#but this company is in the process of getting bought for a third time to pass off its enormous debt

[foldingfittedsheets]

I got asked the other day if my job was a front for money laundering. It was a really fun young couple and it an absolutely blindsided me. So instead of my polite retail laugh they got an insane bray of astonished real laughter which utterly delighted them.

“Have you never heard that before?!”

I wheezed for a minute before gasping, “No! Why would I have???”

“Well because these stores are always so quiet but there’s a million of them!”

My coworker popped his head over the desk and said, “I get asked like once a week about it.”

That sent me laughing even harder until I finally got myself calmed down enough to say, “I hope it feels good that you got to be my first.”

From their wide mischievous grins, it did.

[mikerickson]

Posting more for myself because for better or worse this Tumblr has become an online personal journal of my entire twenties and thirties. I've been driving my 2011 Mazda since I bought it new for about thirteen years now, and after a spate of issues in the past year I knew it's time was coming to an end:

My stereo system crapped out in the summer of 2016 and I've been driving in silence ever since

Perpetual leak in the rear passenger tire was giving me a low tire pressure warning about once every other week (more often in the winter) so I was constantly topping it off

The entire chassis rattled violently when I decelerated coming off of a highway and into an exit

A really loud screeching sound rang out whenever I accelerated uphill and was going between 40-50 mph

The rear driver side wheelwell had a gnarly rattle on anything but the smoothest of roads

Part of the dashboard literally melted and separated from the rest of the car

Rear-view mirror was warped

etc. etc.

A lot of this stemmed from an incident in late '22 when I went too long without getting an oil change, which seized the engine and led to a really long process to get a replacement engine installed. When I learned that full electric cars didn't need oil changes and had less maintenance overall, that got my attention and kinda guided my decision towards considering one for my next car.

After doing honestly about 6 months of research on EVs, numerous cost-benefit analyses across multiple spreadsheets, looking at future long-term plans of individual companies and agonizing over the options, I finally settled on a 2024 Hyundai Kona. I also lucked out with a helpful salesman who actually wanted to sell it to me (a lot of the dealers I'd previously went to during this process clam up and get weird about EVs), because he drives an Ioniq 5 for himself.

I dropped off my old car to pick up the new one tonight, and of course I got emotional on the last drive over, I mean I had that car for over a third of my life! Had to run to the bathroom and compose myself as soon as we got to the dealership, but writing that deposit check sobered me right up real quick.

Anyway, now I'm driving around a car that feels like a fucking spaceship. Let's see if I drive this one 'til the wheels fall off too.

[mayakern]

upcoming store stuff & why we're doing a super sale

omg hiiii it's devin again, and this time i'm bringing store news

the short version: we're moving ourselves back to minnesota, and we're moving order fulfillment to a fulfillment center

wow, that's big news! maya and i are so so so excited to be closer to our minnesota friends (and also my family lol). i'm hoping to be back in northeast minneapolis, but let's be real we're probably gonna get priced out and into the suburbs

in addition to that, due to a variety of reasons i'll explain in more detail below, we're transitioning from in-house fulfillment to working with a fulfillment center (or 3pl, short for third-party logistics). we're at an awkward size that makes staffing difficult and have had issues with extended processing time. the 3pl should be set up by september, and we're working on the back end to have fulfillment centers in australia, canada, the UK, and eventually the EU. if tax authorities work with us we should have all that ready by december 2024!

to prepare for that we're doing a super sale. ash told me not to call it liquidation but she said that like 30 seconds after i hit send on the marketing email, sorry about that. items that we don't want to pay to move to the 3pl are discounted by 25-70%, with some of them priced at cost. under no circumstances will anything ever be 70% off again

if you're nosy you can read the q&a i made up in my head while eating pigs in a blanket:

how are the labor protections at the 3pl?

pretty good! we were shocked to find anything even halfway decent in the US; we went looking for a fulfillment center in the EU to handle all international fulfillment, and the one we found just so happened to have bought a US location two years ago.

they're located in ohio, pay $19/hr, and provide health insurance and 401k matching. that seemed too good to be true so we dug through employee reviews on places like glassdoor, and while there were some bad reviews those were all dated prior to when the facility was purchased by this new company. they also have a very low turnover rate which is a HUGE green flag

why are you transferring to a 3pl?

the serious

sometimes we have a high volume of sales, and it makes sense to have two full-time employees plus a part timer! but usually we have a low-to-medium volume of sales. we can float by on that, but it gets risky, and the economy is in a bad enough state that we're concerned about the longevity

related, the 2023 holiday sale showed us some major flaws in our fulfillment process. if the same issues were to happen this year the business probably wouldn't survive

we're moving cross-country in early 2025 and would've had to close this location anyway

the dumb:

i'm sick of dealing with commercial landlords and if i have one more wall leak i'm going to throw it into the river brick by brick

what about your staff?

unfortunately we will have to say goodbye to our office staff. they have been given 3.5 months notice and no-questions-asked PTO for interviews with a small severance

why are you moving back to minnesota?

troy was always meant to be a temporary move. initially the plan was to move to vermont or massachusetts, but after being out here for 7 years we just kinda want to go home. the weather in troy is perfect for us, we love the mountains, and we have some great friends here, but for some goddamn reason we want our eyelashes to freeze together.

will you be returning to midwest cons?

if we return to cons at all it will be with ariel and/or ash running the booth, maya will not be involved. this would likely be in california and/or in the northeast US.

my friends are begging me to go to CONvergence as an attendee so ig you might see me there? maya has pledged death before crowded venues tho

will you do any local events in minnesota?

we might do sample sales. honestly idk what we're gonna do with the samples we have in troy, most of them are terrible. do you want samples of the strangest low rise bell bottom pants ever created? please take them from me. my bush hangs out

also my kid brother has gotten really into library events and if he asks nice enough we might do some of those

is there anything else?

i mean probably, but i started this last week and i haven't had any other ideas on what to include

[yumeka-sxf]

I would have included this scan with my recent miscellaneous collab scans post, but I decided it deserves its own post, not just because it's one of the loveliest official Twiyor illustrations I've seen, but also because the story of how I got it is...interesting 😅

This image is from the chara fine graph (which is basically a framed picture) that was included as a preorder bonus for buying the complete season 2 blu-ray set from a shop called Rakuten Books (together with badge pins of the same designs). I briefly mentioned it back in October of last year when season 2 was airing, along with preoder bonuses from other shops like Animate and Amazon. I only wanted to get this one though, so as per my usual process of trying to secure rare SxF goods, I made a note to myself to keep an eye out for when it released. Rakuten, which I believe is the main company for Rakuten Books, has their own proxy buying service, and as the season 2 blu-rays were released, I saw them appearing there. But as noted on their main site, the condition for them to send you the chara fine graph is that you must preorder all of the three season 2 blu-ray discs from them. Once you buy the third one, if they know that you've already bought the others, then they'll send you the preorder bonuses along with it.

I was concerned that if I bought the discs via proxy, they wouldn't know that I bought all three and would cancel my order at the end! I would be devastated if that happened after waiting months and spending all that money on the complete set. I knew people would sell the chara fine graph second-hand as soon as it released, so I decided to wait until then and try to find it on Mercari.

So the months went by and eventually I found out that the final blu-ray volume of season 2 would release on April 17th, 2024. I made a mental note to check Mercari for it then, but unfortunately something else released around that same time...CODE: White in the US, which had its first screening on April 18th. Admittingly, I got distracted by the CODE: White release and had seen it twice by the following weekend. I did do some preliminary searching for the chara fine graph, but not with my usual refined search terms. It wasn't until the 21st that I finally sat down and really started searching for it. And while I did find a few listings, they had already been sold.

I was hopeful that more people would sell it, since it had only been less than a week since release. But I guess I underestimated how popular this chara fine graph was because, after the initial five listings I saw that were sold within the span of a few days, none appeared after. I had, like, ten Mercari tabs open on my browser with different search terms that I refreshed many times a day, but nothing was showing up. I would groan whenever I'd see the preorder bonuses for the other shops like Animate and Amazon pop up, but not Rakuten Books. I did finally see one new listing of someone selling just the badge pins, but that was sold within a few minutes, which made me even more nervous. I would also be nervous getting up in the morning since I didn't want to see that a new listing was posted and sold while I was sleeping! Thankfully I work from home so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience for me to refresh the Mercari tabs on my personal computer whenever I had a minute. But as the days went by and I didn't see any new listings, I started getting mad at myself that if I had only started seriously searching for it right on release day, I would have had at least five chances to get it and could have saved myself this hassle. I even sent a message to Rakuten Books via their online form, asking (in Japanese) if they could somehow sell it to me and ship internationally, etc. But their response was pretty much what I expected...a polite "no."

But then, on the evening of May 4th, I found a new listing and immediately bought it! What should have been a red flag though is that the person was selling it for $30 (with the badge pins included), while everyone else had been selling it from around $80-$100. The title they gave to the item was weird too; they simply called it "Spy Family" instead of "Spy Family Chara Fine Graph" or "Spy Family Rakuten Books Bonus" or something descriptive like that. But the seller had a decent rating so I didn't think there was a problem. After I got the email from Buyee (my proxy service) that they successfully bought the item, I thought I was all set. I closed out all my search tabs and went to bed feeling satisfied.

However, when I got up the next morning, my heart sank when I saw that about an hour after I had gone to bed, Buyee sent me another email saying that they refunded and cancelled my order! The reason they gave was "due to the convenience of the seller" 😫

But what was most frustrating about this is that, when I checked the searches again, I saw that the same seller had relisted the item, with a higher price and more descriptive title, and it had been sold already. What probably happened is that the seller realized they made a mistake with the title and price of the listing and wanted to change it, which Mercari apparently allows them to do even after it had already been sold and paid for!

I was furious with Mercari for allowing this. The least they could do in a situation like this is give the original buyer, like, one day to buy the item again with the increased price before the seller is allowed to relist it again. I wanted to write to the seller and/or Mercari, but I wasn't able to make a Mercari account since it's restricted to Japan. I was also internally yelling at myself that if I had just started searching for it within a day or two of release instead of procrastinating, I could have avoided all this. So it was back to square one, but I wasn't going to give up! I opened up more search tabs with even more refined search terms. I also expanded to other proxy-supported shops like Surugaya and Yahoo Japan Auction. I even got my mom to help me, since she's often up in the middle of the night and can check in case anything is listed during that time while I'm asleep. I downloaded the Buyee app too so I could check listings even if I was away from my computer. With all this, I was hopeful I'd be able to buy it again, though it was more of a question of "when" than "if." With second-hand collectibles, you never know when they could pop up...I could find a new listing the next day, or not for a year or two. But I just kept up the searching, and finally, after another month went by, on June 3rd (June 4th in Japan, so technically Twiyor day 😁) I finally found it again...on Yahoo Japan Auction of all places!

I had never bought via auction before so I was a bit nervous I'd get outbid or something. But I immediately clicked the "pay buyout price option" (which was only a few dollars more than the original price) and, thankfully, a short while later Buyee informed me that I successfully won the auction! But after what happened before, I was still paranoid that it could get canceled for whatever reason. But that didn't happen, and after waiting for shipping, it finally came~

I always like to add a "lessons learned" in these situations, so I'd say the lesson here is don't be blasé or procrastinate when it comes to something you really want. And of course, being persistent pays off more than not!

[yutahoes]

Caramel

(Part Thirteen)

gif by @noyuta I can't find the gif I always include in the story so just saved it and uploaded it. I'm sorry.

characters: ex-stripper! company vice-president! Yuta x female! ex-wealthy! secretary! mom! Y/N genre: chaptered, smut, angst, fluff word count: 3.5k words summary: Y/N has everything in her bitter life, not until she meets a sweet-looking stripper. warnings: matured theme, ex-stripper au!, third person POV, alcohol consumption taglist: @cherrymotodude @tenjyucat @justsomekpopstuff @ilhoonseyeballs @whyme11 @a-bts-world @amazinggraxia

Part Twelve

It must be a dream. A very crazy fever dream. 

Come to think of it, even when he first met her, it felt like a dream. A hazy fairytale. How could a pretty, wealthy, successful girl hang out with a low-life stripper? Even when she was in his arms, he felt as if he was floating and just dreaming of the moment. When they got separated and he never saw her for years, it felt like a dream-like trance. 

Maybe this is still a dream. He probably just missed her so much. 

Yet when Yuta pinched his arm so hard, hurting himself in the process to at least wake himself up, Y/N was still in front of him. And she looks even prettier, glowing even. He can’t take his eyes off her. He had to get his eyes checked twice just to make sure that what he was seeing was true and not a hallucination. 

But why? How? 

Why would the wife of a globally esteemed company chairman work as a secretary in their small company? How did Y/N end up here, in his office, of all places? 

It must be a plot. Maybe she works as a spy for their own company. But why Suzaki company? Does she know that he’s been doing this to defeat Jung Tradings? 

He’s getting crazy just thinking of her reason when his original reason for opening the company is to be more successful than Jung Jaehyun. Then maybe, just maybe, he’ll have a chance to steal his first love from her husband. 

Is this a sign of mockery from them? 

That he’s now tied up to his dad who he despised the most. He’s running a small company. That the girl he yearned for is so close yet feels so far. Even if he can always see her, laughing with his very own secretary, he cannot touch her. That even if she calls him ‘sir’, he cannot have her. 

He hated this feeling, he’d rather die. 

All his hard work is now slowly going down the drain because of these stupid feelings. 

The money Y/N had given him the night they last shared was all poured into opening this small business. It was a deal he proposed to his biological father, Mr. Suzaki, when the elder's henchmen caught him. He had been running really well from him, avoiding him at all costs for years. But it only took Y/N’s mother for him to get discovered and be sent back to Japan. 

Yuta knew, even at a young age, that his biological father was the well-known yakuza in town. Growing up, the people around would tell him that he resembled the old man’s eyes. It also doesn’t help that he used to frequent the Geisha house to visit his favorite, Yuta’s mom. 

He knew his father had money. But ever since Yuta was born, the yakuza leader never once came into the Geisha house again. He never once visited him, never even bought his mother out. The first time Yuta saw him was when his mother died and he just casually bought him out of the Geisha house. A young boy living in a house full of women with raging hormones isn’t a great sign, that was what he told Yuta. But a young boy living in a house full of violent men isn’t a great sign either. He saw people being killed, and blood splattered everywhere in the house. His father is ruthless and does not spare any life.  

When Yuta was sixteen, he decided to run away from everything and live a new life. 

It was a well-thought-out plan. He never knew if his father did look for him all those years but he didn’t care, as long as he could stay away from the old man’s life. As long as he wouldn’t be tagged as a yakuza’s son. 

Now, he is the vice president of the Suzaki group. And now that he’s back, Yuta is determined to get the president position from his father. 

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. But now that Y/N is on his team, his desire to be the company president has become less. He just wants to be the vice president and keep Y/N as his secretary. She seemed closer to him this way. 

Yuta thinks that he has an upper hand from Jung Jaehyun this way. His wife works for him eight hours daily. Technically, they spend more time together than she does with her husband. If possible, he saw her more this past week than when they were hanging out back then. And she didn’t change. Y/N would always forget to eat lunch especially when she’s immersed in her work so Yuta had to call for Haechan’s attention for him to ask his fellow secretary to eat. She would always stay at work late and come to the office so early. She wouldn't even complain even if he kept asking her for revisions.

Does she still have time for her husband? Is Jaehyun not clingy for her time? Because if that was him, if Yuta is the lucky person she got married to, he’d probably go to the office late and go home early to spend more time with her. He’ll probably just attach her to his hip just so they can spend all their waking moments together. Is Jaehyun already sick of her? Maybe Yuta still has the chance to snatch her away from him. 

It was a mystery. This is her husband’s party yet Y/N had told Haechan that she’ll just be waiting for them outside the hotel gates. She could easily just go inside the hotel with her husband. Besides, she knew about this hotel right? Yet, seeing her in that gorgeous black dress, he was glad that she didn’t come inside with her husband. His cheeks flared up, heart beating crazily in his chest as if it would burst. Even after all these years, it’s still her. 

Yuta casually opened the door of the backseat for her, letting her sit beside him in the car. Y/N obviously looked startled and Haechan, who was seated on the passenger seat, greeted her by saying that she looked lovely. For the first time, Yuta was grateful to have a chatty secretary in his life. The younger was sharing about how amazed he was at the hotel, even gasping at how far the gate was from the entrance. 

“It used to be farther,” both Y/N and Yuta claimed at the same time. Haechan’s eyes widened as the two just glanced at each other. “Have you been here before?” Both nodded which made Yuta lightly smirk. How could he forget that this was the exact place where they first met? But maybe that was just him. Surely, Y/N had more memories other than him in this place. She probably spent more time here with her husband, with its posh room and quality service. And that fact, itself, pissed him off. 

The driver opened the door for him and Haechan opened the door for Y/N. When the only female of their team held on to Haechan’s arms, he pursed his lips in annoyance. Even in the elevator heading to the ballroom, the two were just very chatty with each other. Y/N shared that the escargots are amazing and that Haechan should try them out but what she said next confused him, “I don’t know if they’ll serve wine, they have amazing red wine here.” 

Shouldn’t she know? This is a party held by Jung Jaehyun, her husband. Or, are they still married? 

He had always seen Jaehyun on the covers of magazines as the youngest chairman or one of the most successful multi-billionaires but there’s nothing about his wife or their married life together. He just assumed that she wanted their relationship low key but that would be impossible since with her intelligence and beauty, they could be tagged as the most powerful business couple. If the was him, once again, he would show off how amazing his wife is.

Yuta lightly glanced at her as she talked to the receptionist. Maybe they have broken up. He now has the best chance. 

“You can come in, Chairman Jung is ecstatic to meet you Mr. Suzaki.” Both Haechan and Yuta stared at the only girl who looked startled as well. “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Nakamoto.” 

The high ceiling of the ballroom amused the youngest in the team, exclaiming that he had never been inside something as fancy as this. There were a lot of people, some were familiar faces from way before his nightclub days. Faces he had seen in magazines or newspapers. People who probably know Y/N from way before. But she remained glued to Haechan’s side, engaging in talks with the younger secretary. Is this her way to avoid these people? She could have declined to come here if she wanted to. 

Yuta thought that Jaehyun already knew who he was. Obviously, Y/N would have shared something about him right? That the stripper she once fooled with is now her boss. She even cried to her husband the first time they met, Yuta overheard that conversation. But the look on Jaehyun’s face is rather comical. He looked surprised and then confused at the same time, his eyes squinted as if taking a clear image of him. 

“Mr. Suzaki.” The party host greeted them and then glanced at the girl behind the person he just addressed. Jaehyun looked confused before smiling, dimples popping out that annoyed Yuta. He lent out a hand to shake, “I’m Jung Jaehyun from Jung Tradings.” 

“Yuta Nakamoto.” he introduced, shaking his hand. 

Jaehyun’s smile grew before he slipped his hand off him and then faced the other guy, shaking his hand. “And you must be Lee Haechan.” The younger one smiled widely. “You truly are a ball of sunshine.” Y/N giggled at the younger’s shocked face. “If you don’t mind, can I borrow Y/N for a second?” He lent a hand for her to take, claiming that he wanted to show her something. 

Haechan looked confused as Yuta carefully watched the couple walk while holding hands across the ballroom. “Does he know noona?” the younger asked as the older took a glass of champagne. 

Yuta downed the drink before taking another glass, “They’re married.” 

The secretary almost spat the drink he just took then stared at his boss as if he was joking then at the couple. “They look good together,” Yuta downed another glass of champagne. “Y/N noona hit the jackpot with a rich and handsome husband.” The older just rolled his eyes at that. He’s also handsome and rich. “But why would she work in our office if she’s the chairman’s wife?” 

He pursed his lips at that, “I don’t know.” Yuta claimed then stared deadpan at Haechan. “That’s why I want you to watch her every move.” 

“Oh, is that what you were doing?” Haechan asked which confused the older. “I thought you were smitten by noona. You can’t take your eyes off her.” What? That’s not true. What the hell is Haechan talking about? “There are rumors that you finally moved on from your first love because of noona.” Yuta chuckled before drinking his champagne. “Your favorability in the office came up when they thought you like a single mom then it turns out she’s married.” 

Huh? “A what?” 

“A single mom,” Haechan claimed as a matter of fact. “You do know that she has a son, right?” 

Yuta’s eyes were on the couple greeting someone. A son? They have a son together? Then it’s game over, right? 

True, this is Yuta’s first social event as a vice president of a company. As a Suzaki. But he’s not in the mood to mingle with some businessman or even introduce himself in their circle. Instead, he was seated in the hotel bar with a bottle of whiskey almost empty. How could one word affect him this much? A son. 

Y/N, the girl he loves, is now a mom.       

Her worry from way before is now a reality. Is that why she was glowing? Why she looks prettier? Motherhood might have looked really good to her. He just hates that he wasn’t there when that happened. He hates that all his reasons are now gone. He cannot do much to defeat the Jung tradings because realistically, he’s fairly a small company. He cannot steal the girl because they have a son together. 

Y/N as a mom would be such a lovely thing to see. 

Yuta hissed in annoyance before finishing the last gulp in his cup. Quickly, he tried to fill the glass when someone took the bottle from him. “You’re drunk.” He took the bottle away from the other’s grip but the girl just glared at him. “Stop drinking, sir.” 

He had to laugh while shaking his head. “Where is Haechan?” 

“I told him to look for you in the male restroom. I’ll call…” But before she could put the phone on her ear, he stopped her. Yuta leaned his head on her shoulder. His last attempt to find out if she was really true. That she’s now in front of him after all these years. His last attempt to keep his feelings for her. “Why did you drink so much, Yuta?” 

Yuta? He looked up at her, fingers of his right hand threading on her left hand. “I…”

“Noona!” Haechan called. Yuta sat up, removing his hold from her as if they were boiling hot. “You found hyung.” 

Y/N nodded. “Let’s take him home.” 

“Haechan can. You stay.” The girl wanted to revolt at that but the vice president continued in a cold voice, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

The younger guy was once again confused but followed his boss’ orders, leaving his fellow secretary looking at them in worry. 

Yuta took a heavy sigh, dragging his own feet away from her. This is it, huh? His last goodbye to his last love. How heartbreaking. 

—----

Y/N had been staring at her left hand the entire time she was inside the cab. She could still feel how warm those hands were. She could still smell his sweet scent. She thought he had changed a lot. But that guy earlier was still Yuta. Sweet, handsome, sexy, and warm Yuta. Maybe it was the pressure of being a vice president that turned his attitude colder. But there’s still the Yuta she knows inside that person. If possible, she thinks this new Yuta is even hotter. 

The girl shook her head. What the hell was she thinking all of a sudden? 

In those years apart, she was pretty sure that Yuta had found the girl of his dreams. He knocked her out pregnant in just a night together, he probably has a family of his own now. Because seriously, who would ever resist that gorgeous face and hot body? 

Even that morning, with the warm cup of black coffee with a hint of caramel in her hands, she could still feel the warmth of his hand threaded on hers from last night. It’s even warmer than the coffee itself. She probably just missed him so much.

Haechan entered the office, apologizing for working on a weekend. “On a brighter note, we could leave before lunch if we get the work done.” He chirped, confusing her. Even if it is a weekend, isn’t that against the company rules? Secretaries cannot leave without their boss’ permission. “Hyung is too hammered to come in today. He also cried a lot from being too drunk last night.” 

Y/N didn’t know whether to be jealous or be relieved. She had always wanted to see Yuta drunk. He did witness her in her drunken state once and he promised that one day he’ll show it to her, ending in just a night together. She was curious about whether he gets aggressive when he drinks or just sleeps as if nothing is happening. She was relieved that he only cried when drunk and that Haechan was there to take care of him. But what does he cry about? The company? His frustrations? She’s now curious about that. 

The younger secretary was so great with computers that the task of doing a presentation for Monday morning and inventory of products were instantly done. Y/N was glad that she had an amazing co-worker and that their teamwork was great. “Are you eating out for lunch?” Haechan asked, fixing his backpack. 

Y/N nodded, closing her computer. “My son is coming by so we’ll grab lunch together.” The younger only nodded, “Do you want to come with us?” The sentence came before she could even think about the situation. She wanted to take it back but Haechan was grinning widely. She didn’t want to break his heart but she didn’t want to explain anything to him as well. 

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, “Haechan, whatever you’re going to see…” she started then bit her lip in contemplation. How should she say this to him? “Could you please hide it from anyone?” The guy tilted his head to the side looking at her in confusion. 

The girl was grateful that the younger had never asked anything. She introduced Mark to her co-worker, even sharing that he takes care of her son whenever she’s at work. The story of when she was in Canada and his parents were her adopted family there was also brought up. Her talkative son was the one who brought up that Mark wanted to be a performer in the country so he came with them. 

Y/N thought that Haechan would be surprised. She even expected him to be mad. But his nonchalance in the situation scared her more. When he introduced Kenshin, he just smiled widely and then greeted the kid as if they had known each other for a long time. The young child even asked if their boss was evil which made Haechan nod at him.

Haechan had a young boy charm. His energy is off the roof and he jived really well with her son. Maybe it was also one of the reasons why she grew comfortable with the younger guy. Contrary to Mark’s calm energy who was strict with her son like a real brother, Haechan had a cheerful approach to him like a playmate. Even their interaction reminded him of her brothers from before. How were they? Are they still as close as before? She wished she had taken notes on how to take care of a young child. She wished she had seen Junyoung grow up. 

“Does hyung know?” Haechan asked then lightly glanced at Mark who was listening. He probably knows right? The older woman shook her head, drinking her coffee. “Do you plan on telling him?” But she only shrugged in response. 

It isn’t that she doesn’t want to tell him. That would save her an earful from Ken who kept on asking for his dad. But the said father has already reached a high status in his life. New money rich. And with the current situation, she doesn’t want him to think that she’s after his money. Kenshin was her mistake, her decision. She didn’t follow his number one rule. He asked her for condoms and she declined. She needed to take the consequences of her life decisions. Besides, if Yuta isn’t ready to have a child, she doesn’t want her son to endure a heartbreak caused by a person he badly wants to meet the most. 

They’re fine living this way. 

When Mark decided to leave, excusing that he had a small busking gig, Haechan came with him. The mother-son was just walking in the opposite direction when the young secretary asked, “Shouldn’t we do something?” Mark just gave him a puzzled look, raising his eyebrow at what the other claimed. “Help noona and hyung get back together.” 

“Do you think they’ll both appreciate that?” Mark claimed in a soft voice. “I heard your boss likes to torment noona. The other day she even cried because he asked her to repeat the report four times and then submitted the first one she had done.” 

Haechan rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying my boss is an amazing man. He’s an annoying jerk.” The younger complained, making Mark smile. “But I recently discovered that he’s only like that because he was jealous of noona and Jung Jaehyun.” 

“Jaehyun hyung?” 

“They’re married, right?" 

Mark even stopped in his tracks. “They’re not.” Haechan stared in question. “Something about Jaehyun hyung stopping the wedding and noona running away that they didn't get married.”   

The younger’s eyes were wide in shock. “No way. Hyung thought they got married and she moved on from him that’s why he’s acting like a pathetic jerk.” 

“And noona thought that your boss did move on from her that’s why he’s been cold towards her.” 

“When clearly he hasn’t.” 

The older squinted his eyes at the secretary, “How did you know?” 

The younger had a faint smile on his lips. “He kept on crying her name, saying that he missed her so much, when he was drunk last night.” The smile grew wider, “Mark, we can definitely do something to get them back together.” 

“How?” Haechan smiled knowingly, making Mark sigh. “But if Y/N noona or Kenshin gets hurt, I’m out of it, Lee Haechan.” 

The younger shook the older’s hand, nodding his head. “Welcome onboard, Mark Lee.” 

“We will bring back Yuta hyung and Y/N noona together.”  

[denial-permanente]

I know Tom uses the Vixskin Ranger. How was the process of narrowing it down to that brand and size?

My husband is the one who does the research. He bought a few different ones both realistic looking and... umm... weird bulby looking I guess. Some of them smelled like plastic. They looked funny. Nothing was especially wonderful. I don't know how he found the Vixskin. It was pretty expensive compared to the others. But it did t smell like plastic and it looked a lot like him so that made it feel okay both in me and in my own mind.

🔒 Tom here. I was pretty active in online "alternative" communities, and ran across reviews of the company Vixen Creations before they came out with the Vixskin line. I actually purchased an early model (the Boytoy, IIRC) from Blowfish, a now defunct online site. We used that for several years, and when VC introduced their Vixskin line, I bought the Tex - a copy of the early one, but with a more realistic outer layer of softer silicone.

I picked the Tex (and the earlier one) because it really did resemble my natural equipment in both size and shape. At the time, permanent lockup was just a fun fantasy, not something we really expected, and I admit that I felt a little nervous about going to a bigger model.

@mrs--edge took to the Tex right from the start, and my lockups - already weeks long - quickly turned into months long. So, there's a testament to how realistic it felt.

We used the Tex for at least ten years, maybe longer. In 2018, when we started this last lock up period, we had no idea it was going to turn out this way. After four years, and some assurances on both sides that we could go on permanently, I broached the idea of going to a larger size. The Ranger is only slightly longer than the Tex, but definitely thicker, especially the head, with a similar shape and proportions. We looked at them together and she thought that it was about the largest she would want to go.

I figured that it might be the last one we bought, so I went for the upgrade to the X - which adds a third layer of even softer silicone. This turned out to be the correct choice. After a week or two she declared that I could get all the other ones and toss them out; the Ranger X was her new favorite.

[ming-sik]

Protagonist!revolutionary!Tuuli 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

if this posts tumblr assassins have failed to kill it for the third time

myne's first invention is a modified version of mercantile that's easier to learn. she practices this by teaching lutz to read while she learns mercantile from otto and mostly as an afterthought teaches tuuli. after her family realizes that myne has the devouring and tuuli realizes myne will unavoidably be ripped away from her and sent to the temple solely because she was born without money or status, she can't let go of her grief when she's told to act like myne died and decides to honor her dream by teaching commoners to read to work towards myne's dream of even a peasant girl being able to read books.

she replaces otto when he leaves the guard to run the gilberta company by leveraging her literacy/connection to gunther and tries to start a school for peasant kids in her free time. she views lutz as a traitor to myne's memory for trying to turn her dream into products for the very nobles who killed her. lutz loses contact with the lower city once myne joins the nobility since the plantin company is immediately forced to relocate to illgner and nobody has contact with her as a gray priest so she just… doesn't get to learn what happened to myne, and her memory distorts over time. either way, in the process of finding kids to teach she comes into contact with the families of other devouring kids, and she starts developing the idea of a world without nobles.

this crystallizes when she meets gil after he and high priest in training wilfried get permission to let the orphans forage. gil is a devouring gray priest who knew myne in the temple, and found out from rosina who rozemyne bought as a music teacher what happened. well actually rosina was told that rozemyne was a noble the whole time and she needed to be hidden from bezewanst, but tuuli knows that's bullshit, so she and he piece together the real story. tuuli refuses to believe that her perfect angel of a sister would willingly participate in noble cruelty and her resolve to eliminate the system only accelerates.

she also learns more about noble society from gil and wilfried(who's in contact with sylvester because he refuses to abandon his son, even as people worry he's pulling a veronica). when wilfried finds the record of the scribes' revolt, they suddenly have both a framework and knowledge of what issues they need to plan for.

wilfried and tuuli are the protagonists but gil and delia as devouring priests are the secondary protagonists of the temple section. i have to make up OCs for the lower city section so that's still in progress, but tuuli trying to convince the temple cast that revolution is possible is her first major obstacle, during which ferdinand is their primary antagonist, and as they actually start putting their plans into motion(there's also this whole thing where wilfried learns the gods' language and teaches the devouring revolutionaries divine magic but this isn't about him) she's the one who realizes that ferdinand will protect ehrenfest with his life, which means that for their revolution to succeed, they need to find a way to take him out. tuuli kills ferdinand at the climax of that arc >:)

also she and myne meet up again when things are already in motion and the two of them have to realize that their idealized versions of each other have become completely separate from their actual sister and tuuli has to convince myne to join her cause. charlotte, rozemyne, and sylvester are the sympathetic antagonists of the temple/lower city part and convincing them to join their cause is the primary conflict when the two parts of the story crash into each other. wilfried has to convince sylvester, tuuli has to convince rozemyne and then rozemyne has to convince charlotte who is the final boss of that particular conflict. and she and sylvester have their own conflict since she killed his brother.

tuuli and wilfried fight over trying to recruit the archducal family at all, but wilfried targets the fact that there's no way she's leaving behind HER family and convinces her to at least let him try, which ends up paying off! im still working on the ending but she's definitely going to have a role there. for the story's themes it's really important that there be a protagonist who has no magic and no status and her and myne idealizing each other is very interesting to me.

[abimee]

the fearmongering tariff tweets from artists were in bad taste for many reasons that more well-versed people have gone over but i personally find it insane how many artists genuinely said ''say goodbye to plushies'' ie nuis and plush fanworks cause like. idk. absolutely diabolically insane that (digital) artists see physical craft like sewing dolls as only viable if its done mass-production style by some third party website like Vograce out in some other country where the only step theyre involved in is the design. you sound like a corporation when you talk like that. Like the amount of people unwilling to learn needle and thread and so come to the conclusion of ''i as a single person cant gain access to a production company to make my ugly nuis? well looks like theres no other way then!" is biblical levels of greedy. ive bought hand-sewn dolls before from a group thats just 2 people a sewing machine and homemade patterns, but that concept is entirely unknown to you? your dolls Have to be made somewhere else, by someone else, for cheap, because all you want to be inconvenienced by is a 3-6 month processing time? you dont want to put effort into your craft, and make something with your own two hands that you can be proud of in every stitch? horrible behavior I hope your dolls get lost in shipping for now on

[16woodsequ]

Sunday Steve - Day Eleven

Things that would be new or unfamiliar to Steve in the 21st century, either due to the time period he grew up in, or his social-economic status and other such factors.

Day Eleven: Toilet Paper

People used many things as toilet paper before commercial toilet paper was available. As indoor plumbing became more common toilet paper became more necessary because pipes were not designed for almanac pages or newspapers.

In the late 1800s toilet paper was still a luxury but it was being developed. "In 1890, toilet paper started to look a lot more like stuff we’re used to seeing today. It came on a roll in perforated sheets. It was a tough sell though because no one wanted to admit to buying it. In Germany, a company called ‘ Hakle’ overcame the problem with the slogan “ask for a roll of Hakle if you don’t want to say toilet paper.” (Link)

Late 1800s toilet paper. 2500 sheets.

Charmin began marketing its toilet paper around its softness in 1928, as well as selling economy-sized packs of four rolls in 1932 (Link).

There were two types of toilet paper. Soft and hard. "The hard paper was more affordable and was very shiny on one side of it" (Link). Hard paper often had printed text on it (most of the examples I've found are British).

Every source I've found says that toilet paper began to be advertised as "splinter free" in the 1935. Most casual articles don't dig into what this actually means, but I found some ads for the infamous splinter free toilet paper.

Splinters resulted from the manufacturing process, and as you can see in the below images the splinters were usually very small. I haven't been able to find out how genuinely inconvenient this splinters were.

1930s toilet paper ad (Link) (Link)

You can see the various marketing methods for soft toilet paper, treating it like a medical issue and appealing to women.

You can also see 3 rolls being sold for 20-25 cents. I think that is very expensive for toilet paper in the 30s. I've found a source showing 2 rolls of Clifton toilet paper being sold for 9 cents in 1932. (Link) And this link shows 4 rolls of crepe toilet paper being sold for 19 cents in 1930 (Link is behind a pay wall but I managed to download the price list). I'm guessing the rolls in the splinter-free ads are soft toilet paper, and the cheaper examples I found are hard toilet paper.

1930 grocery price list. Toilet paper is the third item, listing four crepe rolls for 19 cents.

In 1940 one roll is being sold for 15 cents (Link), but it's not clear if this is soft or hard toilet paper. I'm guessing soft since it's almost the price of four rolls in 1930.

My guess is Steve paid around 9 cents for 2 (19 cents for 4) rolls of hard toilet paper. I doubt he bought soft toilet paper since it cost about 20-25 cents for 2-3 rolls. But I can't know the prices for sure.

One thing for sure is modern toilet paper is softer than the paper Steve would have bought. Britain didn't even start manufacturing 2-ply toilet paper until 1942. Over the years soft toilet paper become the norm (although institutions like schools often have thinner, harder paper).

Given this information, Steve would probably be used to buying harder, cheaper toilet paper for about 9 cents for 2 rolls/19 cents for 4 rolls. Soft 'expensive' toilet paper would be surprising as the norm, and I think he'd find our massive packs of toilet paper shocking. Although as we'll see, soldiers were provided Waldorf paper, which seems to be a more softer, expensive brand.

Army Toilet Paper

Soldiers were provided toilet paper with K-rations and later with C-rations. A soldier would get one accessory packet a day with either ration and it came with twelve sheets of Waldorf toilet paper.

(Link) Accessory packet with Waldorf toilet paper.

You may have seen the factoid that British soldiers were rationed 3 sheets of toilet paper per day compared to American soldiers having 22 sheets. I believe this is a misinterpretation of this book discussing the resources available to American soldiers on base in Britain (pg. 288). But after further research I think the actual number of sheets British soldiers got a day on the front was 4 sheets. (Link) American soldiers got 12 sheets included in their K-ration. (Link)

If a soldier ran out of toilet paper they most likely had to make do. I've seen stories of pages from books being used, or even paper bills. (Link)

Bonus

First paper towels sold 1931 (Link).

1936 paper towel ad

Facial tissue paper originated from gas mask filters in World War One. Kleenex were marketed as a cold cream and makeup remover in the 20s and began being marketed for colds in the 30s. (Link)

1930 ad for Kleenex for 25 cents.

Personally, I don't think Steve would have spent money on either of these things, but they did exist.

[lgcparker]

𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘

It takes some time for Parker to even come up with rules for his studio. It’s not because he doesn’t believe in them, but more so because he’s normally not someone who is bothered by much, and even when he is, he has little problem with voicing his concerns. And so, he spends a good amount of time thinking about these said ‘house rules’ while he decorates. One of the first things up is a California flag, and some photos of his parents and sisters and their family dog. He buys a few organizers to display some of his favorite anime characters, as well as Lego bonsai tree he had seen at Seunghyun’s house and thought was funny because of the frogs. 

He’s halfway through putting together the cherry blossom version of the bonsai tree when he decides on the first reasonable rule: 

(1) Swiper, no swiping: don’t take shit you don’t plan on returning. 

The second rule materializes when he’s basically done and is deciding where exactly he’d like the piece to rest. 

(2) Outside food must always be for sharing unless stated otherwise. 

Keeping in mind how tight the space is, Parker ends up buying a plastic container to keep some backup clothes like socks, underwear, sweats and a fresh t-shirt or two. The thought process is more practical than anything else; he spends a good amount of time at the company, and sometimes, he could really do with a change of clothes or something more comfortable to change into should he decide to spend time in his studio after schedules. It’s practical. 

The top of the plastic drawers ends up being a good place to put a Bluetooth speaker he bought sometime the year before. The studio itself is pretty decently set up to write and record music, but even then, Parker wants a more casual way to listen to something off his phone. It’s about then that a third rule pops into his head: 

(3) No music hate. Any and all music is allowed as long as the vibes are good. 

There a moment where wonders if he has the means to put in a small mini fridge for water or a kettle to boil water. He ends up finding a small fridge that works with the space, but the kettle topic is something he feels like he needs to ask his manager, something he manages to forget again and again. Even when he’s just about to bring it up, he gets distracted, and somehow, he ends up purchasing a humidifier instead. 

(4) Opinions are welcome but being a dick is strictly forbidden. If you can’t help yourself, you can put yourself on a time-out. 

As expected, settling on a fifth ‘rule’ seems harder than coming up with every other one before it. It isn’t until one day, when Parker is lying on the small couch of the studio, staring at the small pile of cardboard he very desperately needs to break down and take to the recycling, that he lands on something reasonable. 

(5) I’m not your mom; don’t leave stuff here, and clean up after yourself. 

He hardly thinks his friends are the types to take advantage of him, and if little things get forgotten, Parker isn’t the type to make a big deal about it, but it seems fair enough, even as just a warning. He’s being gifted this space from the company, so shouldn’t he take some pride in it? 

That thought is at least enough to get up to roll off the couch and start breaking down boxes. Surely, his manager (and his mother) would be proud. 

[roamwithahungryheart]

Daisy Jones & The Six - An Honest Review

As an avid follower of Reese's Book Club, when Daisy Jones & The Six was announced as the March '19 pick, I was intrigued. I'm always down for a fictional band to follow and fall in love with. If you've seen it, you'll understand why That Thing You Do! holds a very special place in my heart. So when I read that Taylor Jenkins Reid's latest book was inspired by Fleetwood Mac, that was all I needed to be hooked in and ready to invite The Six into my groupie scrapbook.

After another read-through of the book, and diving into the series the moment it dropped, I have a few thoughts to share.

I noticed a few comments on the Hello Sunshine IG page about the format of the paperback being hard to engage with. So I bought the audiobook before the original print version.

I feel it works better as an audiobook - after all, it's an oral history of the band. And I have to give major credit to the voice acting - it was a fun listen, with Jennifer Beals giving Daisy (inevitably) a Stevie Nicks rasp. But Miss Nicks she is not.

Daisy Jones is a precocious, headstrong character whose groovy chick persona gets lost in being repeatedly defined by her red hair and 'stunning big blue eyes - dark, cobalt blue'. No wonder she wants to break out of the box everyone puts her in. In true rock 'n' roll style, she goes off the rails, spiraling into a destructively hedonistic lifestyle with the unstoppable force of a tornado. In the Amazon Prime adaptation, the foundations are laid, but it looks like they're building something entirely different.

A review of the series by Collider calls it 'serviceable as a decent binge for people who get off on reading about how much Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham hated each other[...]' and I have to agree.

From book to screen, the journey back to the 70s is loosely translated. Sure, there are a few references to the Whiskey and the Plaster Casters in TJR's book, giving us just enough of a glimpse into the groupie scene - but this isn't the inner circle. Daisy exists on the fringe of it all, desperate to be one of the It Girls. The first episode's cinematography and costume choices are clearly influenced by Pamela Des Barres' memoir and Almost Famous, with a little bit of Ali McGraw Love Story styling for Camila Morrone thrown in for good measure.

But it falls short in a few places. For starters, the talking heads feel a little disjointed. They're supposed to take place 20 years later, yet the clothes look a little too modern. They haven't aged enough. Although, I have to say Timothy Olyphant is serving some Cougs (John Cougar Mellencamp, for the uninitiated) realness in those later interviews.

When spliced in between the main body of the story, we see nothing of the individual recollections of the characters. It's one singular objective truth. Perhaps that's the nature of the adaptations that get churned out by streaming platforms - keep it simple. Because in terms of storytelling, simplicity equates to watchable, binge-worthy television.

The story of a rock band is always anything but simple.

Maybe we'll see a little more complexity in future episodes. The story so far unfolds slowly, with only a few memorable lines. Tightening the dialogue seems to have been a slight challenge for the writers - at times it feels a little contrived. When you're working with original material that's almost entirely comprised of dialogue, it should lend itself to the screen almost verbatim with relative ease. The changes to the plot seem to have been made in order to accommodate the 10 episode format. As a result, it dulls a little of its glam rock shine.

That being said, props to Hello Sunshine and Amazon for including TJR in the writing process. It gives me a little more faith in the show, just as it did with the production company's previous hits Big Little Lies (still waiting on that third season!) and Little Fires Everywhere.

Amazon's Daisy Jones & The Six may not be as engaging as the book, but I'm still along for the ride.

[mbrainspaz]

remembering why I stopped going to the doctor years ago. So far it's gone like this: I went to a doctor someone recommended, they gave me the inhaler I needed at least (wish I could've just gone and bought myself the meds I knew I needed but nooooo), diagnosed another issue I needed help with, and referred me. The next doctor cost more money to tell me that the first doctor was right, but that I needed to see another doctor to confirm. That doctor said actually the last two doctors were wrong, but didn't have a clue what was actually going on. "Like idk maybe try CAT scans or something? Doctor no. 2 will call you back to follow up." Dr 2 has not called. Oh, and let's not forget the third doctor did a bunch of tests that hurt like hell and they had the nerve to interrogate me about 'why I was so down.' I hate it when doctors ask me that. I DUNNO BUB maybe I hate wasting all my time and money being processed like a slab of meat by scammy medical institutions that never actually help me?! Also I filled in your stupid form and admitted I had depression—what did you expect? They don't even read those damn things I swear. So now I've spent over $200 and wasted a total of about 10 hours running around town just to be exactly where I was before I talked to a doctor. It's so goddamn useless. Last time I spent $600 to get told I had bad knees and needed a surgery I couldn't afford. I already knew that! Now I've got another appointment this morning and I called the office (wasted 10 minutes just getting past the answering robot) to ask about the fasting the doctor told me to do for bloodwork—only to be told this wasn't an appointment for that. no no, this is just a 'follow up'. WHY?! So she can double check that I didn't die of an asthma attack in the meantime? I swear if I drive through houston traffic for 2 hours and pay another $25 just for this person to ask me how I've been breathing lately I'm done. I'm done. I'm dropping the whole thing. I'm just gonna accept that it's my lot in life to live like a 14th century peasant and hope I die of natural causes. I'll find some leeches in the creek and take some weird herbs and hope for the best. I don't even know what's going on with the insurance company because they emailed me asking me to pay another $25 copay for an appointment I already paid $50 for in person, so now I've gotta waste time and precious energy calling them to make sure there wasn't a stupid mistake, and if they say there wasn't then I just have to accept the extortion. And I've gotta keep signing all the stupid forms every time saying I'll pay I'll pay I'll pay. For WHAT? If I can never get actual medical care that fixes or alleviates the problems I'm dealing with what the hell am I paying for?! If I went to any other business and paid for a service and they failed to provide it I could demand to have my money back! But these hacks get to be like "well if you don't want to sign over your entire bank account enjoy your free human right to suffer and die lol." My elbow hurts like hell from writing this and half my hand is numb but the gods only know why. Anyway, here I go, off to spend another 2 hours and at least $25 but probably more than that on some more bullshit.

[sunleadblogs]

5 Things to Consider Before You Buy Solar Leads

This Blog was Originally Published at:

5 Things to Consider Before You Buy Solar Leads

Ultimate Guide to Solar Lead Generation: To Buy or Generate?

One of the many approaches the businesses in the solar industry to buy solar leads from a third party. How efficient is this process?

Let’s get a deep dive into everything you need to now to buy solar leads in the Solar industry lead generation.

Every marketing approach applies differently to different companies. While buying solar leads can give you the initial momentum that you desire, but can take a toll on your lead generation process and budgeting in the long run.

Let’s discuss some pros and cons of buying solar leads and what could the alternate option to have a solid funnel of lead generation for residential solar companies.

To Buy Solar Leads: Associated Pros

Direct access to clients — When you buy solar leads, they will give you direct access to the clients list. By doing this, you’ll get clients without working on any marketing campaigns or strategies.

Saves time & resources — Since you’re buying the clients, it’s not necessary to invest in marketing or website optimization. This can save the company’s resources and time.

Initial momentum — Buying leads allows businesses to expand their operations swiftly. Once companies get the initial momentum of clients, they invest in growing the company and purchased leads can supply the volume required to help your company grow quickly.

To Buy Solar Leads: Associated Cons

First cost expense — You will have to set aside a budget for each time you need new clients. High-quality leads can be expensive, and the cost of leads converting into customers should always be weighed before allocating the budget for buying solar leads.

Lead exclusiveness — Buying and selling leads is a business and people play on varied ethics. Some companies sell the same leads to different and multiple companies, this directly leads to a low conversion rate and increased CAC.

Quality variability — Lead quality will always vary with the option of buying solar leads. Companies’ data and inaccurate information are also something that needs to be thoroughly checked before making any decision.

Dependency — Buying solar leads means outsourcing the most important asset of the business and its success. You’ll always rely on third-party services for your business to run successfully.Their problems in the sales funnel will affect your funnel, which is not the ideal way of creating a successful business.

Low engagement potential — The bought leads and company will have no prior relationship with one other, this can make the sales process a lot more difficult as for every lead to convert into a client there must be a relationship to foster, cherish and deliver.

5 things to keep in mind to buy solar leads

Let’s talk about the most important aspects to buy solar leads — Their cost and considerations.

Cost per lead — The cost per lead is dependent on the source, quality, and exclusivity of the leads. High-quality cost more but offer a higher likelihood of conversion. One of the most important aspects to keep in mind while buying solar leads.

Quality assurance — A thorough research is required to check if the lead providers have a robust process in place. This might include checking:

Contact information

Verifying interest in solar energy

Providing detailed information, etc.

Return on investment — Calculate the potential ROI before buying solar leads. Consider factors like:

Your average sale value

Conversion rate ﹩Cost of the leads, etc.This will help make an informed decision if buying solar leads is a financially viable option for your business.

Integration with sales process — Think about how the bought leads will fit into your current sales process. Make sure your sales team is ready to quickly and well follow up on leads to boost conversion rates.

Testing and adjustment — Begin with a small group of leads to evaluate the quality and conversion rates before making a substantial investment. This approach lets you assess the effectiveness of the provider and make any needed adjustments to your strategy.

Do you know that while purchasing leads can provide a quick influx of prospects, building your lead generation system can be more cost-efficient in the long run?

The other approach is to set up an organic lead generation method for your company. There could be various ways to do that –

Leveraging Content Marketing

Maintaining SEO

Trying various Social Media Platforms

Using Referral Programs

Maintaining E-mail Marketing, etc.

For further information on this. Here’s a detailed guide on solar lead generation

The Ultimate Guide to Solar Leads Generation Handbook

Generate leads organically and how:

To buy solar leads and making them work out for your solar business in the short run and for instant results but in the long run game it might not be the most efficient way to generate leads for your solar business.

Buying leads comes with a cost, not only in terms of budget but also in variability in lead quality, potential legal issues, resources to find authentic lead providers etc.

On the contrary, various marketing strategies have proven results in generating leads in the solar industry. These strategies have been leveraged by a lot of big names in the industry and have played a vital role in their success.

❝ Generating your leads through organic methods like SEO, content marketing, and social media not only increases the quality of the leads but also builds long-term trust and credibility with your audience. ❞ — Sunbase Data

How Sungevity leveraged organic solar lead generation

Background — Sungevity, a solar energy company, relied a lot to buy solar leads, which frequently led to poor conversion rates and expensive expenses.

Strategy — Sungevity made a significant investment in a strong inbound marketing plan, focusing on customer referrals, content marketing, and SEO.

They asked satisfied customers to bring in new ones, frequently updated their blogs, and made their website easy to find on search engines.

Findings — Greater lead quality: Inbound marketing initiatives produced more qualified and more intent-to-buy organic leads.

Cost savings: As a result of a gradual reduction in lead acquisition expenses, marketing expenditures were more effectively allocated.

Better client relationships: Fortified their client base and fostered a sense of loyalty that further enhanced their market standing.

[Resource]

Generate such leads by applying strategies that work for the Solar industry. Here’s a detailed guide: 4 Proven Methods for Solar Lead Generation

Use the right tools to accelerate your business

One of the valued tricks is to use the right tools that can accelerate your process of generating leads. In the solar industry, the white label quotation tool has shown amazing results in catering to the traffic and making the lead convert into customers.

One such tool is — Sun Lead’s white-labeled quotation tool

SunLead has proven to be an authentic White Label Online Quotation Tool for residential solar companies. It required no IT support to get integrated into your product. With bare minimal integration, visitors will get instant quotes, leading to:

Lower customer acquisition cost, by 80%

Organic solar leads

Sustainable growth

Learn more about the quotation tool here — Generate organic leads for your solar business

[meltlilies]

🥀🧣🍄? :)

🥀 (wilted flower) - How does your character deal with stressful situations? Is their fear response fight, flight, freeze or fawn?

So a lot of Ves' character is that he has severe anxiety from the like, mid 2060's on because of everything he experienced with his family and by extension Arasaka. He comes off so nice (read: a fucking pushover) in terms of his reputation because he can't really muster the strength to be anything else while keeping himself together. So he can't cope well because he straight up has no foundation to do so in the first place because his life is one stress after another and he's in constant flight mode. But with respect to the events of the game, it's flight but to the nth bad degree because he goes from the constant stress and overthinking and worrying to borderline numb about it all. All too accepting of whatever horrible fate or death awaits him as a result of his and his friends' failures at the hands of the Relic. He has to be dragged out of it more often than not by a third party--Johnny, his partner Mistletoe, and later on Kerry--just so he can form a response.

Oh but specifically, midway into Phantom Liberty or so, anything corp related (Arasaka especially) his response immediately becomes fight because he's had enough of them ruining his life much less other peoples'.

Post-Mikoshi he is dealing with stress by just removing himself from the situations, honestly. He has a beautiful rich husband and he's gonna take advantage of being able to just leave when shit gets bad and enjoy his company!

🧣(scarf) - What comforts your oc? Is it an item? An action? A person? Whatever it is, how any why does it comfort them?

There's two things.

Firstly is physical contact. It takes him a long time to warm up to being touched at all in any capacity but he is, by nature, a very clingy person so he jumps at the opportunity to be close to someone, even if it's just sitting with your shoulders touching while you watch a movie. But even more than that, he loves being held? Unfortunately not many people can pick him up in the state his body is currently in (being 79% metal and cyberware means you're EXTREMELY heavy and Kerry can only do so much without some muscle boosters), but he loves to lay on top of someone, even if it's just partially so he doesn't crush them. He runs a little too hot so he's just 65 inches of warm weighted blanket.

The second is actually playing music! Growing up the only thing he enjoyed were the music lessons he had with a neighbor every night, and she taught him how to play the piano and the cello. His friendship turned romance with Kerry reminded him that he used to like things once upon a time, and Kerry bought him a bass for his apartment so he could play when he was alone. He doesn't actually write any music until years down the line, but playing old songs he likes and poorly singing along helps him get into a much better headspace and actually gets him to relax enough to be meaningful. He also plays with Johnny and Kerry, sometimes, letting himself get lost in it with some company in the process.

🍄 (mushroom) - Does your character like being in nature or do they prefer the indoors? Do they have any outdoor hobbies like camping or fishing? If they prefer the indoors, why?

Outside of a couple years of living with nomads I don't think he really ever got the chance to do stuff like that. He doesn't even know how to swim when Judy takes him diving, honestly! But i think he really enjoys being outside when he can, really liking the ocean when he can ever get to a beach. He happily takes up Kerry on the offer of visiting his beach house in Florida, just sitting in the wet sand by the shore and letting the waves crash over him.

He lives chilling inside with his partners and watching a movie but he needs the change of scenery here and there, lest he go stir crazy, especially when he's not necessarily in the best of headspaces. I think one day he really would like to go on a boat and sail for a bit where it doesn't end up in an explosion, but just once. They can happily cause property damage anytime.

[nickgerlich]

Aiming Higher

“Show me a company trying to be all things to all people, and I’ll show you a company that is nothing to everyone.”

That’s one of my many maxims for daily living and business. I’m sure that if you looked hard enough, you might just find an exception to the rule. Generally speaking, though, it is very true, and it all boils down to the tenets of target marketing. Once you start using a shotgun approach, you have lots of misses among the hits, and often at great expense.

But that doesn’t stop companies from trying anyway, the latest of which is Walmart in its umpteenth attempt to lure higher income customers into the rest of the store. Walmart has been trying for years to do this, with clothing as well as electronics, all with less than admirable results. Maybe in buying Vizio they may the able to lure the wealthy with upscale TVs and other electronics, but we shall see.

Inflation may have found wealthier people flocking to Walmart to buy their groceries, and this has motivated Walmart to try again. At least this time the people they desire are already in the building. All they have to do now is get them to step across the aisle into non-grocery merchandise.

To bolster this effort, Walmart is remodeling 800 of its stores, improving lighting, constructing little boutique and highlighted areas, and even using mannequins. Oddly, at a time when Walmart has been making significant gains—finally—in its e-commerce business, it is investing in BAM. This is even more intriguing when you hear them say that they’re actually targeting wealthier Gen-Zers. And we already know where Gen-Zers are likely to shop. Online.

Wait a minute. Gen-Z didn’t start until 1997, meaning the oldest are turning 27 this year, and the youngest are 14. There can’t be all that many wealthy in this age bracket, not yet at least. Maybe they meant Millennials.

Regardless, it’s full steam ahead as Walmart adds on-trend clothing, higher class cosmetics, along with more esoteric food items. Basically, Walmart is trying to be something it never has been. And I have to wonder if, in the process of doing so, they might alienate their core clientele, the people they have been serving ever since Sam Walton opened his first store in 1962.

Walmart learned this lesson painfully not many years ago when it bought online high-fashion brands Bonobos, Moosejaw, and Modcloth. They were in over their heads, though, and wound up selling all of them. Although few people knew the connection to Walmart, that didn’t stop Walmart from fumbling the ball repeatedly.

As much as I agree with Walmart’s plans to freshen up some of its stores—many of their stores built in the 90s are looking pretty long in the tooth—I have my doubts that the ending will be any better this time. It’s kind of like searching for gold in a silver mine. The silver may not be worth as much, but in volume, it can—and does—serve as a good revenue source.

And as much as I agree that Walmart has completely nailed it by aiming at middle America and lower, I had to laugh when I read of the firm’s “history of studying consumer behavior to better grasp what luxury shoppers actually want.” I am pretty sure that what luxury shoppers want is a place to do so without the riff-raff nearby.

I suppose I fit the demo that Walmart seeks—upper-middle class—but I just don’t see myself buying clothes there. Well, OK. I confess to buying a pair of Wrangler casual pants last winter, after I read on a hiking page on Facebook that one particular line of pants was actually very good for hiking, and at about one-third the price of what you’d find at REI. But I only wear them on cool hikes, definitely not to the office. I will buy another pair or two, but as the people on that thread pointed out, they see this more as a shopping hack, not a fashion statement.

Good luck with this, Walmart. You’re really good at what you’ve been doing all along, but grasping at straws is not a good look when what you really need to do is sip from the cup of your prior success.

Dr “Sticking To Groceries” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[alhadiacrepair]

AC Repair Services in Sharjah

Air conditioner repair services are compulsory when you have installed an air conditioner in your home, office, or in any other area to get cooling and that AC suddenly breaks down. In the Middle East, the temperature in summer reaches up to 50 degrees centigrade. in such harsh weather conditions, you need air conditioner repair services in Sharjah, if your air conditioner stops working.

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There are several air conditioner problems that need to be fixed, and for fixing those problems you need the best air conditioner services in Sharjah through the best technicians of our company “AL Hadi AC Repair & Maintenance Services“.

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1- Water leak from the air conditioner:

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2- Dirty Air Filters:

The dirty air filters will not cool the air because the mesh air filters, collect the hot air and make it cold and clean by passing through them. If the filters are dirty, this process will not be accomplished efficiently.

3- Air conditioner not turning on:

The third problem with the air conditioner can be that it does not turn on. The reason for the air conditioner not turning on can be a circuit breaker. The air conditioner requires 600 to 1200 voltages of electricity, for its function. If other appliances with an air conditioner are being operated in the same circuit, it can break the circuit and the AC may not turn on.

4- Dirty coils:

The outer unit of the air conditioner is exposed to certain elements like dust, leaves, and insects which may go into the coil and make them dirty. It will cause the improper and poor functioning of the air conditioner.

5- Excessive cycling:

The thermostat is a component in the air conditioner, that determines whether air is required or not and regulates the turning on and off of the air conditioner. If the thermostat is not working accurately, that air conditioner will go through excessive cycling, It will increase the electricity bills, so you should go for Ac repair services in Sharjah.

6- Air leaks:

During the installation of the air conditioner, thin plastic sheets are fitted in the spaces, to stop the air from leaking. But these plastic sheets, are not so reliable and become out of order after some time. As a result, the problem of air leak occurs.

Benefits of Using Air Conditioners

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if you have bought an air conditioner for your home or office, then you must require an air conditioner repair and maintenance service provider in Sharjah, you can get air conditioner repair services in Sharjah from our company “AL Hadi AC Repair & Maintenance services“, our expert Ac technicians will serve you the best. You can contact us for air conditioner repair services at any time. We are committed to delivering 24 hours ac repair services in Sharjah and Dubai.