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nugnthopkns · 4 years ago

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take the sadness out of saturday night

word count: 2.8k

warnings: insinuated fem!reader, a couple of curse words, alcohol consumption, vaguely described feelings of inadequacy

recommended listening: chinatown | bleachers featuring bruce springsteen

a/n: will i ever write anything more than 3k? probs not. also this baby is completely self indulgent but i don’t even care

All you want to do is sleep. Or drink an entire bottle of wine. Maybe both.

Graduate school is a lot harder than you expected it to be. You obviously weren’t naïve enough to think it be as easy as your undergrad, but you didn’t think it would be like this. It’s competitive; with people doing whatever it takes to get ahead. You’ve almost had your thesis topic stolen twice. The workload is also incredibly different. Gone are the days of small tests and assignments: everything relies on your thesis paper being of the utmost quality. You feel like you’re drowning in the middle of the ocean.

Today was the worst in a succession of terrible days. On the way to campus you dropped your coffee but didn’t have enough time to get another one. The conditions didn’t get any better once you reached school. Your lunch got left behind on the kitchen island and your advisor didn’t show up for your meeting, putting you another two weeks behind schedule. To top it off, you left campus later than usual and caught in the horrendous Philadelphia traffic. By the time you reach your apartment complex you’re thoroughly exhausted and two seconds away from crying.

How you can afford your current lodging is beyond you. Tuition is waived by the university, which certainly helps, but you’re mostly relying on loans. It will be a bitch to pay off in a few years, but you don’t have any other option. The building isn’t ridiculously flashy, with semi-outdated furnishing, but it’s in a central location that anyone in Philly would kill for. Every day you wake up grateful there isn’t an eviction notice on your door; though you’re very careful to pay rent on time. Only the small lamp in the entryway is on when you unlock the door, but you keep it that way. Kicking off your sneakers and haphazardly hanging up your jacket, you shuffle into the bedroom portion of the studio. The pyjamas tucked under the pillow are calling your name, and it feels so good to free yourself of business casual clothing.

The next stop on your mad-dash around in order to plant yourself on the couch as quickly as possible is the bathroom. You scrub your face vigorously, knowing you’ll pay for it in a few days when a breakout appears, but you can’t find it within you to care. It feels so good to be clean and in control of a situation. The kitchen is where you meander to next, filling the largest glass you can find with rosé. A bag of candy is grabbed as well, and then you’re tucking yourself into the corner of the couch and piling on the blankets. You open Netflix and briefly debate what to watch before deciding on something you’ve seen a million times before that won’t require your full attention.

Half an hour into the film you get hungry, but with no ambition to cook for yourself. Take out it is. You place an order at your favourite sushi joint and lazily return your gaze to the T.V. The scene on the screen no longer appeals to you, so you dig around the cushions to find your phone. It’s been a while since you’ve called your mom and you know she’s been missing you; truth be told you miss her a resounding amount. Philadelphia is a long ways from home and you can’t afford to travel often. Not being near your pillar of support is definitely wearing on you. She picks up on the fifth ring.

“Hello?”

A tear slips out at the sound of her voice. Yours catches in your throat slightly, and your response is garbled. “Mom,” it breaks at the end, and the tears quickly turn into a waterfall.

“Oh honey,” she sighs, chest filling with pain at your apparent despair. “What’s the matter?”

You sob for a minute or two before it subsides enough for you to actually speak. Through hiccups and sniffles you detail your horrible week, and the one before that for good measure. Your mom stays silent, listening with intent, and the one sided conversation eventually turns into you fretting about how you feel inadequate in your academic community and how you can’t picture a future. Only once you’ve ran out of words does she speak, negating the argument put in place by your imposter syndrome and doing her best to inflate your ego.

“You’ve earned your seat at the table Y/N,” she says with conviction. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you deserve to be there. You’re cut out for this; no one is more passionate about their work than you.”

Another hiccup slips past your lips as you respond. “Thanks Mom.”

You don’t have to see her to know she’s sporting a smile. “We’re so proud of you honey, and always will be. No matter what you decide to do. Hell, you could move to Peru to become an alpaca farmer and your dad and I would be the happiest parents on Earth.”

The comment is meant to make you laugh, citing the time you called her during your undergrad to inform her you were dropping out and moving to the Andes. It works. You can’t help it, and have to admit it feels good after days of negative feelings. She distracts you further, recounting a story about your youngest brother’s recent baseball game that ended with a trip to the hospital after an unfortunate sliding incident. You wince at the mention of the basemen’s cleat colliding with his ankle, and chuckle when she talks about Connor singing showtunes in the recovery room. The story swapping continues, and it brings comfort. If you close your eyes you can envision yourself sitting on your mom’s bed, hiding your face in a pillow when anything embarrassing happens.

A knock at your door ends your conversation, and the sadness slowly trickles back into your bones. “Mom, I’ve gotta go. The delivery person is here.”

“Okay sweetie. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Having lost track of time, you’re wildly unprepared to pay for your food. “One minute,” you yell in the direction of the front door, praying the person on the other side heard you. You root around your wallet for the appropriate amount of cash before sliding across the floor and unlocking the door handle. The person standing there is not in fact a food delivery service worker, but your neighbour from across the hall, holding what you presume to be your dinner.

“Nolan?”

To say you’re shocked is an understatement. Though you’d go as far to say the two of you are casual acquaintances, he’s never shown up unannounced on your doorstep. Most of your interactions take place in the elevator or hallway, and you’ve only been inside his apartment once when you left your keys in your advisor’s office. Being a professional hockey player means he typically isn’t around a lot, but you had learned from a friend he’s spending the season sidelined by an injury. He still hasn’t been around a lot from what you could tell.

His low rumble catches you off guard for a millisecond but it doesn’t take long to adjust. “They, uh, sent it to the wrong door,” he mumbles, holding out the bag to illustrate his point.

“Fuck,” you swear. “Sorry. How much do I owe you?” A ballpark figure is in your brain, but you aren’t above throwing in a few extra dollars for the inconvenience. No one wants to receive their neighbour’s food.

Nolan shakes his head profusely and shoves his hands in his pockets when you try to slip the money into them. “It’s on the house,” he shrugs. “Think of it as an apology for being a shit neighbour these past couple of months.”

“You’re a great neighbour Nolan. I have no complaints.” He returns your smile but doesn’t speak. An awkward tension fills the air between you, almost as if each of you is waiting for the other to talk.

“Well I’ll let you –”

“Would you like some company?”

The question stops you dead in your tracks. A look of bewilderment must appear on your face because Nolan starts blabbering. “It’s just that you looked upset when you came to the door, like you’ve been crying. I can also see the nearly empty bottle of wine on the counter and that’s never a good sign.” He pauses for a second to take a breath before blurting out a final sentence. “And there’s a game tonight and if I don’t distract myself from it I think I might die.” Ragged breathing punctuates the sudden stoppage, and when you look up to meet his eyes you feel a sense of desperation.

Without saying anything you open the door wider and retreat into the unit, hoping he gets the hint. It takes him all of two seconds to follow you, quickly darting across the hall to lock his door. You’re at the fridge when he returns, and turn around to ask him what he’d like to drink.

“It seems like an alcohol kind of night,” you chuckle. “What are you having?”

He looks at you sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. “Could I have a glass of that rosé?”

You nod and gesture for him to pass you the bottle. “Never pegged you as a wine drinker,” you comment as you fill his cup.

“Travis teases me relentlessly so I don’t keep it at the house anymore. Can only drink it in private.”

At the mention of his teammate’s name you understand. It’s exhausting to fit into someone’s mould of you. “Your secret is safe with me.”

The two of you migrate to the couch and once again become shrouded in silence. It’s comfortable this time, as you nurse your glasses and watch the skyline. Just having someone by your side is enough to quell the upset you’ve felt all day. You wonder why you hadn’t sought Nolan out sooner. It seems he’s been in a similar situation; having terrible days and feeling alone. Conversation only comes once he realizes both your drinks are empty. Nolan opens the fridge to find one more bottle of wine; a cheap, fruity one that’s meant to taste like a cooler. It’s strawberry flavoured, which equal parts thrills and disgusts him. He’s thrown back to his first high school party, when this was the only alcohol he could get his friends’ older sisters to buy him.

“I feel like I’m sixteen again,” he laughs, not bothering to fill his glass. Instead, he swigs from the bottle before reaching over the back of the couch and placing in your lap. You follow his lead, drinking directly from the vessel.

“Don’t judge me,” you huff. “I like the way it tastes.”

Nolan gazes sideways at you before dropping his voice to a near whisper. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

In a streak of boldness that came from god knows where, you place a hand on top of his. He doesn’t retract but doesn’t push forward either. You’re too scared to do anything else, and soon retract your hand and place it in your lap. “So,” you cough. “You need a distraction?”

☀☀☀☀

One comedy special turned into three, and it’s safe to say both you and Nolan are feeling exponentially better than when he knocked on your door. The alcohol flowed until you ran out, but neither of you are drunk. Perhaps tipsy; most definitely content. It’s so nice to enjoy someone’s company without the pressure of maintaining a perfect appearance. Nolan must feel it too, because he slowly begins to open up, talking about his career and ambitions for a life after hockey. You sit quietly, much like your mother had done hours before, as he describes his frustration with the migraines and how he yearns to bond with his teammates.

“I’m just so scared this is it, that I’m done,” he hiccups.

You tentatively shuffle closer to him, looking for signs that he’s uncomfortable. Once you’re squished beside him, shoulder to shoulder, you take yet another page from your mother’s book. “If tonight is a good indicator of who you are, then you, Nolan Patrick, are going to be just fine. Seems to me that this is nothing but a bump in the road. You’re destined for greatness.”

He smiles, possibly the first completely real one he’s given you all night, and it reaches his eyes. “You really think that?”

“Absolutely. Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe it to be true. You see, in my line of work, truth is of the utmost importance.”

At Nolan’s incessant prodding you talk about school, your thesis, and what you hope to achieve. It doesn’t sting the way you thought it would, possibly because you’re speaking to someone who’s completely enamored with the topic. Academia clearly fascinates Nolan, though he makes it clear he has no interest in joining the community. The only way you can describe the feeling of explaining everything to him is refreshing; he asks insightful questions about your research and isn’t bogged down by the technicalities like so many of your fellow scholars. When you’ve exhausted all you can say and Nolan’s ‘poked’ holes in all of your theories, he gets a serious look and turns so your body is framed by his.

In this position there’s no denying how attractive he is. Of course you’ve always found him easy to look at when you passed in the halls, but knowing him as intimately as you now do makes you realize how much you like him. “Come to a game with me?” he asks.

Your rhythm is once again thrown off by the man in front of you. “A game?”

Nolan nods enthusiastically. “A game. I’ve been meaning to go to one for a while, but I can’t find the courage to go alone. The next home game is on Tuesday, but we can obviously go to another one when it fits your schedule. If you want to come, that is.”

He’s yet to be this excited about hockey all night, and who are you to deny your newfound friend something he wants so badly? “Tuesday’s perfect Nolan.” He pumps his fist in happiness and you giggle at his antics.

“I’m so happy I could kiss you.” It slips out before he realizes, and the shock on his face lets you know it was an accident.

“You can if you want.”

You’re surprised at your own boldness, but don’t have much time to read into what the statement could mean because Nolan’s leaning in to rest his forehead against yours.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The moment his lips touch yours it feels like a homecoming. He’s gentle but firm, letting you know he doesn’t want this to be a one time thing without saying anything at all. Nolan brings to you a sort of warmth that settles in your chest that makes you truly content with how life is going. You lose yourself in him, letting your heart steer the ship. He never waivers from you, only pulling back slightly to card his fingers through your hair. They settle at the nape of your neck and make shivers tingle your spine. You’re impossibly close, but you wish it would never end. After what feels like a millennia you break apart, chests heaving slightly from the lack of oxygen.

You can’t find the words, but you know you never want to be without Nolan again. All the anguish you experienced earlier feels light years away after a few short hours of truly knowing him. It seems that he’s on the same page, because Nolan makes no effort to remove himself from the situation. In fact, he seems perfect content to never move again: arm comfortably around your shoulder as he places a chaste kiss to the crown of your head.

“So is Tuesday a date now?” You squeak, voice small. You’re worried you’ve ruined the moment, but he cuts off your overthinking with a squeeze your bicep.

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” he replies, and you know he means it.

You can’t help yourself and slot your lips against his once again. “I’d like that a lot. There’s one condition though: I want to meet Gritty.”

Nolan’s laugh echoes off the walls and sounds like the sweetest melody you’ve ever heard. “Think I can manage to pencil you in to the schedule. It has a soft spot for me.”

As he reaches for the remote to put on highlights of the game that’s well over, you shuffle to rest your head comfortably in his lap. Your fingers find his and lazily combine. Nolan mumbles something you don’t quite catch, something about a play Travis made, but you hum in agreement anyways. He’s most likely right. Your eyes begin to droop, and as you fall asleep you forget why you were even sad in the first place.

☀☀☀☀

taglist: @jamiedrysdales if you want to be added shoot me an ask :)

#nolan patrick imagine #nolan patrick x reader #nolan patrick fic #philadelphia flyers imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #nhl imagine #nhl fic #cwrites

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theawkwardterrier · 6 years ago

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things left behind and the things that are ahead

Summary: Steve goes back. Some things are the same. Some are different.

AO3 link here.

The problem with deciding not to come back from returning the stones is that he has no one to consult about what exactly that means. Bucky, the only one who knows, the only one who guessed, has no expertise in quantum physics or advice about what exactly he’ll be doing to the timeline.

“You’re taking all the stupid with you,” he’d said, and part of what he meant was this: going off half-cocked as always, Rogers. Seat of your goddamn pants. He isn’t wrong about that part. For a strategist, Steve spends a lot of his time winging it.

(He tries not to miss Sam. He misses Sam.)

Even once he’s taken the leap, used the Pym particles to land himself so far back that he’ll only make it to the twenty-first century again by living through until then, he doesn’t precisely know what to do about it all. He spends a week alone, and then another. He does odd jobs to make money for food and a room to sleep in. He’s forgotten how different something like finding work had been, in the days before resumes and networking and the necessary google of someone’s name and background. People look at his eyes and assume he’s a vet, they look at his arms and assume that he can lift and carry things; they’re right on both counts, and that’s enough.

He already took the chance, just coming back here, but he worries about what he might do to Peggy’s future - her amazing, groundbreaking future - if he tries to slip back into her life. But he is also so tired, so encompassingly tired. He has helped to hold the world up for what feels a lifetime: Atlas with arms exhausted and shaking. He imagines how sweet it will feel to rest with her beside him. He knows he has to try.

(He must have known it all along. He brought himself to Washington D.C. in 1949. Peggy’s lived here for just over two years.)

He knows her address. He can remember the exact pattern of the heart monitor, the precise places where she laughed as she told him about the K Street apartment that had first been rented for her.

“Ghastly place,” she had said, smiling even as she did. “Everything dark wood, with barely a window for a bit of sunlight. And practically on top of scandal: I couldn’t go out my front door without thinking of Teapot Dome! So I had the housing stipend rerouted to a lovely little place on 11th Street and things worked out rather nicely. I didn’t feel quite so miserable about coming home, and there was a grocery and a café right across the street.”

He waits for her in the café, tucked in the back. Peggy comes in promptly at seven in the morning. She speaks to the woman behind the counter, a young black woman with a wide, sweet smile, and carries a cup of tea over while her breakfast is being prepared in the kitchen. She sits down at one of the tables entirely automatically, picking up a newspaper and not even looking as she slides into the booth seat facing toward the door. Her regular spot, then.

(Nat always said he made a terrible spy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be observant.)

He means to come sit on the seat opposite from her. He pictures it minutely, down to the way the vinyl will rub and give as he slides across, but he finds that he cannot picture how she will look at him, what she will say. In the moment, he freezes. He ends up looming awkwardly over her for long enough that she looks up at him, a polite smile on her face as if she expects to be handed a plate of bacon and eggs, or perhaps to need to turn down a request for a date.

But then she takes in what she’s seeing.

She breathes in a sob. Her teacup is already sitting on the tabletop, but she sets down her folded paper as carefully as if it were made of porcelain too.

“Steve?” He feels the echo of the fragile word through decades. He thought he knew, when he saw her for the first time barely able to lift her head from her hospital bed, when he found the photograph that she kept so boldly on her SHIELD desk twenty-five years after he'd been gone, that they would be like this in any time. Apparently he didn’t truly know until he hears it. He is shaking.

She stands abruptly, pushing herself out of the booth and catching his hands in hers. She is so very close to him.

“Am I going to have to murder Howard for keeping secrets?” she asks quietly. He shakes his head. She traces over the skin of his forehead, no longer as smooth as it had been. She runs fingers through the front curve of his hair, strange to her, with such perfect delicacy that he almost flinches away.

“No,” she agrees quietly, and takes her handbag from the table. “Come with me. I have to set a terrible example for my employees.”

Later, after Peggy calls in pretending to be sick to a Howard simultaneously suspicious (when was the last time Peggy was ill?) and totally heedless, probably already thinking of what kinds of explosions he’s going to be taking on today, she makes them fresh tea. He can tell that it’s just a distraction. The kettle is whistling for nearly a minute before she breaks their gaze and goes to pour the water.

When they are across from each other at her small kitchen table, she says, “Tell me,” and he does, a bit.

When he has finished his brief sketch of things, she takes a sip of tea. “So, the future,” she says, her voice musing rather than judging.

“You seem to be taking this pretty well,” he tells her.

“Yes, well, I’m not entirely sure that this is real, you see,” she explains.

He looks out her nice little window for a moment; when he leaves, he’ll have no memory of the kind of view she has. “If I’d showed up and said that I’d been dug out of the ice and came to find you, would you have believed it more?”

“Perhaps,” she admits. She looks into his eyes, though, and adds quietly, “But perhaps not.”

“I understand. Even where I’ve been, time travel is a pretty new development.” He pushes back from the table, carefully so as not to rattle Peggy’s pretty blue-edged china. He looks down at her, and she looks back, a bit of tilting evaluation in her eyes. “The Dodgers are going to lose the Series to the Yankees, four games to one. It’ll all be over Sunday night. The score of the last game will be ten to six.”

She swallows. “Then I suppose I shall see you Monday morning?” Her hands, with their neatly manicured nails, rest solidly on the table in front of her. Her knuckles are pressed tightly together.

“I’ll see you on Monday,” he says, nodding slightly to her, and sees himself out.

She is already waiting when he enters the café on Monday morning. The only clue to how she’s feeling is the way her head pops quickly up whenever the door swings open.

“I’m sorry about your Dodgers,” she says as he sits down across from her.

He shakes his head. “The Yanks will do even worse to the Phillies next year,” he says, and she covers her mouth with a trembling hand.

When she speaks again, it is aching. “Let’s go home,” she says.

“Don’t you have work?”

“I planned ahead this time. As far as anyone knows, I’m scheduled to be out of the office in meetings all day.” She examines him again. He understands the urge; he thinks at this point he could describe where each of her curls lies against her shoulders, and if he couldn’t, he’ll just need to take her in a while longer.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“Of course I am.” Humor, just the most hidden hint of tears. “It seems that you’re still a bit hopeless, I see, even after all this time.”

(Tony would have said the same thing. Tony.)

“Probably.” He gets to his feet, offers her his hand. She takes it, lightly, more formality than anything else, and stands beside him. “I’ll work on it.”

“I’m sure you will.” She leads him out again, toward her apartment. “And I’ll certainly be happy to assist.”

They settle into something. It’s so easy that Steve catches his breath from it sometimes, exultation with a bold edge of fear. She goes to work, and he stays in their neighborhood. He does the shopping at the corner market and learns, after a fashion and several borrowed library books, how to cook. He does the laundry, and learns the hard way which of Peggy's suits need special care. He walks around getting to know the area.

He overhears two of Peggy’s neighbors whispering about him as he helps a little boy fix his bike chain on the street corner.

“I always thought she must have a man somewhere,” one says to the other.

“Well, he’s lucky she took him back. She’s been here two years, nice, polite girl with a good job and that wonderful smile, and he turns up now? Where has he been?”

“I’m not much sure it matters, looking at him.”

Steve tucks his head and grins.

He stops by the newsstand for a paper enough times that the owner, an older guy named Al, eventually asks if he’d like to do a bit of work. Steve knows it’s mostly pity, but he’s restless. He takes Al up on it, working pasted together hours so Al can take breaks during the day and get home a bit earlier in the evenings. He hangs around and chats other times. They talk baseball (Al’s a Chicago transplant, a heart and soul Cubs fan) and world events and dabble a bit into politics (Steve has to read the papers closely to try to keep his stories straight). Al had a son who never came home from Guadalcanal, and maybe that’s why, when he sees Steve sketching between customers, he asks him to fix up the sign above the stand, just a little refresh on the paint and maybe a nice little drawing.

Steve guesses that he does a good enough job, because the owner of the cafe and the drugstore ask for him to come over to their places, to do bigger murals inside. He starts to get asked to do all sorts of things, from house painting to pretty watercolor cards. He’s still home in time to make supper and talk to Peggy every evening.

He knows, now, that Peggy has a thick quilted dressing gown that looks like something a grandmother would wear, and doesn’t make him feel like a grandmother’s wearing it at all. He knows how she takes her tea and that she likes a square or two of chocolate at the end of the day. He knows how it feels for her to rest her feet in his lap as they read on lazy Saturday afternoons, and what it’s like to walk arm in arm back home talking about the film they’ve seen on a Sunday. He knows the giddiness of automatically calling her “sweetheart” as he asks her to pass the salt. He knows what she looks like when she first gets up, and the careful, precise order in which she applies her makeup and styles her hair. He knows what it’s like to kiss her on waking and as she leaves for work, as she arrives back home and before they go to bed. He knows what it is to fall asleep beside her, smiling.

He wakes himself up, shuddering, at least three times a week. Sometimes he is gasping. Sometimes he is crying. Most times he wakes Peggy too.

Early one Saturday morning, she switches on the light as he tries to calm himself. She rubs his arm for a moment before standing from the bed and putting on her dressing gown. He can hear the sound of her preparing tea in the kitchen, but when she doesn’t come back, he follows her.

“Sit,” she tells him, gesturing to the chair across from her at the table, and when he does, “Drink,” her voice firm and compassionate. He listens to her, taking a sip and then staring into the depths of his cup. She’s put in just the right amount of sugar.

After a moment, she says, “I haven’t asked you very much about where you’ve come from, but I think we both know how untenable that is. You need to talk. I’d like to hear it.”

He takes another sip, then a third. Finally, he hoarsely, “I don’t know if I can tell you. I’ve already changed your life just by coming here. I don’t know how much I can do without ruining things.”

“Steve.” She leans across the table, touches his arm, his face. Her disheveled hair falls forward a little, framing the warmth of her eyes. “You are the best man I have ever known, and perhaps the strongest. And I don’t think you need to go through this alone. Let me help you.”

He almost laughs. How many times did he say something like that to people grieving a disaster that won’t happen for decades? How many times did he ignore his own advice? He thinks, again, of Sam. “Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it.”

He thinks that Sam also meant that sometimes you find someone to carry it with you.

They don’t get out of their pajamas until well into the afternoon. Once Steve starts talking, he finds that he can’t stop. He tells her about Hydra (“Get up with bloody fleas, I told them”) and about Bucky. He tells her about Korea and McCarthy and Vietnam and the civil rights movement, about Betty Friedan and President Kennedy and President Nixon, about AIDS and global warming. He was in the twenty-first century for over a decade. He reads fast and doesn’t sleep much, and his memory is excellent.

He tells her about the snap. He tells her about his friends.

Finally, with darkness outside their windows, he says to her, “I keep thinking about Maya Lin. She’ll be an architect and a designer. She becomes famous for making the memorial for the war in Vietnam. I know it’s right to do what we can to avoid that war, to minimize that damage. Making that choice could be wrong for Maya Lin. It will change her life. How do we know which strings we can pull without letting everything fall apart?”

Peggy looks down at the notes she has started taking. She flips over one page, then another. “Well, we shall think and strategize and try our best to do the best for the most people.” She taps a finger on one paragraph. “I think that this is one string we should start tying up as quickly as we can.”

"If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it," he told Tony once, and that was true. It still is. It's just harder when south isn't a clear direction on the compass, when trying to fix things could only make things worse. This is why Steve could tell her, why he had to. Because he believes in her mind, in her ruthlessness and her clearheadedness, but in her goodness too. He doesn't think he could have done any of this alone.

(He must have known he would do this all along. He brought himself to Washington D.C. in 1949. Zola was brought here just over two months ago.)

They tell Howard. Partly because they need him, to provide documentation for Steve, for resources, for cover. Partly because Peggy says that he’s a friend and he’s trustworthy, and Steve trusts Peggy. For his own part, though, Steve needs to work to remember how much hasn’t happened with Howard. He hasn’t become who he’ll become yet.

Steve sleeps better knowing that they’re doing something. He doesn’t sleep well until they have Bucky back.

“Any idea what he’ll be like after rise and shine?” asks Howard, checking once again the pulse of the man lying unconscious on one of his many guest beds. To everyone else, Bucky’s hair is long, unkempt. For Steve, it’s shorter than he’s used to now. The arm, high tech for this time, looks especially ugly and primitive.

Steve thinks back to all the information they gained after the fall of the Triskelion. Nazi records have always been blessed and cursed. “He hasn’t been under for too long. It won’t be pretty at first, but we’ll be able to get him back.”

In bed that night, Peggy holds his hand beneath the blanket and whispers, “Hopefully we’ll get him back back without you trying to sacrifice yourself,” and he doesn’t know whether she’s talking about Azzano or the helicarrier, and he likes that she has the option for either.

They count on the minimization of Hydra’s influence to help stabilize things, and they’ll prove to be right. Peggy also cultivates herself a reputation for sound, nearly prescient, advice to other agencies. It will help them influence things they need to in the future, but it’s already believable, based on a solid foundation. No one suspects the man who’s occasionally seen on her arm at functions or visiting her office - bearded, older, bearing only a passing resemblance to the lost Captain America - of having anything to do with it. He barely talks shop with the guys, usually ends up recommending recipes to the wives.

“I do prefer you in an apron and pearls,” Peggy says as Steve rubs her feet after one such night out, her heels discarded beneath the kitchen table.

“It’s the natural order of things,” Steve tells her solemnly.

“Too right, pal,” Bucky calls from the bathroom. (He heard from Al at the newsstand that they were having trouble with their sink and came over to help rather than let Steve take care of it. “Flood the whole place, more like.”)

Neither of them quite knows who proposed to whom. Steve claims he did it, Peggy attests with equal vehemence that she took the initiative. Neither of them much cares when it comes down to it.

They invite the Commandos to the wedding. Or, rather, Peggy invites them, and then when they all show up with faltering, incomplete smiles, Steve comes over to say hello.

“If it was anyone else but the two of you, I don’t know that I could believe it,” Monty says, dazed.

Dugan wants horse racing tips. Morita wants to know if he ever makes it with Ava Gardner. “Already tried asking that one, pal,” says Howard sourly.

“Sometimes you just have to live it,” says Steve, and goes to take another turn on the floor with his wife.

They move to Jersey in ‘52. Steve’s afraid that Bucky’s going to have an aneurysm over the betrayal, but the commute’s easier on Peggy now that SHIELD’s working out of Camp Lehigh most of the time.

(Buck ends up living in Brooklyn near his folks and goes back to school to get his engineering degree. Howard says he doesn’t care, he knew how much schooling Bucky had when he offered him the job, but Bucky wants to earn it, and he likes to learn.)

Somehow, it takes three days to pack up the apartment in DC and three weeks to unpack in their cozy little house in New Jersey. Peggy’s pulling late nights all the time as she gets things put together, but she refuses to let Steve do much during the day: they both have extremely strong opinions about every little thing, and she wants to be there to decide which cupboard the glasses will go in, or how far the sofa will be placed from the window and how far the armchair from the sofa.

They finally get things sorted one Saturday when it’s nearly autumn. They leave the door open to let in the air, still warm with just the beginnings of a chill. Peggy stands with her hands on her hips in the middle of their living room. Steve watches from the doorway, loving the way the light filters over her hair, loving the way he already knows exactly how it will.

He steps into the room with her, selects a record and sets the needle carefully. He holds out a hand to her.

They’re practiced at this now. They’ve been to the Stork Club and danced at their wedding and done a thousand other things in between. Peggy jokes that Steve only breaks her foot once a month now, twice if she’s very lucky. But there’s no showing off today. He holds her in his arms and they sway, turning in slow circles, the music washing over them as they stand in their new home.

“The war's over, Steve. We can go home. Imagine it,” she had once said to him in a vision that had taken his breath, a vision that might never exist.

He doesn’t have to imagine it anymore.

#Endgame #Endgame spoilers #Steve Rogers #Peggy Carter #Steggy #Steggy fic #things left behind fic #If Markus/McFeely and the Russos can have entirely different understandings of their whack time travel notions #I can do whatever the hell I want with it #(To be clear I'm siding with the Russos and their delightfully chaotic multiverse/alternate timeline.)#There might be another chapter to this but my relationship to fic these days is so extremely fraught that it's all entirely ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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youwillcallher · 6 years ago

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something that’s been bothering me about this season is how little dennis’ absence has been addressed, even as a joke! we know rcg and they literally never leave any plot point unaddressed, they love bringing back even tiny things from previous seasons and showing the later consequences of them (for instance, dennis continuing to impersonate brian lefevre leading to mandy and north dakota etc etc etc) so why would they not focus on it? it feels like they’re purposefully starving us for an explanation and dragging it out much longer than literally any other show would. i remember seeing an interview where glenn said something like “dennis, the character, decided to leave the bar, and we’re going to take that decision and development seriously.” but the thing is, they haven’t!

or at least, not yet.

(putting it under a read more because this got long)

as we all know, there’s some timeline fuckery happening this season -- the gang beats boggs 2: ladies reboot happens after the super bowl (see: guigino’s waiter). this is the first time the super bowl episode has been brought up. we see it mentioned again in time’s up for the gang. rcg is clearly laying breadcrumbs leading up to the episode, and it must have some significance.

we all know rex is back in the episode, and i don’t think it’s unreasonable whatsoever to theorize that out gay beefcake mac and rex, someone mac has been outwardly attracted to since season three, will definitely at the very least do some intense flirting, and seeing as it is the super bowl, it also wouldn’t be unreasonable to think hmm! maybe there’s a kiss cam moment in there! maybe with rex, maybe not, but i think we’re definitely going to see some very gay mac in that episode, hopefully making out with some beefcake on live television.

if that happens, which honestly seems pretty possible (why else bring rex back if not for a symbol of mac’s gay awakening and maybe the first time we see him actually getting with a guy?), i think it’s entirely plausible that it sets off the sequence of events leading to dennis coming back to philly.

say dennis is sitting at home in ND, watching the big game (cause even if you take the man out of philly, you can’t take philly out of the man!), and the kiss cam starts rolling. he doesn’t pay much attention at first -- watching people that aren’t him make out is one of his top pet peeves, why should he give a shit if other people kiss? it’s not like they’re fucking, and more importantly, if he’s not involved, there is literally no reason to care -- but then suddenly he sees a familiar face and freezes in place. his eyes are glued to the screen, his hand stops digging through the bowl of popcorn he’s holding, his face contorts into shock then confusion then disgust: mac is making out with a guy on live tv. mac is making out with a guy on live tv. mac is making out with a guy on live tv. mac is making out with a guy on live tv.

the very next morning, dennis’ bags are packed, and he’s back to philly. not because he finally realizes he’s in love with mac and is returning to confess his undying adoration for him and win him back, like some shitty rom com. no, it’s because dennis can deal with a lot of things, sure, but watching the one person he thought would always worship and love him, someone who’s unending admiration and devotion to him has always been as constant, expected, and without deviation as (as @rcgrights brilliantly put it) the air dennis needs to breathe -- watching that person immediately move on without a second thought, on live tv, no less? this is the ultimate humiliation and betrayal in dennis’ eyes. he has no idea what the fuck the emotions he’s currently feeling are, but he knows none of them are positive, and that he wants them to stop. reminder that this is dennis “i just want everything to go back to normal” reynolds, a man who hides his dependence and insecurities under layers and layers of superiority. but yet, in a split second, all of his carefully constructed walls had come crashing down because mac, the one person he thought would always adore and desire him, apparently no longer does. if mac’s no longer in love with him, who even is he? mac’s love for him has become so deeply intertwined in the dynamic of the gang, the only people on earth he cares about, so deeply intertwined in his life, so deeply intertwined in his own psyche, that now that it’s no longer obvious he has no idea what to do with himself. he never thought it would come to this. so something has to change.

mac is, as we all know, an extremely dependent and emotionally stunted person. he had a horrible and depressing upbringing, and now, after a lifetime of being neglected, avoided, and unloved, he is stuck in the freudian pregenital stage, which is marked by feelings of intense deprivation and loss. this is something that’s always been woven into his character, even though it became clearer and clearer as time went on. back in the season five commentary for mac and dennis break up, dr. drew pinsky (an actual psychologist and doctor from celebrity rehab that, for whatever reason, rcg brought on) says about mac’s fear of abandonment in relation to dennis: “everything threatens him because he’s in an abandonment crisis right now. he got close to being abandoned so anything now is a threat.” this is a pretty accurate explanation for almost all of mac’s interactions with dennis -- the more it seems like dennis is moving away from him, the more desperate he is to have him back, and the more outwardly affectionate he is out of fear of abandonment. however, part of being as emotionally stunted as mac is not being able to properly understand what happens when people distance themselves, be that physically, emotionally, or both. to quote dr. drew talking about mac, “one thing about little kids, like, two-year-olds, they can’t tolerate coming and going. when somebody’s out of sight, they cease to exist. very primitive way of perceiving other people” to which charlie day responds “yes, mac’s very primitive.” this knowledge makes it easy to understand mac’s apparent lack of response to dennis’ absence -- out of sight, out of mind. if he’s not there, he ceases to exist. obviously, it’s not that simple, but having dennis be gone is almost a relief for mac: he doesn’t have to worry about pleasing him and gaining his love and respect anymore, because he’s not in the picture. there’s no way mac can even screw it up because he’s just not there. this is a weird and unwelcome but surprisingly freeing feeling that mac isn’t quite sure how to deal with.

unfortunately, he doesn’t get much opportunity to find out, because before he knows it, dennis is back.

dennis is back, refusing to explain what happened, telling them to just move past it, which is strange because no one, not even dennis, leaves their family and retcons a major life decision they felt confident in for absolutely no reason. if the reason was that he got tired of being a dad, or he didn’t like mandy, or that the north dakota life was boring and just not for him, why wouldn’t he tell the gang, even in a split second off hand manner? it’s strange that he wouldn’t mention it whatsoever. unless, of course, the only reason he came back is one that dennis can’t wrap his mind around, one that for all logical conclusions shouldn’t be a reason at all. it’s just like the part of the gang does a clip show where they ask him to name one good thing about living with mac, and he can’t. mac is annoying, doesn’t pay rent or do any work, all he does is go on the dildo bike, etc.. there is no reason why dennis should keep living with him, and dennis knows that. so why has he lived with him for twenty years, why has he not taken any of the many opportunities he’s been given to move out for good, why did he not get a new apartment after coming back from north dakota, why does he still stay with mac when there’s absolutely no logical explanation for it? these are the questions that dennis desperately tries to avoid thinking about, for fear of finding out something he doesn’t want to know about himself, about mac, about them. so, he replaces these insecurities with the only things he knows how: superiority complexes, cockiness, and being an absolute dick to mac. because that means that dennis is above mac, right? he’s still himself, he’s still awesome, he doesn’t need mac, right? if he insults mac and makes it clear he’s not interested in him, then on some level that has to be true, right?

let’s say he’s more self aware than he seems to be, though. let’s say he has some vague idea of what’s going on, or at the very least, knows he wants mac back to normal. if he wants mac to dote on him again, then why would he treat him 10x shittier than he has any other time? well, dennis prides himself on his minoring in psychology, as we all know, and even if he kind of sucks at it, there’s no way anyone with even the tiniest background in psych wouldn’t have picked up on mac’s abandonment issues. and knowing that dennis 1) knows mac so well, and 2) most likely knows how the pre-genital stage/fear of abandonment works from his past education, it’s fitting to assume that he knows that the best way to get mac immediately back under his influence is to be completely and totally awful to him. the worse dennis is to mac, the harder mac tries. and dennis is desperate for mac to try, he’s so used to having mac’s constant approval of him that now that he feels like he’s lost it, he needs it back, and needs it stronger than ever. this may be why dennis has been so awful to mac all season, but, of course, continues living with him, continues being around him, and is even back in philly in the first place. again, why else could he possibly be back? maybe this is entirely speculation and i’m reading way too deeply into everything, but it really seems as if this is one of the only explanations for dennis’ admittedly strange behavior this season.

let’s just say that i’m anxiously and apprehensively awaiting the gang wins the big game.

#OOOOOOOOOF THIS IS SO LONG #but i'm lowkey proud of it i hope it doesn't flop #plz read for some predictions/md meta!#macdennis #iasip #It's always sunny in philadelphia #mac macdonald #dennis reynolds #meta #iasip s13 #the gang wins the big game #the gang does a clip show #it's always sunny #casey.txt #s13 #100

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zealynstan · 5 years ago

Conversation

Unlabeled Interview Final Part

Isabelle: And speaking of touring, like we're saying before, someone said in here, "I wish it didn't cost so much for you to share your music and voices." We could not agree more.

Zealyn: Oh yeah.

Isabelle: Wouldn't you say?

Zealyn: Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, there's so much we would be doing if it didn't cost so much, I mean yeah, I would have a music video for every single song well done, super well done.

Isabelle: Yeah.

Zealyn: Amazing live videos. I would have- I would be on tour all the time. I, oh my gosh, there's just so many things.

Isabelle: Yeah. We would probably- I'd probably be on tour all the time if touring didn't cost us so much money.

Zealyn: Yeah! Another thing that lots of people don't know is lots of the big artists, if you want to go on tour with them, we have to buy on to it. Umm...

Isabelle: Yeah.

Zealyn: And so recently, I just got an offer to buy on to this really awesome tour. I just couldn't do it. But yeah, just- everything is a pretty penny and so-

Isabelle: Everything's a pretty penny.

Zealyn: But you know hopefully, one day and I believe it will happen one day, our music will take off and we'll finally be able to make money like good money doing music and it'll come full circle at some point. So-

Isabelle: It will. It always does. I was listening to Tyler Perry on Supersoul Conversations this morning on my drive home.

Zealyn: Nice.

Isabelle: And like, same situation. I think nobody starts at the top and I think we forget that "Oh, we see all these people at the top." And it's just discouraging until you hear their stories and you realize, "Wow, they had no money either." He was talking about putting all this money into his first play and how he thought 1200 people are gonna show up. And it was at the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, which I grew up in Atlanta so I know where that was. 30 people showed up.

Zealyn: Aww.

Isabelle: So he lost his car, he didn't have rent or anything and that was like, it sucked to hear that but wow, it's inspiring. And I hope that-

Zealyn: You see where he's come from.

Isabelle: Yeah. You see everything he's gone through and that we're doing the same thing and there's nothing different about it.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Isabelle: Other than not stopping, everytime we get a "no". And that's why this podcast for me is important because I don't know how many of you are watching and I know there's dancers on here and there's singers and aspiring everything but I just hope that you realize that like there's really nothing you umm... that's gonna come easily.

Zealyn: Right.

Isabelle: All the hard things are so much better when you get them.

Zealyn: Yeah. Absolutely.

Isabelle: What is your- what's an insecurity of yours that you are fighting umm... like in your day-to-day or music or just personally? That's like a big question but-

Zealyn: Well, yeah, I mean- I don't- I think that one thing that I do that I- everyone does but I do especially is umm... living in LA for 5 years now, been able to meet a lot of incredible awesome musicians and songwriters and just so many awesome people and a lot of them are doing really good. And like actually though, it's not just "social media" really good but like they're genuinely doing so well and blowing up and always busy and I think an insecurity of mine is like, comparing myself to other people. Is that right?

Isabelle: Yeah.

Zealyn: So um... I always- I'll at least have one bad night a week where I'm just get sunk into that "Aww man! That person's doing so much better than me." and that- and it's a good thing! I'm so happy for my friends like, "Wow, she got that?" "She got that?"

Isabelle: You're not alone.

Zealyn: Yeah!

Isabelle: Everybody feels that way in life.

Zealyn: And that's why- but I think that's something that I struggle with, it's just not- I just need to stop comparing myself. Everyone's started from somewhere, everyone's path is different like it's okay if it's taking longer or, whatever.

Isabelle: Yeah, yeah. I know, but that's umm... it's really great that you said when you're really honest. Because when I look at you, I don't see that you are insecure about that at all because you're so like, in your own lane to me. But it goes to show that we are all the same in that way.

Zealyn: Yeah. Totally.

Isabelle: Those insecurities never go away no matter- even if you were probably a little more successful, you'd probably see the best above you.

Zealyn: People were doing even better right *laughs* for sure.

Isabelle: Umm... Tammy asked about social media handles, so we're just gonna plug this in real quick.

Zealyn: Oh!

Isabelle: So she's @zealyn on Instagram, and @zealynmusic on Facebook.

Zealyn: It's Z-E-A-L- Oh there it is, you can see it. Aww, wow!

Isabelle: Z-E-A-L-Y-N.

Zealyn: You're so well prepared!

Isabelle: I know, it's just me, it's all me, I don't want anyone helping me out. Umm... and then, do her a favor and go if you guys have Apple Music, Spotify, go follow her. It's the same spelling and just like actually click the follow button and like put all her songs on your playlists and actually listen to them. Don't put them on a playlist because I said so, but actually listen because all those little things help us kind of get our music heard and everything like that.

Zealyn: Totally. Yeah.

Isabelle: Umm... I had a question for you- Oh, somebody asked... I'm trying to get through comments- Hailey asked, "What's LA like?" *laughs* That's such a loaded question.

Zealyn: It is. Well, I don't know, yeah. So, I love LA, first of all, I'll start there.

Isabelle: Yeah.

Zealyn: There's nowhere else I'd rather live. I genuinely love this city, it is motivating, pushes you to do better, everyone is going hard like everyone's pushing themselves to be better than they were the day before. So that's the good thing about it. The bad thing about it is that everyone's pushing them-! *Both laugh* Everyone's doing so well, everyone is hustling and I think that's when you also get stuck in a trap of, "Wow, they're going out every week to shows and networking and I only go out once a week. Oh boy, maybe I should be networking more or-" you know, there's just- every stupid little detail, it gets in your head and umm... yeah.

Isabelle: Just don't- I don't wanna discourage everyone for coming out here but if you're gonna come out here, just know that you will be very lucky if you have instant success. I hope that you do, I really do hope that everyone can do that.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Isabelle: But if you don't have instant success, you definitely have to look deeper into the other wonderful positive things happening that may not be exactly what you asked for or wanted but those are the things that you hold onto in order to stay out here because a lot of people don't last in LA because they think, "I'll give it a year and things would go well!" It sometimes happens but a lot of times it doesn't.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Isabelle: And then it's discouraging and you're like, "Well, I'm just gonna go home." but you know, don't do that like wherever you go or if you go away to college or umm... you go to a new city like give it time. Even when I went to college and I went away from the first time, it was the hardest thing ever. I called my mother everyday like, "WHY'D YOU SENT ME AWAY? Why'd you sent me here?" and then, I was so fulfilled and happy. Ultimately, that's what made me such an independent person. And moving to LA too, there were days when I first moved to LA... I was alone, I had a couple friends from college that were here, I went through such bad depression. It's the type of depression where you wake up in the morning, and you don't have anything you need to do, or that needs your attention. And you slept for like 11 hours, and you still- you wake up like exhausted, and you napped throughout the day not because you're tired, it's literally just you're so depressed because you're numb, you don't know what to do.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Isabelle: And guess what? Those things past, and they move away and the positive things come back and they slip in and then you're gonna slip back out of it. Right?

Zealyn: Yeah. And LA really is one of those places that you can't come to L- you can't visit LA for two weeks and expect to see LA and get a sense of the city in two weeks. It's impossible. It takes- LA is massive okay? I think people always think of LA like Downtown LA, like just the little downtown area, n-no. LA is huge, you can drive a whole hour and a half and still be in LA. So, it really truly takes like.... to me, it took a year. For me, it took a whole year to understand like, where everything is, where do I actually want to live, and it takes so long. Umm...

Isabelle: Yeah. It takes so long. I just feel settled now. I've been in here like 5-

Zealyn: I think I truly felt settled like- like I wanna live here forever after 3 years like it literally took 3 years. And I think at that point I was like, "I'm never leaving. I wanna stay as long as I can." Yeah.

Isabelle: I love it here too. So Gina just asked, "Are you going to Nashville?" I would love for you to answer that and tell us the cities you'll be touring in.

Zealyn: Absolutely.

Isabelle: If you remember them all.

Zealyn: Yes! I'll try.

Isabelle: Okay.

Zealyn: Uhh yes. I will be in Nashville, that show actually is announced already, tickets are at zealyn.co

Isabelle: Yeah, all the seats(?) are there.

Zealyn: Yeah, umm... But I mean, I could list them off, yeah. There's actually- I don't know, yeah so it's Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Atlanta; Beverly, Massachusetts which is my hometown, New York, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh... so that's all everything on the East Coast. West Coast is still like completely being figured out.

Isabelle: Okay yeah. Yeah, it takes time.

Zealyn: It looks like Seattle, Portland, Redding, San Francisco, LA, San Diego.

Isabelle: Uhh, can I open for you now? *both started laughing*

Zealyn: The West Coast one? Oh my goodness.

Isabelle: That's amazing!

Zealyn: Yeah that one's still like- we don't have the venues locked in or anyth- or the dates or anything.

Isabelle: Okay.

Zealyn: But it's August-ish.

Isabelle: August-ish, okay.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Isabelle: Well, if you wanna hear all the dates, go to zealyn.co, that's just "co" not ".com", just "co". And all the dates are up there, all the info about her. She's- like I said, an incredible artist.

Zealyn: Thank you.

Isabelle: Go listen to her music and just support her and I'm really glad that you asked all these questions, I'll be answering all these questions when we're done.

Zealyn: Yeah. Such awesome fans! There's so many questions coming in.

Isabelle: Yeah, they're pretty incredible, I'm lucky I am so lucky that you all show up every week or every other week.

Zealyn: Yeah, that's amazing.

Isabelle: But, Unlabeled the podcast, episode 5, will be uhh... 2 weeks, April 7th, check it out. This podcast you're listening to right now will be up on Tuesday and yeah. Zealyn, thank you for coming, go follow her at Zealyn on Instagram and uhh-

Zealyn: Thanks for having me. You're the best.

Isabelle: You're welcome. I'm honored. I love you, thanks for being here.

Zealyn: Me too. Thanks.

Isabelle: Adios, everybody! *both waved at the camera*

Zealyn: Oh, did it end already? Bye!

#I finally finished it #Now I can pass out until the next transcript #Zealyn #Interview #Transcript #Isabelle #Unlabeled #Podcast #2019 #Angie Miller

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

Text

The Relative Safety of Outdoor Dining

Outdoor dining in San Francisco | Patricia Chang

From the Editor: Everything you missed in food news last week

This post originally appeared on August 1, 2020 in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.

I am a hardcore Emily Oster devotee. She is an economist and professor who wrote the book on pregnancy, parsing oceans of data and guidance to help rational parents-to-be understand which restrictions are based in science and which are merely taboo.

So I appreciate her new, thorough FAQ for New York magazine on COVID-19 risks, which touches upon outdoor and indoor dining. There’s been a lot of debate publicly, and also privately, in my friend groups and work Slacks, about whether dining out at all is dangerous or ethical and how to best support restaurants, industry workers, and (frankly) our own mental health. (I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but it’s still top of mind.)

Oster’s take is that dining outside is riskier than taking a socially distanced walk, but safer than many other scenarios. You would need to have a fairly prolonged and mask-free interaction with a restaurant worker or fellow customer to give it to them (or get it from them) outside.

In my outings, I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how good many places are at following safety protocols, and at how many restaurants have pivoted to counter-service models, where the patron orders at a counter and food is brought to the table, cutting out the interaction with waitstaff. Watching the news about parties and packed patios can overshadow the restaurants that are putting in real work, and may scare some people into a binary mindset: staying in = good, going out = bad. Not all outdoor dining is created equal.

As for indoor dining, Oster says, “The simplest rule is probably: Indoors with other people is bad. If you have to do it, keep it brief and wear a mask.” Bars, meanwhile, should be “avoided at all costs.” Which means no matter how safe the outdoor operations are, here in the Northeast we’ll be back to takeout come winter. I’ll enjoy what I can for now.

On Eater

— Closures (August rent is due edition): Tasting-menu spot from a celeb chef Trois Mec, storied fine dining destination Patina, and brand-name ramen import Ippudo in Los Angeles; trendy and critically acclaimed Chinese-Cajun restaurant Le Sia, decade-old Vietnamese restaurant An Choi, Keith McNally’s FiDi brasserie Augustine, and food hall Gansevoort Market in New York; high-profile sandwich and pastry destination High Street on Market in Philadelphia; longtime cafe Anna Lee’s outside of Atlanta; 40-year-old Acadian Bakery and 36-year-old dive Alice’s Tall Texan in Houston; controversial 45-year-old gay bar Badlands and popular seafood spot Anchor & Hope in SF; and flashy import Dominique Ansel bakery in London.

— California Pizza Kitchen filed for bankruptcy.

— Grubhub and Postmates are defying Portland’s delivery commission cap.

— How the latest proposals around unemployment relief and Paycheck Protection Program loans will impact industry workers and owners.

— Scaling back: takeout alcohol in New Orleans; indoor bar service in Upper Michigan; and in Seattle, you now have to confirm you live with the person you’re dining with if you want to eat indoors.

— Here is what outdoor dining looks like in San Francisco and Detroit.

— The struggle for BIPOC food writers to be considered generalists.

Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago

A wall of hanging ingredients at Ever in Chicago

— Openings: Ever, a highly anticipated fine dining restaurant from chef Curtis Duffy in Chicago; Call Your Mother, a Georgetown location of D.C.’s popular bagel shop; Tidbits by Dialogue, a pivot from a tasting-menu spot in LA; a natural wine and tinned fish destination in D.C. that was originally called Barkada (but no longer is, due to cultural appropriation complaints); Street to Kitchen, an exciting new Thai place in Houston; Jimmy’s Dockside, a pivot from a fancy seafood restaurant in Durham; and Baia, a vegan Italian restaurant from empire-builder Matthew Kenney.

— Chef Omar Tate is raising money to open a multifaceted community center in West Philly anchored around food and feeding the neighborhood.

— New Orleans’s Melissa Araujo is taking her Honduran pop-up Alma brick-and-mortar in September.

— The ultimate guide to fruity, milky, and other specialty soft drinks.

— Why chef and restaurateur Preeti Mistry is getting into farming.

— The super-interesting and conflicting history of the mai tai, plus how to make a great one at home.

Off Eater

Businesses and institutions are wasting valuable time and money on “hygiene theater” when disinfecting surfaces isn’t what’s going to stop this pandemic. [The Atlantic]

If you do nothing else today, please set aside 10 minutes to watch this gorgeous, heart-shattering dance choreographed by the always impressive Kyle Abraham. [Joyce Theater]

Dining in a parking garage isn’t that bad after all. [Curbed]

Cool story about a man in Philadelphia launching an independent delivery app focused on Black-owned businesses. [Philly Inquirer]

Really good analysis on why the big delivery platforms are so problematic. [BIG]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/33yKgg3 https://ift.tt/2XE9VQH

Outdoor dining in San Francisco | Patricia Chang

From the Editor: Everything you missed in food news last week

On Eater

— California Pizza Kitchen filed for bankruptcy.

— Grubhub and Postmates are defying Portland’s delivery commission cap.

— How the latest proposals around unemployment relief and Paycheck Protection Program loans will impact industry workers and owners.

— Here is what outdoor dining looks like in San Francisco and Detroit.

— The struggle for BIPOC food writers to be considered generalists.

Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago

A wall of hanging ingredients at Ever in Chicago

— Chef Omar Tate is raising money to open a multifaceted community center in West Philly anchored around food and feeding the neighborhood.

— New Orleans’s Melissa Araujo is taking her Honduran pop-up Alma brick-and-mortar in September.

— The ultimate guide to fruity, milky, and other specialty soft drinks.

— Why chef and restaurateur Preeti Mistry is getting into farming.

— The super-interesting and conflicting history of the mai tai, plus how to make a great one at home.

Off Eater

Businesses and institutions are wasting valuable time and money on “hygiene theater” when disinfecting surfaces isn’t what’s going to stop this pandemic. [The Atlantic]

If you do nothing else today, please set aside 10 minutes to watch this gorgeous, heart-shattering dance choreographed by the always impressive Kyle Abraham. [Joyce Theater]

Dining in a parking garage isn’t that bad after all. [Curbed]

Cool story about a man in Philadelphia launching an independent delivery app focused on Black-owned businesses. [Philly Inquirer]

Really good analysis on why the big delivery platforms are so problematic. [BIG]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/33yKgg3 via Blogger https://ift.tt/2PkwK7h

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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dog-earedthoughts · 8 years ago

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2017

Every year, our resolutions say more about the current context in which we are forming our goals than helping to foreshadow the person we are going to end the coming year as. 2016, especially towards the end, went well for me personally but quite a few things put the progress I made into perspective. I successfully stuck to most of my resolutions without much conscious attention to the fact that they were my goals for the year. It was also great finding happiness in places that I did not actively seek to find fulfillment. I am appreciative of all the positivity I found in 2016, but while all these personal achievements have made all the happenings in politics and society bearable, they have also taught me how to be personally happy yet not complacent.

Admittedly, a lot of the success I’ve had in achieving the goals I set out for myself at the end of 2015 has come effortlessly. While that is a good thing for sustaining some of the lifestyle changes I’ve accumulated over 2016, I also recognize that comfortable progress is lazy progress. While many people I know tell me I’m crazy for categorizing myself as anywhere near “lazy,” I know there’s more for me to give. I find myself feeling my gut stir with passion for something in the moment, but the inertia for doing something about it has much too frequently won out. I need to get out of my comfort zone, and get into the habit of walking the talk. I’ve made a net positive mark on society, that I’m confident in, but I am also aware of the fact that I’ve never sacrificed my comfort or departed from my safe routine to be the change I want to see. This year, I need to make strides to change that.

Not saying all my resolutions are obvious steps towards this uncomfortable social activism I’ve alluded to, but it is in this context that this list has accumulated in.

1. Remember that every day is an opportunity to be better, and that I should be grateful for that chance. This doesn’t mean that I want to beat myself up on bad days. It’s understanding that when I don’t feel like being productive on one project or one aspect of my life, I should channel my energy towards an alternative goal. Some days that may mean taking a mental break. Some days it may mean seeking inspiration from people, museums, or a stroll in a park. There should always be something to help move the needle, and if there isn’t I should do something about it instead of spending the energy moping.

2. Be consciously better to my family in a consistent manner. I do frequently remember to show that I appreciate them by treating them to meals, buying dessert, or even tidying up a neglected corner of the house. I don’t live a rebellious life, and have achieved enough as a 24 year old that would earn my parents enough bragging rights for me to considered a decent daughter. However, I currently “tolerate” being around my family way too much. I recognize all they’ve done for me, but it’s hard remembering that every time I crave the independence not living at home would have afforded me. This year, I hope to remember the former more consistently, and put all my thoughts and actions towards my family with that appreciation in mind.

3. Have a more consistently healthy routine. 2016 was a much more active year for me. I found boxing as an activity that I enjoyed despite the sweat. I also made it past the 1 mile mark, and can say I sometimes look forward to making time for a run. I need to take the newfound workouts I like and continue with more consistency. My diet can also improve. Those chip binges in the office have got to go.

4. Be more conscious of how much I’m spending and be more financially responsible. By no means am I in debt or even living paycheck to paycheck. However, having the luxury of living at home should afford me the ability to learn to save, invest, and learn to budget without looming expenses like rent that would eat up my entire paycheck anyway. I should be using this chance to be an adult that has assets to manage. However, since I’ve graduated, I’ve mostly avoided looking at the specifics of where I spend my money because the amount my nights out add up to is definitely cringe worthy. I need to confront reality this year and let the numbers guide my spending decisions.

5. Investigate more. Since graduating, I have not lost my curiosity, but I haven’t explored questions with investigative momentum. Without a thesis to write, debate topic to research, or MUN conference to put together, there’s no longer an obvious framework to channel my inquisitive energy. This year I hope to resume the investigative thought process that used to bring me intellectual fulfillment. As a start, I will be choosing a topic to learn more about at the start of a month and spend the month delving deeper into that topic.

6. Engage in the community and become an informed activist. Instead of just venting about the backwards policies of the POTUS, I need to push myself to do more about it. Walk the talk. The current state of affairs should make it easy to find a plethora of reasons to get off the couch and onto the streets for.

7. Take time to be productively creative. I need to make time to create.

8. Relearn and preserve my Chinese.

9. Travel to London, Philly, SF and Montreal (again), North Carolina, and Toronto.

10. Expand my empathetic horizons. I need to meet people that are different from me. Not only those with different opinions, but those with different patterns of communication and discussion. I lose my patience and ability to empathize when a person that disagrees with my opinions also do not follow similar logical thought processes. This will take time, but I need to take steps to start conversations and ask questions with people that I don’t immediately identify with.

Here goes 2017. You ought to be interesting…

#2017 #walkthetalk

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therealestatesparkblog · 6 years ago

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3 Ways to Make a Stellar Real Estate Deal Out of an Average One

Early on in my real estate investing career, one of my goals was to buy one rental property a year. I used to dream about having them all paid off, free and clear, by retirement. Keep in mind that this was at age 29, just after I passed my real estate exam and bought my first investment property. My theory was that since real estate agents dont usually have much of a retirement plan, I could either cash flow off 20 houses or even sell one each year in retirement. Then my goals quickly morphed. One year, I bought seven rental properties, followed by nine more properties the next year. At 40, I was well on my way to having over 100 units like many of my investor friends. But then my dream changed again. I realized that by using creative financing to increase cash flow and by incorporating some tax and note strategies, I might not need to have that many units to have the lifestyle I wanted. Instead, I could improve the real estate deals I already owned, bringing them from good to great, while also adding new alternative investments to my portfolio. Related: 4 Actionable Ways to Find Real Estate Deals, Even in a Red Hot Market Whats an Average Deal? When it comes to real estate investing, every deal is unique, but the average real estate deal varies based on your market. For my friends and me living outside of Philly, the average deal was a 2 to 3-bedroom twin or row home that could rent for $750-$1,000 a month, and it usually cost well under $100k. I know some of you are probably thinking, theres nothing like that around where I live,but just hang in here with me.

Id pick up a 3-bedroom house for $40k-$45k, and after repairs and closing costs, Id be all in at approximately $65k, with an ARV (after repair value) of about $100K. If I sold that house for $100k, less real estate agent fees and transfers taxes, I would be at $93k, netting approximately $28k before taxes. Since its usually less than a year from start to finish, I might net approximately $19,600. If I couldnt sell it or didnt want to, Id go to the bank, and theyd give me a 20-30% down, 30-year mortgage, and Id probably be glad to cash flow $300 a month (or maybe a little less on a 2-bedroom). Deals like this one were common amongst real estate investors in my area. We also purposely didnt keep big properties due to increased maintenance costs, and we preferred those that were easy to rent. 3 Ways to Improve Your Real Estate Deal Youre probably wondering how you can take an average deal and tweak it to make it better. Its easy. Try to save money on taxes wherever possible, find the highest and best use of that property at that time, and utilize the best financing available, either through terms or the proper use of equity to increase cash flow. Now, I know, I just said a lot. Lets break it down. 1. Save on taxes whenever possible. For real estate investors, the biggest hit usually comes in the form of a capital gains tax when selling a property. One of the simplest strategies to avoid the more expensive, short-term capital gain tax is to wait a year and a day before selling. At that point, it would be considered a long-term capital gain, which is usually subject to a lower tax rate. There are three other strategies that come to mind, all of which may help to reduce the amount of taxable gains from the sale. One is a strategy my friend, Mark Halpern, uses all the time, and thats selling on a lease-option.The second strategy for those of us with sizable portfolios is to keep the recently acquired property thats just been renovated and sell an older property from your portfolio, maybe one with a bigger gain and less depreciation deductions left. Theres no harm in juggling your inventory every once in a while.My third strategy is to possibly sell with owner financing (and with a nice down payment), and then maybe sell a partial of the note to try to recoup the rest of your capital. Related: This Simple Advice From Warren Buffet Guides Me to Deals No One Else is Finding 2. Pursue your propertys highest and best use. Pursuing the highest and best use of a property could mean a range of things. Personally, Ive done everything from adding two bedrooms in the third-floor attic to putting a new kitchen in the old dining room and adding a first-floor bedroom where the smaller obsolete kitchen used to be. Ive rented the garage in the alley to a third party, and Ive even built more garages to increase property value and cash flow. What can you do with the property to get the most bang for your buck?

3. Think outside-the-box with financing. Another way to improve the profitability of your deal is to get creative with financing. This can be anything from taking out a longer-term loan (i.e. 10-year fixed, interest-only mortgage to jack up cash flow) to utilizing the equity in your property through a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) to lend as private money to another rehabber. The latter is a form of arbitrage, which would allow you to make additional money on the spread. Another strategy would be to accelerate the pay-down of debt. Personally, I love when my returns from investing pay down my debts for me. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

So, what are your favorite strategies to maximize your real estate deals? Do you use any tax strategies or finance hacks? Please share below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/great-deal-out-of-a-good-deal

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tinymixtapes · 7 years ago

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Interview: Mary Lattimore

“Lost Lake” could be the title of a Mary Lattimore song, but it’s actually the name of a Denver dive bar in which we met. It’s a sharp contrast to her music: more than a little dingy and situated right on Colfax Avenue, a one-time highway that Playboy allegedly called “the longest, wickedest street in America.” Not that you could tell once Mary started playing; her set, drawn in equal measure from the just-released Hundreds of Days and her back catalog, was utterly transportive. This isn’t particularly surprising; regardless of where it’s listened to, Mary’s music has always had a sense of place that offers a compelling alternative. Accordingly, our conversation revolved around exploration — sonic, geographical, and the many intersections thereof. --- Do you find the harp limiting at all, either creatively or in terms of how its perceived? Yes and no. It’s limiting as far as being able to transport it; stairs and taking it places to play. Otherwise, I can fit into a lot of situations, and people that ask me to collaborate usually know that. They don’t expect me to play just ethereal all the time. Sometimes you have to prove yourself, and I think I’ve proven so far that I can take it to a versatile place. I saw that episode of Against the Clock that you did with FACT, which was a bit of a stylistic departure for that series. I haven’t watched it yet! Every one that I’d seen, they were using Ableton and stuff, or just using their computer to record. My computer setup is just GarageBand, you know [laughs]. I do record myself, but I’m not an expert by any means. Does performing solo come naturally to you, or do you prefer an orchestra or band context? It does at this point, because I’ve just done it a lot. I don’t really have any preference at all; I just like playing the harp. I like being able to do everything — I went to school for classical music, I like being able to play in an orchestra, I like being able to play in a rock band, noise music, as a duo. I just like messing around and hearing what happens. Do you feel any sense of ambassadorship bringing the harp to listeners and spaces that might not be familiar with it? I love it. I prefer to play in places like this, where people say “oh, we’ve never had a harp here before.” When I played in Las Vegas, I was really nervous about it because I’d never played there before. I played in this bar with a good number of people, but the promoter told me that it was the quietest it had even been in that venue. People were really listening intently, and it’s cool to get quiet and have the audience be right there with you. That’s the beauty of playing bars like this; it’s a challenge to see if you can connect with people. Do you have an idea of where new listeners tend to get their preconceived notions of harp music from? Every single day, I get compared to Joanna Newsom, I guess because we’re both women and we both play the harp. I think the expectation is that I’m gonna be like a folk singer, which isn’t really my style. On Gilmore Girls, there’s a harpist in the lobby or something. Angels play them when cartoon characters die. Playing in this kind of world, Joanna is the main one that I get; I like her and I’m in really good company, but I do think it’s kind of a lazy comparison. I imagine it’s odd to be the first artist of x or y genre that catches on outside of those circles, but probably even stranger when the audience has exactly one point of reference. Right, or like… weddings. On Gilmore Girls, there’s a harpist in the lobby or something. Angels play them when cartoon characters die. Playing in this kind of world, Joanna is the main one that I get; I like her and I’m in really good company, but I do think it’s kind of a lazy comparison. One of my goals is to kind of normalize the harp, you know? It can be like a piano or a guitar sound, or it can be a noisier thing. Whenever I write parts for records with bands, I try and think of a lyric to play throughout or write like a guitar would. Everything doesn’t have to be all harp-y, with glissandos and fantasia or whatever [laughs]. You were talking about the difficulties of transporting the harp itself — were you to go to Europe, say, would you be able to take it with you? I bought a second harp, which lives in Europe. I won this fellowship in 2014 that came with some money, and I had to just nip it in the bud. I figured it would be like a savings account, that if I ran out of money later, I could just sell it. I just got too nervous to keep asking harpists if I could rent their harp in Europe and shove it in the back of a van and worry about every single scratch on it or the temperature. Someone else’s instrument is so precious to them, so for my own peace of mind, I had to just buy it. It lives in Prague, so whenever I go to Europe, I can see my second baby [laughs]. Do you generally write your songs start-to-finish as relatively discrete compositions, or are they culled from longer sessions? I usually just sit down and improvise until I come up with something that I like. I’ll take that and make a layer of it, then a layer on top of that, and so on, so it’s kind of like structured improvisation. I’ll either start out with a loop of weird sounds that I like and fuck around with that and add layers on top, or I’ll start out with a small melody and add a layer of bass notes or something warped underneath the melody line. It’s pretty much all one take at a time, since I don’t really know how to edit. I’ll record something, and then if I don’t like it, I’ll delete the whole thing. It seems like that would translate well to live performance, in terms of the piece staying true to how it was created. Exactly, yeah. I think it’s cool to have those surprises since you never know what’s gonna blossom out of it, but you start out in the key of D Major or whatever as a touchstone, so you have the safety of that key and some small melody that lets you take it to a different zone. With Ableton or whatever, I guess it’s a little bit of willful ignorance. I use this Line 6 pedal that every guitar player is over by now, but even if it’s not that cool anymore, it’s like another instrument to me, and I know how to use it backwards and forwards. I like working with a little bit of constraint, being a little bit dumb and being crafty to get my way out of something if I get stuck. Given the emphasis on improvisation in both composition and performance of your work, what do you view as the purpose of an album? Just establishing a permanent reference point for the work? You got it [laughs]. Records are like souvenirs, a little bit, of a time. A diary-style souvenir of a place and time. It just immortalizes the situation. It’s a little bit narcissistic, I guess, to be selling people your diary. The point of it is to mark the time, but also to try and connect with human beings. Having a wordless conversation with people that might find a spark of connection in there. If you don’t mind me asking, do you find that your livelihood as a musician is especially dependent on one of albums, commissions, or tours in particular, or is it a balance of all three? I’m hustling all the time, so touring is just another part of that. I do a lot of session work. I like momentum, I get paid through session work and playing shows. Record sales… I don’t really know what to say about that. I love records, I worked at record stores for years and years, and there’s something about albums that’s a complete thought. All the work that goes into a record — the artwork, the mixing, and mastering — it’s like a book. You wouldn’t want to just read one chapter of a book and think that’s enough. You can get disconnected from the fact that a human being made it with a specific intention. That’s what art is. I like working with a little bit of constraint, being a little bit dumb and being crafty to get my way out of something if I get stuck. Speaking of wordless conversation, I understand how a melody could be said to have narrative qualities; with regards to song titles, do you view them as something more akin to writing prompts or as a quick note about your own experience or interpretation? That’s like an indulgence for me, jotting down where I’m coming from. But people can take it to the wrong place; you don’t have to think about this specific convenience store by the ocean. You can take it to wherever you want, though. I read that this album was recorded at the Headlands Center. Can you describe that scene a bit? I just got a residency, so I was there for a couple months. I had a studio in this big redwood barn right near a lighthouse. They cook for you and give you a big, beautiful Victorian house to live in… there’s barely any cell phone reception, so you just have to buckle down and make your work. You take in the landscape too, which totally infuses the music. It’s such a gorgeous place, with no real worries except for mountain lions, I guess [laughs]. There are like 14 different people at a time, but they’re visual artists, writers, all different disciplines. You can do whatever you want to there, there’s no strings attached. I just used it to write a record pretty straightforward, but some people just use it as a break from life. I saw an older interview of yours where you said that a lot of your collaborations had come about through friends. How would you compare Philadelphia and L.A. in terms of fostering that sort of creative community? In Philly, I definitely had a kind of scene where it was really social playing, with everybody supporting each other and stuff. I just made the move to L.A. about a year ago, really intentionally because I wanted to move forward with music, getting involved with film scoring and things like that. Getting really professional about session work. There’s money to be made with art there, and it’s not so much social, like “I respect what you’re doing, let’s work together.” You’re there to follow the ambition; it’s dog-eat-dog a little bit. Do you think that creative work necessitates a trade-off between social and professional functions? I guess it all depends on the city. The rent, how affordable the place is. You can be much more social about it if you’re living in a cheaper city where you don’t have to hustle all the time. I’m doing a lot of work in L.A., but there are so many people who have moved there that were friends of mine from all over the place, so now we’re collaborating a ton as well. It feels great. I never want to have a stupid office job ever again in my life, so I’ll totally supplement my playing for fun with playing for, like, a commercial [laughs]. I don’t consider it selling out when it can enable my playing for fun and getting experimental or whatever. I have a ton of respect for artists who are working totally outside that framework, but it seems like the necessary compromise of that approach is that you can’t stop working at any point. Are you able to take vacations or maintain some semblance of a regular schedule? I love to tour, and I consider it really fun. It’s a way that I get to see all my friends from across the country and hang out with them. It feels like a vacation, because I’m on my own terms and in my own car; I can eat at nice restaurants, and if I’m making money, I can hang out a lot. I’m lucky, because I don’t have to support a band or have anyone depending on me. I like going onto Atlas Obscura, which is this website that can locate weird, kitschy places around you. I do a weird kind of tourism between dates. I’m going to Lawrence next, but I don’t have to be there until Tuesday. I wanna go to the Clutter house — you know that book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote? It’s fascinating, it’s about the murder of a family, which was real, and Truman Capote befriended the murderers. I guess you can see the farmhouse where it happened. Do you find yourself drawing influence from across different forms of media often? I know that you re-scored a silent film once. Yeah, definitely. I’ve written a couple songs that were for books or authors — one of the songs on the new record was written the day that Denis Johnson died, the author of Jesus’ Son. Making music is a way of processing things that happen in the world. I always say it’s like exorcism a little bit: getting out feelings or navigating things that are happening. I like thinking about writing and turning that into music, trying to bring a vibe from one work to another. http://j.mp/2Lui5mI

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livelikebrent · 7 years ago

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Stop 8: Portland, Oregon

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Solid quote, right? After planning a trip to Seattle I wanted to hit Portland while I was out there. I had the time. I didn’t take much time off the year and a half prior. If I did, it was usually last minute to get to the hospital because something had happened with Brent. I’m not complaining by any means. I didn’t take vacations, only weekend trips with Brent to Ocean City Maryland, or back home (both of ours). Time is something you’ll never get back. It’s something that should be spent wisely but not cautiously. When making my plans to be in Seattle with my brother and friends, Josh and Hannah, no one signed up to come on my Portland trip. I was actually pretty keen on the idea of having some time to myself, in a city I knew nothing about and spending 5 days with no where to be and no one to truly answer to. I mean, traveling alone was something I had become pretty used to when Brent became sick. I’d travel for hours by train, subway, car, by foot etc. to see him in New York City, Northern New Jersey, back home in Wilkes-Barre or during the weekdays in between visits. I’ve always been a rather independent person...so it had never intimidated me.

My brother and I shared an Uber to the airport before the sun even showed up on Tuesday morning. He made his way to departing flights as I went to rent a car. I hopped into a black economy class car. I actually did look into splurging on a Mercedes or something I probably won’t ever own myself. But it turns out even renting one for only a few hours would cost close to the amount of money I’d been spending on Airbnbs for the week. But as I made my way south, I had an outstanding purple and magenta sunrise along with a Seattle throw back hip hop radio station. Aside from the sky everything was green, the sky had begun to drizzle, I stopped at a Starbucks (shocking, I know), ordered a coffee and plugged Cannon Beach into my GPS. I couldn’t tell you how I knew about Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. I figured everyone knew it existed and that was one of Oregon’s iconic spots. Turns out, not so much. It was an easy drive as I drove along the coast and I passed through a half dozen small coastal towns. One of those towns was Astoria, Oregon, which brought me to my first official stop: Rogue’s Ales Astoria Public House. The establishment wasn’t even open yet but as I drove across a one way wooden boardwalk out to the bar which is the old Bumble Bee Tuna Cannery, I cracked my windows and listened to seals barking.

I walked inside, the bar tender in a Tommy Bahama button down told me to take a seat anywhere and asked if I was alone. I sat myself at the bar and as I stared up at the board of what was on tap, he poured me some beer to try. I ended up with a sour and a cup of clam chowder. It was most definitely a soup type of day. The bartender asked me where I was traveling from. I explained I was on a trip from Philly and had just made my way down from Seattle. We chatted for a bit about road trips, the Pacific Northwest and whatnot. I grabbed a shirt to buy for my Dad and as I was closing out my tab, I asked the bartender about a sticker. I told him I had noticed that it was a relatively clean looking and a sticker would look out of place. He pulled over a wooden Rogue napkin/condiment holder that already had a “Be nice you’re in Oregon.” sticker on it...he said, “You can put it right here.” I told him about Brent and why I was there. He told me about a buddy of his that was in surgery that very moment to have a cancerous mass removed. I shook his hand, told him I wished the best for his buddy and continued my way down to Canon Beach.

I think it’s kind of silly to describe a rock as majestic. But there is really no other way to explain it. First of all, it’s a massive rock on a beach surrounded by other rather large rocks. As I drove through the small town and wound up the road I saw Haystack rock on my right just beyond some homes on the hill. I pulled my rental over grinning from ear to ear and hopped out. I snapped some photos from up above. Then I tried to figure out where I could ditch my car so I could walk on the beach. I found a nearby lot and walked along the water in my vans, jacket and hat to try and stay a bit warm from the breeze and lack of morning sunshine. It was awesome. I wanted to stay on the beach all day to just take in the sights and sounds. I need to plan a trip to travel back for warmer weather and book a little beach bungalow cottage off of the main road so I could soak it all in for a bit longer.

Recognize this beach? The Goonies was filmed here. *Insert truffle shuffle move here* After my long walk on the beach I had a friend suggest a place for a bite and a brew right on the main street by Haystack Rock called Cannon Beach Hardware & Public House. The answer is YES. It is exactly what it sounds like. As I sat in an old airplane seat eating an ahi tuna salad and sipping on a hard cider, a man was buying Gorilla Glue and some screws. It’s a hardware store with a bar on one end. It was one of the most interesting places I have ever been and I would highly recommend it.

I continued to Portland winding through towering Douglas Firs and I couldn’t get over how green everything was. If I wasn’t surrounded by some sort of pine it was a tree absolutely covered in moss. It started misting on my drive and a fog hung out at the top of the trees. It was just all so lush and so refreshing to see. I couldn't tell you why but I simply couldn’t get enough of it. If I didn’t have to return the rental car, I would’ve spent hours just driving around. I wouldn’t be surprise if I swung through Ferngully at one point.

I finally checked into my Airbnb which was ADORABLE and located in the Hawthorne neighborhood of the city. You can view the entire place here! I decided not to stay in the heart of downtown Portland because I figured staying in a different neighborhood would force me to check out different areas. But the place I stayed in was everything I needed and nothing more. It was a one bedroom basement apartment right off of one of Portland’s main drags. It turned out that one of my college buds lived a couple blocks away with his girlfriend. So I could easily meet up with him later in the week after work.

What did I do in Portland? I walked. Then walked. Walked and walked. Why? Because I had a pair of Vans and all the time in the world. I’d rather see a city I’ve never been to before on foot anyway. Day one I walked downtown to hit up Voodoo Donut. The weather ruled...again, I do realize I lucked out with weather on the trip. One of the many things I did not know about Portland is that they have several (a total of 12) bridges. Crazy. As I spotted a bridge to cross I stumbled upon a place called Urbanite. I unexpectedly spent close to an hour in there walking up and down the aisles checking out the eclectic consignment booths filled with home decor, art work, furniture and odds and ends. Had I not only traveled with a carry on for this entire trip, I probably would’ve made several purchases...I even considered shipping stuff back to Philadelphia. Also, can we take note of the extremely creepy coat rack in the photo below that took 1.5 deer to make?

As I walked across the Burnside Bridge, one of Portland’s main arteries, I came across Portland’s infamous White Stag Sign.

Right over the bridge was the doughnut shop. Right outside of the shop were a couple of homeless people who knew EXACTLY what they were doing. They stood outside of the all cash establishment nabbing pretty much tourists all day long. So nobody could go to the easy go to line of, “Sorry, I only have my card on me.” Also, I will say they were pretty aggressive. I didn’t expect to be harassed trying to simply buy a bacon covered doughnut. Along with said doughnut, I purchased a couple of post cards to mail out. Again, I’m not sure why I love postcards so much. Sometimes I just write a quick note to people and others I’m trying to squeeze in as many words as humanly possible in my message. Side note: Feel free to send me some on your trips! I got my doughnut, post cards and found a spot to sit outside as I continued to listen to tourists heckled by Portland’s finest.

After my mid-morning snack I went to a couple of shops including Adler and Co, Stumptown Coffee, Union Way, Powell’s, Made Here PDX and Porch Light. Shout out to Haley for all of the recommendations! I linked the last three because they were amazing. Powell’s is the world’s largest independent bookstore. It’s like you’re in a completely different world in there. While I spent some time browsing, reading and wandering around, I heard multiple parties lost over the loud speaker. They have sections of the book store marked in colors...so they had to ask the lost humans to report to the purple section or orange section of the store.

Made Here had a TON of products that were made locally in Portland. They had everything from candy, jewelry, leather goods, art to beauty products. I kept seeing salted black licorice everywhere. My mom is one of those people that loves black licorice and yes, black jelly beans...but I think a lot of moms do come to think of it. Needless to say, I bought it for her. Still haven’t heard how they are...I suppose the jury is still out on that one.

Porch Light. GAH. I spent SO much time in there. I didn’t want to leave but I was terrified of buying almost EVERYTHING. Disclaimer: Their website doesn’t have half the stuff they have in store. But I did end up treating myself to a pretty little ring to remember the trip and such a wonderfully dreamy establishment.

After I was done with shopping and browsing there was a Deschutes location: the Deschutes Public House. The brew pub’s 26 taps featured Deschutes beer plus a selection of seasonal and experimental beers developed and brewed on site exclusively for the Portland pub. I had a sour, fried cauliflower and made my way back to my apartment. I ended most afternoons on the cozy, green velour couch with Nextflix, a cup of green tea and a nap. But that evening my college bud, Sean, hit me up for a drink. I met him at The Nest which is a local’s bar off the main drag and not terribly far from where I was staying. It was a dive bar with board games, video games and ping pong. We grabbed a seat outside on the patio, caught up and then Sean showed me around the neighborhood. We ended up at Quarter World Arcade. It was basically Philly’s Barcarde but on steroids and it was awesome. We probably spent a decent amount in quarters and I introduced Sean to my favorite arcade game, Tapper. Tapper is game where you are the bartender serving up Budwisers to dozens of thirsty patrons. It makes me so anxious playing but it’s so much fun..

Thursday was a day I spent in the Hawthorne section of Portland. I walked to a place called Pine State Biscuits. If you know me, I’ll have a biscuit with every meal if possible. So I walked a bit to earn my biscuit brunch and ordered The Money Ball which was biscuits and gravy topped with an over easy egg and a tall glass of sweet tea. I sat there and took my time...it was absolutely delish. I thought about asking to put a Live Like Brent sticker up since I had yet to place one up in Portland. But it was a cleaner/sleeker type of establishment in ambiance. So I figured it wasn’t the right spot.

After the concrete settled in my stomach, I continued to walk. I came across a smaller Powell’s location and tons of small businesses. Portland is extremely supportive of entrepreneurs which was really neat. I fell in love with a shop called Tender Loving Empire. Similar to Porch Light, but more within my budget, I did not want to leave and I wanted everything.

Friday was another day of walking. I walked 5 miles across the city to see the International Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Garden. Mind you, it was mid-March so it wasn’t exactly peek season for the roses. Honestly, they were all chopped down with the exception of a few. But I bet it is stunning in the summer time. Also, I really don’t know if that’s a rose pictured below. But it was pretty and there was an entire wall of them.

I got zen in the Japanese Garden and walked around. It was conveniently located immediately behind the Rose Garden. It was pretty interesting. There were interesting trees, greenery and moss everywhere and Koi fish in some of the ponds. There was a house in the garden with a back patio that has the best view of Mt. Hood in all of Portland. But guess what?! It was a drizzling, grey and overcast day...so there wasn’t too much of a view.

As it started to rain, I took another suggestion out of Haley’s guide to Portland email she had sent to me and went to Great Notion Brewery for a beer and a bite to eat. The brewery was awesome and definitely a place I would hang out regularly if I had lived there. It had a lumber jack theme and vibe going on and is known for fruity and sour beers...I had a Blueberry Muffin beer, a tart ale, which was pretty legit. I tried making conversation with the bartender and asking her for other suggestions in the area. Every interaction was brief. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation. So I guess then I wasn’t in the mood to over tip. Afterwards, I decided to leave the area and I made my way down to Mississippi Ave. to window shop and for another drink before heading back to the apartment.

I spent most nights at my Airbnb relaxing with a cup of tea watching Netflix. Some of you probably just read that last sentence and said, “Uh, what.” and then you probably thought, “Why would you do that on a trip when you could do it at home?” Well, it’s not something I do at home all that often. On the week days between my weekends traveling to and from New York to Brent, I would come home from work, throw on my pajamas, maybe make dinner and watch episode after episode after episode of The Office, Shameless, The Office again and whatever other sitcom I may have gotten into. My focus Monday through Friday was to work and just get through the week so I could hurry up to the next weekend to see Brent. But after Brent had passed I couldn’t do it. When he was alive (and home) we were always on the go, even when he was home and sick in his recliner, I’d be at the grocery store for him, picking up prescriptions, cooking food for him that he could easily reheat, so on and so on. Even after he had passed, the amount of phone calls, texts and Facebook messages to make plans never stopped. When they did finally slow down I would find myself after a second episode of Chopped twiddling my thumbs. I would stand up and need to do something. Sitting still became almost impossible. I felt useless. I felt like there had to be something better I could be doing with my time. So the fact that I had an entire 5 days to be alone in Portland, reflect and veg out...was exactly what I needed once again.

One night, I decided to find a movie from my mental list “Movies I should’ve seen at one point in my life but never did” and chose “Into The Wild.” For those of you who do not know the premise. It’s a 2007 film directed and produced by Sean Penn starring Emile Hirsh based off of the book about the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America and his experiences in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s. McCandless graduates college, doesn’t want anything from his well to do family, destroys everything he owns and donates every last penny to charity. He wanted to live off of nothing but the Earth itself and disappear into the wild. He did fairly well for himself...during his travels, he meets a group of gypsies, make friends and along the way and works a couple of odd and end jobs to get him to his ultimate destination. He loved being on his own, earning every meal on his own and taking in the beauty of nature. He does make it to Alaska but being an amateur and not properly trained on this type of survival, his supplies begins to run out. As he decided to maybe make a return to civilization. When he packed up his home he had created in an abandoned bus and retraced his steps. He encountered the river he once crossed but didn’t account for the snow to thaw during the winter causing the water to rise a great deal. He retreated back to his bus to figure out how to continue and he goes into the wild to find something to eat. McCandless mistakenly eats a plant that ultimately killed him. When he realized he mistakenly ate a poisonous plant, he wrote one last thing in his journal: "Happiness only real when shared.”

At this point in the movie I’m ready to burst out in tears as I tell the television in front of me, “HE’S SO RIGHT.” As I sat there on the couch, curled up under a lavender blanket I was tired of taking selfies, I wanted somebody to share dishes with as I could never finish a plate of food by myself, it was nice to not be on anyone else’s schedule but it would be nice to share and experience Portland with somebody alongside of me. I had been blessed to have so many friends join me on my many stops for the Live Like Brent Tour. I was excited to have plenty of downtime by myself to explore and experience a new city. But what I had found is the same thing (in a much less dramatic way) as Chris McCandless. It’s great and wonderful to be happy with yourself, to be independent but what is life if you don’t have somebody to share it’s experiences with?

I shared my final day in Portland with Sean, and his girlfriend, J’ena. They took me to the Colombia River Gorge which itself was gorge - There was still a morning mist and fog hanging heavy in the sky. We stopped at the Vista House which is a free museum at Crown Point and also serves as a memorial to Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the Historic Columbia River Highway. We climbed to the stop of the house and we were able to get quite the view.

As we made our way along the Colombia River Highway we made a couple of stops along the way to hike and see several stunning waterfalls. During the car ride I learned more about J’ena. She’s kind of a big deal. She kinda was a very sought after NEW character at Disney. She Kinda was in the circus. Her family was kinda like gypsies. Again, she’s kinda big deal and I’m so happy for her and Sean.

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After we walked the final trail and saw the final waterfall. We made our way back to Rose City for a bite to eat. This is where I had THE BEST dish of my entire trip. We went to a place called Bye and Bye, a hip southern inspired vegan bar. When my best bud, Ang, went to Portland to visit Haley she wouldn’t stop talking about this place and the bowl she ate. And now I can’t stop thinking about this place and the bowl I ate! I had the Eastern Bowl which included nutritional yeast breaded tofu, broccoli, and brown rice with a spicy ginger peanut sauce, topped with sesame seeds. That spicy ginger peanut sauce was seriously the most flavorful thing ever. I couldn’t finish it but didn’t mind because it was something I was definitely ready to take back with me for a late snack. But we hung out for a bit more. We chatted about work, books we’ve recently read and other things. I expressed concern that I had yet to place a Live Like Brent sticker in Portland. I started to think that perhaps it was an omen. Brent thought about moving to Portland when we first started dating. Now here I was in the same city and couldn’t find the right spot...and I wasn’t being picky by any means. Sean then asked me, “Wait, wasn’t Brent into the Dead and like Phish?” Turns out there was a Grateful Dead bar in the neighborhood I was staying in and Sean told me to go visit it. It was called Fire on the Mountain.

I grabbed an Uber as the rain started to really come down. I got to Fire on the Mountain and it smelled like buffalo sauce. The two owners opened it because they felt that Portland needed a solid wing joint. I walked in and found an empty stool at the bar. I asked a guy sucking down beer and wings if it was open. I sat there, ordered an IPA Sean had suggested and an order of deep fried Oreo’s. Honestly, I wasn’t all that hungry from my delish bowl. But they did sound pretty good. As I sat there, it was the perfect place to put a sticker up for Brent. It was a funky spot with cool stickers all around, I spotted an A-Basin sticker in the kitchen on the door of their cooler. Side note: A-Basin was a mountain I snowboarded for Brent on the Colorado trip and it was one of his favorite spots to shred. Another notable sticker said, “Support Your Local Shake Down Street.” So I snagged a bartender’s ear for a moment and explained why I was in Portland and more importantly why I was at Fire on the Mountain on my last day of the trip. His response was kind and he was sorry for my loss, thanked me for sharing my story and told me that he would be honored to put the sticker behind the bar.

The guy next to me was just about done sucking down his chicken wings and said, “Boy do those Oreo’s smell good.” I IMMEDIATELY offered some as again, there was no way I could eat all of it. His name was Clay and he told me he was sorry to hear about Brent. We sat there and ordered a couple rounds of beers. He was drinking Rainier Beer which is comparable to a PBR I suppose. He grew up in Utah but moved around a bit for work, Portland was where he had landed and loved it. He double checked that I hit all of the spots that any visitor should. The one thing I did not do was eat from a food truck. There were PLENTY of opportunities, but it just simply never happened. After a while I decided to call it a day and ended my last night in Portland on the cozy green couch, under the lavender blanket, a cup of green tea, Netflix and the remainder of my Eastern Bowl.

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What car should I get for cheap insurance?

"What car should I get for cheap insurance?

Im 18, i just got my license a week ago. I live in a small Louisiana town. I catch buses and taxis to and from college and work. I really need a car. I have 2000 down for one but insurance is like 600 dollars on my own policy. I can't get on any ones policy because I live on my own. I'm beginning to get discouraged because the longer I take to get a car the less money I'll have for a car paying 10 to 20 dollars on taxis a day takes all my money. What can I do? What cars will have the cheapest insurance for a new driver?

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What car should I get for cheap insurance?

Medical insurance for an International student?

hi, I am an international student and am on my OPT now. I haven't been to a doctor in 3 years now and all these years I had an international insurance. Now that it is going to be expire I was thinking to get an insurance. I was thinking to visit a doctor for a general health checkup. I would like to know which insurance would cover my visit to the doctor. I am 24 years old male. Unemployed. Thank you""

Best life insurance...?

Best life insurance What is the Best life insurance company

Car Insurance for Teen Girl Estimate HELP PLZ?

How much would you estimate that insurance for a 16 year old brand new driver in a 2001 acura integra 2 door hatch back would cost with a good student driver discount? any idea? any one close to those guide lines that have an idea willing to share? Please help thanks

How much do you pay for motorcycle insurance?

I'm trying to get an idea of how much I'll pay for motorcycle insurance. I'm 20, with a good driving record, who is looking to buy a honda rebel as a starter bike. So, if you could tell me your age, gender, insurance company, and how much you pay, it would be greatly appreciated. Please only serious answers. TIA""

Why is our group health insurance so much more expensive than getting an individual plan privately?

My husband gets insurance through his work, and they take out $170 a week (he gets paid weekly). So that totals about $730 a month for us and our kids plus maternity benefits. What confuses me is if we were to drop that insurance and get an individual plan with the same company, same deductible, same co-pay, including maternity benefits (exactly the same plan) it would run us about $440 a month. I thought that the whole point of getting on a group plan was that it would be cheaper. I would be okay with it being the same as private but it makes absolutely zero sense to me that it would be almost twice as much... Anybody want to explain? Or are they just screwing us over?""

Where can I buy good Health insurance?

Anyone know where I can buy health insurance. Im an independent contractor who needs good, cheap rates.""

Insurance didn't report?

My sister couldn't afford to pay her car insurance. Her insurances company never reported to the DMV that it was canceled. why? She even got speeding tickets and i thought the police do a run when they pull you over. how is this possible?

SR-22 insurance for a 2002 VW Jetta?

I'm at around $150 a month right now for my 1993 Mitsubishi Galant, which seems a little rediculous to me, I may be switching companies. Any idea how much more it would cost?""

I have a car insurance question.?

about how much would it cost for a 16 year old boy in california todrive a 2004 silverado access cab? please give me a quote and not a website.

Can you really find cheap health insurance ?

I live in mass and i can not find health insurance for my needs and have been denied by the state health insurance. Dont know what to do ... anyone can help ?

Can I purchase life insurance on my husband without his signature?

My husband is 41 years old and in perfect health but he won't get life insurance because he thinks nothing is going to happen to him. Is it legal for me as his spouse to purchase a reasonable policy of $50,000 without his signature from a company that doesn't require medical questions?""

Is it legal to keep a check from my health insurance company that they expect me to pay the doctor with?

We are having a really difficult time financially. My husband gets a very large bonus in December and we will be back on track and then some. So here's my question. I recently ...show more

How much would insurance for a motorcycle cost for a 17 year old?

How much approximately for a 17 yr old with a 250 ninja? what about a 600cc bike? I do not have my drivers license yet, only my permit and I would get a learners permit on my bike. How much do you think it will cost?""

What would Jesus do I f he didn't have car Insurance?

what would Jesus do I f he didn't have car Insurance ? and there was no help from god?

What to do about Young Driver's car insurance?

I'm 17 and currently looking at buying my first car with insurance sometime during next year. I've been looking around on a lot of price comparison sites and the cheapest I could honestly find was 3,000 a year. I even tried putting myself on my dad's insurance through them and it was still in the 3000's. I have tried with a number of cars, mainly from group 4 insurance as anything below that tends to be really new cars that boost up your premium. Ideally, I'd like to buy my friends Peugeot 306 off him which is a 1.9 diesel that is usually really cheap to insure compared to most other first cars . However since this huge insurance increase I'm finding it impossible to get prices below 3000. Does anyone know of anyone specialist insurance sites for young drivers that offer cheaper prices or does anyone have any tips for filling out the forms to lower the price? I've tried everything I possibly can but I may have missed some important thing. I just know I don't want to pay 3000 a year for a car that I'm buying for 400. I see no logic there, what so ever. I'd rather crash my car and then buy another 6 of them.""

Is a Ford KA cheap to insure?

I am a new driver, just passed my test ( im 17 ) and thinkin to buy a ford ka as a first car. Is it cheap to insure tho? Around how much? Thanks""

Home insurance comparison?

Considering switching home insurance carriers. The North Carolina Rate Bureau (NCRB) rate and premium for a policy period from May 18, 2013 to May 18, 2014 is $770. The insurance company's proposed rate and premium is $984. This represents a 28% increase over the NCRB rate and premium. Our assessed home value is $525,000. We hold other policies with USAA (auto, life), but have not gone with them for home because the feedback we've received insofar as home has not been favorable. I welcome your home insurance insights, thank you.""

Car insurance address when at university?

I am a university 20 year old student and I will be insuring my first car next month. I was just wondering if I would be able to use my home address for the insurance details ro whether I would have to put my term time address. i ask this because I come from Wiltshire (low risk) and I go to uni in Birmingham (high risk). I mean my car will be with me at uni but the cost is sooo much lower if I use my home address. Is this ok and legal? Cheers

Why is my health insurance so much?

My girlfriend- is 22 in shape and healthy other than having psoriasis and ADD; she has health insurance and pays $90 damn bucks a month. I am looking for insurance since I will soon be 26 years old in shape and healthy and am looking at paying $200 a month. This is bullshit frankly- I am healthy, only have ADD (which I don't even take meds for but want to start again) and have a steady well paying job. I tried looking through the websites but found nothing less than $110 for not so great coverage. Can someone explain to me a. where to get good affordable health insurance b. why there is such a difference in cost since she has more problems and we are only 3 years apart c. are there any options for me if I went to healthcare.gov? I know she isn't lying about the payments and I know she has a co pay with each subscription/doctors visit but its minimal like $30-60 minimal. Any help or advise is very appreciated- also please don't make this political.""

I'm looking for free car insurance quotes?

As I'm a new driver, my parents told me to seek on the internet for insurances quotes, to help me handle my own things. So yeah i'm looking for websites that offer free car insurances quotes.""

How much will be my car insurance? (I'm serious)?

Guys please take this question seriously and don't even try to answer unless u r going to answer thoroughly I'm 18 and will be 19 in october And I'm getting driver license in a month My parents are not citizen and they don't live in US But I'm citizen and go to high school I heard that my car insurance is extremely expensive since my parents don't live in US But I really NEED to drive my own car ( Not i want to, i NEED it!) I'm aware that the insurance fee depends on companies ***So what I want is approximation or similar examples or similar cases (My GPA is over 4.0 so probably there will be discount... *** if there is, i need every info for discount) And only my mom got her license when she stayed here for few month last year She needs to renew it and she is registered to my uncle's car (I live with my uncle) ***Does this affect my fee? I'm working in city recreation department How can I go work if i don't have car? Now...I ride bike for 4miles to go there... Please help me""

""Where can I get insurance, I want to play a sport but I don't have insurance ?

So im thinking about joining sports in school but I don't have insurance and does state farm sell that kind of insurance or any other insurance company

What is the CHEAPEST homeowner's insurance around?

Along with flood insurance and car insurance, but the main thing is homeowner's insurance. They've gone up on us something fierce, and we don't live in a mansion. Affordable homeowner's insurance is the question. Thank you.""

Insurance is a scam?

Why would we need it to be a law? Insurance is in case something happens, well what if nothing ever happens, all that money goes straight into their pockets. If it's law, they should make a new law where, after a certain number of years that you never got in an accident you get your money back. The main reason a hit and run occurs is, jail, or they don't have insurance. You would solve half the problem! I read in the DMV booklet that you can show proof that you have $35,000 in an account, and you wouldn't have to pay insurance, does anybody do this?""

Health Insurance Vs No Health Insurance?

Joe is currently unemployed and without health insurance coverage. He derives utility (U) from his interest income on his savings (Y) according to the following function: U = 5(Y1/2) Joe presently makes about $40,000 of interest income per year. He realizes that there is about a 5 percent probability that he may suffer a heart attack. The cost of treatment will be about $20,000 if a heart attack occurs. a. Calculate Joes expected utility level without any health insurance coverage. b. Calculate Joes expected income without any insurance coverage. c. Suppose Joe must pay a premium of $1,500 for health insurance coverage with ACME insurance. Would he buy the health insurance? Why or why not? d. Suppose now that the government passes a law that allows all peoplenot just the self-employed or employedto have their entire insurance premium exempted from taxes. Joe is in the 33 percent tax bracket. Would he buy the health insurance at a premium cost of $1,500? Why or why not? What implications can be drawn from the analysis?""

What car should I get for cheap insurance?

How much will a long lapse in my car insurance coverage cost me (on average) when I try to get inusrance again

And by long I mean between 6-12 months.

Showing proof of insurance after citation (in Texas)?

Hello, i received a citation for driving uninsured a couple days ago (my court date is the 15th). I got a letter in the mail today saying i would have to pay a fine of $300.... ...show more""

How much would car insurance be for a 2002 Jaguar X-Type compared to one for a 2002 Lexus ES300?

I know the Jaguar would be more expensive but by how much?

Cheap car insurance UK?

I'm a young driver 17 I have no provisional experience or pass plus Im a girl and I'm hopefully getting a ford Ka 2002-2003 Do you know what the cheapest place to get insurance is? I've looked everywhere! Any help appreciated :)

Where can I get cheap health insurance in NYC as an individual with a relatively low deductible & low premium?

Is that even possible? My reasoning is this: I am 26 and I am self-employed. I am basically just looking for a bare bones plan that will have the lowest premium possible and I actually care more about emergency care than doctors visits. You see, I don't get sick often and don't plan to go to the doctor a whole lot...I just want something in case of an accident and the whole low premium w/ high deductibles thing won't help me...I'll be stuck with a sky high bill to pay off if I stay in the hospital. I'd rather have emergency coverage and simply pay out of pocket for a doctor if I have to. Is there a plan out there in NY that fits this? Anyone know? HELP! I make too much money to qualify for Healthy NY or another low income program..but not enough to reasonably afford a normal healthcare plan when factoring in rent and student loans. (If this isn't a reason for universal healthcare in the US, I don't know what is)""

What are some reasons a person would get kicked off of state farm car insurance?

recently i had gotten into a small accident in a private driveway. not much damage done to either vehicles. when we brought this to the attention of our State Farm Insurance, they said that my mom can be taken off the plan because i was an unlicensed driver with no other driver in the car. she had no idea i had the car though. i own the car but its under her insurance. i usually only take it to work, but something rather important had come up and i had no other way of reaching my destination. can they really take my mom off her plan for something she was not aware of?""

Cheap car insurance for new drivers?

I passed my test yesterday and want to know if anyone knows any cheap insurance companies that do 1 month cover only? as am im selling my car soon! thanks!

""On average, how much does groceries cost for 2?""

My friend and I are creating our budget plans for our first apartment. So far I've factored in rent, utilities, car insurance, and gas. If you know of anything else I should be aware of please let me know. Thanks!! (Btw, I'm in Arizona)""

What car has the CHEAPEST car insurance for a 16 yr old?

What car? make? model? yr? Insurance company?

""When you get married, how do you get off of your parent's insurance, etc?""

My dad still has me declared as a dependant, and my car insurance and health insurance is on his. When I get married will these automatically change, or do I have to notify the insurance companies and tax people?""

Can I drive my friend's car if I am NOT on their insurance?

In the state of OHIO, I want to know would I be able to drive a friend's car if I am NOT on their insurance, but I have my own insurance?""

Co-op smartbox for young drivers?

I am 18 and considering going through the co-op box scheme for young drivers. Everything about it looks great (I've gone from quotes of 6000+ to 3000!) but there's one area that concerns me - I can't imagine I'll be confident enough driving any time soon to be a wreckless driver, but I intend to go on holiday around Scotland with my friends in the summer where I'll be driving for a long time. I was wondering whether this might affect my insurance premium. So for example if I drove around 5 hours a week, consistently, for a few months, and then went on a road trip and drove for 30 hours one week, would this raise my premium? I ask because on the quote page it asks for how long I'll be driving on a weekly basis. Do any current customers happen to know whether they care at all? Thank you in advance! :)""

Cheapet Cars To Insure For A 18 Year Old?

i am 18 years old living at home, i have 1000 pound and i am looking for a cheap run around to get me to school and back,, does anyone know any cheap cars to insure tanks""

Is it mean to cancel the kids' health insurance?

I pay for all of the health insurance through my job, including his. I told hime that he has 15 days to some for himself and 30 days to get some for the children. He thinks that is a horrible mother because it would all cost me $300 a month but it will cost him $1200 per month. He make 260K per year. I make $70K He he moved out and got involved with someone else. Why should it be free to destroy your family? I really should have done this four months ago when he moved out.""

Teenage insurance for 2001 Ford Escape? 2002 Jeep Liberty?

I'm thinking about purchasing this car used for my 18th birthday. I have to wait until i'm 18 so I can be on my own insurance. But I have taken drivers ed, and I will be buying this car full payment in cash. So I'm curious to know what the insurance could be! I have tried to get quotes online. You have to already be insured and own the car...I have tried so many. I also am a female, so my insurance will be a little lower. I just really need to find out what it would be! I was also thinking of purchasing a 2002 Jeep Liberty, any insurance guess on that? Ford Escape is a better car, but i'm just seeing what insurance could be for both. Thank you so much!""

Where can I get individual health insurance that will cover Pregnancy?

I live in a small town in Texas, I was recently married in June 2008, we got pregnant with twins but unfortunatly had a miscarriage...one of hardest things I have ever had to deal with...anyways...we want to try again but I really want to have health coverage and not have to pay out of pocket...does anyone know of any health insurance that covers pregnancy...from what everyone else is telling me no individual policy will cover me if i get pregnant...if anyone can help I would appreciate it...""

Why are the big insurance companies so much cheaper?

I am getting off my parents auto insurance and getting my own. The Quote from the agent my parents use who is local to the area was nearly two hundred dollars more per year than the quote i got from progressive. Is there a reason to use a local company? he tried to sell me on customer service but i only deal with my insurance company maybe once or twice a year so i'm not sure that its worth $200 to me. Is there a reason to use a local company?

Why is it that girls can get cheap insurance?

i passed my test a year now payed a grand for my insurance at first then had to another one as it ran out and had gone down to 400. my bf has been driving for 4 years now and his insurance on his car is 2 grand just for fun he put into see how much it would cost to me to drive his car and came up as a grand lol he was really peed off lol his car is a 1.8 t and mine is a 1l corsa 53 plate and for fun again he went ot see how much i was for him on my car it was a grand lol. how come girls can get it soooooo cheap. so next year am getting my golf gti mk4. am sick of having my slow corsa.

Minor car accident with no car insurance?

I was in a minor car accident last month and i was the one at fault. I was backing out of a parking space and a lady with her son who was driving pulled up behind and was going pretty fast. I left a minor dent in the front part of her car and a few scratches. She has been harrassing me since the day it happened and finally she contacted me and i agreeded to pay the cost of the damage because i didnt have insurance at the time. But then she sent me a sheet with the costs of the damages, 1,000 dollars!! I think it's way over priced and a lawyer doesnt want to do anything about it. She keeps calling and harrassing me and threatening me with the law. what can the law do? what can the judge do to me in court? will i go to jail?""

Cheapest auto insurance?

Which car insurance is good and cheap for a teen?

Well not so much a teen anymore im turning 20 in a few months.. but my car insurance is REALLY high..is it because i have a honda civic? or that im 19.. Should i try Geico? I dont know what to do. anybody know any cheap insurance companys?

Mustang GT car insurance?

Hey in 16 and im looking at buying a 1994-2005 Mustang GT. I like working on cars and this car seems to me an awesome car to work on. I just wanted to know how much people pay for insurance with a mustang GT. Also how much more would it cost because i am 16.

Is there car insurance for people who don't own cars in Ontario?

My parents are taking me off their insurance as an occasional driver. I don't own a car and don't plan on getting one. I was wondering if I need insurance in order to drive someone else's car? I haven't had any luck finding info relevant to Ontario. Thanks!

""Do traffic schools, particularly in California, prevent an increase in auto insurance rates?

I just received my first traffic ticket :(

Advanced driving courses/car insurance?

Hi I am a 20 year old male, i passed 2 years ago, but since my dads insurance went up to 7000 with me as an additional driver both of us totally clean on a 1.4 astra i have been without my own transport as i had to be removed from the policy which is understandable. i've always been a sensible driver with 2 years no accidents or convictions but i have always been an additional driver to save costs on insurance but now the time has come to start building my no claims and i am struggling to find a car i can afford to insure. So long story short what i was wondering was could anybody please tell me of any advanced driving courses or any other ways to lower my insurance quotes and post links to them so i can find them easier. please help its becoming a real nightmare and i am sure if you can help me here you are helping thousands of other young drivers who are being punished because of muppets out there. Thanks for any help i would greatly appreciate it""

What car should I get for cheap insurance?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-what-age-uk-drivers-insurance-cheaper-caridade-ma"

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myphillyrealty · 8 years ago

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The state of Philly’s rental market, in five charts

Are rents really too high, and can the building boom be sustained?

Every month, real estate and rental sites come out with their rent reports in Philly and other major U.S. cities. The collection of headlines read something like this: “Philly’s rental prices jumped 9 percent” or “Rents are on the rise in Philadelphia.”

But parsing through the respective data reveals that the numbers are really all over the place. That’s because many of the reports pull information from their own collection of listings or focus on different types of units, often with an eye on brand new luxury rentals.

So it can be difficult to figure out whether Philly is experiencing an oversupply (Hint: Not quite) or if the rent really is too darn high. To try to come to some sort of conclusion on the state of Philly’s rental market, Curbed Philly talked to some experts and checked out all of the data out there to come up with these five major takeaways.

1. The rental boom is concentrated in Center City

At Center City District’s last count, there were 36 residential and mixed-use development projects underway or proposed for the neighborhood; nearly 4,000 units are expected to deliver by 2019. While that number does include condos, a majority of them are rentals.

“Especially in Center City, we’re seeing enough high-end supply deliver all at once than we’ve seen historically,” says JLL senior research analyst Clint Randall.

Still, something is to be said that a few big-time rental developments have been put on the market in the last year, after experiencing lower-than-expected occupancy rates. Dalian on the Park listed one month after opening its doors, and 3601 Market in University City is also up for grabs.

Randall says these leasing issues aren’t across the board for all developments, however. “I think the market’s taking a moment in the sense that we don’t typically have this many new apartment options to choose from,” he says. “So in some cases that’s why we’re seeing a lag in how quickly these buildings are getting leased up.”

2. Yet Philly’s “boom” is peanuts compared to Dallas, NYC

With all of the cranes in the sky, there have been talks of a potential boom-to-bust scenario playing out in Philly. However, JLL Philadelphia recently put this into perspective by comparing the Philadelphia metro’s rental boom to other major U.S. cities.

As this chart dictates, 18,863 units are expected to deliver in the Philly region between 2015 and 2019. That’s less than the national average and very little compared to Dallas metro’s 85,565 units.

That said, talks of an oversaturated rental market may not be as extreme as some suggest, especially as Philly’s population grows (more on that later). Remaining “cautiously optimistic,” Randall says, “We are entering a period of slowing down as far as absorption, but not enough supply to totally overwhelm the market. It can be absorbed, it might just take a little longer.”

3. Average rental rates are growing—slowly

As mentioned earlier, it’s hard to offer a concrete median or average rent in Philly, since so many real estate sites use a wide range of methodologies. For example, Zumper’s June numbers show that a 1-bedroom unit in Philly rents for $1,169 right now. Adobo says it’s more like $1,202 a month, while Apartment List puts it at $957 a month. (Note: Apartment List recently changed to its methodology in attempts to improve accuracy.)

Differing numbers aside, most reports can agree on one thing: Philly’s average rental rate is steadily increasing, but not at the rapid rate that some may gripe about. National data and research firm Axiometrics recently found that rental growth has been less than 1 percent for six of the last seven months in Philly. This chart shows the rollercoaster ride that Philly and the suburbs’ rental markets have experienced over the past two years.

4. Affordability issues are putting pressure on Center City rent growth

Center City’s increasing supply of apartments may be playing a role in the lack of the neighborhood’s rental rate growth, says CoStar senior market analyst Chris LeBarton. In a recent report, LeBarton found that rental rates in Center City have remained somewhat stagnant over the last few quarters.

Specifically, from 2016 to 2017, rents in Center City rose just 1.1 percent. In the Art Museum neighborhood, they decreased ever so slightly by .12 percent.

LeBarton explains, “A lot of this is attributable to new supply pressure, but affordability is also a factor. There are only so many renters who can or will pony up for a $2,000-per month, one-bedroom unit in Center City.”

That may explain why many new developments have started offering concessions to lure potential renters. Hanover North Broad, for example, is offering up to eight weeks of free rent, while the Divine Lorraine is touting 10 percent off monthly rent for the rest of 2017.

5. While Philly rent is low vs. other cities, it’s still high for Philly renters

Compared to other major U.S. cities, Philly’s rent growth has remained relatively stable and still remains one of the more affordable cities, says Apartment List analyst Andrew Woo.

Yet, as Curbed Philly has reported before, a majority of Philly renters are cost-burdened, which is defined as paying more than 30 percent of one’s monthly income on rent. So it could be argued that Philly’s rent isn’t necessarily high, but that its wages are too low. The median income here is $41,233

However, the rental boom, at least in Center City, isn’t unwarranted, says Randall. While the city’s poverty rate is still at 26 percent, he points to recent data that found that the population of Philadelphians earning an annual salary of $100,000 or more has risen 25 percent since 2010—and a good chunk of those six-figure-earning residents live in Greater Center City.

Randall says, “While the rental rates far outpace city-wide income levels, the data around population over the past 10 years in Center City would support the notion that there are way more people living here in higher-income brackets.” In sum, these newcomers can afford these high Center City rents.

Final word:

When it comes to the future of Philly’s rental market, Center City is where it’s at, and the building boom isn’t likely to bust anytime soon. A lot of people are banking on the delivery of the Comcast Technology Center, which is estimated to bring 2,800 employees to the city. These newcomers are likely to be drawn to these new apartments for a variety of reasons, with location being chief among them.

“People moving to Philadelphia who don’t know the city well often rent first rather than buying and also gravitate toward projects that offer creature comforts and make adjustment easy,” Randall says. “I think that supports this housing pipe line.”

Still, Philly is in a unique position compared to other major U.S. metros in that it remains a buyers’ city, where a monthly mortgage is often cheaper than a monthly rent in Center City (which is about $1,950). That means the rental market isn’t just competing with itself, but with the housing market, too.

Here’s an easy answer to that perpetual buy versus rent question, if location is important to you: Rent in Center City and buy anywhere else.

from http://philly.curbed.com/

The post The state of Philly’s rental market, in five charts appeared first on MyPhillyRealty.

http://myphillyrealty.com/2017/06/02/the-state-of-phillys-rental-market-in-five-charts/

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realestate63141 · 8 years ago

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Critter Cities: America’s Top 10 Towns for Pest Infestations

xxmmxx/iStock

Cities are bursting with life—too much of it, sometimes. Just ask James Vahter, a video producer who set up shop a few years ago in a trendy part of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He got a sweet deal on a spacious, two-bedroom, fifth-floor walk-up, but it didn’t take him long to understand why the rent was so cheap. It happened a few weeks into his stay, when he returned from a business trip in the middle of the night and flipped on the hallway light.

“My walls were crawling,” he recalls. “From the floorboards to the ceiling, cockroaches were everywhere. I ran to the kitchen to grab some Raid—and the counters were crawling too.”

Welcome to the epic battle between city dweller and vermin. In Vahter’s case, he was able to wriggle (sorry) out of his lease and retreat to the suburbs. But not all urbanites are lucky enough to have the option of a happy ending.

From water bug traumas to Pizza Rat videos, pests are a terrifyingly common part of American life. In 2015, about 11% of U.S. households had encounters with rats or mice, and 12% with cockroaches, according to the Census Bureau’s newly released American Housing Survey. And, of course, those numbers increase exponentially in high-density metro areas.

Vermin nation

Some creepy creature populations are very much on the rise. There has been a 7% increase in complaints about rats in New York from 2015 to 2016, and a 16% uptick in Boston. Not squirming yet? A recent report by the pest-control company Orkin found a steep rise in bedbug incidents nationwide, to near-epidemic levels in many cities.

“We have more people affected by bedbugs in the United States now than ever before,” said Ron Harrison, an entomologist and director of technical services at Orkin, in the report. “They were virtually unheard of in the U.S. 10 years ago.”

Antwinette Clurksy, 64, endured living with bedbugs in her one-bedroom Houston apartment for more than three years. They were under the carpets, on the mattress—everywhere.

“I would be sitting on the couch, and I look up, and they’re crawling on me,” Clurksy says. She had red bite marks all over her body. Eventually, she had to sleep on the floor after throwing away her mattress, along with the sofa and dining table, because of the infestation.

Despite this and other horror stories, not all cities are equally affected by the onslaught of pests. In Seattle, for example, less than 1% of homes have a roach problem.

To figure out which cities are most under siege by critters with four or more legs, we used the rat and cockroach data from the American Housing Survey, as well as data about mosquitoes, termites, bedbugs, fleas/ticks—and, hey, scorpions, too—collected from other sources.*

What makes some cities more attractive to pests than others? The Northeast has an infamous rat problem—the chilly winter months drive the multitude of rodents in search of shelter, warmth and food. And the South is plagued by insects. Big insects.

“The warmer climate in the Southern states increases the ability to support insects for longer periods of time,” says Michael Raupp, an entomologist from the University of Maryland. “Insects are usually killed by the coldness, but since it rarely reaches lethal temperatures [freezing point] in the South, cockroaches and bedbugs remain active for a longer time out of the year.”

So where does your city rank on this ignominious list? We doused our data team with copious amounts of Off and turned them loose to find out. Let’s get crawling!

1. Houston, TX

Don’t mess with Texas cockroaches.

BarnabyChambers/iStock; realtor.com

Houston gets a big tentacles- and claws-up from several species of pests, including cockroaches, rats, mosquitoes, bedbugs, and termites. It’s the pest capital of the United States! Why? The warm, humid climate and huge human population (people=trash=delicious food!) offer a luxury spa for vermin, according to Steve Durham, president of pest control company EnviroCon in Houston. About two in five households reported seeing cockroaches, making it the second-worst city for the ubiquitous bugs after New Orleans, according to the American Housing Survey.

“In Houston, I have seen multiple times when there were thousands and thousands of roaches,” Durham says. “You can’t believe how some people just don’t clean [their homes]. Roaches multiply very fast—every roach egg has 32 babies, and those 32 babies will each have 32 babies.” Yuck.

2. New York, NY

Rats grow big in New York City.

robertcicchetti/iStock

No one knows how many rats live in New York, but estimates range all the way from 2 million to 28 million—and that high estimate would mean that there are almost four rats for each human in the most populous city in the nation. The city that never sleeps! Traps have been set, poisons brewed, and volunteers have relocated stray cats to rat-infested areas, according to the New York Daily News, but rats seem to be winning this war. How about we just give them Staten Island and call it even?

“In New York, a lot of architecture was designed without pest control in mind,” explains Taylor Falk, environmental analyst from M&M Environmental. The alleyways, dumpsters, and garbage are very close together. … When there is food and areas to move around, there are rats.”

Mice and rats are talented climbers, Falk says, and sometimes even climb high-rises through the utility systems (like hot water pipes).

And just like in the city’s alleys, rats and cockroaches battle for dominance overall. Rats were found in 15% of homes, cockroaches in 16%.

3. Washington, DC

The District of Columbia is ranked the second-worst city for bedbugs by Orkin, while nearby Baltimore took the top spot. Blame the area’s huge influx of international travelers. Diplomats, tourists, and businesspeople (and their baggage) are practically VIP shuttle services for bedbugs, says Raupp, of the University of Maryland. Washington’s mild climate also helps bedbugs survive.

“The problem is that many of the materials we used to treat bedbugs are no longer available, due to EPA regulations. So there has been a large insurgence,” says Dannis Warf from Royal Pest Control. “They aren’t just in homes, but also in movie theaters, public transportation, libraries, even hospitals.” The pests even invaded the DC Department of Health in 2012.

And although Washington is often criticized for its “fat cats,” rats are a major problem. In fact, there’s even a Yelp page dedicated to a well-known park, satirically labeled as “Dupont Circle Rat Sanctuary.” One review reads, “Wonderful place for 100% organic, free-range rats to frolic in a safe environment without predators.”

4. Atlanta, GA

To mosquitoes, you’re as sweet as a Georgia peach.

Henrik_L/iStock

Warm climate? Check. Wet summers? Check. Swamps and forested areas? Check. Perhaps nowhere can mosquitoes find a better breeding ground than Atlanta. There are about 45 kinds of mosquito living in the Southern city, according to Elmer Gray, a professor of entomology at the University of Georgia. And some species can carry West Nile and Zika viruses. Last summer, there were 77 cases of Zika in Georgia, according to Georgia Health News.

5. Philadelphia, PA

A total of 18% of Philly households have seen rats, making Philadelphia the rattiest city in America. The city’s huge swath of old row houses make it easier for the nimble animals to find holes in the walls and move, Habitrail-like, from one family to another.

“Philadelphia also has a very unseasonably warm winter this year, so the rats are growing more than usual,” says Royal Pest Control’s Warf.

6. Miami, FL

We love Miami’s year-around steamy weather. Unfortunately, so do cockroaches, mosquitoes, and termites. Florida has six invasive termite species that swarm alternately throughout the year, feasting on anything made of wood. By 2040, half of the structures in South Florida will be at risk of termite infestation, according to a study by the University of Florida.

“It’s hot, it’s humid, it rains a lot, and we have a lot of wooden-structure homes, as opposed to concrete-structure homes,” says JC Riverol from Spray’em Dead Termite & Pest in Miami.

The average cost to homeowners to repair termite damage is $3,000, but that can vary widely, depending on the extent of the damage, according to Termites.com.

7. Tampa, FL

The good news about Tampa is that it’s practically rodent-free; the bad news is, cockroaches won’t leave you alone. Ever. They are present in an alarming 38% of homes. They flock to Tampa like retirees, and get comfy in the kitchen, under the palm trees, and inside the gazebos.

Pet owners in Tampa also need to keep an eye out for fleas and ticks, which love the warm temperature and year-round humidity. These tiny insects usually don’t mess with humans, but they cling to the skins of dogs and cats, transmitting diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tapeworms.

8. Nashville, TN

With plenty of old structures to roam through, the Music City offers rats a comfortable habitat. Winter’s low temperatures of 30 degrees send rats scurrying into people’s homes for warmth and food, and the humid summer provides perfect conditions for breeding. Brown rats are the most common in Tennessee. One of the largest rat species, they can grow to an incredible 15 inches or more in length. (Silent scream!) Each year, there are also 50 snakebites reported in Tennessee, according to the Vanderbilt Medical Centers.

9. Phoenix, AZ

Not the good, “Rock You Like a Hurricane” kind of Scorpion

johnaudrey/iStock

Phoenix residents have something scarier than garden-variety roaches to contend with: scorpions. Native to the arid Arizona desert, the bark scorpion is the most venomous scorpion in the United States, and is the culprit in most scorpion bites in the state. Arizona’s two poison-control centers report about 12,000 scorpion stings in the state each year.

Most scorpion stings go away after a few hours, unless you have a serious allergy—in which case you need to head to an ER, pronto. Better bring the American Express, too. In 2012, Marcie Edmonds was stung by a scorpion and billed $83,000 for anti-venom, the local CBS news station reported.

“The valley was the natural habitat for scorpions. Then humans came in and destroyed their habitats, to build concrete walls and buildings. But scorpions like concrete walls,” says Ben Holland of Scorpion Sweepers, a pest control company. “So we destroyed their habitat and built something even better.”

10. Boston, MA

In 1917, the Boston Women’s Municipal League spearheaded a sweeping extermination campaign against the city’s proliferating rats, leading up to the first (and, to date,only) Rat Day, when residents were offered prizes for the largest number of rat carcasses turned in. A century later, the city is still battling rodents. The long, cold winter of New England forces ’em to creep into people’s homes for warmth and food. Last year, the Boston Inspectional Services Department received more than 3,500 rodent complaints.

The city adopted a rather innovative measure: dropping dry ice into rat burrows so that rats will suffocate. The method was proven to be effective, although it was temporarily stopped by the EPA last December because dry ice wasn’t registered as a pesticide, according to a report by the local CBS station.

* Data sources: American Housing Survey, Orkin, Terminix, Eastern Arizona Courier, Hartz

The post Critter Cities: America’s Top 10 Towns for Pest Infestations appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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Outdoor dining in San Francisco | Patricia Chang From the Editor: Everything you missed in food news last week This post originally appeared on August 1, 2020 in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now. I am a hardcore Emily Oster devotee. She is an economist and professor who wrote the book on pregnancy, parsing oceans of data and guidance to help rational parents-to-be understand which restrictions are based in science and which are merely taboo. So I appreciate her new, thorough FAQ for New York magazine on COVID-19 risks, which touches upon outdoor and indoor dining. There’s been a lot of debate publicly, and also privately, in my friend groups and work Slacks, about whether dining out at all is dangerous or ethical and how to best support restaurants, industry workers, and (frankly) our own mental health. (I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but it’s still top of mind.) Oster’s take is that dining outside is riskier than taking a socially distanced walk, but safer than many other scenarios. You would need to have a fairly prolonged and mask-free interaction with a restaurant worker or fellow customer to give it to them (or get it from them) outside. In my outings, I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how good many places are at following safety protocols, and at how many restaurants have pivoted to counter-service models, where the patron orders at a counter and food is brought to the table, cutting out the interaction with waitstaff. Watching the news about parties and packed patios can overshadow the restaurants that are putting in real work, and may scare some people into a binary mindset: staying in = good, going out = bad. Not all outdoor dining is created equal. As for indoor dining, Oster says, “The simplest rule is probably: Indoors with other people is bad. If you have to do it, keep it brief and wear a mask.” Bars, meanwhile, should be “avoided at all costs.” Which means no matter how safe the outdoor operations are, here in the Northeast we’ll be back to takeout come winter. I’ll enjoy what I can for now. On Eater — Closures (August rent is due edition): Tasting-menu spot from a celeb chef Trois Mec, storied fine dining destination Patina, and brand-name ramen import Ippudo in Los Angeles; trendy and critically acclaimed Chinese-Cajun restaurant Le Sia, decade-old Vietnamese restaurant An Choi, Keith McNally’s FiDi brasserie Augustine, and food hall Gansevoort Market in New York; high-profile sandwich and pastry destination High Street on Market in Philadelphia; longtime cafe Anna Lee’s outside of Atlanta; 40-year-old Acadian Bakery and 36-year-old dive Alice’s Tall Texan in Houston; controversial 45-year-old gay bar Badlands and popular seafood spot Anchor & Hope in SF; and flashy import Dominique Ansel bakery in London. — California Pizza Kitchen filed for bankruptcy. — Grubhub and Postmates are defying Portland’s delivery commission cap. — How the latest proposals around unemployment relief and Paycheck Protection Program loans will impact industry workers and owners. — Scaling back: takeout alcohol in New Orleans; indoor bar service in Upper Michigan; and in Seattle, you now have to confirm you live with the person you’re dining with if you want to eat indoors. — Here is what outdoor dining looks like in San Francisco and Detroit. — The struggle for BIPOC food writers to be considered generalists. Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago A wall of hanging ingredients at Ever in Chicago — Openings: Ever, a highly anticipated fine dining restaurant from chef Curtis Duffy in Chicago; Call Your Mother, a Georgetown location of D.C.’s popular bagel shop; Tidbits by Dialogue, a pivot from a tasting-menu spot in LA; a natural wine and tinned fish destination in D.C. that was originally called Barkada (but no longer is, due to cultural appropriation complaints); Street to Kitchen, an exciting new Thai place in Houston; Jimmy’s Dockside, a pivot from a fancy seafood restaurant in Durham; and Baia, a vegan Italian restaurant from empire-builder Matthew Kenney. — Chef Omar Tate is raising money to open a multifaceted community center in West Philly anchored around food and feeding the neighborhood. — New Orleans’s Melissa Araujo is taking her Honduran pop-up Alma brick-and-mortar in September. — The ultimate guide to fruity, milky, and other specialty soft drinks. — Why chef and restaurateur Preeti Mistry is getting into farming. — The super-interesting and conflicting history of the mai tai, plus how to make a great one at home. Off Eater Businesses and institutions are wasting valuable time and money on “hygiene theater” when disinfecting surfaces isn’t what’s going to stop this pandemic. [The Atlantic] If you do nothing else today, please set aside 10 minutes to watch this gorgeous, heart-shattering dance choreographed by the always impressive Kyle Abraham. [Joyce Theater] Dining in a parking garage isn’t that bad after all. [Curbed] Cool story about a man in Philadelphia launching an independent delivery app focused on Black-owned businesses. [Philly Inquirer] Really good analysis on why the big delivery platforms are so problematic. [BIG] from Eater - All https://ift.tt/33yKgg3

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realtor10036 · 8 years ago

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Critter Cities: America’s Top 10 Towns for Pest Infestations

xxmmxx/iStock

“My walls were crawling,” he recalls. “From the floorboards to the ceiling, cockroaches were everywhere. I ran to the kitchen to grab some Raid—and the counters were crawling too.”

Vermin nation

Antwinette Clurksy, 64, endured living with bedbugs in her one-bedroom Houston apartment for more than three years. They were under the carpets, on the mattress—everywhere.

Despite this and other horror stories, not all cities are equally affected by the onslaught of pests. In Seattle, for example, less than 1% of homes have a roach problem.

So where does your city rank on this ignominious list? We doused our data team with copious amounts of Off and turned them loose to find out. Let’s get crawling!

1. Houston, TX

Don’t mess with Texas cockroaches.

BarnabyChambers/iStock; realtor.com

2. New York, NY

Rats grow big in New York City.

robertcicchetti/iStock

Mice and rats are talented climbers, Falk says, and sometimes even climb high-rises through the utility systems (like hot water pipes).

And just like in the city’s alleys, rats and cockroaches battle for dominance overall. Rats were found in 15% of homes, cockroaches in 16%.

3. Washington, DC

4. Atlanta, GA

To mosquitoes, you’re as sweet as a Georgia peach.

Henrik_L/iStock

5. Philadelphia, PA

“Philadelphia also has a very unseasonably warm winter this year, so the rats are growing more than usual,” says Royal Pest Control’s Warf.

6. Miami, FL

“It’s hot, it’s humid, it rains a lot, and we have a lot of wooden-structure homes, as opposed to concrete-structure homes,” says JC Riverol from Spray’em Dead Termite & Pest in Miami.

The average cost to homeowners to repair termite damage is $3,000, but that can vary widely, depending on the extent of the damage, according to Termites.com.

7. Tampa, FL

8. Nashville, TN

9. Phoenix, AZ

Not the good, “Rock You Like a Hurricane” kind of Scorpion

johnaudrey/iStock

10. Boston, MA

* Data sources: American Housing Survey, Orkin, Terminix, Eastern Arizona Courier, Hartz

The post Critter Cities: America’s Top 10 Towns for Pest Infestations appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

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