#car detailing orlando

[jamesvince9898]

Black and Gold Detailing: The Ultimate Mobile Car Detailing Service in Orlando

Introduction

At Black and Gold Detailing, we believe that your car deserves the highest level of care and attention. Whether you are looking for a quick refresh or a full-service detailing experience, our professional team is here to transform your vehicle inside and out. Specializing in car detailing in Orlando, we bring our expertise directly to your location with our mobile car detailing in Orlando. Our services ensure that your car not only looks stunning but also retains its value for years to come.

Why Choose Black and Gold Detailing?

Convenience at Your Doorstep – We specialize in mobile car detailing near me, meaning you don’t have to waste time waiting at a shop. We come to your home, office, or any location in Orlando, making car detailing effortless.

Expert-Level Cleaning – Our team of skilled car detailers near me uses industry-leading products and techniques to give your vehicle the best possible finish.

Eco-Friendly Approach – We use water-efficient techniques and environmentally safe cleaning products, ensuring a responsible car detailing service near me.

Comprehensive Services – From interior car detailing near me to full exterior detailing, we provide a complete package to make your car look brand new.

Affordable Luxury – Our premium car detailing near me services come at competitive prices, giving you excellent value for money.

Our Car Detailing Services in Orlando

1. Exterior Car Detailing

The first thing people notice about your vehicle is its exterior. Our car detailing Orlando service ensures your car’s paint, wheels, and trim remain in top condition.

Hand wash using high-quality shampoos

Clay bar treatment to remove embedded contaminants

Paint polishing and waxing for a mirror-like finish

Tire and rim cleaning with protective coatings

Headlight restoration for improved visibility and aesthetics

2. Interior Car Detailing

A clean interior is just as important as a gleaming exterior. Our interior car detailing near me services focus on every detail, ensuring a fresh and hygienic space.

Deep vacuuming of seats, carpets, and floor mats

Leather conditioning and upholstery cleaning

Dashboard, door panels, and console detailing

Air vent and headliner cleaning

Odor removal and sanitization

3. Full-Service Mobile Car Detailing

For those who want the ultimate cleaning experience, our mobile car detailing Orlando FL service combines both interior and exterior detailing into one complete package. This is the perfect solution for maintaining your vehicle’s showroom shine.

4. Paint Protection and Ceramic Coating

Protecting your car’s paint is essential to maintaining its value. Our car detail Orlando experts offer ceramic coatings that create a durable shield against dirt, UV rays, and water stains.

Long-lasting hydrophobic protection

Enhanced gloss and shine

Scratch and swirl mark resistance

UV ray protection to prevent fading

5. Engine Bay Cleaning

A clean engine bay improves your car’s performance and longevity. Our car detailing service near me includes a thorough degreasing and dressing of engine components, ensuring they stay in peak condition.

6. Headlight Restoration

Dull or yellowed headlights can compromise your safety. Our car detail near me service includes professional restoration techniques that restore clarity and improve night driving visibility.

7. Odor Removal and Sanitization

Unpleasant smells and bacteria buildup can make your car uncomfortable. Our mobile car detailing near me service includes deep cleaning and air purification to eliminate stubborn odors and allergens.

Benefits of Professional Car Detailing

Regular car detailing near me offers numerous advantages, including:

Increased Resale Value: A well-maintained car fetches a higher price when it’s time to sell.

Enhanced Aesthetics: A professional car detail Orlando keeps your car looking brand new.

Better Driving Experience: Clean interiors create a more pleasant and healthier driving environment.

Paint Protection: Waxing and ceramic coatings safeguard your car from environmental damage.

Time and Effort Savings: Instead of spending hours cleaning your car, let our mobile car detailing Orlando experts handle the work while you relax.

How Our Mobile Car Detailing Works

Getting your car detailed with Black and Gold Detailing is a hassle-free experience. Our mobile car detailing near me service follows a simple process:

Book an Appointment – Schedule a time and location that suits you.

We Arrive Fully Equipped – Our professionals bring all necessary tools and products.

Comprehensive Cleaning – Your car undergoes a thorough cleaning and restoration process.

Final Inspection – We ensure every detail meets our high-quality standards before leaving.

Who Can Benefit from Our Services?

Busy Professionals – No need to visit a detailing shop; we come to your office or home.

Car Enthusiasts – Maintain your car’s pristine condition with our expert services.

Families – Ensure a clean and safe environment for children inside your vehicle.

Rideshare Drivers – Impress your passengers with a spotless and fresh-smelling car.

Premium Car Detailing Kits for DIY Enthusiasts

For those who love to maintain their car’s cleanliness between professional services, we offer high-quality car detailing kits. These kits include everything you need for exterior and interior cleaning, including microfiber towels, pH-balanced cleaners, and waxes.

Why Invest in Professional Car Detailing?

While regular car washes help maintain cleanliness, a professional car detailing Orlando service provides a deep cleaning that enhances your vehicle’s longevity and appearance. Investing in mobile car detailing Orlando FL means:

Removing contaminants that can damage the paint

Protecting interior surfaces from wear and tear

Enhancing driving comfort and hygiene

Improving vehicle resale value

[profinishusa]

Car Interior Detailing Orlando | Profinish-usa.com

Make your car look brand new with Profinish-usa.com Car Interior Detailing in Orlando! Our professionals use the best quality products to deliver an exceptional experience and results.

[adorablediscoveries]

Artist Transforms Aluminum Cans into Intricately Detailed Sculptures Using Just His Thumbs

Noah Deledda’s intricate aluminum can sculptures appear to be the work of precise automated machinery, but the Tampa Bay-based artist crafts each piece entirely by hand, using only his thumbs to shape the soft metal into flawless geometric patterns.

Deledda has even shared videos of his process, proving that his stunning creations are the result of patience, skill, and an extraordinary attention to detail.

The process begins with sanding off the can’s printed exterior, revealing the bare aluminum underneath. Deledda then polishes the surface until it shines before carefully pressing dents and creases into the metal—without the aid of special tools.

“Crushing, denting, and creasing become a method to create design, precision, symmetry, and balance,” Deledda explains on his website. “It’s important to me that this is all carried out by hand without special tools or extraordinary manipulation.”

Over the years, Deledda has refined his technique, developing increasingly complex geometric patterns, each more mesmerizing than the last. Despite his success, he remains amused by the common reaction to his work: disbelief. Many people claim they’ve never seen anything like it before, though, ironically, crushed aluminum cans are a common sight. What sets his pieces apart is their transformation from discarded waste into high art, proving that even a typically destructive force—crushing—can be used to create beauty.

Remarkably, this entire art form was born out of boredom. During a long car ride home from Orlando, Deledda absentmindedly toyed with an empty Red Bull can, noticing how small dents could be manipulated into shapes. He made a mental note to explore the idea further, and through trial, error, and an artistic eye for repetition and form, what began as a simple distraction evolved into a globally recognized art style.

Today, Deledda’s sculpted aluminum cans are celebrated worldwide, with individual pieces selling for over $2,000 each. His work stands as a testament to creativity, patience, and the potential for artistry in even the most unexpected places.

[musings-from-an-elder-goth]

Lisa Frankenstein Filming Locations

“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

As promised, here are some of the filming locations for Lisa Frankenstein. As I just saw Kathryn Newton at Spooky Empire in Orlando this past weekend, I decided to stalk filming locations for some of her cooler movies. Or you can just watch the video I made, which covers all the locations but it goes into much less detail:

I found most of the locations on my own, but then received a location list from a person on the film's production team which confirmed the ones I'd already found and gave me the ones I was missing. Big thank you to that person!

***Spoilers below***

We'll start with Lisa's home which is located at 2552 Cypress Lawn Dr, Marrero, LA 70072. The shed in the back yard for the tanning booth is really part of the property, & can just be seen from the street (circled in red in second image).

Now, if you go there, remember, THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. Perfectly fine to admire it from the street, but do not trespass, do not knock on the door, do not ask for a tour, & do not ask if Lisa is home. Please. Now, if the folks living there say 'Hey' & invite you in when they see you in the street taking selfies with the house, that's another thing entirely - but otherwise, low profile it.

Although they filmed a little bit inside the real house, at least for the scenes where Creature first arrives, most of the house interiors were filmed on a sound stage which I know thanks to Zelda Williams posting this photo:

And that sound stage is The University of New Orleans Nims Center Studio located at 800 - 824 Distributors Row in New Orleans. I know this because of this picture from a behind the scenes video showing the entire cast & crew taking a group photo with two distinct architectural features circled. The next image is a Google street view of the same location with those features also circled.

Per the locations list, the party house Lisa & Taffy go to early in the film is located at 12565 Patterson Rd, New Orleans, LA 70131, which I've confirmed via location detail on Google maps:

And the high school is Belle Chase high school at 8346 LA-23, Belle Chase, LA 70037, which I've also confirmed via architectural detail:

The exteriors for Bachelor's Grove Cemetery & the woods around it, the wooded paths, & the bench scenes all take place in Brechtel Park, which is located in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

The park offers roads for driving scenes as well as thick woodland with vines & dense ground cover for the cemetery set - which, sadly, was entirely fake. Below is the exact location of Bachelor's Grove.

Bachelor's Grove is located at GPS coordinates 29.9100534 -90.0124431. The easiest way to get there is to take an asphalt sidewalk that you'll find about 100 feet to the right of the entrance. That sidewalk will take you around the north edge of the park and then turn left (south) where you will look for the 2nd marked trail. Follow that trailfor about 50 feet and you'll find a second marked tree, which I call the Twisted Tree, and you're in Bachelor's Grove.

Moving along, the scene at 1:17:37 in the film where Creature goes to retrieve Janet's (Lisa's step-mom's) car and kills the mean old man who is harassing the kid who can't start a lawn mower, was filmed at the south dead end of Dede Street in Marrero, LA at GPS 29.855776, -90.093451.

Rather pleased with myself for finding that one - not easy.

Creature then returns to just outside Bachelor's Grove, which again was filmed in Brechtel Park, with precise location circled in the third image.

Lisa & Taffy arrive there & Lisa psychs herself up to go into the cemetery to kill Creature at GPS 29.906104, -90.009096

This is still in Brechtel Park, they just moved the cars about 30 feet to the west & spun the camera around - the dead giveaways are those posts along the road & the two small hills in the background.

Lisa then runs down a wide, woodland path.

This photo of one of Brechtel Park's wide, wooded paths is the same path, located at GPS 29.908912, -90.011958.

And here's that spot circled below:

When Dale, Lisa's dad (played by Joe Chrest, who also plays the Wheeler's dad on Stranger Things), & Taffy visit Lisa's grave at the end, they are standing in the southern section of Carrollton Cemetery in New Orleans, at GPS 29.947097, -90.121813.

The reason they used this location is because Carrollton is one of the few New Orleans cemeteries that has a large section where all the graves are below ground, as this movie is supposed to be taking place near Chicago.

As for how I know they used this specific location, I have a wine bottle shaped tombstone to thank for that. In the below image, we see that odd tombstone from the front.

And here we see it from the back, as I wasn't able to get a clear image of it from the same perspective of the above image:

Also rather proud of that find.

And the final scene on the bench is also in Brechtel Park at the location circled on the map, GPS 29.909290, -90.010784.

So the only significant filming location I can't find is Michael's red brick colonial, but whatever. Found Michael's house, too!

Anyway, here's to hoping we all find that special someone who was reanimated just for us. 🦇🖤🦇

creaturesfromelsewhere 5-23-2024

[jules-has-notes]

Sh-Boom — VoicePlay music video

VoicePlay as a group has its roots in barbershop music, so tackling a doo-wop classic was a natural fit. But being the innovative bunch they are, they couldn't just recreate the sound of the original recording. It's a feel-good song, and they had to have a little extra fun with it. With some retro inspiration and a dash of 21st century zhuzhing up, they delivered a real bop.

Details:

title: Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)

original performers: The Chords

written by: James Edwards, Carl Feaster, Claude Feaster, James Keyes, & Floyd McRae

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci & Hannah Juliano

release date: 30 August 2019

My favorite bits:

the slightly static-y, muffled sound and muted colors of the intro section to pay homage to the original version

Earl's clear, sweet timbre on the lead vocals

using Layne's percussion entrance as a transition to full audio

that lovely bell chord leading into the second verse

the steady swingy-ness of the rhythm section

Geoff gesturing along with the delayed ♫ "a-bove" ♫ while waiting to continue his bass line

the cool record-skip effects they added

the lovely descending riff Earl puts on ♫ "so fine" ♫

that bouncy little descending bass transition into the second chorus

J.None coming in slightly early on a belted ♫ "above" ♫

Layne slipping in some more modern record scratching and electronic sounds as the rhythm of the lyrics gets more adventurous

Geoff's scoop up into the lead melody and lyrics

that slightly dissonant harmony behind Geoff's first line

the rhythmic freedom in Earl's belted ♫ "I'm the only one you love" ♫

J's adorable head waggle as the trio starts "ya-da-da"-ing

the center trio's coordinated pop up into falsetto

that crunchy ending chord

the captions describing Layne's final descending ingressives as a "slow wind down like a tired robot with a hangover" 🤖 💤

additional props to Eli for wearing some darn snazzy shoes, knowing that they'd be very visible from where he's perched

Trivia:

In a departure from their usual studio spaces, VoicePlay filmed this video at Oliver's Classic Cars in Winter Park. It was a combination of a vintage automobile showroom / museum, and an event venue. The guys were quite taken with it.

Their camera operator for the shoot, Chadd Winston, was an old friend from the theme park performance circuit. Among their many shared jobs, he had been in the City Sounds street singers rotations at Universal Studios with the guys in the early 2000s, both with Eli in Japan, and with the 4:2:Five/VP boys in Orlando.

The cover art was once again designed by Rek Dunn.

The Chords' songwriting for this piece was inspired by the sounds of their neighborhood, and many of the seemingly nonsensical lyrics refer to people and places they heard every day.

VoicePlay's version of the song was recorded 65 years after the original topped the Billboard charts in 1954.

The video premiered on Geoff's mom's birthday, and he made sure to give her a shoutout in the YouTube comments. (Aww.)

Their Sing-Off colleagues, Street Corner Renaissance, had recorded their own version of the song back in 2012.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

about trump:

The man is a damn idiot. Not only did he put his OWN life in danger when he pulled that standing up stunt, but he put HUNDREDS of others in danger. The fucker’s so plainly a narcissist and it makes me sick to see people rally behind him like he’s the second coming of the Lord.

I’d bet a damn fortune that he’s probably fuckin’ excited about this. Goin’ on and on in his armored car about how good this will be for his election while TWO PEOPLE (and maybe three, one is in critical condition, I pray they recover) are dead.

Make America great again by putting this senile old bastard in a retirement home where he belongs.

Alright, I’m off my soapbox, y’all. I got shit to do. Have a nice day, Mr. S. I got something in the works about that trailer where our boy plays a thief? Somethin’ to do with Christmas. I don’t know, I wasn’t exactly payin’ attention to the plot.

Lord save us all.

-cowboy anon

related to this (and my tags from before there was any detail on anything)

Yeah, I've been refreshing news watching it all play out. My immediate two thoughts were (1) they missed? Damn and (2) those photos are, uh, too perfect. The fist pump in front of the flag, blood on his face, looking determined? I have a sinking feeling about that it looks like a damn propaganda poster.

But after having it sink in more... exactly. I feel you. I can't stop thinking about how good this is going to be for him, how this will boost his campaign. All, look at what they tried to do to him! They can't stop us! Look at what he survived! Poor Donald. Fucking awful.

I don't have words for the feelings it puts in the pit of my stomach. The people killed, injured, and traumatized? Those people won't get that moment back ever while he stretches this on, replaying it, using this like he used the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando to boost his campaign back in 2016.

I would like to be anywhere else but here.

Goddamn.

That's good, though, I hope you've had a nice day otherwise as well. We certainly need something else to focus on for a little today.

I believe you're referencing Red One, yes?

If so, that's exciting! That should be interesting, and I'm wishing you all the ✨️motivation✨️ to keep chugging along with whatever you're working on there!

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 26 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad

Lily and Alex were finishing getting ready when their doorbell rang. They were supposed to spend the day with Jade and Lucas as they would finally tell their friends everything that had happened with the Sturniolo triplets since the girls first went to a show. After exchanging hellos, the four friends went inside Lucas’s car as he would drive everyone to an Italian restaurant they liked to go to. Once there and sitting in their usual booth with drinks, it was time for Alex and Lily to tell their story.

From the first meeting in Atlanta to the last in Fort Lauderdale, a lot had happened in between. While Jade was still shocked that Alex went on stage and managed to make her favourite triplet win the Orlando show, Lucas was praising Matt’s courage and brain for eventually leading to the actual friendship that was now happening with Lily. The two listeners were searching for every single detail in the story and kept asking questions, mostly regarding Matt and Lily obviously. When the discussion then came to the little time the triplets had spent in Spring Hill, the mood also shifted. Lily was clearly missing Matt a lot although she wished not to – she blamed it on attachment issues with a nervous laugh – and admitted her doubts about their relationship. The girl was afraid that Matt would eventually regret what he did and end up ghosting her, as it had been his initial thought months ago. Lily’s friends assured her that it wouldn’t happen and Alex started listing the proof that Matt valued Lily as much as she did him.

“Bro literally made this whole scenario up because he was afraid that you wouldn't want to meet him if you knew the truth about his identity,” Alex sternly reminded as she started counting on her fingers between each sentence. “He got you to meet his family and friends at the same time as him. He put us in the same fucking hotel where he was staying and even offered to pay for the room. He accepted to come spend two days in a stranger’s house – and bro drove us there for a while. Do I keep going with the vlog and how he was always looking at you to make sure you’re ok?”

“We get it, thanks.” Lily was now looking away in embarrassment as she found her pizza very interesting right now. She knew that she shouldn’t discard Matt’s efforts that he had made from the beginning but the ‘what ifs’ in her head didn’t want to leave. “I think we covered everything now though.”

“I wanna come back on something,” Lucas chimed in as a detail caught his attention. “May I?” When the girls nodded, he couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he looked at Lily. “You, Lily, let an almost complete stranger drive your precious car when it took me more than a year to get that privilege?”

“Bro stop”, Lily mumbled in reply. She hated him for pointing that out as she remembered Alex doing the same when it happened. “He’s a designated driver just like me, I had to trust him. And also, I was fucking exhausted so it was nice to just be in a car and chill.”

“I don’t blame you to be honest,” Jade chimed in. “Half of us have their licence so you and Lucas don’t really have much choice when it comes to driving – I swear Alex and I will get it one day. And I watched a couple of their videos, you must have had a great view from the passenger seat.”

As Jade winked at Lily before innocently taking a slice of pizza, Alex and Lucas snickered. Lily then laughed with them as she admitted that she wasn’t one to turn a blind eye when the occasion of having a handsome guy driving next to you arose. The atmosphere then went back to a more light-hearted one and the rest of the lunch was spent filled with smiles.

~~~

Four days had passed since Lily last saw Matt. Such a pathetic state I was in, the girl cringed at herself. Based on a brief exchange by text, Lily knew that Matt hadn’t changed his mind regarding their friendship and thanks to her friends two days ago, she had managed to bury those doubts deep in the back of her head. Reading back their quick conversation, Lily hesitated before starting to write a message.

Matt🍂

Hey there, landed safely in bos

Hope you’re doing well and not missing us too much :)

Ttyl

Glad to know!

And ofc ye we are devastated😔

You’ll survive, we’re not that far away

True true

For now i’ll have to survive the interrogation ab our crazy meeting so

Same here i think

We’ll have to complain more after it happens

We def will!

Seen

This was on Thursday evening. They had spoken a second time on Friday as Matt had replied to a funny Instagram story that Lily had posted about her cat Bernard. Getting herself out of daydreaming, she eventually finished typing her message – after deleting and rewriting it three times – and sent it.

Matt🍂

Hey Matt, how’s it going?

Lily hey

Gimme 5min and I’m all yours

She was surprised at how quick he had replied and couldn’t help but smile at the thought that maybe he was about to text her as well. Only two minutes had passed before Lily was surprise once again as her phone was showing her that she was getting an incoming from Matt🍂. Tapping on the green phone icon, Lily brought her phone to her ear.

“Hello Matthew, pleasant surprise.”

“Hey Lily”, Matt replied with a weird exhale. “Sorry, I just got home.”

“No problem, do your thing bro.”

“Just need to change quickly so I’m putting you on speaker but I’m still here. Catch me up on your life meanwhile”

“Don’t worry, take your time.” Lily could hear Matt rummaging through his clothes and almost laughed at the way he was probably making a mess. “And I’m all good to be honest, had the wonderful experience of being questioned like a suspected murderer but it went well.”

“Sounds wonderful”, Matt sarcastically answered. “Hope you’ve only said good things about me, because I did for you.”

“Of course!” Lily scoffed, feigned to be offended. “Who do you take me for? I’ve put you on a pedestal, but Alex was the one to call out your creepy plan.”

“Damn her.” Matt shook his head with a smile, although Lily couldn’t see him. “Can’t say she’s wrong though but it worked out well so…”

“That it did”, the girl agreed. “Tell me about your weekend, how’s your family? And Nate?”

“Everyone’s good, it’s nice to get some rest and be home.” Matt’s grateful tone made Lily smile as she knew from the triplets’ videos how much he loved being in Boston.

“When are you back in LA?” Lily asked. Although an innocent question, they both knew it was a way to ask when they’d be even further away from each other.

“Somewhere during the week,” Matt thought for a bit. “Gonna have to ask Nick for the exact time though but we’ll definitely be back there before the weekend.”

“Any plans already made? Except for all the videos y’all have to make.”

“To be honest, yes,” Matt sighed. He was happy to get back into a routine but he knew the next weeks were about to be busy. “We’ll start filming again soon, especially the podcasts. But the first thing on the agenda is just a concert with Madi.”

“Oh that’s nice, who are y’all seeing?”

“Travis Scott, you like him?”

“I can’t really say because I haven’t listened to him properly like–” Lily scrolled through her Spotify to see if she knew some of his songs. “I only listen to one song from Chris’s Playlist: NO BYSTANDERS. Haven’t checked anything else to be honest.”

“That’s a good one”, Matt approved. “Might send you a live clip if you want.”

“Please do”, Lily gladly accepted the offer. “Do you often go to concerts? I remember talking about mine but I can’t recall if you did the same.”

“That’s because we don’t go very often,” Matt chuckled as he reassured the girl that her memory wasn’t faulty. “Apart from Tril or Skies, this is one of the very few we’re doing without knowing the artists beforehand.”

“You saw Skies? That’s so cool!”

“You didn’t know?” Matt sounded confused.

“Was I supposed to?” Lily felt confused too. “Oh my god, have I forgotten? I’m sorry, I swear I pay attention to what you say the rest of the time!”

“No, no it’s not you. Have you been on Instagram or TikTok?”

“Hmm not since yesterday I think”, Lily replied as she went to check the first of the two applications before letting out a gasp. “You went on the fucking stage?!”

“Yeah”, Matt said with a small laugh at Lily’s shock. “Thought you knew and that’s where you were going with the conversation.”

“I had no idea bro. You and Chris look so happy damn, I’m truly glad for y’all.”

Replaying some videos, Lily was truly enjoying watching her two friends enjoying this experience. The smiles on Chris’s and Matt’s faces were enough to make one appear on her face as well. Lily was just silently looking at more videos, which led Matt to wonder about her not talking anymore.

“You good?” Matt asked after a couple of minutes of not hearing anything. “You’re unusually quiet.”

“Sorry,” Lily apologised by instinct. “I’m just so happy for you, it seems to have been great.”

“It was”, Matt confirmed. “Pros of Chris befriending him, we’re seeing him again in LA when we’re back.”

“Sounds amazing! Only the two of you again or?”

“Nick will come this time”, Matt replied as who else was going to be here. “Madison and her boyfriend too, plus a couple of mutual friends with Skies I think as well.”

“Madison?” Lily repeated as she didn’t know why Matt was using her full name. “Madi, you mean?”

“Madison Beer,” Matt clarified.

To say Lily was shocked was an understatement. She remembered that the triplets had filmed a podcast with the singer Madison Beer, but she hadn’t thought about them actually hanging out together after their collaboration.

“I am so jealous right now”, Lily admitted. “Y’all are so famous actually.”

“More like we’re friends with famous people though,” Matt denied. He and his brothers didn’t like to think of themselves as celebrities, more as lucky people who eventually managed to be around actual celebrities.

“You’re on the right path though”, Lily countered as she believed that the triplets could achieve so much more than they already had and would be even more successful as time would pass. “I entered your life early enough not to be a gold digger.”

“Please don’t joke about that, I’d feel terrible.” Matt didn’t want to be too dramatic so he let out a small laugh along with Lily's, but he really hoped deep down that this situation would never happen to his friend.

“Sorry, but for now it’s not happening so no worries.” Although he couldn’t see her, Lily was smiling at Matt being concerned about her. “I’ll stay in the dark and be the mysterious five-star baker that appeared once in a vlog.”

“That’s perfect.”

A comfortable silence then took place. Matt and Lily simply basked in the peaceful quiet between them before the girl found a new subject of discussion:

“By the way”, she started. “Have y’all seen the comments on the vlog we did together? I swear they’ve been cracking me and Alex up for the entire weekend.”

This is something Matt hadn’t expected to talk with Lily as he was now hoping that she hadn’t read anything that she didn’t like. However, given that Lily was introducing the matter with a positive tone, Matt felt glad even though he could probably guess that it was the comments he hadn’t liked very much when reading them.

“Can you believe people are shipping me and Chris? For literally thirty seconds!”

While Lily was chuckling at the ridiculous thought of her being with the youngest triplet, Matt had no choice but to lightly laugh with her, although a bitter feeling rose in him.

“That’s insane yeah…”

Although Matt thought he was hiding his annoyance, Lily immediately picked up on it and was confused about it. Was she imagining it? Were the triplets mad that people had commented about that? Lily knew that they were sometimes cases of Matt and Chris randomly being shipped with people – it had unfortunately happened with Madison Beer when they released their podcast with her – so she was now scared that this was going to be a problem for her friendship with the triplets.

“Is Chris mad?” Lily quietly asked, afraid of the answer she would get. “I’m sorry, I should have toned down my attitude but I just felt comfortable with y’all. I swear I didn’t want to create any issue–”

“Lily stop”, Matt quickly interrupted as he was surprised at Lily’s thought process. “No one’s mad about anything, don’t worry.”

“You’re sure?” She couldn’t help but want to confirm.

“Yes, I am. Chris and Nick actually found those comments hilarious, I’m just silly grumpy me so no worries.”

“M’kay, I’ll trust you on this one and let it slide.”

Although Lily knew that something more might be going on, she didn’t pry for more information and Matt was glad that he didn’t have to explain his stupid jealousy. Lily wasn’t one to force people to tell her everything and if Matt had anything to say to her, she knew that he would. Communication was a key element of their friendship, but small matters like that fortunately didn’t need full transparency.

After this small discussion, Matt and Lily kept talking about their plans to come as Lily was trying to get information on future video topics that the triplets would film. Matt just told her that videos regarding Halloween were going to be posted during the week but this was all Lily could have for now as Matt didn’t want to spoil her. They then hung up when Alex called Lily for dinner and promised each other to call again soon, even if their respective lives would get busy. 

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[hierophantmeme]

The Only Place in the Universe

Jonny Ariga x AFAB!Reader

Some Quick Notes:

It's been a few months since I've played Catherine: Full Body so some stuff might be wrong. I also kept trying to look for the picture of Area 15 but couldn't find it again. I know there's probably no hill there but I made it up for the a e s t h e t i c.

This fanfic takes place during the Katherine route of Catherine: Classic so no Rin :( I wanted to put her in the story but I haven't finished her route yet.

Content contains: No y/n, reader has never been in a relationship before, slow burn, SFW, she/her pronouns are used

Jonathan Ariga hadn’t changed much from when you first met him all those years ago. Recently, however, you noticed he was becoming much more irritable and closed off. This was even before all the nightmare nonsense began. As much as you wanted to say something to him, you couldn’t bring yourself to do so because of your stupid attraction towards him. That and he was just always difficult to talk to. 

The ones you were closest to in the group were Vincent Brooks and Erica Anderson. When you first transferred to the high school in Neo-Brooklyn and a group of mean-spirited girls kept picking on you, they were the first ones to stand up for you. They then introduced you to the rest of their friends and the rest is history. 

You quickly got along with Orlando Haddick and Katherine McBride, but Jonny was a different story. He took a lot longer to warm up to you. At first, you thought he was like that to only you, but you soon learned that he was like that to everyone. Over the years, you had learned a lot about him, but despite that, he was still a mystery to you. Maybe it was because he kept to himself most of the time or because he was always helping his dad with the used car business. You expressed your concerns about him to your friends but they told you that it was no use because he was always very defensive when it came to confronting his own feelings. You felt like there had to be some way to get through to him but without knowing the right words to say without sounding too intrusive, you decided to leave it as is. 

The thought of seeing Jonny in a romantic light never crossed your mind until just recently. Occasionally, he’d tell you about his girl troubles, so you were aware that he never harbored feelings for you. And at the time, you were okay with that since you, too, only liked him platonically. 

But now, things were different…

Do I only like him like that out of pity? After seeing all his failed relationships and knowing him for so long I feel like I could treat him better. But should I be thinking that? If I say anything, would it ruin our friendship?

That last thought was all you needed to stay silent. If he never harbored romantic feelings for you in the past, why would he now? It would pain you to no longer be able to hang out with him, but at the same time, it still hurt. After all, how can you get over someone you practically have to see every day? You could of course stop going to the Stray Sheep with everyone but that would raise too much suspicion and would make you look like a complete bitch. Or you could just lie and tell them you were depressed, although that was actually becoming more true each day. 

You tried to tell them one day but felt you had no right to call yourself depressed over some silly little crush when one of your best friends was clearly suffering a lot more than you were. 

“YOU’RE CHEATING ON KATHERINE?” Tobias Nebbins practically exclaims to the whole planet.

“Shhhhh! Not so loud! Maybe. I don’t know. It just kind of happened,” Vincent tries explaining to you all.

“I dunno, man. It looks like you knew exactly what you were doing… now tell us the details. Was she hot?” Orlando asks.

“Gross,” You say to him while kicking his leg lightly.

“Hey! What? I’m kidding!”

“This isn’t the time for jokes, and don’t assume shit. We don’t know the full story yet.”

“Do we need to though? It’s no surprise since Vince hasn’t exactly been the happiest with his woman. If this new chick is hot then that’s all we need to-” Toby is interrupted by your hand covering his mouth.

“Ugh. You guys are horrible friends. Look, it doesn’t matter whether this woman was ‘hot’ or not. What matters is what actually happened and how Vincent feels about it,” you try to reason.

“Hey, sweetie, I know you usually give people the benefit of the doubt but no matter how you look at it, it’s pretty obvious what’s going on,” Erica tries to convince you. You give her an irritated look as you now feel defeated. “Besides, haven’t you guys heard the rumors about what happens to cheaters? If they don’t come clean to their partners and die in their dreams, they die in real life. It’s just a rumor, I know, but you can never be too careful.”

“So, are you going to tell Katherine?” Jonny asks Vincent.

“No, because nothing happened between me and this other woman. I don’t need to worry her over this. When I see that mysterious girl again I’m gonna tell it to her straight,” Vincent reassures everyone.

“Promise?” Erica demands.

“I promise!”

You don’t know if it was your imagination but Jonny began to look irritated towards Vincent for the first time ever. It was weird to think that because he, Vincent, and Orlando were practically inseparable. While the others may be quick to blame Vincent, you knew better. He wasn’t that kind of person. Even if something did happen, he was just confused and scared about his future with Katherine. There really had to be something more than meets the eye, and you were annoyed that not even his friends would believe him. 

_____________________

It turned out that the rumors Erica was talking about held some weight. As the week dragged on, more and more reports about men passing away in their sleep were announced. Some were even people who frequented the very bar you went to with your friends every night. The atmosphere in town was eerie and you couldn’t help but think that one of your friends could be next. The only people in your group who didn’t have nightmares were you and Toby, but you still couldn’t sleep well from the anxiety. 

Seven days had passed since Vincent first had nightmares and saw the mysterious woman he still couldn’t get rid of. Orlando and Jonny also started experiencing nightmares a few days later. It didn’t make sense why they had them, though. Neither of them were cheaters as far as anyone was concerned. Even Erica started to have them and she wasn’t even a dude, unless of course maybe it affected anyone assigned male at birth, but that still didn’t explain why Toby didn’t have them. It was all so confusing. 

That night, you showed up at the Stray Sheep as Toby and Orlando were about to leave. Toby tells you that Jonny isn’t feeling well. After trying to comfort Vincent who had apparently just told the mysterious woman the truth, you text Jonny to check in on him. 

Hey, dude. Toby said you weren’t feeling well. Is everything okay?

The day before, you hung out with him at the bar while everyone else went home. He was in deep distress, nearly drowning himself in alcohol which he very rarely ever did. 

It was about his girlfriend and how he felt bad that he didn’t want to marry her because he had someone else on his mind. You were secretly hoping it was you but once he told you that it was someone who was already in a relationship, your heart sank in its chest. But because you knew what it felt like to have your love unrequited, you validated his feelings.

You were also upfront with him and told him that he should tell the truth to his girlfriend; that he no longer wanted to continue the relationship with her. In addition, you suggested that he should still tell the woman he was pining for how he felt, even if he knew she wouldn’t like him back. A piece of advice you probably should take, too. Of course, that would be easier said than done. 

You sat at a table away from Vincent to give him space and awaited a reply from Jonny. Five minutes had passed but there was no response. Erica sits down next to you.

“You okay? Something bothering you?” She asks. 

Your face begins to turn red. No one knows about the idiotic feelings you have for your friend. You tried hard not to say anything but if you don’t tell someone about it now, you feared you might lose it. 

“Can I tell you something?” you turn to face her.

“Sure what’s up!”

“Promise you won’t laugh or judge me. I’ve been doing enough of that to myself,” you say with a nervous laugh.

“I work at a bar. I’m sure I’ve heard worse,” she smiles. “You can trust me.”

You sigh, trying to put all your thoughts together. This was it. It was the first time you would admit, out loud, your romantic feelings for him. 

“I have a crush on Jonny.” You rest your forehead on the table and cross your arms. If only you were a turtle so you could hide inside your shell, but this would do for now. 

“Hey it’s okay,” Erica says while patting your head. “I kind of already knew. Let me guess, you realized it about… hmmm… five or six months ago?”

You sit back up in bewilderment of the words she spoke just now. “How did you-?”

“Oh it was easy. The way you interacted with him was a bit different around that time. You started being a lot nicer to him and your eyes started having a little twinkle whenever you looked at him.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about it?”

“Because you always seem pretty sure about things. Figured you’d say something first soon. Although, I’m surprised you two haven’t gotten together after this long. But it’s still Jonny. You deserve waaaaay better.”

“I myself keep wondering why I even like him, but how are you surprised that we haven’t gotten together? Just look at him and all the girls he’s dated. He goes after girls that look like models. I’m nowhere near as gorgeous as them.”

“First of all, shut up. He needs his eyes checked because I think you’re beautiful. Secondly, I guess I thought he’d grow out of being so shallow. I know he’s a man so maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part but I think personality-wise, you two would be perfect for each other. You still deserve better but I can see why your heart would yearn for him. If he ever breaks up with his girlfriend, you should tell him!”

“I can’t”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s in love with someone else. He didn’t tell me who it was but he said it was someone who was already in a relationship. So yeah, that automatically removes me from being a possibility.”

You sit in silence with her for a few seconds. “It may take some time but I have full faith that one day he’ll see just how awesome you are.” Her words comfort you.

Before you spoke, a notification on your phone appeared. 

I deserve it.

“Is that him?” Erika asks trying to peer over at your phone and you nod. “I gotta clean up now. But remember, you can come to me for anything.” You thank her and begin texting again. 

Deserve what?

To be alone forever.

Did you break up with her?

Yeah, but maybe I shouldn’t have.

I’m confused. I thought you didn’t want to be with her anymore.

I don’t know. I don’t anymore. Why do you even care? 

Because you’re my friend. Okay? Where are you right now?

I’m not telling you.

You don’t have to. I think I know where you are.  

You headed out to your car and drove to a small hill in Neo-Brooklyn Park that overlooks the city. It was his favorite place to go after a breakup. You parked your car and made your way up the hill. Jonny rested up against the large tree that towered above. He turns his head to see you walking towards him.

“How’d you know I was here?” he asks.

“Vince and Orlando told me they found you here once after you broke up with a girl in your freshman year of high school. Then that time after you broke up with that one girl from English class after graduation, we came in to check on you. We checked in on you after your breakups a few times after that but we haven’t done it in years. I figured it might still be an old habit of yours.” You sat down next to him. 

“Stalkers,” he says with a slight chuckle then takes a puff of smoke from his cigarette. God, he looks so pretty under the moonlit sky. As you were admiring him, you noticed that he had tear stains adorning his cheeks.

“That’s what you get for worrying us all the time. Instead of talking to us, you just run away. What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t care and something were to happen to you? Huh?”  A silence enveloped the atmosphere. There was so much you were trying to hold back. 

Tell him you love him.

Wipe his tears away.

Hug him. 

Ask if you could kiss him. 

You quickly snapped out of it, because you knew he didn’t need that from you right now. “About what you said earlier, you don’t deserve to be alone forever.”

“But I didn’t tell her the truth sooner. She could’ve found someone better by now if I had. I just held her back from finding someone they truly deserve. I held all of my past girlfriends back. I was so mean to them and never listened. I’m such a horrible person.”

“You’re not the only person who’s ever felt like this, you know. You learn from your mistakes and now you move on. Just because you’ve failed at your past relationships, doesn’t mean you should give up on love altogether now.”

“I guess that makes sense. To tell you the truth, I kind of blamed you for what happened at first because I thought, ‘What would she know about relationships?’, but I guess you’re right. You’re so smart when it comes to all of this. How come you’ve never had a partner before? I bet you’d have no problems navigating relationships, unlike the rest of us.”

“That’s probably what everyone thinks at first, no? That they wouldn’t fuck anything up but then something happens. I’ve seen it way too much in my family and, not to be rude, but in our little friend group as well. I guess I’m just scared and analyze everything too much… But this isn’t about me right now. What’s on your mind, boy? And don’t give me that ‘Nothing. I’m okay’ crap.”

The slight breeze in the air ruffles his hair as he takes a couple more drags from his cigarette before speaking: “Katherine…”

“What?”

“You heard me”

“Like, as in Vincent’s pregnant fiance?”

“Yeah. I know it’s stupid, right?”

You try to collect your thoughts before you speak. “It is stupid, I agree. But it also isn’t. Sometimes we want people we can’t have and that’s normal. It’s not their fault and it’s not ours. I think the hardest part is trying to accept that fact and move on. But if things don’t work out with them, you should still tell her to find some closure. Vincent should know about it, too.”

“Do you think he’ll hate me after that?”

“Probably, but if you guys really are true friends, then you’ll withstand any challenge that comes your way. Besides, bottling it up is not good for you. The first step is admitting it to someone you trust, so you’re already on the right track.” You tap on his shoulder. “C’mon lover boy, it’s getting late. You should get some rest. Well, that’s if the nightmares will spare you for tonight.”

________________

A few days later, the nightmare-related deaths stopped and things between Vincent and Katherine ended up working out. You asked Jonny if he still wanted to tell them but he decided against it. He was just glad to see that his friends were happy together. Whatever happened during that week didn’t just change things for the soon-to-be-wed couple (with no child as it turned out Kat wasn’t actually pregnant), but it changed everyone else’s mindset, too. There were fewer cases of cheating in all of Area 15, Orlando got back with his ex and opened his dream business, and Jonny made it his mission to slow down and find his soulmate. You teased him a bit for that but it was nice to see him be more open about things with you all. 

You decided that it was best not to tell him about your love for him, at least not now. Maybe you would later, but you wanted to give him time to recover from all that had happened. Seeing your friends happy in their relationships now and Jonny’s optimism helped rid your fears of being in a committed relationship yourself. 

Vince and Katherine decided to get married as soon as possible. On the day of the wedding, Erica helped do your hair and makeup. The two of you were going to be Kat’s bridesmaids along with some ladies from her work. You didn’t wear dresses or makeup too often so it kind of felt weird to you, but didn’t mind it too much. You were just glad to be a part of your friends’ special day. 

You saw Jonny at the reception. He was one of Vince’s best men alongside Toby, Orlando, and a few other familiar faces. It was weird seeing him dressed up as he was usually wearing jeans, a plain white button-up, and his signature dark-brown belted coat. Nonetheless, he looked as handsome as ever. He was what your eyes kept searching for that entire day. You knew you couldn’t bear to see him anymore after this if you wanted to move on. After the wedding, you still hung around with everyone else but made it your objective to not see him as much anymore. 

However, with the space colony of Area 15 being as small as it is, it was hard not to bump into him. Over the next year, neither of you had found a sweetheart. You hadn’t spent time with him one-on-one since his last breakup when you sat with him on the hill until he sent you the message that would lead to what you only thought was possible in your dreams. 

Hey, you busy tomorrow night?

No, why?

There’s something I need to talk to you about.

Is everything okay?

Yeah, I guess. There’s just been a lot on my mind and you’re the only one I can talk to about it.

Okay. What time tomorrow and where?

Is 8 pm at the hill in the park fine? 

Wait, did you break up with someone again? I didn’t think you were dating anyone right now.

I’m not, so no I didn’t break up with anyone. This is about something else entirely actually. But can we save that for tomorrow? 

Yeah, sure. I’ll be there.

After work the next day, you came home and ate dinner before changing and heading off to meet Jonny. You decided to wear something casual since he was probably just going to talk about his romantic struggles with you and ask for your advice again. Or if it was concerning something more serious, you didn’t want to wear anything flashy or colorful. With that, you made your way to the hill not expecting the events that were about to unfold.

“Hey, Jonnyboy. What’s up?” You greet him. He’s lying down on a blanket but gets up when he hears your voice.

“Oh, hey! I’m glad you could make it. Here,” he scoots over to make space for you. “Lay down here and look up at the sky,” you do as he requests. “Don’t the stars look beautiful tonight?”

“They do, but they look beautiful every night,” you reply.

“I know, but it’s different tonight.”

You were confused as to why he had you looking at the night sky right now. “So did you want to talk about something?”

“Yeah, but right now I just want to look at the sky.”

He started pointing out constellations and babbling on about mythological deities and weird superstitions about love. 

“What's gotten into you, idiot? I thought you wanted to talk about something serious not about Greek gods and their drama,” you tease him. In reality, you could listen to hours upon hours of his voice that was as sweet as the ambrosia the gods he was talking about ate. 

“I do. I’m just… stalling I suppose,” he says while turning his head to you. “Can I ask you something rather personal?”

“It depends… but sure. Okay.”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but I’m just curious. What would you look for in a partner?”

I blush and turn my head away so he doesn’t see it. “I- I dunno… does it m-matter? I’ve accepted the fact that at this point in my life, I’m probably not going to find anyone.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well I’ve never been the subject of anyone’s dreams or desires. Plus, every time I’ve like someone, they either reject me or they’re already with someone else. I kind of feel hopeless, you know?”

“And what if I told you, you were wrong?”

You turn to face him now. “What do you mean?”

“Because as of late,” he turns his whole body to the side to face me, “you’ve been the only subject of my dreams.”

Your eyes feel like they could pop out of your skull. Your heart almost leaped out of your chest. Is it finally happening?

“Jonny…” You say as your hand covers your mouth. The clear little dots that were the stars now blurred together in your vision. You closed your eyes as tears made their way down your cheek.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” he props himself up and puts his hand on your shoulder.

“Not it’s not your fault. I’m just shocked that’s all,” you break down, sobbing. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” He gently helps you up and wraps his arms around you, ”I’ve got you.”

“Do you know how much pain you’ve caused me? How long I’ve wanted you? What made you realize now?”

“I’m surprised. You wanted me? I thought you were too cool to want to be with someone like me seeing as how you’re originally from Earth. As for how long I’ve wanted to be with you, I started thinking about you a lot since the wedding. You looked so stunning, but I didn’t realize yet how special you were to me. Then it seemed like you were trying to avoid me. I was used to seeing you nearly every day, so when it went from weeks to months that I didn’t see you or talk to you like before, I started thinking. My life was much more dull when you weren’t around and you were the only one that understood how I felt all these years. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner. I’m sorry for being a dumbass.”

“You’re not a dumbass. I don’t blame you one bit. If anyone here’s the dumbass it’s me for trying to distance myself from you. All the girls you’ve been with in the past were so much prettier than me so I just assumed that you’d never be interested in me. And I know I’m not originally from here, but this is my home now. Never will I ever think that I’m better than anyone here. In fact it’s the opposite,” you look up into his eyes while clinging onto his shirt, ”the people here are much more interesting and understanding than where I come from. I’m glad that out of all the places they could’ve sent me, they sent me here. It’s the only place in the universe with you in it, after all.”

You knew his eyes were brown, but you never knew they were the color of warm coffee that could wake someone up and make the day more bearable. His embrace melted away any tension you had built up in your body. The moonlight showered you with the confidence you wished you had since the first time you met him. At this moment, nothing mattered except for the feeling of his soft, tender lips against yours. He tasted mostly sweet with a slight hint of bitter nicotine that you were surprised wasn’t overwhelming with just how much he smokes. 

It was more intoxicating than any alcoholic beverage you’ve ever had. More addicting than any drug that existed in the universe. The kiss grew stronger and more passionate. It felt like an eternity had passed before you both pulled away to catch your breaths. He cups your cheeks with his hands and examines your features closely.

“You’re so beautiful and I’m still angry at myself for not seeing it until now. How could the universe leave such a goddess like yourself alone for this long?”

“I’m no goddess,” you blush harder and bury your face in his chest. “I think it’s because I kept my heart locked away and you were the only one who had the key.”

“Well, I’m glad I finally realized I had it and that we’re here together now. I won’t let you slip away from me ever again.”

“And I promise I won’t run away from you again.”

[shitty-fallout-art]

There's nothing to suggest this, but what if the institute was funding raider gangs (either directly hiring or teleporting resources like bullets and chems to their scavenging locations) to keep the commonwealth unstable.

I also think Fallout 4 would have been cool if it had an almost medieval world design. Small wood and stone cabins like skyrim (not the details, just the structure), but with electric lights and components like car doors, aeroplane seats, and road signs for doors, seating, and walls (for example).

I misread medieval as medical and was like ‘yeah, a scifi dystopia faction that was all about new upgrades and technologies and slowly loosing touch with their own humanity’.

But yeah, considering that’s how actual governing bodies work, and there’s canon to support the institute implanting spies, soldiers, etc, into settlements, it stands to reasons that they would go out of their way to keep things hectic. Urge always believed that, even if people think it’s. Cheap excuse to keep the commonwealth a unified wasteland. I mean, hell, they probably release chems into communities the way the cia starts crack addition in local neighborhoods, and for the same reason more or less.

But yeah, I think, the way most modern people thbk, very few of us would know how to survive without modern comforts. It would take the world relearning how to do basic shit like farming correctly or making clothes that peopel who live in Orlando would be unable to do. After. Few hundred years the excuse becomes inexcusable, but still somewhat understandable a, and really a lot of settlements imo do have that sort of vibe. Small wooden hosues with electric lighting and stone furnaces. A blend of modern and traditional.

Sorry I’m a bit drunk but I agree

[itdisneymatter]

Day 01 - Islands Of Adventure

The short

Islands of Adventure today. First full day and it couldnt have been a more perfect first day of our holiday. Once in the park proer, we made a bee line to Hogsmeade and did Forbidden Journey (gold standard as always) and then Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. And Magical it was, such a great ride and experience, it was fantastic. Jurassic Park next, River Adventure and the super speedy, super awesome Velocicoaster DONE. BAAACK to Hogsmeade to do Flight of the Hippogryph and Hagrid’s again (yup). Pretty much walked on to the Hulk, then Kong and finally Spiderman and the day was done. Very chill day which we didnt expect and ride times were all surprisingly reasonable.. Met up with Pauline and Kevin and went to Chilis for dinner where we were reminded very strongly about how big portion sizes were - IT. WAS. A. STRUGGLE, but very good and great to meet up with the family (not for the first time, I may add - details below). Very tired by the end but overall we all had a very very enjoyable day. Heading to Universal Studios tomorrow with Pauline, Kevin, Emily and Kelly - really looking forward to it.

The long

First off, I am tired writing this as its been a pretty long but very pleasurable day, so please excuse the mistakes, blandness and lack of edit photographs (or even photosgraphs), it’ll get better once I get acclimatized… probably. Please also forgive the fact that this may descend into an incoherent scrawl as I have my first glass of the new whisky at hand as I write this, and it may not be my last as it it very, very nice…

Of all the gin joints in all the towns…

So before I head into today, Ill just give a little recap of some of the events of last night that failed to go into the yesterdays update. Picked up the car after flying through security at the airport and decided to head to Disney Springs to pick up the Magic Bands for our upcoming Disney parks this week. Oh and as soon as we stepped out into Orlando air, the heat just hit us, not too hot - a very pleasant warmth but glad that we dressed for the occasion beforehand. And our car was huge, so spacious and easily devoured all ten of our cases and bags with room to spare. Took about an hour from the airport and by change we parked at the nearest car park to Planet Hollywood which was the place we had to pick up our bands. We were tempted so much to stay at Disney Springs for a while because it felt so familiar and exciting, but came to our senses as it was getting on in the day and headed to the hotel to check-in (and get our smoothies #nom), unpack and get base camp established. And although we were kinda shattered from all of our travels, we headed out to Walmart to get some essential supplies in. Now Walmart is frickin’ huge, its like Asda on Steroids, which then had a baby with Costco and you could easily get lost in it. And who did we bump in to? Pauline and Kevin and the girls (my sister and brother in law for those who dont know). Absolutely crazy and completely unplanned, what are the chances??? So yeah, we were stood in the middle of Walmart catching up and getting the low down on what they’d been up to. It was really nice to meet them out and about even though we had plans to do so this week. So after we said our goodbyes, we returned to the hotel and we all pretty much crashed out.

And now…

This morning I woke up at 5am. Why was this you ask? Maybe it was it my body clock adjusting? Or the heat just getting too much? Nope, it due to an alarm going off, the alarm that Ann had set on her phone to get us up for our flight the DAY BEFORE! I was able to get back for a short sleep though before we woke up proper and we were all the better for a good night sleep.

So on to Islands of Adventure today, our first of the two Universal parks we were doing back to back to kick off the week. We decided to ease ourselves into it, as we had to get our tickets and the accessibility pass organized which would take a little time at guest services. There was a buzz of excitement and familiarity as we parked up in the Jurassic Park carpark and walked down the moving walkway. And the Jurassic Park theme tune playing (which is possibly one of the most emotive movie themes ever), was the icing on the cake. We got to the gate and took our our embarrassingly huge A4 printout to get into the park (I find it pretty crazy Universal still rely on paper and pen for these things). The person scanning us in called everyone by their correct names as we entered one by one, well everyone except me. He called me Gerald. Now, I’ll take this time to recall an event from the evening before - whilst waiting on our Smoothies at the hotel, we came across a whole bunch of keyrings with names, one of which had a similar name to Gerald - Geraldo. I joked at the time about having been referred to that as a friendly moniker occasionally in the past and how it would be funny if I purchased said keyring as a joke. Well, the dude at the gate just gave me a big push in that direction and then having seen a stroller in the park not a 100 yards from that point with the family name of Geraldo, my fate i now sealed.

Guest Services. The girl assisting Ann, Lexi could not have been more helpful and pleasant. Right, I get it , I know this is their job and they get paid to do it, but I’ll tell you what I havent seen such kindness and willingness to help from random people in a long while. and it really didnt stop there. Such nice people here (be warned I fear I may say this a lot on this trip).

So on to Hogsmeade and the plan was to get a return time for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (which I will be calling Hagrid’s from this point on), and ride another Harry Potter ride while we wait. We had been forewarned about how excellent Hagrid’s would be by Michael & SJ, so kinda hyped for it. Decided to do Forbidden Journey while waited, and I couldnt quite believe that the wait time was only 15 minutes! The queue experience was excellent and this has been an outstanding ride in the past, so to see this at 20 minutes, that cray-cray. Pauline and Kev had said the parks were a little quieter but I really didn’t expect this. Hopefully a sign of good things to come. So the five of us strolled through Hogwarts halls, wearing our custom HP t-shirts, and we laughed and reminisced about previous years, even way back to the first year when it was only Ann & I as the children were all too small to ride. Happy times at Hogwarts.

Oh yeah the custom t-shirts (see I told you this was going to be all over the place). I’ll mention this only because it’ll matter later, but one of the sets of t-shirts we did (and we did 3 sets in total), was personalised t-shirts with quotes and character references from Harry Potter, all in Gryffindor colours. Ann had Dobby, Grace had Luna, Patrick had Fawkes, Robert had Hagrid and I had the Deathly Hallows. We didnt really have the time to make them so close to the holiday in hindsight but really glad we did.

Anyway, me and my soon to be sidekick for all park rides Grace, were in one cart and the other three in another. It was just like I remembered, and Grace loved it too (though closed her eyes at the spiders). Very enjoyable first ride of the holiday, scores out of ten below.

GG 8.5

AG 7

PG 8

RG 8

GG2 8.5

Now I and the other have adjusted these scores, in anticipation for the newer rides (Im looking at you Rise of the Resistance), so they may have slipped from previous years, but this is still fairly respectable overall.

Hagrids next and again the girl at the gate, Autumn was so amazingly nice. We had an issue getting a retun time for another ride, so she gave us 5 free tickets to walk on to any other ride later in the day and when I had problems with my locker she gave me a comp locker ticket without question. They dont need to do this, but it really made it so special for us. Just utterly humbled by the whole thing.

So Hagrids, aye well to start I was on the motorbike and Grace in the side car, with the rest of the troops not far behind. And it was so utterly, gob smackingly fantastic - I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time (while holding on to the handlebars for dear life). Everyone loved it and Grace screamed 10. 10. 10. 10. no 11, can I give it an 11?…. as we came off the ride and couldnt wait for me to ask her her rating. Ive said we should also give a ride a star everyday and Hagrids got five stars, it was that good.

GG 9

AG 10

PG 8.5

RG 9

GG2 10 (just 10 grace)

Had to get a Butterbeer (so good), and we then headed off to get a return time for the next coaster - VELOCICOASTER! We decided to come back and do Flight of the Hippogryph at a later time.

Life finds a way

We managed to get a return time for Velcicoaster which everyone apart from Ann decided to do. Yes, even Patrick “I dont do Rollercoasters” Gaffney decided he would go on it. No coaxing, arm twisting nothing. It was a big thing for him as hes not good with heights at all and it was a big one, so we dont to PG for stepping up to the plate. Meanwhile Robert “I love all the coasters” Gaffney, had been waiting all day for it!

Jumped on Sadie’s favourite ride, River Adventure, while we waited to go back, and we survived unscathed (well unwet, if thats such a thing). Funny thing as we were waiting in the queue, I had to borrow Anns prescription sunglasses as I couldnt read my phone clearly. Definitely felt old, if I didnt already at that point! Scores on the doors for this one were:

GG 7

AG 6

PG 7

RG 7

GG2 7

Back to Velocicoaster at our return time and the tension was building. Ann took some time out to go fill our unlimited refillable drinks and we hesitantly shuffled to the ride entrance. Grace was getting a little nervous, and even more by the fact it was only 2 persons wide as she would be on the end. But she wanted to try at least once, and to her and everyones elses credit, they did great. But boy, was it fast. Superfast really, reaching up to 70mph at one of the loops, and although that doesnt sound like much, it felt very very much. Robert had it as a definite contender for best ride, and Patrick thoroughly enjoyed it, which was great to hear.

GG 9

AG -

PG 8.5

RR 9

GG 9

We decided to use our free tickets we got earlier to do Hagrid’s again whilst it was still within walking distance, so back to Hogsmeade we went. The day was pretty easy going so didnt fell like were had to hurry through anythng at any point which was a nice feeling, so backtracking really wasnt an issue.

Flight of The Hippogryph. It was very short, just like this paragraph so heres the scores:

GG 6.5

AG 5

PG 6.5

RG 6.5

GG 6.5

Seriously though, still a nice wee ride, but when you now need to factor in the newcomers, it starts to slip.

The Fountain of Knowledge

Whilst taking a break before doing Hagrid’s again, we decided to sit on the edge of a nice water fountain in The Lost Continent area. I took my camera out for the first time (hence the lack of photographs, but that will definitely be changing as of tomorrow), and took a few shots of Grace. All of a sudden the fountain started speaking to us! It was surreal. His name was apparenlt Finneus (yeah Finneus the Fountain) and complimented us on our tshirts and asked where we were from. And on hearing that we hailed from Scotland, he put on a poor scottish accent (as you do or at least as others do) and asked about Haggis, the weather and the MIDGES, all the while cracking jokes. It was hilarious and so surreal. It was things like this that made our day get better and better. And it really didnt stop there. So we then got into the queue at Hagrids with our free passes, only to be called back hurriedly by one of the ride ushers. We thought we had done something wrong, but they wanted to see our custom T-shirts! And they were so impressed by them, that they told us to keep our free tickets as they were going to walk us all right to the front of the ride! We just couldnt believe it. It was EVEN better then second time, so better in fact I increased my score to 9.5. As we were leaving we thanks the crew, and they then asked if we wanted to do it again. WHAT??? It was insane, so yeah back to the front of the line yet again for our third time around Hagrids. Such a crazy series of events and special shout out to Justin, Andrea and Jake for that, absolutely buzzing after it and definitely worth eeking out the time to get the thsirts designed and printed.

To wrap up the day, we got a return time for Kong and while waiting for that headed to The Hulk. The ride Grace had been desperately wanting to try since the last time when she was too short to ride. The queue time was only TEN MINUTES!!! Just me, Robert and Grace for this one and Grace, who had been a bit shaky after Velocicoaster was starting to get a little anxious for it. She gripped my handed as we headed off from the platform, and after the first look I heard her screaming. Thinking that she it was too much for her, I looked over only to see her screaming with joy and we twisted upside side down and around and around and around. She exited with the words, BEST RIDE EVER! although her heart won out as she ultimately settled on Hagrids as her most favourite ride experience of the day. I was a little apprehensive about The Hulk after riding Velocicoaster, not living up to the memory and would pale in comparison to the newer tech rides. But it did not disappoint, it was everything I remembered it was, great solid ride and one I would happily go on again and again (which coincidently is what Grace said she wanted to do). One of Robert favourite ride from last time, and he felt the same way to.

GG 9

AG -

PG -

RG 8.5

GG2 10

Penultimate ride of the day - Skull Island: Reign of Kong and although I couldnt remember much from last time, it was really great and mixed visual effects, motion effects and animatronics really well.

GG 8.5

AG 7.5

PG 7.5

RG 8

GG 8

And finally Spiderman. Showing its age a little now, but still a good ride with lots of great sequences.

GG 7.5

AG 7

PG 7

RG 7

GG 7

And with that, we were done with the Islands of Adventure for the day. Honestly so overwhelmed by it all, and cant say enough how much of an amazing day we all had. If every day turned out to be half as good as this, it will be a fantastic trip.

And for dinner we caught up with Pauline, Kevin, Emily and Kelly after a quick change and headed to Chilis. Having only had a snack as we werent really hungry throughout the day, we were ready for it! We sat down to a a plethora of home made chips/nachos, cheese, chicken tenders, wings, bites, sizzling fajitas, corn and the biggest mozzarella sticks on the planet. Of course, not accounting the portion sizes, I think it defeated most of us in the end (well apart from Kev, Patrick and Robert), so will to take that into account in future. It was a great night made even better by my mum and dad who had given us the funds to cover the meal before we left (thanks guys! :)

Were heading to Universal Studios with P&K tomorrow, so need to be up bright and early, so with that Ill sign off for now. Thanks to those of you who are still here, spk to you tomorrow!

Step count of the day: 20.5k

Star rides: Hagrid’s (5 stars)

[profinishusa]

Car Interior Detailing Orlando | Profinish-usa.com

Make your car look brand new with Profinish-usa.com Car Interior Detailing in Orlando! Our professionals use the best quality products to deliver an exceptional experience and results.

[saleintothe90s]

478. 93 things about 1993, part 4

(part 3)

(source)

18. ValuJet flies for the first time (October 26)

ValuJet's first flight was from Atlanta to Tampa on October 26, 1993. By 1994, the planes with their silly mascot on them had made 15 emergency landings! 1 On June 8, 1995 one of their ancient planes had an engine fire on the tarmac in Atlanta.

We all know what happened to ValuJet just 2 1/2 years later.

19. Kenneth Junior French kills 4 because of "gays in the military". (August 7th)

He got four life terms + an extra 35 years tacked onto his sentence.

Newsweek, February 8, 1993

20. Socks Mania

People went absolutely feral over Bill Clinton's cat, Socks. There was merch:

Such as this Socks cat food container (eBay seller passalong)

This Socks watch that I still remember seeing at my local Kmart in 1996. Yes, the battery was dead. (eBay seller ha-340226)

This socks doll I also remember seeing at Kmart on a family vacation in Ohio that I desperately wanted. (eBay seller 13navybeans)

I don't have the date on it, but here is a clip of kids petting Socks at Christmas.

21. Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett get married (June)

When Roberts returned to the set of The Pelican Brief following her wedding, the cast and crew (including co-star Denzel Washington) threw her a party in which they all wore shirts that read: "He’s A Lovely Boy … But You Really Must Do Something About His Hair" on the back. 2

They only lasted til 1995, but they were cute together.

22. Base Closings (March)

Growing up, I thought this was the first time bases closed in the U.S., ever. No, a whole bunch closed just a couple of years prior!

(source)

23. Florida tourists killed

The state government ordered that all company logos be removed from rental cars, and it abolished special license tags for such vehicles. Rental car agencies now give customers detailed safety brochures in English, Spanish, German and other languages, and they play tape recordings with similar messages over the public address systems in their rental offices every five minutes. 3

There was even a bit in the SNL episode (hosted by Shannen Doherty) where Phil Hartman played Disney's Michael Eisner, alerting tourists that you'll won't get murdered in northern Florida where Disney is:

Hi, I’m Michael Eisner, speaking to you from the Magic Kingdom here in Orlando. You know, for the last few months, Florida has been victim to a terrible tragedy: the horrific murder of nine foreign tourists in Southern Florida. We here in Northern Florida express our sympathies.. to the families of those murdered hundreds of miles away.. in Miami, the capitol of Southern Florida.

8 tourists were killed in 1993. 4

24. Miller Clear

Faced with lackluster sales, the Miller Brewing Company has ended its market test of Miller Clear, the brewing industry's first clear beer. "We're not manufacturing it any longer for the near term," Eric Kraus, a spokesman for the Milwaukee-based brewer, said on Tuesday. "We had a tremendous initial trial, but repeat business was not necessarily as good." The beer that has been made will be sold, but no more will be brewed, Mr. Kraus said. In April, Miller began test-marketing its clear beer in Richmond, Minneapolis and Austin, Tex. 4

(there's some more about it on Weird Universe)

25. Tonya Harding's dress pops (January)

Earlier this year, a snap on her costume broke at the United States championships. At the 1992 Olympic trials, her blades were mounted slightly out of position, leaving her stranded with a broken axel. Skate problems also delayed her arrival at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, where she finished a disappointing fourth. By 1993, fourth was the best she could do at the United States championships. 5

Facebook | Etsy | Retail History Blog | Twitter | YouTube Playlist | Random Post | Ko-fi donation | instagram / threads @thelastvcr​ | tik tok @ saleintothe90s

“ValuJet - Airlinefiles.” n.d. Accessed October 13, 2023. https://airlinefiles.com/valujet?showall=1.

“TBT: Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts Got Married After Dating for Just a Few Weeks.” n.d. InStyle. Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.instyle.com/news/tbt-julia-roberts-lyle-lovett-relationship.

Rohter, Larry. “Tourist Is Killed in Florida Despite Taking Precautions.” The New York Times, September 9, 1993, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/09/us/tourist-is-killed-in-florida-despite-taking-precautions.html.

Clary, Mike. “Woman Confesses to Killing German Tourist, Police Say : Crime: She Reports Being Angered When the Couple Targeted for Robbery Would Not Stop Their Rental Car. A Third Suspect Is Held.” Los Angeles Times. September 11, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-11-mn-34072-story.html.

Longman, Jere. “FIGURE SKATING; For Harding, Not All Sequins and Music.” The New York Times, October 26, 1993, sec. Sports. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/26/sports/figure-skating-for-harding-not-all-sequins-and-music.html. https://archive.ph/G5T63

[datascraping001]

Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists

Car Dealership Email Lists

Contact information for car dealerships across the country is available in Car Dealership Email Lists. The search engine gives you a Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists of all car dealerships, or you can filter by 'new' or 'used' dealers. You can search by States, Counties, Cities and Zip Codes, and search by 100's of demographics, such as employee size and annual sales volume. Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, UAE and Europe.

Data Scraping Services strives to deliver an outstanding Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists for its customers. You will be able to target automobile dealers, automobile manufacturing and auto retail sector through our Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists. Our Car Dealership Database offers accurate, real-time access to a national database of potential auto dealers and car dealers. This document includes names, physical addresses, phone numbers, e- mail addresses, revenue information, license details, etc. Everything you need to know is included within this comprehensive Car Dealership Email Lists. With an accurate Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists of potential customers, you can channel your marketing efforts on your targeted audience easily and with a greater incidence of success.

What Are The Benefits Of Buying A Car Dealership Email Lists?

With 8% growth in vehicle sales in 2022, there has been a 14.3% increase from the previous year. Our Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists can give you the edge you need to stay ahead of the competition. Our Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists can help you find new customers quickly and boost sales if you provide your products or services to car dealerships or plan on getting into business with them.

Do You Want To Advertise To Vehicle Owners In Your Area?

We have Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists of specific types of vehicle owners who live near the dealership, so you can mail them promotions and advertisements. With our service, you don't have to spend hours searching for new leads on the Internet or in white pages directories; we've done the work for you! Get in touch with top decision makers at Car Dealers using our high- quality, current contact information. 90+% of our Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists are accurate. Our prices are extremely competitive and we have low minimums. There is one email address per location in the Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists.  

Top-Performing Industry Mailing Lists

Tattoo Parlors Email List

Tanning Salons Email List

Bowling Centers Email List

Beauty Schools Email List

Sporting Goods Email List

Photographers Email List

Mortgage Consultants Email List

Audiologist Mailing List

Facebook Data Scraping

Wineries Email List

Architect Email List Scraping

Scraping Plumbers Email List

Switzerland B2B Database Provider

Keywords

Car Dealership Email Lists

Car Dealership Mailing Lists

Auto Dealer Email List

Car Dealers List

Automotive Dealers Email List

Auto Dealer Database

Email Database of Car Dealers

Used Car Dealer Email List

Email Auto Dealers List

Car Dealership Database

Best Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists in Various Cities of USA:

Mesa, Phoenix, Bakersfield, Seattle, Wichita, Memphis, Portland, Long Beach, Jacksonville, Tucson, Washington, Houston, Detroit, Oklahoma City, San Jose, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, El Paso, Honolulu, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Raleigh Fresno, Austin, Boston, Sacramento, Nashville, Omaha, New York, Tulsa, Arlington, Miami, Milwaukee, Virginia Beach, New Orleans, Colorado Springs, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Atlanta, San Antonio, Baltimore, Albuquerque, San Diego, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Louisville.

If you are looking for Car Dealership Email Lists - Car Dealership Mailing Lists then drop us an email at info@datascrapingservices.com.

[mannawealthmanagement]

Is $2 Million Enough to Retire at 60 in Florida? [4 Case Studies]

Retirement is a major milestone, and Florida remains one of the top destinations for retirees. With its no state income tax, warm climate, and retirement-friendly lifestyle, the Sunshine State is an attractive option. But is $2 million enough to retire at 60 in Florida? The answer depends on multiple factors, including lifestyle choices, healthcare costs, and financial planning.

This guide provides a detailed breakdown of whether $2 million is sufficient, along with four case studies to illustrate different scenarios.

Factors to Consider When Retiring in Florida With $2 Million

1. Cost of Living in Florida

The cost of living in Florida varies depending on the city. Major metropolitan areas like Miami and Naples have a higher cost of living compared to smaller towns like Ocala or Lakeland.

Housing: A home in Miami may cost $600,000+, whereas in Tampa, a similar home may cost around $400,000.

Utilities & Maintenance: Expect to spend $200–$300 per month.

Groceries & Dining: Roughly $500–$1,000 per month depending on lifestyle.

Transportation: Car payments, insurance, and gas could add up to $500–$800 per month.

Entertainment & Travel: Florida offers an abundance of activities that can cost between $200–$1,000 monthly.

2. Healthcare Costs

Healthcare is a significant expense in retirement. A couple in their 60s may need $300,000+ for healthcare expenses over their lifetime. Consider Medicare premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and supplemental insurance plans.

3. Taxes

Florida has no state income tax, which is beneficial for retirees. However, sales tax (6%–7.5%) and property taxes still apply. Depending on location and exemptions, annual property taxes can range from $2,000 to $10,000.

4. Investment & Income Strategy

With a $2 million portfolio, managing withdrawals efficiently is crucial. Following the 4% withdrawal rule, a retiree can withdraw $80,000 annually. However, market fluctuations and longevity risk should be considered.

A well-structured portfolio managed by professionals like Manna Wealth Management can help optimize investments, minimize risks, and ensure long-term financial security.

Case Study 1: The Modest Retiree (Living on $60,000 Per Year)

Profile:

Retired at 60, living in a mid-sized town like Sarasota.

Owns a mortgage-free home valued at $400,000.

Annual expenses: $60,000.

Financial Plan:

Social Security starts at 67 (~$30,000 per year).

Withdraws $30,000 annually from a $2 million portfolio.

Keeps a conservative portfolio (50% stocks, 50% bonds).

Outcome:

This retiree can comfortably sustain their lifestyle, accounting for inflation and healthcare costs.

Case Study 2: The Luxury Lifestyle Retiree (Living on $120,000 Per Year)

Profile:

Retired at 60 in Miami.

Owns a waterfront condo worth $800,000.

Annual expenses: $120,000.

Financial Plan:

Social Security starts at 67 (~$35,000 per year).

Withdraws $85,000 per year from investments.

Maintains a balanced portfolio (60% stocks, 40% bonds).

Outcome:

A more luxurious lifestyle is possible, but market downturns could impact sustainability. Working with financial advisors like Manna Wealth Management can help ensure long-term stability.

Case Study 3: The Traveler (Living on $90,000 Per Year With Frequent Travel)

Profile:

Retired at 60, lives in Naples.

Enjoys international travel, cruises, and seasonal home rentals.

Annual expenses: $90,000.

Financial Plan:

Delays Social Security to 70 for maximum benefits (~$40,000 per year).

Withdraws $50,000–$60,000 from portfolio annually.

Invests in rental property generating $15,000 per year.

Outcome:

This retiree can sustain their lifestyle if investments perform well. However, market downturns could impact travel plans, making a flexible financial plan essential.

Case Study 4: The Family-Oriented Retiree (Spends Generously on Grandkids & Charity – $75,000 Per Year)

Profile:

Retired at 60 in Orlando.

Prioritizes family vacations, grandkids' education, and charitable donations.

Annual expenses: $75,000.

Financial Plan:

Social Security starts at 67 (~$28,000 per year).

Withdraws $47,000 from portfolio annually.

Uses part-time work or side income for flexibility.

Outcome:

This retiree maintains a fulfilling lifestyle while preserving wealth for future generations.

Key Takeaways: Is $2 Million Enough?

✅ Yes, If You:

Manage withdrawals wisely (4% rule or less).

Keep a diversified investment portfolio.

Choose an affordable Florida location.

Plan for healthcare costs.

❌ Potential Risks:

Market downturns affecting investments.

Increased healthcare costs.

Higher-than-expected inflation.

Get Expert Financial Guidance

Proper planning is key to ensuring $2 million lasts through retirement. Consulting with financial professionals like Manna Wealth Management can help optimize your investment strategies, minimize risks, and build a secure financial future.

Final Thoughts

For many retirees, $2 million is enough to retire comfortably at 60 in Florida. However, lifestyle choices, spending habits, and investment strategies play a crucial role in long-term financial security.

If you're planning retirement and need a personalized strategy, consult Manna Wealth Management to ensure your financial future is on track!

FAQs

1. Can I Retire Comfortably at 60 in Florida with $2 Million?

Yes, $2 million can provide a comfortable retirement in Florida, but it depends on your expenses, investment strategy, and expected lifespan. If you maintain a moderate lifestyle and withdraw around 4% annually ($80,000 per year), you should have sufficient funds for 30 years. However, factors like healthcare costs and market downturns must be considered.

2. How Long Will $2 Million Last in Retirement?

The longevity of your savings depends on your withdrawal rate, investment returns, and inflation. A 4% withdrawal rate suggests your money could last 25-30 years. If investments grow at an average of 6-7% annually and inflation remains moderate, your nest egg could last even longer.

3. What Is the Cost of Living in Florida for Retirees?

Florida’s cost of living varies by city. Generally, it is more affordable than states like New York or California but can be expensive in areas like Miami, Naples, and Sarasota. Housing, healthcare, and property taxes play a significant role in determining costs.

4. What Are the Best Places to Retire in Florida?

Popular retirement destinations include:

The Villages – A retirement-friendly community with golf courses and social activities.

Sarasota – Offers a mix of culture, beaches, and affordable living.

Naples – Higher-end but excellent for retirees who love luxury.

Tampa Bay – A mix of affordability and entertainment.

5. What Are the Tax Benefits of Retiring in Florida?

Florida is tax-friendly for retirees. There’s no state income tax, which means your Social Security benefits, pensions, and withdrawals from retirement accounts (like IRAs and 401(k)s) are not taxed at the state level. However, property taxes vary by county, and sales taxes are around 6-7%.

6. How Much Should I Budget for Healthcare Costs?

Healthcare expenses increase with age. A couple retiring at 60 may spend $300,000 to $400,000 on healthcare over retirement. Florida has excellent healthcare facilities, but out-of-pocket costs can be high if you retire before qualifying for Medicare at 65. Private health insurance or a high-deductible plan may be necessary.

7. How Can I Minimize My Healthcare Expenses Before Medicare?

To cover healthcare costs before Medicare (age 65), you can:

Use a Health Savings Account (HSA) if you have one.

Purchase a private health plan through the ACA marketplace.

Consider part-time work with employer-sponsored health insurance.

Enroll in a high-deductible health plan with lower premiums.

8. Will Social Security Help If I Retire at 60?

If you retire at 60, you won’t be able to claim Social Security until at least 62, with full benefits kicking in at 67. If you delay benefits until 70, you receive higher monthly payments. You may need to rely on savings and investments for the first few years of retirement.

9. How Much Can I Safely Withdraw from My $2 Million Nest Egg?

The 4% rule suggests withdrawing $80,000 annually to make your money last 30 years. If you want to be more conservative, withdrawing 3-3.5% ($60,000-$70,000) could extend your savings further.

10. What Types of Investments Should I Have in Retirement?

A diversified portfolio should include:

Stocks (for growth)

Bonds (for stability)

Dividend-paying investments (for passive income)

Cash reserves (for emergencies)

A financial advisor can help balance your risk tolerance with your income needs.

11. What Are the Housing Costs in Florida for Retirees?

Housing costs vary widely:

A condo in Miami may cost $400,000+.

A single-family home in Sarasota could range from $350,000-$600,000.

In more affordable areas like Ocala, homes may cost around $250,000. Renting is also an option, but costs are rising in many Florida cities.

12. Should I Buy or Rent a Home in Retirement?

Buying makes sense if you plan to stay in one place long-term. Renting may be better if you want flexibility or plan to travel frequently. Homeownership costs include maintenance, property taxes, and HOA fees, which should be factored into your budget.

13. How Can I Plan for Inflation in Retirement?

Inflation reduces purchasing power over time. You can combat it by:

Investing in stocks for long-term growth.

Holding real estate as a hedge.

Delaying Social Security to increase future payments.

A 3% annual inflation rate means your expenses could double in 25 years, so your financial plan should account for this.

14. What Are the Risks of Running Out of Money?

Main risks include:

Market downturns reducing investment value.

Inflation eroding purchasing power.

Longer lifespan leading to higher expenses.

Unexpected medical costs depleting savings.

Regularly reviewing your plan can help manage these risks.

15. Can I Travel in Retirement with $2 Million?

Yes, but travel costs must be included in your budget. If you spend $10,000-$20,000 per year on travel, ensure your other expenses allow for this. A mix of domestic and international travel can help control costs.

16. Should I Consider Downsizing in Retirement?

Downsizing can free up home equity and reduce maintenance and property taxes. Moving to a smaller home or condo can lower expenses and provide extra funds for travel and leisure.

17. Will I Need Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long-term care is costly. A private room in a Florida nursing home can cost $100,000+ per year. Long-term care insurance can help cover these costs but can be expensive. Some retirees opt for hybrid policies that include life insurance benefits.

18. Can I Still Work Part-Time in Retirement?

Yes, part-time work can supplement your income, delay withdrawals, and provide social engagement. Many retirees work as consultants, freelancers, or in hospitality and retail.

19. How Can I Reduce Taxes on My Retirement Income?

Florida’s tax-friendly policies help, but consider tax-efficient withdrawal strategies:

Withdraw from taxable accounts first.

Delay Social Security to increase benefits.

Convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs gradually to reduce future RMDs (required minimum distributions).

20. How Can I Make Sure My Retirement Plan Is Secure?

Review your financial plan annually.

Keep a diverse portfolio.

Plan for healthcare and long-term care costs.

Adjust spending based on market performance.

Work with a financial planner for tailored advice.

[johnkingsway]

Record deal.

In October of 2024, John Kingsway began communicating with the band members about details regarding the contract, and how he would be distributing, and promoting their music, as well as booking them for tours, and live shows, as well as managing them.

Kingsway only communicated directly with, Bassist, David Harris, rhythm guitarist, Andrew Rodriguez, and Drummer, Austin Hill, who all passed the information along to lead vocalist, Jackson Weidner. In November, the band went on their first tour entitled, "The introduction tour." (Which ran from November to December) They performed in Orlando, Florida, Huntsville, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, Jackson, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Newman, Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Brooklyn, New York, and Newark, New Jersey. Upon Returning from the tour, they performed a local show in Atlanta, Georgia, and would have several shows in the Atlanta, and Savannah area throughout the month of December. The band all got Jobs when they moved into the apartment to support their musical endeavors. Jackson Weidner got a job as a Limo driver, Austin Hill got a job at a car wash, Andrew Rodriguez became a Front-end manager at Publix, and David Harris got a job as a Lawyer. They helped each other with Rent payments, and house bills.