#but the brackets that came with it are too big for my railing (or i am too dumb to figure out how to adjust them)

[burstinn]

THE EVERY GAY MANS DREAM READER

TALL, BUFF, BIG BOOBS AND ASS everything

Can't find no good pic for this so..

This post includes:Ghost, Graves, Price, Soap, Nikto, Riptide, Krueger, Konig, Alejandro, Rudy, Gaz, Horangi, Makarov, Velikan, Keegan, Roach. In that order

Yes I wrote all those, yes because I haven't written in a while

Notes:

- NSFW and SFW (Bottom male and top male reader mentioned)

-since y'all like the big buff n' tall male reader, made him bigger and taller basically mixed everything I wrote about male reader, tall, big buff, big cake, big boobs it's like a package in one this will probably be the last of this type of reader since running out ideas. It was hard making original headcanons 💔💔.

-Omg I haven't written in a while so like this might get idk boring?

- Yes again headcanons,you're favs

- strictly MALE READER not Gn rn

- readers age is ambiguous but if you can't think and want an age for reader my thinking is somewhere near late 30s or early 40s

- Some of the HCS have where y'all ain't in a relationship some HCS have y'all r in a relationship

- these headcanons definitely are mischaracterized but let me pretend for a bit 💔💔

- Tiktok got to me now I have brainrot language, so Trigger warning wooohh braiinroot

- can't believe this post was long enough to make my phone lag just a lil bit

- When he first saw you of course he was 😦😧😮

GHOST

- Like okay overkill, like you're taller, buffer and probably have a huger cock??? (Something he can investigate.. For purposes..)

Like you also got smoobs?? A plumpy ass??

Like save some for the rest Jesus 😒😒

- Nonstop staring secretly ofc, You be like in a room then you feel someone staring just to see Ghost somewhere in the corner of the room. You can't tell if he's staring or not but being that you are in an empty room.. Yknow it's kind of obv--

- BUT if you are not in an empty room you will not shake off the staring I mean holy shit look at you like 😨😨🍑✋

- You can literally hear him breathing heavily under his mask like how can he control himself when HE a person who is supposed to be looked up to literally and figuratively now has to look up at YOU?? do you know what does to a person??

-That's right it makes them freaky..

-Probably jerks off to you too

- I mean who doesn't want to get railed by a 7 ft tall man? Especially ESPECIALLY when you've been the supposed dominant person your whole life??

- OMG immediately Cumming to the thought

- I mean he won't mind topping you it also drives his own ego seeing a dominant man get absolutely wrecked, imagine the begging and whining

- plus he won't mind being the person who feels protected not always doing the protecting like 💔💔 he wants to feel protected too 😞

GRAVES

- Immediate gay awakening

- thinks making his western accent more prominent would make you think he sounds more hot

- Will dress up as a cowboy and will will ask (beg) you to do it as well

- because you know.. Hat thing.. Riding.. Graves grabs your hat puts it on his head or Graves grabs his hat puts it on your head, either way one of you is riding something and it ain't a horse

- because of the amazing quote on who ever came up w/ that is "save a horse ride a cowboy"

- Graves is obviously the type of guy to look at your ass and whistle maybe slap it, nah definitely slap it

PRICE

- He thinks of you like a bear

- like You're soo- big and cuddly? Definitely intimidating

- I mean you're near the same age bracket so it's not bad to have some.. Thoughts right?

- You're definitely hairy underneath or not but pls be he wants pubes to tickle his nose

- if you don't have a beard for reader then he would KILL to see have a beard like aughh perfect bear look, if you have a beard immediately cumming(/j) or (not /j)

- Like imagine you and price who are basically like bears like parent bears and and you the other 141 boys are like your children 🥺🥺

SOAP

- DEFINITELY became more gayer

- errrmmm.. Like his eyes are BASICALLY near like chest height

- bumping into you and his face touches your chest like omgg.. Such an accident 💔💔

- Obviously flirting about going to pound town

- like imagine You and Him? In a relationship? Having the most feral sex??? Like it's obv jokes (it's not)

- He would also do anything to see a big man whimper like a little bicth slut, who wouldn't want to see a demon of a man roll his eyes back and whine like a wheoeororoe❤, I mean if he tops I'd imagine him saying "cmon you're a big boy ain't cha'? You can handle a few more inches". While you are also getting the malevolent backshots.

- He would also want a big strong arm to man handle him as he takes the most vigorous backshots known to man

- Have you ever thought or seen a very tall wall like 10 or 11 ft high and you being you, Soap asks (demands) for you to carry him on your shoulder because he wants to see what's over the wall

NIKTO

- intimidating guy and intimidating guy typa relationship but your not in a relationship.. Yet.

- watch him watch you

- shows off his knife collection to you, yes I think he has a knife collection and he will show it to people that he wants to impress (he wants to get freaky with you)

- I like to think if he strips off the gear he gives the most desperate kind of touchy hug, to those he feels close with of course which is you

- lucky you

RIPTIDE

- Offers to teach you how to swim yknow just in case

- there is none, he wants to see you wet

- tells you to wear a white shirt and shorts because its Essential for training, it's a lie he wants to see the water wet your clothes making it stick to your body.. Yknow the white shirt showing whats underneath and the shorts outlining what package you've been hiding even though you weren't really hiding it

- He gets too distracted, the others are too, he forgets how to teach you

KRUEGER

- indefinite eye contact while your doing it

- likes staring into them, if you get shy and look away he will grab your jaw and make you have eye contact with him

- angry fierce ahh eyes

- he's an emotional grumpy guy, rip off his mask and aggressively kiss his face

- He wants the after sex laying on the chest while the other is rubbing their head, goes both ways.

- trace his tattoos and compliment them the bedroom will be locked the whole day, trust 🙏

KÖNIG

- The same as Ghosts

- Imagine being the one to get carried instead of the one carrying

- König would definitely come up to you and ask to be carried while you kiss his face multiple times❤❤

- Imagine how hard he gets because you have to look down at him to talk like HNGRHRRGGGRGRRR

- Definitely likes giving you homemade arts and crafts gear because you know.. The headcanon where König makes his own gear and what if he does it for other people too as gifts💔

- likes seeing you wear his mask it makes him imagine what people see when they see König definitely a change of perspective. He can see how intimidating you are and he gets hard.

ALEJANDRO

- will definitely compliment you in Spanish when talking about you with other people even when you're in front or behind him.

- I mean you don't understand Spanish right?

- if you don't, you're oblivious and only just watch curiously on what he's talking about. Buuut but but if you do understand you don't tell him you undeestrand this thing literally feeds your ego like Alejandro thinks of you this way? 🥺🥺

- Thigh riding type of guy idc who thigh riding

RUDY

- everytime I look at him he looks like a soft vanilla type

- I know he's a strong guy but look at him

- He wants soft sex 😞😞

- He also likes being complimented if you whisper a praise to him when he's doing ANYTHING. Imagine the babies you'd both have together.

- He likes toddlers and babies and if you do too a plus for him,makes him fall even more 💯💯

GAZ

- One time he Got injured and was sitting on the floor and then He saw you running towards him he simultaneously screamed in fear and how hard he got

- Likes to style your clothes, If he was off the military right now he really really likes fashion and if he sees you.. You can't fashion and he sees you wearing.. That, He's appalled, horrified, mortified I'm over exaggerating. But he is now in charge of your fashion now, But if you do know how to style you both will share tips with eachother. You can share different tips too ❤❤

- drags you in his barracks and strips you of your clothes except shorts.. And he's telling you this because he wants to "style" you.

- We both know damn well that's an excuse to get the boombayah freaky on.. He's just to shy to tell you upfront or he thinks it's fun to tease you like that before you get freaky

HORANGI

- gets freaky..

- Like he understands the women who get all giggly and nervous when they see a big man who can destroy them (ignore König 💔)

- is definitely not above thigh crushing, boob crushing, face sitting he'd do all at as long as it's you

- Like one time he pretended he broke his leg and won't let anyone else carry him until you came, acting all princessy and shit as you carry him bridal style to the medics

- He felt like a prince omg

- will definitely get on you and treat your real life size anime men boobs as a squishy toy

- How long is it and will he be able to take it??? Who knows he will find out!! Basically searched how long can someone's cock be if they are built like a god and is 7ft tall in Google

- someone gotta tell me Horangi's height and basic Google searching ain't doing it for me I'm too lazy to search for one line of a spicy headcanon line mb

MAKAROV

- You're basically ascary dog he owns

- You're tall and intimidating

- You can get information out of people quickly

- And he's not above telling you to torture anyone with a strength and body like yours

- most of the time you get the info done and folded

- Makarov uses you for intimidation and strength buuttt if you ever THINK of betraying him he already has a plan to get rid of someone like you

- Can and will turn you into one of those supersoldiers

- Will make you murder people right in front of him for entertainment and will rewward you!

- you know what reward it will be, Because when he asked what reward you wanted you got a bit to freaky you thought you be dead rn but nah he agreed actually he seems to enjoy it more than you do..

VELIKAN

- He's the dog in this one have you heard his voice?? Rough as hell imagine hearing him grunt

- Sounds cocky as hieeeellll too

- Would definitely like showing off to you since he wants to look cool in front of you

- Like you seen velikans skins?? Definitely wears the best ones to show you he can not only be a trained assassin But can also dress cool as hell

- If you compliment him it like makes his day, will not stop thinking about it

- Like a cool person complimenting a cool person like him? Ego boost (It's him feeling gay)

- This guys definitely a smoker (headcanon!!) Because voice sounds like he smoked 100 packs in 1 day and doesn't drink an ounce of water /jk I love him he's so hot.

- So if you want a smoke he purposely hides the lighter saying.. 'Oh no I asked someone elses lighter.. I don't have mine right now' or like 'my lighter ran out of fuel ohh

- So you have to put the cigarette in your mouth as you touch it with his cigarette to light ur own that type of trope 💫💫

- If you're not a smoker he will try his best to not smoke in front of you will use fresh mints to hide his breath of smoke

- after sex he will want a smoke, outside he goes or you both share the one cigarette

KEEGAN

- is it wrong to want to be choked by a big buff meaty arm?

- yknow the tiktok thing where girls put a ribbon on their boyfriends arm and the girls just put their face in the middle as their faces get squished??

- Yeah he wants that but gay

- will try to compare dick sizes even though yours is OBVIOUSLY the superior one!!

- Heads or tails on who's bottoming tonight

- Would like to be wrapped around your arms if you are hugging or sleeping keeps him warm

- Especially when it's snowing will force you to hug with him. ESPECIALLY when your in a mission and your in the tents he will definitely force you to hug it out with him

ROACH

- remember the other tall HC where the reader wasn't taller than König

- yes roach does the same thing here.. He's crawling on you like a tree

- If he wants a kiss instead of asking he crawls up to you and kisses you

- definitely likes to sit on your shoulders as you walk around, he feels tall like that

- this is like a distance relationship 💔💔

- Likes it when you bend over to talk to him also when you bend over when youre doing sum since it's slappable opportunity

- because bent over = double D cake will be slapped

- How will it fit? By the power of friendship of course!!

- probably more of say gex desperation but you get it

- Obviously switch switch

[whentherewerebicycles]

further developments

[nsfsprince]

Hold Me Close (And Watch Me Coast)

As a Dragon Hybrid, Roman’s body is easily twice as big as the average human’s, let alone Logan’s. So, it’s really no surprise that sex between the two with their vast size difference is.. incredibly intense.

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Wordcount: 1.5k

A/N: Sooo.. This fic is like, incredibly self-indulgent? There’s unfortunately little to no plot, just steamy activities and a an expansion on this au’s take on Roman, Remus, and Patton’s Human/Dragon hybrid anatomy.(and a guilty acknowledgement that this au is, at its baseline, all about the size difference kink by default akdladklj) This is technically their first time together, not counting the numerus times they ended up grinding against each other till they came. (also i’m like extremely nervous/embarrassed posting this aight)

MINORS DNI

Warnings: Size Kink/Size Difference Kink, no like this is Very Intense Take on Size Kink(you’ve been warned), edging, vague descriptions of distinctly Not Human Genitalia(that may get drawn later but shh), gentle but intense penetrative sex, heavy descriptions reflective of deep penetration kink(?), Roman doesn’t directly check in like he should but he’s watching over Logan’s reactions like a hawk, plus Logan is completely on board the entire time, Overstimulation, lots of dirty talk and praise. A slight deviation on how human anatomy works to avoid actual realistic bodily repercussions and maintain a willing suspension of disbelief. If I missed anything please let me know!

Additionally, thank you all for your encouragement to post this(or anything to this blog for that matter), it’s genuinely  appreciated and has helped so much!!

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Logan couldn’t help but squirm, his bound hands fisting the soft sheets of Roman’s nest as said Dragon oh so slowly fingered him open. Filthy praise had been dripping from Roman’s lips with every maddingly slow press into his entrance, the pads of his large fingers just barely toying with Logan’s prostate to keep him squirming and gasping.

They’d been at this for what felt like hours, though truly Logan really couldn’t be sure how long they had been at this. Every time Logan would near a peak, Roman would withdraw his fingers and press infuriatingly slow and soothing kisses to his shoulders until the peak had drifted far enough to begin again. It was pleasurable torture and Logan was losing his goddamn mind.

“When you promised you’d prep me, I didn't think it would mean ‘edge me to tears,’” Logan had groaned during one of those long pauses, having nearly come from the fourth thick finger prodding into his hole before Roman had pulled away.

“Oh love, you've never taken a cock as big as mine before, and trust me when I say I’m adamant to have you orgasm the moment you’re seated completely on my cock. Then, once you’re finally fully lax and loose from that first mind-melting orgasm, I’ll get to give you a real Dragon Railing. I'll pull out every single orgasm left inside of you and then another,

“I'll come inside again and again and fill you up so full. I’ll pleasure you till your orgasms dry and even then still pull just a few more 'til I know you'll still be feeling my Claim in you for weeks after.” The Dragon purred.

Logan visibly shuttered at the statement, his cock twitching in interest at the promise.

"Of course, there's also the added benefit of my Magic. It'll keep your body healthy and stable as I practically rearrange your guts over, and over, and over," Roman continued, a large hand cupping over Logan's weeping cock and giving it a tight teasing squeeze.

Logan's thighs trembled as Roman's re-slicked fingers pressed back inside, scissoring him open just that extra bit more as he laved a sharp kiss just behind his whining sub's ear.

Logan could scarcely understand it, just how much he wanted what Roman was promising, his half-hard cock eagerly dripping precum onto the soft sheets below. 

He knows that Roman is big, he's seen it at rest through Roman's likely purposefully tight trousers time and time again. He knows that even when soft, he could still easily choke on just the head alone. 

 It wasn't exactly surprising though, considering Roman was himself a Dragon/Human Hybrid, and thus his entire body was at least twice as large as Logan, if not more. At a staggering 6'10", Roman's broad and muscular stature easily dwarfed Logan's stout 5'4" body, right down to the size of their cocks.

He also knows full well that it is going to ruin him mentally, knowing he'll never be satisfied with anything other than Roman. Maybe Logan just has a bit of a thing for his lover's size at this point, or maybe he doesn't. Maybe he just loves anything and everything that's Roman. He doesn't mind that fact either, seeing as Roman is the only one he's ever loved like this, and is the only one he plans to spend the rest of his life with anyway.

 And he was more sure than ever, laying there pinned and having been edged to hell and back for who knew how long, that he desperately wanted Roman to utterly ruin him with his monstrous cock.

For a moment his entire worldview narrowed down to those four large fingers thrusting back and forth into his hole, now unhesitatingly stimulating his prostate. He keened and cried out, unable to buck into it with Roman's free hand keeping his hips in an iron grasp.

Right as he felt the now familiar feeling of his peak readying to crash down around him once more, Roman pulled out and away all together.

He let out a confused whine at the complete loss of his lover's weight over him, unable to look or move to find him with his arms still bound under him.

"Shh, shh, I'm right here my little mouse. I haven't left you," the Dragon soothed softly, briefly resting a grounding hand on the dip between Logan’s shoulders as the sound of shuffling clothing and slick movements filled the air.

All at once, Roman's weight returned, and Logan found his knees pushed apart by Roman's own coming to press in between them. Roman's scaled bare chest pressed searingly hot against Logan's own similarly unclothed torso, his large muscled arms bracketing in Logan's chest and shoulders on either side. His head dropped, pressing a gentle soothing kiss to his favorite spot near the crook of Logan's neck.

Any words Logan had been planning to say were flushed out with the shuttering gasp that escaped him. His thoughts scrambling as the thick unusually tapered head of Roman's slick cock rubbed teasingly against his hole for a moment or two, before finally, finally starting to sink inside.

Logan could not be faulted for the absolutely embarrassing keen that escaped him when Roman's hips gradually bore down with all his weight to sink his cock inside. He could feel through where their back and chest met how Roman’s chest was rumbling with a deeply pleased, nearly subsonic growl.

"Relax, little mouse, you're still so tight inside love. How am I going to bounce you on my cock soon if you don't relax?" Roman purred, one arm curling around and pulling up Logan's hips to ease the other's strain, "Think about how good it'll feel once I'm fully inside. Good little mouse, that's it, relax."

The prince found himself whimpering helplessly, his trembling back arching and shaking knees trying to spread wider to accommodate for the Dragon's unyielding massive cock. Roman's four thick fingers had just barely opened him up enough to actually keep it from being truly painful, barely keeping it to just a deep pleasurable ache. 

It was all he could do to keep his trembling body lax, barely restraining himself from clenching down when inch after ribbed inch proved thicker than the last. Even wilder, he could still feel where the large tapered head was inside, spearing deeper than Logan had ever thought he was capable of experiencing- And the length still just kept coming.

 It felt like ages before Roman finally buried his cock as far as it would go without continuing any painful forcing. Logan's hard little cock was weeping precum steadily, the other's monster of a cock pressing relentlessly into every sweet spot he didn't even know existed.

Roman finally stills, lightly worrying a few hickies into the skin of Logan's shoulders and throat with his teeth, waiting for Logan to adjust.

The prince could barely tell how he felt. it was undeniably heady, at least, to feel his lover so deep that his stomach ached in protest. His upper torso alongside his jaw had gone lax in pure awe, eyes screwed shut as his trembling legs were now completely useless at keeping him up. If it weren't for Roman's strong arm holding his hips up, Logan probably would have collapsed completely to the floor by now. That is, unless the other's massive cock could have ended up also keeping his poor hips in place, if given the chance that it remained stuck inside. An experiment for another day, surely.

"How are you feeling, love?" Roman purred, his voice cautious and calculating.

"Hnng" Logan keened artfully in response, clenching around the others cock in retaliation. He wouldn't see Roman's pleased grin in response, too deep in subspace and blissed out to suspect his lover's next act of mischief.

"Good boy, being so good for me. Alright then, going up!" Roman purred deviously.

Suddenly Logan found his entire body shifting as Roman pinned him to his chest and pulled him upright onto his lap. The Dragon settled down to the floor just enough to still maintain their balance as he let gravity pull Logan back down onto his cock.

The momentum that carried him pulled him perfectly back down the inch and a half he'd lost on the way up, before pressing him even further down as his weight additionally settled into position over the others cock.

That deep protesting ache in his stomach returned twice as loud from the sharp prodding the head of Roman's cock gave. It made Logan want to squirm away for the sharp few overwhelming seconds that he was stuck feeling it before suddenly feeling Roman’s hands press down on his hips. His head jerked back with a strangled moan as the tip of Roman's cock testingly pressed even deeper at the action.

And then Logan finds his hips suddenly flush with Roman's and the last inch and a half of Roman's cock plunging completely inside him. The deep ache that had sharpened with the final push was suddenly overwhelming his senses, and was inexplicably starting to feel really fucking good now as the head of the others cock seemed to finally manage and get.. even deeper, somehow. 

Logan's hips instinctually jerk after a moment, purely overwhelmed with the cacophony of signals being sent to his brain, finally spiking that deep ache into a kaleidoscope of pure oversensitive pleasure. Before he can even really process the feeling it has him practically shouting Roman's name as he peaks harshly and comes all over his heaving chest and twitching hips.

Roman's hands pin their hips together, rutting slowly to continue carefully stimulating Logan's trembling body through his first orgasm. Eventually he paused to let Logan collapse against his chest, the prince obviously lost to his fucked-out bliss.

"We've only just gotten started, are you spent so soon, little Mouse?" Roman purred delightedly.

Logan just whimpered, dazedly shaking his head and spreading his legs once more even as it created a feedback loop with that terrible, wonderful, blissful ache.

"Good Boy."

[lanaisnotwool]

421 - 401K Rip-Off

https://moneyripples.com/2020/09/11/421-401k-rip-off/

Are 401K’s a good idea?

Is it possible that you are worse off with a 401K?

Where can you invest instead?

Chris runs the numbers to see what happens if you invest with a 401K. It is catered for you and is filled with the information you need to make the right decisions and making a ripple effect to the lives of others.

Listen to our Podcast here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/moneyripples/2020/07/30/421--the-401k-ripoff

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, my fellow Ripplers! This is Chris Miles. Your Cash Flow Expert and Anti-Financial Advisor. Welcome you out for a wonderful show. A show that is for you, and it’s about all of you. Those of you that work so hard for your money. And you’re ready for your money to start working harder for you. Now! You want to work because you want to not because you have to. You want to have that cash flow. That freedom. That prosperity. Today! Not 30 or 40 years from now, but right now, to be able to have that life that you love. To do what you love while you can still live. While you still have life in you. And it’s not just about having your own life of comfort and ease and freedom, which is amazing, but it’s about so much more. It’s about be able to create a ripple effect to the lives of others. Because as you prosper, you can use your blessings to bless the lives of others too. And that is a ripple effect. I’m here to create guys. Thank you for allowing me to create that ripple effect through you. And thank you again for bingeing, for sharing with others, for creating conversations, right? Because the only way to elevate your success is to elevate your conversations of success as well. And guys, you guys are doing an amazing job. Thank you so much for being a part of this and allowing me to create a ripple effect through you.

As a reminder check out our website, MoneyRipples.com Well, not only do we have the great e-book, Beyond Rice and Beans, that you can download for free, which will help you find money. Especially if you’re looking for a cash and be able to use and be able to create more freedom. There’s also great blogs. There’s even videos of this very episode being posted as well. So check that out. As well as our YouTube page. So check those out!

Today, guys. So again, I get this all the time because I get it. When the rest of the world is telling you to believe one thing, and you’re trying to do something different. It’s hard to break that pattern, right? Hey, we’re witnessing this in the world right now. There’s debates going on and between majorities and minorities and everything else, and it is creating a lot of debate, but the one thing you don’t see, many people debate is actually in the realm of money, right? When it comes to money, most people would agree going with the mainstream advice. It’s spend little, save a lot, save it in your mutual funds like your 401k is and get that employer match because it’s “Free Money”

Stay out of debt! You know, do all these things that you’re supposed to be doing that should somehow create freedom. Like guys, it has not worked! Period. Now you might think that somehow it has worked. Now, we might look back to grandparents generations, but understand is that there’s a ton of workers, funding, their social security and other things. They had pensions. We don’t! They have their pensions right now. There’s school teachers right now out of pensions, like running out of money. There’s States that are bankrupt right now. Government workers that aren’t getting the things that were given to us even few decades ago. And right now it’s relying upon you to create your own freedom. You cannot rely on anyone else. You cannot trust the government will have a decent amount of cash for you to use. It’s really up to you. So what’s been the answer of course, over the last several decades? It’s been the 401k, right?

I’m here to tell you the 401k is a Big Fat Lie! Now, granted. Does it do what people think it does in the sense that you defer taxes? Yes. You can have employer matches, which is like having free money. Yes. By the way, that’s just means that they’re just not paying you as much, just so you know. You know, it’s just a benefit, the company benefit of the add on, they just take it away from your salary anyways. All of these things, you know, is it essentially a real tool or a vehicle? Yes, it is. It’s a tax code that started back in, you know, back in the Carter era, right in the late seventies and by about 1980 and so on. Even though most employers didn’t really implement it, at least for the average worker, usually by the mid eighties, you start to see the average workers getting offered 401ks.

It became more mainstream. Now you have to ask yourself first and foremost, why does this thing becomes so big? Right? Why did people just keep using IRAs? Or why don’t we keep, you know, why don’t we start making roth IRAs more popular? Since that’s been around now for 20 years. More than 20 years. You know, we’ve had that for a while, but why aren’t people going crazy about the Roth? Now there’s some people that say it’s great, but the truth is you can’t save enough into a Roth. Can you? $6,000 or $7,000 a year is not enough to retire on. It’s nothing. It’s a ridiculous rule that you have the Roth IRA that kind of loses it. You’ve got things like life insurance out there that we talked about before. That is tax free, much like a Roth. It’s the same kind of taxation, but you can dump it a lot more.

But even then guys, if you’re trying to rely on a product to get you there, it won’t do it! There is no one single financial product that any financial advisor will offer you or your employer wall for you that will get you to financial freedom. And that’s what we are talking about today. Specifically, I’m going to focus on the 401k and why it’s a lie. Now understand that when it came out into the Carter era, taxes were much worse. Now there’s an article that one of my good friends sent and he sent it to me. He said, Chris, you should check this out. Very interesting. It’s actually an article in Bloomberg about 401k dated back on July 21st. Now this article, I’m not going to quote from it completely because even as I was reading it, I started to see some inaccuracies. The basic premise is pretty interesting.

Some of his solutions were different. He was talking about changing the 401k to be more flexible. More rules. I’m not opposed to that, but it doesn’t really answer the basic question. But he did bring up some good points about what happened when it started. So for example, the points that were good, right? And by the way, I know these are bad points and not only was it bad, I decided to look at the comments, which is never a good idea. If you want to stay in a good mood. When you look at the comments and people are railing into them saying, Hey, this was inaccurate. This was inaccurate. Right? But even with those inaccuracies that decided to go back and use some of those arguments, people were debating about, well, yeah, tax were higher, but medium income was lower. So I said, great. Let’s pull up the historical bureaus and find out what the census said, you know, on those things.

So anyways, I took a trip back in time to figure out what it really was. So here’s the first thing he said, the Marshall tax rate was higher in 1980, which is true. Your tax rate could be anywhere. It was taxed by just, but get this. We have eight tax brackets right now, right? In the federal income tax. The lowest is 0%. Of course. The highest is 37%. That is the highest bracket possible. Now you don’t get tax all that. It’s a scale that goes up, right? So as you hit each income bracket, that portion of that income bracket is taxed at that rate. So for example, right now missing, I’m not exact on the number. So I just closed them off, but you can get, basically get taxed 0% from like zero to about 18,000 bucks, right. Per year. So you have 18,000 or less of income.

You’re not even getting a tax on the federal side. State, maybe, but not on the federal. Then jumps up to like 10 and then 12 and so on. You know, so the top tax bracket for the median income today, by the way, the median household income today is about $78,500. So the top tax he even hit is 22%. By the way, the tax is owed as of 2020. If you make 78,500 on the federal tax, I’m not talking about the state taxes. Federal tax, you’ll pay 10,332 bucks, which is just over 30% of your income. Your total income. In 1980, the median income was 28,220 bucks. And this is across all races. I found out that white races were actually much higher. It was like 51,000. And I thought that was really interesting to see how it’s such a bigger discrepancy back then. I’m not surprised, but still pretty surprising how much the average white household was making was about 51,000.

But the median household income with all races, just like I did with 2020 was 28,220. Now with all the tax brackets, I did all the math on it. The tax, your taxes owed would be $5,663. So just over half of what you would have you paid today for the median income. The difference is though it’s about a third of the income, right? So that total percentage that you would have paid taxes back in 1980 was 20%. And also here’s the thing. The top tax bracket in 1980 was 70% with zero to 70%. With 16 brackets along the way there. So your top tax bracket even at the median household income, which wasn’t a lot 28,000 bucks, right.

Was still in that 32% tax bracket. That’s the bracket you’re in. The top bracket. So that’s where you’re paying more. So of course, if you’re looking for ways to reduce your taxes, why not find something to give you a tax deferral. In hopes that you would live on less. Here’s a faulty premise of course, is that even if you started saving in 1980, let’s say you have saved for the last 40 years. And I know some of you have. The problem is you’re probably noticing you’re not in a whole lot lower tax bracket today, are you? You know, maybe you earn a decent income, but income goes up with inflation, right? So of course the inflation you’re still having to make more. Now, granted right now is a lower tax bracket, for sure. So if you happen to retire today and you’ve been saving for awhile, you might be pretty happy.

But if you’re saving today, this might be the worst time to try to use a tax deferred account. Because right now we are in the lowest tax brackets we’ve been in decades. You know, this is amazing! These are, the tax rates are awesome! Even better than when I started working. Why would I try to avoid paying taxes now and go for a future date when it’s likely to be higher? And here’s the thing, guys, even if the brackets remained the same because of inflation, you have to consume more money each year to live. If you do, guess what, you’re getting tax on it. By the way, if you’re trying to count on social security, yes, you can get tax on social security. If you pull out more than a certain amount per year, and that’s not a lot of guys, it’s not a lot. So that’s the thing is that right now, it’s just based on taxes alone. The concept was great back then, which was, cause there was high taxes. They’re trying to pay for crazy stuff.

Inflation was going through the roof. It made sense, right? It made sense to say, Hey, the tax rates are ridiculous. I’m likely to be in a lower tax bracket because there’s so many tax brackets. It’s not hard to get to a lower one. So it was easy to kind of contribute to that and lower your tax bracket. But you’re delaying that tax for the future. You’re not really saving any taxes when you do a 401k. In fact, you saved nothing. And remember your employer’s contributions are going in as well, tax deferred and they come out taxed. So that’s a big one right there. Now here’s the thing is that people will say, okay, Chris, got it. You know, what’s the alternative, you know, what about now? You know, what’s going on today? Like what would you recommend?

Here’s the thing guys, again, I’m never going to make blanket statements. I’m not going to make blanket recommendations. I’m not going to give investment advice on the show. That’s because it’s illegal. I can’t do it. Right? But let me give you an example of what can happen because here’s the other problem with the 401k that’s a lie. Now people think with a match, right? This is the other big argument I get all the time. They’re like Chris, does it match though? That’s like a 50% match. That’s like a 50% return or a hundred percent match. It’s like a hundred percent return. So guys, I decided to do some calculations. I said, let’s do it by the numbers. That was another criticism on this guy’s thing. They said they didn’t really go by the numbers. He’s right. He didn’t, he was giving more conceptual stuff. Again, this is why I’m not really sharing the article. Cause it’s not. It’s good, but it’s not great. Right?

It’s not something you’d take as gospel for sure. So look at this way, whenever I talk to people or say, okay, Chris, this is what I’ve been doing. They’re like, I maxed out my 401k. Now when we calculate that with the match, because the match doesn’t go over usually 5% 6% a year. Anyways, if you get a hundred percent, most like get a 3% match or something or 4% maybe. But I said, okay, let’s go for the top that I’ve seen. Usually I won’t see with employer contributions. I won’t see more than 25,000 going in per year. So that’s great. Let’s just say that’s the case. I’m going to run two different scenarios. One have a person that’s about 45 years old with a quarter million saved up in the retirement account. That’s maxing their 401k for the next 20 years. And then I got somebody who’s 25 years old, starting from scratch. Also maxing out their 401k.

Which most people don’t do when they’re 25, but I’m going to say somebody is staying cheap. They’re the ultimate ideal saver, right? And they’re saving for the next 40 years and earning this. Now here’s the another debate. People say, well, what’s the real return? You know, this is why he got, I’ve put the match into this equation, right? With the match. You know, the real rate of return the market is anywhere usually between 7.4% and 7.6%, depending on the day. That’s of course the average I’ve seen like a 30 year average over time. It’s not 10 or 12%, the S&P500 doing at best, right around seven and a half. As of right now, July to July 2020, July 1990 to July of 2020, we went from the first to the first it’s about a 7.47% average.

Now like a real rate of return, not 10 or 12, that’s makes a massive difference when you’re started looking at 20 or even 40 years down the road. I figured, okay, we got that. But remember, there’s also fees in 401ks. And this is something that I saw in those comments. People are like, Oh, I’ve got like 0.04% cause I use Vanguard funds and all that stuff. Here’s the deal, guys. The fees in a 401k, aren’t that bad and even said he’s like, Hey, if you can get outside of the 401k, your fees will probably be less. Right? But here’s the deal guys. Most people never get that. And especially if you have money to go in a 401k, your fees are at least 1% on average. That’s pretty typical. They’re just the administrative fees that are inside 401ks. 401ks by the way, have like almost 20 different fees they can charge you.

So, and they’re all embedded with them. They don’t really make them very public. They’ll make them easily known. This is why people say, Hey, the Mark has been up, but my money’s not going up. Right. If you’ve ever said that, especially if you’ve been in the market long enough, you’ve felt this or noticed it before. You’re like, Hey, the market went up, but my money didn’t. There’s something wrong. This is part of the reason, fees are coming out. So I actually went kind of on the high end. Usually I don’t see people netting more than 6% rate of return. I put this at 6.25, I bonus you a quarter percent because the truth is, my point still going to win out. Even if I’m overly liberal with these numbers. Right? And not even being conservative. I’m actually being liberal against my own point.

I’m playing devil’s advocate against myself. Right? So 6.25%. Again, guys, I know the numbers going out because I just know a few of the guys are going to try to run the numbers yourself. So this is why I’m doing this. So anyways, here’s the deal. So I took that person. I said, Hey, what if you’re 45 years old? You’ve got a quarter million in your 401k as of now, which I know there’s several of you that do around this time. You’re max funding it. You’re going in about 25,000 a year with a match. I’m assuming you’re making that 120,000 or so a year. If you’re making less, it’s less right. But I’m putting this up, you know, kind of on a more conservative end where somebody might be max funding this. So you’re getting in a total of 25,000 a year. At six and a quarter percent after 20 years, you will have about $1.84 million.

So you have nearly $2 million. Now you might think that’s a lot, but you got to understand. There’s another thing working against us, which is inflation. Now I went conservative on this number. Again, playing devil’s advocate against myself, but I just decided to make this a number of conservative. I put it at a 4% inflation rate. Do not trust the government says about what, you know, their consumer price index and the inflation rates are. They’re messing with those rates to slow down the increase on social security payments to you. You know? So they’re trying to let that money stretch and last longer, they’re manipulating those numbers in real life, though, if you notice your real life, it’s not too far fetched to say, you know, about every 10 to 15 years, you know, my lifestyle has to kind of double.

Like what I’m living on today. I’ve got to have about double that within 15 years. You know, if you’re living on $4,000 a month back in 2005, you’re probably living on about $8,000 a month now. Again, changing circumstances with the life that’s the thing with inflation is kind of weird. You can’t really count on it because life situations changes. It can go more or less, but I put it 4%. There’s debates that it could actually be like 6% or 7%. It’s more closer what it’s been. Since we’ve been taken off the gold standard back in the early seventies. So anyways, I put it at 4% just to make it better. Here’s the key guys. When you’re looking at lifestyle, cause $1.84 million sounds great in 20 years. But when you look at the after inflation adjustment, that’s almost like having $840,000. So, and by the way, you haven’t paid taxes on this money yet. You still gotta pay taxes.

So say a quarter of that goes to taxes. You’re now left with about $600,000, right? And we’ll say 650,000. Again, I’ll be overly conservative on this number. 650,000. Here’s the key, again, financial buyers have taught this for years. Some people will say 4%. You can live on, right? That you’re not supposed to take out more than 4%. That’s an old number. That’s a number that worked before, back in the seventies. Most advisors that they’re, if they’re up to speed, won’t say more than pulling out 2% or 3%, especially with people living longer. So if you want your money to last, you want to pull out more than 2% or 3%. So what if you pulled out 3% of this after inflation adjustment of 650,000, that means you have about $19,500 a year lifestyle living on. You have a quarter million right now, you max out your 401k for the next 20 years.

And that’s like, you know, that’s a lot, right? They were putting in like over 18,000 19,000 a year into your 401k only to live on about 19,000 a year after you’ve paid taxes. That doesn’t sound so great. Does it? What if you started brand new? What if you’re a brand new person coming in and you’re like 25 years old, starting from scratch. You start immediately max funding that 401k, just like everybody tells you, you do that for 40 years. Six and a quarter percent with inflation working against you. Well guess what? The ending balance is almost 4.4 million, but after inflation, it’s more like 900, just over $900,000. So when you live on that, and remember you have to take out taxes. So let’s say a quarter of that goes into taxes. You’re left with less than 700,000. Again, you’re living on about, you know, if you factor in 3%, you’re living on about 20,000 a year. It doesn’t get any better.

This is why I say that 401k is a lie! You can not retire of 401k alone. Roth IRA won’t get you there by itself. And you can’t put in enough to make it work. You know, you factor in, even with the 401k, even with the match, you’re max funding it, unless you’re making a half million a year and you’re trying to stuff at full, most likely you can’t even do it that way. No, you can’t even do that much. It doesn’t matter. After some point you actually get restricted IRAs too. Some of you might say, well, I’ll do a SEP IRA. So I can do more of my income. I know some of you I’ve talked to, you put in 50,000 a year. It doesn’t matter, guys. You’re putting in 50,000 a year. You just double that number. And by the way, when you’re putting in SEP IRAs, you’re putting in your own match.

So the truth is you’re not even getting free money. You’re putting in all your own money to then live on about 40,000 to 50,000 a year down the road. If that. You get my point here? Is that whatever you’re trying to max fund into it. If you’re lucky, if the market smiles and you just right, stays around the average, you’re lucky to maybe pull out the same amount of money you’re pulling in. So whatever you’re putting in that’s about what you can pull out. That’s not fantastic, guys. That’s actually seems ridiculous because you can say, wait, I can just take that money, save it. You know, I can save it. Just keep it certain, not have to gamble the stock market. Because if you do like what happened to my dad Y2K knocked his retirement downright before he retired. It postponed his retirement. 15 years guys. That, I mean, this is again assuming averages. This is not assuming what if the market crashes, what if you’re trying to retire next year? And the market crashed in the next few years. Are you going to wait another five years to retire? That’s what some are doing. That’s ridiculous. It’s crazy. It’s insane.

Now let’s look at the alternative. Cause you say, Chris, what’s the alternative. So, you know, we’ve talked about different things. So I took the example of like AHP. Again, never guaranteed, right? But American Homeowner Preservation, you know, you hear their ads on this radio sometimes. They’d pay 10% a year right now. So what if you did the same thing, but here’s the thing. You’re not getting an employer match. Right? So say that you won, you had the 250,000 sitting in your 401k. You cash it out, right? Well, you might be able to avoid the penalty depending on COVID and the cares act, right?

But at least with taxes, you’ve pulled that money out. Let’s say you lose 60,000 of that quarter million. You’re left with 190,000. Okay. There you are. You’ve got 190,000. You can invest it. So say you go and invest in there. Again, this is not a recommendation. I’m just using this as an example of numbers, right? So you get 190,000 leftover after you’ve paid your taxes. You only put in 14,000 a year, not 25,000 because there is no employer match. And because now you’re getting paid that money after taxes, you got to pull taxes out. So even though you might be paying like 18,000 19,000 a year into the 401K, because now you’re taking the money out. Now you’re getting taxed. So I’m actually putting you in what would be viewed as the worst tax scenario, right? Because negative tax pull, you know, not taking, putting the money into your 401k.

Now it’s just coming out. You’re using after tax dollars. By the way, yes, you could invest in AHP pre-tax or with IRA money. But I’m using this as after tax where you get taxed every year. On the grow. So not only did you get taxed on the money, you know, that’s of course you’d actually finally put in, but now the interest you earned, which is at 10% also gets taxed and you still have to fight inflation. But again, it’s at 10% a year, right? After 20 years, here’s the thing, the end balance is almost one and a half million dollars. And this is, using this sort of person that’s 45 years old, right? So that person that said, Hey, I had a quarter million put in 25,000 a year with a match. Now they got 190,000. They’ve put into something like an AHP type fund at 10% putting in 14,000 a year.

They’re just putting their 401k contribution now into this. At 10%, they actually have one really about $400,000 less than they had when you’re putting in the 401k. You might think, well, Chris, even though they made a better return because there’s less money to go in. Yeah. There, of course it’s less. But remember too, when you’re cashing out of that money from the 401k, you gotta pay taxes. So it kinda actually owns breaks even at that point. And, but, well, actually you might end up paying a little bit more in taxes. So you might actually be a little bit under at the 401k, but remember the 401k says you should only be pulling out no more than 3% a year, right? The difference is this is that, again it’s about cash flow. Not accumulating money and then trying to live off less in the interest. It’s cash flow. Because if you had almost one and a half million dollars and you’re getting paid 10% a year, guess what?

Now you’re not pulling off, you know, and now using the numbers, of course, using the, now I’ll use after inflation number. So I just gave you that before. After inflation adjustments about, you know, $667,000, right? So that’s about what you got in, you know, in real dollars after inflation. 667, but you’re being paid 10%. It’s like having $66,700 a year lifestyle. Versus what I just said before with about an, you know, what was that $19,000 lifestyle. So you’re more than triple the lifestyle. Why? Because even though the numbers are about this, end up about the same, the cash flow is way better because the interest that’s paying you, the cash flow that’s coming from that is at 10% and not at 3%. So that’s why you’re getting more than triple the money back. Right? And yeah, you’ll pay tax on it. But so what, like maybe after the other money, your stuff pay tax on that too.

So again, same thing. That’s the person that has got 20 years of retirement. Right? So understand you can now hit those numbers faster. I use the example with that person that’s fresh start. Brand new 25 year old, right? Starting from scratch. So they just put 14,000 a year to AHP or something that earning 10%, right? Well, they’re going to end with about 3.4 million, but after inflation, that’s only like 716,000. But once again, because even though it’s like at $716,000 type of thing after inflation, the lifestyle that you can have is your pull off 10% a year is 71,000 a year. Much better than going about 20,000 a year. Right? Once again, kicks the crap out of it because it’s about cashflow, not just about accumulating money. And again, like I said, the 401k, it has to work at the right timing. You have to retire just the right time.

Otherwise it could be worked wrong. You got to make sure that taxes don’t go up dramatically. I was just pretending the taxes were staying similar, which they may or may not. If taxes go up, you’re getting host on your 401k. And people often will tell me that, Chris, I don’t know if I was a betting person. I would say that taxes are likely to go up from now. And I say with the way they’re printing money right now, either they’re going to cause massive inflation, which if you cause even worse inflation, that means you have to pull out more money, which means still more tax. Or they raise tax rates keep inflation down. So then you now have more money coming out, either way you lose when you start using that 401k. Or an IRA or anything else. Again, there is no product that a financial advisor can offer that will get you to that freedom. To be able to get you to that number.

You know, you have to be saving a ridiculous amount of money over a hundred thousand a year in hopes that you’re gonna make something. Or just live on a really cheap, you know, fixed income type lifestyle, right? Where you just try to do nothing. Don’t travel. Don’t go anywhere. Don’t visit grandkids. Just sit in your front porch and drink lemonade. Why? Not because you know, you want to, but because you can’t afford to go anywhere else and Lemonade’s on sale at the store. That’s why. This is the key factor here guys, is that it’s all about cash flow. And by the way, this is that 10% with tax with no tax advantages. If you do things like real estate, you can make better than that amount of money. And I’m not throwing those numbers out there. I’m staying on the low side. I’m basically going conservative with my point.

And I liberal against my point. Just to prove a point. Which is, is that there is a different world, a world of much better hope. If you look outside with the mainstreams, trying to pitch you and they’re selling you. And they’re selling you because they make billions of dollars in management fees off that. They want to keep the money in there forever. They’re the ones telling you to live on 2% or 3%. Why? Because then their money keeps growing. Their stock prices keep going up. Their CEO’s get keep getting paid more. They’re making more money because you’re not! And guys, that is one of the big reasons why I’m so passionately against things like 401ks, IRAs, which by the way, the government determines the rules and they can change the rules at any time. There’s no certainty. There’s no planning that can be done in those situations because you can’t maneuver with it.

You don’t even know what the rules are going to be like in 10, 20 years, how you, unless you’re retiring today, you have no clue. And even then they could change the rules. Look how they’re changing the rules on us right now because of a little virus, right? They’re freaking out. And they’re using that as a way to be able to change rules on us. We have a very different life today than we had six months ago. Wouldn’t you agree with that? Why couldn’t they change it on you? With the financial tools and things like that? The vehicles that they’ve been recommending. Of course they can. They need more taxes. They know where to go. They go for the people that are poor and middle class that don’t know what they’re doing. That are going and investing in these 401ks have zero tax advantages. And with the match, it’s just golden handcuffs.

You know, that little employer match does so little compared to the cost and the risk. But guys, just like you might’ve heard Robert Kiyosaki say, he says, the people that get the best tax breaks, the best tax advantages are the business owners or investors. If you’re in that category, if you get out of the employee mindset, you get out of that traditional mainstream mindset. Now you can actually have hope to break free. And guys, that is the kind of stuff that we’re talking about. Again, each of your situations are individual and different. I get that. Sometimes there are rare occasions, I think 401k works. Especially if you can pull money out right away. Like I get, I’ve had people get the match, pull the money out and go invest it on their own and they can work great. But, it is solo 401ks, by the way, guys, for those of you that are investors doing solo 401ks, I don’t trust those either because anything can change those rules and not to mention that we just don’t know.

I mean, plus if you get sued, I mean, there’s other issues that can happen there. You have assets they’re exposed that works against you in different scenarios. Either way, money getting locked up, get your money out of prison, get into a place that works for you. You guys want to know what that is. If you haven’t listened to show. There’s great examples of that. You know what, if you’re at the point you say, Chris, I think now’s the time I got to change my strategy. Shoot me an email. Say, Chris, what do you think about my situation? What do you think I should do? Just shoot me an email. Chris@MoneyRipples.com. And yes, I answer my emails. I shocked a guy he’s like, I can’t believe you keep telling me to email you. And I finally did it. And that guy, it was a slam dunk.

I was like, man, like, I’m so glad you actually had the courage to do it. Because for him it was like a 70,000 a year difference. You know, like a passive income that he could create from his current situation. I’m not saying that’s you, it could be, it might not be. But either way, if you think there’s a calling or a feeling with in you saying, I think now’s a time to do something different. The marks recovered. Maybe now’s the time to do something different right now. Why? While there’s still money in the market, you know, while the market’s still overvalued drastically, right? This might be the time. So again, if you have questions about that, shoot me an email. Chris@MoneyRipples.com.

Guys, I hope this valuable. I hope you start to see why the 401k just cannot and will not work. And this is why I’m so passionate against it. Cause I’ve run these numbers over and over and over. And it comes up with the same results. Guys. You can’t expect to get something different when it hasn’t ever been different. This is how it’s been. This is why I left financial advising. And this is why I did something different. They gave me different results that got me to retire when other financial advisors can’t retire. And by the way, great question for financial advisors, ask them, Hey, did you get financially free off the advice you’ve been giving? Not from the commissions you’re earning, but actually from doing the things you’re telling your clients. And I can tell you honestly, I’m doing the things that I tell people to do as well. They don’t! They aren’t retired off that their mutual funds and their 401ks and IRAs. They aren’t! They are making money by selling you this lie!

This needs to stop now! This is why I’m here. This is a ripple effect I want to create. Guys, I hope you share this episode too. Share this other people. They need to know the truth. This has to stop! There are too many dumb pundits out there teaching this crap because people are putting money in their pocket, telling them, Hey, you do this. We pay you money. We will give you a little perks and benefits if you do this. So much money being thrown, at these 401ks and other plans. So you buy them and you buy a hook line and sinker. But the only person that loses is not the person telling you on the radio, right? Or on the TV or on interviews. Those people aren’t losing. The financial companies aren’t losing. It’s only you. This has got to stop. Guys, I hope this is valuable for you. Make it a wonderful and prosperous week and change your life now. It’s all about action and taking action to do something different. Do the opposite of what you’ve been told to do. Make it a wonderful week. We’ll see you later.

[chapitre7]

it will taste sweet

사이코지만 괜찮아 | It’s Okay To Not Be Okay fanfiction

Go Moon Young/Nam Joo Ri

Rewriting a scene in episode 1

Happy birthday, dear @overthinkingkdrama ❤

Read on AO3

Warning: Sexual overtones

Then a soft voice cried from the parlor -

"Nibble, nibble, gnaw Who is nibbling at my little house." 

The children answered -

"The wind, the wind, The heaven-born wind," 

and went on eating without disturbing themselves.

 – Hansel and Gretel, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Nam Joo Ri didn’t think much about time. She thought it had been good to her; even with her losses, she knew she had grown through it. Grown mature, but not hard, just like her mother. She had a job she liked, people who liked her and depended on her, and she thought she was doing well. Whatever had happened in the past, it was gone, and she didn’t dwell on it. Or she didn’t think she did. She focused on thinking about what she could do tomorrow, or with whom could she share it.

Time, however, is a fickle, mutable thing. With the streetlights shining through the window and the wine reflecting a red glow on the table, Joo Ri resents it. She’s a professional, hardworking woman. What right does time have to slow down, to pause, to rewind? Not even the sound of car horns, constant and grounding, break through the silence and into the room. Time is cruel. And Nam Joo Ri, she is, she thinks—

Go Moon Young has changed. Of course. The last time they had seen each other, they had been children. Moon Young had been pretty then, all fine dresses and a long hair that Joo Ri had envied. Now, Moon Young is... There’s no other word, is there? She’s beautiful. If Joo Ri had ever thought or would ever think of a woman as beautiful, it had to be Moon Young. The satin of her robe gives away the small shape of her shoulders, of her bosom and hips; her legs, spread out on the couch, are long.

There’s no substantial height or age difference between them, so why does Moon Young seem so tall, her hair so black, the shape of her so different? As if she’s carved from different material, a refined antique, like the fine wine that she drinks?

Nam Joo Ri swallows. Time, the absolute bastard, shows itself in Go Moon Young’s wicked smile, bathed in golden light. It hadn’t been like that once. It is now. Joo Ri, in her cheap clothes, simple haircut, feels like a child next to her. Is that why Moon Young is famous? Because she looks at you like she’s someone who has answers to questions you didn’t know you had? It couldn’t be. Go Moon Young looks like a witch. A hungry witch in a stone forest, talking about death.

Ridiculous.

“We just need you to sign the consent form,” Joo Ri says, keeping her smile professional and amicable.

Go Moon Young seems to study the papers with great interest, and Joo Ri hates the act. The polite smile grows strained. Joo Ri wants nothing more than to pick up her things and leave, never looking behind. Go Moon Young warps the sense of the world, crossing and uncrossing her legs, letting her hair drape down one of her shoulders, baring the other. She had been a pretty girl; quiet, but not entirely unpleasant. Before she had tried to take everything away from Joo Ri, Joo Ri had thought that the others had been wrong. Go Moon Young was nice. Her house, big and elegant and a little scary, was mesmerizing, just like her. What would it have been like to play with her there, running from room to room for the delight of finding the other? What would it have been like to sleep on her bed, hold her hand?

“Is that really all you came here for, Joo Ri-ah?” Go Moon Young says. It feels sudden and Joo Ri’s head snaps up, aware that she had been staring, lost in the tilt of Moon Young’s head. “Are you really that good?”

Joo Ri smiles, not deigning the question with an answer. She’s a professional. Go Moon Young is nothing but the guardian to one of her patients.

“What would you do?”

Joo Ri can’t help startling when Go Moon Young drops the papers on the coffee table and turns to face Joo Ri, her chin delicately placed on her hand.

“I beg your pardon?” Joo Ri says, more reflex than thought.

“To get my signature. What would you do?”

Only the corner of Go Moon Young’s mouth tilts, and it’s so painfully familiar that Joo Ri’s stomach hurts. In this room, Joo Ri is a child, a little girl, and all of Go Moon Young’s attention is hers. Joo Ri feels both cold and hot under her gaze.

“Would you swap places with me? I can be your mother’s daughter, and you can have my dad. How about it?” Go Moon Young asks, huffing a short laughter. Joo Ri’s hands clasp one another on her lap.

My mom would never want you, Joo Ri thinks, letting the words form but not come out of her. It isn’t the truth, but there’s no one Joo Ri would willingly give to Go Moon Young. Not in this life.

“Would you give me your place?” Go Moon Young continues, lying back against the couch, her arms crossed. The deep v of Go Moon Young’s robe seems to widen, showing too much. Joo Ri forces her eyes to focus Moon Yoong’s. It’s unbearable, how much worse of a decision it is.

“What?” Joo Ri says, a whisper. The room is stiflingly quiet. Won’t anybody come? Isn’t there always someone who comes in the nick of time, to stop and kill the witch?

Go Moon Young stands. Joo Ri’s hands, clammy, move from her lap to the couch; she’s bracing herself, keeping hold to stop her fall. Joo Ri’s grip on the couch tightens as Moon Young approaches and unceremoniously sits on Joo Ri’s lap, legs bracketing Joo Ri’s hips.

Joo Ri might have jumped. The sound of her intake of breath might have been loud. Joo Ri doesn’t really process any of it; one of Moon Young’s hands is a heavy weight on her shoulder, the other on Joo Ri’s cheek. Moon Young gives her a feather-soft caress. Joo Ri might not be breathing. Moon Young is hot on her lap, legs and robe parted, but her eyes, up close, draw Joo Ri in.

“Would you give me your skin?” Moon Young says, looking at Joo Ri’s mouth. “I’d live as you, work as you, a perfect little bee. No one would ever notice, you know?”

Joo Ri’s jaw hurts from how tightly she’s clenching her teeth, but it goes lax in Moon Young’s hold when Moon Young’s thumb touches her bottom lip. It grazes the skin there, the lipstick there, the lipstick Joo Ri had applied for someone else. Go Moon Young takes it from her again. Years had passed, but Moon Young is still the same, taking everything like a black hole. The others had been right. They had been right.

(Go Moon Young is beautiful.)

“Or maybe,” Go Moon Young says, pulling her thumb away to touch her own lips, as if she wants to apply Joo Ri’s stolen lipstick there. “You could give me yourself.”

Go Moon Young’s hand on Joo Ri’s shoulder travels down, down, down to the curve of Joo Ri’s breast.

“Would you let me eat you, Joo Ri-ah?”

Her eyelashes are so long, Joo Ri notices when Go Moon Young blinks, slow and magnetic and nothing like Joo Ri’s own rapid blinking. Go Moon Young moves on Joo Ri’s lap, stands on her knees. She’s tall, like a coming wave, like a sea creature. Joo Ri’s nails dig on her palms. Joo Ri’s watch mark seconds that seem to stretch forever. Time is so stubborn in the night. Time is cruel when you’re about to drown.

Go Moon Young snorts. Joo Ri’s heart leaps inside her chest. The moment breaks like waves growing small, breaking with no force upon the shore. Go Moon Young stands, sits back on the other couch, picks up her pen and signs the papers Joo Ri needs. Joo Ri stares at them for a second or two before looking back at Moon Young, who’s smiling like the Cheshire cat behind her wine glass.

***

In the elevator of Go Moon Young’s building, Nam Joo Ri throws the signed papers to the floor, and holds on to the railing behind her to keep from stomping on them.

“She irritates me so fucking much,” Joo Ri snaps, biting her lips, hands slamming down on the railing. She looks at the mirror behind herself and sees her smeared lipstick. In her mind’s eye, she sees Go Moon Young touch her lipstick-stained thumb to her lips, her tongue coming out to lick her digits.

Joo Ri crouches. The elevator is still going down, down. She’s small there, a woman stuck between who she had been and who she thought she had become, her body hot and her heart aching, and she tries to swallow down, for the second time in her life, the bitter taste of first love.

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 37

~*~Emma~*~

 Things are running very hot here. I don't mean the sex. Although, the sex is hot. This man. Oh fuck, I don't even know what to think. Thinking isn't the issue anyway. Unless it's that I'm not. Which I don't think is true. It's just that he feels so damn good.

I woke up before my alarm. Sebastian was on his stomach with one arm tucked under the pillow. I noticed a couple of freckles on his back and smiled. He looked completely relaxed and I decided to let him sleep a little longer. I slipped out of bed, tied my robe, and headed downstairs to make breakfast.

 A man-sized version of a rumbled little boy walked into the kitchen about thirty minutes later. He wore only his boxers and that he felt comfortable enough in my house to walk around half-naked made me smile.

 "I woke up alone." He came up behind me at the stove, pulling my hair to the side and kissing the back of my neck.

 Such a simple yet intimate act. I put my hand on his face, "You looked so peaceful. I thought I'd get coffee and breakfast going."

 He looked at the crumbled meat in the pan, "Is that going to be sausage gravy?"

"It is." I could feel him smile against my neck. "Biscuits are in the oven."

"You're so good to me." His arm snaked around my waist, holding me close.

I stroked the back of his head, "I like taking care of people I care for." I turned my head for a kiss. "Why don't you get some coffee and sit down. Breakfast will be another ten minutes."

He kissed my neck again, "I’m starving."  

 Sebastian kept talking while he fixed his coffee, telling me about the food on set and how shitty the biscuits were compared to the restaurant they’d gone to one morning. This led to a general conversation about craft services on set, location, and at concert venues. While it was on a much lesser scale it made for good conversation that I had some knowledge of this stuff. I could share stories and we could laugh together. I think I might feel like a fan if I didn’t have a point of reference and I would imagine that could be uncomfortable for him.

 He hadn’t sat down, preferring to lean in the corner a few feet from where I was stirring. I took my hand from the handle of the pan and motioned for him, “Come here.”

 Sebastian smiled and took the three steps to me, “Yes?”

 I slid my hand from his side around to his back and urged him closer, turning my face up for a kiss. “Will you pour this in the bowl for me, please?”

 “Of course.”

While he did that, I checked the biscuits and pulled them out. He put the pan back on the stove and looked at the biscuits, taking a deep breath. “Smells delicious.”

 “I hope you like it.” I was a little nervous cooking for him.

 He hugged me, putting his hand inside my robe to touch skin, “I’m sure I will.”

 The first bite had him letting out a satisfied groan, “Oh wow.” He took another bite and covered his mouth with his hand, “Seriously, Em, it’s delicious.”

 “Thank you.”

 Sebastian finished chewing, put his hand on the back of my neck, and kissed me, “Thank you.”  When we were finished, he pushed our plates to the other side of the breakfast bar, “You go shower and I’ll clean up.”

 “You sure.”

 He nodded, “Yep, you cooked. I’ll clean up.”

 “Your mom taught you well.” I kissed his bare shoulder and went upstairs.

 I called the Uber to pick us up at ten-thirty. We were downstairs and ready about ten minutes before. Sebastian looked all boy in black basketball shorts, a blue Under Armor shirt, and a baseball cap. I had on an oversized t-shirt over my team tank top and sweat pants with my hair pulled up in a ponytail. The combined excitement of him and the tournament had me keyed up.  Bouncy. Hyperactive even. Unable to sit down, I wandered around while Sebastian sat in the chair scrolling through something on his phone. “You ok there, babe?”

 I was hoping he hadn’t noticed. I jumped up and down a few times, “Nervous energy.”

 He still hadn’t looked up and shook his head, “We should have had sex in the shower.” Now, he looked up with a grin. “Calmed you down.”

 I laughed and walked over, sitting down on his lap when moved his phone out of the way. “Dammit.”

 “Nervous or excited?” He laid his arm over my legs, taking my hand in his.

 “Both.” I fiddled with his fingers. “It’ll go away once the game starts.” I looked up, “Unless it’s all about you.”

 He jerked his head back, “Why are you nervous about me?”

 “The other one. Excited.” I brushed my lips against his softly.

 “Good.”

 I’d told the driver to honk and the noise cut through the moment. “Time to go.”

 I jumped up off his lap, keeping his hand, and grabbing my bag from by the door. It held extra ponytail holders, Advil, tape, a first kit, and cooling rags. We got to the bar way early, a habit of mine. It was good though because I wanted to get Sebastian where he could see. There were four courts with court one in front with seating around two sides. The other three courts were lined up with court four tucked in behind court one with really no seating. The deck along the short side of court one ran the long side of most of court three and all of court two then around the corner of it. Obviously, the better games were going to be on courts one and two.  The deck would be loaded with umbrella-covered tables and a long counter ran along the railing for observing. When the games were over (or any other night) it was just a big outdoor bar. It was a huge complex. Inside was a big open area with a bar that wrapped around two sides. Anything could be going on inside. Karaoke, live band, or a DJ.  

 The Uber dropped us around back and we headed onto the deck. A covered area at the corner of court one was set up for registration and had a board set up with a blown-up bracket. The league coordinator was behind the table and I headed toward him. “Hey, Roger.”

 “Emma. Early as always.” He gathered the paperwork.

 “I want a table by one and two.”

 He looked around for the table signs, “Yep, taken care of. You’ve got your pick.”

 I took our registration papers and the signs with a laugh, “Which is why I’m always early.”

 “And you live five minutes away.”

 “Details.” I waved the papers, took Sebastian’s hand, and headed toward court one, explaining as we walked. “The higher seeded games and the championship will be on one, so we’ll get those tables first. Fingers crossed we play there. We always buy a couple of tables at a tournament because it’s just easier.” I stuck our “Player Reserved Demonic Crickets” sign in the table coils of the table closest to the net of court one then headed back the way we came, to the other side of the complex. “Friends are assured a good view and if we’re out a round we’ve got a place to hang.” I pointed to the other courts, “There are approximate start times for games, but past the first round it’s back to back, so times depends on how fast the games go. Seating for the other games isn’t as easy. Four sucks. Since we’re the three seed we’ll start on court three, but if we win we’ll bump up to court two then one. It’s a double-elimination tournament. The winner’s bracket will be on one and two, losers on three and four.”  I looked between the tables and put the sign up. “You can always go to another table or the railing.” I changed my mind and moved the sign, nodding with my new choice.

 I looked at Sebastian. He was fighting a smile. “This is a new and interesting side to you.”

 I laughed, “You mean the obsessive planner part?”

 “Yeah.”  He wrapped our joined hands behind my back, “Cute and a little annoying.”

 “Also, useful.” I annoyed myself sometimes.

 “I’m sure.” He nodded, kissed my forehead, and let me go.

 I moved to the table and started filling out the form. Standard roster and liability waiver stuff. “Pick your seat, we’ll play here first.”

 “Sure you don’t want to pick for me?”

 A glared playfully at him and went back to the form. Without looking up I pointed to my right, “That one.”

 I could see him suppressing a laugh as he put my bag in the chair I’d pointed to. “Mostly cute.”

 When he’d asked to come, I didn’t even think about him sitting up here with people he didn’t know. I was just excited to see him again. Only when I’d been picking tables did it hit me, I’d be on the court most of the day. “The place won’t fill up until later, closer to dinnertime and the semi-finals.”

 “Don’t worry about me. I’m excited to meet your friends. Do you know where the men's room is?"

I pointed to the end of the building, "Straight through those doors."

"Be right back." He ran his fingers along my lower back as he passed by.

I watched him walk away, twirling the pen against my lip. I stayed lost in my thoughts after he'd gone through the door.

A voice startled me, "Earth to Emma."

 I turned my head, "Right on time."

 Pete gave me a one-armed hug, "You're early so we don't have to be."

All five had walked up together, "Carpool?"

Lindsey shook her head, "No, people kept showing up in the parking lot."

Lindsey's girlfriend Samantha was standing with Pete's husband, Scott. Samantha had a dry almost bitchy sense of humor which I loved, "I’m apparently the designated bar bitch."

 I hugged her, "I brought a bar bitch too. He's in the bathroom." I pointed to the papers, "Sign so we can get them turned in and warm up.”

 Scott looked at Samantha, "Since your bar bitch, I’ll be paperwork bitch."

Where is Sebastian? This conversation would be perfect for an introduction. Everyone signed, Scott took off with the paperwork and the other’s headed to the court, Sam and I sat the table.

 Sam pointed to my bag, "Your date there? "

 I nodded.

 "Will I like him?"

 "Hopefully you'll all like him."

 Sam gave me a look that said she knew I was hedging the question. We’d become friends over her lack of tolerance for bullshit, which is why I answered, "I’m sure you and Pete will get along great with him. Becky’s going to be weird."

 Sam snickered, "Because Becky's weird. Nick and Jeff were dicks last night. Hope their mood is better today."

 I’d skipped out on drinks last night. Glad I missed moody boys, but I wasn't worried, "Maybe they got stoned on the way. Nick plays better stoned anyway." I looked toward the building and thought I could see Sebastian pacing in front of the darkened window. Someone must have called.

 Jeff yelled from the court, “You coming, Emma?”

 Sam turned her back on the court, “See?”

 I rolled my eyes and walked over. I didn’t want to walk around to the end of the courts so I climbed over the railing to get under the netting and landed on our bench.

Scott and Becky had designed out shirts. We all had bright blue tank tops with long armholes. Sports bras were easily visible and I’m pretty sure Becky considered that a feature rather than a bug. Not that I’d protested. I’m very competitive, but there was a social aspect to the game. Looking cute after the game didn’t hurt. Our team name and a graphic of a cricket with demon horns and an evil grin was on the front. Our first names on the back. The three girls had always worn volleyball shorts, but I’d bought us bright orange ones for today.  They were the ones I preferred in college and it’s possible they were a little shorter than what we usually wore.

 I stood up from the bench, tossing my sweats down, and adjusting my shorts. Nick looked at the three of us, “That’s going to distract the other team."

 A voice from behind me called out, "Fuck, that's gonna distract me."

I turned to meet his eyes, "You’re easy."

He leaned forward, "Only for you, baby."

 Nick groaned, "New relationships make me want to vomit."

Jeff added, "Which is why you don’t have one."

Not a one of them looked like they recognized him. I used their banter to give me time to walk over, step on the bench, and touch him through the netting, "Everything ok? You were gone a while."

"Emily called. Best to take it or she’d keep calling. Sorry."

I shook my head and turned back to the team, “Everyone, this is Sebastian." I pointed as I said names, “Pete, Becky, Lindsey, Nick, and Jeff."

The net made handshakes impossible, so he waved, "Nice to meet all of you."

Pete was the first to do the double-take. He pointed to the table, "That’s my husband Scott."

Lindsey repeated his gesture, "My girlfriend Samantha.”

 Sebastian nodded and looked toward the table. “I’m going to go introduce myself and let you guys get ready." He looked at me. “Need anything?"

"Not yet."

He got close to the netting, nodding his head back, "Come here."

 I got closer and kissed him between the netting. He whispered, "Good luck."

 Sebastian was few feet away when Pete did a Ricky Ricardo imitation, “Lucy, you got some ‘splainin to do."

 I glared and pointed a finger at them, “Do not embarrass me.”

 Nick laughed, “Oh, you can be sure that’s going to happen.”

 “He’s our Hall Pass.” Pete smiled dirtily.

 “Both of you?” Jeff shook his head.

 “Definitely. We own more than one copy of Political Animals and Kings.”

 I raised my shoulders and shook my head, “Don’t know what that is.”

 “Your boyfriend kisses boys in both.”

 I cringed, “I wouldn’t use the word boyfriend.”

 Pete grabbed a ball and rolled his eyes, “Whatever. He kisses boys. Hall Pass.”

 I followed behind with Becky and Lindsey, “That’s kinda hot.”

 Jeff passed a ball to me, “Have you not Googled these things?”

 “No, disrespectful. No Googling. We’re just getting to know each other the normal way.”

 Pete passed off to Lindsey, “I’ll send you pictures.”

[quickeningheart]

Five

   Charley wasn't sure what she'd find when she and the guys headed up after the garage closed for business. She half-expected Alley to have sequestered herself in her bedroom again, and was therefore surprised to find her sitting in the middle of the living room floor, busily assembling the pieces of her dresser. She was so focused on her task that she didn't seem to realize she had company.

   "Heeey, somethin' smells good up here," Vinnie said from behind Charley, snuffling the air hungrily.

   Alley jumped, dropping the screwdriver she was holding. "Oh. Hi, guys," she said, glancing at the clock. "Um, give it a few more minutes. Dinner should be ready soon."

   "You cooked?" Charley asked in surprise.

   "Eh, think of it as a peace offering." The blonde flashed the mice a tentative smile.

   Modo made his way over. "You don't need to do that," he rumbled, taking in the scattered furniture pieces surrounding her. "Me 'n the bros could've put 'em back together for you."

   "Nah, that's okay." Alley ducked her head and offered a shrug. "You were nice enough to cart them up here, the least I could do was reassemble them. I'll probably need help with the bed, though. It's a little too big for just one person to handle."

   "Great!" Charley cut in. "How about you guys take care of that while I go wash off my work?" She grinned impishly at Alley and disappeared down the hall before her cousin could protest.

   And Alley suddenly found herself alone in the room with three very large, very intimidating, heavily-armed alien mice.

   Sensing her unease, Throttle stepped forward. "Modo, grab the headboard and hold it steady. Vinnie, pick up that frame piece and hold it while I screw the brackets back in place," he ordered in his best commander voice, and they snapped to obey. "Mind handing me those tools?" he asked, pointing, and Alley leaned over to grab the hex wrench set, tossing it to him. He caught it and got to work, and the next five minutes were filled with silence as the mice worked to reassemble the bed frame.

   "So, um, the mattresses are still in the garage?" Alley asked after a while.

   "Yep. Too big to get through the doorway. We'll have to cart 'em up the fire escape," Throttle replied.

   Alley nodded. "Thought as much." She hesitated, then added, "Thanks. For, you know, going to all this trouble for me. Especially after the way I, uh, acted."

   "No problem, Sweetheart! Anything for a pretty lady," Vinnie replied, flashing her a wink.

   Alley wasn't sure how to respond, but a ding sounded from the oven just then, saving the need. "And that'll be supper!" She scrambled to her feet, wiping her hands off on the back of her shorts as she escaped to the kitchen. Vinnie watched her go, gawking at her backside with open appreciation until Modo smacked him across the back of the head with his metal hand.

   "Ow! Damn it, Modo, yer gonna give me brain damage!" Vinnie complained, rubbing his skull.

   "A little late for that," Throttle snorted as Modo sniggered.

   "A little late for what?" Charley entered the room, still toweling off her damp hair as she eyed them curiously.

   "Nothin'!" Vinnie jumped to his feet, approaching her with a smirk. "Want a little help with that?"

   He reached for the towel, but she rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his hand away. "I can manage, thanks."

   "Come and get it," Alley called, and they all made a beeline for the kitchen. Where they promptly stopped and stared, not sure what they were looking at. "Uh, what the hell is that?" Vinnie asked. "Where're the dogs?" He ducked when Modo took another swipe at his head. Only to run into Throttle's tail as it whipped around to smack him on the nose.

   "Don't be rude," the golden mouse scolded. "Those are dogs."

   Vinnie grumbled a short apology as he moved back to a safer distance.

   Alley glanced down at the platter of food on the table, uncertain. "Well, uh, I tried something a little different. I just wrapped the hotdogs in crescent roll dough and baked them. They're good that way. Crescent rolls taste better than plain hotdog buns."

   "They smell pretty good." Modo stepped forward to pick up a steaming roll, gulping it in two bites. His single eye widened. "Whoa, mama. They taste pretty good, too!" And he grabbed a second helping.

   That was all the encouragement needed; the mice descended on the platter like a pack of jackals while Alley hastily backed away to give them space. She stood beside Charley, leaning against the counter. "Think there'll be any left for us?" she asked, amused.

   Charley laughed. "We'll be lucky. I hope you made enough. Those three have black holes where their stomachs are supposed to be."

   "Ah. Is that to make up for lack of good table manners?"

   "We can hear you, you know." Throttle fixed them with a dry look over his specs.

   Charley blew him a playful kiss. "That's the idea, Sweetheart," she teased. To Alley, she asked, "Think we can jump in there without risking a finger?"

   Her cousin giggled. "There's a second batch in the oven. I wouldn't chance it. Those teeth look sharp!"

   Throttle huffed at her and turned his back, making Charley laugh again.

   "Save some room for dessert. I bought a cheesecake," Alley told them.

   "No cheese!" came an immediate trio of protest.

   Alley blinked in surprise.

   "They really don't like cheese," Charley explained with a chuckle.

   "Oh. Well, cheesecake isn't really the same thi—"

   "No cheese!"

   She snorted. "Stubborn much?"

   Charley slung an arm around her shoulder. "That's okay. They don't understand what they're missing. Just means more for us, anyway."

   "That is an excellent point."

   "Oh, I see an opening! Wish me luck; I'm goin' in!"

   "Mind your fingers!"

     ~*~*~*~*~

   "I dunno about this."

   The cousins leaned out of Alley's open window, staring down at the street where the three mice stood, propping up a set of plastic-wrapped mattresses and arguing over the best way to get them up the fire escape to the second floor. "You sure they can handle this?" Alley sounded more than a little doubtful.

   "Aw, it's sweet of you to worry about their safety," Charley teased.

   She snorted. "Who said anything about their safety? I'm more worried about the apartment falling down around our ears. I mean, look what happened when they tried to get the bed frame in here!" They glanced at the bedroom door, which was now sagging on its hinges, with a good-sized chunk missing out of its frame and several dents in the opposite wall.

   Charley winced despite herself. "Well, wouldn't be the first time they've put holes in my walls," she muttered. "The building hasn't fallen down yet."

   "Oh. Thank you. I feel so much more reassured."

   "Heads up, ladies!" Throttle's call was the only warning they had before the trio sprang into action. Quick as a wink, the golden mouse scrambled up the rickety fire escape and landed nimbly on the metal platform outside the window. He greeted Alley's startled expression with a smirk, before waving to Vinnie, who'd followed him halfway up and now hung precariously from the ladder, using his tail to anchor him. The white mouse gave a short whistle in response; from the ground, Modo hefted the long, heavy mattress over his head as though it weighed no more than a sheet of paper. Vinnie grabbed at it, fumbled slightly before getting a firm grip, and hoisted it to the second level, where Throttle waited to catch and heft it over the side of the railing and onto the platform. The girls scrambled back as he shoved it through the window, just in time to catch the boxspring that Vinnie had hoisted at him.

   All of this was accomplished in a matter of moments, leaving Alley gaping in wonder. "Whoa," she breathed.

   "Told ya." Charley nudged her playfully, but even she looked impressed.

   "You guys are like acrobats or something. You should join a circus if you ever decide to switch careers," Alley teased. Throttle looked pleased by the flattery as he maneuvered the boxspring into the bedroom.

   Charley sniggered. "Except they'd probably manage to blow up the circus."

   "Har dee har," Throttle sniffed as he stripped the mattresses of their plastic wrap and helped the women position them on the waiting frame. "There, mission accomplished. Now let's go watch some James Bomb!"

     ~*~*~*~*~

   "You bored or somethin'?" Vinnie asked when he caught Alley attempting to stifle a yawn for the umpteenth time.

   She flashed him a weak smile. "Sorry. Guess spy movies aren't really my thing." She'd figured that out fifteen minutes into the first James Bomb film, having never watched one before. But she didn't want to be rude by asking them to change it. Movie night seemed to be a well-established tradition around there. Now that they were well into the third film, however, she was having more than a little difficulty keeping her eyes open. Of course, it didn't help that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning, and she'd had a very long and rather strange day.

   "Go to bed, Alley Cat, before you fall off the chair," Charley scolded teasingly from her spot on the couch, with her legs draped over Modo's lap and head resting comfortably on Vinnie's thigh. Neither mouse seemed to mind being used as a cushion; Vinnie's fingers ran idly through Charley's mussed hair, absentmindedly caressing over her cheek and jaw, down to her throat and back into her hair, and she didn't seem to mind that, either. In fact, she looked as if she was about to start purring up a storm. The scene was strangely intimate, and Alley tried her best to ignore a niggling little suspicion that had developed in the back of her mind. She certainly wasn't ready to cope with ideas like that.

   "Really, nobody will be offended," Charley continued, lazily shooing her cousin off.

   Alley yawned again, not bothering to hide it this time. "Guess I probably should. I've got to go to the university today."

   Charley looked surprised. "Are your classes starting already?"

   "Nah. Next week. But I've still got a couple of forms to fill out, and I want to get a lay of the land, so to speak. I hear the campus is huge. There are two of them, and I've got classes in both. It'll be easier to get to them on time if I actually know where they're located to begin with." She stood and stretched, working the kinks out of her muscles, before turning to Throttle, who had commandeered a kitchen chair for the evening and had turned it around to rest his forearms and chin on the back of it. "Sorry, I took over the armchair. You're welcome to it now," she said. "And thanks for all your help in getting me moved in. I appreciate it. It was … nice to meet you all."

   Throttle chuckled huskily. "Once all the screaming and hysterics calmed down, it was nice to meet you, too," he teased.

   Alley pulled a face at him, choosing not to dignify that remark with a reply.

Next

[pabloaez]

Lemonade

When he came to my house months ago to measure

my walls for bookcases, Jim Sears didn’t look like a man

who’d lose his only child to the “high waters

of the Elwha River. He was bushy-haired, confident,

cracking his knuckles, alive with energy, as we

discussed tiers, and brackets, and this oak stain

compared to that. But it’s small town, this town,

a small world here. Six months later, after the bookcases

have been built, delivered and installed, Jim’s

father, a Mr. Howard Sears, who is «covering for his son»

comes to paint our house. He tells me — when I ask, more

out of small-town courtesy than anything, «How’s Jim?» —

that his son lost Jim Jr in the river last spring.

Jim blames himself. «He can’t get over it,

neither», Mr Sears adds, «Maybe he’s gone on to lose

his mind a little too», he adds, pulling on the bill

of his Sherwin-Williams cap.

Jim had to stand and watch as the helicopter

grappled with, then lifted, his son’s body from the river

with tongs. «They used like a big pair of kitchen tongs

for it, if you can imagine. Attached to a cable. But God always

takes the sweetest ones, don’t He?» Mr Sears says. «He has

His own mysterious purposes». «What do you think about it?»,

I want to know. «I don’t want to think», he says. «We

can’t ask or question His ways. It’s not for us to know. I just

know He taken him home now, the little one.»

He goes on tell me Jim Sr’s wife took him to thirteen foreign

countries in Europe in hopes it’d help him get over it. But

it didn’t. He couldn’t. «Mission unaccomplished», Howard says.

Jim’s come down with Parkinson’s disease. What next?

He’s home from Europe now, but still blames himself

for sending Jim Jr back to the car that morning to look for

that thermos of lemonade. They didn’t need any lemonade

that day! Lord, Lord, what was he thinking of, Jim Sr has said

a hundred — no, a thousand — times now, and to anyone who will

still listen. If only he hadn’t made lemonade in the first

place that morning! What could he have been thinking about?

Further, if they hadn’t shopped the night before at Safeway, and

if that bin of yellowy lemons hadn’t stood next to where they

kept the oranges, apples, grapefruit and bananas.

That’s what Jim Sr had really wanted to buy, some oranges

and apples, not lemons for lemonade, forget lemons, he hated

lemons — at least now he did — but Jim Jr, he liked lemonade,

always had. He wanted lemonade.

«Let’s look at it this way», Jim Sr would say, «those lemons

had to come from someplace, didn’t they? The Imperial Valley,

probably, or else over near Sacramento, they raise lemons

there, right?» They had to be planted and irrigated and

watched over and then pitched into sacks by field workers and

weighed and then dumped into boxes and shipped by rail or

truck to this god-forsaken place where a man can’t do anything

but lose his children! Those boxes would’ve been off-loaded

from the truck by boys not much older than Jim Jr himself.

Then they had to be uncrated and poured all yellow and

lemony-smelling out of their crates by those boys, and washed

and sprayed by some kid who was still living, walking around town,

living and breathing, big as you please. Then they were carried

into the store and placed in that bin under that eye-catching sign

that said Have You Had Fresh Lemonade Lately? As Jim Sr’s

reckoning went, it harks all the way back to first causes, back to

the first lemon cultivated on earth. If there hadn’t been any lemons

on earth, and there hadn’t been any Safeway store, well, Jim would

still have his son, right? And Howard Sears would still have his

grandson, sure. You see, there were a lot of people involved

in this tragedy. There were the farmers and the pickers of lemons,

the truck drivers, the big Safeway store… Jim Sr, too, he was ready

to asume his share of responsibility, of course. He was the most

guilty of all. But he was still in his nosedive, Howard Sears

told me. Still, he had to pull out of this somehow and go on.

Everybody’s heart was broken, right. Even so.

Not long ago Jim Sr’s wife got him started in a little

wood-carving class here in town. Now he’s trying to whittle bears

and seals, owls, eagles, seagulls, anything, but

he can’t stick to any one creature long enough to finish

the job, is Mr Sears’s assessment. The trouble is, Howard Sears

goes on, every time Jim Sr looks up from his lathe, or his

carving knife, he sees his son breaking out of the water downriver,

and rising up — being reeled in, so to speak — beginning to turn and

turn in circles until he was up, way up above the fir tres, tongs

sticking out of his back, and then the copter turning and swinging

upriver, accompanied by the roar and whap-whap of

the chopper blades. Jim Jr passing now over the searchers who line

the bank of the river. His arms are stretched out from his sides,

and drops of water fly out from him. He passes overhead once more,

closer now, and then returns a minute later to be deposited, ever

so gently laid down, directly at the feet of his father. A man

who, having seen everything now — his dead son rise from the river

in the grip of metal pinchers and turn and turn in circles flying

above the tree line — would like nothing more now than

to just die. But dying is for the sweetest ones. And he remembers

sweetness, when life was sweet, and sweetly

he was given that other lifetime.

Raymond Carver.

[spirit-shroud]

heyyyy since ur taking requests could u do a plight/reader with the theme being a day off? i hope ur day gets better ❤️❤️

hi this is VERY LATE but!! thanks!! ♥♥ its been a much better week!! ———————————————————————————————————-It wasn’t often you and Plight had days off to start with, much less at the same time. You were confined between Kip’s office, being her personal assistant and all, or the library, fetching different books and sifting through some of the Author’s notes. When the sun went out, the lamplighter’s hours quadrupled. Even with the help of bots, he was needed for everything from keeping the city lit to being a specialized mailman for the scientists. You were both used to the loneliness and had your own ways to work through it – the constant busyness certainly helping – but more than anything, you wanted to see each other again.  After all, the world already ended! It wouldn’t be a bad thing if you were to switch around some things in the scheduling book, would it…? You adjusted your scarf and waited for the elevator to come up. You’d been standing at the top of the skywalk for quite some time now, never really stopping to notice how cold the world had gotten. You didn’t let it bother you for long, though, as the doors opened and a very tired, messy lamplighter shambled out. He looked much smaller without his hook and jars hanging off of him, you thought. He also looked so much older as he noticed you staring at him and rushed over. He had his hands behind his back and you felt like you came unprepared.  "Good morning, stranger,“ he said. His voice sounded like gravel, as if he’d just woken up from a century-long sleep, though his eyes betrayed that was not the case. He knelt down and offered out a big bundle of pink and red flowers. He managed to look more flustered than you did. "I… I was told to give these to the cutest person in the Refuge.”You didn’t move, completely speechless until it occured to you that you should probably move, take them, say something? “Oh, that’s.. me.” You dumbly stumbled out. Your inner mind facepalmed as you took the flowers and stared down at them, and then at Plight, and back to the bouquet. He chuckled at your reaction and pulled you in for a hug. Neither of you were capable at handling gifts and that was a fact you both realized early. Having contests over who could out-fluster the other were common. “It’s nice to see you, too, sweetstuff. Did you sleep well?” He kissed your head and released you. You clung to his arm, leaning against the railing of the catwalk and staring at the city below.“I… kind of forgot to. Again.” You hung your head.The man sighed, free hand covering his face. “H-.” He paused, trying to get the words together. “How? How do you manage?” “A better question is how do you? It’s only been, like, four days, so I’m fine!! I’ve been pretty busy, though… The last patch for some of my bots has been screwing with them. I think I missed a bracket somewhere when I was updating their companionship functions and it’s too late to recall it.”“How does just missing a bracket mess up everything?” You stared up at him, meeting his still-twinkling eyes with your own, much more dead inside ones. “God, I wish I were you.” “Uhh..” He scratched the back of his neck, laughing awkwardly. “Programming sure sounds… awful.”“It’s the worst.” You shuddered.  "The bright side is we’ll only dealing with one apocalypse at a time, there won’t be a robot uprising on top of the darkness.“ You shrugged it off. The three laws of robotics were there for a reason, right?He released the tension in his shoulders, as if the thought caused him extra stress. "Okay, that’s a good thing. One problem at a time.” There was a long, albeit comfortable break in conversation. The only sounds were the rustling of wind and the strange, albeit common commotion of squares. It felt safe there, just like that, but you felt like you shouldn’t waste the time with silence. “What about you, though? Have you done anything cool lately?” He looked unprepared for the question. “Oh, the usual. There’s a lotta things that need fixing these days and nobody out there specialized enough for it. Another two of my bots were eaten by squares, so I had to add another few miles to my route which is…” He stopped to catch his breath and think for a moment. “Awful. Yeah. And I learned something I feel nobody should have access to under any conditions.” “Oh..?” “Did you know the library has a basement? Like, an entire basement. It’s set up like a bunker in case of world collapse or something and I swear it’s haunted. But, like, they also keep it lit up for some reason.” “…But… why?” You blinked, letting go of his arm and deciding to place it around your shoulders instead. “I don’t have a clue, hon. Though, the ‘end of the world’ thing has been going on for like, three years now. That’s… probably why, actually. That’s a much simpler answer than the conspiracy I’ve been piecing together and I feel kind of dumb about it now. Nevermind me.” “Do you remember how to get in there?” “I treasure our relationship and time together but not enough to help you break into yet another strange place. Remember how we got in trouble last time?” His tone was flat, expression deadpanned. 

You remembered, and you cringed. “…I… yeah, I don’t wanna talk about it. Let’s just. Not.” He laughed again, it sounding much more genuine. "Why don’t we just… get some coffee and think of a better plan there?” “That… sounds ideal.” Despite making grand plans on how you’d spend your day off, the pair of you managed to spend most of it accidentally napping together. At least it wasn’t time wasted. ———————————————————————————————————i love the dumb lampy boy so much so this was delightful to write jdhfgjdfg i hope i characterized him well i think i made him too cool >->

[theshadowytiger]

There are a lot of ready-made cat shelves on the market but most are very expensive. I wanted a ton of shelves and Human wanted to save money so this was our compromise. There are websites and videos online of other people’s methods and some are probably similar to this, and plenty are more sophisticated, but my humans just put their heads together and came up with what worked for them.

If you aim to make cat shelves I would suggest browsing youtube! Plus they have funny cat videos… Anyway I will turn it over to Human and she can tell you what she did because it worked for us…

Tools: Heavy duty stapler, measuring tape, hammer, screwdriver, nails, screws and I borrowed a leveler and stud finder. However nothing else was needed!

All the shelf wood pieces are solid lumber (1" thick, 12’ long) that was bought and cut at Lowe’s (pretty much every one has a wood cutting station). Having them cut the wood saves on a lot of effort. Different blankets were cut and stapled to the pieces of wood. Decopodge glue was added to hold the fabric down flat against those kitty claws. You could also use carpet remnants instead! Brackets are solid metal and also easy to find in any hardware store. ¾" screws put through them into the wood boards and 1 ½" screws to put them into the wall. Do NOT use nails, use screws, or the shelves will fall after a little use. Nails are sleek but screws have a corkscrew shape that allows them to grip.

How to: The biggest project is measuring. Finding the studs, marking where they are on the walls, measuring that length out on your wooden boards so you will line up properly. To hit the studs many boards will not have symmetrical brackets (one bracket in the middle, one on the end), and that is fine. As long as they are properly screwed into the wall they should not move. Smaller shelves can be symmetrical since they will probably not reach both studs anyway.

Blue tape was used to get an idea of placement and that was when I used the leveler to make them fairly even (easier to level tape than a shelf you’re also trying to hold up). Mistakes were made. When this did not work I held up a shelf with the leveler on it to mark the walls (this requires two people). If you don’t know someone with a leveler you can eyeball it. Mark with pencil where the holes in the brackets are on the wall.

To make it easier, and because I had no power tools, I used a finishing nail (slim nail!) to nail into the wall about ½" deep. I did this for both the wood and the walls - aka whenever I was going to attach a screw. This confirmed where the studs were and started a hole so it was less physically intensive. If you skip this it makes this a lot more difficult! But if you have a power drill skip this. If you are working solo first put in the screws alone (without the bracketed shelf) to create the holes, remove them, and then when you go to permanently put them in with the shelf it will be much easier & quicker (which matters immensely if you are holding the shelf up while working the screwdriver).

Smaller shelves did not hit every stud so I also had to buy anchors, too. At first I was concerned using them but thankfully I had some help. They’re actually not difficult at all! Jam a roofing nail (thicker) into the wall to create a (just big enough) hole where you need it, lightly tap the anchor in with a hammer, and voila! No stud required.

The wood guiding rails (just excess pieces of wood) were added on the edge after he rolled off twice (both times he was caught!) and depending on the size of the shelf/cat you may want to incorporate some. I added them to places he stretches out while keeping leaping shelves clear.

Stability is #1. If it wobbles even a bit when you finish then something is probably not screwed in all the way. Take it out and fix the problem. If a nail/screw goes straight in without resistence then you have not hit the stud, just gone through wall and need to try again or get an anchor. You can hear the difference between a cat thumping onto a shelf and a shelf that is wriggling because of a problem so if one sounds different to the rest double check it.

Most commercial, ready to assemble shelves cost at least $20, usually $30+ but those are rarely wide enough for a cat (and not very long). These shelves are 11" wide (which I found out is 1’ before they finish it so you think it’s 12" until you get home and measure it). It’s a great size for moving around on/stretching/sunning. Cost wise I paid $4 per shelf for brackets, $2 per foot of wood, $25 for all the hardware (plenty to spare as you can see), so when it all added up around $8-9 for the smallest shelves and $15 for the longest (4’). We built 12", 18", 36" and 48" shelves.

Hopefully this helps everyone who is looking to make their kitty’s day! If you have questions feel free to ask!

[namjoonchronicles]

Lost It To Trying #1 - [EXO] Jongin CEO!Au

[A/N] Hi. 

Have you ever wondered what they were thinking. Those people on the edge of the building, or beside a hanging bridge. Who they thought of, what it feels like to have no hope, to abandon all will, to leave everything behind, willingly. What drove their unhinged mind to further ruin themselves with their own dark thoughts.

Sometimes. It's nothing. Sometimes nothing crosses the mind. And that nothingness became numbness, and that numbness became sorrow. Often, incomprehensible. However, sometimes... It's everything.

Jongin stood by a handrail of the bridge in the middle of the night, accompanied by soft inviting wind, trying to coax him away from the edge. But he doesn't listen. His face was unreadable, they were stoned. Every each of his features reveals nothing, but having both of his hands in his hair as he yank his own chin up to the dark night sky showed that he was troubled. Very troubled. 

And that's when your scrutiny paid a price. "It's you...!" You exclaimed with extreme familiarity from a distant. You could see from his face that he was startled. He didn't think that he would be called like that, especially from a stranger.

"You look different." You eyed him, up and down. "I like this style a lot." You commented with a big wide smile, enunciating that beautiful line of teeth that seems to be framed by your curling lip. Jongin wasn't quite sure but it was very addictive, the smile is perfection even in this dim lighting. The way your cheeks rose and the smiling line curved to bracket your already mesmerizing twinkle. Opposed to him. He was in his dress shirt, the top two buttons unfastened, His belt showing, the sleeves rolled up his elbows although one side had already slipping down his wrist, the cuffs hung loose. He was disheveled. Handsomely disheveled. Never thought it was possible for a mess to look this hot. But, honestly.

"In fact, I like this better than you usual style." You pull your chin close to your chest, where your scarf pooled. "Aren't you cold?"

Seriously, he has to start talking. He hasn't said anything. And as if he heard your crude thoughts, he opens his mouth, letting one grasp go from the rails. "Have we met?" He swings lightly, tilting his head to the side. That's a great lie, you scoffed and look away, but another glance into his deep brown pair of orbs had you thinking twice. Because there's a glint of innocence in his eyes that supports otherwise. He wasn't lying at all.

"Sixty and Coffees? Down the main street, next to the bus station that buses never stops by? You're the one who orders nothing else but Espresso so I have it done for precisely at 6:17PM everyday before you come." You blinked innocently. "Also, espresso? Yuck. I feel sorry for your wife," your eyes shot to his fingers and see no rings, and then glance at him again, "...or girlfriends." You emphasized the 's' in girlfriends, and he chuckled. He threw his head back and chuckled. It was a beautiful sight. His Adam's apple out in the open, his veins showing up on the sides, and thank goodness for those unbuttoned buttons, because hot damn those collarbone peeks is probably had more bite marks then your dog's toy. You looked away, before he caught you staring. Staring is rude, young ladies. Just like mommy taught you. Self-restraints.

"Wow, I haven't laughed that hard in awhile," he wiped a tear trailing on the tail of his right eye with his long index finger and scratched your neck, feeling awkward. "I came here to flirt and he's laughing at my unintended joke, do I bail or nah?" You thought. "I know it's midnight and all, but, would you like to get a coffee with me?" You put your chin close to your chest once again and he finds it increasingly cute for some reason. "Yeah, I'll um." He passes a look to one side and his smile faded into a serious expression. Jongin saw his black Mercedes being guarded by two men in suits and earpiece. Then he caught your wrist before you could look and started walking.

"We could walk there?" Jongin sounded featherly light. You nodded, "I know the perfect coffee shop. Sixty and Coffees." You grabbed his arm without much thought. This was oddly comfortable for a pair of strangers. But you two see each other everyday at the coffee shop, wouldn't it be more of an official introduction?

"Isn't it locked?" He looks puzzled and you took the split second to appreciate how beautiful he looked with such confused face. "...I have the keys." You gave him an adorable eye smile and Jongin found himself swooned again.

He helped you with the shutter opening halfway, and he had to crouched himself to enter after you. Then you close the shutter on ankles height. "Aren't you worried about me having a girlfriend...girlfriends." He suddenly say, striding elegantly on the tall table, passing a smiley glance at you. You took off the straps of your bag from your shoulder. "You were laughing so hard at the accusation, so I think you're not taken." You pull your hair back, twisted the long end into a bun, showing your neck before you tied them. "That's why I didn't recognise you... You always had your hair up." Jongin should remind himself that staring is rude, but he couldn't help it that you were heftily taking a chunk of sanity out of his mind. He kept wanting to see the smile he wasn't allowed to ask for, he kept wanting to hold the hands he wasn't suppose to. It was inappropriate. And he knows this. But he kept on wanting to do it.

Which was unnatural. Not him at all. What is he turning to be?

"Are you making me a coffee?" He said, out of silence. You shook your head. "Your version of coffee is espresso and nothing else. I'm making you a caramel latte with hazelnut sprinkle, double foam. It's going to linger on your tongue long after it's gone, trust me on this." You hustled. "Are you allowed to do this?" He scrunched his face, cutely. "...No. But you're our loyal customer, so this is...what do you call. Service." You winked. Occupied by making the coffee, you remembered to let the conversation flow naturally with a tinge of curiosity. "What's making a clean cut, young man so troubled? What were you doing at the bridge looking like you've been in and out a battlefield?" You decided to whip up some warm sandwiches to calm the caffeine once it's in. "...I was thinking. I do it a lot." He rested his chin on the heel of his palm.

"You do it all the time you're here, just what is troubling you." You slightly scolded him. "Different things everyday, honestly. But today was...not the usual." He answered with a strange blur in his voice. "It can't be a broken heart now, is it." He heard you say and instantly triggered something in him. An emotion he couldn't quite put into words. "...I can get heartbroken too." He defended himself.

You giggled, "...Nope. If any heart is going to be broken tonight, it should be mine or everyone else...not you." You rolled your eyes. "How would I break your heart if it's not mine...?" He lifted his chin a little. And in efforts to cover your blushing cheeks, you turned away to chop the tomatoes. "Your entire face screams heart breaker, Jongin." You let his name slip out. But before he could ask you how you knew his name, he reminded himself that he usually ordered using his own name. "What else do you know. Apart from my name." He smiled. "Just. How you like coffee and what time you usually visit. But it'll be nice if I know your surname." You handed him the infamous sweet latte and went back to get the plate with sandwiches. "Kim." He looked at you, his gaze fixated on you and his lips curl into a luscious smile. "Kim Jongin." He sniffs the aroma coming from the coffee you made.

You started with a heavy sigh, "...And my name is..." He dashed with a, "I already know." He flickered his eyes on the name tag you still have on when you took off the coat.

"This week is actually the last week I'm working here. I have an interview tomorrow. I couldn't thank the heavens enough for this opportunity to speak with you before I leave." You bit your lips, cutely and turned away to drink. "...So I walked in a farewell party. You should have given me the time to bring you gifts." He was obviously offended, but he does them elegantly. "...Unlike most, gifts to me are not in the form of objects, they're people and time." You said, not a tinge of awkwardness in the way you say it. You were sincere and it wasn't something Jongin observes a lot. It was refreshing. You were refreshing.

And he checked in  one hell of a ride. Until the truth hits him. He was never going to see you again. "Where do I find you?" He watched your back getting smaller and smaller as you walked away after sending him back where you found him. You turned to walk backwards and smiled, waving both of your hands. You sped off into a taxi and went the other way. It was too quick for Jongin to respond.

[A/N] There’s a part two. *wink*

[monstersmonthly]

Biggest Lineup in Years to Highlight 4-Wheel Jamboree Season

As the indoor season for a majority of the monster truck tours draws to a close during most of April, the spring season officially means outdoor venues get to prepare for some faster racing, some bigger obstacles, and the drivers get to “stretch the legs” of these machines. Although many stadium events are showcasing a lot of fast action, there’s something about being at a fairground or speedway that feels so different to these teams.

No tour has taken note of how major these venues are than Bonnier Corporation’s 4-Wheel Jamboree series, which again is headlined by title sponsor Lucas Oil.

The other title sponsor that headlines the jamborees, General Tire, has returned once again to showcase the best that the jamboree has to offer in monster truck racing, and freestyle. A year ago, an extremely stacked, powerful, and intense field of drivers and trucks gave many highlights that fans still remember a year later. But, the season also ended with a bit of controversy, and maybe confusion.

Everyone is ready for a new year, a fresh beginning, and zero doubt as to who will be the best at day’s end.

What the folks at Bonnier Corporation, with the help of WHR Motorsports, did for this year is not only bring back the reigning and defending champions, but also bring back some drivers that have long been favorites of the crowd. Maybe that is lucky, because the field for this year’s jamboree season is an odd number, with seven powerful, driven, and no-nonsense drivers and trucks, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

Let’s take a look at this year’s competition:

Lucas Oil Bigfoot 2019 Ford Raptor Trophy Truck Driver: Christian Norman

Headlining this year’s jamboree tour once again is always the truck that began the industry, and even it’s creator has said the jamboree shows themselves have helped shape the team into what it is today. For the 31st time, a Bigfoot truck will be in attendance at the jamborees, chasing after a championship.

According to the Bigfoot website, the man that will be having the duty of defending the racing championship from a season ago is the same one who was not only a rookie with the team in 2018, but also was competing for the first time at the jamborees. Christian Norman surprised everyone with how smooth he could handle the #18 chassis from the Bigfoot team, and it led him all the way to Indianapolis with a chance to win a championship.

In the end, he did that, although he settle with splitting the racing title (more on that in a bit), but this year, Norman has been standing tall in his own right. He’s been very successful driving on the Hot Wheels tour, and is ready to let this truck show what it really can do in a big environment.

The original monster truck is ready to turn it loose on the field in 2019, and Norman is no rookie any longer, but a polished driver with proven equipment, and he wants his title outright.

Raminator 2018 Ram Heavy Duty Driver: Mark Hall

As stated above, last year’s General Tire Monster Truck Thunder Drags ended with a bit of controversy. The biggest reason: two drivers tied at season’s end, meaning for the first time, co-champions were crowned.

Along with Norman, the other man that relied on consistency to achieve a title is no stranger to holding a championship. Although, he returned to the jamborees after one year away. This time, he’s returning, just like Norman, to achieve a championship outright, with no doubts.

It certainly helps that Mark Hall has been a rival to the Bigfoot team for many years, although it has been a rivalry of competition and respect. The man at the wheel of the 2018 Ram Heavy Duty has seen a lot of action in the last several years with the jamboree tour, including a very scary and violent roll last year at Bloomsburg that saw the truck destroy the body. He showed how strong the equipment was by coming back and winning the racing bracket that day, but during the week Hall was sore from the roll, even with the safety equipment doing its job. But, he recovered and came back like the Phoenix to achieve a title.

For 2019, he will return to the jamborees hoping to prove that he is dominant, and leave little doubt as to what the HEMI-powered Raminator is capable of.

Overkill Evolution 2019 Ford Super Duty Driver: Mike Vaters II

There was controversy surrounding the racing championship a season ago, which this writer admits was partially of his doing, but there was never any doubt as to who the dominant truck and driver was when it came to freestyle. With a world championship to his credit already, it was already known that the skill set of Mike Vaters II was second to none, but for the first time he got to show off that skill set in front of the jamboree crowds.

Whether it was hammering off a combine tire, taking a splash in a pond, or sliding his machine to create a cloud of dust, Overkill Evolution was not to be denied. Vaters II was outright dominant from the first event to the last, leaving officials little doubt as to who the best truck was all year long. It was as if the truck not only took the punishment, but was begging to have more abuse.

The only breakage that seemed to slow Vaters II down a bit was at the final weekend when the team had to rebuild half the suspension overnight just to make the show, but he did just that and closed out the season on top.

Team Evo is back for 2019, heading in as the lead favorite to back up the freestyle title, but he too was in a spot to win the racing championship, so he could ultimately pull off a jamboree sweep in 2019. With the ability of the driver, the excellent skills of owner/builder Marty Garza, this team will have many eyes on them this year.

Black Stallion 2008 Ford F150 Driver: Mike Vaters

Wherever Overkill Evolution goes, chances are the Black Stallion is not far behind. Already a hall of fame member, Michael Vaters is back at the jamborees for a second year in a row, ready to make his truck make some noise.

His entire team is going through a lot of changes this summer, some big changes. It was revealed on social media that team driver Matt Cody, driver of Blue Thunder and Iron Warrior, is in the process of getting a brand new chassis under him. It will be the first new chassis in the Vaters camp since the mid-2000’s when Vaters’ current chassis made its debut. The truck itself will have a chassis similar to that of Overkill Evolution, however it will be set up to Cody’s liking.

For Vaters, that means he will have to push himself even more to show that even though his piece is nearly 15 years old, it can still get the job done. After all, he’s still a capable driver, with 37 years experience at the wheel, and is no stranger to the jamboree vibe.

General Tire 2018 Ram 1500 Driver: Kurt Kraehmer

The other rookie driver last year on the jamboree tour had a lot of pressure from the moment he stepped into the roll cage. Kurt Kraehmer was taking over not just as the man with a title sponsor on his truck, but also was taking over the chassis that holds a world record.

It turns out, he was more than up for the challenge. Kraehmer put the Ram 1500 General Tire machine through it’s paces, pushing the deep cleat tires through mud, water, dirt and grass to show that he is a capable driver at the wheel.

With more seat time over this winter, his ability has been exceptional, and the fans are enjoying seeing the young man put on a show. This year, he gets to do so again with the General Tire monster, literally. Since the new graphics for this truck were debuted in 2016, it seems to have been given a more aggressive and meaner look. It has certainly helped in sales for the tire brand, as I can attest to since I bought my second set for my current truck last year. It has been a great partnership that continues to be strong for all involved.

Once again, Kraehmer will try to put this machine in victory circle, but now that he’s gotten his first win under his belt this winter, his confidence is high and he’s ready to make an impact.

Xtreme Diesel 2018 Ram 1500 Driver: Dave Radzierez NOTE-Bloomsburg ONLY

Since 2016, there has been one team that fans have been wanting to see back on this tour. It was posted beginning when the lineup was listed, fans have been asking to “bring him back” to put on a show. The reason, they know what the truck and driver can do. He has no plan except turning on the truck and hitting the loud pedal.

Well, after three years, the time has come. He’s back, the man that started a new revolution in monster trucks is back with a familiar chassis, a familiar sponsor, but a new look, and a new power plant.

Dave Radzierez is officially back at the jamborees, and he’s bringing his Xtreme Diesel. Last time this truck, at least chassis, was at one of these shows was back at the Bloomsburg jamboree in 2016, where he shattered the rear suspension but made it back in time for the final show. A year later, he went away from just showing the XDP name, and unveiled the Xtreme Diesel look, but ran an alcohol engine. Last summer, the original “Diesel Dave” returned with a brand-new 2018 Ram 1500 body, but more over, an entirely new engine.

His truck is now powered by a common-rail Cummins engine that is running cleaner, smoother, and with practically no smoke. It has already made a major impression, running indoor shows this winter without any side effects. Now, this new machine will be making a major impact outdoors for sure.

The fans wanted, begged, and hoped it would happen, and now…it’s a reality. Although, the other reality is that Radzierez will only compete at Bloomsburg, meaning that fans who want to get “Xtreme” will only have one opportunity to do so.

Bad News Travels Fast 2008 Chevrolet Silverado Driver: Brandon Derrow NOTE-Lima and Indianapolis ONLY

Every year for the last three seasons, at least one new face entered the field to compete at the jamborees. For 2019, that continues with a driver that got into the sport by purchasing a well-known truck from a driver that was calling it a career, and has since made it his own identity. All the while, honoring the truck’s past, while looking to the future.

Young Brandon Derrow has shown a lot of skill at the wheel of “Bad News” and seems to have caught the eye of many. He’s consistently been skilled at the indoor events, but has always enjoyed letting the truck show off what it can do at a big venue. The chassis he runs is nearly 20 years old, and it still is winning events.

All the while, Derrow has said he’s been wanting to run at the jamborees, especially since he has memories as a kid watching the shows on TNN, something that this writer can relate to. The history of these events is what made him want to be a part of them.

Finally, the opportunity has come. Someone can, and likely will, say they “lose to Bad News” on the tour this year.

Derrow, his dad (also his crew chief), and girlfriend, Ashley, are all excited to finally run on the tour. Unfortunately, the Bad News team will only be able to run two of the three events on tour. But, that means that Derrow will push this truck harder, and make a bigger impact since he will have less opportunities to do so.

There are two guarantees, however, that will come when Derrow takes to the track. The first: no driver should think he’s an easy opponent in racing, because he will surprise the opposition. The second: Derrow will put that truck on the wheelie bar every chance he has, because Bad News loves to freestyle, and specializes in the wheelstand.

We are just over two months away from the opening event of the season, and many fans are ready and eager to get back to what is normally their spring or summer vacation spots. Many are also hoping that the beginning of the tour avoids the havoc that Mother Nature has seemed to dish out for what seems to be every year since 2015. The sad part, Mother Nature is unpredictable, and seems to not care what day it is, nor what events take place.

In any case, the 2019 General Tire Monster Truck Thunder Drags will still take place, rain or shine. Tickets will soon be available online, so visit 4WheelJamboree.com to get all the event info, along with ordering those tickets. Schedule of events will be posted prior to each show, letting all fans know exactly when their favorite event will take place.

2019 4-Wheel Jamboree Events

June 7-9: O’Reilly Auto Parts 4-Wheel Jamboree Ohio Nationals-Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, OH | See Details >

July 12-14: A&A Auto Stores 4-Wheel Jamboree Summer Nationals-Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, Bloomsburg, PA | See Details >

September 20-22: O’Reilly Auto Parts 4-Wheel Jamboree Fall Nationals-Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, IN | See Details >

[itsworn]

1968 Dodge Dart: First Love

Christopher Thompson bought this 1968 Dodge Dart in 1987 when he was only 14 years old, and 30 years later transformed it into his Pro Street dream car.

Though in 1987 he was still two years away from being old enough to drive, Christopher Thompson managed to cut a deal and buy this 1968 Dart. There was nothing especially exotic about the car, but it was all his, and by the time he was 16 and in possession of his junior license, he had already rebuilt the car’s 273-cid V-8. He also completely rebuilt the front suspension, replaced the stock drum brakes with a disc setup, and installed an 8 ¾-inch rearend with track-friendly 4.56:1 gears.

“After I got my license,” Thompson recalls, “I drove it all the time, and I raced it four or five times a year at Carlsbad Raceway while I was in high school. It ran low 14s in what I call its ‘high school configuration.’”

After graduating from high school, Thompson’s Dart graduated as well, with a moderately built-up 360-cid engine replacing the 273. With more power on tap, it consistently ran 13.80s at around 105 mph. Over the next 10 years, he bracket-raced the car at a wide variety of tracks, including Carlsbad, Brotherhood Raceway Park, Sears Point, Bakersfield, Los Angeles County Raceway, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, and Sacramento. Los Angeles and Carlsbad, which Thompson considered his home track, were particularly kind to the Dart, with numerous bracket wins to show for it and a best e.t. of 12.09 at 109 mph without nitrous. With a 150-shot of nitrous, it tripped the lights at 10.88 at 116 mph.

In 1998, Thompson bought his first house and set up a nice shop in the garage. The Dart had a few electrical issues, so his first project in the new shop was a complete rewire. As is always the case, while working on the wiring the closer he looked the more he saw, and the more he thought about where he’d like to take the car. At the same time, a friend happened to have a turbo setup for sale and that further encouraged Thompson to dream. He bought the turbo system and proceeded to disassemble his Dart for a comprehensive Pro Street build. As often happens however, taking everything apart turned out to be the easy part. With increasing attention and time devoted to developing his career, the new house, and other commitments, getting all of the work done and putting it all back together proved to be considerably more difficult.

“There was no progress until 2005,” Thompson explains, “and then I found some time and motivation to do a little bit of work on it. I cut the back-half out and then made a crucial mistake. In addition to the trunk, floor, trunk hinge supports, rails, and other parts, I also removed the rollcage before sending the body to Painting & Stripping Corporation in Santa Fe Springs for dipping. Without the back-half and rollcage, the car folded like a taco when it came out of the strip tank. I was devastated when I saw what happened, and was just about ready to throw the car away or use what was left of the sheetmetal to build a tube frame car.”

Fortunately, Thompson called Gary Hansen at Hansen Race Cars in Montclair, California, who quickly talked him out of scrapping the Dart. “Gary assured me it was not the end of the world, and they could put it on their jig and get it fixed. He was right, and I can’t thank him enough for all that they did. Hansen was on time, on budget, and the workmanship was fantastic throughout.”

Hansen Race Cars installed a four-link chromoly tube back-half, complete with an SFI 25.5D-spec Funny Car ’cage. Though Thompson had big plans for completing the Dart after it came back from Hansen’s shop, life once again intervened and it sat idle for another dozen years.

“I knew I’d get to it one day,” Thompson recalls, “but once again the years passed by and little was done. That changed in 2017 when I participated in HOT ROD Drag Week with another car that I own, and my friend Gary Goodner planted the seed in my head to finish the Dart in time for Drag Week in 2018.”

Finishing the car to the level Thompson had in mind was a massive endeavor, but with an unbreakable commitment to have it completed in time for Drag Week, he found the motivation to put in all of the many necessary hours. “For 10 straight months I worked on the car almost every day that I had off. In the beginning, Gary would come over one day a week to help, and then his visits increased in the spring and summer, for the final push. In the last month before Drag Week, I was putting in 18 to 20 hours per day almost every day. I also had a lot of invaluable help from friends, especially Stuart, Andrew, Mike, and Brian. They were there for me when it counted.”

Thompson and his friends did the vast majority of the needed work, including installing the QA1 frontend, sheetmetal fabrication, wiring, fuel system, interior, and bodywork. Though the car was blissfully rust-free, a lot of sheetmetal work was required because of the modifications. In addition to all of the custom pieces required for the new back-half, Thompson stretched original quarter-panels 6 inches to accommodate the rear rubber.

The Dart went to Frank’s Custom in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for final paint. Master painter James Burdette expertly applied 1968 Dodge Dark Red Metallic code RR1 using two-stage PPG acrylic urethane. “In the beginning, I intended to paint it myself,” Thompson tells us, “because I planned to drive and race the heck out of it, so I didn’t put too much emphasis on the paint. Now it’s gorgeous, probably way too nice to drive and race, but I’m thrilled with it!”

When Drag Week arrived, the Dart was close enough to being finished that it could’ve gone, but Thompson was still waiting on a few key parts so decided not to bring it. The little bit of disappointment he felt was far outweighed by the satisfaction of finally getting the car up and running after it sitting idle for most of the previous 20 years.

“This car means a lot to me,” he explains, “and it also means a lot to my wife, Jessica. She put up with it all those years when it was just sitting around, and when I finally decided to complete the build she was 100 percent supportive. She said, ‘I’ve got your back — let’s do this!’ She never complained about all of the time and money it consumed, and she was truly the key player in getting it done.

“Looking back over the 30-plus years I’ve owned the car,” he continues, “I realize now that it has taught me a lot of life’s lessons. It kept me occupied at some very trying times in my life, and it drove me to learn all about the inner workings of cars. The skills I learned rebuilding it in high school led to a career working on cars in my teens and 20s. Even more important, it has also led to unlikely friendships that are still going strong today. Over the years, it has driven many thousands of street miles and made a couple of thousand passes down the track, and it’s been dragged from house to house and shop to shop, but I never gave up on my dream to transform it into a Pro Street car, and I love it every bit as much today as I did back in the beginning, when I was 14 years old and this was my first car.”

Fast Facts 1968 Dodge Dart Christopher Thompson, Cowan Heights, CA

ENGINE Type: 344-cid V-8 Bore x stroke: 4.070 inches (bore) x 3.31 inches (stroke) Block: stock 1970 Mopar 340, cast-iron, decked, line-honed, bored and honed with torque plate, four-bolt splayed main caps Rotating assembly: Eagle 4340 forged crank, GRP aluminum connecting rods, Ross custom turbo aluminum pistons machined for clearance, entire rotating assembly balanced Compression: 9.25:1 Cylinder heads: Mopar Performance W5 aluminum heads, fully ported, combustion chamber relieved, angle milled, oil passages modified Camshaft: Comp Cams solid roller, .685-inch 242/244 degrees duration Valves: Ferrea titanium/Inconel, PAC valvesprings, Jesel 1.8:1 rocker arms, Manton pushrods, PAC tool steel retainers, locks and seals Fasteners: ARP Machine work done by: B&P (Orange, CA) Induction: Mopar Performance M1 intake manifold, Comp Turbo Technology oil-less CT4X 68mm billet turbocharger Oiling system: Milodon oil pan, Melling high-volume pump, Moroso filter Exhaust: custom stainless exhaust, including 1.75-inch header tubes and 4.0-inch pipes Ignition: Holley Distributorless Ignition System Cooling: Champion radiator, Mezerie water pump Fuel: Holley Dominator EFI, divided fuel cell with 7.5 gallons for race fuel and 12.5 gallons for road fuel, Aeromotive 3.5 gpm brushless pump for race fuel, Aeromotive A1000 pump for street fuel Engine built by: B&P (Orange, CA)

DRIVETRAIN Transmission: 727 TorqueFlite three-speed automatic Converter: Dice Performance converter 3,500-stall speed 9.5-inch torque converter, 2.45/1.45/1.00 gear ratios, built by Pro Trans (Lancaster, CA) Transmission Cooler: Derale cooler Shifter: Precision Performance Products Driveshaft: 3.5-inch double wall chromoly Rear End: Mark Williams Ford 9-inch narrowed 20 inches, aluminum centersection with lightweight chromoly spool, 3.73:1 ring-and-pinion, Richmond Pro Gear, 40-spline gun-drilled axles

CHASSIS Front suspension: QA1 bolt-in tubular K-frame and arms, QA1 double-adjustable coilover system, Mopar Performance .810 torsion bars Rear suspension: Hansen Race Cars chromoly round tube back-half, four-link suspension with Strange Engineering double-adjustable shocks and Strange Engineering springs, adjustable custom torsion bar Steering: stock 1968 Dodge Front Spindles: stock 1968 Dodge Brakes: Mark Williams four-piston lightweight, 10.5-inch rotors

BODY Modifications: rear quarter-panels stretched 6 inches, custom sheetmetal underhood and surrounding back-half, wheeltubs Paint: PPG two-stage, 1968 Dodge Dark Red Metallic

INTERIOR Seats: JAZ Products aluminum seats, black vinyl upholstery Instruments: Holley digital dash, Motion Raceworks digital dash mount and billet turn signal switch Electronics: Infinity box Steering: custom chromoly column

WHEELS & TIRES Wheels: 15×4 (front) and 15×16 (rear) Weld Racing Front Tires: 26×4.5 Mickey Thompson Sportsman Rear Tires: 33×17 Hoosier D05 slicks

The post 1968 Dodge Dart: First Love appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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[briefbouquetcreatorlove-blog]

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

"Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://howmuchisinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

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I need health insurance quick.?

I need to get health insurance. I have no job and No income so i have no way to get health insurance. I went to the state to get health insurance and I was not eligable for Medicare. I live with my father and I qualified for another health insurance through the state but I have to pay full premium because my father makes just over the amount they classify as POOR. Im 18, with a serious blood disorder (Hemophilia) and no doctor will help me w/o health insurance. Is there any other health insurance or help I can get?""

Conservatives! What do you fear will be the impact of more people having QUALITY health insurance?

under so-called Obama care?

What would be the best choice for health and dental insurance?

I' am 22 year old college student in california and don't have insurance. i was wondering if anyone can help me with choosing a provider. i don't really know how health insurance works. but i would like to get something decent thats not to expensive or to cheap, i do want good coverage just in case. thank you""

My insurance adjuster wont give me enough money for my car repair?

A guy hit my car and his insurance said my car is worth less that what it really is the damage for my car is worht $3000 but they will only give me $2200 for it also on the evaluation report they made they said my car was in a worser condition than it really is. What can I do to get what i deserve? i don't want to settle for less

What is the lowst 18 year old male car insurance?

What is the lowest car insurance for an 18 year old male in Alabama? I need info for sports cars and non sports cars.

Can someone help me with an insurance question?

new driver no insurance live in ca, 20yrs old, i am considering of buying kia rio my monthly car payment will be around $169. can u give me an estimate of how much my insurance will be.""

Can i use my mom name for car insurance?

can i use my mom's name for car insurance because car insurance for me is really expensive because i'm young...and she's in her late 50's but the thing is, is that she doesn't have a license to drive....so can i still use her name to buy car insurance?""

Cheaper car insurence for me?

ok so im 19 in october. and everywhere i look my insurance will be a minimum of 2800 a year if i had a 1.2 corsa. however if i went on my mums 2.0 tdi passat with her max no claims it will be a min of 3000 a year. why is this?? anyone know any loopholes or cheaper sites???

Will my insurance rate go up if i recently got stopped for a failure to obey stop sign? More details!!?

i am 17 years old and i got a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign but i could not find my papers. so the officer never scanned my insurance card. will my insurance rate go up? ps... im not on the insurance policy, it was my mothers car and i am a new driver.""

My car is totalled and the at fault insurance company won't pay. What do I do?

I was recently rear ended. The lady who hit me was not the owner of the car. The car is insured with Access General under the boyfriends name. Access General came to assess my car and deemed it totalled. They gave me a dollar amount of how much the car is worth and what they are willing to pay for it. Heres the problem, Access General is claiming that they can not get a hold of the boyfriend and that they can not process anything and will close the file if they do not make contact with him. So basically, I would be stuck. Obviously, I am going to get a lawyer, but has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Am I missing something here?""

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

For a 21 year old what is the cheapest car insurance company in ottawa ontario?

I am 21 years old male and a first time driver, have never been insured, and have my G2. I am looking for the cheapest quote""

Can you get your drivers license without any insurance?

I live in West Virginia 17 and I have had my learners for almost a year and have got all my hours so would it be OK if i got my license w/o insurance

Do you have to have a care to have car insurance?

I am not ready to purchase a car, however I figured if I started paying car insurance now, when I am ready to purchase a car I wont have to pay so much to start the policy. Is this true?""

How to get insurance for ice cream truck?

I want to start a ice cream truck business but how do you get insurance for the truck

I have a question about insurance..who is the most well known insurance in canada...and give a great benifit?

i have a question about insurance..who is the most well known insurance in canada...and give a great benifit?

Is there a State Farm insurance branch in Texas?

Is there a State Farm insurance branch in Texas?

I want to finance a car. Can the registration and insurance be under my brothers' name?

Will a car dealership allow me to register the car under my brother? I want to put the car in my brothers name because the insurance will be cheaper. His credit is in better than mine.

What would be the best way for me to minimise my car insurance?

Ok, before I start, I DO know that its not going to be cheap but I want to figure out the best way to get insurance. (This is in the UK by the way) Well, I turned 17 a few days, got my provisional today, and am thinking, uh oh - look at these insurance quotes. Is it a good idea to get my name added onto my parent's insurance policy? They're with Tesco car insurance. Apparently this lowers costs but is it worth it, and is there anything better? Also, do your public exam marks make any difference? I got good grades in the summer, A* in every subject, so does this help? The car is a NISSAN PRIMERA S TD 2001 1974cc Five Door Hatchback Manual Diesel. So it's not really a new car, and its silver in colour. The mileage per annum definitely won't exceed 5000 miles. Any help is appreciated, thanks.""

Cheapest car insurance for 17 year old?

Cheapest car insurance for 17 year old?

Will doctors office workers lose jobs now with the new Affordable Insurance law?

Will more people lose jobs with the new law going into effect? How will those people find work now ? Will that add to our debt even more?

Teen Drivers Insurance?

Ok so I am a Teen Driver and I am about to get licensed...I need Car insurance...any one know the average in TX? Thanks

My boyfriend's nephew got hit but he doesn't have car insurance.?

my boyfriend and his nephew were involved in a hit and run. however, his nephew doesn't have car insurance, will this have an a negative turn out for him??? i don't care about the other guy having or not having insurance...but will his nephew get in trouble? we live in California, it is illegal to have a car with no car insurance, registration, and license. please help!!!...how would it turn out for him??? HE WAS THE ONE THAT GOT HIT BY THE OTHER CAR... his nephew is the victim""

I own a car and am selling it to a guy. He is the only driver. He refuses to get insurance.?

I have given him 3 months to get insurance, but he hasnt gotten it yet. I have kept the vehicle on my insurance until he gets it, but he still hasnt gotten it. And now he is complaining that I should stop insuring it so that he doesnt have to reimburse me for it. My questions are: What would happen if i dropped the insurance and he got pulled over or in a wreck? Who would be responsible, me or him? Could my rates be raised? Could I personally get into trouble with the law for allowing an uninsured driver drive an uninsured car that I own? We're in the process of getting a temporary title for him so that I won't be responsible, but in the meantime I need to know the consequences. I live in Ohio.""

WILL MY CAR INSURANCE BE HIGH?!?

I am 16 male, and I have a 2006 Honda Civic Sedan 4 door black currently living in NYC Long Island and I want to know what is my Insurance rate. How much would I have to pay every month please tell me every month not year !! Thanks ALSO FOR POINTS PLEASE TELL ME HOW MUCH FOR A 2002-2006 Honda accord !!""

My parked car was damaged in a hit and run by someone who had a rental car but did not have insurance.?

The rental car company did not validate proof of insurance. The drivier gave the car rental company old and outdated insuance information and did not validate insurance coverage. Now I am stuck with a damaged and totaled car and no way to pay for damages caused by this hit and run to me.

Car insurance question?

My mom just bought a new car and she wants to add me (a new driver) to her policy. How much would our insurance increase/decrease comparing to as if I bought the car myself.

Recommended auto insurance in us?

Specifically NJ. have some points. Any help on which would be cheapest?

Credit life insurance?

My mom passed away in sept. of cancer. She had a $100,000 balance on her mortgage loan. Now I just recieved a letter stating that her credit insurance had gone through and a check had been sent to her mortgage account number. I have never even heard of credit insurance, does this mean the remainder of her loan is gonna be paid off??? If so I am in shock.""

How much does Viagra cost without insurance?

How much does Viagra cost without insurance?

Will lifting my Jeep affect my insurance rates?

I have a Jeep Cherokee, which is my daily driver, but I'm lookin into making it alot bigger, putting a 6 lift kit on and putting 35 tires. I dont know whether or not I need to notify my insurance company about this. I dont expect them to insure the lift or anything, but can I be dropped by them if I do not tell them? I'm not actually going to be taking the truck offroad (stupid I know, but its just for looks).""

""How much would it cost to pay insurance, 16?""

my parents are with state farm, and im about to turn 16. my GPA right now is a 3.5. my sister is going to hand me down her 2005 scion xb, odo reads 135,334 right now, its in far conditions, no car accidents how much would it cost to insure it?""

Insurance rate for 2000 ford escort?

it has 143k miles for a female i just need an estimate, it is for a class assignment thanks""

What do I do with the rejected health insurance benefits California?

rejected by Blue Cross and Blue Shield/

Health insurance for child?

i'm looking for a low cost insurance plan for 1 child. not medicaid or anything like that, but the one's i've found are about 200-250/month. location is north carolina.""

How much would insurance cost for a 16 Y/O Girl with a 1997 Nissan Maxima GLE?

I'm buying a Maxima and I'm turning 17 in February. I plan on getting the car on the road next month and I have a 10% discount from my driving school for taking drivers ed. How much would insurance cost (roughly) per month for a 16 year old girl with a 1997 Nissan Maxima GLE?

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

How much on average is insurance on a 2005 chevy silverado 2500 or ford F-250?

Looking to buy one of these vehicles and wanted to see how much on average it is. Thanks!

Whats the cheapest car insurance company in Missouri?

I am 20 and attend college. I never needed a car before but now that I have to start driving, I have to get my driver's license. I have my permit and a car but since I need legal tags and insurance to take the driving test. I have to get insurance before I can get tags. So I wanted to know whats the best insurance company for me, where prices won't be outrageous??? Thanks for the help: )""

How much would car insurance be roughly for?...?

It is a Ford K.A. T 06 plate. I will be 17 when I pass and I was just wondering how much it would be monthly as a rough estimate. Oh and I also live in the United Kingdom.

Are car insurance companies having a laugh?

Me and a friend were taking out some car insurance quotes the other day - entering his information in he got 1700 a year on an old '95 (i think) cincequento, which frankly was hilarious. Then, all we changed was the address so that he lived at my house. It pushed the insurance up to something like 2700. Now I dont get this - he lives in a pretty rough area in my town, right near where all the boy racers live and such. I however live in a small village about 2 miles away and just outside of the town. In my area, the population is about 90% seniors and it is very quiet. I thought insurance companies were supposed to weigh the risks of location against their policy? Why has mine come out a grand more?""

""Cant get a good insurance quote, got any estimates?""

i'm a 17 year old boy in Florida with my motorcycles license (just got it), i took drivers ed, took the motorcycles safety course, never got arrested, no tickets, no law violations at all, i never drink, smoke, or do drugs, and i'm getting a 2013 Honda rebel 250. can someone PLEASE give me at least a ball park estimate on what ill be paying with insurance. i would be VERY grateful!""

Car insurance for temporary work in California?

I have a 4 months of temporary work in California and I am thinking of taking my car. My current car insurance will not cover driving for work purposes in California. What is the easiest way to get car insurance for 4 months for California?

How much info does a car insurance company really need to file a successful claim against me?

I bumped into this lady because she actually did a full stop on a green light while getting out of a shopping center. She said it was o.k and that nothing happened and was apologetic saying that a car ran in front of her and that is why she did a dead stop in middle of intersection on a green light. She got my license number but did not call police, did not take pictures and did not get my insurance policy number. Just my name, insurance company I'm with and also drivers license number. She said it was o.k and my info just in case. Thing is when I got back from vacation I got a letter from my insurance saying she put in a claim against when nothing even happened to both of our cars. My question is what can I do? I don't want to pay deductible when it was HER fault. Nothing even really happened. She's pulling insurance fraud......and it really makes me mad that she put in a claim. I did not give her my insurance policy number guess she must of called around the biggest names and got my info somehow. It was her fault but since she did a dead stop in intersection on a green light..... i bumped into her.........but since i bumped into her is this automatically my fault? Or can I get her for pulling a dead stop on a green light? What to do? Deny the whole thing?""

I am leaving country for couple of months. I want to cancel my car insurance. Is it possible?

I am paying my insurance monthly and it's very high. I won't be using car for couple of months, so I want to cancel it for some months and take it again after I come back. Is it possible?""

Whats the cheapest car insurance in ME?

Mazda RX7 1986 23yo driver no lapse have a wet and reckless from california. Need cheapest Liability coverage

Can I alter a car insurance quote after just a few months having paid an annual premium?

I have a provisional license and I receive my first car in a few days. I want to get insured to drive it and I've entered that I only have a provisional license on the quote. I want to pay an annual premium to get the best deal, however I'm going to have a full UK license in just a few months time. I'm happy to stick with the same insurers for the next year, but can I alter a quote after a few months having paid an annual premium?""

""Car Insurance / Mother or Father as First Driver, me as Second?""

I'm trying to sort out car insurance, but the problem is, is that it is very high, Ive never done this before as Im a first time driver, but a lot of people have told me to put my parents as primary drivers and me as secondary, how do I do this? I really have no idea, thank you I'm using gocompare.com but how do I enter my parents in and then as secondary, thank you very much""

Get insurance on car if title not in my name?

I am wanting to make payments to a freind for this car until it is paid off. The title is in his name, can I get insurance on it for myself even though the title is not in my name?""

Can an insurance company pull up police records?

Can an insurance company pull up police records on me without my consent?

About how much does General liability insurance?

Any Independent Contractors out there that could give me an idea about how much it cost, because I have no idea.""

Can you drive any car with the COOP's fully comp insurance?

if i have fully comp with the COOP does this mean i can drive other cars who drivers are fully comp too. I have had a look all it could find was this, http://www.co-operativeinsurance.co.uk/cfscombi/pdf/Car_Insurance_Policy_Document_Part_A.pdf PAGE 14, 1 (iii)""

If you have fully comp insurance can you drive any car?

Basically my friend and I are having an argument - she says I can drive her car and vice versa as we both have fully comp insurance?? But I think you need to be a named driver to drive a car. Also if you don't have fully comp but the car your driving does is that still legal 2? Many Thanks

B Average for Car insurance Discount?

Will I still get the B Average car insurance discount if I have a 84.86 Average?

Is a 2006 TOYOTA SCION TC considered a sports car when getting insurance will the rate be more than getting 4

i want to get a 2006 TOYOTA SCION TC but not sure if its considered a sports car since its a coupe any know if the rate will go up alot ??

Car insurance?

is there such a thing as shared car insurace, kinda like family health insurance?( like 1 insurance bill 4 2 cars)""

Where might i find proof of insurance in texas?

I need to find proof of insurance for my car in the year 2004 is there some where that it might be saved, my insurance company no longer has records, and I am in desperate need of that proof""

Looks Like my Insurance wont want to pay out for my damaged car?

I got hit by a car recently and my car was taken away for repairs. I have just been told by my insurance that my car should not have been on the road reason being that its half and half . I did my due diligence before buying this car in 2011, HPI checks and all and it came out clean. The insurance company also confirmed this as well to me. Now it looks like my insurance company does not want to pay out for my car and they want to cancel my insurance and leave me without a car. WHAT DO I DO. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME. I AM A SINGLE MUM WITH 3 KIDS.""

Mandated Health Insurance is different from Mandated Auto Insurance how?

The Supreme Court will be deciding if the government can force us to buy health insurance from a private corporation. The government forces us to buy auto liability insurance from a private corporation. I am at a loss to see the difference.

I need health insurance for my daughter?

I am a 70 % disabled military veteran looking for affordable health insurance for my daughter. Any suggestions?

How much is insurance on a Mazda RX-8?

I'll be 19 years old when I get it(if I get it that is), I will have had my license for 4 months(if that matters), clean record(no tickets or accidents), I live in 75044 Texas(if that matters) and I'm a male(I know that matters). The car will be anywhere from an 04 to 06 with < 100k miles on it. It will be a 6 speed. [about] How much will insurance be for full coverage vs liability only? Right now I'm in a 98 Honda Civic Ex with 187k miles and it's $40 a month for liability only if that helps.""

Can u get insurance on a different address to your licence?

Say i live in leeds but my friend lives in bradford and my insurance works out cheaper on their address. Can i ge insurance to her address even though i do not live there?

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

Tip cheap car insurance for bad drivers

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cortez-florida-cheap-car-insurance-quotes-zip-34215-peggy-barnhardt/"

[alifurt]

Renovation

2017 has been the year of the house. In January we started our serious renovations beginning phase one with filling in our sunk-in living room and updating the fireplaces. Once we did that we knew we needed to update the flooring to be consistent throughout and that included the entire upstairs. Ideally, we will be able to have this flooring expand out to a future outdoor living area as we chose a porcelain wood-look tile, but that’s still a ways off. So phase two included flooring, kitchens and bathrooms! It was no small project.

We kicked off renovations in mid-June with lots of packing and some self demolition. We packed up the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms, moved (and sold a lot) of furniture, took out all the flooring ourselves and removed all the upstairs doors. We were super lucky as I offered the cabinetry free on our local Buy Nothing Facebook group with the caveat that they had to remove it. So a very nice gentleman came to remove the kitchen cabinets and countertop for free - it took him a solid eight hours of labor that we did not have to do ourselves nor pay our contractors for so it was a huge success especially since the cabinetry still could get used instead of dumped!

[Everything moved from upstairs to downstairs or the garage, deck or was sold]

[Our kitchen became an outdoor camp kitchen with card table grill, fridge and microwave]

Since then a lot has happened. In case anyone wants a real look at a renovation timeline, here ya go:

June 10 - Started packing everything up

June 22 - Kitchen cabinetry removed

June 24-25 - Wood floor and stair railings removed

[Tyler starting his demo] 

[Little man was a big help and constantly wanted to use the tools too]

June 26 - Legit demo started with our construction crew, bye bye master bathroom

June 27 - Main bathroom demolished, some subfloor was removed

June 28-29 - Repair of subfloor

July 6-13 - Framing of center pole and electrical

[Floors prepped and ready]

[Pole boxed in for a more intentional look] 

July 14-16 - Drywall

July 17 - Tub installed and other plumbing started

July 18 - Kitchen and bath cabinets installed

July 20 - Kitchen cabinets removed and reinstalled due to minor (but important) miscalculation that caused a cabinet and drawer not to open by the fridge corner

July 24 - Floor tile heat pad install begins

July 25 - Temporary sink installed in downstairs bath since the kids and I returned from Michigan and having shower only water supply was tough.

July 28 - Electric floor heating finished

[Heat mapping ready to go] 

July 31 - Floor tiling begins

August 8 - Countertop measurements

August 15 - Countertop installation

August 16 - Floor tiling finally finished!!!! Plumber came to install faucets and dishwasher

[Tile in progress!] 

August 17 - Fridge was supposed to be installed but the outlet was not actually finished and some cabinet bracket was missing. So it was delivered and placed in the middle of our kitchen. Also delivered was our bed and dining table

[Table is here!]

August 21 - Tiling for master shower and bath surround begins

August 24 - Electrical finished including new pendant lights over the island and a new ceiling fan

August 25th - Shower and tub tile is complete, fridge is also installed

September 8 - Cabinetry mostly finished and fridge is usable!!!

September 13 - Old fridge is sold so we are officially able to clean up the outside camp kitchen (which doesn’t happen until the 24th)

September 20 - Master bath pendant lights installed and final electrical

September 26 - Master shower glass and mirrors installed in master bath and hall bath

September 28 - Metal pole is complete and kitchen backsplash is in the final stages

[Who needs a couch?] 

October 2 - Metal backspalsh finished

October 4 - Doors installed

October 9 - Final finishes on the kitchen and baseboard/door trim completed

October 17 - Tile bullnose finished in bathrooms

October 23 - Couches finally arrived after a couple week delay

[Banister is up, doors are in and pictures are hung - almost done!]

[Couches have finally arrived!]

I’ve previously shared the amazing transformation of our bathrooms and kitchen. The guest room remains pretty much unchanged except for a new breaker box and our master bedroom is completely bare except for a bed as we are awaiting final furniture plans - the headboard is currently being built and should be done by my birthday (early January) and we actually just got a dresser last week. While we are still hoping for one, possibly two, pieces of furniture (entry table and side table) for the living room, now that our couches are here, I can finally show off the overall layout change of the living room as it won’t change much from here.

Do you remember how our living room started at the beginning of 2016 before any renovations?

After our January renovations and before our big summer project our living room looked like this:

Now it feels more cohesive and open without banisters or different flooring. The Christmas decorations are a nice touch too! We are so excited to get to enjoy our new living space for the holidays!

[smoothshift]

2014 Mustang - Collision Repairs Scam via /r/cars

2014 Mustang - Collision Repairs Scam

February 22nd was set to be an ideal day; beautiful weather, finished homework, and an afternoon spent detailing my car after school. I was on FL121 headed north, it was 6:55 AM, and the day was set to go well at school. I had just passed a county line, and was in a long line of cars going 60 - 65 mph. The car in front swerved a little, and that's when I saw the deer - standing perfectly still on the shoulder of the road. Within a second, it jumped into the road, and I smashed into it, causing the deer to tear through the crash structures of the passenger side, and eventually I ran it over. I called the Florida Highway Patrol, and had an incident report written, as well as my nerves calmed - this was the first major road accident I had ever been involved in! I then called my insurance company, Gieco, and was reassured that they would handle everything, even the towing. They recommended a shop in the area, who was part of their Direct Repair Program (DRP), otherwise known as "Auto Repair Xpress". I consented to have my vehicle towed their for inspection and repair, and set about to calling my parents for help - after all, who else can you call?

This started the months long saga, detailed below:

February 22nd (Day 1): After the tow, I was at G. Collision Center, awaiting a call from my adjuster. I took these photos:

[Front Damage]http://ift.tt/2oF7HOd

[Grill Damage]http://ift.tt/2oPVmJd

[Sheet Metal Damage]http://ift.tt/2oF0aic

[Intrusion Into Engine Bay]http://ift.tt/2oPMZx3 -

[Damage]http://ift.tt/2oF64zM

[Fender Rail/Apron Damage]http://ift.tt/2oPRtUy

[Radiator Support Damage]http://ift.tt/2oF2tlw

[Body Panel Misalignment/Scrap on the A-Pillar]http://ift.tt/2oPKQlc

[Overall Damage]http://ift.tt/2oF0w8A

[Kinked Aluminum Hood]http://ift.tt/2oPICCk

I spoke with my claims manager there, apparently an experienced autobody worker, and pointed out areas of concern - especially the kinked hood, the warped/mangled metal shoved into the tire, fender alignment, and suspension issues. I was told "We'll look into it". At this point, I signed the consent forms, and left.

February 23rd (Day 2): I'm reassigned an adjuster, and the shop tore down the car and was estimated at $3000 in repairs. I had my adjuster fix the quote to include the correct headlight, $3300. They are fixing the hood, putting aftermarket body parts. I call my adjuster, and make my request for OEM parts quite clear. He says he'll get back with me.

February 24th (Day 3): Adjuster calls, he's authorizing some of the components to be OEM - Yay! He also updated the Estimate of Record. Estimate

February 26-March 2 (Days 4-8): I called the shop asking for updates, as they were supposed to update online, but failed to ever do so. I point out errors that I see as they're going through - scraped A-pillar, scraped rocker panel, incorrect structure repair. I swung by the shop to see the car and collect some belongings, and noticed these errors on parts they said were "done". I called my adjuster to raise my concern with the radiator support, and was assured that it would be handled. On the rack

March 3rd (Day 9): The original completion date comes up, the car isn't ready. They were supposedly waiting on parts to come in that they did not realize were broken, despite tearing down the car before starting repairs and notating "everything".

March 8th (Day 14): I called 5 days after that, and it's supposed to be ready. I drive the hour and 45 minutes to the shop, and it isn't ready. At this point, I'm told to be patient (sitting at the 2 week mark). There was still the scrape in the A-pillar, the paint job was terrible, the foglight was missing, and the undersheild was also missing - apparently the car wassn't supposed to have one according to my experience claims manager at the body shop. I also point out a huge dent in the new fender that was "normal", and that the hood did not sit right on the car, which was met with "those are small adjustments that aren't even worth looking at". He also tells me that he only drove it down the street and back, at low speeds. I'm furious, and send a terse email to my adjuster asking him to handle those issues, and to only have the shop call me when it's ready and safe to drive.

Visible Part of A-pillar Scrape

Visible Misalignment of Hood

Bowed Out Fender

Visible Fitment Issue of All Body Panels

Missing Splash Shield

Clear Fitment Problems, Paint Doesn't Match

March 9th (Day 16): Come Friday, the manager called me to tell me the car is ready. I have my parents drive me to the shop (it was Spring Break), I pay for it, and pick it up. I noticed some rattling, but didn't figure there'd be any issues that couldn't wait until after spring break. They've run $6,700 in repairs, but so far, they've used all OEM parts, to their credit. $300 headlight bulbs, $300 ballast, $1000 projector housing, labor to adjust, bumper, fender, both grills, radiator baffle, brackets, structure repair, wheel alignment... When I arrived, the hood closed sensor was not attached, the hood didn't line up still, the scrape to the A-pillar was still there, the paint didn't match, there was a small buckle in the fender apron I noticed was left unpainted - I requested they fix that so it didn't rust, and they huffily agreed - getting overspray on EVERYTHING in the process. I also noticed the maladjusted headlight - pointed significantly higher than the old one, after being supposedly sent to the dealership for alignment.

March 11th (Day 18): I take it for a trip down the coast with my girlfriend. The speed limits were pretty low, and I never exceeded 55 mph on the way there. On the way back, I attempted to go faster on a different route, and that's when the hood tried to come off. I freaked out, and called Geico, who promptly sent out a person to tow the vehicle back to the first body shop. As it was the weekend, there was 2 days of storage fees ($180), and eventually, I found out, a $720 tow bill for 200 miles. I got a sweet dinner at the beach, waiting for my folks to get there, and I had a good time after being stressed about the car.

March 13th (Day 20): I get a very worried call from my adjuster, who assures me that the shop will make it right. I asked about a rental, but was assured the repairs would be less than a couple days. I didn't speak with the shop at all. I was also told that the shop (G. Collision Center) would be handling the cost of the tow, which worked out not to be the case.

March 14th (Day 21): I get a call from the shop's manager, who was very angry with me, and told me to come collect my car, as it was ready. I showed up, after graciously being dropped off by a friend, and noticed the hood still didn't sit right, and that the other issues were never addressed. He told me that I was trying to scam his shop out of a new hood, and told me to get my "shitty" car out of his shop, this was as good as he would make it. I collected my keys, and promptly called my adjuster. He then informed me that I could take it wherever I chose - I was armed with more knowledge at this time, and took it to a non - DRP shop, who is certified by Mercedes, Ford, and Hyundai to do factory warranty work - they came extremely well reviewed online, and I drove the car to them after making an appointment. They found lots of horrifying unrepaired structural damage.

Overspray, kinked fender apron

Body panel mismatch, much more obvious in person

What's this, a big fat shim between the fender and fender rail? MY my, that's concerning

Terrible fit for the fender splash shield - it wasn't attached to any mounting points on the unibody... wonder why? (Hint, its all bent to hell).

initial proof that the unibody was still damaged/unrepaired - they also left my A/C unhooked. Hello leaks.

Delicious Overspray

Digging deeper - what do we find? Oh damn, the whole chassis harness is left dangling, the fender apron is still compressed, the fender rail is shoved down... surprised yet?

More shimming, but now it's underneath the bumper too - what damage does that indicate, you ask? I found out later.](http://ift.tt/2oPRqIe)

April 3rd (Day 41): I made it to my appointment at the new shop (B. Paint and Autobody). They reviewed everything, took my keys, and sent me off to get a rental. Surprise surprise, guess who pays out the rental, per their contract with Geico? You guessed it! G. Collision Center! They've put me up in a Hyundai Sonata - its mine for the next 30 days. The contract states $30/day, so that is an additional $900 just for a rental car.

April 14th (Day 52): I get a call from my claims manager - he asks me to come by the shop. I swing by, and he points out everything they found, and tells me that he will be repainting everything - rocker panel, a pillar, fender, bumper, and blending into the door. They'll also be replacing the radiator support, fender rail, and fender apron, and also possibly the hood - turns out, you're not supposed to use regular old bondo on an aluminum body panel. So with replacing all of that, putting it on a frame machine, and putting it on an alignment rack, they should be able to have it back to pre-accident condition. Ballpark, he said, was 4 to 5 thousand dollars at minimum, perhaps more. I won't have my car back until April 28th, or 66 days.

I will continue to update this for those interested. The lesson to take away from this, as a consumer, is that you should not take it to a contracted repair facility - they are under a contract with your insurance carrier to get you out for the minimum dollar spent. Indeed, they don't work for you, they work for your insurance. Also, make sure you have rental coverage-it's literally a few dollars over 6 months, and takes away all the stress of not having a car. All in, this repair has tallied up: $65 initial tow, $6700 in initial repairs, $500 deductible, $900 tow bill, $900 rental, $5000 second repair, and the potential for more. For those without calculators, that is $14,065. Don't hit deer, don't take guff from your insurance, and do make sure you check out your insurance policy.