#and. like. 8 different services stop at that specific bus stop at that specific time. so. y’know.

[deus-ex-mona]

~monsoon season intensifies~

[kaoarika]

There were so many words on my tags, so I will put the more concise answers there. I chose "I have access to public transport and I use it, but I wish it was better". Like... so MUCH better.

For starters, I am from Mexico and the public transport service varies a LOT from state to state. It's not the same quality of experience in two different cities from different states.

Bus and metro rides' prices aren't the same in the entire country, for example... so it really depends on how each state's government handles and invests in their public transport.

Where I live, the public transport is decent (not good nor bad... quite mixed) at best... but it gets quite frustrating for a variety of reasons.

I use the bus rides the most when I need to (there's also the metro... but that is another whole can of worms...) but MY GOD I WISH local government paid much more attention to all the issues the bus transport system has had FOR YEARS...

I live in an area where certain routes are WAY too insecure when riding their buses on (my mom was almost robbed in one, years ago)... there are other that, understandably are WAY too long... but you also need them to get you to specific areas of the metropolitan area... but because MANY people living in the same metropolitan area go to work to the capital city of this state (certainly too big, btw)... chances are you are waiting over 20 minutes for one of these buses to stop at their respective bus stops. Logically, these routes NEED more bus units... but that's sadly not the case (while there are also new routes that I'm unfamiliar with? And I have been living in this are for over a decade, although in my defense, I also decreased my area's bus riding frequency since I graduated, in late 2014)... Govenrment-in-turn has renovated units... but hasn't increased those for these routes in need.

Also, some bus routes' stops are in the worst places possible, and some of these areas are not THAT pedestrian-friendly :'D

We also have a very much dying bus pass system implemented a decade ago that should have been useful in some way and form... but corruption and greed found a way and it has been plummeting ever since... (and it's a little cheaper than giving change to the drivers! but the drivers apparently don't get a lot of that in exchange, and it's becoming HARD to get one of these passes... unless you are a public university student, iirc? Again, graduated a long time ago, don't know if they are still doing this).

And they officially started a project of new metro lines for some of the metropolitan area's cities... which, in theory, would be ideally good... but AGAIN, it's another can of worms (because one of the lines they want to make is one of the busiest of the whole city and this kind of wip projects is going to make it worse for everyone not in the gvnmnt... in THEORY, this would have been AMAZING over 25 years ago... when the city wasn't THAT big yet), because they should be fixing the bus transport system FIRST instead of prioritizing THIS project *headdesks*

There are even new recently expanded-places that don't even have direct routes or their bus stops are in the other side of a highway w/o a pedestrian bridge at sight... FFS... I knew of ppl in my faculty that had to take a couple of buses to get to the campus, and had to wake up QUITE early in the morning to make it in time... and some classes started at 7 or 8 AM because "bad luck for them" :/.

And these are those things that are on top of my head about my local public transport these days...

Please re-blog to widen the data sample! I might use this for my statistics project at the end of the semester, and every answer is a great help :).

Please share in the tags what you picked and why if you're so inclined.

[truelimo]

From Runway to Destination: Airport Transportation Options in LA

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of the busiest airports in the United States, serving millions of travelers each year. As a gateway to the vibrant city of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, efficient airport transportation is crucial for a seamless travel experience. This article explores the various Airport transporation Los Angeles, ensuring that your journey from the runway to your destination is as smooth and stress-free as possible.

1. Airport Shuttles

Airport shuttles are a convenient and cost-effective way to travel from LAX to your destination in Los Angeles. These shared-ride services transport multiple passengers in one vehicle and make stops at various destinations. Airport shuttles are ideal for budget-conscious travelers and those who don't mind making multiple stops before reaching their final destination. They are readily available at LAX and can be an efficient way to navigate the city.

2. Taxi Services

Taxis are a common and readily available mode of transportation at LAX. They offer a private and direct ride from the airport to your destination. Taxis are a popular choice for travelers who value convenience and privacy. However, it's important to note that taxi fares in Los Angeles can be relatively high, and traffic conditions can impact travel time, especially during peak hours.

3. Ride-Sharing Services

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft have become increasingly popular choices for airport transportation. These services provide an efficient and cost-effective way to get from LAX to your destination. Travelers can request a ride through a mobile app, and drivers arrive promptly for pick-up. Ride-sharing services often offer various vehicle options, including standard rides, luxury cars, and larger vehicles for groups.

4. Private Car Services

For a more premium and personalized airport transportation experience, consider booking a private car service. These services provide a dedicated vehicle and driver to meet you at the airport and take you to your destination. They offer a high level of comfort, convenience, and often include amenities such as Wi-Fi, bottled water, and a meet-and-greet service. Private car services are popular among business travelers and those seeking a more luxurious travel experience.

5. Airport Express Buses

Airport express buses are an affordable and convenient option for traveling from LAX to various parts of Los Angeles. These buses operate on specific routes and provide comfortable seating, air conditioning, and Wi-Fi, making them an excellent choice for travelers looking for a budget-friendly and efficient way to reach their destination. They serve various locations, including downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and more.

6. Rental Cars

For travelers who prefer the freedom and flexibility of having their vehicle, rental cars are widely available at LAX. Rental car agencies have counters in the airport terminals, and you can choose from a range of vehicle options to suit your needs. Renting a car allows you to explore Los Angeles and its surrounding areas at your own pace, but it's important to consider factors like parking and traffic when making this choice.

7. Public Transportation

Los Angeles has a public transportation system that includes buses and trains, making it possible to use public transit for airport transportation. The LAX FlyAway bus, for example, offers direct services to various locations in the city, including Union Station and Westwood. The Metro Green Line also connects LAX to other parts of the city. While public transportation is often more affordable, it may require transfers and can take longer than other options.

8. Shared-Ride Vans

Shared-ride vans are another group transportation option for getting from LAX to your destination. These vans, often operated by private companies, can accommodate multiple passengers traveling to different destinations. They are a cost-effective choice for small groups or individuals looking to share the cost of transportation. Shared-ride vans can be reserved in advance or found at designated pickup locations at LAX.

9. Hotel Shuttles

Many hotels in Los Angeles offer complimentary shuttle services to and from LAX for their guests. If you're staying at a hotel near the airport, it's worth inquiring about the availability of a hotel shuttle. These shuttles are convenient and can save you the hassle and expense of arranging separate airport transportation.

10. Limousine Services

For those seeking a luxurious and stylish arrival, limousine services are an option worth considering. Limo services offer a premium travel experience with well-appointed vehicles and professional chauffeurs. Whether you're traveling for a special occasion, a business event, or simply want to arrive in style, a limousine can provide a memorable and comfortable journey.

Conclusion

Efficient airport transportation is a vital component of a smooth and stress-free travel experience in Los Angeles. With a variety of options available at LAX, travelers can choose the mode of transportation that best suits their needs, preferences, and budget. From cost-effective choices like airport shuttles and shared-ride vans to the convenience of taxis and ride-sharing services, Los Angeles offers an array of transportation options to ensure you reach your destination safely and comfortably.

Ultimately, the choice of airport transportation in LA depends on factors such as your group size, destination, budget, and personal preferences. Whether you prioritize convenience, privacy, or luxury, there's a transportation solution that caters to your needs. The key is to plan ahead, consider your options, and select the mode of transportation that aligns with your travel goals. Regardless of your choice, Los Angeles welcomes you with a wealth of attractions and experiences waiting to be explored.

[transition-with-the-torah]

This is just some personal rambling inspired by ~unbidden-yidden’s post about the idea of a Shabbat retreat.

Actually, most of this can boil down to: I wish I had better public transit where I live.

An Amtrak post crossed my dash recently, and my state doesn’t have any stations that could facilitate commuter style trips. (If you want to go on a specific multi-state trip, you can pass through some stations, but you can’t just go from City A to City B within the state.)

I’m not aware of any places within my state having subway or tram style public transit, but there’s some bus routes in specific metro areas. They just all hit a suburb wall, and I would still need to at least drive to one of those places where you can park and catch a bus further into the metro area. (It’s not impossible, exactly, but I must admit that it’s still quite a distance to just get to the nearest park-and-wait sort of place for the synagogue I was looking at directions for.)

However, I’m really feeling that one public transit post wishing for night routes [for 2nd or 3rd shift]. There is the chance that I’m misreading the timetable pdf, but it looks like the line that runs to that park-and-wait station only runs Monday through Friday - twice in the morning [about 6:40 and 7:10] and twice in the early evening [starting at 4:20 or 5:10].

What if I want to go to Shacharit [starts at 7:30 am]? Well, I guess I could take this route during the work week, but I’d better walk the last mile or so from the bus stop to the synagogue in about 15 minutes.

What about the Kabbalat Shabbat service [starts at 6 pm on Friday]? Ah, no. There doesn’t seem to be another line that goes to that park-and-wait station, so I’d have to make a day of it just to get there in the morning and somehow get back to where I parked on my own.

What if I want to go to Shabbat service [9 am on Saturday]? If I use a different bus service that usually goes to the international airport, I could get into the city at least [around 8 am]. Depending on how long it takes to walk to the nearest bus stop [over a mile], I could possibly get on a bus around 8:30 and maybe get there around 9:15. (If I’m reading this map correctly, I’ll need to cross four lanes of traffic at an intersection and walk some more.)

I tried to look into this because those who take this particular synagogue’s Judaism 101 class [for conversion] have a few dates where you need to attend Shacharit, Kabbalat Shabbat, and Shabbat services. But, you know, this sounds like a lot. None of this actually takes into account how slow I walk at way too early in the morning or looks at changes to the hypothetical route for the ‘getting home’ portion, either. Quite frankly, it looks like an exercise in painful maths and futility for someone who has time blindness and second guesses map reading.

So, yeah. The idea of a retreat where I could definitely take public transit, stay there Friday and Saturday, and then could take transit back home sounds nice.

[just-here-for-the-moment]

For the DIFFERENT POV GAME:

I want Javi’s POV on this whole adorable scene.

Okay, my Queen @quica-quica-quica, I want you to know that I suuuuucked in a huge breath when I saw this Ask, because I was entirely unsure if I could do this. It seemed like a really hard challenge, but FOR YOU I’ll try anything.

I dug in to see what I could do, and of course because I can’t just write succinctly I had to start waaaaaay back in the beginning of the story to get Javier where I needed him for the phone number scene… hope that’s okay!!

Thank you for challenging me this way! This went from scary to amazing in just a few days! I love you so much, my friend!!!

---

Coffee Shop Girl (a companion piece to “For Now” told from Javier’s point of view)

Word count: 3000+

Rating: mature, 18+ only

Outline: Javier Peña x “You” (Austin coffee shop barista; cis/het female reader; “blank canvas”/no physical description/no name/no use of “Y/N”)

Warnings: slow-burn; references to previous hiring of sex workers; cigarette smoking; Javier masturbating

Javier Peña felt like he was at loose ends. Not for the first time in his life, but it’s different feeling ‘lost’ as a young man than feeling ‘lost’ when you’re on the wrong side of 40. At least a teenager can still expect their whole life ahead of them. Since leaving the DEA and the fight in Colombia behind, he had been feeling directionless.

Spending some time at his dad’s ranch in Laredo had helped, the way that hard labor and sweat always does. It left him too tired to ruminate, to sink into the blues and feel sorry for himself. He had lined up a teaching job at a university in D.C. but it didn’t start until the fall semester, and Javier wasn’t looking forward to an entire blazing-hot summer on the ranch. So when his friend Bill called from Austin and offered a short contract job doing consulting for one of the state agencies, he jumped at the chance.

Javier landed at Mueller Airport at 2:00 in the afternoon on the second Saturday in June. He made his way out of luggage pickup to the Hertz desk and signed for a rental car. It didn’t take him long to find the apartment complex where Bill had arranged for him to stay. Bill’s coworker’s son had graduated from UT Austin in May, and the lease wasn’t up until August, so everything worked out perfectly. Javi could sublet for the remainder of the summer, and the apartment complex was close enough to the office that he could take the bus, meaning he wouldn’t have to put too many miles on the rental car or pay for parking downtown. A small, blandly furnished one-bedroom apartment near work was perfect. He could make it work for two months, and he had certainly lived in much worse places during his years traveling.

On Monday Javier was introduced around the office and given his portfolio of cases to consult on. He also found out that the coffee in the office was total shit. He had spent too many years drinking government-grade slop at the DEA and other agencies to put up with it now. He wasn’t one to complain, or to order any of the frilly new designer coffee drinks that seemed to be making the rounds among the ladies in the secretarial pool, but he had noticed a coffee shop between here and the bus stop. Some local place, one of those Austin things where they boasted about fair trade and locally roasted beans. If they made a decent cup of black coffee he could splurge, buy a cup on his way into the office each day.

The bus dropped him off at the corner at 7:45, so he could grab a coffee and still be on time to work at 8:00. Punctuality wasn’t always his strong suit, but Javier wanted to at least make a good impression while he was consulting. You never knew who might be a network contact to something good, and he didn’t want to screw Bill over after he had recommended him for the contract.

Tuesday Javier tried the coffee shop and found out that their coffee was not only decent for the price, it was actually good. Wednesday he went back again, this time brushing fingers with the pretty barista by accident. He offered her a “thanks” and then went on his way. Thursday he walked in and stood patiently in line behind two stoner kids trying to make up their minds between breakfast tacos and blueberry muffins. The pretty barista was there again, and she waved him over with a smile, indicating he could skip to the counter and leave the hippie kids in line.

“Black coffee, right?” Her smile actually reached her eyes, and for a moment Javier was very glad for all of the body language and psychology classes he had ever had to sit through. It was nice having a pretty lady smile at you to start your morning, and even better that this one already knew his order. She was quick, he figured, and good at her job if she had his order memorized after only two days as a customer. Not that ‘black coffee, to go’ was a difficult order, but he hadn’t expected to become a regular so quickly.

He smiled and nodded, “That’s right. Thank you.” He looked for a wedding ring and then for a nametag on her black apron, but didn’t see either one. He slid a rumpled $5 bill across the counter, larger than the singles he had paid with the previous two days, but she was nice. “Keep the change.”

He thought he saw her bite her lip as she turned away, and while she was fixing his cup he took a moment to check her out. He wasn’t some kind of pervert who would goose her from over the counter, but from what he could see she was attractive. Hell, most women were attractive to Javier. He suddenly realized it had been a while since he’d gotten laid. His last relationship was years past, and he no longer visited prostitutes regularly. Javier wasn’t a ‘reformed man’ by any means, it was just that that habit had been limited to a specific time and place in his life where he wasn’t stable enough to have a long-term relationship, and it had the added bonus of gathering intelligence.

The barista turned back to him with the cup and when she handed it off their eyes locked and their fingers touched again. He saw her pupils dilate and recognized the little spark that turned over in his own gut. Damn, she really was attractive. But Javier didn’t want to be the kind of lecherous guy who hit on a woman while she was working. Too many men mistook the minimum of customer service friendliness for a sexual invitation. Or worse, like the men who hit on waitresses on purpose since they couldn’t be outright rude to stop them. Javier suppressed a smile and took the cup from her, nodding his thanks.

On Friday when he breezed into the coffee shop he saw the pretty barista smile from behind the counter, and she immediately turned and started pouring his to-go cup. She turned back and gave him the ‘what’s up’ chin nod while holding his cup up. Javier walked up and he slid a few singles across the counter to her.

Javier gave her a warm, “Thanks,” and winked at her. That was at least a harmless bit of flirting, in line with her bright smiles and her friendliness so far. If she liked it, great; and if not, then at least he hadn’t made her uncomfortable by asking for her number or hitting on her directly. When he said, “See you next week,” she smiled that bright smile back. Javier noticed that it again reached her eyes, lighting them up just a bit more than last time. A good sign.

The weekend dragged but Javier filled it up with errands: a run to HEB for groceries and to Highland Mall for a new shirt. If there was the possibility of a date sometime in the next few weeks he at least wanted to wear something other than his work clothes. Saturday night he ordered pizza and watched a movie on TV, some lame action movie with giant muscled guys shooting way too many bullets, and of course all the curse words and a sex scene edited out for network TV. Can’t let the kiddies hear the word ‘shit’ while they’re flipping channels, but watching Stallone blow a guy’s head off is good for their growing brains. He finished his pizza and a cigarette and then felt that tug, the loose ends, a little bored.

Javier took a shower and his mind went to the pretty barista, that smile, the sparkly eyes. He thought about those eyes looking up at him through her lashes, or down at him from on top. He wondered what her skin felt like, imagining the rest of her naked, spread out, touching him all over. He felt a little bit creepy touching himself to the thought of her, hoping it didn’t make him a bad person, hoping he would see her again on Monday. But fuck it, he needed the release. Javier came, spurting hot in the steamy shower as he leaned his head on his forearm and groaned into the cold tile wall. He wished he at least knew her name.

Sunday Javier slept in and then did laundry, tidied up the apartment, and took a jog around the neighborhood. He tried to talk himself out of a repeat of Saturday’s shower. It didn’t work.

On Monday Javier lit up as soon as he stepped off the bus. The first week of the consulting gig had gone well, but today was a big meeting and he knew the agency was not going to like his recommendations. He was constantly trying to quit, but at least he had cut back recently. He was down to a pack a day and only one cup of coffee. That had to count for something, right? Maybe his doctor would finally get off his back about that.

He smoked as rapidly as he could on his way to the coffee shop, and stubbed the cigarette out as soon as he reached the big window that overlooked the street corner. He tucked his sunglasses into the top pocket of his blazer and opened the door to the coffee shop.

The pretty barista was smiling, looking right at him and already holding up his cup of coffee like a game show model holding a prize. Javier felt his heart give a little squeeze, and he smiled and winked at her again as he approached the counter.

“You psychic or something? Or am I just that predictable?”

“Both, maybe.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and gave him a toothy grin.

Javier opened his wallet and saw that his smallest bill was a $10, but he decided not to ask for change back. She was attentive to her customers, she had surprised him by having coffee ready, and she was cute. “Great service, keep the change.”

Her face lit up and she turned to put the money in the register. Javier turned and exited the front door, and then decided to look back through the big plate glass window. She was looking at him, and Javier realized that meant that she had watched him leave. He hoped he wouldn’t have to tip $10 every time to get that look. He lifted his cup, nodded at her, and then made his way to the office.

Tuesday she had his coffee ready again, so he gave her another wink with his smile, and he thought that she purposely put her fingers in a spot to touch his as she handed the cup over. He paid with a $5 bill again, and then thought about her smile and her touch all the way to the office a few blocks north. He didn’t want her to think that the overtipping was him trying to come on to her; it really was nice to have his order ready to go every day.

On Wednesday she had his coffee ready again as soon as he walked in, but Javier supposed that was a testament to the bus schedule more than his own punctuality. This time he paid with singles. But he didn’t want her to think the smaller tip was because of anything wrong with her customer service, so he smiled a little more warmly, turning the charm up as much as he dared without just outright hitting on her. He noticed she was looking again through the glass as he left. But of course the only reason he knew that was because he had looked, too.

On Thursday Javier decided that it wouldn’t hurt to flirt a little more obviously, but to give her an out in case she wasn’t interested. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or fuck up his supply of good coffee, so he decided to take it a little slow. When he got to the corner he glanced into the window of the coffee shop and saw the pretty barista looking right at him. He took that as a good sign that she might be receptive to his flirting. He opened the door and let someone exit, then walked up to the counter. She pointed at his cup sitting on the counter in front of her, smiling that bright smile.

He arched an eyebrow up. “You trying to get rid of me? In and out so quickly?”

She grinned at him. “Depends on how long you were planning to stay. We close at 1:00 a.m. after open mic tonight. After that you gotta go somewhere else.” That was the most that she’d spoken to him yet. Javier decided to take his chance.

“And what time do you get off, after the morning shift?”

“Depends on who’s asking.” She winked and then bit the inside of her lips, like she had said something she shouldn’t have.

Javier decided to be direct. At least that would give her the chance to say ‘no’ if she wasn’t interested. He locked eyes with her and said, “I am.”

He was relieved to see her flash that big smile, all pretty soft lips and sparkly eyes. “I finish at 1:00, after the lunch rush.”

“Good to know.” He stuck his hand out to shake. “I’m Javier, by the way.” She continued to smile as she gave him her name. When she took his hand she gave a good firm shake, not like one of those women who went limp as soon as they shook a man’s hand. Javier liked her even more.

He fished a few bills out of his wallet. “Can I maybe stop by after your shift, take you to lunch sometime?”

“You can do me one better than that.” She reached down to grip the lid and spun the cup. He saw her name and seven digits scribbled in Sharpie. “My phone number’s on the cup.”

Javier gave her the eyebrows, very much enjoying how direct she was. It was nice to get a clear signal from a pretty lady, instead of having to play guessing games and worry about overstepping. He pursed his lips and nodded in approval.

“You do that for all your customers?”

“Just the best tippers.” And there was her pretty smile and her wink again, so soon after the first one.

Javier decided to give her both barrels. He put his hand out again, palm up instead of a handshake. When she put her hand in his he lifted her knuckles to his lips and pressed a soft kiss, giving her a look from under his eyelashes before he let go.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Javier picked up the cup and left, and gave her a warm smile through the glass as he walked away. As soon as he got to the office he jotted her name and the number on a scrap of paper and tucked it into his wallet. He felt hopeful in a way that he hadn’t for a long time, and he rolled the cup endlessly between his palms while he considered his options. Options. Something he sometimes had taken for granted in life, until those moments where they suddenly ran out.

Javier drained the last of the coffee and then scribbled over her number with a Sharpie before tossing the cup in the trash. No sense in letting her number out into the world where some creep might find it. He smoked his third cigarette of the day out on the plaza and thought about her smile, the brush of her fingers on his, the way she approached him directly. He could use a friend in town, one who wasn’t a guy at the agency or an old college buddy. One who was soft and sweet and might be open to a date… or more. He checked his watch and calculated the hours until 1:00 p.m.

Normally he wouldn’t go back to the coffee shop until tomorrow morning, but it wouldn’t hurt to pop back over there today at the end of her shift, see if she wanted to grab lunch, right? He hoped it wouldn’t scare her off, going back so quickly. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray by the lobby door and jogged back up to his office, taking the stairs two at a time. He wanted to finish up, get this meeting over with, see if he could get over to the coffee shop before she left. He sat in the meeting, watching the clock hands spin slowly, listening to someone drone on about a budget issue that didn’t impact his work, and which could have been a memo in the first place. He felt his irritation creep up the longer the meeting went on.

Finally the meeting closed and Javier hopped to his feet. He told Bill he was headed to lunch and then jogged back down the stairwell instead of waiting for the elevator. He walked the few blocks to the coffee shop, keeping an eye on his watch. He hoped he wouldn’t miss her.

When he got to the coffee shop he opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the dim light for a moment. And then he saw her, slinging her bag over one shoulder and coming out from behind the counter. Javier smiled.

She stopped a foot away and smiled softly, “Hey.”

Javier realized he was still wearing his sunglasses, no wonder it was so dark. He took them off and slipped them into his blazer pocket. He really hoped she wouldn’t think it was weird, him coming back so soon.

“Hey, I’m glad I caught you. Are you busy, or can I take you to lunch today?”

Her face lit up. Good sign. “No, I’m not busy. I’d love to go.”

She gestured out the big window, “There’s a sandwich place around the corner, and a park we can go sit in.”

Javier felt his face split into a wide grin. “That’s perfect.”

---

Just-here-for-the-moment’s masterlist

The only tag list I have: @quica-quica-quica @anaaaispunk @justanotherblonde23 @gracie7209 @nicolethered @honestly-shite @driedgreentomatoes @dihra-vesa @1800-fight-me @the-queen-of-fools @juletheghoul @kesskirata @honeymandos @silverwolf319 @mourningbirds1 @greeneyedblondie44 @spacedilf @maxwell–lord @anxiousandboujee @cevvie @sherala007 @writeforfandoms @libellule2001 @deadhumourist @mandoalorian @javierpinme @eri16 @mandocrasis

[mimzy-writing-online]

Writing A Blind/Visually Impaired Character: Canes, Guide Dogs, O&M

Wow, back in June I decided to take a few months break from blogging to recharge and focus on my mental health. About a month ago I began writing this specific post, slowly and in stages because of how demanding, detailed, and long it is.

I’m not sure when I planned to come back. I have about 200 posts with tags and image description in my drafts folder, waiting to be queued, but I wanted to finish this guide before I fully came back.

Come back with a bang, right?

But this blog, and specifically, my Writing a Blind or Visually Impaired Character  guide, has gotten so much traffic and support that I felt incredibly motivated to come back now.

So I finished the guide, and now here it is. It’s been a year+ in the making. Since the very beginning of this writing advice series about writing blind characters, I’ve promised to write a guide specifically about canes, guide dogs, O&M, and other accessibility measures the blind community relies on. 

In fact, if you look at my master post for this guide (now pinned at the first post on my blog) you’ll find that it was reserved as Part Four, even as other guides and additions were added over the last year.

In this post I’ll be explaining 

What Orientation and Mobility (O&M) is

How one learns O&M

About canes, from different types of canes and their parts, as well as how to use a cane. 

I will be explaining the sensory experiences of using a cane and how to describe it in narrative. 

I will include small mannerisms long-time cane uses might develop. 

At the very end will be a section on guide dogs, but this will be limited to research because I have no personal experience with guide dogs, being a cane user.

Disclaimer: I am an actual visually impaired person who has been using a cane for nearly three years and has been experiencing vision loss symptoms for a few years longer than that. This guide is based on both my experiences and my research. My experiences are not universal however because every blind person has a unique experience with their blindness

What Is Orientation & Mobility

Orientation and Mobility (O&M) is the specific skill of understanding and navigating the world safely and confidently with vision loss.

I’m going to quote Vision Aware’s specific definition [link]

"Orientation" refers to the ability to know where you are and where you want to go, whether you're moving from one room to another or walking downtown for a shopping trip.

"Mobility" refers to the ability to move safely, efficiently, and effectively from one place to another, such as being able to walk without tripping or falling on steps or elevation changes, crossing streets, and using public transportation

O&M can involve :

-learning how to use a cane, as well as what cane works best for you

-safely navigating obstacles with your cane, including stairs, ramps, elevators, uneven or curved sidewalks, through crowds, around furniture

-learning safe strategies for crossing the street

-planning routes to new or recurring locations

-using technology enroute, including GPS and apps like Uber and Lyft

-safely accessing public transportation

-how to ask for help when needed

-working with human sighted guides

A Note on the Blind Community and Their Relationship with Canes

The Perkins School for the Blind estimates that only 2-8% of the blind community rely on canes for navigation. The rest rely on remaining vision, guide dogs, and sighted guides. Only about 2% of the blind community relies on guide dogs however, and to get a guide dog in the first place, a person must go through O&M classes and use a cane for six months before they can sign up for a guide dog.

What this means is that 90% of the blind community don’t use a cane.

I didn’t know this fact until I begun research for this guide, and that number astounds me. 

Truth be told, while I have navigated my life without a cane before, I can’t imagine going back to the way it was before I got it. Even if I only need my cane some of the time, I can’t bear to not use it in the situations I need it. Having a cane made my life a lot easier, a lot safer.

I don’t know what to attribute this number to.

I might attribute it to the concepts of invisible vs. visible disability, internalized ableism, or the feeling of ‘not being blind enough’ for a cane, as well as accessibility to the blind community and knowledge, and access to buying a cane in the first place. I could write a thing about it, but if I try it’s gonna be its own post.

Onward~

How Do You Learn O&M? How Will My Character Learn?

You will have to find an Orientation and Mobility instructor and have them personally teach you O&M skills.

The O&M Instructor is a sighted adult who has gone to school for a bachelor’s degree and gone through O&M training themselves while blindfolded, usually fulfilling a certain requirement of hours (one program required 400 hours of O&M practice blindfolded before you could become certified), and apply for certification to teach O&M.

(Or, as is the process to become an instructor in the United States, where I am from. Becoming an instructor would vary in other countries, I’m sure)

To find an O&M instructor, you would reach out to your local school or foundation for the blind. Finding your nearest school for the blind could be done through…

Google search

Your Ophthalmologist (eye doctor) referring you to a school for the blind

A Social Service Worker reaching out to you and helping you contact the school

Possibly your school (as in grade/primary school, high school, university) reaching out to the nearest school for the blind on your behalf.

Unfortunately, there is not an abundance of schools and foundations, so your nearest might still be a far travel distance. My local school is a 45 minute drive away. For some it might a few hours away. 

This is, again, a U.S. experience, because our land mass is spaced out, and something like a six hour drive feels like nothing to most people (although is highly impractical and very difficult to a blind person who cannot drive themselves), but in other countries a six hour drive would mean crossing several borders, and other countries have different social programs.

There is not a full and complete database of every available school for the blind either, no one website to find every possible option. For example, the school I went to wasn’t listed in most of the website resources I found, even though it has seven branches and locations. 

This is more a complaint at the real life struggle to find disabled services, that there are few comprehensive resources out there. If you ask me, it should be made significantly easier to find and access your local blind communities. Accessibility and disabled services should be easily available everywhere.

If your story is based in a real world location, googling ‘school for the blind (city/county/country)’ should suffice in finding the one most local to your setting.

What might a school for the blind provide for your character?

Well, on top of helping your character connect to an O&M instructor, a school for the blind might provide other rehabilitation classes and access to additional resources.

Those rehabilitation classes could include lessons on:

-Reading/Writing Braille & using brailling machines

-Technology classes for screen readers, magnifiers, etc on your computer and smart phone.

My local school has separate classes specific to Andriod, iOS, JAWS, Zoomtext Fusion

-Independent Living skills (cooking, cleaning, organizing, planning how to get groceries and medications)

-Self Improvement (dancing, art, music, self defense. These were classes my school taught)

The additional resources form these schools might include- 

Referrals to counselors for coping with vision loss

Access to their audio-book and braille library

Access to magnifier devices, brailler machines (think of a typewriter for writing braille)

Some schools also offer grade-school or high-school education, meaning blind children/teens learn there instead of a mainstream school.

Some schools have lodgings for clients to stay at while going through rehabilitation, especially if the vision loss is sudden and severe. They live on-campus and take part in classes. Other schools only have day classes offered and you need to find transportation for every visit. Many schools might have a rehabilitation specialist or O&M instructor visit you in your home.

My local school did the last two. They had on site classes, but the school is a 45 minute drive from me, so I only visited a few times. They were able to send an O&M instructor to me. 

On Wednesdays at 3 pm she would drive to my house and give me lessons on using my cane. Those included her driving me to different locations to practice certain skills (like using stairs and escalators at the mall, or crossing a moderately busy intersection, or visiting a bus station to practice boarding a bus safely and communication with a bus driver where my stop was).

She also brought multiple different types of canes for new students to try out and determine which felt best for them.

The Many Types of Canes

Long Canes are used to sweep the immediate area in front of the cane user as they’re walking. This is the cane type that the general public is most familiar with seeing. There are several sub-types of long canes. They can also be called white canes or probing canes.

[Image Description: Man in business clothes traveling on the side walk with a white and red cane. End Image Description]

White cane can be a misnomer for two reasons: One, the concept of the standard cane for the blind can look different in different countries. In America, the standard is white with a red tip. In some countries the standard is an all-white cane. In some countries an all white cane might mean the user is blind while a white cane with a red tip means the user is deaf-blind.

Two, some companies like Ambutech allow customers to customize their cane colors and tips. Example: Molly Burke’s hot pink cane. My white cane with a purple tip. An all black or all sky blue or all red or all purple cane. A black cane with a blue or purple tip. Ambutech also allows customers to request neon-colored reflective tape to make their canes more visible at night.

Probing cane is not a term I’ve personally heard before, but it is a term Vision Aware uses on their website.

There are three main types of long canes:

Non-folding Canes: a cane that has no sections, cannot be folded or collapsed.

[Image Description: stock photo of man in business suit with a non-folding all white cane. End Image Description]

Folding Canes: The cane has 3-6 sections depending on its height. The taller the cane, the more sections it has. The sections are separate pieces that are made to snap together and are held together by a strong elastic rope inside the sections.

[Image Description: a folding cane with four sections, white with a red tip, and a rolling marshmallow tip. End Image Description]

Telescopic Canes: in which the sections slide into each other, similar to a telescope/spyglass, rather than pulling apart and folding. The handle is the widest section, and the tip section is the thinnest.

[Image Description: Three stacked images of a blue telescopic cane. First is of the cane completely collapsed. Second is of the sections partially sliding out. Third is the cane sections completely out and locked.]

Beyond that is also the Identification Cane. The function of this cane is to visibly identify the user as blind. It’s not used for O&M the way long canes are, there is no sweeping out the next two steps. It can be used as a support cane, however. 

It’s appeals most to the elderly who not only make up a huge percentage of the blind community, but might also benefit most from having both a support cane and an identifier for their blindness, in case they need assistance. 

[Image Description: identification cane with curved handle. All white with red tip. End Image Description]

A note: From what I’ve heard in the blind community, some people prefer solid/non-folding canes over folding or telescopic canes. The reason for this is that solid canes transfer vibration better than folding or telescopic canes. It’s said that the more sections a cane has, the less precise the vibrations are. 

Some cane users train themselves to understand the vibrations of the surfaces their canes are touching. It tells them what kind of surface they’re on (wood vs. marble vs. concrete), if there are nearby objects to their cane. While I rely somewhat on cane vibrations to tell me what surface I’m walking on (more on that later), it is beyond my current O&M abilities to use cane vibrations to sense nearby walls or objects.

Cane vibrations are just an additional information-sense to add to the others in use, and extra bit of data input.

Parts of the Cane: Materials, Handle, Tips, Sections, Elastic Band

Material

The three most common types of materials used to make canes are aluminum, carbon-fiber, and fiberglass. Each material has some drawbacks and benefits.

The ideal cane is lightweight and durable. It should be strong enough to withstand hitting something solid without bending or splintering.

Aluminum is strong and durable, but heavy. If it’s damage, it’s more likely to bend than break entirely. A bend can be straightened out, but it takes considerable strength.

Carbon-fiber is lightweight and durable. It’s stronger than fiberglass, and it can bend out of shape rather than splintering.

Fiberglass is lightweight but a bit rigid. If it breaks, it splinters.

Handles and Elastic Bands

While some canes can have specialized grips (plastic, wood, corkboard) the most common handle material is a black rubber handle that is about ten inches long, give or take. In the previous photos you’ve seen, the canes have had black rubber handles.

Here is an example of a cane with a wood-mesh material used as the handle.

[Image Description: a four section white cane with a red tip and a orange wood mesh handle, with black elastic band attached. End Image Description]

The benefits of black rubber handles over others are that it’s easier to hold onto, especially if your palms are wet or sweaty, than a plastic or polished wood handle. It also wouldn’t show the indents or scratches from wear and tear daily use. I’m guessing that is cheaper to make on the manufacturing standpoint, and thus is conveniently the standard.

Pay attention to the black elastic band attached to the handle in the above photo. Notice how it has a tied off loop? That is so that when the cane is folded, that loop can be stretched over the folded sections to hold it together.

[Image Description: a four section folding cane folded up with the black band around them. End Image Description]

Additional benefits or functions of the elastic could be to use it as a wrist strap while using the cane, or hanging it up on a hook while not in use. I tend to have my cane folded up and tuck my wrist under the strap to hold it more securely while carrying it. Images of that ahead in my cane-isms section.

Cane Height

Ideal cane heights depend on the user. For most users, you want your cane height to be to your shoulder, give or take a few inches. You might need a longer cane if you are a fast walker with long strides, or a shorter cane if you prefer to hold your cane at a lower angle than is traditional.

What I mean when I talk about holding your cane at a certain angle is that the standard is to hold your cane handle in your dominant hand and position it in front of your belly button, moving it side to side with each step. Traditional grip methods are holding your hand palm side up with your cane in hand, or to hold the cane at the section joint closest to the handle with what is called the pencil grip, holding the cane like a fat pencil.

Depending on the height, a cane can have anywhere between three and six sections. Longer canes have more sections. The top section includes the handle, and the last section includes the stripe color (traditionally red, unless customized) and the tip. 

The sections of the cane are generally slightly reflective, regardless of color. If you hold a cane up to the light you’ll see tiny specks of light reflected back, almost like very fine, tiny particle glitter paint. This detail is important in cane production because it makes the cane more visible at night, especially if something like car headlights reflect off it while someone is crossing.

Additional visibility at night can be added by wrapping stripes of reflective tape along the shaft.

Cane Tips

There are several different tip options for canes.

[Image Description: four different types of cane tips on a blue background with labels. From left to right: marshmallow tip, ball tip, pencil tip, glide tip.]

[Image Description: a rolling marshmallow tip with a blue background. End Image Description]

[Image Description: Bandu basher tip with a white background. For anyone not familiar with the name, the long, curved cane tip that looks like a hockey stick. End Image Description]

Some of these tips are better for the tap-tap method of cane travel, as in tapping the spots where you plan to step. They can also be used to feel out the shapes of objects, stairs, etc. 

marshmallow tip, pencil tip, 

They should not be scraped over surfaces, the tips will wear down much faster than they should. There are better tips for rolling over surface

Some tips are better for the rolling method of cane travel, which is the method I use. They aren’t great for tapping, but it can be done in a pinch. 

rolling marshmallow tip, ball tip, glide tip

The Bandu Basher tip, the hockey stick shaped tip, is best for hovering an inch off the ground and lightly tapping objects. It could be tapped. It should not be scraped over the ground like a rolling tip. It hovers.

After enough use, the tips will wear down and need to be replaced. The part of the tip that has the most contact with the ground, usually the edge of the shape, gets scrapes, sands down, and eventually begins to look like it was shaved off while still having bits of plastic still gripped to it.

Never fear, cane tips can be removed and replaced when they wear out, replacing the whole cane is not necessary.

Some tips slip on or twist on. Others hook on. By hook on I mean that the elastic that keeps the cane sections together also has a loop at the tip end that a hook onto and stay held into place. Look back at the photo of the rolling marshmallow tip and you will see the hook that attaches to the black elastic.

Cane tips sell for about 5 - 10 U.S. dollars, plus shipping, so it’s advised to buy several back up tips with your cane. I replace my rolling marshmallow tips once every six to twelve months. I don’t know if that’s considered too much or too often. The last time I needed to replace mine was June 2019 (It’s July 2020 at the date of writing this, but I’ve hardly left my home for the last six months because of COVID-virus related quarantine/social distancing.)

Sensory Details/Describing What Using a Cane Feels Like

Every surface type feels and sounds different when tapping or rolling a cane over it. It’s this difference that tells us a lot about our environment.

It tells us when we stepped off the side walk onto the grass, when we’ve walked inside because the concrete changes to wood or carpet flooring. These little details become trail markers too, useful for places we anticipate traveling to a lot.

Example: A week before every semester in college, I would travel to each of the classrooms and learn necessary routes. I learned that certain paths had giant cracks in the sidewalk that would be distinct enough to use as a trail marker to where I was on a path, or that certain paths went from cement to gravel, or cement to brick.

Carpet: The sound is very soft, and if you’re rolling your cane across carpet it sounds like a quiet swish-swish-swish. Tapping sounds depend on how thick the carpet padding underneath is, the thicker the carpet the softer the sound. If there’s a lot of padding then taps don’t make much sound, but if the padding is thin or underneath the carpet is tile or concrete then you hear a louder thudding tap. It’s still pretty quiet. If you’re rolling the cane you would feel a little bit of drag, the cane moves slower over the carpet. The thicker or shaggier the carpet is, the more drag it has.

Wood floor: Cane tips make rumbling sounds when rolling over wood floors. The smoother the wood, the less it rumbles. There’s a little vibration moving from the cane tip, through the cane and into your hand as you roll over wood planks. Very small. The more sensitive you are to vibrations, the more you feel it. Tapping makes hallow, thudding sounds on the wood. Sometimes they sound a little snappish if you’re tapping harshly. You feel stronger vibrations when tapping. Older wood feels softer, with more give. New wood is stronger, more vibrations in the cane.

Tile:It depends on the size of the tiles and the wideness of the grout lines, but it’s not a pleasant feeling. Tiles have grout lines, which are little divets between the tiles. The smaller the tiles or rougher the grout lines are, the more the cane vibrates in your hands. Every bump is felt running from the cane to your hand. The sound is a little grating too. Imagine fifty sets of stiletto shoes walking on tile, that’s what it sounds like when you roll your cane over rough, small tiles. Larger tiles with smoother grout lines aren’t so bad. Tapping the tile with your cane sounds like one really loud step of a stiletto heal, one step for each tap. Tile floors are usually found in bathrooms, kitchens, and industrial locations where the room is going to have harder walls (more tile, concrete, etc) and few furniture, so the room echoes more.

Linoleum: is a smooth even surface. It feels like your cane is gliding when you roll it, barely feeling any vibrations. The rolling sounds are very soft because of the lack of bumps, however tapping sounds are a bit louder. Not as snappish as tile or marble, but almost.

Marble: is similar to linoleum in its smoothness. Your cane glides when rolling. Tapping sounds are sharp. Because marble floors are common in high end malls, luxury homes, and fancy office building entries, places that usually have high ceilings and hard walls with minimal decorations and minimalist furnishing, those sharp tapping sounds may echo. Assuming there isn’t too much noise and the environment is relatively quiet.

Concrete: (I’m referring to concrete found in parking garages and industrial buildings, not sidewalk) It depends on the age of the concrete and how it’s maintained. Old concrete with lots of cracks and mini-craters feels very different from smooth concrete that was set less than a year ago. With old concrete there’s a rattling sound as your cane tip rolls over the bumps and those vibrations travel up your cane. New concrete can feel similar to marble or linoleum. The taps are loud thuds on dull concrete and sharper on new concrete.

Sidewalks: are made of concrete, but in my experience they feel a little different than the above example. Sidewalks have a grittier surface, they’re slightly rougher, more dry. There’s a bit more rolling cane vibration with sidewalks and the taps have more of a thud sound. And because they’re outside, you’re unlikely to hear any echoes unless you’re walking in an alley or between buildings.

Asphalt: is one of the worst surfaces in my personal opinion. Asphalt is the material used in roads and it’s made to be rough and gritty so that car tires can grip onto it and not lose traction while driving. The older and more damaged it is, the rougher it is. Because it’s rough the vibrations are much stronger, sometimes irritatingly so. I can’t roll my cane over asphalt because the bones in my hand can’t handle those kinds of vibrations, so I almost always use the tapping method instead. The sounds are gritty and dull. Unfortunately, asphalt is an unavoidable surface, unless you can find a way to never need to cross a street or walk through a parking lot.

Note: the white or yellow lines that have been painted into asphalt sometimes feel smoother because of the material they’re made of and because they’re added after the asphalt has been laid down.

Note: There’s something called tarmac which is similar to asphalt, used for a similar purpose, and more common in the U.K. (I believe) but I can’t say that I’ve ever knowingly walked on it so I have no personal experience to give you.

Gravel: Another one of those evil surfaces. Gravel is just loose rocks and they’re common in rural roads, driveways, some landscaping. The looseness of them is what makes them untrustworthy. It makes a crunching sound. If you roll your cane, you’re likely to end up tossing small bits of rock and dust here and there. If you tap, you’ll hear the crunch but your brain might not translate that into “it’s gravel” until you’re walking on it and only realize when you walk over it and the sharp rocks begin digging into your shoes.

Wood Chips: I don’t have any experience with this since vision loss and getting a cane, so I’m using my memories of being on the playground in grade school because the surface on the playground was wood chips. I’d say wood ships are a love child between gravel and wood floors. The surface is loose and rolling your cane over it would kick up loose chips and dust. It would probably sound similar to walking on sand I think, because wood chips are much softer than gravel but not as consistent as wood. If it’s rained recently, then the waterlogged wood chips sound even softer.

Hard Dirt: I’m thinking dirt roads here, which are a lesser evil to asphalt and gravel. They can be rough like all roads, but the material isn’t has hard and solid. Rolling your cane will kick up dust on a dry day, but if it rained a few days ago you might hear a soft crunch as you roll over wet dirt. Tapping will have a very soft thud.

Soft Dirt: Think gardening dirt. Because it’s so soft, it makes very little sound and is easily kicked up. There’s a bit of drag, about the same or slightly more drag than grass or sand. Tapping has almost no sound but you might feel a slight give as your tip lands in the dirt, a slight resistance as it sinks in.

Mud: Yuck. I’m imagining this getting in my cane tip and how gross it would be after. Sound and feeling depend on how wet the mud is. Wet mud sounds slurpy. There’s more squish if you roll or tap your cane. Your character might not identify it right away until their shoes begin slipping as they walk over the mud. This is a personal experience. Drier mud sounds soft and feels almost solid underneath your cane. Wetter mud has more drag for a rolling cane. Muddy areas are also generally uneven because top soil has been displaced, so muddy hills and fields have unexpected but usually subtle changes in elevation.

Puddles: have both a slurpy and splash-splash sound. The slurpy sound is more common with rolling cane techniques. The splash sound is more common with tapping. The deeper the puddle, the louder is sounds and the more drag you experience. I am not fond of this texture/experience.

Snow: I have zero experience with snow since the development of blindness. So no experience of what it’s like to walk through with a cane. This is something I hope a blind reader can inform me on so I can edit this at a later date. My best guess is that it has a soft crunch, softer than the crunch of shoes in snow. A lot of drag too. Rolling through snow would probably be near impossible, especially if it’s deep snow or hard packed. Again, my best guess. The last time I experienced snow was when I was twelve.

Grass: One of my least favorites personally. Too much drag. Worse than shag carpeting. It’s very soft and doesn’t make much sound either. Like a crisp crunch you can barely hear. If the grass is wet or frosty you hear it a bit more crunch.

Surface with fallen Autumn leaves: Leaves everywhere! This is a bit dependant on whatever surface the leaves are on. It would soften the sound of cement, but there would be a louder crunch on grass. If the leaves are big and very curvy/pocketed then they’re easy to push aside. Smaller, flatter leaves don’t push as easily. The driest ones will crunch under your cane. It’s fun sometimes, if you’re the kind of person who likes stepping on leaves on purpose, but if you can’t see the leaves it might lose some of its fun and be more unexpected. 

Sand: I’ve never personally taken my cane to the beach, despite living so close to the coast. The reason is because beach sand is so squishy and loose that it’s already impossible to stay steady on your feet. The sand is always sinking under your feet, unless you’re next to the water line and the dampness has made it firmer. So a cane isn’t very useful to me at the beach. Not to mention that sand isn’t something you want inside your cane joints if you want the cane to last. Sand will erode and damage the joints, regardless of if they’re metal or plastic. If I were to take my cane to the beach, it would make the softest crunching-swishy noise of sand sliding over sand, similar to what your footsteps sound like on sand, but possibly even quieter because canes are lighter.

Side Note: My mother sarcastically asked about rolling your cane through dog poop or gum left on the floor. Can’t say I’ve ever rolled through it, so couldn’t tell you. Use your imagination I guess, Mum

The Invention of Tactile Paving

These are amazing! Tactile Paving are those yellow (or sometimes grey) bumpy squares you see on ramps leading into parking lots or when crossing the street. In 1965, Japanese engineer Seiichi Miyake used his own money to develop a tactile brick that you could feel even when walking over it with shoes, and he designed this because a friend of his was losing their vision and he wanted to help. These are amazing, and accessible to everyone, even the blind who don’t have a cane or guide dog. These are literal life savers. Before I got my cane, if I felt those bumps under my shoes I knew to immediately stop because I was about to walk into the road. Because less than 10% of the blind community uses canes or guide dogs, this is the most accessible form of blind aide available.

[Image Description: a yellow rectangle of tactile paving in front of a ramp leading into a parking lot. End Image Description]

Note: similar detail, most doors in commercial buildings (in my localized experience) have a metal plate on the threshold to hold the door in place so there are no cracks underneath. The metal scraping sound when you roll or tap your cane on it is distinct but temporary and non-repeating, so it’s a good indication that you’ve reached and passed the threshold.

Blind-isms

I have a section in this guide about blind-isms, but these ones are focused specifically on cane use.

-Do. Not. Touch. My. Cane. Don’t. Just fucking don’t.

-The above ism comes from the fact that our cane is our safety net, an extension of our body, our eyes, the one thing that makes sure we’ll get somewhere safely. For that reason, blind people hate having their canes (or their on duty guide dogs) touched by strangers, acquaintances, friends we’re not very close to, some family members.

Important Note: That is a universal thing for disabled people. Don’t. Touch. Their. Mobility Aides. It’s assault. Touching someone’s wheelchair or pushing them around without their expressed permission is assault. Moving their wheelchair while the user is currently standing is assault. (Most wheelchair users are not paralyzed, but they still need the wheelchair because of their medical condition, which is not your business to know). It doesn’t matter if the wheelchair is in the way, the disabled person needs it right there, do not touch it. Touching or grabbing someone’s support cane or their long cane is assault. Touching or moving someone’s walker is assault. Touching, poking at, or tampering with someone’s hearing aids is assault. Touching their oxygen tank or cannula is assault.

Back on topic-

-Idle motions with your cane while waiting in line. I often rest my chin on my cane or lean on it

-twirl my cane like a staff when I’m alone and no one can see. I would not ever do this in front of anyone because I don’t want anyone thinking it’s a toy or they can just touch or grab it. I’m just a little childish and bored sometimes and idle motions are a common thing for people with ADHD.

-When carrying my folded cane inside (like say a store) I hang it from my wrist by the strap.

-Keeping my cane within arms reach at all times, even in situations where I don’t need it currently. Example: if we’re doing a classroom assignment where I need to leave my desk, I know the classroom well enough to not use my cane, but I won’t leave it at my desk, ever. (This does not apply at home. And in the homes of a very few, very trusted friends I will leave it somewhere I deem safe.)

-Having a set, specific place in my home (living with my immediate family, who almost never have guests) for my cane. In my case, it’s the top of an antique dresser in the living room, across from the door. It has a little bowl for my sunglasses as well. If I move out and have roommates, my cane will be in my room.

-Love me a bag or backpack that has enough space to discretely store your cane, but most of my bags cannot do that.

-People with folding canes develop a muscle memory for folding and unfolding their cane, so they can do it without really thinking about it.

-Unfolding my cane: I hold the black handle between my thumb and palm with my other fingers folded over the remaining three sections, cane tip pointing up. I slide the elastic over the tip, loosen my four fingers and roll my wrist to the side. The red colored section unfolds first and snaps into place with its neighboring section. I roll my wrist in the opposite direction so the next white section can unfold and snap into place with it’s neighboring section. Roll it back in the first direction and the third section snaps into place with the handle. My four section cane is now unfolded and straight.

-Sometimes I just grab the black handle and let the sections fall and unfold as they will, but this is less controlled and risks your cane bumping into something or someone.

-Folding my cane: I start with the black handle, lifting it up so the joints unlock. I fold it down, grab both sections in my hand and lift the second section away from the third and fold it over. Wrap my hand over all three sections and unlock it from the red section.

-Because I have a four section folding cane, the cane tip and the handle are on the same side while the metal joints are on the opposite side. Those metal joints are what my elastic slips over.

-A three or five folding cane will have the head of the handle (and its elastic) on the opposite side of the cane tip, and you will be folding the elastic over the cane joints and tip.

-A six section cane has the tip and handle facing the same direction like the four section cane.

-People with non-folding canes like leaning their canes up against walls and other objects when not in use. Corners are popular, the corner of a desk up against a wall too.

-But oh god the frustration when the cane randomly rolls out of place and hits the floor, it’s a combination of “Not again” and “did that really just happen” and “you had one job. one job.”

-Sitting with our cane tucked between our legs. Picture a bit of man spreading, the cane tip leaned against the side of our foot to keep it stable and the cane leaning against our shoulder or opposite knee, possibly also held securely with our fingers too.

-The no-manspreading alternative of that is with the cane leaning against our shoulder, cane tip resting on the toe of our shoe or the outside of it, held securely with our fingers or our arm wrapped around it, elbow hooking it.

(Okay, a while back I was looking for photos of someone using a cane to use as a reference for drawing Ulric. I only found three, and two of them were Daredevil promo photos. Which, no offense to Charlie Cox, but he is not blind and he does not use a cane in his daily life, he does not have that relationship a blind person has with a cane and the concept of a fifth limb, and it shows. So the photos were stiff and unusable, so I had to like use several photo references of different poses and Frankenstein them together to get what I wanted.

And I still haven’t finished the painting... fuck)

-In a car with a non-folding cane: 

-Right passenger seat- The cane tip goes all the way into the corner of the foot well to the right of my feet, with the handle resting over my right shoulder or on the seatbelt. It pokes a bit past my headrest. The longer the cane, the harder it is to tuck into a car.

-The U.K. / Austrailian / New Zealand / Japan version of this (because they drive on the left side of the road with their drivers seats on the right side of the car) it’s like this: Cane tip in the foot well to the left of my feet, handle on my left shoulder or on the seatbelt.

Backseat: the absolute worst. There’s less foot well room, and if you’re in a sedan there is almost no room behind your shoulder for the handle. I position my cane diagonally with the handle on the shoulder closest to the door and the tip next to the foot closest to the middle. 

-For this reason, no one with a non-folding cane will want to be sitting in the backseat.

About Guide Dogs

While my knowledge of guide dogs is limited only to what I can research and not personal, I will give you some basic facts and practical knowledge from said research.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind estimates that there are 10,000 guide dog teams out there in the world. That makes up 2% of the blind and visually impaired community.

Guide Dog Training

Becoming a guide dog is the most difficult form of dog training there is. The majority of dogs who enter guide dog training wash out and either become family dogs or go into a different type of service dog training, like medical response or PTSD/anxiety response, or possibly become therapy dogs, which is a career altogether different from being a service dog.

Guide dogs go through two or three years of training, which includes puppy training, basic socialization, proper behavior when on duty and actual guide training. Most service dogs only go through a year to a year and a half of training before they are partnered with a disabled handler.

Between the cost of training, the cost of housing and feeding the dog and the cost of vet bills from birth until being partnered with a blind handler, the overall cost of a guide dog is something like 30k to 40k. While most service dog training organizations require handlers to fundraise and pay for the cost of training (usually something like 15-30k), guide dog organizations give their dogs to qualified blind clients for free. These organizations pay for the dog costs through their own fundraising and charities. Fortunately for these organizations, guide dogs are a highly respected field and have a lot more charity directed their way, while other service dog types have less public interest when it comes to charity.

Guide Dog organizations have an application process, requirements, and a wait-list before you can be partnered with a guide dog.

Requirements to get a guide dog are (usually) as follows: 

Must be legally blind (as in not visually impaired, but legally blind) and have had at least six months of O&M with a cane and demonstrate enough O&M stills to navigate by oneself. They also require you to be responsible enough to independently care for a dog, able to keep up with training and retraining of the dog, as well as financially able to handle food and vet bills (which are at least a few thousand dollars every year).

The reason for cane training before getting a guide dog is because the dog cannot do everything for you. You, the dog handler, are responsible for knowing where you are and how to get where you need to be.

The dog can’t read stop signs or tell when a light is green or red, nor do they have GPS to find a brand new location nor can they learn that route on the first try, nor will they know exactly where you want to go when you say “Starbucks” or “library” or “school” or “mom’s house” and guide you all by themselves. That falls on you, the dog handler, having enough orientation and mobility skills to know when a street is safe to cross and knowing how to learn new routes and how to keep on route and make sure you make the correct turns. A guide dog can’t communicate with bus drivers for you either, they don’t know which number bus to use or what stop to choose. That falls on the blind person’s own skill.

Other Guide Dog Resources

Molly Burke is a guide dog user and has made several videos about what kind of work guide dogs do, her personal experience being a guide dog user for over ten years, how she got a guide dog, specific commands, unique experiences with things like travel, etc. She has a playlist all about guide dogs, but here are some of my favorite videos.

How Guide Dogs Guide A Blind Person

Guide Dog User Answers the Most Googled Questions about Guide Dogs

How I Met My First Guide Dog

Final Thoughts:

There is a lot more to be said about Orientation and Mobility, such as:

How do you safely cross the street with a cane?

How do you learn new routes?

How does getting a cane significantly change your life?

How do family, friends, and strangers react to you “suddenly” having a cane?

I could also write a ton on other tools the blind community relies on so strongly, such as screen readers, magnifiers, etc. In fact, I originally promised to include those in my master post when Part Four was titled  Part Four: What Your Blind Character Needs to Survive and Not Die. However, this guide is ages long and it feels better to focus on this specific topic for here.

Did you like this guide?

Consider checking out my other guides, links of which can be found on the master post here.

Follow my blog, I write and curate writing advice guides outside of blindness, I reblog writing memes with image descriptions, reblog soothing aesthetic photos with image descriptions, talk about disability, lgbtqa+ issues, ableism, and mental health.

If you want to further support me, this is the link to my ko-fi (however there is no such requirement nor pressure to do so, and please don’t worry about it, especially if you are in a financial situation that can’t afford it)

[dweemeister]

Best Live Action Short Film Nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards (2021, listed in order of appearance in the shorts package)

NOTE: For viewers in the United States (continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i) who would like to watch the Oscar-nominated short film packages, click here. For virtual cinemas, you can purchase the packages individually or all three at once. You can find info about reopened theaters that are playing the packages in that link. Because moviegoing carries risks at this time, please remember to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by your local, regional, and national health officials.

This blog, since 2013, has been the site of my write-ups to the Oscar-nominated short film packages. No pandemic was going to stop me this year, as I was able to view the short film packages virtually thanks to a local repertory, the Frida Cinema of Santa Ana, California. Without further ado, here are the nominees for the Best Live Action Short Film at this year’s Oscars. Films predominantly not in the English language are listed with their nation of origin.

The Present (2020, Palestine)

Since the 1990s, the Israeli military has set up hundreds of checkpoints within Palestine’s West Bank. These checkpoints have impeded Palestinian movement within the Israeli-occupied West Bank, supposedly to better protect the extraterritorial Israeli settlements there. Directed by Farah Nabulsi, The Present could have easily fell into an agitprop trap – leaning on political outrage rather than the individual emotions that power this film – but it deftly avoids doing so. On the day of his wedding anniversary with his wife, Yusef (Saleh Bakri) decides to go shopping with daughter Yasmine (Maryam Kanj). Yusef and Yasmine travel to and from Bethlehem (which is in Palestine, but is not easily accessible by Palestinians) to purchase a new refrigerator, groceries, and a few goodies for Yasmine. The process of traveling just a few miles from home proves onerous and humiliating.

Nabulsi’s film never feels like a lecture, instead preferring to juxtapose the cruel ironies that these Israeli checkpoints embody. The viewer intuits how militarized and confusing these checkpoints must be to the Palestinians. Israel’s apartheid mindset extends to the West Bank – the checkpoints have a single lane for Israeli drivers and a gated, narrow entryway specifically for the Palestinians. Past the checkpoint during their time shopping, life seems briefly normal. That Nabulsi can navigate the contrasting emotions between these scenes reflects the tautness of this film and its hints of Italian Neorealism. Bakri, as Yusef, is excellent during his tense conversations with the Israeli soldiers, even if some of these moments feel more stilted due to the actors playing the soldiers and the guerrilla filmmaking this piece employs. For Kanj, as Yasmine, one can see her anguish in seeing her father discriminated against on what should have been a special day. For Palestinian children, injustice is a rite of passage.

My rating: 8/10

Feeling Through (2019)

It is a chilly night in New York City at an hour where few are outside by choice. Teenager Tareek (Steven Prescod) is homeless. After saying good night to his friends, he happens upon Artie, a deafblind man (Robert Tarango, who is deafblind himself) holding up a sign requesting anyone to assist him. Curious and half-willing to help, Tareek taps Artie on the arm. Artie pulls out a tattered notepad and marker, asking for help to get to a bus stop. What follows is an uplifting connection between two cast-off souls, sharing each other’s good company and good humor if only for a brief time. Director Doug Roland based Feeling Through on an encounter he had with a deafblind man named Artemio. Roland’s film was accomplished in collaboration with the Hellen Keller Center.

Cynical viewers might view Feeling Through as syrupy, its swirling score too manipulative, the screenplay predictable, the filmmaking pedestrian. To different extents, each of those criticisms are true, but that does not undermine the raw inspiration responsible for this film’s pulse. It boasts solid performances from Prescod and Tarango – the latter a kitchen worker from Long Island and possibly the first deafblind actor in a lead role in film history. Roland’s screenplay beautifully strips away stereotypes of deafblind people. Tarango, as Artie, is neither overly dependent nor secluded from society. He knows that being deafblind sets him apart from those who can see and hear, and embraces the difference – lending a refreshing directness to how he communicates. Despite its lack of filmmaking or acting pedigree compared to its other nominees in this category, Feeling Through enters this Academy Awards season without a single loss in any of the film festivals that it screened in. No wonder: it is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense, without ever glossing over how difficult it is to be deafblind.

My rating: 9/10

Two Distant Strangers (2020)

Production on Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s Two Distant Strangers began in the shadow of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Its emotions are raw and there is no doubt behind the importance of the film’s messaging. Carter (rapper Joey Bada$$) has had some first date with Perri (Zaria Simone), and leaves in the morning to get home to his pet dog. Just outside the apartment building door, a police officer named Merk (Andrew Howard) stops Carter, profiles him, and ultimately kills Carter in cold blood. Once Carter dies, the film cuts to Carter and Perri in bed once again. Immediately, the viewer knows this film is a time loop a la Groundhog Day (1993), and, no matter what precautions he takes, Carter just cannot avoid execution from Merk’s hands. Through the film’s structure, Free and Roe capture the sinking, repetitive feeling that black Americans go through when hearing the news of yet another incident of police brutality.

Good intentions and urgency, however, do not necessarily make a worthy film. Some of the editing in Two Distant Strangers’ middle third shows too many images of Carter’s bullet-riddled body. After the first few instances of the time loop, the viewer does not need another glimpse of a lead-shredded corpse, blood splattering across pavement. The filmmaker’s fury towards Carter’s situation – that nothing will change – is already evident in the idea of such killings. Combined with the questionable dialogue in the final time loop and the mediocre acting, this all feels exploitative, an unwitting product of Hollywood’s history of fetishizing black trauma. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), historically, likes to reward films they perceive as demonstratively staged and thematically urgent. Two Distant Strangers meets both these criteria, but this material could have retained its rage without as much sensationalism.

My rating: 6/10

White Eye (2019, Israel)

Like Feeling Through, Tomer Shushan’s White Eye – the winner of the Narrative Short Film award at South by Southwest (SXSW) – was based on an actual encounter in its director’s life. Late at night in the streets of Tel Aviv, Omer (Daniel Gad) has spotted his stolen bicycle locked onto a rack. Omer lost his bike more than a month ago, has not filed a police report, and seeks to reclaim it as soon as possible. The police are of no help, and the people proximate to the intersection where these events take place are unwilling or hesitant to help. The now-owner of the bike is an Eritrean refugee named Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), and he insists to his manager (Reut Akkerman) and to Omer that he did not know that the bike was stolen property when he purchased it. And yet Omer’s tenacity and fit of passion spirals the situation beyond his or Yunes’ control.

White Eye is impressively staged, filmed in a single take – no cuts, no edits, all in real-time. To compare this film one last time to Feeling Through, White Eye accomplishes all it needs to say at a short film’s length. Some might claim Saar Mizrahi’s cinematography and 360º smooth-rotating is just another modern filmmaking gimmick; instead, it submerges the viewer into Omer’s mentality as he fights to retrieve his bike. The purposefully subjective framing questions the viewer on what our reactions might be in this situation, how deeply would we allow out outrage – and perhaps our ethnic/racial biases – to guide our actions. Shushan challenges the audience not to adopt Omer’s conclusions and emotions so readily, and he does a masterful job in appealing to and challenging one’s empathy as it becomes clear there will be no storybook ending.

My rating: 8/10

The Letter Room (2020)

By virtue of its central actor, The Letter Room is the most high-profile of this year’s nominees. Elvira Lind’s film is a dark comedy and its approach and tone are difficult to categorize. Richard (a mustached Oscar Isaac, who is Lind’s spouse) is a corrections officer who has requested a departmental transfer. With the transfer, he trades a more hands-on role for an office job. As the prison’s communications director, his responsibilities now entail filing through all of the prisoners’ incoming and outgoing mail – reading through all of the letters, reporting to his superiors for prison rules violations, censoring materials if necessary. At first, this role is as tedious as his previous position. But when Richard begins to read the histories of the prisoners and their loved ones, he becomes emotionally invested in a particular exchange between one death row inmate and his loved one (Alia Shawkat).

The Letter Room, despite a serviceable performance by Isaac as the unusual and stiff lead, has a milquetoast commentary about how the American criminal justice system imprisons more than just the inmates. These themes shambolically merge with Richard’s inherent loneliness, his inability to separate his own feelings from the voyeuristic work that his new position entails. This is a fellow looking for meaningful human connection, finding none, and attempting to understand something he has never found. The Letter Room curiously never questions the tricky ethics of Richard’s decision to intervene with the decisions made by Alia Shawkat’s character, and how the power disparities of his interactions color his life. The film’s conclusion is unearned, placing too neat a bow on a film that cannot balance its incongruous themes.

My rating: 6/10

^ All ratings based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

From previous years: 85th Academy Awards (2013), 87th (2015), 88th (2016), 89th (2017), 90th (2018), 91st (2019), and 92nd (2020).

[openmay7]

Cheap Travel Tips - For Planes, Trains And Automobiles

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[bearpillowmonster]

Rise Of Skywalker (NonSpoiler Review)

What's funny is that I changed my wallpaper right before I left because I'm superstitious and didn't want a wallpaper to come back to disappointed and the ending of TROS is very reminiscent to that wallpaper but you won't know what I mean unless you've seen my wallpaper ;D

For some background, I went into the theater and it was chilly because that was the only theater room with broken heat but it was the earliest showing for the day so they warned us but I didn't care...that is until I got there, I warmed up a little but then I had to pee so I came back and had to warm up again, affected a little bit of my experience, shaking the whole time.

Let me start with the opening, as much as people might complain about TLJ, one thing I can gather from a consensus of the fans is that the opening, though flawed with the gravity aspect, was a pretty good opening. This one's opening doesn't excite me quite as much but more just kind of jumps into it, which I can respect. They have a part where they have that ugly yellow alien, I guess his name is "Klaud", he is on one of the first poster leaks but he only pops in here, but he has no business being on the Millennium Falcon, why? That's one part I never understood.

I can tell they at least listened to some feedback with some of the inclusions and such but don't get me wrong, I don't mean fan-service, they have a moment or two of just nostalgia but I mean something like "Rey is too inexperienced to be that powerful." I never really had a problem with it but they, for one, explain it, and for two, have her training. That and some other complaints I've heard before. They do try to play "Oh, you liked this? Well let's put it in there." It does have Palpatine after all.

They don't really explain everything, like they'll just kind of brush over some stuff and then over others, I never felt like they went knee deep into anything. They had some really great parts and some great LOOKING shots but for one, it doesn't do too much that's "new" and I don't mean that as if it's like any particular movie, it doesn't seem like a retread.

And the stuff that it does do new, like I said, they just kind of brush over, such as new characters. Zori Bliss? Yeah she doesn't remove her helmet so don't get your hopes too high.

Why is Kylo's mask back? Well...to fit in with the boys. Which brings me to another topic, Kylo not being intimidating, nobody follows him. This is something that we have dealt with for quite some time, after the beginning of TFA, he just kind of stopped being scary, and in a way they take note of that but again, nobody follows him so it's kind of like "if Kylo doesn't follow the original plan then we're not following him." which doesn't make much sense and kind of just makes it seem like they wanted something to do with those characters. What about the beginning? They didn't seem to mind following him then, was that apart of the plan too? That's not rhetorical, it IS a possibility.

They do have a bit of a problem with a common trope movies fall for, I won't mention what it is but I mentioned it in my Frozen 2 review and you might be able to see it through that.C-3P0 is in a good amount, I'm surprised since he's an old character.

I thought about how each movie seemed to be focused on the single one and while that might be fine and is how even the original trilogy was done, it seems like it's not too clear of a vision or path between the 3 movies. Given the two different directors, it's in a way to be expected but also kind of hurts the movie because I can think of the path the prequels had, and yes it took time to fully realize it and everything as I'm sure this one will too.

One of the problems with the prequels was that it had good content and had the puzzle pieces but wasn't quite put together in the right way, you had to view it in a different way in order to get the vision in it's whole. They mentioned how a lot of the people that worked on the original trilogy made it what it is, that the source content was all there but it needed to be realized and cut in a specific way, this movie seems to have that same problem, it has the content but isn't sure what to do with it. It doesn't seem like it really drags, I'm not sure if it tries to cram things in there or what the problem could be pinpointed to but it was brought to my attention (afterwards) that some people think that this is JJ's telling of both 8 and 9 more or less summarized so that it will fit together. If you try to imagine this movie into two separate entities, I feel like it's possible but I also feel like there's a lot of content that was cut in order to fit the mark and be that mashup so it won't be clear until we figure that out.

I'd hate to admit it but part of the problem IS that it takes place many years after Episode 6, it makes it clear because there's a small flashback that I really liked and thought maybe in another world that that would be 7,8, and 9. But George also had scripts for these 3 films that would take place around the same time as the current ones, so I wonder if it would be any better or if it really is that kind of problem. So, LUCASFILM, RELEASE THE ORIGINAL SCRIPTS!

They take things from previous movies that might have been surprising and made them less impactful because they reuse those abilities. I suppose it's fair because a fan could argue "well why didn't they just do this?" so it's not a big deal.

"Is it surprising?" "Did it make me mad?" "Did it disappoint me?" "How does it stack up against The Last Jedi?" Well it does have genuinely surprising moments, none of that fabricating crap from TLJ imo. I didn't feel sour or mad like I did TLJ, I went in expecting stuff to happen, sure, some stuff kind of did happen that I didn't want to happen but what can you do? But there was some stuff I was hoping for that did happen too. They did, however, tease stuff while promoting the movie that I didn't see at all such as a connection to the Mandalorian, I will say that there is ONE thing from the last episode that I saw in this movie but it's not a character, maybe that was the secret, they don't flat out say it but I have a feeling that it connects to "why" they want Baby Yoda? I think it is better than the Last Jedi and before you ask, no, I don't think there are any parts like the Canto Bight sequence. I am...a little disappointed, not gonna lie, I don't regret that I saw it, I liked it but it's not the saving grace I might have wanted or "the best Star Wars movie", I did like The Force Awakens more. Probably the best thing about this movie isn't something I can say, it's an aspect, not a specific scene btw...

There's something that looks like a General Grievous hand in the droid shop scene we saw in the trailer. Also a weird little tidbit is that they put Colin Trevorrow in the credits, odd, I thought he "parted ways" as Disney would put it, and I didn't stay to watch them all, I think his name was as early as the second screen, I'm pretty sure it said "Written by:" This wasn't Trevorrow's take on Star Wars though, I really don't understand and I don't want to be the one to say it but did they do that to throw him under the bus? If not that then is this some kind of weird morph of Rian Johnson, Colin Trevorrow, and J.J. Abram's version? (It sounds scarier than it actually is but still...)

It's weird because I started reading reviews after the movie and they say completely different stuff, not from trolls or haters either, I know it's all a matter of opinion but some stuff like the "training" thing have been mentioned in reverse so these are my raw thoughts after going to the theater. I'm going to try and make a "spoilers" review, either when the DVD comes out so I can rewatch it or just later when I get a better formed opinion of it, as time goes on, my thoughts will be different, I'm almost sure of that, whether it's one way or another. If you're going into it, go into it expecting it to be a new addition, not the big bad end to "the Skywalker Saga", it's like ending it on a technicality. Big payoff to everything Star Wars has done? Not so much, a few things here and there pick up from other places in the timeline but nothing too big.

[canaryatlaw]

alright, so today was overall pretty good. My alarm went off at 8:15 am and I successfully convinced myself to get out of bed, so that was of course a win in itself. Got ready and caught the 9:02 bus, which put me perfectly on track to get there in time for the 10 am service since it’s almost exactly an hour commute from my apartment to the church. The bus ride is shorter early Sunday mornings of course since the roads are more clear and there are less people making stops, so by the time we got to the train station it was just about 9:25, the train plus short walk after is generally about 25 minutes. I have literally everything in my life precisely timed, which makes it that much more infuriating when Chicago public transit decides to throw a wrench in my schedule. I entered the train station, swiped my card and got up to the platform, only to find out the next train wasn’t coming for another 18 minutes now, so it wouldn’t get there until like 9:45, which doesn’t get me to church until like 10:15, meaning I’d miss most of worship and at that point I was like mmm no thanks, so I left the train station and checked the time estimations on uber and uber pool and decided I’d risk a pool to save money and hope the drive isn’t too bad. It ended up being pretty much perfect, I walked a few blocks to get picked up but from there church was the next stop so I ended up getting there at like 9:50 with time to spare before they even opened the doors to the sanctuary (they have a really short turnover time between services to make sure there are bibles and welcome cards at each seat and such so the doors generally open 5 minutes prior to the service). When I did get in I sat on the edge of the row towards the back since I was gonna try to sneak out on time to get to the huddle for the babies room for the next service since I was serving in there for then. Worship was good, the message ended up being on vulnerability and what it is and isn’t and why it’s important to show real vulnerability to those in our lives, delivered by one of my favorite members of the church board, so that was very good. when it turned 11 I snuck out to head to the kids volunteers lounge and it ended up being empty so I was like...did I mess this up? lol. It turns out I didn’t, most other people were just running late, but I got to catch up with the kids ministry pastor which was good because I’d been MIA for several weeks now (the explanation for which ended up being “I got a job and things have been really crazy” instead of the truthful “I lost the willpower to get out of bed on Sunday morning for several weeks and I’ve also been traveling a lot” just because that was an easier answer and got the job info out). so that was good at least. The babies room went well, we had a good number of employees, I had a little girl that I was handed from her parents in the door and then she refused to let me put her down the entire service so that was what I did the whole time, lol. Babies are like that sometimes in the nursery, they’ll get attached to one person and then won’t leave their side. Things were actually very calm though, I honestly don’t think there were any real crying incidents, which is a fucking miracle, even with only 5-6 babies. I’ve always said though there’s only two ways it goes in there- either everyone’s calm and playing nicely with no crying, or everyone’s screaming and something’s on fire, no in between lol. After the service I headed home and had to wait for fucking ever for a train, it was the weirdest thing, the first two trains that pulled up had both just been declared “not in service” and dumped all their passengers on the platform with no explanation, so by the time the 3rd train came like 20 minutes after I got there it was VERY crowded, but I survived and got to the bus alright. When I went to sit on the bunch for the bus stop a girl about my age came over and showed me directions on her phone and was basically like “am I in the right place??” which I assured her she was and showed her where on the sign it has the info she was looking for, because for a newbie figuring all of that out can be very difficult, and I definitely speak from experience there. It also occurred to me that there were other people waiting there but she waited for a woman about her age to come to ask because that’s a lot more comfortable than risking talking to a random man who might be a creep, so I was happy to help of course. Got home, got into comfy clothes and had some lunch, then watched a few more episodes of Designated Survivor and AH. GUYS. THIS FUCKING SHOW IS SO GOOD. The new episodes are fucking brilliant, and the way they incorporate real world unscripted interviews of actual people is so ingenuitive and actually a genius way to address social issues while maintaining a fictional environment (versus something like, Glee, where they’re trying to cover everything under the sun and shoving it all down your throat constantly). And the storylines in general are just so good, and the writing for the president is so damn good because you are always rooting for him. he has to make tough calls where there’s not always a clear right answer, but he always seems to pull it out and find the best way forward, and it’s so satisfying to see. and I LOVE KIEFER SUTHERLAND SO MUCH. god, his line at the Florida con last month was sooooo fucking long (like 2-3 hours of waiting time long) but I would’ve loved to have seen him again. Hopefully the opportunity will present itself in the near future so I can gush about how much I love the new episodes, lol. I didn’t want to binge too many of them and run out of episodes, so I stopped after episode 7 and watched more Anthony Bourdain, where he was taking on Queens, which was quite the adventure. After I finished that at some time around there Jess came over and we ordered cheesy bread as was the plan, but there was apparently some issue with the store getting swamped with orders and only having like two delivery drivers, so it took like over an hour for us to get the dang thing, but of course I’d never blame that on the poor schmuck who brought me the cheesy bread that has to run around all night to people who are probably ticked their order is late, and of course I tipped him well because the wait sure as hell wasn’t his fault. Before it arrived though, we watched some videos of some of the KPop boys’ adventures in America and Chicago specifically, mainly the one kid from outside Chicago and the one from Canada were going around with one of the ones actually from Korea (they’re all of Korean descent, they just weren’t all raised there) and taking him to like, Target and doing all sorts of amusing shit that is legit just what we would be doing if we were celebrities, so that was very amusing. Once we were finished with that we ended up buying Captain Marvel on streaming, since I’m sure as hell gonna wanna watch it again probably in the near future, so then we watched that for the rest of the night. Thoroughly enjoyed it the second time through, of course you pick up on different things knowing what’s coming so that’s always fun to see. Once the movie was over Jess headed out, and I watched another Anthony Bourdain episode and then just hung out for a bit without anything on before deciding to shower and start to get ready for bed, which I proceeded to do and now I am here. This was probably way too detailed for a day that really wasn’t all that exciting, but oh well, that’s how it comes out sometimes, no issue with that. It just turned 1:30 am so I should definitely be getting to sleep, so I will be doing that now. Goodnight loves. Hope your Monday doesn’t suck.

[justsomebandfanfics]

Remaining requests

Okay everyone, the ask is closed for requests! This so that (for once) I can make my way through all of the remaining requests on this blog. These are the upcoming pieces you can expect me to be working on/posting to the blog:

Of Mice & Men:

Hey, so I dont know if you’ll write something like this but I really had a shitty day and I thought I try and request something. Maybe where you are austin carliles girlfriend and are on tour with him but then at night the bus gets in a crash and you stuck in the bus. Austin then pulls you out but you are unconscious and blood covered. At the hospital the doctors tell him you wont make it but he stays with you all the time and then you wake up again ? Thanks in advance and maybe his pov :)

would one of you like to write an valentino arteaga one? maybe where y/n is about to jump from a bridge and tino sees her and stops her and talk to her holding her arm just in case that she wouldnt jump. and 8 years later they are married and have a kid (4 years old) and they are talking about the ‘story with the bridge’ ? long and fluffy? i love your work 💖

Could you do an Austin Carlile one where you two get into a huge fight, so you end up breaking up. Then maybe like a month later he visits you at your work and just breaks down crying and you two get back together?

can you please write one where y/n needs tuition in math or so? and austin is pretty good in math and she’s going to be angry because she don’t get it. then they yell at eachother and he press her against the wall and they’ll have rough sex? (sorry for my bad english) 

Something about your friend being austins sister pleeease? (Yes ik hes an only child but :p)

Pierce the Veil:

Hiya! This is my first request and it’s really specific sorry! :P Mike fuentes maybe? The plot is that he’s on tour and you’re at home working your usual job but your boss has been sexually harressing/making you uncomfortable and one day your boss goes too far and you go home crying and try calling Mike and he doesn’t answer so you skype Tony crying and then protective/angry Mike fluff! Thank you! I hope you will be able to do it, I wanted this for ages!

omg i have the best idea ever! can you pleeeease write an ptv imagine based on the video from king for a day but with y/n instead of kellin?

Hey could you do a tony perry one where y/n interviews him for her YouTube channel and tony asks her out then smut/fluff and tonys all dominant! Would be great thanks x

can you please write a tony perry one where y/n and the band go to a remote bridge and they start to spray (with masks on) it and they have so much fun until they see a police car and y/n dont get it and tony takes her hand and start running. after a while jaime vic and mike are nowhere to find and tony and y/n hide behind a bush and he has to hold her mouth just to be quite. then they find the others and have more fun? would be great 😂

can you please do a tony perry imagine where you’re with a different guy who pressures you to send racy pictures to him and you do hesitantly, but he dumps you straight after and you’re embarrassed and upset that you sent the pictures to the other guy so tony comforts you (its a weird plot, you dont have to do it if you dont want haha) I’m not sure if it would make sense for tony and y/n to end up together but you can end how you like :)

Bring Me The Horizon:

Could you a Matt Nichols one? Where all the bmth guys are sorta bad asses and he constantly hits on you but you think he’s just an ass then you end up in detention with him and in detention you are paired to clean the library and stuff. Then he admits he actually likes her and she likes him and fluff??

Other bands (these will be the last requests for them):

Can u do one where you’re dating Austin carlile & you catch him cheating & you go to Ben Bruce (he’s a close friend who u know has feelings for you) and y/n ends up realizing she and Ben were meant to be. Then smut because it’s Ben Fucking Bruce ;_;

Can you make a black veil brides fanfic next ,like what could happen is there touring and they get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and when they get out of the bus they see a girl passed out with bruises and wounds and they decide to take her in the bus and discover they have no service and then she wakes up and tells them what happened ,she could be running away from an abusive boyfriend of something, so then they all have to fend for them selves because they in the middle of no where with no service and then she and a band member could start liking othr and then it could turn into smut/fluff stuff ,just a suggestion ,I love your writing ^.^

[writingspeakingxyz]

Writing Resources You NEED to Know About

Many aspiring authors spend hours and hours, alone behind their computers tap, tap, tapping away. Then those hours turn into months, and of course, the months slip into years. This is admirable. If I’m confident of anything, it’s that to be an author you have to be willing to spend hours of your life equivalent to entire years out of your life slaving away writing. I’m just for sure that you need to read at least just as much. One thing that gets unfortunately overlooked by many is that you also have to be willing to leave your books and your computer behind sometimes. To engage others. Not that you can’t be an introvert. Thousands of widely regarded successful authors were introverts. That’s is because in some way or another they were able to overcome, albeit sometimes only briefly, their restrictions and step outside of their comfort zones. That’s because while writing can take many forms; journaling, hobbies writing, personal letter writing. Authorship is a profession, and that means that it falls within a business structure. No matter how sincerely you believe that Jack Kerouac went from nothing to a fantastic book within two weeks of boozing (which FYI, in reality, he didn’t). If you want to move books from shelves, you will need to approach the task earnestly. With a humble attitude that is open to working with others. The business of writing, designing, editing, publishing, marketing, and selling your books requires a multitude of strangers. Regardless of whether you have a small budget, or you’re JK Rowling. In fact, the small your budget, the approach is better suited to involving a large number of people each with small, potentially volunteer style task. For instance, having friends complete a narrative edit before giving it to a professional editor, to reduce the amount of paid time the editor has to spend on the manuscript. For your first book, I highly suggest having a strong group of people who can offer various products, services, and insights to help you stay focused, motivated, and up-to-speed on the ever-changing self-publishing landscape. Being a successful author requires a lot more than just writing a great book. You have to get into the weeds, be willing to change out of your writer’s cap and into a variety of other hats depending on where you are in the process. You may not have the skills or willingness to tackle everything with your own two hands, and that’s why it’s so important to develop your own file of go-to resources along the way. Here are 30 more resources to tap into along the way! While this list is mostly self-publishing focused, if you’re going the traditional publishing route, you should still have a rigorous shift through them to make sure you are familiar with what is out there. Useful Blogs and Sites 1. The Write Life This workhorse blog is a one-stop-shop offering all you need to figure out how to work with clients, navigate the changing landscape of publishing, learn the ins and outs of social media, grow a following for your blog and find a community that will support you along the way. You’ll always find something useful for your book business here. Try not to get lost in the rabbit hole though. There is so much helpful information here I try to time my visits to make sure I’m not eating into my writing time! 2. Kindlepreneur If you want to dig deep into the goulash of marketing your books, Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur is your man. His strategies are groundbreaking. Every successful author has to wear many hats, and Dave shares his years of marketing experience and success to show you how to promote the heck out of your books. 3. The Book Designer Joel Friedlander, the creator of The Book Designer, says “Writers change the world one reader at a time. But you can’t change the world with a book that’s still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed.” This embodies the Community Writer mentality. Joel gives you everything you need to get your book out of the box with a variety of self-publishing guides, advice, templates, and toolkits. With his experience in book design and advertising, Joel has the creds to help you produce and sell a great-looking book. 4. The Creative Penn The Creative Penn is run by Joanna Penn, who has been wildly successful with fiction and nonfiction. In her blog and podcast, she covers every aspect of what it takes to start and run a successful author business. She also has a grab bag of books on various self-publishing topics if you can’t get enough on her blog. 5. Jane Friedman’s website Jane has more than 20 years of experience in the book and magazine publishing industry, with expertise in digital media and the future of authorship. Her site is full of actionable content and detailed strategies for the aspiring author from someone who’s been there and done that many times over. Podcasts Worth Your Time 6. Podcast – Neuralle (Uncommon) Please forgive the shameless self-promotion here, but aside from the fact that I will be most likely appearing on this podcast at some point, Neuralle is a fantastic self-development podcast and in my humble opinion a must for any aspiring author or entrepreneur. Past guests have included Venture Capitalists, Entrepreneurs, Chefs, Restaurant Owners, Body Builders, Strength Coaches, Activists, Winemakers, Filmmakers and many, many more. 7. Tim Ferris Podcast This show is the first publishing-related podcast that I followed, and it’s still an all-time favourite. It’s hosted by Tim Ferris an American best-selling author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed “human guinea pig”, and public speaker. 8. Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing Every green writer should bookmark this podcast. With helpful and insightful tips on grammar and storytelling, Mignon Fogarty’s podcast is sure to help you improve your narrative and technical writing skills. 9. The Writer Files Hosted by Kelton Reid, The Writer Files is a long-running podcast that delves deep into habits and habitats of famed writers. Reid interviews writers from a broad spectrum, giving each listener a chance to see into the mind of an accomplished wordsmith within their genre or interest. Forums 10. Neil Gaiman Board Neil Gaiman’s Official Message Board. Enough said. 11. Goodreads Groups Goodreads is the mega-site (with over 20 million members) for authors and readers. They have more specific groups than you can count, and if you can’t find an answer or inspiration here, then it doesn’t exist. You might feel a bit overwhelmed, but here’s a smart article on using Goodreads to support your author business. 12. Scribophile There are tons of writing forums out there to choose from, so I suggest you have a play with a few of them. This one works a bit differently which is why I like it though. Scribophile provides detailed and helpful critiques from a member exchange. The analyses you’ll get are so much more than just a pat on the back – you’ll get actionable ways to improve your writing. Writing Tools 13. Scrivener Scrivener is a powerful writing tool for authors that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring your documents. Get a free 30-day trial and watch some brief YouTube tutorials to get acquainted with the system quickly. 14. Grammarly This proofreading application is an improved version of your standard spellchecking program. Just copy and paste blocks of text into Grammarly, and it will check your writing for common mistakes. The reason it’s better than most spellcheckers is that it provides useful feedback that will improve the overall quality of your book. You will learn a lot very quickly by taking heed of the side bar suggestions and explanations. 15. Hemingway Editor Excellent writing is quite often straightforward writing, and Hemingway was the master at that. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, your narrative should get to the point with simple language. With the Hemingway software, you will learn how to simplify your writing. Book Publishing and Freelance Help 16. Archangel Ink Archangel Ink is a one-stop solution for getting your book ready to publish. Archangel offers a range of services to help you with cover design, editing, formatting, audiobook production and much more. I feel that if you haven’t published before you learn a lot by manually going through the process of completing your manuscript via Scrivner, finding editors/cover creators via say Reedsy/Freelancer and then uploading it to KDP/Createspace. However it can be frustrating, so I completely understand throwing down some cash and handing of some or all of this to someone else. I’m currently considering using Archangel Ink to produce and audiobook for me. 17. 99 Designs This is a service where you post a design project, like your book cover, and dozens of freelancers submit mock-up examples. You then select finalists based on the submissions and choose the winner to work with you to create a finalised version. 99Designs can be pricey, but it’s a great option if you want a professional cover design for your book. 18. Grammarly I won’t rant on this too much as already do that frequently enough if you don’t have the free version of this you need to get it now. What some of you might not know, is that via the paid version they have an option to connect you with a professional proof reader. I haven’t used this before but considering the calibre of everything else they do I think it’s worth investigating. 19. Freelancer One the most significant websites for hiring freelance talent. If you want to find the largest pool of people, then this is a great place to look. The app makes chatting with prospective freelancers seamless so you can manage your project and selection of the perfect candidate on the go. 20. Reedsy Reedsy offers a boutique experience in editing and cover design. Most freelancers here have worked in the publishing industry, so they have a thorough understanding of what will work for your books. But you should also expect to pay more for the freelancers you find here. If you’re going the self-publishing route within fiction, a professional editor is a must, an absolute necessity, seriously. Reedsy is a great way to find one, with almost every budget available. If you can’t afford the lower tier, I suggest saving your pennies or going the traditional publishing route, where a publisher will provide you a professional editor to work with. Getting Feedback 21. Survey Monkey Is an easy to use survey builder; ask multiple choice questions and get demographic information about your audiences, like age, sex, or occupation. You can use it for your current email list, or post a survey with a lead magnet somewhere your target audience will see it (forums, pay-per-click ad etc.) 22. PickFu PickFu allows authors to get instant feedback on your book before you publish using audience polls. This is a more advanced option for those who already have income streams, again I don’t suggest paying for a resource unless you’ve used a free version and had equitable success with it. Email Marketing 23. AWeber With a drag and drop email builder, unlimited image storage and an easy to use interface, AWeber is a great option to manage your email marketing communication. 24. MailChimp MailChimp offers 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers – free. That’s what MailChimp can do for you. A great email marketing resource if you’re just getting started. MailChimp is easy to set up, easy to manage and offers an easy to scale pricing plan as your list grows. As the Wix email option ‘Shoutout’ has a capped number of emails you can send but an exportable email list. You can use MailChimp to send additional emails if you are pushing the boundaries of the free Wix option. 25. Constant Contact You can’t call yourself constant contact and then not be available to your customers. And that’s just what makes this email automation company shine. They offer round the clock support 7 days a week. They also offer 60-day FREE trial. 26. SpyFU Search for any domain and see every place they’ve shown up on Google: every keyword they’ve bought on AdWords, every organic rank, and every ad variation in the last 11 years. This combined with Wix’s seamless SEO makes key words unbelievably easy. You don’t need to have some ten years long. Learn how to connect with these domains, too. Find online and traditional leads methods — social media, email, phone, and address — you can’t find anywhere else. So you can look at other authors within your niche and find out exactly where readers are going to find them. Staying Organized 27. Google Keep Keep is an excellent organisation tool. It stores every idea, research plan and content structure. Which can quickly be dumped into Scrivner later. 28. Evernote Another option this is with a few more features is Evernote, you can save snippets of content you find online and go back to all of it in a searchable, taggable easy to find notebooks on Evernote. It also connects to my Google Home via IFTTT which frustratingly Google Keep doesn’t seem to, so I can handsfree keep notes easily. 29. Google Drive Accessible from anywhere with internet, Google Drive is a great collaborative tool for teams to use when you’re working with content, files, or images in tandem. Google Sheets and Google Docs makes group work seamless, and all work can easily be shared with hyperlinks. 30. Tomato Timer The Pomodoro Technique is a time management strategy preferred by many authors. It’s not always easy to keep track of the non-writing tasks related to your book projects. With Brain Focus Productivity Timer, an excel sheet (or just pen and paper) and Scrivner’s session tracking you can keep motivated with tangible evidence of how hard you’re working. Not only time associated with the project. Team Viz is another excellent paid alternative to this method, and you can’t forget the simple Tomato Timer (tomato-timer.com) 31. Slack It’s like super chat. Instant communication. Instant file transfer. Indexed and Searchable. It is fantastic for collaboration if you have a specific project you are working on. Again, use wisely, if you are co-authoring for example. Not if you’re just working with a freelancer for a short time, instead use the platform’s chat for content protection! 32. Lander App You can learn more about A/B testing here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing I have experimented with A/B testing in the past but didn’t feel that it was hugely beneficial. I think that you have to have a relatively sophisticated reason to use A/B testing. Potentially I’ll use this for a book launch with a landing page in the future. Of those that I experimented with, I found Lander App to be the most straightforward to use. Again, if you don’t know what A/B testing doesn’t worry, you don’t need to! Don’t jump to trying to use A/B testing, focus instead on the following: – Mailing list Opt-in rate – You unique visitor Site traffic – Total engagement (comments, email responses) / Book Sales For the third point there, you concentrate on engagement if you haven’t released your first book yet! Website Hosting 33. Freenom – A Name for Everyone One of my favourite hosting companies, if you’re just starting out, I don’t suggest spending any money on anything if you can avoid it. This is perfect for this, as instead of choosing a.com or a.net you can get a free domain and easily swap with redirection later once you’re profitable. Personally, I use Wix for all website things, but this is an excellent option if you’re just starting out. 34. WP Engine WP Engine is a hosting company that provides managed WordPress hosting for websites around the world. They have great support, and their servers help your WordPress site run a top speed. I use Wix as I find it far more user-friendly, however, the advanced features do require a minimum annual cost. With WordPress, most features can be scaled up for free, but a bit more mucking around with add-ons and tech stuff.

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[bitcoinminershasrate]

Radeon RX 580: Review 2021 | Testing| Specs | Profit ( Good and Bad Side)

Radeon RX 580 Cryptocurrency Mining: Review 2021 | Testing: Specs | Profit | Hashrate | Settings | Setup| Configuration | CPU Performance: Rx 580 mining - Check out the specification, hashrate, profitability and the payback period of this miner as well as other critical information before buying. After the release of the Radeon RX 580 video card, the entire five hundredth series became one of the most profitable options, not only for gamers, but also for mining. Cards bought up immediately after their appearance in the store and the resulting shortage significantly influenced their price.  The cost of the RX 580 even from the “cheapest” vendors has grown by at least 30-40%. This greatly increased the payback period of the video card and shaken the leading position of the video card. Please note- The Review was done earlier than 2021 so their will be variation inters of the rate would earn when currency exchange is taken into consideration. Is the RX 580 the best and most promising choice for miners in 2018, and is it worth paying attention to this video card today when building a farm from scratch? In this article we will look at all the features, calculations and potential of the card for mining today and the future. People Also Ask: Common Questions Radeon RX 580 Specifications and power Radeon RX 580 First, let's briefly review the technical characteristics of the card, which will help to understand its relevance for mining and a place in the top. There are two versions of the RX 580, 4 and 8 gigabytes of memory. For the rest of the characteristics, there are almost no differences between the cards, and the relevance of the “extra” 4 GB of memory will be considered in the following blocks. - Graphic Engine: AMD Radeon RX 580 - Bus Standard: PCI Express 3.0 - Video Memory: 8GB GDDR5 - Engine Clock:  - 1380 MHz (OC Mode) - 1360 MHz (Gaming Mode) - Stream Processors: 2304 - Memory Speed: 8 Gbps - Memory Interface: 192-bit - Resolution: Digital Max RTop 10 Questions Asked on Amazon Before Buying - Geforce GTX 1060esolution:7680x4320 - Interface: - 1 x DVI-D - 2 x HDMI 2.0b - 2 x DisplayPort 1.4 - HDCP Support: Yes - Maximum Display Support: 4 - Software:ASUS GPU Tweak II  - Dimensions: 9.53 " x 5.07 " x 1.49 " Inch - Recommended PSU: 500W - Power Connectors: 1 x 8-pin - Slot: 2 Slot If you take the most reference version of the RX 580 NITRO from Sapphire, then the characteristics will be as follows: - The core frequency is 1340 MHz for silent mode and 1411 MHz for maximum boost. - Memory - 8,192 GB with a 255-bit bus and a frequency of 2 MHz. - 225 watts peak power. However, this is the most powerful map, which is dispersed from the factory to the maximum. Solutions from other vendors will have lower frequencies, and not only their overclocking potential will be important here, but also some of the manipulations associated with the firmware. The cornerstone of mining is overclocking. In terms of importance, this criterion is second only to the price of the video card itself, which determines the payback and the ratio of income and investment. As is the case with other video cards, everything will depend on the memory manufacturer. In 2018, it was almost impossible to find even the top NITRO and Limited Edition solutions with Samsung memory. Most of the cards come with Hynix memory, whose overclocking potential is significantly inferior, which will certainly affect the overall profit of the farm in mining. This indicator is not critical, but in the case of a possible choice, you should always give preference to Samsung video cards. Top 10 Questions Asked on Amazon Before Buying - Radeon RX 580 XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Edition 1386MHz OC+, 8GB GDDR5, VR Ready, Dual BIOS, 3xDP HDMI DVI, AMD Graphics Card (RX-580P8DFD6) Question 1: What would this equal to a GeForce card? Answer: Between 1060 and 1070 Question 2: Is this one could build in a mini case? Answer: No, it barely fit in my mid-size NZXT with no modification needed Question 3: Is it with upgrading my nvidia gtx 1050ti 4 gb gddr5 direct 12 graphics card you this one?? Answer: Yes, that's what i had before too gtx 1050ti replaced with this XFX RX 580 GTS Question 4: Will the Radeon RX 580 card work with an msi h110m atx gaming motherboard? Answer: Yes, all you need is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 Slot, and be sure your PC case is big enough to support a GPU of this size. Question 5: Can I play rainbow six siege with 8gb or 4gb? Answer: That is something you need to find out. Look at the system requirements for the game. Easy Google search. Question 6: It shows that this gpu needs 500 watt. I have a sonnet egfx breakaway box 550w with 80% efficient. it means it only have 440w. so can i use this gpu? Answer: Yes. ( Customer Answered: I have a 750W PSU, the card causes random reboots, it is a terrible design that overloads the 8-pin rail. Check the internet for issues with this particular manufacturer.) Question 7: Does this card come with free games? Answer: It did, when purchased it Question 8: Hey I am just worried , so I ordered nzxt mid tower and will this video card fit in?? Answer: It, Should. Question 9: The Radeon RX 580, is this card compatible with a dell xps 8700? Answer: Sure it does, as long as you have a case that will fit the card. Question 10: I have a ryzen 5 2400g will the rx 580 8gb be better than the gtx 1060 ti 3gb or 6gb for gaming? Answer: I average 120 - 150 fps in rainbow 6 siege if that helps? that on 144hz monitor: ( Customer had this to says as well - The 580 would be a better match because it is around the gtx 1070 in performance.) Best Review Posted on Amazon Before Buying - Radeon RX 580 Best Review Posted on Amazon Before Buying - Radeon RX 580 Customer Review 1 of Radeon RX 580: This card can handle games(destiny, fortnite, Pubg...etc) at high FPS with no issues. The card does use more power than an nvidia card with similar specs and also creates more heat. But at the same time value for the spec is great. As a product I would give it 4 stars however, XFX's warranty service is surprisingly easy and fast. My card broke after a year of use, so I registered the product on their site, I received a response within 24 hours. They troubleshooted and determined the card needs to be RMAed, I sent the card back and I received a new one within a week after they received the defective card. They didn't even require the receipt(required by most companies) even though I had it. It's amazing service compare to my PNY nvidia experience which was like pulling teeth. I will definitely buy more XFX products in the future. Customer Review 2 of Radeon RX 580: Used to be a big Nvidia fan. Then, I started encountering problems with their drivers. Fine, rolled back my driver to an older version. Then, my GTX 970 stopped working after only 1 year of use. Fine, sent it in and received a refurbished one. The refurbished one now has the same issue. Bought the XFX GTS RX 580 8GB DDR5. 0 driver issues. Card still works after a few months and puts out a better picture then my 970. I'll update my review if something goes wrong but, for now, I'm extremely pleased with this card both in terms of performance and price. I'll be all to happy to continue buying AMD in future. Customer Review 3 of Radeon RX 580: Shipping arrive on time and before I got home, which is a first. A few things to note: 1: This is a fairly large GPU, if you don't have a Full Tower, or an opened-air mobo, your mileage with fitting this thing in a Mid Tower WILL differ 2: My old GPU require two 6-pin, while this GPU required one 8-pin, you will either need an 8-pin or a 6+2 pin to connect your power supply to your GPU, if you don't have a powersupply that you modify, well you will need a new one. 3: For the price, this GPU is very strong, even if it is only a rehash of the 480... and being a year old. It can still run newer titles like Monster Hunter: World without too many problems. 4: Price-wise, having to compete with cryto-miners may increase the price of this GPU from time to time... very annoying. 5: This is a major update from my old HD 7950 (which still works for many games that are moderately intense and are new.) Worst Review Posted on Amazon Before Buying - Radeon RX 580 Bad Customer Review of the Radeon RX 580 on Amazon: After about 2 months of having this card, it had fried itself. I was playing fallout when my computer crashed and upon trying to start it up, my USB keyboard and mouse would get power for their LED's but the computer would not start, no fans would spin. A few days later I tried it again to which sparks shot out of my video card. It would have likely fried my whole computer if I hadn't unplugged my power strip from the wall. I later tried another video card that a friend gave me to which I downloaded the drivers for and it worked pretty much fine. Very disappointed in this product as it nearly ruined my entire computer. Bad Customer Review 2 of the Radeon RX 580 on Amazon: When playing intensive full screen games or benchmarks two of the three display ports have issues with intermittent black screens. Confirmed on TWO copies of this card (I bought one, it started doing it, exchanged the card for another, same exact issues). Have spent a decent amount of time doing all the normal troubleshooting (fresh install of Windows, clean and re-installation of AMD drivers, manually playing with the voltage and frequency of the card, etc). Please note: In spite of the bad review by a few customers, we experience no such issues (not saying you won't) but We would comfortably recommend this product for mining cryptocurrency based on our testing that will be continue below. How to increase the potential of the Radeon RX 580 in mining Even in the case of good versions of the RX 580 (Pulse and others), the potential of the card out of the box can hardly be called incredible. If you look at the average power of the video card, excluding the top solutions with good factory overclocking, you can count on the following indicators: - Equihash - 302-310 SOL / s. - X11gost - 8.4-8.6 MH / s. - Daggerhashimoto - 26.1-26.8 MH / s. - Pascal - 0.85 GH / s. The best solution for current maps from Radeon is Ethereum mining. It is during its mining that the maximum potential of the cards is revealed, therefore any trusses with the RX 500 series are usually collected for this critical currency. Mine others is impractical, it is a direct loss of profit. Initially, most of the 580s give from 18 to 22.5 MH / s without overclocking. Against the background of the possible 30-31 MH / s, which are sought by the owners of Radeon farms with the older model of the 500th series, the card mining capacity in the factory settings is not too high. However, a prerequisite for obtaining a better result is the BIOS firmware flashing. This can be called one of the conditional minuses of AMD cards, due to which some miners choose NVidia. However, with a successful acceleration and reduction of energy consumption, the yield of the RX 580 will be quite high, especially with price increases and the overall attractiveness of Ethereum. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient knowledge, it is better to entrust the firmware to specialists. They will make it quickly and without risk to get the so-called “brick”, that is, a “dead” card without the possibility of returning it under warranty. After flashing, the average potential of video cards will increase from 18-22 MH / s to minimum 26.5 MH / s. And in the case of good memory and successful overclocking, it is quite possible to get 28-30 MH / s, in which the RX 580 becomes one of the best in terms of return on video cards. On average, experts recommend focusing on 10-15% acceleration on average. This is the best indicator in terms of temperature, energy consumption and output power in the production of cryptocurrency. Choosing the best OS - Radeon Rx 580 The correct choice of operating system can significantly simplify work with the farm and even reduce costs. In the confrontation of Windows and Linux for farms on the RX 580 usually choose the latest OS. Hive OS has several important advantages over Windows, the most significant of which are: - There is no limit on 8 video cards. - No need to face the difficult process of choosing the right drivers. - The OS was originally developed and adapted for mining. - Ability to work without monitors (using emulators). - No need to have an SSD or HDD, a regular 8-16 GB flash drive is sufficient. - WatchDog is built into the system, you do not need to pay extra for it (as is the case with Windows). - Easy setup and functional remote monitoring. - No need to buy an expensive license. - Telegram notifications in real time. You also need to consider that in case of installation of pirated copies of Windows, the farm can be confiscated, as it is stipulated by law. With Linux, there will be no such problems, which is another important advantage. One of the few advantages of Windows, namely the ability to use a video card for tasks other than mining, is irrelevant, because 99% of the farms are originally created specifically for mining cryptocurrency. This is the main task. Farm payback with RX 580 One of the most important criteria when choosing a video card for mining is their payback. It depends on many conditions. Some of them have variable values, that is, they can constantly change. This concerns the recession or growth of the cryptocurrency rate. Taking into account the relevance of Ethereum, the total payback period for the RX 580 can be 7-9 months, in case of a good time (accumulation of currency on the wallet and sale after peak rises), and 12-15 months. This period is influenced by the following factors (in descending order from the most significant): - The course of the ether. - Firmware (that is, the disclosure of the potential of a particular card in terms of overclocking, power consumption, etc.). - The original cost of cards. - Total investment in the farm (any savings, for example, on the HDD, reduces costs and accelerates payback a little). Experienced miners recommend not to display a fixed broadcast systematically. This is best done only at times when there is a strong growth rate. In general, even under adverse conditions, the return on video card in 2018 is approximately 15-18 months. Given the current conditions for mining and farm profitability, this is not the worst time. The choice between the 4 GB and 8 GB versions for the Radeon RX 580 is almost always unambiguous. If for the GTX 1060 it is possible to consider the 3 GB version as very promising, then for AMD, on which usually the broadcast is mined, only the 8 GB version would be preferable. Of course, after the miner exceeds the allowable amount in the 4 GB version, you can switch to mining other cryptocurrencies, but this is not the best option. In such conditions, it will not be possible to extract the air on 4GB cards after February 6, 2021. Taking into account the not so big difference in prices between 4 and 8 GB, in most cases it is better to take a video card with a large amount of memory for the long term. As far as vendors are concerned, there is not much difference. Buying top solutions, for example, NITRO, is not always profitable. Despite the fact that they provide good cooling and increased power, their cost is much higher than that of the "regular" versions. It is much better to buy Asus Dual or other cards in the same price category. The difference between them, in comparison with the NITRO and LE versions, is about $ 150, but it is almost completely leveled by the correct firmware, pushing all the cards to approximately the same hashrate (+ - 3-4%). Conclusion Despite the fact that the Radeon RX 580 is no longer a top-notch solution, the positions of the video card are still preserved. This is one of the most sensible choices for mining in the medium and long term. With the right approach to buying cards for the farm and selling the naming ether, you can reduce the payback by almost half, making the RX 580 a leader in this criterion. The only significant drawback may be mandatory BIOS firmware. But this issue is easily solved with the help of specialists, because this deficiency can be considered conditional. HOW TO is the best main RX 580 graphics card... XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Edition 1386MHz OC+, 8GB GDDR5, VR Ready, Dual BIOS, 3xDP HDMI DVI, AMD Graphics Card (RX-580P8DFD6) RX 580 8GB Test in 25 Games in 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je2BWKkkRK0 RX 580 series graphics card AMD and profitable mining - compatible? For lovers of cryptocurrency production, one performance at an exponential speed or another video card with a priority is increasingly an issue in our country. In addition to paying electricity bills and law enforcement officers, who are increasingly asking the president and the government to introduce cryptocurrency on the part of the state monopoly may not be legitimate. Although the mining system is systematically efficient in the process of revenge (this is the longer the time, the longer the "production" of a unit cryptocurrency), the Russian miners are still committed to the same, if in the yard of 2012. Performance RX 580 Series AMD's products are firmly in the leadership of mining fans for many years in a continuous circle. Although their main competitor, Nvidia, has significantly improved the compatibility of mining cards during the five-year period, the company's main support is still the gaming industry and other media. The RX series of 8Gb 580 is updated with the Radeon RX 570 and put into production in 2017 and has picked up a large number of manufacturers. The most popular versions are the models released by "Sapphire" and "EM-ES-AJ". The most popular model series - Features At the end of the summer of 2017, the main mode of this line proved the sapphire NITRO. In Western Europe, the player miner offended all the last tilted copies as the AMD Radeon RX 580, so this card snatched pereproyti "Witcher 3" from the store for the first time with a good frame rate per second. What can please our RX5808 g: -  a clock frequency of 1450 MHz for the possibility of diffusion; -  The impressive number of stream processors - 2304; -  GDDR5 memory is 8192 megaGB, with a frequency of 2000 MHz. In the numerous tests conducted by independent publications of computer hardware, we did not see the special adaptation of this graphics card mining. Many experts even suspect that the commercial success of the card may be caused by "popular rumors" than any actual benefit. When digging "Ether" (Vendetta, ETH for short), with the current version of the miner Claymore double ETH (firmware 9.2), our "Radeon" I give all 22, 5 MHS. It is interfered with the factory settings without a memory or mining calculator. Of course, the result is unqualified. Obviously, memory timing is a high clock frequency that may have to be kept visible by production attenuating. We don't even dare to imagine - it will be 4GB of RAM in this one more budget RX 580. And for the RX 580 Nitro and Western and Russian experts agree that the main news sapphire Radeon revenge enough speed. Perhaps the so-called sapphire pulse is expected to update the model to change the situation of the Meining Ç580. What is the competition? From a little more known to us, the quotation of the MSI RX 580 has appeared on our new version of the "Sapphire". Only when the temperature reaches 60 ° C ventilation system and armor technology in the performance of the company's lead blade cooler it can not be more than those who buy cards to revenge or not. Maintaining a good and strong air supply cycle keeps the investment in the field. In contrast, whether it is the "Sapphire" and "ASUS" versions, this card is able to switch memory modes. What, again, it is more important for gamers and office workers. Read the full article

[gravitascivics]

PRIME REASON

While the challenge of promoting civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions is an ever present one, there currently seems to be an increased need to address this challenge.  For years, there has been an ongoing release of studies documenting the lack of these attributes or abilities that one associates with good citizenship among not only young people but citizens in general.

This has only magnified with the currently, often-cited polarization one finds in the American political landscape.  Surely, this reflects less than stellar accomplishments by the nation’s civics education programs.  And one can say, with the exception of recent reports in some segments of young people around the country, that things are not getting better.[1]  Here is what the journalist, Rebecca Winthrop, wrote in 2020,

Americans’ participation in civic life is essential to sustaining our democratic form of government.  Without it, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people will not last.  Of increasing concern to many is the declining levels of civic engagement across the country, a trend that started several decades ago.  Today, we see evidence of this in the limited civic knowledge of the American public, 1 in 4 whom, according to a 2016 survey led by Annenberg Public Policy Center, are unable to name the three branches of government.  It is not only knowledge about how the government works that is lacking – confidence in our leadership is also extremely low.  According to the Pew Research Center, which tracks public trust in government, as of March 2019, only an unnerving 17 percent trust the government in Washington to do the right thing.  We also see this lack of engagement in civic behaviors, with Americans’ reduced participation in community organizations and lackluster participation in elections, especially among young voters.[2]

This sort of concern and findings by a variety of academic and journalistic sources have been often cited in this blog.

         So, from less civic engagement in community efforts to acquiring political knowledge, both of the nation’s founding principles and of the civic challenges of the day, to voting and performing other civic activities, the level of engagement is wanting.  Within this context of how civics education efforts should be conducted, this blogger’s task – as he sees it – is to argue for those in charge to institute various elements of a reform effort in civics education.  

Naturally, besides what goes on in the classroom, that focus would include what the preparation of teachers should include to meet the challenges that civics education confronts today.  To meet the aims of imparting civic knowledge and skills and encouraging a disposition prone toward civic engagement, how teachers should approach these educational aims, what they should be able to do, and how they should be prepared to do their jobs need to be considered.  

In order to meet the above concerns, one is apt, in typical business style, to collectively find the components of the teacher preparation process, narrow one’s focus to those portions of the process dedicated to preparing teachers to handle relevant civic factors, identify what’s wrong, and go about devising plans and allocate resources to fix the problem(s).  Sounds logical enough, but is it enough?

In addressing this topic, this posting does not count on its writer’s academic credentials but instead on his being a veteran classroom teacher of twenty-five years. While the years of his service are a bit dated (1972-2000 – with some of those years having him do some other things), he feels they still provide relevant insights as to what is happening today – the reader will be the judge as to whether he is right.  

What he learned from that teaching experience – the constructed beliefs he developed – allows him to feel he can add to the discourse about what is ailing civics education.  No doubt the challenges facing civics are daunting, not only due to a lack of resources, but also due to a multitude of factors affecting the general situation. With that in mind, what follows is his take on what should constitute an ideal teacher preparation program which emphasizes civics education.  

That is, what should such a program include as its elements?  Warning:  transcending all of these factors and elements is a holistic aspect that defies systemic linear thinking and planning as just described.  He hopes his presentation over several postings captures that sense and communicates it to the reader.  His goal in describing and explaining his specific plan is to convey an element, provide a rationale for it, and then speculate and react to what the reader might respond to the given element.  

This general order of presentation will be followed as the individual elements are addressed.  When all of the elements are “covered,” he will then make some general comments as to the holistic nature of the concern.  But before starting, the reader should also be advised that the elements will not be divided by postings.  For example, this posting begins its comments on element one and will continue with element one in the next posting.  How the whole presentation will appear or be divided is still being considered.

So, here is the first element,

Element One: A viable teacher preparation program needs to make clear that civic preparation is not only a foundation of civics education or even social studies, but of all public education and of responsible private educational programs as well.[3]

         In terms of this element, it is helpful for one to step back a moment and ask why one supports public education.  What serves as the ultimate or trump value justifying all the expense that public education represents?  Different perspectives would probably elicit different answers to this question.

         One way to address this question is to look at the origins of public education; that is, what was the original intent of having public education?  According to the educational historian, R. Freeman Butts,[4] it was to support the development of a civic minded citizenry to meet the inherent needs of a functioning republic.  And supporting this notion are the thoughts of the historians Allen Nevins and Henry Steele Commager.  

They state: “The Founding Fathers knew that their experiment in self-government was without precedent, and they took it for granted that it could not succeed without an enlightened electorate.”[5]  They go on to cite the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, George and his son DeWitt Clinton to establish an accessible school system in their respective states.  

And another historian, Samuel E. Morrison, more explicitly states the original purpose of public schools in the following way:

 Opposition to free public education came from the people of property, who thought it intolerable that they should be taxed to support the common schools to which they would not dream of sending their children. To this argument the poor replied with votes, and reformers with the tempting argument that education was insurance against radicalism.[6]

 All other reasons than that of preparing responsible, civic minded citizens (such as preparing an educated workforce, keeping youngsters from competing for jobs and off the streets, advancing the career ambitions of individual citizens, etc.), while not necessarily exclusive of the main goal, are at best secondary.

         Yes, the expense of public schooling needed to be justified to others besides the rich and these practical and utilitarian reasons were advanced by the likes of Horace Mann[7] and others, but the main justification was the promotion of civic education.  Butts further writes,

In re-examining the stated purposes used to justify the development and spread of the common public school in the mid-nineteenth century, I believe that the citizenship argument is still valid.  The highest priority for a genuinely public school is to serve the public purposes of a democratic political community. Those in favor of “excellence” or “back to the basics” [cries one commonly heard at the time Butts wrote these words] should be reminded that citizenship is the basic purpose for universal literacy. If the fundamental purposes of schooling are to be confined to preparing for a job or developing individual talents, these might well be achieved in private schools that select students for particular destinies.  But the faith of the common school reformers, as of the founders, that the civic tasks can best be performed by public schools that are characterized primarily by a public purpose, public control, public support, public access, and public commitment to civic unity was soundly based.[8]

 So, the first element is for involved and interested parties to see the main function of public and even private education is to promote good citizenship – all else follows from this fundamental aim.

And with that general support for a civic foundation, this posting stops and gives the reader an opportunity to mull over this role of civics or for this central rationale for public schools.  The next posting will pick up this first element, elaborate on it and, given the space remaining, continue with the others.  In all there are five elements.

[1] There have been reports of an uptick in young people becoming more politically engaged.  For example, see David Lauder, “Essential Politics: Young People’s Political Engagement Is Surging.  That’s a Problem for Republicans,”  The Los Angeles Times (April 23, 2021), accessed September 27, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2021-04-23/surge-political-engagement-youth-problem-for-gop-essential-politics .

[2] Rebecca Winthrop, “The Need for Civic Education in the 21st – Century Schools,” 2020 Brookings Policy (June 4, 2020), accessed September 26, 2021, https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/the-need-for-civic-education-in-21st-century-schools/ .

[3] These comments will directly address public education, but a lot of what will be stated will also apply to private or sectarian educational efforts.

[4] R. Freeman Butts, The Civic Mission in Educational Reform:  Perspectives for the Public and the Profession (Stanford, CA:  Hoover Institution Press, 1989).

[5] Allen Nevins and Henry Steele Commager, A Pocket History of the United States (New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1986).

[6] Samuel E. Morrison, The Oxford History of the American People (New York, NY:  Oxford University Press, 1965).

[7] Allen C. Ornstein and Francis P. Hunkins, Curriculum:  Foundations, Principles, and Issues (Boston, MA:  Pearson, 2004).

[8] Butts, The Civic Mission in Educational Reform, 130.

[bjones21]

25 Tips For Maximizing Your Limousine Service in Buffalo Grove

Is it your first time booking a limousine in Buffalo Grove? Then, check out our expert tips from seasoned limo riders and maximize your experience.

1.    Don't forget about prioritizing and planning your trip carefully. For example, we do not recommend waiting until the last minute to book a limo service in Buffalo Grove. If at all possible, reserve at least two weeks in advance because limo companies can experience high demand too, and booking at the last minute may not allow you to get the car of your choice.

2.    Rent an unconventional limo (like a Hummer limo) or even a limo bus for larger parties, so everyone can get a one-of-a-kind excursion that expresses your personality and identity, to boot.

3.    Go for it if you don't mind riding in style in an older limousine model. Vintage is awesome! Limousine companies spend a lot of money on vehicle maintenance each year, so an older model doesn't necessarily imply it won't be in good shape. Models from the past are in vogue. Older models might save you money, too!

4.    You should also bring your snacks to the car. Because limos don't usually have a lot of food, carry some extra snacks to make the most of your limousine ride in Buffalo Grove. You can also bring your drinks because most limos have a bar fridge, so you won't have to worry about keeping all your favorite beverages during the trip chilled to perfection.

5.    Why not make a playlist of your favorite songs! Make a special Spotify playist for this journey, so you don't have to ride in quiet or rely on the driver's choice of music.

6.    You can rent a limo bus instead of one or perhaps a few limos if you have a large group traveling to a particular event. A limo bus is simply a stretched-out limo. However, it is still fashionable and well-equipped.

7.    If you have any special requests, it's a good idea to request a detailed itinerary that includes information such as your pick-up time, arrival time, reception departure time, all addresses to and from where you're going. The itinerary should also include details like the limousine model, color, size, the name of the professional limo driver, etc.

8.    When choosing a limo service, think about the entire day's activities. Get a quote when you've factored them all. Avoid 'surprise trips' if you don't want to have problems with your Buffalo Grove limo service. These trip specifics should include everyone's pick-up and drop-off points and hours, any scheduled stops, and anything else you have in mind to make the journey pleasant. Communicate all of these things to the limo company beforehand!

9.    When your current journey is shorter than usual, consider booking by the hour. Before making the reservation, look at the actual route and estimate how long the trip would be. Apps like Google Maps or Waze are indispensable for planning any trip in any region of the country. However, if your route is long and has plenty of stops along the way, booking a package will save you money. In addition, traveling with friends is better because you will be able to split the bill.

10. If feasible, check the traffic graph for that road for that particular day using Google Maps or other means, so you know ahead of time if congestion is expected. By doing so, you can avoid traffic by booking on a different day or a few hours before or after your chosen time.

11. Check the weather to see if there are any unusually severe weather conditions, such as the potential of a snowstorm, that could disrupt your limo travel.

12. Calculate the quickest path possible. For example, if you have hired the limousine by the hour, this type of preparation will save you time.

13. Avoid hiring the vehicle during prom season, which runs from February to April. This is when limo reservations are at their highest. If you require a limo during those months, make a reservation ahead of time.

14. For the holiday season, which runs from December through early January, make reservations in advance.

15. The wedding season (late June to early October) is the craziest and busiest time for limo rental providers. So if you're scheduling at the last minute, try to book ahead of time or for the weekend.

16. Weekday bookings are nearly always less expensive than weekend bookings, so try to change your travel day if at all possible.

17. Instead of relying on a spur-of-the-moment thought, plan all of your trips' details. You'll know where you're going, what time and date you'll be there, and you'll be able to reserve your limo ahead of time. In addition, by reviewing your alternatives and comparing pricing ahead of time, you will be able to make informed judgments about the limo. You will be able to get discounts as a result of your foresight.

18. Make a headcount and limit the number of persons to no more than six. This is because limo companies charge by car, not by the number of people, though the two are related. Limousines are often available in six-, eight-, and ten-passenger models. The six-passenger limos are the most cost-effective, so you'll save the most money if you choose one.

19. The more information you can give your limo company, the more excellent value and service you'll get from special packages, which can help you save money.

20. When it comes to limos, the cheapest isn't always the best. In the case of limos, there are many different levels of quality and price, and if you choose a limousine service solely based on pricing, you will most certainly be dissatisfied.

21. Companies that are members of industry groups are generally required to follow specific insurance and service rules. The National Limousine Association (NLA), for example, is a positive sign that your service provider has done their homework.

22. Decide how much time you will require, i.e., how long you will need the limousine from beginning to end.

23. Inquire about the limo service's payment options, such as debit cards, credit cards, crash, or even crypto.

24. Inquire about the inclusions in the limousine package.

25. Don't get too close to the vehicle's capacity limit. A six-passenger limousine is designed for six passengers, but it is only best-suited for four adult riders in terms of comfort. Don't fill the limousine to the brim. Instead, get a more spacious limousine or just rent more limousines.

[blogpr940]

Capture One 20 Slow

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Anyone else experience C1 catalogs taking forever to load? Once the app is open, then I can load/change catalogs with ease. But the first time I open the app and the catalog size is at least 40GB, it just takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Reminds me of Aperture 2. Just painful and my number one complaint. I’m still using the test version… but maybe things are better once I purchase???

Not noticing that here, and my machine is not overpowered.

Behind the scenes videos with our favourite photographers, tutorials, tips and guides to Capture One. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, prepare yourself for a dose of tips, tricks. This indicates what speed the camera is connected: 12Mb/s: USB 1.1. If the camera is connecting slower than it should be, reconnect it and refresh System Profiler (via cmd+R). If it persists, try a different port on the machine, preferably on a different USB bus. For our Capture One 21 launch, we challenged Polish food and still life photographer Maciek Miloch to tell us about his experience of the pandemic – using just one color. In this blog, he shares the inspiration behind his shoot. Customizing the Interface. Capture One is a popular RAW photo editor that caters to the professional photographer looking for full control over their craft. In a land of competing products, CO stands out as being one of the few to take the GPU seriously, which is exactly why we decided to take the application for a. Length: 60:00 minutes New Heal and Clone tools in Capture One's latest update are both easier and faster to work with, while providing the high image quality that Capture One is known for. Webinars Shooting and Editing with the Fujifilm X-T4 and Capture One.

“but maybe things are better once I purchase???”

That is never a good thing to assume. It’s rarely right. :-)

Apparently, it is a known issue. Received this from their tech support (which was pretty cool that they’d reply to a non-customer using their time-bombed app):

Hi

If you are on “All images” in the catalog, then CaptureOne is strating threads to open all images. If you instead highlight a low count folder before closing, it will only start opening that folder and it will be much quicker. We are looking in to things to improve this.

Kind Regards Phase One support

Could also be linked to the size of the preview images?

I have a fast iMac, with a very fast thunderbolt drobo. My library contains 40k images. C1 opens in 2mins- 10sec. Holy Cow. I will try pre-selecting a low count folder as described above. Hope this works. So far C1 is the best alternative to Aperture. I tried LR… Really not happy with that program. It’s kindof a disorganized mess.

(Reply to #5)#6

Like I wrote in the other thread, try to relocate your masters out of the Aperture library. I think reading an Aperture managed library may slow C1 down (just an idea).

My catalog also opens quite slowly, taking about a minute with 63K images. This is with the catalog on an SSD and the referenced images on a Thunderbolt drive.

It was worse when I first created the catalog from my Aperture library (over 2 minutes, like you are seeing) but I used the command “File > Verify Catalog or Session…” and it found some problems which it was able to repair. That improved the file opening time from over two minutes to about a minute.

Also, selecting either a small folder of images to open at startup or the full “All Images” collection doesn’t make any difference in the performance.

Look at what part of your catalog you have selected in the left sidebar when closing C1. I've noticed that if I select All Images, then loading of the catalog upon next startup can be slow. Selecting an individual Album or Folder that has fewer images speeds up loading on next startup. I've given this feedback to PhaseOne. Don't know if they will find a way to improve that in a future update, but they do seem to be very interested in user feedback so tell them all of the quirks you experience using their Support Case system.

I am experiencing this very slow startup as well. When the catalog and referenced files are both on external HDD, I have extremely slow startup. I made a screen recording and provided it to PhaseOne. It is an 8 minute video. I have under 40,000 images and the catalog is about 64GB. I copied the catalog to an internal SSD and left the referenced files on external HDD. Startup was extremely fast by comparison (under 30 seconds vs 5-8 minutes).

I have a running case open with PhaseOne (case #215211 if anyone else wants to reference it in their own case).

I’m using Apple Photos to be my reference catalog because C1 was so slow. C1 is too good and I don’t waste my time editing with any other software. Then Photos is too good at cataloging. jpegs and raw files show as 1 file and the viewing modes are perfect. No need to catalog every single photo with C1.

(Reply to #10)#11

Milo, this seems like a brilliant idea. I would like to reference my growing iPhone images from C1. Are you able to comment on the following:

1) Did you create a new C1 catalog for the images in Photos?

2) By default, Photos does not download images to your computer. The pictures reside in the iCloud, unless you download them into the Photos application. Are you only referencing the downloaded images in Photos?

3) How are you organizing your images in Photos and how does that structure appear in C1?

Capture One 20 Slow Start

4) Is the metadata, favorites, tags, etc. recognized when referenced by C1?

Your idea of referencing your Photos library in C1 could be a great solution for those of us who increasingly use iPhone 7 Plus pictures from our travels, etc.

Sincerely, Alex

I haven’t seen the slow starting many have. My catalog is 82G, and opens in approx. 9.5 seconds either on the internal HD on my laptop, or the backup copy on an external raid 5 thunderbolt DAS. All files are referenced, there aren’t any stored in the catalog. Thats opening on a root folder with not thumbnails showing on start up. The time measurement is the best I can do with a stop watch.

absolutely. a pain in the butt

I had. a catalogue. at 70gb

it took 12 hours

it seems. that with Mac there is. a huge problem.

I have been. writing with them , they know there is a problem but will not. admit

and so far nothing has really changed.

I don’t think they know what the problem is

(Reply to #13)#14

What is your configuration? Memory? HDD or SSD? Catalog on internal or external disk? I get the best performance from placing the catalog itself on internal SSD and leaving images on external disk. I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB of RAM, 1TB internal SSD, 2TB external portable HDD. My catalog has 56,000 images now.

If I select “All Images”, it sends Capture One into a tailspin where it consumes all 16GB of RAM and then some (so says Activity Monitor). The app locks up for 5-10 minutes, but eventually the memory goes back down and the app becomes responsive again. I opened several cases with Capture One and provided them a lot of evidence of the issue. They agree there is an issue. I believe an update will addresses this. I can't say when that update will be released.

If I select any other folder or album with fewer images with under 1000 image, for example, Capture One is much faster.

With a few tweaks, Capture One is a fantastic Lightroom alternative.

…and shrink that enormous Capture One catalog file

» Scroll to step-by-step instructions

One of the most pleasant surprises of going 100% Adobe-free has been the switch to Phase One’s Capture One. It has long been a favorite among pros, but I have to admit that I overlooked it at first after being seduced by the slicker marketing and shinier interfaces of some other self-described Lightroom alternatives. None of those proved to be — or show any real progress towards ever being — a complete replacement for Adobe Lightroom, at least not for many professional photographers.

Capture One Pro 11, on the other hand, is an excellent Adobe Lightroom alternative. Capture One is faster, has more powerful tools (including layers), and does not require a subscription! If only Phase One’s marketing reach matched that of Adobe’s (or Luminar’s for that matter), more photographers might learn that they’ve had a wonderful Lightroom alternative just waiting for them all along.

Update November 29, 2018

Capture One 12 is here and it’s the best pro-level Lightroom alternative on the market.

I do have one issue, however, with the configuration options of Capture One. Although it is simple enough to import images into Capture One while keeping those big RAW files on my external RAID, the preview and thumbnail images that Capture One creates can only be stored in the catalog file itself, which is actually a macOS package. This is not unlike Apple’s Photos app, and it makes sense for smaller catalogs.

However, the size of the preview files is not trivial. For a large library, the catalog file can reach many gigabytes, even while the database file itself is only a few hundred megabytes. I would much rather store those preview files on the external SSD that I reserve specifically for caches. That way I don’t waste precious space on my internal SSD, and I can exclude that drive from my various backup services. There’s not much point wasting bandwidth and storage space by constantly backing up new preview files that can always be recreated if lost, and, in my particular case, the catalog file size had surpassed the single file size limit for syncing with iCloud Drive, which is a critical part of my workflow.

I was unable to find an answer in the Capture One user forum, but I eventually, and accidentally, stumbled on a solution while testing the Backup Catalog… command. For whatever reason, Capture One creates a standalone database file when exporting a backup and separates out the preview image cache into its own directory.

It occurred to me that this database file was the same type as that found within the contents of the default catalog package, which led to the following 10-step procedure to move the cache to an external drive.

Step-by-step tutorial:

1 Find the location of the Capture One catalog file in the Finder. The default path is Pictures ▸ Capture One Catalog ▸ Capture One Catalog.cocatalog.

2 Right click on the catalog file (extension .cocatalog), which is actually a package.

3 Select Show Package Contents. This will reveal a .cocatalogdb file, along with various directories, including Cache and possibly Adjustments. You may also see Originals if you have opted to store photos inside the catalog, although that would negate the space savings of storing the preview files in a separate location!

Capture One 20 Slow Cooker

4 Copy the .cocatalogdb file (along with the Adjustments and Originals folders, if they exist) to the directory where you would like to keep your new database file. An easy way to do this is to select the files/directories and press Command-C. Click the back arrow in the top left corner of the Finder window to exit the package. If you want to keep your new catalog database file in the same directory as the original catalog package, just press Command-V to paste right there, or navigate to another location and paste the files there. Personally, I choose to store my Capture One Catalog in a directory that syncs with iCloud.

Capture One 20 Sony

5 Copy just the Cache directory to the drive where you want to store all of your preview images. In my case, I keep the cache in a folder named Capture One on an external SSD.

6 Delete the Cache directory that you just copied (the one in the same folder as the .cocatalogdb file).

7 Here’s where the magic happens. Use the Terminal to create a symbolic link, also known as a symlink or soft link, in the location of the Cache folder you just deleted. This symlink will point to your external cache in a way that is transparent to Capture One. To do this, enter the following at the command line prompt, replacing the first path with the location of your external cache directory and the second path with the original location. Note the backslash escape characters before the spaces.

ln -s /Volumes/My External Drive/Capture One/Cache /Users/username/Pictures/Capture One Catalog/Cache

Hint: You can drag a directory from the Finder into the Terminal window to paste in the path.

8 Double-click your new, nice and slim .cocatalogdb file to launch Capture One. Et voila! Your catalog should load exactly as before.

9 If everything is cool (and all photos are backed up as always!), you can delete the original, bulky .cocatalog file.

10 I can’t end at step 9! So go take some pictures!