#but rapid inflation of the basic goods and housing

[awkward-teabag]

And the GDP is doing great! Just ignore all the people being fired and who are unemployed. The GDP says the economy is doing fine so everything must be fine and everyone is happy.

Sure everything is twice as expensive as 3 years ago but at least we also didn't beat covid

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

David Horsey

* * * * *

What Robert Hockett writes here comes pretty close to a consensus view among constitutional scholars I've read on the subject. An important read. 

"The deadline for a debt ceiling hike is only weeks away, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying the U.S. could run out of money to pay its debts by June 1. Some Republicans, whether serious or bluffing, seem ready to go to the brink of default — if not actually default on the U.S. national debt. Debate has intensified over whether President Biden might sidestep the debt ceiling so the nation can keep paying what it owes. There are powerful legal reasons and arguments for him to do so. 

These include the 14th Amendment, which prohibits questioning what we already owe, and the so-called later-in-time rule of statutory construction, which basically means that Congress’s most recent budget legislation trumps any earlier legislated ceiling.

Given the stakes, it’s important to explore the likely consequences if Mr. Biden ignores the debt ceiling — how doing so would affect our economy and the markets, our retirement savings and even our constitutional system. There is encouraging news for the president and those who follow our first Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, in believing we must pay our legally incurred debts. We are far better off doing so, even if it means short-term chaos should Mr. Biden allow the June 1 deadline to come and go.

First, consider the consequences if the United States stopped paying its debts and defaulted on June 1. This would undo what Hamilton and his successors sought to ensure: a national credit rating beyond cavil or reproach. We would see a great tottering — if not worse — of U.S. banking, U.S. financial markets and the world’s capital markets. For one thing, U.S. Treasury securities, valued at over $24 trillion (by far, the largest asset market in the world), are the primary safe asset held in banking, pension fund, mutual fund and other business portfolios. Our present regional bank crisis involving Silicon Valley Bank and others is occurring in response to a relatively slight, temporary drop in the value of low-yield Treasuries largely because of the Fed’s interest rate hikes. An outright default would leave us nostalgic for the comparable placidity of this troubled moment.We would also probably see a rapid plunge in the value of the dollar worldwide as a global reserve asset. 

Our currency’s value in relation to others’ is rooted primarily in global demand for dollar-denominated financial assets, since we have relinquished our primacy as a goods exporter to China. Since Treasury securities are by far the most voluminous asset, their slide would be the dollar’s slide. This would quickly render imports, on which we continue to rely, far more expensive. Inflation could look more like that of Argentina or Russia 20 years ago than that of the present or even the 1970s.This is to say nothing of our subsequent incapacity to maintain our military bases and other assets abroad and to pay thousands of U.S. military personnel. Only China would be a world-bestriding global superpower, abetting the moves it is already making with Russia, Brazil and other nations to displace the dollar as what Valéry Giscard d’Estaing once called the United States’ global “exorbitant privilege.” 

Finally, even the serious prospect of U.S. default would quickly raise debt-servicing costs, rendering our deficit larger than it currently is — a consequence dramatically at odds with Republicans’ professed concerns about tying the debt ceiling hike to massive budget cuts."

It almost makes you think that fiscal responsibility isn’t what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s caucus really wants.

[New York Times :: This Is What Would Happen if Biden Ignores the Debt Ceiling and Calls McCarthy’s Bluff]

[ithinkthereforiamfandom]

I saw "a pathetic wet cat of a man" and couldn't stop myself. Self insert. 007. 1st person. Injured/moody/miserable 00s show up at my flat, post mission, to decompress(hide) in my sewing room/lounge before actually checking in. Q knows and I get a small budget to extra food & medical supplies and training. No blood/broken bones is my own rule. (Is this one of my maladaptive daydreams why yes, can you tell?)

...

It was not the latest there had been a knock at the door but this one sound petulant, 009 maybe, he was supposed to be in Marikesh but one never knew.

The weather was a good old London Miserable so I got out of bed and opened the door. The sight froze me nearly as fast as the weather. Half frozen and clearly soaked was a pathetic wet cat of a man!

I had never seen Bond look so sorry for himself, so put upon, and so bruised about the face. Hurriedly opening the door the rest of the way I had to stifle a snort as he squelched inside.

I had done this before, come home soaked to the skin but on James it looked pitiful. I herded him to the bathroom, started a hot bath and took his clothes to let them drip in the kitchen in peace. The dry cleaning bill would be Enormous!

Only Alec had the Audacity to leave a few changes of clothing at my house, he wasn't even my most frequent guest... refugee... But he and James were about the same size so I left the basics outside the door and went to get the inflatable mattress set up.

I was Sanctuary, not a whore house! They slept in the sewing room and Didn't bring anyone else with them. Trouble had followed 006 to my door only once, he never forgave himself. But it had been handy having him on call when a date got out of hand.

James was about done having a long soak as I was setting up a tea tray. "My car broke down." It's tough to sound smooth, suave, and collected when you're not even wearing your own kit, but James can pull it off.

"Can I ask about the face?" I was concerned about the damage and how fresh it looked. "Five idiots decided to try and steal my broken car, they could have had the bloody thing but thought they needed to put me down first."

5 on 1 is impossible odds, even for a 00. Tray in hand I leaned into his side as a hug and got us settled in case he needed to talk it out. James did sometimes but I've been informed that it's a rarity so I respect the privilege and don't share.

As soon as he'd finished his 1st sip of tea I knew I was in trouble. Eve's Christmas gala gown was in for some fitting and under a sheet to keep the dust off. Like a moth to flame James couldn't resist a mystery.

"Don't snoop." It was a flat statement, not a request. All I got was a smirk before he replied "Miss Moneypenny has already don't me her tailor is doing an emergency fitting for the Christmas Gala. I didn't k ow her tailor was you, she guards your services very jealously."

"I do Ladies clothes James, she would have no need to share the information." "As you only do ladies tailoring she has no reason not to." I sighed "leave the lady a bit of mystery please, she wants it kept confidential. Can you do that or do you need a hotel tonight?"

The chuckle that bubbled out of him couldn't disguse the rapid back peddling. The breakdown of his car and subsequent beating had shaken him, my little flat was the only place I ever saw it. So I gathered up the tea things, handed him pain meds from the 1st aid kit and a peck on the crown of his head, it was at least unbruised.

"No snooping, sleep well." "No snooping." Scounts honour tones in his voice. I knew he'd snooping at Eve's dress and my own golden confectionery of a dress I was cutting on the table. But I also knew he'd never let on that he knew.

So it was a week for Christmas and all through my flat one creature was stirring nonsense but I was OK with that.

i finally made my own character bingo go nuts inbox (feel free to rb)

[snugsodium]

What Affects the Philippine Inflation Rate?

Have you felt it? The lack of rising wages amongst the outrageous spike of food prices, gasoline, and for the local real estate investor, a pre-selling house and lot and the housing market? Or, if you got the better end of the deal, the rapid rise of money coming into your bank accounts? This was caused by no other than the rise of the Philippine inflation rate.

What you need to know about the Inflation Rate Philippines

Inflation is a measurement of the rising prices of goods and services in a country's economy. If a positive spike in inflation occurs, this leads to the rise of prices of basic needs such as food, water, and electricity, leaving society, especially those in the poor sectors, on edge and in stress.

Usually, when basic commodities get priced highly, almost everything else will follow--from a pre-selling house and lot to your spouse's lipstick to Jollibee meals. Its absence normally causes wages to rise. Unfortunately, even in healthcare such as hospital bills and medicines. And what is more alarming is that even when the economy has recovered from its previous inflation, businesses tend to not go back to the original and lesser price of their products.

Inflation is a major concern because the money we work hard on saving can have a lesser value in the future. Even as early as tomorrow. This is because, as what was derived previously, it affects the purchasing power of people, and even the lives and mental health of people. Instead of kicking back, and relaxing, people now have to double their efforts and work more years.

What Causes Inflation

[lamalefix]

A whisper of smoke 1/5

[Buddie fic; Heavy Angst; Angst with a Happy Ending; Hurt/Comfort; Emotional Hurt/Comfort; Established Relationship; Major Character Injury; Blood and Injury; I don't know how to English; I Don't Even Know how to tag; I don't even know why; Author.exe has stopped working]

[read this work on ao3]

This really started as a short CPR story inspired by @buckleystrand (here the original post, and i Highly suggest you to go there and find out all the works that Haley's marvelous brain prompted!) but how it escalated quickly in this massive thing? As the tags say, I don't even know. CPR is, you know, the opposite of romantic. Peolpe stop to know how to function, when their loved one is unconscious, not responsive, and everyone is in panic. You push the chest of a person so hard, two inches down - it's massive -, that you can actually broke their ribs and, well... there's a lot of other things but... but urgh the angsty part of it? I'm all in for that!

Remember to perform (i really hope you won’t have to!) CPR only on unconscious, not responding, not breathing people. And please be sure to call for emergency.

“Buck this is an order. You have to move, look for a way out...” Bobby grumbles, peremptory, like a boss now. Even though his eyes show so much concern. “Find the way out, Buck, we are looking for you from outside, okay?”. “There could be, yes. But ... Cap?” he says, tentative over the radio. “It’s all dark and... and... and I think I’m hurt...” he says and hears him just chuckle. “I’m bleeding...” he continues to say and coughs. “But… but it doesn’t hurt”. Shit. Shit. Shit. This isn’t a good sign. Eddie has seen many injuries, even before being a firefighter. And this is not a good sign, if one doesn’t feel pain, it isn’t a good sign. Or, Buck gets trapped in a burning building but... there really is always a way out? No one gets left behind, right?

   It’s a dim, soft light that wakes them up every morning. It leaks in from the curtains that are gently drawn, a thin gap between their edges. Buck doesn’t like complete darkness, and honestly Eddie might even sleep on stones. Especially after weary shifts like theirs.

Then there is that breakfast, usually quick, cereals and milk, because in order to steal a moment alone, two kisses too many, the hands that run along their bodies, in that blessed moment when they still don’t have to wake Christopher up, they then get stuck in the bathroom, hands still intertwined in the hair, or pressing on the flesh, small moans that rise, in the shower, and then they have hurry to dress and look like responsible adults.

And there is the way to school, the songs Buck and Christopher sing out loud. And maybe for a moment, just one, Eddie thought he would get a headache from hearing them sing, the very same song over and over again. And instead it is the best time of his morning. Even better than that little friction between their bodies, before waking Christopher.

Then there are the greetings, the recommendations in front of the school entrance, and that little moment of silence before restarting the car, as they watch Christopher hurry to join his classmates.

Then the way to get to the station, where all the others are waiting for them, and there is Evan who smiles in that incredibly bright and happy way.

.

Eddie repeats it and repeats it in all over again in his head, it’s like his anchoring mechanism. And sometimes he needs it, to repeat their morning routine in its every single fraction.

Eddie is a creature of habit, he likes to follow his patterns, his routines, perhaps due to all those years spent in the army. That’s why his life works so well, because they have habits, routines. Evan has messed them up a little, but in the best possible way. Inserting new little gears that alternate perfectly with those that Eddie had already set up in Christopher’s life. They are all happier, they are all more relaxed, and even when there is a small hitch, a small bump in the road, he just has to reach out to Evan, and he makes everything better.

.

And there are hard days, yes, there are always hardships, and there are times when reaching out and taking his hand isn’t enough, but it has never been like this. It has never been so atrocious.

.

.

.

At the fire academy, they immediately make it clear that the fire emits signals that can help firefighters determine the state of development of the fire and, above all, the changes that can occur.

This ability is essential for determining the appropriate strategy and tactics to be used, before moving to act.

Reading the fire means being able to make decisions based on your knowledge and not on simple guesswork or luck.

But then again, luck is a pivotal part of their work.

During a rescue situation, there is a large amount of information that can be found in a matter of seconds, just in a blink of an eye.

When firefighters are faced with fires in closed places, like homes or rooms, they must take into account certain specific signals, in order to have indications on the conditions and evolution of the situation.

The smoke, its colour, its density, its pulsations, its volume and its positioning and the height of the neutral zone.

Air currents, their speed and direction, those ominous whistles.

The heat, the darkening of the windows and little or no presence of flames, the wrinkling and the formation of bubbles on the colored walls, the sudden increase in heat.

The color, volume and location of the flames.

Among all, the smoke is the first alarm bell, the one that could decree the success of a rescue action, which with its murmurs, with its whisper, allows to make a first assessment of the risks, to decide the dynamics, the actions to follow.

Fires are all very different, if not unique, yet all the same. They all have the same destructive outcome. And they are all equally deadly.

The difference lies in the methods of intervention, in the rapidity of response, in the ability to read the signals and anticipate the fire.

.

.

.

Buck was sitting across from him in the truck. He was reading something, all focused, on his phone, he had started at the station and was continuing on the truck. He usually talks a lot, pumped up with adrenaline before he arrives on the scene, but he was still clearly all sulky and pouting about that little argument that the two of them had. Discussing with him is also fun, Eddie would say, almost indispensable. 

Buck is selfless and stubborn, he is one who throws himself headfirst into situations, without even thinking about the consequences. And this makes him the wonderful person he is, the amazing firefighter he is. But Eddie just wants him to take better care of himself. And maybe he raised his voice and Evan snorted a dull grunt and decided to go and clean his locker, something he often does when he wants to clear his mind. And maybe one could wonder what is in his locker that instantly calms him down after rearranging it. But today he was still pouting, all sullen, on the truck, so he decided to read that something on his phone, maybe his current fixation.

They didn’t have time to clear up, the alarm went off before they could apologize to each other, which made him even more intractable as he slipped in turnout gear over the station garments, and had the usual problem of fastening that stupid clip between pants and suspenders.

Maybe Eddie isn’t even sure if he remembers what he told him; the captain interrupted them before the discussion escalated. But he must have said something stupid. When Eddie is worried, he always says something stupid. And Buck weighs his words more than he should.

He reached out, just before they got on the scene, and Buck returned his grip, as usual. A small smile curving his lips. And then they saw it, that whitish smoke.

When they arrived in what was supposed to be a nice neighborhood, before the economic crisis, the smoke was white. And when the smoke isn’t dark, well, that's not a good sign: it means that pyrolysis products accumulate, and there is an absurd heat inside the scene.

It was pure chaos over there. People in the streets and police all over. While they were pulling on the scene, arrived two more ambulances from station 154. And what was happening over there, for sure, was something gruesome: a house fire doesn’t usually need that amount of firefighters but there were at least 3 kids to rescue. Maybe more.

There was a cop barking orders through gritted teeth before he started updating Bobby about the situation. Four kids, a lighter and an abandoned house. A stunt. A stupid joke. All still inside except one, who had decided to lock them inside the house and run away.

And when his friends didn’t find a way out, he needed to call the 911. 

.

The volume of the smoke allows to determine the magnitude of a fire and with a relative accuracy its location. In certain cases there is no correlation between the two facts, and this can give false information on the location, size and state of development. Smoke can move through ventilation ducts or part of the space and appear in unexpected places. The basic principle is that hot fumes tend to rise vertically, and when they reach horizontal obstacles, they look for new vertical loopholes. The longer the path, the more the fumes cool down, mixing partially with the air they encounter.

Opening the door with the ram made the fire develop and inflate, but it was the only way to get in there. The neutral zone started lowering and the fumes thickening. The air was already so fucking hot.

And they  launched in the rescue. They immediately found two of the three kids on the first floor. They were unconscious and therefore Eddie and Buck left them to the expert hands of paramedics, the rest of the 118 who was trying to tame the flames, still not too high and swollen, that didn’t even crackle that much.

Usually, when an opening is created, hot gases come out of the upper side of said opening and fresh air enters through the lower side. A sudden and complete movement of this air flow towards the interior of the room indicates the imminence of a backdraft. In some cases, this can be followed by a reflux movement, so the backdraft occurs a few moments later.

The smoke seemed to pulsate through the small cracks in the wall, through the half-open and lopsided doors, the fire was feeding itself, and with the front door wide open and the windows broken by the pressure exerted by the heat, the air increased the destructive power and the fire has grown in breadth.

The two of them had to hurry.

The change in the wind was enough to put the elements of combustion in motion and in a blink of an eye that house has become hell.

The air flow has become rapid and turbulent the neutral zone has begun to lower more and more, more and more, the pulsations of smoke and air flow have increased the rhythm in a swirl of flames and soot, burning dust, and they seemed to walk on the edge of a volcano.

As they went up to the second floor, they also found the other boy, unconscious and with his leg stuck in a rough beam in the floor.

They were on the stairs, a few meters from the door, when they weird that strange cry, a sound coming from the basement. Like a cry for help.

The temperature had become even higher, even warmer, the wallpaper, the little that had remained attached to the walls and had survived the wear and tear of time, was swelling.

He looked at Buck. He looked at him as he looked at him many times, such despair in his eyes, while he was shaking his head slowly. “We have to go,” he said, “we have to go, we have to get out of here”. 

They didn’t have time to look for other people, to look for other collateral damage. Or they could become it, they could become the collateral damage.

Yet Eddie would have done it, if they had been reversed, if Buck had the boy passed out in his arms, then Eddie would have gone looking for that person calling out for help. He has taken all those shitty decisions too many times, for the sake of good, to save people and not for an absurd hero complex, certainly not. Because maybe he still doesn’t believe it, but Buck is an ace in his job, maybe he’s better than all of them put together, so fucking smart and zealous. And maybe Eddie is so, so selfish since they got together, that he just wants his own good, he just wants his heart not to break. He has already lost so much, they have already lost so much.

That’s why he didn’t want it to happen, for any of them to become the collateral damage of a couple of junior high students’ joke.

“Go on, take him out,” Buck said, hurrying to the door. “I’m right behind you, one last check. No one gets left behind...”.

“Don’t pull your stunts now, get out!” Eddie grumbled.

And then there was the whistle.

.

.

. 

It happened in the blink of an eye. 

A moment earlier, they were leaving that house, and the next moment Eddie is face down on the concrete, a couple of feet away from the door, or from what is left of it. The thirteen-year-old boy still clasped in his arms, the air being torn out full force of his chest. Something, someone pushed him away.

It happened in a blink of an eye.

And the backdraft must have brought down the roof of the house, the temperature was so high that a flashover exploded in all its arrogance. At some point the fire must have grown so high that the heat released by the various levels of fumes has reached such an intensity to trigger a self-ignition of all combustible materials.

And now that he looks at the lopsided skeleton of what had once been a beautiful house, and sees that part of the roof yielded, taking half of the facade away, Eddie shivers: a moment too much and he would have been stuck there. No way out. No way in.

He can’t even understand what happened, his ears whistling with the noise, the dark and rainy night above him, a fuss of colors, the flashing lights of the fire trucks, the fire still sizzles on the walls, the tiles of what is left of the roof falling like burning embers, while the puffy black smoke now stands out towards the sky.

And it takes more than a moment, it takes more than a moment for Eddie to notice it, to realize that something is so very wrong.

And for a moment, in that confusion, someone needs to point it out to him.

It’s Bobby who points it out, the voice crackling on the radio. “Buck, do you copy?”.

No reply.

And it’s like a punch well placed on the ribs, something that Eddie remembers clearly, from a life before, stupid streetfightings and shitty decisions. It takes his breath away. And it’s certainly not the smoke that has that effect on his breathing rhythm.

Buck.

Buck pushed him out of there.

Buck is still inside. No way in. No way out.

And it’s like looking out of his own body, he doesn’t even notice his body moving to leave the boy in Hen and Chim’s care as he stands up and starts, with his knees trembling in a shock of adrenaline and terror, towards the pile of flames and debris.

Buck was behind him, and now he isn’t there.

“Buck? Buck?” the captain repeats before cutting a glare at Eddie, his eyes dark. “You should let Chim look over you Eddie,” he says a paternalistic tone in his voice.

And Eddie feels it, the emptiness, the silence of the other walkie, that digs in his chest, his heart in his throat waiting for an answer.

Nothing.

He is already out of breath, when a disturbing, gruesome roar comes from the house, the roof that folds again, in a strangely comic and blood-curdling way. While a part of the second-floor yields and crushes down. The plywood that splashes with glass and soot.

And Eddie has to stay calm. He has to keep calm, he has to control himself. Even if his whole body would like to run there, he would like to dig, even with bare hands, between the flames and the debris, he would like to pull away the burning embers of that house, to open a passage, to pull him out.

No way in. No way out.

“Cap” he manages to say, his voice like a whisper as he looks at all that devastation. “Bobby… Bobby, we have to go in there, we have to help him... he’s still in there, someone was there... we heard... he was right behind me...”.

A stunt. It was just a stupid joke, fun for four kids. Damn foolish kids.

And before he loses what’s left of his breath in his lungs, before the panic fogs his eyes, he repeats again and again their morning routine.

Again and again.

Until he hears it, the familiar noise of the radio croaking.

And his raspy voice that comes directly from that hell. “... -by” he can hear on the other end. “Bobby” Evan repeats more forcefully.

The realization that he is alive, the shower of relief that collapses on him, immediately seems acid rain: Buck is alive, yes, but he is in there. Hen and Chim approach them after entrusting the last boy to the other paramedics, the ambulance ready to go to the hospital.

“I’m here Buck,” Bobby says, his eyes locked on Eddie.

“Thank God…” comes again from the walkie. “I thought... I feared...” Evan stammers. “I was afraid it was broken and... luckily...”.

“Buck you have to tell me where you are,” Bobby orders, his tone more like a father’s than a captain’s.

There is a long sigh and then a small series of coughs. “Is Eddie out there? He’s safe, Eddie... is Eddie safe? The kid? They are fine?” he mutters confusedly.

Hen taking a tight breath between her gritted teeth, Chim next to her with wide eyes.

“Yes, I’m out here Buck,” Eddie hurries to answer, the radio in his trembling hands. “I’m here, I’m fine, but you must tell us where you are... we have to come get you”.

“You are fine…” Buck repeats, the vaguely incredulous tone mixed with a satisfaction in a broken sigh. “Ah, thank God” he repeats.

“Evan,” Eddie calls him. “Please tell me where you are, we are coming to get you”.

Buck mumbles something disjointed, something incomprehensible. “... shit” he can only understand. “Basement. I think... the house has come down... shit. I don’t see anything, it’s dark... the neutral zone is... it’s getting down... I...” his words out strangled in his throat.

Eddie cannot move his gaze from the house, his knees still trembling, his hands burning from the desire to run there and help. He’s always been rebellious at heart, but never openly: he’s good at following orders, but he must, absolutely must go to Evan, help him out. As resilient as one may be, even a fighter like him, can’t get out of a collapsed house on his own.

There is another noise, deaf, and it comes even louder from the walkie. What remains of the house folds, menacingly.

“Evan!” Eddie shouts, the desperation that tears his voice apart. And he finds the strength to move his legs. The cortisol that runs in his body, the adrenaline that pumps into every corner of his cells. He has to get him out of there, surely there is something, even a little thing he can do, a road he can open.

“Cap the others... are the others there?” Evan asks slowly, the voice that sounds mixed with something, with sadness, pain.

“Buck you have to try to move, old houses like this one always have an access for the basement, can you see it? Maybe with a little luck... we can find it over here and we’ll catch you halfway and...” Bobby mumbles.

“Cap...” comes raw from the other end of the radio, Buck’s voice tired. “Everything is coming down, here, Bobby.” he clarifies. “It’s not worth it, coming in to save me. It’s not worth it… You have ... you all have a family to go back to... you are too... too important. It’s not... I’m not worth it.” he murmurs.

An impossible rage mounts in Eddie’s throat when he picks up the walkie again. “Don’t say bullshit like this. Tell me where you are. You are alive. As long as you’re alive, we don’t give up, you understand? You have a family too, Evan. Please. Don’t say this kind of things…”. And the thing that hurts the most isn’t only the fact that he said it out loud, that he said that he isn’t worth it, the most painful thing is that Evan believes it.

“Eddie...” he hears him sigh, a strange tone in his voice.

“Buck this is an order. You have to move, look for a way out...” Bobby grumbles, peremptory, like a boss now. Even though his eyes show so much concern. “Find the way out, Buck, we are looking for you from outside, okay?”.

“There could be, yes. But... Cap?” he says, tentative over the radio. “It’s all dark and... and... and I think I’m hurt...” he says and hears him just chuckle. “I’m bleeding...” he continues to say and coughs. “But… but it doesn’t hurt”.

Shit. Shit. Shit. This isn’t a good sign. Eddie has seen many injuries, even before being a firefighter. And this is not a good sign, if one doesn’t feel pain, it isn’t a good sign.

“He’s going into shock,” says Hen. “We have to get him out of there, soon Cap”.

That’s enough. That’s enough. They waited too long for act. They are separated and he has to go and rescue him, he has to help him, he can do it, Eddie has saved a convoy, Eddie managed to get out alive from a hell of water, a hell very similar to what Buck went through with the tsunami, or everything else they had faced, both of them and have always found a way to back to each other, they fought their way back to each other, even before getting together.

“Buck, you have to move. It’s an order,” Bobby repeats. “Do you understand? I’m ordering you, Buck”.

Eddie moves quickly: Evan cannot do it alone, not in there, not if he is injured and sees nothing, and it’s dark. But as long as he is alive, as long as he is alive, they can’t surrender, they can’t give up.

“Don’t screw it up, Eddie” the captain grumbles, standing in front of him. “Eddie, you have a son waiting for you at home, and...” he stops and looks at him, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. And Eddie is about to yell at him that Evan has the very same kid, the very same son waiting for him at home too, but Bobby continues. “We have to have a plan to get in, Eddie and you have to get in with at least other people, because if he’s hurt that bad as it seems, you’ll need help to get him out. If you enter from here, what remains of the house could collapse, we need a secondary access, something that has resisted”.

“What if there isn’t any? Nobody is left behind, Bobby. Buck won’t be left behind…” he replies.

“Cap?” the walkie crackles again and Bobby turns his gaze away from Eddie that moment, his hand still holding his shoulder tight.

“I’m here, Buck.” the captain says softly.

“It’s hell in here.” Evan manages to say, and seems to articulate with difficulty. “Don’t come in. It’s not worth... I try... I try to search, okay? Just… it’s… it’s… what’s the word? Dangerous”.

“Of course, it’s worth it, you’re in there! And danger is our job!” growls Chim. “Buckaroo what are you saying? You start looking, we are looking from here... there is definitely a way to reach you, Buck, do you understand?”.

A strange noise can be heard as he speaks, and then a fatigued puff, and again he has shortness of breath and he coughs, and there is a series of words that Eddie can’t understand, but then... “Three nephews… nieces, I don’t care… I just want three” Evan says. And it seems a disconnected, confused speech. “Chim... three kids. I want... I want... take care of Maddie… tell her it’s not scary. It doesn’t even hurt…” he mumbles and pulls a series of coughs that seem to take away all his energy, all his breath. “It isn’t a good sign that it doesn’t hurt... is it?"

Chim turns his gaze to Eddie, but doesn't say a thing.

Eddie can’t help but take another step, getting Bobby’s hand off his shoulder. “I have to go. I have to... he can’t stay under there... I need to take him home”.

“Chim?” they hear him say and everyone turns to the paramedic.

“I’m here, Buckaroo,” says Chim, his eyes shiny, and then he dries his eyes with his harm.

“Maddie doesn’t want a big wedding… she... something intimate... but... you should definitely invite our parents... they didn’t come when she... when she got married to Doug, but...” Evan mumbles, muffled and pained words. “Chim... you’re the best thing that could have ever happened to Maddie,” he adds. “And you will be a good father... so, three kids”.

“Buck...” Chim continues to say , trying to stop him.

And Eddie and Hen hurry to retrieve their full equipment and look, look for the policeman, the one who barked the orders before, because maybe he knows something about the house, or that boy, that boy who orchestrated this stunt, maybe he knows about another way in.

But then they hear Evan talk again. “If... if you have any doubts or... or hardships... ask... Hen and Karen... Bobby and Athena... Michael...” he says softly, and Eddie can figure out that he is smiling, down there, Evan is smiling. Somehow. “Ask Eddie... we know... wonderful parents and... you... you will be among them... you and Maddie will be...” he stops again and coughs.

They all hear the small dull sob that escapes Chim. “Don’t talk like that, huh? I don’t like, you know... tell me about... what were you reading today, tell me about this... While Cap tries to figure out how to reach you”.

Eddie hears him coughing on the radio, and decides he doesn’t even have time to look for secondary access. He will put on a sling and throw himself into the fire if necessary. He won’t leave Buck down there.

“A… nice article1.” Evan says and inhales deeply, there is a dark, ominous whistle in his breath. “Like... like a team of neuroscientists has discovered… found that... there is a way to communicate... to let comatose patients communicate with their loved ones,” he adds. And there is a strange and background noise, it is as if he is moving something. “I see something, I see...” he mumbles. “I think there is... there is access, or an exit... in this case...” he mutters. “Cap?”.

“I’m here, Buck. Try to reach it. We search from the outside, okay?” says Bobby. “Tell us more about that nice article, keep talking to us, Buck,” he adds, taking the equipment too and going with Eddie and Hen towards the skimpy skeleton of that house.

“What did these neuroscientists do?” Chim asks. “Keep talking to me Buck, we have to hear your voice, okay? And you have to stay awake, because if it doesn’t hurt, it’s a bad sign, you’re right. But if you talk to me, it’s good, trust me”.

Buck groans. “With... with a microphone and MRI... they’ve found that... that if patients think about doing an exercise they can answer the questions and... I... it’s hard to explain...” he mutters and breathes a long sigh, which however is broken by a series of coughs. “The fact is that...” mutters and then they hear him curse, a raw sob escaping his throat.

Eddie, Hen and Bobby move to find that fucking side entrance. It must be near the house, but with a little luck the debris left it free.

And here it is, here it is. Under an entire pile of rubble, they see something glistening. With the torches they identify it as padlock. A secondary entrance, like the entrance of an anti-hurricane refuge.

“Buck here we are, here we are!” Bobby tells him, starting to pull the beams and pipes away. “We are coming to get you”.

But the house growls a dark ominous sound, and folds even more. Eddie starts to pull Hen and Cap back, and a part of him, the selfish one regrets doing just so, while what remains of the facade collapses blocking the secondary entrance.

And now he is no longer able to control himself, now he starts throwing all that stuff away with his hands. Without thinking about the rest of the house that threatens to come down, above his head. Evan has to get out of there, Evan has to go home with him and Christopher, and they have to finish planning their summer holidays, go to the science fair at school, to the end of year play. They still have to try Ben & Jerry’s new ice cream flavours. And they have to do many other things. Better fit the time they have available.

They must have more time.

Bobby is next to him now, pulling the debris away with him. “Buck? Buck do you copy?”.

And it isn’t that long until the radio croaks: “The door... the door is blocked...” they hear Evan say all raspy and tired and a sob escapes his lips. “The door... I... I can’t─”.

“The rest of the 118 is taming the flames, Buckaroo, don’t worry , we’re coming, okay?” Hen murmurs, her voice still vibrant with her unwavering optimism and faith.

“Talk to me, Buck, you were saying... the fact is that?” they hear Chim prompt on the other side of the walkie. “Talk to me, continue, please”.

The house growls again, a deep and hard rumble, which makes Eddie shiver. Bobby pulls Eddie away just in time to prevent that what’s left of the roof from falling on him and serving him an horrible end.

It’s surreal then.

The dust and ash, rise in a whirlwind of wind, as a light spring rain begins to fall. The smoke that stands out again white and glimmering in the starless night.

Eddie freezes. They can no longer see the end of all that pile of rubble. They will need a bulldozer, or at least the others, all the people who can help them get rid of all this.

“Buck?” they hear Chim say in panic, and they see him rush to where they are. He curses under his breath.

“Evan? Evan, answer me!” Eddie shouts into the radio and launches back to the house.

“...smoke... it’s white again and... it’s a lot...” they hear him say, his voice that croaks in the walkie. “And it’s throbbing... so...”.

“A smoke explosion? Are you sure, Buck?” Bobby deduces as he reaches Eddie. “We have to go, we can’t stay here”.

“No! No! He’s down there, if there’s a smoke explosion, if... if there is even a possibility... we... he─will...” he murmurs.

“Eddie” they hear him say. And Eddie’s heart gets tighter in his chest. “Everything is alright. It’s not scary, it’s not that scary, it doesn’t even hurt... it will be a blink, huh? You know how it works... it won’t hurt… I won’t even notice, it’s all good. I’m good. I’m good”.

And Eddie knows, he knows him so much better than himself maybe, he really knows how scared he is. He knows how scary it is being alone, being trapped, no way in, no way out. But Eddie, unlike Evan, was lucky enough to find a way back.

“Ev, mi amor?” he murmurs, his lips on his radio. “You have to fight your way back here. We can't help you, but you are strong, cariño. You are brave, and resilient. You are a warrior, you are going to come back to me.” he adds, and maybe his words aren’t at all comforting for Evan, but he has to know at least that, even if they can’t actually go in there, Eddie has unbreakable faith in him.

Hen hurries to join the others, to bring them closer with the hydrants and hoses, to reduce the destructiveness of the impending explosion, while Bobby is almost as helpless as Eddie, while trying to drag him away. They don’t have an action plan, they have nothing, they can’t dig, not by hand, they wouldn’t do it in time.

Evan groans, a pained sound that scratches from the walkie.

And Eddie has to stay in control, he has to have control over his emotions, because despair would be useless, now. Not now, not yet. Not now that they can still find a way to get him out.

“Buck,” Chim starts to say again.

“The article. Yes…” he murmurs. “It seems that... that when they made the patients’ loved one talk over the microphone and... well...” he stops and takes a choked trembling breath. "Their brains have... like... all lit up like the night of July 4th” and Eddie hears him chuckle his amused laugh softly. “I was reading the interview... of one of the... the... neuroscientists and...” he stops again and inhales another short, trembling sigh. “When the brain all lights up like that means that... it means that you experience the people you love with your whole body... with everything you have of yourself. And the brain lights up like that because… because the brain is what makes us, us... and therefore...” he swallows, and it seems painful.

And Eddie bites a raw, ugly sob, Bobby’s hand tightening his grip on his shoulders, as he pulls him away .

“No! No!” Eddie growls trying to break free from him, but with little success, his strength that fails him, the adrenaline that gradually gives in to confusion and weakness.

“We had to get married, Eds.” he hears Evan say in a such a low voice, a quiet tone. “But I’m sure my brain didn’t need a ring on my finger to… to light up like the night of July 4th”.

Eddie feels his knees turn to butter as they yield under him. “You’re not going away Evan, you’re not going away, now we find a way, you hear me? You understand, Evan?” he manages to say, but his voice it’s like a whisper, broken by sobs, the tears that drop slide bitter on his face, and then he starts up again and launches himself towards the pile of rubble, he must free that fucking door, he must, he must get him out.

But Bobby holds him back, pulls him back and the both of them capitulate to the now muddy ground. And he holds him tightly against himself, and maybe he even says something but Eddie, Eddie genuinely can’t hear anything but Buck’s faint, choked laboured, breath.

And there is a moment of silence and there is only the pouring of the water of the hydrants and the rain. Then there is a dull sound, which comes from the radio and Eddie’s heart grows small while he holds his breath.

A moment later there is a long sigh, which croaks loudly on the walkie. “I don’t wish you all sort of gifts…” they can all hear him mumble, his voice kneaded and tired. “I wish you all, time... there was... there was a poem... by Elli Michler, if I remember correctly... Dir Zugedacht2... my nanny liked it so much... she always repeated it to me on my birthday... I only remember the… the… openin’ lines but…” he says, sniffing. “I wish you all what the poem says. I wish you time. I don’t remember well, I only know that... I only know that... hit home. To have time... to have time is a good thing... for everything you love for those you love... I wish you... time to live.” he adds softly and pulls a small feeble breath while sobbing loudly. “It’s not scary because you are there. And I’ve always been afraid to die alone, I’m always the one who’s left behind. But you are there, and I... you were the best thing that ever happened to me, with all the hitches, the bumps in the road... and anger. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry” he slurs biting back a sob.

And Eddie really needs to say something, to say something, he needs to find the right words, comforting him, but mostly he has to say that Evan should never, never apologize. But…

“Take care of yourself… take care of Maddie, and keep an eye on Eddie please...” he adds sniffling. "You should move away now... there’s a lot of white smoke here... and my oxygen tank has started whistling a while ago so… I don’t think it will take long for everything to blow up,” he gulps, and doesn’t wait for any of them to say anything.

And Eddie can’t move, he can’t leave him. He won’t ever leave him. He’s somehow the one who’s left behind. And it’s funny because once he was the one who always left.

“Eddie?” Evan says softly, after a short minute of silence.

And Eddie sees the others turning off the radio, to leave them a moment.

“Evan, don’t... just don’t” he begins to say . “Don’t, please…”.

“Eddie” Evan quips slowly. “Listen to me,huh? You made me so fucking immensely happy. And I hope I made you even half as happy as you’ve made me...” he sighs and hears him making a lot of noise, he seems to be moving something, he seems to be still looking a way to get out. “You know I’d do anything to get back to you, Eddie, to fight my way back… But, let’s face reality. As shitty as it is.” he mumbles. “I may not get out of here and...”.

“Evan please...” Eddie manages to say, trying not to break now.

“Let me tell you, okay? Let me tell you… Let me talk to you a bit more...” he murmurs. “Because If I stop talking I’m positive... I’m sure I won’t have the strength to...” the voice that comes out hoarse from his throat, like a gasp. “I love you, and you are my forever”.

And it  like a statement, strong and clear, and it takes Eddie’s breath away the sole idea that clearly there’s a but, after that incipit. And he grits his teeth and waits, biting back on his tears, the inside of his cheek that hurts between his gritted teeth. 

“But, I don’t have to be yours. I don’t have to be your forever. One day you will move on, you will move on and… you will get through this, and you'll have to do it for Christopher and for yourself... And when you’ll think about me, if you do, I hope your brain lights up at least a little bit, always...” he adds sniffling. “You made me, oh… so very happy.” he repeats. “And, please... tell Christopher I wasn’t afraid, it wasn’t scary. Even if... yeah it’s dark and... and it’s a little scary…” he heaves out a pained sigh. “Maybe in another life you and I will be luckier. But I’m already lucky enough, you know? Because you... you chose me. Because you never left me. I’m sorry to be the one who leaves you.” he murmurs, and inhales again, and it seems to hurt a lot.

“Evan.” he croaks out, his voice choked in his throat. “You have to, you have to fight a little more for me... it will only take a lot more water and... we will get you out, okay? You just have to... you survived a bomb ... a tsunami... an embolism... a…” and he bites back a raw sob. He can’t cry, Evan doesn’t need him crying now, Evan needs a strong version of this broken shell he is now. He can’t cry. Not now. He must be strong, he must be in control, he must do it for Evan. “You just have to grit your teeth a little bit more, okay? Buy us a bit of time...”.

And maybe Evan is answering him when it happens, maybe Evan says something to him, but his voice is swallowed by the roar, by that impossible roar. That loud roar, that sudden bang that rips the sky open. And from the remains of that house a blaze of dust and wind rises, the rain now beats more insistently, and the hydrants splash at full power.

The debris that splash away. And there’s a fuss of people who crouch to avoid being collateral damage too.

.

And Eddie is there.

Without voice to shout.

Without tears to cry.

Without words to scream.

His broken heart that drums in his ears, it’s the only noise he can hear.

His hand and his knees in the mud while adrenaline lives his body altogether and he freezes there.

Broken.

Hollow.

Empty.

He bites the air in front of his nose as he pulls off his helmet. Bobby pulling him back, in a strange and awkward embrace.

And then Eddie no longer hears a thing.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There is a moment, a very specific time when their rescue actions become body recoveries. Usually they wait, they wait for the flames to be completely tamed, that the area is secured, they wait it all to end.

And that’s what happens, once again. Even today.

Eddie is on the ground, Hen who tried to pull him up not so long ago, when Bobby left him, collapsed next to him and hugged him. And he doesn’t know how long they’ve been there.

And he tries to repeat his routine. The old one.

His and Christopher’s morning routine. He tries, so hard, to remember how it was before, how it was before, without Buck, without Evan twisting it, sweeping his world beneath his feet. His anchoring mechanism, his coping mechanism. Eddie must remain in control, for Christopher, for Christopher and for his own heart, all shattered and broken.

But then he thinks about his son, and he tries to imagine what it will be like tomorrow. How will it be to tell Christopher that, that Evan… that his Bucky won’t ever return home.

And then the world starts moving again, the world starts moving again, or better it never stopped.

Bobby is saying something, orders in mouth. Chim has the phone in his hands and his eyes are devastated by the sole idea of having to call Maddie, heavily pregnant Maddie. And Eddie can’t feel anything except that emptiness. Undying and transcendent. That weighs on him and digs into what’s left of his shattered heart.

And for a moment Eddie imagines him coming out of the rubble like a phoenix. Something epic, something impossible, something heroic. Something that, sure, only Buck could do. 

But it’s all just illusions and, and sad impossible dreams.

However resilient one may be, however strong one may be, none can survive this.

 It’s a moment, but then he hears Hen gasp and shift, forcing him to move too, from where he collapsed against her.

“Eddie, Eddie!” she calls him, her voice vibrant with confused, mixed emotions, or maybe Eddie can’t, just can’t understand what’s filling her voice.

But then he moves his gaze over the house and sees him.

Evan? Evan!

And even before feeling his own body move, he’s already launching himself towards him, towards Evan who struggles out of that pit made of rubble and embers and flames, he drags himself out of there, trudging with his legs shaking.

And Eddie leaps forward and runs, runs at breakneck speed, until he arrives and supports him. His body colliding with Buck’s, who lets out an huffed, pained groan, their turnout coats screeching in that strange embrace. Evan can’t stand for long and his legs give in as he collapses and takes away with all his weight Eddie’s stability.

And Eddie forgot his army training alongside his firefighter training, all protocols swept away all together, he just forgot what you should do in cases like this, he forgot everything. His hands that tremble as they run to the helmet, but Chim and Hen are by him before he can even notice it and hurry to give Evan the help he needs.

They take off his helmet, and gently but steadily fasten a collar around his neck. And he has an open eye and a faint smile on his lips. And he looks for Eddie’s hand, in an uncoordinated movement, and he hurries to take that hand and grips it tight, and heaves out a shaky breath.

And Eddie doesn’t have words in his mouth, or in his head. He forgot how to work, how to function, and that’s okay. He has a very good reason not to know, Evan is alive and nothing else matters.

“Fuck” he can hear Chim say.

“It wa’t th’t bad bef’r" Evan slurs, his voice weak, as he points his open eye on Eddie and smiles more and tightens his faint grip on his hand. “I f’nd a... a niche... ah…” he coughs and blood mounts in his mouth. 

There’re hissing sounds when he breathes in and out. And finally, Eddie has the courage to move his gaze from Evan’s face to see that bright pinkish foaming blood that swells on his turn-out coat. He has a sucking chest wound. Dios.

Meanwhile Evan must have closed his eyes, because Hen hurries to massage his chest with his knuckles “Buckaroo, hey, we’ll take you to the hospital, okay? You have to stay awake, huh? Show us your baby blues, will ya?”.

And Evan barely opens his eyes and coughs painfully, hissing while sucking in air, he has all his teeth stained with blood and the sound of when he inhales is a horrible rattle that croaks deep in his throat. And slowly he closes his eyelids again.

Eddie feels it, that frenzy, he remembers the training, the field doctor who is in him is kicking in, but, but there is a protocol, and the protocol is there for a reason. Evan is his love, his future and with enough luck his forever, and Eddie most definitely can’t take care of him, as much as he would like, he wouldn’t think straight. And so, he only focuses his gaze on Evan, while with the help of his teeth he takes off his glove and rests his free hand on Evan’s face. “Ev, awake. You have to stay awake, for me, okay?”.

And when he manages to his eyes, Eddie is lost in him again. He wouldn’t be able to help him even with all his willpower and all that control that usually governs his life.

And therefore, he isn’t the one who moves, however he knows at first hand what to do in these cases, he really can’t move. Chim is the one who disinfects his hands quickly and put on sterile gloves, and hastens to open his turn-out coat, and removes all the loose clothing covering the wound. There’s something, like a botched bandage, all balled up to cover the wound, soaked with blood. And Eddie looks away again, all that blood, he doesn’t want to see all that blood, not on Evan, not on anyone else, but especially not on Evan. 

And Eddie doesn’t even want to understand what could have caused such an injury, he just wants to look at him, at his stupidly beautiful face even now, all pale and in pain, while the others have to hurry to cover the wound and stabilize him before taking him away.

He sees them moving in the periphery of his visual field, he sees Hen and Chim moving. It is probably Hen who moves quickly to cover the open wound with her hand, trying to put the right pressure, and the small groan that escapes from Buck’s lips gives him this confirmation.

“It’s alright,” Eddie says. “You are with us now, you are with us, everything is fine” he repeats slowly, and doesn’t really care how much his voice trembles or how chocked it may sound.

And Evan swallows painfully and looks at him, and Eddie opens his mouth and perhaps wants to say something, something more. The words of just before they echo in his head. 

It’s as if talking helps him stay alive, it’s like it’s the only thing that keeps him alive.

“Talk to me, mi amor, please” he only manages to say.

“Buckaroo?” Chim demands softly. “You have to exhale, okay? You have to exhale, take all the air out, please”.

And Evan with terrible difficulty manages to throw out all the air he can, coughing bitterly then. 

And Eddie doesn’t look up from his face, he just moves his free hand to cup his chick, to touch with the tip his thumb that adorable birthmark above his eye, which now, now that Evan is so pale and that the night slams on his face, now that the smoke is a faint, distant memory and there are their trucks spinning lights lighten up the night, it is even more evident.

Someone, maybe Bobby, is passing Chim some tape, to fix some medical plastic and gauze on the wound, and make sure that the air doesn’t get in.

And then, before they place him on the stretcher, someone from their team has brought there, they moves Evan on his side and he moans painfully.

“It’s all good, you’re fine, we’ll take you away, now,” murmurs Bobby .

Evan looks at him for a moment, his eyes a little confused and then he lets out a groan hoarser than the others, while he breathlessly draws his breath.

Eddie does nothing but hold his hand, then, as he accompanies him to the ambulance.

And while Hen is rushing at the driving seat, Eddie goes up behind with him: he doesn’t have the courage to leave him alone, even if he is with Chim, who is more than capable to take care of him and is already fixing his heart monitor, and a bag of blood, and a oxygen mask on his face. But Eddie doesn’t have the courage to leave Evan, never.

Bobby climbs in front and orders Hen to really mash his paw down, sirens blaring.

And Eddie closes his eyelids for a moment, and tries to catch up a breath, tries to swallow back the tears that are gathering in the corners of his eyes, and bends to kiss a edge of Evan’s forehead. His hair is flattened and wet with sweat, and reek of soot. He doesn’t even feel how long it will take for the hospital, he doesn’t even notice he is talking to Evan slowly, little comforting nothings in Spanish, something that reminds him of his abuela when he was sick, as a child, and she took care of him.

He cups his cheek, and Evan smiles weakly behind the mask, his eyes bleary and tired. “Luv’ ya” he murmurs.

“You are doing so good, Ev, you are so brave, and strong and...” he manages to say. “I love you too, so much. Hang on, mi amor”.

Evan closes his eyes for a moment, a second too long.

And its because Eddie is so focused on Evan, his eyes fixed on his face, that maybe he notices even before the heart monitor starts to alert with that mechanic whistle, that terrible, frightening sound, even before that Buck starts to gasp for a moment, even before that blood that mounts in his mouth again splashes on the facemask, even before that blood, like pinkish foam, pools under the medical film soaking the gauze that covers the wound.

Eddie turns him over on his Back, so that he has free access to his chest, and moves his head back to avoid the backflow, to help him breath. His chest motionless.

And in a matter of seconds, he places the heel o f his and on the centre of Evan’s chest, and the heel of his other hand on the top of the other lacing his fingers together. He keeps his arms straight and his shoulder directly over his hands. And starts compressing, pushing hard and fast on Evan’s chest. He lets the chest rise completely before pushing down again. And again, And again. And he doesn’t even notice that he repeats like a mantra, out loud Please, please, please, please, please ...

Until Chim moves on him with an AED in hand. And while turning it on he removes all the arranged dressing, attaches the AED pads before saying “Stand clear” and Eddie moves fast enough to let him press the shock button.

And when Evan doesn’t react, his body tense for a mere second, but his heart monitor doesn’t respond, Eddie throws himself on him again, continuing with the compressions.

Again.

Again.

Again.

And perhaps he also feels his ribs give in under his thrusts, under his compressions, but he can’t stop. He can’t stop.

And every time Chim presses the shock button, and Evan doesn’t respond, Eddie’s own heart leaps in his chest.

And Eddie doesn’t have the courage to look up, when those interminable two minutes pass, and Evan gives no signs of response. Because it’s all so dramatically similar to that other time, to that other circumstance. And he doesn’t have the courage, and he’s selfish and just, just wants Evan. He just wants Evan back.

And so he goes on and on, and Chim follows him, and occasionally presses the shock button, and increases the voltage, until they arrive a few miles from the hospital and Eddie looks up. The captain’s voice that echoes far in his ears. “Enough, Eddie, stop”.

Chim reaches out and puts his hands on his. His nose curled while he sniffles and shakes his head. And Eddie can’t connect, he doesn’t even recognize his voice, when that groan runs raw and hard from his throat. And collapses, exhausted, the shoulders that now hurt like hell, on Evan. On Evan who doesn’t breathe.

And maybe he doesn’t say it out loud. Or maybe he screams it. Or maybe he just murmurs it over his chest. Please. Please. Please. Stay with me. Please.

But he can’t hear her words, no sound coming from his chest.

Until there is that whistle in his breath, and that little cough and a dull grunt.

And there is that sigh of relief from Chim. “You gonna give me grey hair, Buckaroo” he hears him say.

And Eddie turns his gaze to Evan and, and, heck. Hot damn. He has his eyes open and the bewildered look.

And it takes an handful of seconds, nothing more, for them to pull in the hospital, the doors of the ambulance open in no time and there are doctors and nurses who are waiting for them out there and they take away Evan from his hands, and  Eddie isn’t able to say anything. 

Chim jumps out of there, updating the doctors and Bobby and Hen surround Eddie, as if it were him the one in needs of support. And perhaps he is, because he is exhausted now, now that his eyes become clouded, and he feels so empty, so hollow, and his colleagues, his family, must help him to stand up.

Or maybe it’s just because he’s all broke, again, now that they’re dragging Evan away, now that he can’t control the situation anymore. And he collapses in the end. There is nothing more to keep in check. Not even his emotions. Not now. He doesn’t have to be strong now. 

Not now. Not now that he has white smoke in his eyes and he feels dizzy altogether. Not now that he isn’t in control. Not now that he can’t watch over him. Not now that Evan is out of his reach.

___

A/N:  *Shields her head with a both her arms* - please don't kill me, at least let me finish all my WIPS! (let me live forever to do so, I'm a procrastinator!)Okay, so, without furhter ado... If you reached the end of this work without wanting to kill me? , you are now my favourite person in the world. Thank you so much for taking your time and use it to you know, read a angsty 9k words chapter, you could have cooked a whole course meal instead, or I don't know, read like 9 1k words stories *laughs nervously* Feel free to leave a comment, a kudo, bookmark, curse me, or whatever! I'm very open to all kinds of things! I hope you enjoyed (???) this first chapter as much as I did (i really did! - and I teared up a lot doing so, proofreading and rereading all over again to cut down something). I hope what you read was clear enough - I really can't English right now *ahahah*, so if you find something that makes your skin crawl, misspellings or mistakes of every sorts please let me know. You'll have to wait a week or so for the next one. Now a couple of marginalia: 1. Here one scientific article about MRI-mediated communication with comatose patients, you may also want to read all the implications about this study - and all the ones that came before and after this, the majority of which are open and you can google it. The implications of this study is really massive: I remember from my days back in university this amazing conference with my neuropsychology professor who talked about this and presented a very similar study, and it gave me literal chills and tears. What Buck says it's a paraphrase of what she said back then. "You experience the people you love with all your body, with all you have, that's why your brain lights up like that, that's why your body reacts like that, that's why you produce all those neurotransmitters and molecoles! Your brain is the thing that makes you, you, and mediates all of your experiences. Love is physiology and chemistry and yet it is so much more, it is unknowable and transcendent", and I think I'll tresure her words as long as I leave. This is the power of our brain. And it's amazing. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk! 2. Here the poem. Stay tuned for more! And please, take care of yourself, drink your water, sleep tight and stay safe at home if you can!

tagging @buckleystrand; @sparksfly-buddie; @chrrlees; @lieselfh and whoever wants to be tagged!

[paddleboardinflatable3-blog]

Buying a Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP) for Beginners

There are plenty of varying accounts these days concerning what exactly is the most beneficial SUP board for a novice. For any person just getting started the adventure of stand up kayak boarding, all of this depends upon just one single thing: staying on the aboard. If you can't keep on the exercise board as a beginner, any person won't like the experience all of which will likely give it up.

Stability sama dengan staying on the board.

There can be a handful of various factors that could go into stability, which below review at length in addition to which is often the particular the reason why there is not just a single highly accurate answer for what the correct mother board is for a beginner. There are a number of significant details to get started thinking about other than stability any time thinking about picking your 1st SUP.

If you'd like to read no more... a novice can in all likelihood move out and have a great time on any specific paddle board that is on minimum 10'6" long back button 30" wide x 4" thick. That's 10'6 times 30" x 4" or maybe larger.

For the people inquisitive about the reason why that range definitely will work...

Stability is a feature of just how much side to side movements and rocking you have if standing upright on the panel and what amount of flotation any stand up paddle board possesses with your body weight balanced in it. Length, width, and depth all play a part on this. paddle board inflatable

In essence, length x width a thickness = volume. The more effective volume a paddle table provides, the more stable they have certainly going to be. Volume is absolutely not necessarily the only component. A new wider board will probably take much more surface area across the normal water and is also much less likely to autumn over. Plus, the same is usually stated for almost any longer last paddle board.

Just one imagined on length. Most people guess "Basically If I merely pick the biggest board available I absolutely should be fine. " This can be more than likely correct for being competent to stand on the board, connections when you are looking for maneuverability, the particular longer a board offers the more difficult it often becomes to guide, which makes it crucial to strike feeling of balance when thinking about the entire paddle board. The length of typically the paddle board a rookie prefers should really be motivated more by the person's body volume more than his or her's level of experience.

Body weight and Board length is also a tricky area to address since it is often a function of volume likewise, not just length. Generally, some sort of 9'4" paddle board was created for about 130lbs, 10'4" rapid 180lbs, and 11'4" instructions 220lbs.

Additional areas to make note of:

Just how much weight are you able to basically carry? The load of the aboard is often significant if you are planning for being hauling it. If you can't pick up the SUP off the auto there's a pretty good possibility you're not those taking it down to often the river all that often. If your excess weight of the board is undoubtedly an issue you could pick a small board or an my inflatable SUP. This industry features generated some fantastic enhancements within the inflatable SUP sector where there are several excellent planks which can be portable and for good prices. Be sure to check the distinct weight of the paddle mother board while looking through your SUP Critiques

How are you transporting the SUP and can it fit? Last paddle boards naturally usually are gigantic. Sure a 12'6" paddle board seems to be excellent online, but will it healthy on your vehicle as well as slot in your house or storage bedroom.

What kind of docking location currently utilizing? If you're going to your paddle board in the waters in an area containing gravel, docks or other sorts of hard types of surface and your higher level of experience isn't top notch, there is also a possibility that at one time or other you could be running into one these hard objects. Even a minor bump can easily put a decent ding in your cutting edge fiberglass board. More strong choices are inflatable as well as polyethylene construction materials.

What exactly activities are you planning to possibly be doing using your stand up kayak board? There are so many things individuals use their paddle forums for whether it be cruising, bike racing, surfing, fitness, or reef fishing. Every one of these distinctive activities include specific boards and several snowboards can be used spanning numerous different types. It really is good to purchase a new board that is developed for any activities you might be doing, but it surely is not always required.

References Paddleboarding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddleboarding

[warcsul]

Best Portable AC Reviews – Beneficial Aspects Online

A fast-action, portable AC apartment is a great expenditure to have a cool and comfortable season, whether you plan to wait both at home and setting off while event! You could potentially construct your actual portable AC anywhere you want to get the high temperature and fluid and acquire your clean first set of of trendy and additionally climate outdoors and indoors. Loved ones across the United States will most certainly be at a loss for escalating discovered another means and inflating carbon dioxide and foot prints. Your portable AC device is unquestionably an affordable, energy-efficient, also eco-conscious alternative option HVAC software and hulking window-installed AC units. This excellent investment will assist you salvage plenty of cash per annum devoid of cramping pains all your relaxation or alternatively enduring the heating. You can check out several specifications and expense levels while you shop to get hand held AC units website. Even though firms assert not matched software and then advanced functionality, not many portable ACs is treatable the same. Our group proved some of the best-selling special ticket frostier products to check out their functions. Even though some verified underwhelming, a number of us spotted quite a few diamonds which unfortunately supply perfect good. ChillWell, Ice House, HydroBoost, IcyBreeze, EvaPolar, ZeroBreeze, New Air ACs, RW Flame ACs, Arctic Box, CoolEdge, CoolX, Williston Force, NexFan Evo UV Cooler, Sylvane portable ACs, and Sion Cooler tend to be the Best Portable Air Conditioners that most unique should preferably use in their homes to possess wonderful air flow. Please remember genital herpes best portable air conditioner review reported dealing with only a few lightweight AC units undergoing treatment likewise? Virtually all brand names backwards the products by working with high remarks relating to unmatched high performance along with cold weather, glacier cinch, but is not everything distributors generate. Much of our options happen to have been tightly inspected concerning capability and so computer program just by ml 1410 printer's an assortment of measurements coupled with areas. Ac size is considered the most imperative provide to understand more about through mobile or portable AC units. What term will the tool choose cut down temps? Should it eliminates a good basically cold bit of cake? Will most likely contents the carton along with ice cubes improve evening chill? Lots of completely transportable AC units claiming to offer cold weather ticket don’t still assign cool environment. To fnd out read more about the exact best portable ac in 2022, you can our website

When thinking about often the soothing full capacity, you have to know these awesome vibrance also period of time. Characteristically, the standard portable AC program will administer approximately 20 minutes to reduce and then normalize temperature levels. On the other hand, a fabulous rapid-action weather air conditioning creates a comfortable situation within 5-10 minutes. Any time operating in the kitchen, you'll want all the best personal air coolers to be effective as being frigid in addition a air humidifier. Having said that if you’re rounded lets start on a guide, anyone wouldn’t want to know a misty solution toward blemish all pages. As compared, you must use a misty bottle of spray concerning ice-chilled oxygen which keeps people comfortable and cool assuming you’re chilling exterior. Best light-weight AC units functionality numerous speeds, soothing intensities, methods, as well as other configurations that permit loan mod and furthermore adjustability to fit your style. In the case you’re the purchase of a portable AC element in an elder relative, then you want to know a simplistic system that has very simple tyre. In spite of this, as long as you’re searching for a own portable AC element, you can find any kind of smartphone-enabled and so voice-enabled device more appealing. You could check out this incredible website for extra the owner of the entire best mini air cooler units.

[unbiasedph]

Prioritize bill giving PBBM special powers to address inflation, Salceda

Prioritize bill giving PBBM special powers to address inflation, Salceda

Economist-lawmaker Joey Salceda on Friday urged House Speaker Martin Romualdez to start deliberations on his proposed Bayan Bangon Muli bill, which seeks to grant President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. special powers to address the increasing prices of basic goods in the country. “Food inflation continues to be on a rapid momentum, from 4.9 percent in Read Full News @ Daily Tribune

[considerourknowledge]

Stress of Presidency Not Aging Biden As Much As Predecessors

Despite the ongoing turmoil of the war in Ukraine, inflation, and Republican attacks on basic rights and every aspect of his agenda, President Joe Biden seems to be handling the stress of his job relatively well. According to aides and his family, the typical rapid aging that happens to presidents hasn’t really happened through Biden’s first year and a half on the job. “I mean, sometimes he looks tired, but so does everyone. He’s in pretty good shape,” said one anonymous White House aide. That Biden has endured so many personal tragedies, as well as his familiarity with the job as Vice President for eight years, coupled with the fact that he already looked pretty damn old, could be the reason that the stress of the presidency isn’t aging him like it did his predecessors.

[theycallme-tunathot]

May I Call you Queen?

Pairing: Jackson Wang x Reader Rating: PG-13 Synopsis: You get emotional waking up to your boyfriend in bed. Author’s Note: This is about as fluffy as I get. This is actually kind of embarrassing because I got way too in my Jackson feels and I’m just.....yeah. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think! ALSO: based off of the Ne-Yo song “Queen.”

“Don’t make me say it.”

Laying there in sheets that smelled like some beautiful mixture of me and him, there was nothing but complacency that filled my chest. The sun completely shut out of the room thanks to the blackout curtains, I couldn't help but feel like despite being able to make out much in the room, everything felt just right. I didn't need to look over to know that the arm wrapped around my waist belonged to the beautiful sleeping man beside me. I also didn’t need to see him to know his chest rose and fell ever so slowly as he inhaled and exhaled silently. Nor did I have to rely on the sun's light to show me that his hair was probably a complete mess.

Everything about waking up to Jackson felt ridiculously intoxicating. The feeling of his body heat radiating off of him and my skin soaking up every sensation like a sponge was something I'd never be able to accurately describe. And part of me was okay with that. I was fine with the idea of this being our own space, a place where I experienced things that seemed too improbable to believe and too intimate to share. In truth, I was probably more than okay with that.

As I felt my mind clearing the drowsy state, my vision clearing from its early morning haze, I let my hand rest against Jackson's as it was draped over my hip. With the softest touch I could muster, I let my index finger trace soft circles over the back of his hand, the small amount of contact overly satisfying my need to touch him.

And maybe that played into the reason I infuriated myself in moments like these. Part of me knew I should demand more, that my will should be stronger. Something so simple should've never been so satisfying, but with Jackson, it just seemed futile. My attraction to him, my connection with him demanded so little maintenance. I can't quite explain that reasoning either.    

I sank further into the mattress that threatened to swallow my body whole, every muscle in my body sighing in relief from the exertion endured only hours earlier. Closing my eyes, I focused on every sensation I could. The way the sinfully soft cotton sheets hugged every curve and dip of my unabashedly naked body. The parts of my skin that pulsed with a warm glow that felt like it could power the entire hotel if I tried hard enough. My heart hammering against my chest reminded me that no matter how unreal or dreamlike this felt, it was very much real. Somehow, I could feel myself begging to snuggle closer to Jackson's.  

At the first stirring from the body beside me, I sighed. I could feel every part of my body desperately clinging to this moment. I wanted to bask in this feeling for as long as I could. Before we had to think about the world beyond the blackout curtains. Before the guilt of neglected responsibilities forced us to compartmentalize this for another time.

Without any warning, I felt my eyes sting and the first few drops of tears spilling over. I wasn't sad or anything close to it. No. For the first time in my entire life, something felt so fragile and sweet...and worth preserving. And I was willing to lay and bask in that beauty for as long as the universe or Jackson would allow.

"You're awake aren't you?"

The gravelly voice from beside me was startling at first. I couldn't trust my voice at the moment, considering the tears that fell so easily down my cheeks. Blinking them away, trying to ignore the swell of emotions that threatened to burst me at the seams, I let the silence be my answer.

More movement dipped the mattress in certain areas. With my eyes still closed, I tensed slightly when Jackson moved closer, arms latching tighter around my waist and pulling me tightly against him. The tip of his nose grazed my neck in such a soft way, the tears only continued at the sensation. His chin rested against my bare shoulder, the scratchy stubble scraping so blissfully against my soft skin. Was this what it felt like to be in love? In Heaven?

I listened as he hummed in content and I opened my eyes only enough to take a glance at the abdomen swaddled in the fitted sheet. Letting my fingers grip his arm tighter, I could feel the seconds tick by — we were running out of time to lay in this bed.

"Ignoring me after good sex?" he asked, and I could hear the smugness laced in his voice. "A guy just can't win can he?"

Sputtering out a laugh, I shook my head, opening my eyes. Slowly, I turned my head so that my lips brushed against his forehead. Ever so softly, I made sure to let the silence stretch until I was finally ready to answer.

"Was that what you consider good?"

"Oh!  Shots fired."

"Would've been helpful last night don't you think?"

A laugh rumbled somewhere deep in Jackson's throat, the vibration buzzing against sensitive skin. In response I bit my lip, trying to keep my hormones in check.

Pressing his lips against the crook of my neck, he sighed deeply. "You smell amazing."

The groan was almost instantaneous, not a second given to considering how it would sound. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

"Shut up."

His laugh was the only response that made me sniff and shake my head again. My eyes rolled and suddenly my tears were forgotten, but that painful prickling feeling deep within my chest was still there.

"I'm just speaking my mind," he replied.

The sincerity in his voice almost made the tears spill to the surface again. I couldn't be sure he understood just how much those statements affected me. But even if he asked me to explain that to him, as I previously stated, I wasn't sure I'd be able to aptly describe how much weight those words held.

Blinking a couple of times, I almost didn't realize he was moving, sitting up slightly. He leaned on one of his elbows, one of his legs grazing and settling between both of my own. I watched in stunned silence as his brown eyes fixed on my face, fingers slowly and lightly dragging along my jawline. The delicate glance he gave my lips before his fingertips settled at my chin almost shattered every sense of sanity I thought I had.

As his stony gaze scrutinized every inch of my face, I sighed deeply when I noticed the slight quirk of his eyebrow. "Have you been crying?"

I could feel my own eyes widen in surprise, not realizing I hadn't wiped away the tears that fell at such a rapid pace earlier in the morning. This left me shaking my head, knowing I didn't want to get into the exact details of what happened, but also wanting to qualm any worry that might've surfaced in him.

"Yeah, but it's not serious."

"How is it not serious?"

"Calm down there, rascal. Nothing's wrong."

"Then why were you crying?"

I let a couple of beats of silence pass between us before I shook my head, looking away from Jackson. "Don't make me say it."

His eyebrows only creased further. "What does that even mean?"

"It just means that I don't want to say it," I said, looking away from him, down at his abdomen where my fingers traced along the ridges of his muscles and skin.

"Is it bad?"

"No."

"Then why don't you want to say it?"

"I'm not crying anymore. Isn't that worth focusing on?"

"Babe..."

"Stop feaking out."

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take any of this considering you're basically giving me nothing."

I think I was more embarrassed by the reason behind my tears than anything else. Saying it out loud would give it life and I wasn't sure how the man hovering over me would react to the answer. But at the same time, this was becoming ridiculous. I knew he was persistent and he wouldn't drop this until he got what he wanted.

Pressing my lips together, I looked up at him through my lashes before looking away again. "Have you ever held something so...have you ever been a part of something so..."

I couldn't find the perfect words. Nothing coming to mind seemed to truly grasp what my heart was telling me.

Jackson tilted his head, patiently waiting for my response. As he waited, his fingertips grazed along my cheeks where the tears stained and left nearly-dried streaks.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, the air inflating my lungs with what I hoped would be the minimal amount of courage I needed to answer his question aloud.

"Have you ever been in a moment in time or held a moment in time that was so perfect or so...transcendental of anything you'd ever had before that you just...have no idea how you got there?" I asked, feeling my nerves easing but my heartbeat still thundering loudly. "Like you're afraid that moment will leave with the smallest movement. Like it's too delicate to just let go."

Immediately after finishing, my eyes opened and I was staring directly into brown eyes that were soft and swirling. Jackson's face was considerably more relaxed than it was before. Loose strands of his silky brown hair fell over one side of his face and I reached up to push it back. I was beginning to feel worried as to what he was thinking. Did he think I was crazy? Did he agree with me? Did I say too much?

My eyes inevitably dipped from his eyes to his lips as he gave me a closed-lip smile. It didn't give away much in the way of a reaction, but by the time I looked back into his eyes, I had an idea before he finally gave me a verbal response.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, his tone almost surprisingly confused. "I've never held someone even comparable to you. Why do you think I bother flying you out when I'm away for work or invite you to my house when I'm finally back in town?"

I shrugged, "I thought it was the mind-blowing sex."

The breathy laugh fanned over my neck and bare chest, a trail of goosebumps rising over my skin so easily. I couldn't help but smile at his reaction as well.  

"Firstly, thank you for acknowledging that it's good sex, about fucking time," he said jokingly before his face softened and leveled out. "I care about you. I care about us. And in response to your statement, yes. I know that feeling to want to capture that moment in a mason jar and never let it go. I have that feeling every time you smile at me, call me an idiot—hell, I feel it when you're shoveling popcorn in your mouth like there isn't a whole other human being sitting there watching you like a Discovery Channel special."

Laughing, I turned my head to the side, the feeling swelling deep within me again, my heart fluttering but no longer thundering against my ribcage.

"You make me feel like a king," he said softly.

I gave him a warm smile, my palms flat against his hips as I replied. "That's because you are my King."

"Well in that case," he said, leaning down so that we were literally millimeters away. I went cross eyed trying to focus solely on him. "Can I call you Queen?"

I rolled my eyes at the corny but overly moving sentiment. Raising only one of my hands, I palmed his face, my hand not quite covering all the surface area, but the intention was there.

"I love you," I whispered, my heart squeezing my vocal chords.

"I love you."

[apachepopups]

New Camper

Thought you might like to hear from a new Apache owner. I am 46 and started riding mountain bike few years ago. I don't compete just enjoy the ride. I do like to ride good trails. Last year decided to "camp" for four days at state park that has thirteen miles of trails about forty miles from "home" [grand rapids ,mi]. bought 10x18 ft tent, and basic camping gear [folding lounge chairs,13 in tv/vcr,120/12volt converter, inflatable couch,10x10 canopy,12 volt lights for under canopy and in tent, and inflatable mattress]. As you can guess I don't think camping means roughing it. Everything was great and low and behold turns out my wife [Diana]  love's "camping Dan style". Only two problems 1.I wound up with so much gear that Ranger pickup was'nt up to hauling all of it, so had to take wife's Thunderbird also. 2.With all the comforts of home with it took almost four hours to set up. This year I told Diana I'm not going unless I have camper [bluffing!!!].

So last couple weeks been looking in paper and asking around. Not much luck everything I called on was sold. Finally got up early Saturday to check paper. Found ad for 1970 Apache camper $595,call after 5pm. Well figured it meant weekdays so waited until 10:00am and called. Man I talked to said was in pretty good shape and had plastic walls front and back. This was the first time it hit me that Apache was those campers I used to see back in early 70s that had walls !! We agreed on a time for me to come see it in about three hours. I jumped in Di's t-bird and went on a search for campers that I had heard about or maybe get lucky and run into something. Mostly I couldn't just sit and wait for three hours as the more I thought about those Apache campers I say years ago the more I really wanted walls!!!!! I really didn't want to buy the first thing I looked at, so I drove around looking for two hours. Didn't find one camper for sale.

Well I finally gave up and showed up at the guys house 1/2 hour early. We went out to his pole barn [walking past his newer Jayco]. As soon as I say it I knew I was buying it!!!!  It's a 1970 Mesa III, pretty good shape outside, canvas will be replaced by next year but for this year I'll patch it up somehow [I love to fix things]. I've had it less than 48 hours and its almost gutted. I didn't mention that it will never be the same as my plans are not to restore but to remodel. I have removed the "kitchen" , half the dinette and the table permanently will replace door side seat from dinette .Except I used bottom half of "kitchen" under seat to get doors for access under seat. Looks like potty should fit behind big doors, rest for storage. Next will be to make walls in bottom of camper . Then build cabinet over other wheel well. Remove avocado countertop on cabinet behind door and small cabinet next to seat. This will be replaced with wooden top made from table. Then will carpet floor and walls up to bunk slide with low pile carpet. this will then give me what I want which is a living room feel to it. I do all cooking outside on tailgate of pickup which will be under canopy. Inside I will use a small lamp for light, also have two inflatable chairs and tv/vcr for living room. I love my bike and my wife loves to hike but at night we want to go "home" and relax just don't want to drive 50 miles to get there. This much will be ready in 3 weeks for first long weekend. After that will be looking into a/c before it gets too hot. Need that to relax in during midday heat will hike/bike early/late.  

Well this is getting long but can't help myself just need to tell someone about my new weekend retreat on wheels. Oh yeah I got the camper for $550 and he threw in a 100 foot cord, wheel chocks, a 4ftx6ft outdoor carpet for under [canopy came with], electric heater, and odds and ends. Also has two very good tires on it and a brand new spare. I have been taking pictures and will be glad to share!! I have digital camera and scanner so can send pictures of it as it [must find name for her !!] progresses. I work second shift and will be working on her before work and checking Apache site for info and help as needed at night. I must stop now sleep is needed even when you get old but I'm like little kid with new toy too excited to sleep! Just one more thing as you can tell from screen name I am proud granpa to 2year old baby girl. Already got plans to have them over for a stay. It will work well for now as son/daughter-in-law will sleep in other end bunk and grand girl will have her own pint size bunk. By time she out grows it will have kids convinced to get own "weekend home". enough for now!"   granpadn

- Original posts and stories from the Apachepopups website that have been reposted here to preserve them for future Apache camper enthusiasts

[southeastasianists]

Elections are about the future. And Malaysians will get to decide theirs on the 9th May 2018. What future are Malaysians are facing and voting for? And, to some extent, what bearing will electoral politics have on it?

For now, many Malaysians are voting for the immediate future, as bread-and-butter issues such as housing, cost of living, and jobs were found to be the major concerns of Malaysians. The palpable outpouring of anger most visible in social media in the lead-up to this election, including from the Malay-Muslim electorate that has been the bastion of the ruling coalition-Barisan Nasional (BN), suggests that it’s driven mainly by concerns of the immediate future.

Both the federal government and an opposition-held state government have been splashing benefits on civil servants who are predominantly ethnic Malays. Even the Islamist party Pas has shelved the ‘Islamic state’ debate to focus on more profane concerns, such as abolishing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to curb inflation.

The impetus for change in this round of elections does not look to be as ideational as the previous two elections, where the incumbent’s ethnocentric conservatism was met with a loose consociationalist alliance between secularists, left-leaning progressives, and Islamists of various stripes.

Chances are political fatigue has affected reform-minded Malaysians after two missed opportunities since 2008, which has led to centrifugal politics that generated even more social tensions. Not even Dr Mahathir’s surprise (re)emergence can mend those fractures in the short term.

Devoid of a clear-cut ideational divide, the certainty of a graspable, common goal such as ‘Vision 2020’ is long gone now for most Malaysians. Even immediate aspirations vary depending on whom one asks.

This is reflected in both Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s and BN’s manifestos that run hundreds of pages thick. Part of the reason is that Malaysia is a highly centralised federation. Anyone aiming for federal power is expected to deliver a wide spectrum of public goods, including policing, education, and public transport planning that are usually reserved at the level of states and municipalities of other federations

But another part of the reason is that the development gap between states and regions remains stark. The GDP per capita in 2016 of Kuala Lumpur (RM101,420; A$33,566), for example, is more than double that of relatively industrialised Penang (RM47,322; A$15,662), not to mention the poorer states such as Terengganu (RM27,268; A$9,025) and Sabah (RM21,081; A$6,977). According to data from the Brookings Institution, Kuala Lumpur continues to outgrow the country in terms of GDP per capita and employment. Yet, even the Kuala Lumpur-Klang Valley region, which hosts one-fifth of Malaysia’s population, is a hotbed of inequality itself, as a study from UNICEF found.

In other words, there are two worlds politicians will have to speak to, the First and the Third. In one, even basic services are craved; but in the other, five-figure salary earners are comfortable enough to insist on non-material needs. To be fair, such inequalities have not escaped the government’s attention and redistributive interventions were made. According to the latest plan, cash aid is now disbursed to close to half the households in Malaysia if one goes by the data from the latest household income survey. An almost surreal fact for a country claiming to be achieving ‘high income nation’ status in two years’ time.

Granted, all nations are complex with their own identity, ideology, class, and developmental divides. Yet this ostensibly last election before the 2020 milestone also signals a wander into the unknown for there is no longer any developmental—teleological even—model that speaks of the choices and challenges for Malaysians ahead. There are at least two aspects to this.

First, while the end goal of the New Economic Policy (NEP) is to eliminate inter-ethnic inequality, the rather simplistic framework has led to a more complicated outcome. According to a World Bank report, most income inequality now exists within ethnic groups. Yet, the instruments aimed at boosting inter-ethnic equality have also resulted in public-private inequities that stemmed from the state’s ownership of the economy, an oversized civil service, and labour benefits accrued to said service (such as higher minimum wages as well as ostensibly higher purchasing power).

At the same time, Malaysia remains a low-wage society, even for university graduates. The kind of wages being afforded to fresh graduates in Singapore, even on a dollar-to-dollar basis, is almost unthinkable in Malaysia. Both of which combined to form a situation of over-reliance on state employment, low productivity, and the encouragement of talent outflow.

This happens at the same time as Malaysia reports encouraging GDP growth figures, as well as visibly high income consumerist patterns (and housing prices), creating a confounding situation—high growth data with little personal wealth increase; high consumerist options matched by low income— interlocutors stuck in old race-based paradigms are unwilling and unable to articulate.

Tearing apart the old consensus of racial progress as Progress also contributed to the proliferation of political parties and movements in Malaysia as there is no longer a grand narrative to adhere to. Insecurity seeps in. Protectionist sentiments increase. Interest groups multiply, more so in a political economy touched by the many hands of the state.

Second, not only have First World countries such as Japan (via the Look East Policy) expired as role models for Malaysia, the country has, whether by choice or not, begin to experience ‘First World Problems’ of its own. Urban-rural, intra-urban income and opportunity gaps plague Malaysia as much as it plagues Britain. The aforementioned urban poverty might make some uncomfortable for its comparison to African countries, but the same problem has occurred in the United States and New Zealand. Youth un- and underemployment is as much a Malaysian problem as it is a South Korean one.

Disruptive change brought on by artificial intelligence and social media will reach Malaysian shores like any technological change: rapid, revolutionary, and ruthless. Climate change will impose its effects (for some, it already has) and like most countries, probably with the exception of Europe, it will be an issue that has long-term effects but almost zero short-term incentives for politicians to act on it, more so in a time of climate change denying and anti-vaxxers.

It’s worth noting that out of the manifestos of the three major contenders (BN, PH, and Pas), only PH’s has explicitly addressed the issue of climate change.

To be clear, I am not saying Malaysia is similar to other First World countries. For example, it will have to deal with the problem of growing old before growing rich (enough), unlike Japan which only needs to deal with first half of the problem. Malaysia’s educational institutions are still lagging far behind its First World counterparts, which is probably why Singaporean fresh graduates can fetch salaries Malaysia’s graduates can’t.

What is for sure for Malaysia is that it cannot spend its way out of it. The decline of humanities and social science in universities also means that the state has hoarded much of the critical thinking to its own – a fact to be dealt with regardless of the outcome of the elections. The passing of the anti-fake news bill and the populist streak dispensed by unpopular parties are not promising signs. Like the world writ large, Malaysia has entered terra incognita. It will need to devise ways and philosophies of managing a hyperconnected yet fragmented world. And it needs to do so now not as a nation catching up, but as a member within a global incubator.

Elections are good for deciding pathways of change, only if those pathways are carefully thought-out, comprehensively debated, and creatively sold. For too long Malaysians have strived for a dream to go from Third World to First. It may now need to figure out a way to connect First World and Third.

[business-standard-news]

The nature of Indian economy

Mired with the dual of problem of overpopulation and poverty, and characterized by high unemployment rate and poverty, India’s economy has historically been state-centric but government deregulation since 1991 has produced an expanding upper and middle class with relative high incomes. The current state of the Indian Economy India has a low per capita national income ranking in the lower middle income category as per the World Bank classification with an income per capita of roughly USD 2000. Despite that, the country is no stranger to quarterly growth rate of 7% and above, especially since the new millennium. However, the slowdown in the growth rates since Q3 2018-19 has dashed the nation’s hopes to remain the fastest growing major economy in the World. On par with global economy, India’s economy has contracted by 6.7% in the 2020-21 due to the pandemic. Indian economic development can be characterized as that is still in in developing phase with moderate growth rates. The Nature of Indian economy India has an underdeveloped economy with medium economic growth and relatively high poverty. Its economic policy has historically been state centric but government deregulation since 1991 has produced an expanding upper and middle class with relative high incomes. India’s political economy is one of state-centric but the country is seeing a rapid growth in the private sector. Independent India currently can be characterized as a developing economy with low per capita income. The country is mired with the dual of problem of overpopulation and poverty. Its population currently stands at 1.35 billion. High population growth remained a concern for the country since it gained independence. ​ India has a gross domestic product of USD 2.66 trillion in 2020-21. It has a total population of 1.36 billion (136.6 crore) with a high birth rate. It has a mixed economy with GDP growth between 5% and 7.5% in the last twenty five years and a moderately high capital formation ratio and 3% to 7% inflation. India scores very low on many aspects of economy and business when compared with the developed countries. ​ The Indian economy is dominated by agriculture sector and tertiary sector. The rural India is characterized by high unemployment rate and poverty. The private sector is most visible in the urban metropolis and has witnessed rapid growth since deregulation. The country has a weak manufacturing sector with low to medium skilled workforce. The service sector dominates the urban towns and cities while agriculture retains its heavy footprint in the rural economy. The country’s infrastructural facilities have historically been poor, with the rural areas lacking the most basic facilities. However, there has been significant growth and development in the infrastructure space since the turn of the century. The Indian economy has come a long way since 1985 when we first began to see significant change in the growth trend until that point. Income per capita has increased by ten-fold since then with the country boasting an increasingly vast number of millionaires and billionaires. However, India continues to lag behind on the income and development curve. The features of Indian economy India’s Product Exports composition Consider the figure showing India’s product exports composition for each year from 2006 to 2015. We see that the ten different HS code classes of product trade together make up roughly 60% of total product exports of India (from 2010). In 2015, the four heavy industry classes of product exports Electrical machinery (HS85), Machinery (HS84), Vehicles (HS87), Pharmaceuticals (HS30), and Chemicals (HS29) composed roughly 23% of total product exports. Statistics Division, United Nations Comtrade database ​ India’s top product exports comprise processing trade in Mineral fuels (HS27) and Semi-precious stones (HS71). India’s largest exports in the past decade were mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, which made up about 27% of total product exports. Lastly, another 10% comprises Cotton (HS52), Apparel (HS61), Apparel (HS62), and the rest of 40% of product exports comprises product classes wherein each make up less than 2% of total products exports by value. The top ten product classes in terms of export value as shown in the figure comprise the output of both light industry and heavy industry. India’s exports to other developing countries increased in the recent decade. But India’s share of manufacturing exports and the level of overall value content is still low compared to the performance of other developing countries. ​ India’s partially successful industrialization effort instead created competitive upstream industries such as mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals—the same reflected in the dominance of those products in the country’s total product exports. Export of final goods heavy industry products is still a long way from matching with the figures of the industrialized countries. India’s final goods heavy industry has been starved off of frontier technology, relegating its exports to a small percent of total product exports. In the future, India’s pace and ability to acquire frontier technology determines the growth in the share and the aggregate value of final goods heavy industry exports. ​ India’s Product Imports composition Consider the figure showing India’s product exports composition for every year from 2006 to 2015. We can see that the ten different HS code classes of product trade together make up roughly 80% of the total product imports of India. In 2015, the five heavy industry class of product imports Electrical machinery (HS85), machinery (HS84), Optical and measuring devices (HS90), Chemicals (HS29) & Plastics (HS39) make up roughly 26% of total product imports. And up to 40% to 45% of India’s product imports comprises Mineral fuels (HS27) and Semi-precious stones (HS71)—a portion of mineral fuel imports as part of the processing trade of distilled fuel. lastly, another 12% of the imports comprises Edible oils (HS15), Apparel (HS61), Apparel (HS62), and the rest of 20% include classes that each make up less than 2% of total product imports by value. Much of the product classes in terms of import value are those of heavy industry, some final and some intermediate in the making. Whereas mineral fuels and semi-precious stones imports are part of India’s processing trade, the imports of machinery, electrical machinery, optical and precision instruments, iron and steel make up much of capital goods imports of India. India’s Economic Growth Capabilities Rapid industrialization drives and enables a country’s economic growth and development. That also means there will be an explosion of demand for resources in the form of mineral ore turned to processed-raw material and turned to some form of intermediate or final heavy industry product and the energy to enable all of that. As we know, a country’s modernization through the industrialization route requires at least three-decade long construction boom in industrial plants, roads and bridges, urban housing, etc. ​ The early-industrialized countries such as the US required about a hundred years to modernize their economic activity and lifestyle. In contrast, the process of modernization in the late-developing countries requires compactness in the timeline for provisioning and mobilizing extraordinary resources unprecedented in history. Along those lines, China has set a number of records in terms of its capacity to raise production levels of many resources by a numerical factor within few decades. India has been able to do the same, although on a slightly smaller scale in terms of production volume. ​ Where is India’s economy destined from here? What will its economic recovery be like? What will be the features of indian economy going forward? Can the country replicate China’s success? The options are clear. There are only two places India can see itself reaching in the future. India can either become a developed country or it can continue to remain a developing country indefinitely. ​ There exist many obstacles to economic development but the latest work The General Theory of Rapid economic development helps you understand them in detail and shows how a nation can achieve success at economic development. You can avail a FREE advanced copy on the book’s website GeneralTheoryBook.com. About the Author Shivaji Lokam is Co-founder and Director at Blackridge Research & Consulting. He is the author of the upcoming work The General Theory of Rapid Economic Development. Contact Details Sai Krishna PR Manager, entropypublishers@gmail.com +91 9988661077 Read the full article

[adonisaurearthshake]

Reflection 5 1. What is the difference between nominal and real GDP? Nominal GDP uses current prices to value the economy’s production of goods and services. Real GDP uses constant base - year prices to value the economy’s production of goods and services. To remove the effect of price changes and obtain a measure of the amount produced, we use real GDP, which is the production of goods and services valued at constant prices. Because price changes do not affect real GDP changes in real GDP reflect only changes in the quantities produced. Thus, real GDP measures the economy’s production of goods and services. The goal in computing GDP is to gauge how well the overall economy is performing. Reiterating, the real GDP measures the economy’s production of goods and services, it reflects the economy’s ability to satisfy people’s needs and desires. Thus, real GDP is better gauged of economic well-being than is nominal GDP. When economics talk about the economy’s GDP, they usually mean real GDP rather than nominal GDP. And when they talk about growth in the economy, a measure that growth as the percentage change in real GDP from the period to another. (pg.97) 2.  How is nominal and real GDP calculated?  Nominal GDP: Multiply the current year quantity output by the current market price. Real GDP: Use the (base year) prices and multiply by (current year) quantities for all the goods and services produced.  FORMULA EXAMPLE: GDP DEFLATOR= NOMINAL GDP                                  ———————- = x 100                                 REAL GDP NOMINAL GDP= DEFLATOR x REAL GDP                                 ———————————-                                                  100 **GDP Deflator- is calculated by dividing (nominal GDP) by (real GDP) and multiply by 100. GDP Deflator measures price inflation. ** 3. Look up a current event of the GDP in the United Sates? Current Event: The COVID 19 Impact The increase in first quarter GDP reflected the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments, and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter, government assistance payments, such as direct economic impact payments, expanded unemployment benefits, and Paycheck Protection Program loans, were distributed to households and businesses through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the first quarter of 2021 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. For more information, see the  HYPERLINK “https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-06/tech1q21_3rd_0.pdf” Technical Note and  HYPERLINK “http://www.bea.gov/recovery” Federal Recovery Program and BEA Statistics. Why: The increase in PCE reflected increases in durable goods (led by motor vehicles and parts), nondurable goods (led by food and beverages), and services (led by food services and accommodations). The increase in nonresidential fixed investment reflected increases in equipment (led by information processing equipment) and intellectual property products (led by software). The increase in federal government spending primarily reflected an increase in payments made to banks for processing and administering the Paycheck Protection Program loan applications as well as purchases of COVID-19 vaccines for distribution to the public. The decrease in private inventory investment primarily reflected a decrease in retail trade inventories (mainly by motor vehicles and parts dealers). Image Image What is the current GDP for 2021? Current‑dollar GDP increased 13.0 percent at an annual rate, or $684.4 billion, in the second quarter to a level of $22.72 trillion…. The US economy advanced an annualized 6.6% on quarter in Q2 2021, slightly higher than 6.5% in the advance estimate but still below forecasts of 6.7%. Upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment (9.3% vs 8% in the advance estimate) and exports (6.6% vs 6%) were partly offset by downward revisions to private inventory investment, residential fixed investment (-11.5% vs -9.8%), and state and local government spending (0.3% vs 0.8%). Imports were also revised down (6.7% vs 7.8%). The rapid spread of the coronavirus delta variant, supply-chain disruptions, shortage of workers and a cooling housing market are seen weighing on the growth for the rest of the year. source:  HYPERLINK “http://www.bea.gov/"U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Image Why Does This Matter: The increase in private goods-producing industries primarily reflected an increase in durable goods manufacturing (led by computer and electronic products, fabricated metal products, and machinery). The increase was partly offset by decreases in nondurable goods manufacturing (led by petroleum and coal products) and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting (led by farms). The increase in private services-producing industries primarily reflected increases in professional, scientific, and technical services; information (led by data processing, internet publishing, and other information services); administrative and waste management services (led by administrative and support services); real estate and rental and leasing; and retail trade. These increases were partly offset by decreases in other services (which includes activities of political organizations); healthcare and social assistance (led by ambulatory health care services); and utilities. And seeing increase in government, federal, state and local. Furthermore, GDP is important because it gives information about the size of the economy and how an economy is performing. The growth rate of real GDP is often used as an indicator of the general health of the economy. In broad terms, an increase in real GDP is interpreted as a sign that the economy is doing well. US ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, The Conference Board Economic Forecast for the US Economy, February 10, 2021 https://conference-board.org/research/us-forecast Bea, News Release, Gross Domestic Product (Third estimate) June 24, 2021 https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/gross-domestic-product-third-estimate-gdp-industry-and-corporate-profits-revised-1st https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/gross-domestic-product-second-quarter-2021-advance-estimate-and-annual-update Trading Economics, United States GDP Growth Rate, 2022-2023 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth#:~:text=GDP%20Growth%20Rate%20in%20the,the%20second%20quarter%20of%202020. International Monetary Fund, Gross Domestic Product: An Economy’s All, February 24, 2020 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/gdp.htm

[plastic-mold]

blow molded parts from China-Tooling 40% lower, Molded part 30% reduced

Blow Molding Company

Blow molding, also known as hollow blow molding, is a molding way that the heated plastic parison gets inflated and molded in the blow mold to achieve blow molded parts, which are adopted to manufacture hollow products. Blow molding is widely used in toys, household commodities, chemicals, cosmetics, food, etc. Our blow molded products include: - toy car, - teapot, - toolbox, - wheels, - mineral water bottle, - lampshade, - pots, barrels, - cans, - pipeline, - automobile conduit, - hose, - container, - depot equipment, - stadium seating, and so on.   Advantages: compared with injection molding, extrusion blow molding has the following advantages: - Blow molding machine (especially blow mold) cost is low (similar product), blow molding machinery cost is about 1 / 3 – 1 / 2 that of the injection molding machine, also the production cost is low; - In the blow molding, the heated parison is inflated in the blow mold under low pressure (mostly 0.2 – 1.0MN) via the die head on the blow molding machine. As a result of the small residual stress, the blow-molded parts have good performance: tensile resistance, impact resistance, bending resistance, and environment friendly. In the injection molding, the melted plastic should be injected in high pressure (15 – 140yPa) through the mold runner and runner, which will lead to uneven distribution of stress; - The relative molecular mass of a blow-grade plastic (e.g., PE) is much higher than injection-grade plastics. Therefore, the blow molding product features the characters with high impact toughness, resistance to the environment, and stress cracking. So it is suitable for the production of packaging of transport detergent, chemical reagent container, and barrel; - Because the blow mold is only composed of 2 cavities, simply adjusting the die head gap or extrusion conditions can change the thickness of the product. It is with advance to make the blow-molded part with the required wall thickness, which couldn’t be predicted. While for the injection molding, it is very hard to change the wall thickness of the injection molded product; - Blow molding can produce products with very small wall thickness, which kind of products cannot be produced by injection molding; - Blow molding can produce an integral, complicated and irregular product. While as to injection molding, to assemble two or more products, snap-fit, screw, and ultrasonic welding are needed. The disadvantage of blow molding is that the accuracy of blow-molded products is generally not as high as injection molding products.  

In-house Blow Mold Making

One of the primary reasons for the rapid development of blow molding, once the equipment was commercially available，was the economies afforded a molder in the tooling costs. Regardless of materials used, a blow mold consists of a set of pins and bushings for alignment of the two halves； pinch-off plates at both ends, usually made of mild steel, a basic mold body, or a shell；and adequate cooling channels for rapid and effective heat transfer. Due to the limited number of blow mold and blow-molded part manufacturers in China, the molder must know as much about mold design and mold shrinkage as possible. In a majority of cases, the initial development of a blow-molded item is done by the molder. The part produced is actually a compromise between the molder’s machine capabilities and the customer's desires. For this reason, a molder must work extremely closely with the mold maker to make required changes and do all the testing before production.

Blow Molding Materials

The type of material selected for a mold will depend on: -  The number of pieces to be produced. - Type of material to be blow molded. - Several molds are required. - Speed of production. - Quality of the finished part. Molds are presently produced from the following materials: - Aluminum (cast and machined) - “Kirksite” (pressure and gravity cast) -  Beryllium-copper -  Machined steel Besides the four materials mentioned above, two others are being used to some extent in experimental work. They are: -  Epoxy filled with aluminum or steel. - Hard copper shell molds.

Aluminum Molds

Aluminum molds are one of the most commonly used types. In the cast aluminum type, the model maker produces a full-scale plaster model for customer approval. These samples are either hand-made or machine-made, depending on the circumstances. At this time, the model maker determines the shrinkage factor for casting (approximately .040" per inch) and the shrinkage for the template of about .058-.060" per inch for plaster and casting. Once a model has been constructed, a plaster mold is produced, and from this is produced the first rough lead casting. The lead casting is finished and dowelled, and used as the master for producing the production cavities. In some cases, cooling channels are cast into place during the casting operation； in others, channels are drilled into the mold. Since aluminum is relatively a soft metal, it is easily scarred or damaged by rough treatment in the shop. Also, if used in constant production, the pinch-off areas degrade. For this reason, a pinch plate of mild steel should be inserted to obtain maximum efficiency from the molds. This is especially true of a mold whose shortest inside diameter is smaller than the parison diameter.

Zinc Alloy

This material, probably more commonly known as “Kirksite, “，is preferred by many molders because of its castability, stability, excellent heat transfer properties, machinability, and reasonable cost. The grain structure of this type of mold gives a tensile strength of approximately 50,000 psi and compression strength of 100,000 psi. The casting process is basically the same as for aluminum molds. These inserts accomplish three objectives. -  Since the pinch-off is the part of greatest wear, it can easily be replaced. - It gives access to the mold for parting line finishing. - It enables separate cooling to be installed in the pinch-off areas. Zinc alloys can be cast, hobbed, or machined, and although they are more expensive than aluminum, they exhibit better heat-transfer characteristics and wear slightly better than aluminum.

Beryllium-Copper

Beryllium-copper molds are used extensively throughout the doll industry for the blow molding of doll bodies. This type of mold is roughly 2-3 times the cost of the equivalent aluminum mold but has excellent heat-transfer characteristics and, all things being equal, gives faster production.

Machined Steel

This type of mold is best used in two specific areas: - If an article to be produced is within the diameter of the parison and an excess of material will result all around the molded piece, then steel should be used. - In multiple-cavity blowing, again due to excessive pinch-off areas, steel is recommended. The above types require extraordinary clamping pressure and result in more than normal wear on the pinch-off areas. The disadvantages of a steel mold are that the heat-transfer properties are only fair to good and that it is the heaviest of all mold materials and requires more set-up time than the lighter molds. Read the full article

[ground5]

7 Ways to Prepare Your Business to Scale Up

Are you a startup founder who's eager to scale your business? Make sure you make these preparations first.   Assuming that you've successfully started a startup. Scalability is the ability of a startup to grow. Or, to put it more precisely, a scalable business can adapt to a larger workload without compromising performance or losing revenue. Can your business with 0 in annual revenue grow to a 1000 Crore company? If it's scalable, then yes. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); But not every business is poised to make it big. Some startups get off the ground without the right systems, people, or mindset in place. Trying to grow such businesses is like trying to inflate a tractor tire with a bicycle pump. Here's how you can prepare your startup to scale up. Get the basics down. Before you even worry about scaling your startup, make sure your fundamentals are fool proof. According to the Startup Genom's survey of 3200+ startups, 74% of failures can be explained by premature scaling. So make sure you're covered for the following: Make sure your core product line reaches "market fit". You can make gradual improvements through product iterations based on user feedback and data. Find out your largest core users. Find out the marketing channels with the biggest ROI and scaling potential by testing with smaller budgets first. Make sure you have the resources to scale. Seek additional round of funding if necessary. You can't worry about profitability while scaling, and the last thing you want is to run out of money. Note: Even though these practices are software-centric, they also apply to physical products. So if you started an e-commerce site, make sure you take the time to get the basics right before scaling. Related Article: Easy Steps to Start an Business Automate Everything. If you're spending a long time "setting up" your business, then good for you. Setting up cloud storage and organization... Setting up training processes for new hires... Setting up marketing automation... Setting up payroll for rapid processing... Setting up billpay for automatic withdrawals... (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Even though it takes a long time on the front end, this activity will pay for itself in the long term. You'll be able to access data faster, hire faster, market better, pay easier, and streamline operations for a truly scalable model.

Related Article: Easy Steps to Start an Business Boost marketing. How can a business scale if no one knows about it? Focus on marketing, and scalability will follow. But not every form of marketing is scalable. According to Forbes "direct marketing is...not scalable" and "word-of-mouth does not scale." Content marketing, on the other hand, is one of the most scalable growth methods. Content marketing has evergreen value and viral potential, making it the growth-hack method of choice for most startups. Outsource non-essentials. For big corporations, the name of the game is "in-house." They've got in-house graphic designers, developers, conversion optimizers, SEOs, CPAs, lawyers, and even janitors. Startups can't afford that luxury, and if you want to be strong enough to grow, you'll need to outsource all non-essential roles. Your graphic design firm doesn't need a law department. Your SEO consulting firm doesn't require a full-time PowerPoint designer. You just need to focus on what you're good at. This lean approach is what allows a startup to break into the big time. When you're nailing it with your core competencies, you'll start to scale up.  Related Article: Easy Steps to Start an Business Keep an eye on social media. Every new startup is in the public eye. Whatever happens on social media will be examined by the world. It's important in your startup days to watch your social media carefully. Fledgling startups can't afford to take a major PR hit with a social media flap. Big companies might be able to weather the storm, but your startup isn't ready for it. Scalability is about surviving, as much as it is about growing. If you hit a PR, you're limiting your chance of survival and scalability. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Related Article: Easy Steps to Start an Business Excuse yourself. Your business is not about you. In order to be truly scalable, your business should be able to function just fine without you. The way you put that into place is by deliberately shifting responsibility off your shoulders, or into the oversight of someone else. In addition, you should take deliberate absences so you can force the business and personnel to be independent. It may be a little bit humbling to come back from a four-week vacation and discover that the business is thriving without your being there. But this can actually be encouraging, too. Your business is making money while you sleep, relax, or build something else. You've proven to yourself and to your employees that the business isn't tied to your presence or even your existence. You feel liberated. They feel empowered. The business is ready to grow. Hire the right people (and only the right people). A business is scalable, only when it has the right people on board. First, though, you have to hire only the people that are necessary to the operation. (See "outsource" below.) Here are some of the key characteristics of a team member who will help you scale: They can do what a program can't. If you have a human doing something that a machine can do, then you're wasting human effort. A startup needs to automate everything that it can in order to maximize the output of human team members. They are full of good ideas. You can't put a dollar price on the value of a good idea. A single lightbulb moment on the part of one employee can more than pay for that employee. They have more than one skill. In the startup environment, one person might have to do three jobs. Hire people with a multifaceted skill set, or skills that can be transferred from one task to another. Final thoughts. Scalability is a mindset, too. Sure, you need to have the right systems and processes, people, and plans. But you also need to think big to become big. Having a scalable business means that you are free to unleash your dreams, make a lot of money, and have fun doing it. Once you get your mind in the game, scalability becomes way easier. What have you done to create a scalable business? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Credit: Neil Patel, Co-founder, Crazy Egg Article Source: https://www.inc.com/neil-patel/7-ways-to-prepare-your-startup-to-scale-up.html  Related Article: Easy Steps to Start an Business  Related Article: Negotiating commercial lease: Don’t give post-dated Cheques  Related Article: Choosing the Best Office Space for Your Startup Business  Related Article: Tips for Earning an Income off your Property – Become a Landlord  Read the full article