against trees in a Forrest. One board displays the text “WE GIVE YOU LIFE AND WE CAN TAKE IT AWAY”. This to me focuses on the importance of trees they reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and emit oxygen for us to breath. Another Board states “ON TOP OF YOUR CITIES OUR ROOTS SHALL GROW”. This links back to the phrase “flourishing of decay”, meaning when the decay of modern life begins and our cities become useless, nature will take back what space becomes abandoned. A good visual example of this would be New York in the Film ‘I am Legend’, the result of zero maintenance of city structures results in the decay of buildings and roads etc. (larryachiampong, 2018)

With this new found information and the inspiration from these two artists, I shall apply similar ideas to my experimental drawings in the future in order to visualise a post apocalyptic world.

References:

davidblandy, 2019. The World After [online] http://davidblandy.co.uk/the-world-after (Accessed, 2020)

larryachiampong, 2018. The Last of Us [online] https://www.larryachiampong.co.uk/list-of-artworks/the-last-of-us (Accessed, 2020)

[i-imran-s]

Skyscanner API

Skyscanner is completely known as a flight aggregator and example site, and a powerful player in the space. They compare thousands of routes and providers to help users find flights and ticket across the world so both consumers and enterprises can take advantage of the best deals at any time. According to a similar web, they receive 10 mn site visits a month, about 8X higher than rival Hipmunk. Skyscanner Travel APIs immediately relate you to all the data you need to create an innovative website or app. Your consumers will be ready to take the support of the best deals on flights, hotels or car hire from anywhere they are in the world - either as three independent travel solutions or mixed together.

All this traffic provides them a leading position in-flight data property and opening up that data to developers via an API was a natural way to extend their footprint (and acquire even more data at the same time). The Skyscanner API is accessible to developers on Rakuten RapidAPI on a Released and Private basis! In the first 2 months since it started, the API accepted over 1.5 mn API calls. We've made it more comfortable than ever to develop your site using soft price search opportunities with rapid response times. This performs it easy to build exciting tools that open up multiple travel search options to your customers.

Always understood the fact that Skyscanner displays all the possible flights, including the low-cost carriers. The Skyscanner API provides us to change from other inspirational/planning apps by offering real-time pricing. The Travel APIs are lightweight and easy to integrate with, and it’s our primary monetization model right now. Skyscanner has been changing the way people travel. As a travel start-up, our partnership is very important, not just because of Skyscanner’s powerful Travel APIs, which allows for a fully customization experience, but because of the power of their brand, that is certain to give our clients comfort and security when booking.

The Skyscanner Travel API was also analysed positively by so many start-ups over the travel business that we chose to address you about gaining admittance to it. The browse cache allows us to make an first scan for prices based on a certain budget before serving live prices. This really linked up with what we were trying to accomplish with the application; the unity of booking travel through one budget. Skyscanner uses the live pricing API on our normal flight search which has our price forecast technology integrated on routes that are supported and we get all the power of Skyscanner API for our inspiration tool. We wanted a platform where users could search and compare the best flight deals available online, so we needed the best data on the market in one API, which turned out to be Skyscanner.

Skyscanner give travelers what they expect and deserve. More options, from flights and hotels to car hire. Faster search, optimized for mobile. The chance to book directly on our site with Direct Booking. Skyscanner always investing in technology to make sure your products are connecting and fitting into how travelers want to search, plan and book. As quickly as you’ve got the package available, you can start exploring the API. It’s safe to neglect the npm warn information at this time if you see any. We’ve also got you included with an exclusive Skyscanner API way, available nowhere else. You can try it, without giving the browser, on the Skyscanner API page. You’ll want to sign up to get the API keys and make offers to the Skyscanner API. With those keys you’ll be able to make and confirm the requests, so we will know they come from you.

As soon as you sign-in with your account, the view will be replaced with another view, where you can see your API keys (X-Mashape-Key and X-Mashape-Host) in the Offer Headers section and a ready to copy a snippet of code at the right side

Skyscanner API Overview

Searching flight functionality is broken down into four separate endpoints that you can see below.

Live Flights Search — will question all flight providers about recent flight data, availability, and prices. You’ll have to be very specific in the search query and then wait until the results are available first.

Places — let you find Countries, Cities, and Airports

Prices Browse Flight — gets you information about flights from the Skyscanner cache. It might be somewhat old in comparison to live search, but more specific and important.

Localization — lists the money and markets in which Skyscanner works

Browse Flight Prices Endpoint

Gives an aggregated view of flights and price data for many origins or multiple goals over many time frames, returning the most affordable quotes per day. Browse Flights uses our cached values, which are collected and updated every time a user does a search. Recommended route and date orders will be updated regularly; however, less successful route and date orders will not. You should choose the Browse Flight Charges if you want to give a wide range of search with flexible dates or goals in a more effective way.

Live Flight Search Endpoint

Retrieve up-to-date pricing data for a particular route on a specific departure and return date. The API returns all relevant pricing data for the specific search, providing for price matching and selection. The data recovered from the Live Flight Search is the most reliable pricing data for this route and travel dates that Skyscanner can afford. You should use the Live Flight Search if you want to give a price estimate for a given route on special dates.

Frequently, your request will use both. First, you’ll question the Browse Flight Prices endpoint to let the user search and compare various dates and different purposes. After that, you’ll use the Live Flight Search to get an up-to-date quote for a particular flight on a specific date and redirect the user to an agent, selling the tickets.

Note that the origin and target sites are not the names of the towns, but rather special identifiers Skyscanner has. The API lets you search routes between nations, cities, and installations. Each of them has a unique identifier. In the Places section, we will look at how to get those. Most suppliers (airlines, travel agencies and car hire dealers) set their fares based on the business (or country of purchase). It is, consequently, important to specify the market country in which the user of your app is found

Currency The currency you want the prices in locale The locale you want the results origin place From where is the flight (identifier of country, city or airport. see places)destination place To where (identifier of country, city or airport. see places)outbound partial date The outbound date. Inbound partial date the return date.

Live Prices

Now that your user has chosen origin and destination looked up the cheapest dates and routes — it’s time to get the latest and hottest up-to-date deal for your user. Unlike earlier, the live prices endpoint is not paying any issues quickly. Instead, Skyscanner API provides you a unique key you would use later and asks you to wait. In the meantime, Skyscanner will connect to all the flight operators, check with them who still have tickets available, and at what price. In most cases, the entire procedure takes less than 30 seconds. Still, that’s a long time to wait and the users will love you a lot more if you start polling the results every 5 seconds and continually show them progress.

SessionKeyIs the key used to obtain the results Status As long as the response status is Updates Pending keep polling. When Skyscanner has queried all providers — the status will change to Updates Complete. Itineraries all possible flights for the requested parameters. Your results are here Question your search query repeated back at you (origin, destination, dates and the rest) Legs Each

Itinerary is built from one or two legs, depending on whether you are looking for a one-way or two ways. Itineraries may differ from each other by airports of origin, destination, flight times and connections. For each of them, you’ll find the inbound and outbound leg identifiers that you can use to lookup in the Legs collection. The Legs collection will tell you exactly which flight segments it’s built from, the places they pass in, and the exact departure time.

Each program may be sold by various agents and therefore have various prices. Usually, the cheapest comes first. Use the ID inside the Agent collection to find out who is selling this ticket if you’d like to promote their name and logo. Finally, redirect the user to the URL of the Deep link URL. This will take the user to the website of the Agent where he will be able to buy the tickets for this particular itinerary.

You are able to roll your application, support users find out the cheapest flights available to them, and direct them to a ticket seller using the Skyscanner API. Feel free to use the code in your production applications and review the rest of the Rakuten Rapid APIs to enhance your application even additional.

Travel APIs Advantages

Ø  Mobile-first solutions to allow you to take benefit of the newest trends as they appear

Ø  Support Network - Dedicated Account Manager, Engineering care team and a developer hub with all the support wanted to integrate

Ø  Easy setup and simple integration of travel search

Ø  Inspirational search features - connect our Travel APIs with your current travel present to compliment your product range

Ø  Dedicated online portal to manage your income and commissions

Travel APIs Features

Ø  Browse supplies API provides broad search questions such as "What's the lowest price from New York to anywhere, anytime in the next year?"

Ø  Supports a variety of geo arrangements, for easy integration with your existing geo-tagged pages

Ø  Regularly optimized product solutions

Ø  First-class technology from the group behind Skyscanner's award-winning global flight search

Ø  Asynchronous format, providing for real-time streaming of prices for your users

Ø  Developer resource area with online test harnesses, change logs, support and documentation

[topiom]

The 50 best and worst travel firms for cancellation refunds: Ryanair and Teletext fail, Hays Travel and Jet2 succeed

What did people say about the best and worst performing firms?

Customers of the firms that performed badly told us of difficulty communicating with these companies in the comments box we provided with the survey.

For example, one Travel Trolley customer said: "The company failed to inform me that my flights had been cancelled. They would not answer emails and switched off their phone lines. After several attempts I made contact with their parent company, Southall Travel, and was informed I would not receive a refund but a credit note."

Another added: "They give you a different story each time you call, sometimes saying they are waiting for the airline to refund them. They did a month ago. Still waiting. Frustrating."

Likewise, Ryanair customers described similar problems. One said: "Ryanair approved a refund, then sent me a voucher. I tried the live chat but it's automated, so I got no response and waited in a queue on the phone several times. I finally got through again and said: 'I'd like a refund'. This was approved and I got an email to confirm, but was told I won't get it until after Covid-19!"

In contrast, one Travel Counsellors customer told us: "They were always one step ahead in getting things sorted for us. Totally hassle-free and very much appreciated."

Another said: "I was contacted as soon as my flights were cancelled and kept in the loop at all times."

Similarly, one Hays Travel customer told us: "Hays Travel was fantastic. Full cash refund offered before I even asked for it. Booking included Ryanair flights, so I had expected a problem. Really feel Hays Travel looked after me. Will book with them again."

The exact process to follow if your booking is cancelled and you want to get your money back will vary depending on the type of booking you have (flight, hotel, package holiday etc). 

1. If you do, speak to the firm first and use its refund system. Always start this way. Give it a chance, use its systems.

If this doesn't work, your final action would be to take the legal route, perhaps through a county court.

What do the firms that came out worst in our survey say?

A Travel Trolley spokesperson said: “Customer satisfaction is of paramount importance to Travel Trolley, and we are deeply sorry to hear that a number of customers are dissatisfied with the level of service they have received from us. 

"With regard to customers who have had trouble reaching us via our call centre; due to the current Covid-19 crisis, we are experiencing extremely high levels of enquiries. However, in order to handle as many customer calls and emails as possible, and to deliver a first class customer experience, we have increased our staffing levels which has resulted in a call waiting time of no more than two minutes. Customers can also contact our dedicated team at urgent@traveltrolley.co.uk."

It also added that it sometimes had no control over the refund polices decided by airlines and said that as per its terms and conditions, customers must contact it or the airline the booking is with at least 72 hours before the departure time shown on their ticket, to confirm that there have been no changes.

A TravelUp spokesperson said: “We understand that on occasions during this global pandemic we may have fallen short of the expected service levels our customers have experienced historically and for this we apologise. Our team has been significantly reduced and the remaining team members have been working extremely hard to service as many customer as possible in the most efficient way possible.

"However restrictions that have been put in place by airlines to hinder the smooth return of refunds has compacted the issues faced by our team and in turn our customers. I would like to thank the majority of customer that have been more than supportive in this difficult time.”   

We also contacted Ryanair and Teletext Holidays for comment.

This content was originally published here.

[nigeiadigitalmarketingcompany]

Links 7/31/19

Digital Elixir Links 7/31/19

Yves here. We had a terrific event last night with Lambert’s Dem debate live blog. Over 400 comments, many incisive and funny.

Hope you’ll join us this evening at 8 PM EDT (Lambert opens up the post a wee bit earlier) for what the peanut gallery hopes will be a Harris v. Biden or maybe even everyone v. Biden slugfest.

Does My Cat Want Me to Lick Her Back? Atlantic (resilc). Eeew.

RNA recovered and sequenced from 14,000-year-old mummified wolf New Atlas (furzy)

Met Office: UK’s 10 hottest years on record occurred since 2002 Guardian (Kevin W)

Coke and Pepsi abandon the plastics lobby CNN (Kevin W)

Living without water: the crisis pushing people out of El Salvador Guardian (resilc). We pointed out years ago that potable water was the critical resource that would become scarce first….

Why a cure for dementia would trigger a crisis Financial Times. This article is appalling. It presupposes that a treatment would require cancer-level intervention and before and after monitoring. It also asserts that “the disease cannot be reversed,”, when small scale studies have found cognitive improvement for some with relatively short-term (12 weeks) consumption of silica water. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22976072

China?

Hong Kong protests: ‘I’m in Australia but I feel censored by Chinese students’ BBC (David L)

Please Stop Beating Us’: Where Were Hong Kong’s Police? – Video New York Times (UserFriendly)

China, U.S. Resume Trade Talks Amid Trump’s ‘Rip-off’ Accusation Bloomberg

Lambert notes per below “Cooling off period”:

JUST IN: #HongKong issues storm signal no. 8. stock trading to shut after 15 minutes @business

Hong Kong Starts to Shut Down as Tropical Storm Approaches: https://t.co/32OdJdjSzY

— Fion Li (@fion_li) July 31, 2019

Your Next iPhone Might Be Made in Vietnam. Thank the Trade War. New York Times (UserFriendly)

China Covertly Subverting Trump Reelection Free Beacon. UserFriendly: “Congratulations democrats, now every electoral loss is illegitimate.”

China Is On Track To Beat Its Peak-Emissions Pledge ars technica

North Korea ‘fires two ballistic missiles’ BBC

Brexit

EU must give way over backstop, says Johnson after rebuff by Varadkar Guardian. Resilc: “This will go smoothly.”

The Politico morning European newsletter version, emphasis theirs. Maybe Johnson believes his bullshit about bullying the EU?

MORE OF THE SAME: The U.K. will leave the EU at the end of October, come hell or high water. Boris Johnson’s EU counterparts have got the message he has repeated one way or another every single day since taking office as prime minister last week. Now it’s being directed to his Irish colleague Leo Varadkar. “On Brexit, the prime minister made clear that the U.K. will be leaving the EU on October 31, no matter what,” Downing Street said in a readout of the pair’s call Tuesday.

Varadkar’s response: The Irish government said Varadkar refused point blank Johnson’s request to reopen divorce talks. “Noting that the Brexit negotiations take place between the U.K. and the EU, the Taoiseach explained that the EU was united in its view that the Withdrawal Agreement could not be reopened,” a statement from the Irish government noted drily.

The backstop has to go, Johnson repeated. But it won’t, was Varadkar’s answer. The Irish leader “emphasized to the prime minister that the backstop was necessary as a consequence of decisions taken in the U.K. and by the U.K. government,” Dublin said.

Brexit causes UK car industry investment to crash to ‘pitiful’ £90m Guardian

Quarterly Bulletin No.3 2019 Central Bank of Ireland. PlutoniumKun: “On Brexit. Revises growth prediction from 4.1% to 0.7% in the event of a no-deal (worse than previous predictions).

”

US Anti-Abortion Group Uses Big Data to Manipulate Argentinian Women: Report teleSUR (furzy)

Syraqistan

Bahrain Follows U.S. Lead on Executions LobeLog (resilc)

Intra-Afghan talks only after U.S. agrees to withdraw troops: Taliban Reuters (resilc)

Imperial Collapse Watch

On Costliest U.S. Warship Ever, Navy Can’t Get Munitions on Deck Bloomberg

Bolton Proposes and The President Disposes American Conservative (resilc)

Pentagon Study Shows Violence Has Skyrocketed in Africa Intercept. Resilc: “At the DoD it’s called market development….”

Trump Transition

The Trump Administration’s Death Penalty Cult Nation (resilc)

U.S. judge tosses Democratic Party lawsuit against Trump campaign, Russia over election Reuters

Federal Judge Overturns IRS Donor-Disclosure Change Wall Street Journal

While Trump spews hate, I continue to do my job GreenwichTime (UserFriendly). Rep. Tlaib, originally in the Washington Post.

Jeffrey Epstein’s life ‘in jeopardy’ as powerful pals ‘don’t want their secrets out’, victim’s lawyer claims Sun (resilc)

2020

Who won the Democratic debate? Winners and losers from July 30 CNN (UserFriendly). Cillizza is not following the house party line…..

It’s Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren v the ‘No We Can’t’ Democrats Guardian (resilc, furzy)

Stephen Colbert Hits Longshot Democrats for Spewing ‘Republican Talking Points’ at CNN Debate Daily Beast (resilc). When you’ve lost Colbert…..

Can Someone Please Vote CNN Off the Stage? Bloomberg

Next one goes to CNN: Who wrote these terrible debate questions? https://t.co/QMk2nYFtn8

— Slate (@Slate) July 31, 2019

Coalition to air anti-Medicare for All ads during Democratic debates The Hill (UserFriendly). A pox on them.

Democrats Are Veering Left. It Might Just Work. Politico

A Guide To Bad Faith Arguments Against Bernie Sanders Medium (UserFriendly)

Democrats fail to address working-class issues during the second Democratic debate Vox (UserFriendly)

More Presidential Candidates Taking Strident Pro-Caviar Stance To Appeal To Democratic Socialite Wing Of Party The Onion

How Joe Biden’s privatization plans helped doom Latin America and fuel the migration crisis Grayzone

Stop Suing Patients, Advocates Advise Memphis Nonprofit Hospital System ProPublica (UserFriendly)

Apple put an iPhone in everybody’s pocket — now its growth depends on putting devices all over our bodies CNBC

Equifax is going to rip you off again BoingBoing (resilc)

‘Do ‘Big Four’ Tech Monopolies Deserve Their Antitrust Investigation? Yes Federalist. UserFriendly: “When the libertarians are calling to break up big tech….”

Regulators Found High Risk of Emergency After First Boeing MAX Crash Wall Street Journal. Grr, the Journal put this up just as I was turning in, otherwise I would have posted on it. From the summary:

An internal risk analysis after the first of two Boeing 737 MAX airliner crashes showed the likelihood was high of a similar cockpit emergency within months, according to a Federal Aviation Administration official familiar with the details and others briefed on the matter.

The regulator’s analysis, not previously reported, showed that it “didn’t take that much” for a malfunction like the one confronted by the pilots of the Lion Air flight that crashed into the Java Sea last year to occur, one of the people briefed on the analysis said.

Class Warfare

We Should Thank Amazon for Letting Us Have Jobs New York Magazine (resilc)

DoorDash Tip-Skimming Scheme Prompts Class-Action Lawsuit Seeking All Those Tips That Didn’t Go To Drivers Gizmodo

How Over 25 People Got Scammed Into Working At A Nonexistent Game Company Kotaku (Kevin W)

Private Equity’s Next Leveraged Buyout Might Be the Oval Office American Prospect (resilc). Where have they been? Over half of Wall Street revenues comes from PE. That includes “Government Sachs”. Rahm did a turn in a PE firm.

Globalization Isn’t Dying, It’s Just Evolving Bloomberg

Antidote du jour. Lawrence R from the Pleasant Lake newsletter> “Male Eastern Forktail (Ischnura verticalis). Odonate males are usually more brightly colored than females and are more often seen at the water.”

And a bonus (Bryan W):

Do not attempt to outsmart a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. It won’t work. pic.twitter.com/CABkzq9Dw7

— Helen Dale (@_HelenDale) July 26, 2019

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Links 7/31/19

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[kira-aub]

Back at uni again after a very fulfilling winter break, but I’m still extremely exhausted and jetlagged from the ridiculously long flight over. I spent most of my time over break just relaxing with family. (Though I did see Rogue One again (twice!) as well as Moana). I found myself struggling with my project over the break, not just because I was in “vacation mode” but because the actual project is something that I struggle talking about. So I’ve barely made any progress with my “self portrait” project, though I do have a vague idea of what I am going to do. I know that most of my classmates haven’t gotten much done, so it is nice to be in a similar boat as everyone else. It was really amazing seeing my family and friends again, and it was really hard to say goodbye again.

I mentioned that Nicole and I had an absolutely hellish return journey to the UK, and I wasn’t exaggerating. Our first flight was first delayed for one hour, so we got to the airport early (around 6am) only to find out that it was then delayed for another 4 hours. Okay, no big deal, we could work with that. We had a 6 hour layover in Vancouver so it would be fine. Not. After those 4 hours we found out our plane was cancelled. Panicking because our flights were through 2 different airlines, Nicole talked with Air Canada for around 2 hours on the phone. We knew we wouldn’t make it to Vancouver in time for our flight, because the first plane to Portland after our cancelled one was at 3:30pm (flight from Vancouver was at 6). But Air Canada told us that if we moved our flight it would be an extra $700. We were incredibly upset because we’re just college students and it wasn’t something we could easily afford. Amazingly, after multiple supervisors were called, Air Canada told us that they would call it “weather issues” and give us the next flight free of charge. The lady on the phone said we had an “angel looking out for us” and that she had never seen this happen in her life. It was incredibly lucky. At this point we had been in the first airport for well over 8 hours. Finally, we get on the next plane to Portland, though it was delayed but not that much. We then had to take ANOTHER plane to Seattle which connected us to Vancouver, also delayed. Which landed us in at midnight. Our flight out of Vancouver wasn’t until 6pm the next day so we spent the night in a quality hotel (literally that’s the name). And when we were finally in Vancouver and about to get on our flight to London (literally 1 step away, I had a conversation with the stewardess about my shark and everything) they told us all to get off the plane because it had a mechanical issue (which we heard under hush hush was like a 6-inch fucking HOLE in the wing, yeah, no thanks). So now we were delayed AGAIN. And it’s not like they just have random Boeing 777′s sitting around anywhere, we had no idea where our plane was going to come from. By a stroke of luck they found one within an hour and within another 2 we were on the plane for the grueling 9.5 hour flight to London. In the Heahthrow airport we had to wait for our coach for a good 2 hours and FINALLY got home around 8pm. It was literally over 50 hours of traveling and that’s WITHOUT the time zone change. Needless to say, I spent the next 23 hours completely asleep.

Something that was beneficial out of our nightmare-trip was that in the time we had in Vancouver we were able to visit the Vancouver Art Gallery with a family friend of Nicole’s. It was remarkable because it happened to have one of my favorite photographers on exhibit, Walker Evans. It was amazing to see some of the work that I have researched in the past in person!

Also in the art gallery was a really amazing exhibit called Juxtapoz x Superflat which had some incredible contemporary artists on display. It was really interesting to see anime-style artwork being displayed in an art gallery, because it is sometimes viewed as a lesser artform, but it’s really inspiring to see artists that have a similar style being viewed as the artists that they are. I especially loved a very interesting interactive display that would sing and dance when visitors walked by!

Getting back into the swing of things is going to be a little bit rough I think for the first few days, as is catching up with the project that I was supposed to be doing. But I’m excited to see what this next term has in store!

[wfitvacations]

This Dog Friendly Fitness Retreat In Canada

Get back in shape with your furry best friend

Looking for a dog friendly fitness retreat or weight loss camp?

It’s a hard search on google to find a health retreat where you can bring your dog without compromising the benefits of your stay. Most people enjoy active travel as a way to get a fresh start on their wellness. They want ‘pet friendly’ to actually mean it… no extra charges and a sense of freedom for both of you.

With this level of hospitality extended to my four legged guests, I’m proud to have built a unique dog friendly fitness retreat experience in B.C., Canada.

In this article:

The pros and cons of bringing your dog with you on your trip

How to travel with your dog into Canada

Comparison of wellness retreats for dogs in North America

How to make your dog feel at home and not stressed.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

First, a little introduction.

There’s nobody in this world that will be more THRILLED that you’re getting back into top physical condition than your beloved fur-baby. You can probably already imagine the circles they will spin when they learn that Mumma is going for yet-another-walk on this rainy Tuesday afternoon.

My name is Cat Smiley – I own West Coast Fitness Vacations – a wellness retreat travel company in B.C. Let me tell you about my puppies! The little guy is Paco, he’s really not suited to join me at work, so only Bear works with me. More than a handful of times, I’d been packing my bags for an exciting trip with bitter-sweet emotions. My dogs, Bear (now) and Manchas, my trustee trail dog of 12 years… they’d either crawl into my bag, curling up into my unpacked clothes. As fun as the dog boarding was, they just felt so CRUSHED that we were going to be spending time apart. I felt so guilty to not take them with me.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Comparison of dog friendly wellness retreats in North America

Sparkling Hill Resort allows small dogs only, $25 per pet, per night.

Red Mountain Resort charges $30 per pet, per night.

Fit Farm in Tennassee have a kennel facility onsite.

West Coast Fitness Vacations:  A one time $35 fee will be charged per reservation – not per pet, not per night.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

The pros and cons of traveling with your dog!

According to Market Research, 32 percent of pet owners take their pets on trips two nights or more. That’s almost half of the 80 million families in America that own pets. Exercising together makes your bond even greater, slimming you both down and making you feel healthier. They love a good chase around the park, as you know… and new parks? Oh boy! Even more fun!

Peace of mind is probably the biggest benefit of having your dog with you. There can be anxiety wondering if the sitters are being responsible, or the boarding kennel is nice. When in a new town, having pup with you can motivate you to get out more and explore! What restaurants have dog friendly patios? Let’s find out!

Dog friendly travel is about as common as free wifi now, with the hospitality industry expected to be on board with four legged guests. Yet bringing your dog on a trip usually gets them lots of attention from flight attendants and hotel staff. They’ll usually be totally spoiled, with gourmet cookies, extra blankets and lots of belly rubs.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Cons of bringing your dog to a health retreat

Some hotels that advertise themselves as pet friendly really are not.

If I’m traveling with my dog, I don’t want to crate them in the room when I’m not there. Or walk for miles to the nearest grass area. There shouldn’t be an extra ‘cleaning fee’ for guests who stay with their dog, but often there is. Look for hotels where pets can stay for free.

Pet airline travel can be expensive, usually its over $100 one way for an in-cabin pet. Larger dogs (like my Bear) are too big to travel in a carrier bag. Some airports don’t have very good pet facilities to relieve themselves. Dogs love routine and sometimes unfamiliar territory and people can make them nervous. Excessive barking is a no-go with hotels as you’ll disturb their other patrons.

WEST COAST FITNESS VACATIONS – OUR SAFETY PLAN FOR REOPENING

How to travel with your dog into Canada

Dogs older than 3 months need a rabies certificate. Below is the official statement from the immigration website.

Domestic or pet dogs may enter Canada if accompanied by a valid rabies vaccination certificate. A licensed veterinarian must issue the certificate in English or French and clearly identify the dog by breed, color, weight, etc.

The certificate must state that the pet is currently vaccinated against rabies and indicate the trade name of the rabies vaccine used,  including serial number and duration of validity (up to three years). The vaccination will be considered valid for one year, unless otherwise indicated.

There’s no quarantine for pets coming into Canada, from any country however check the airline requirements carefully. Sometimes they also need a current health certificate.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Packing your dogs suitcase

Here are the essentials:

Collapsible dog bowls. Bring a spare in case you lose one. This will save you from spending valuable vacation time wandering around trying to find a place that sells them.

Two leashes, and a harness for comfortable walking. Nobody likes to be choked!

Enough dog food, so that you don’t have to switch brands.

Favorite toys and blanket.

Vaccination records

First aid kit

Poop bags

Other things! Get your dog microchipped before you travel. Your vet will painlessly insert the chip, so that the shelter can help return your pet to you. This is their permanent ID. Also make sure you’ve always got your phone within service range, in case you need to call a vet.

WHY WELLNESS RETREATS IN B.C. ARE WORTH STAYING LOCAL FOR

How to make your dogs vacation happier

Definitely bring your dogs food from home, changing their meal routine might bring on some anxiety and/or stomach upsets. Bring also your dogs favourite toys and blankets – the hotels will provide a comfortable bed and feeding bowls.

Read: 7 Tips To Keep Your Dog Comfortable in Hotels

Most hotels don’t allow you to leave your dog in the room unattended, and there’s usually a hefty fine for anyone found breaking the rule. Yet even if you’re allowed to leave your dog in the room it’s a good idea not to. It’s an unfamiliar surrounding, and the housekeeper coming in might be quite scary for them.

If your dog is nervous they’ll pant more, and this will make them drink more. Make sure you’ve got portable water bowls and extra water on hand, especially if out hiking or driving.

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN LIVE AT A WEIGHT LOSS RESORT FOR 2-6 MONTHS?

“Hola, I’m happy here. Love Manchas.”

Manchas was a street dog on his last few weeks of life, that we found in the garbage on a back street in Mexico. The sweet boy was severely underweight and had extreme anaemia. My partner and I took him to the vet to give him some shots, and miscommunicated that we wanted to adopt him (Spanish is no bueno). 

With the paperwork back-dated to meet airline requirements for an extra 50 pesos, and the vet ringing up the crate he had on the counter, the split second decision of ‘yes, credit card’ was one that would change the course of our lives.

I could not have asked for a better fresh start, for myself or him. Flying back to Canada was easy, with Alaska Airlines baggage handlers giving me a note that read “Hola, I’m happy here. Love Manchas.”

Everything made sense in that moment.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Manchas – the stud muffin- with one of our guests, Christine from Texas.

Beautiful brown eyes, that you cannot say no to

For the next 12 years my beautiful boy came to work with me everyday – either to boot camp, personal training or on the trails.

SIDE NOTE: He had a facebook page (now deleted). When he said his goodbyes to the friends he’d met along the way, he had over 30,000 views of his video and over 1500 comments from folks he’d touched along the way. Special guy.

I didn’t have the heart to bring him on a plane again. I felt like he might think I was bringing him back to Mexico. He was forever stressed whenever he saw the crate, or saw our suitcases. Instead, we traveled without him when we went on trips. Pet friendly travel wasn’t as popular back then as it is now.

Thankfully travel trends for active travel that is pet-friendly is at an all time high!

As a health retreat owner, I’ve take my responsibility seriously to provide a comfortable environment for all our guests. This includes those who don’t like dogs, those that love them (or have them), and those that are them! 

That’s Bear, below – very similar looking to above, without the brown markings. He’s a certified support animal. This makes it easier around guests as he’s trained to be ‘at work’ (the cue word) when at work.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Teaching your dog not to chase wildlife

Whistler is not as populated with wildlife as some other mountain resorts simply because we have so much tourism on the trails. However training your dog to be reliable is definitely important, including coming when called. Even though our Whistler hiking tours are dog friendly, they need to be on a leash. And if the dog is pulling you to chase a bear up ahead on the trail… well, it’s not so good.

Read: How to Train Your Dog For the Hiking Trail

Chasing is normal behaviour for dogs. The best way to deal with it is to give dogs an opportunity to chase toys whenever wildlife is around. Teach your dog that if she sees an animal (deer, crow, squirrel etc.), they should expect that you will throw a toy to chase instead. It’s easier to teach a dog, “chase this, not that” than it is to teach a dog not to chase at all. Use a squeaky toy and squeak before you toss it. Karen B. London, PhD, Certified Professional Dog Trainer.

Benefits Of Exercising With Your Dog

Often overweight dog owners have overweight dogs… it’s somewhat connected. Getting in shape with your dog increases the bond between you along with a host of other benefits:

Slows the dogs aging process

Improves their metabolism

Regulates their sleep and appetite

Makes them happy!

Prevents obesity related problems

People have always enjoyed health retreats, taking time away from their home life to focus on shaping up. Now, more than ever, bringing your best friend and personal companion along will increase the longevity and fun of your fitness benefits! Think about it, when you go home, guess who’ll want to go for a walk!? Right now, come on, let’s go! What better personal trainer.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

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