#commercial cleaning company in maine

[kitteryofficecleaning]

If you’re looking for a commercial cleaning company in Maine, we provide expert cleaning services for offices, retail spaces, and other commercial properties. Our team delivers customized solutions to keep your spaces spotless and sanitary. Contact us today for dependable cleaning services!

[reasonsforhope]

"A 1-megawatt sand battery that can store up to 100 megawatt hours of thermal energy will be 10 times larger than a prototype already in use.

The new sand battery will eliminate the need for oil-based energy consumption for the entire town of town of Pornainen, Finland.

Sand gets charged with clean electricity and stored for use within a local grid.

Finland is doing sand batteries big. Polar Night Energy already showed off an early commercialized version of a sand battery in Kankaanpää in 2022, but a new sand battery 10 times that size is about to fully rid the town of Pornainen, Finland of its need for oil-based energy.

In cooperation with the local Finnish district heating company Loviisan Lämpö, Polar Night Energy will develop a 1-megawatt sand battery capable of storing up to 100 megawatt hours of thermal energy.

“With the sand battery,” Mikko Paajanen, CEO of Loviisan Lämpö, said in a statement, “we can significantly reduce energy produced by combustion and completely eliminate the use of oil.”

Polar Night Energy introduced the first commercial sand battery in 2022, with local energy utility Vatajankoski. “Its main purpose is to work as a high-power and high-capacity reservoir for excess wind and solar energy,” Markku Ylönen, Polar Nigh Energy’s co-founder and CTO, said in a statement at the time. “The energy is stored as heat, which can be used to heat homes, or to provide hot steam and high temperature process heat to industries that are often fossil-fuel dependent.” ...

Sand—a high-density, low-cost material that the construction industry discards [Note: 6/13/24: Turns out that's not true! See note at the bottom for more info.] —is a solid material that can heat to well above the boiling point of water and can store several times the amount of energy of a water tank. While sand doesn’t store electricity, it stores energy in the form of heat. To mine the heat, cool air blows through pipes, heating up as it passes through the unit. It can then be used to convert water into steam or heat water in an air-to-water heat exchanger. The heat can also be converted back to electricity, albeit with electricity losses, through the use of a turbine.

In Pornainen, Paajanen believes that—just by switching to a sand battery—the town can achieve a nearly 70 percent reduction in emissions from the district heating network and keep about 160 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere annually. In addition to eliminating the usage of oil, they expect to decrease woodchip combustion by about 60 percent.

The sand battery will arrive ready for use, about 42 feet tall and 49 feet wide. The new project’s thermal storage medium is largely comprised of soapstone, a byproduct of Tulikivi’s production of heat-retaining fireplaces. It should take about 13 months to get the new project online, but once it’s up and running, the Pornainen battery will provide thermal energy storage capacity capable of meeting almost one month of summer heat demand and one week of winter heat demand without recharging.

“We want to enable the growth of renewable energy,” Paajanen said. “The sand battery is designed to participate in all Fingrid’s reserve and balancing power markets. It helps to keep the electricity grid balanced as the share of wind and solar energy in the grid increases.”"

-via Popular Mechanics, March 13, 2024

--

Note: I've been keeping an eye on sand batteries for a while, and this is really exciting to see. We need alternatives to lithium batteries ASAP, due to the grave human rights abuses and environmental damage caused by lithium mining, and sand batteries look like a really good solution for grid-scale energy storage.

--

Note 6/13/24: Unfortunately, turns out there are substantial issues with sand batteries as well, due to sand scarcity. More details from a lovely asker here, sources on sand scarcity being a thing at the links: x, x, x, x, x

[officiallordvetinari]

Below are 10 featured Wikipedia articles. Links and descriptions are below the cut.

The election in 1860 for the position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was a competition between two candidates offering different approaches to Sanskrit scholarship. One was Monier Williams, an Oxford-educated Englishman who had spent 14 years teaching Sanskrit to those preparing to work in British India for the East India Company. The other, Max Müller, was a German-born lecturer at Oxford specialising in comparative philology, the science of language.

Adolfo Farsari (Italian pronunciation: [aˈdolfo farˈsaːri]; 11 February 1841 – 7 February 1898) was an Italian photographer based in Yokohama, Japan. His studio, the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan, was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and his entrepreneurial abilities, it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan.

Girl Pat was a small fishing trawler, based at the Lincolnshire port of Grimsby, that in 1936 was the subject of a media sensation when its captain took it on an unauthorised transatlantic voyage. The escapade ended in Georgetown, British Guiana, with the arrest of the captain, George "Dod" Orsborne, and his brother. The pair were later imprisoned for the theft of the vessel.

Abu Muhammad Hasan al-Kharrat (Arabic: حسن الخراط Ḥassan al-Kharrāṭ; 1861 – 25 December 1925) was one of the principal Syrian rebel commanders of the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. His main area of operations was in Damascus and its Ghouta countryside. He was killed in the struggle and is considered a hero by Syrians.

Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel (April 23, 1922 – July 24, 1995), who professionally used the mononym Cameron, was an American artist, poet, actress and occultist. A follower of Thelema, the new religious movement established by the English occultist Aleister Crowley, she was married to rocket pioneer and fellow Thelemite Jack Parsons.

Maya stelae (singular stela) are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall, sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief, although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period (250–900 AD), and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization.

The North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of European importance for wildlife in Norfolk, England. It comprises 7,700 ha (19,027 acres) of the county's north coast from just west of Holme-next-the-Sea to Kelling, and is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) listings; it is also part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The North Norfolk Coast is also designated as a wetland of international importance on the Ramsar list and most of it is a Biosphere Reserve.

Preening is a maintenance behaviour found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather barbules that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check. Feathers contribute significantly to a bird's insulation, waterproofing and aerodynamic flight, and so are vital to its survival. Because of this, birds spend considerable time each day maintaining their feathers, primarily through preening.

The Wells and Wellington affair was a dispute about the publication of three papers in the Australian Journal of Herpetology in 1983 and 1985. The periodical was established in 1981 as a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on the study of amphibians and reptiles (herpetology). Its first two issues were published under the editorship of Richard W. Wells, a first-year biology student at Australia's University of New England. Wells then ceased communicating with the journal's editorial board for two years before suddenly publishing three papers without peer review in the journal in 1983 and 1985. Coauthored by himself and high school teacher Cliff Ross Wellington, the papers reorganized the taxonomy of all of Australia's and New Zealand's amphibians and reptiles and proposed over 700 changes to the binomial nomenclature of the region's herpetofauna.

Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region.

[skybrushus]

Lyra signaled and then turned right off of Sea Stallion Drive in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. Bon Bon routinely checked the car's navigation system and watched through car's window right side window as the character of the city change before her eyes.

As they drove away from main downtown thoroughfare of Ft. Trotterdale they left behind swanky shops, upscale restaurants, and fashionable new apartments and townhouses tailored to the young business executives. Just a couple blocks further and they were passing through older working class neighborhoods. Beyond them lay the older apartments, shops, cafes, and dormitories that surrounded the university. Journeying further brought them into a vast sprawling maze of light industrial, truck yards,warehouses, and eventually the commercial docks of the city. It was around 7pm but being it was summertime there was still a far bit light in the sky as Celestia had not entirely relinquished her reign for the day.

There final destination was small, dingy, two-story office building that was probably 60 years old and hadn't seen a fresh coat of paint in 20. Decades of diesel smoke, factory emission, tropical sun, rain, and general neglect had left the building's exterior color rather indeterminate.

Normally during the day this area was abuzz with activity, but it was the early evening on a Friday and most businesses, and their workers, were now closed and vacated. Only one window at their destination showed any light and possible occupancy. Lyra pulled around to the back employee parking area. Letting the car coast to lessen the rumble of its V8. There was only one other vehicle parked in the covered parking area. Bon Bon squinted at license plate on the squat, subcompact. Like the building it was parked under, Ft. Trotterdale's climate had not been kind to its. Faded red paint, speckles of rust on the body panels, and sun bleached plastic trim told the story of its daily toils.

Bon Bon checked a note on her phone and looked at the license plate again. "Yep. That's Fast Talk's current car. Lyra shut the engine off looked over at her partner. "Well now that we've found him lets pay him a visit. What passes for the cleaning service isn't suppose to show up until 9pm. That should give us a chance to have a nice chat with him!"

As they exited the vehicle Bon Bon reached down under the back seat and pulled out short barrel, 12ga, pump-action shotgun from its locking, concealed rack. Calling it a sawed off would disrespectful of the care that had gone into modifying and customizing it. Quietly her and Lyra closed the car's doors. As they did the car's paint scheme seemed to shimmer for just an instant as the vehicle's security wards activated.

Both were amused to find that the physical lock and the supposed security wards for Employees Only stairwell were inactive. Before entering the stairwell both mares pulled their RESF badges out and hung them from their belts. Then each they donned a pair of wraparound glasses that shimmered as several wards on them went live.

They'd dealt with Fast Talk numerous times and the stallion was mostly bluster. However some of the company he associated with were another matter. So out of an abundance of caution Bon Bon went first. Slowly and quietly she ascended the stairs while keeping the shotgun in a low ready position. At the top of the stairway a fluorescent light fixture flickered spastically. Carefully the earth pony peeked around the corner and let her eyes sweep over the hallway. The glasses showed no signs of camouflaged individuals or wards. Although the door knob of office in question did sparkled with a low grade form of ward. Bon Bon used her right hand to make series of signals to Lyra.

Thumbs up. Hallway is clear. Cupping her hand and making a series rotating motions followed by a wiggling of the fingers. Door is closed. Probably locked. Is warded.

The two mares softly treaded up to the door. From under it a thin sliver of light leaked out and the muffled sounds of a radio broadcasting some sporting event could be heard coming from within. Lyra knelt down next to the door knob and gently placed a one-use paper ward breaker on the door next to the knob. The mint green unicorn thumbed the safety off of her pistol and looked up at Bon Bon who carefully pushed the cross bolt safety off on her shotgun. Then the earth pony nodded her head.

Lyra's horn glowed softly and a slim force wall appeared in front of her. Then for a second her horn flared as it triggered the ward breaker. In an instant the both mares heard sharp, loud CRACK as the ward on the door and the physical lock broke. Before the sound had even subsided Lyra had turned the door knob and was heading into the office with Bon Bon bringing up the rear. Sitting behind a battered office desk and looking up suddenly from some paperwork was a wiry, slightly feral looking earth pony stallion. His left hand quickly moved toward but then moved even quicker away from the battered .41 magnum revolver sitting on top of the desk when he saw the muzzle of the 12ga pointed at him. Slowly he raised both his hands with the palms out.

Lyra quickly swept the corners of the room with her 9mm before snatching the revolver off the desk. Through all of this the muzzle of Bon Bon's 12ga never wavered from the stallion's chest. Lyra dropped her force wall and then used her horn to close the door to office behind them. Then she used her horn to magically pull all of the drawers open except one that was locked. Coming around the desk the unicorn did a quick visual inspection. Satisfied she smiled and finally addressed the stallion who'd remained silent through all of this.

"Fast Talk! Buddy! How have you been! We've been looking all over for you!"

The dappled violet stallion kept his hands up as he smiled weakly at her. "Um. Ladies! Good evening! What an unexpected surprise! I didn't expect to be meeting you tonight!"

Bon Bon lowered the shotgun muzzle but returned it to the low ready position. "Well now you have." The ivory white mare grumbled.

The stallion giggled nervously.

[trivialbob]

TVs get larger and have more features as their prices drop. Cars today are substantially more reliable and safe than those from when I was a teenager. People live longer due to advances in medicine.

I'm an optimist. Life gets better.

When Amazon first arrived I was excited. I bundled my orders to avoid a shipping charge. Amazon didn't collect sales tax in those days. Then I got Prime. It's has a hefty annual fee, but it comes with the TV streaming and free shipping.

My adult kids have credit cards on file on my Prime account so they can take advantage of the free shipping and not pay the annual Prime fee. I can also treat myself to some free stuff by using their cards (kidding). Now that Netflix has stopped us from sharing accounts, I figure it's just a matter of time before Prime does that too.

Lately when I open Prime streaming there are commercials. Mostly they are for shows but this morning saw one for Maybelline eye makeup. I have to hit the Back button to get on to the main screen. It's easy to move along. But that extra new step annoys me.

This week I got an email from Amazon telling me there will be limited commercials on Prime streaming starting January 29.

This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.

It made me think of the surcharges some restaurants now add to the bill. 6% for healthcare. 18% for fair wages. 2% for clean silverware! Any place with the tablet that swivels asks me to tip 20, 22, or 25% to the teenager who put two doughnuts into a wax bag. Recently I purchased something with a lifetime warranty. The salesman offered to sell me an extended warranty. None of these things make my shopping or dining experiences more enjoyable.

Amazon politely notes that I will have the option to pay a $2.99 monthly premium to avoid commercials. I'll probably put up with commercials. Paying more to Amazon doesn't sit well with me.

So it will be like the old days. Instead of using the pause button when I want to get a drink or snack I'll do that during the commercials like it's 1988, when I still had hair and a 75 pound television set.

Another thing about Amazon Prime: It is starting to feel like Temu. If I'm looking for some product that isn't necessarily under a particular name brand I see multiple items with the same picture but different company names. Gogoku, Calicob, Miaozuhn.

I can take my chance on lower priced things that might be crap, like some USB charging cables I bought that added hours to the time it took to charge my phone. There was probably a single strand of thin wire inside the rubber coating, that's my guess. Oh why did I trust you, AAguuds?

As much as I use online sellers I do like to shop local and support nearby stores. Amazon has begun to make that choice even easier.

[8bitbabii]

"Self-care" Tok and other overconsumption BS.

"Self-care" differs from person to person. Period. As long as YOU'RE happy and YOU feel mentally content, then "self-care" has been achieved. Discussing what is and what isn't self-care can create this feeling of expectation rather than a genuine want or needing to do something. It's even more dangerous when you realize that many teens and young children are eating this shit up and not realizing when something is a carefully curated commercial disguised as a TikTok GRWM.

We all live our lives differently, but the main goal should always be to make ourselves happy to the best of our abilities. And, that may look differently depending on the person. If I had to live my life curating myself to fit other peoples ideals or aesthetics, I'd rather not be alive anymore.

A lot of this overconsumption content on social media are influencers and companies marketing off the insecurities of the average person and pushing a product that will make them believe they're "doing something" about it. In reality, no one is solving these deeply rooted, internal issues they're suffering with. AT ALL. Buying tons of cheaply made products from Amazon or Shein isn't ✨a e s t h e t i c✨. It's not going to cure your depression and it's only going to make you temporarily "happy" until you yearn for MORE.

It keeps people in a constant cycle because they'll always feel like it's never enough rather than dealing with their problems head on. I'm not saying anything is wrong with having a good skincare routine or indulging at Lush and getting bath bombs. I love pampering myself every now and then. I love when my body is freshly shaved and bare. I love when my house is clean. I love freshly cleaned sheets and laundry. But, I don't need an expensive laundry routine or wasting cleaning products to *feel* like my house is "clean" when all you're doing is mixing chemicals and using more product than what's needed. And, if you know, you know. These videos are PLASTERED on TikTok.

I'm not saying they're not fun to watch every now and then, but girl I'm not about to spend $1000 for a "period routine". 🙄All I need is a warm bath, pads/tampons, a warm compress, and a nap.

[cleanprocrew]

Exterior Cleaning Services

Address: 116 E. Main, Mountain View, AR 72560

Business Email: sales@cleanprocrew.com

Phone: 870-291-9146

Official Website: https://cleanprocrew.com

About: Clean Pro Crew is a full exterior service company focusing on residential and commercial buildings. We provide pressure washing for concrete surfaces and soft-washing for siding, roofs, decks and fences. We also provide gutter cleaning and gutter guards. Our window washing division focuses both on residential and commercial buildings that are two stories or below. Call 870-291-9146 today for a free quote and get started on a clean exterior.

Services: Pressure Washing, Gutter Cleaning, Window Cleaning, House Washing, Roof Cleaning, Commercial Exterior Cleaning

Payment Methods: Mastercard, Visa, AMEX, Discover, Check, Cash, Gold / Silver

Schedule:

Monday- Saturday : (08:00AM-05:00PM) Sunday: CLOSED

Social Accounts: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567059494393

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVBuyn86C7PLYqdZD96pgg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clean-pro-crew-8a175a334/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clean_procrew/

[esconpanache]

How Escon Works with Architecture

Escon Infra Realtor, a leading real estate company established by Mr. Neeraj Sharma, is renowned for its commitment to quality, innovation, and timely delivery of projects. The company's architectural approach is central to its success, creating luxurious and modern living spaces that meet the diverse needs of homeowners. Here's a closer look at how Escon works with architecture to deliver exceptional residential and commercial properties.

 1. Vision and Commitment

Innovative Design Philosophy

Escon Infra Realtor's vision is to not only be the most successful real estate brand but also the preferred partner for homebuyers. This vision drives the company to adopt innovative design philosophies that blend modernity with functionality. The architectural designs of Escon's projects are crafted to provide luxurious living experiences while ensuring practicality and comfort.

Quality and Modernity

Escon highly focuses on quality and modernity. Every project is meticulously planned and executed with the highest standards of construction. The use of premium materials and advanced construction techniques ensures that Escon's properties stand out in the market.

 2. Luxurious Villas and Smart Homes

Escon Panache: A Case Study

One of Escon's flagship projects, Escon Panache, exemplifies the company's architectural excellence. This newly launched ultra-luxurious residential property offers 4 BHK Villas in Greater Noida. These villas are designed to provide a lavish lifestyle with a focus on open space environments, ensuring a secure and serene living experience.

Smart Home Systems

Escon Panache incorporates state-of-the-art smart home systems. These include integrated automation, security systems, smart lighting, and voice assistants. These features enhance comfort, convenience, and security for residents, setting a new standard for luxury living.

 3. Comprehensive Amenities

Community and Lifestyle Features

Escon's architectural designs emphasize not only individual living spaces but also community and lifestyle features. The projects include amenities such as:

- Gated societies with secured entry and exit points.

- Central green spaces with landscaping.

- Modern clubhouses with swimming pools, gyms, yoga rooms, and party halls.

- Well-lit internal roads with a mix of solar-based lighting for sustainability.

Private Gardens and Pools

The villas come with private gardens and terrace gardens, allowing residents to bring nature home. Private pools and sundecks are also integrated into the villa designs, promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.

4. Sustainability and Safety

Eco-Friendly Construction

Escon prioritizes sustainability in its architectural designs. The projects incorporate zero overhead visible cables, ensuring a clean and organized appearance. Energy-efficient lighting and water management systems are also a part of the design, reducing the environmental footprint.

Safety and Security

High-tech security systems are a hallmark of Escon's projects. These include 24x7 surveillance, video door phones with electronic locks, and boom barriers to control unauthorized entry and exit. The use of earthquake-resistant RCC framed construction ensures that the buildings are safe and durable.

 5. High-Quality Materials and Workmanship

Superior Construction Materials

Escon's commitment to quality is evident in the choice of construction materials. The villas feature water and termite-proof WPC frames, high-quality tiles and flooring from renowned brands, and premium woodwork and joinery. The use of advanced plumbing systems and modular kitchens further enhances the living experience.

Attention to Detail

Every aspect of the construction is executed with precision. From the main entry door with biometric locks to the finely crafted wardrobes and modular kitchens, the attention to detail ensures that every element of the villa is of the highest standard.

 6. Strategic Location and Connectivity

Prime Locations

Escon's projects are strategically located to offer the best connectivity and convenience. For instance, Escon Panache in Greater Noida is close to major expressways, schools, hospitals, and the Noida International Airport. This prime location ensures residents have easy access to essential services and facilities.

Future-Proof Investments

By choosing prime locations, Escon ensures that its properties are not only desirable for current residents but also hold their value and appeal for future buyers. This strategic approach makes investing in Escon properties a sound financial decision.

Escon Infra Realtor's collaboration with architecture results in the creation of luxurious, modern, and sustainable living spaces. The company's commitment to quality, innovative design, and attention to detail ensures that each project meets the highest standards. Whether it's the incorporation of smart home systems, eco-friendly construction, or strategic location choices, Escon's architectural approach sets it apart as a leader in the real estate industry. Investing in an Escon property means investing in a lifestyle of luxury, comfort, and security.

Contact us to know more about the project and how it can help you to get your perfect home.

Visit:- https://esconpanache.com/

Ref:-https://esconpanachevilla.blogspot.com/2024/06/how-escon-works-with-architecture.html

Location: Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

[regarding-stories]

The "Failures": Fallout 3, 4, and 76 (The Fallout Series as stories, part 2)

I gave a rather rough overview what the original two Fallout games (FO1, FO2) were about in the previous article. Afterwards, Bethesda acquired the franchise, and I can remember some gloomy predictions for the new Fallout 3 on some hardcore fan forums (I think it was "No Mutants Allowed"...). In hindsight I have to say, those people were right. Fallout became a mainstay franchise and saw big commercial success, but as regards the quality of it... I intend to talk about that.

Bethesda was originally known for making ever bigger open world RPGs under the title "The Elder Scrolls". These featured real-time elements and eventually became 3D games, I guess with the much-loved "Morrowind". I remember playing its successor, "Oblivion", and I remember it not so fondly. At first it was a seemingly immersive 3D fantasy world with lots to do, but in the end its gameplay was flawed (no true sense of progress as you leveled up) and the longer I played the more a sense of "more of the same" took over.

Before Bethesda would move on to the successor of "Oblivion", the eternal hit "Skyrim", it took on the Fallout franchise in 2008, presenting us with FO3 as another main franchise to diversify into.

Fallout 3

FO3 is an odd bird. Made by a company by then known for 3D fantasy titles, it reused the same engine to make a game whose main weapons were mostly various guns, providing us with a sort of shooter RPG, based on a turnbased RPG. The solutions to this conundrum tell us how confused Bethesda was themselves about this quandary.

VATS, the "Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System," allowed players to halt time and select your targets in (including body areas) in a nod to the RPG crowd and the original games. But you couldn't move. This was a nod to the players coming at it from the old games or an RPG angle. Meanwhile, shooting was in general heavily influenced by your character stats, so as a shooter/action game FO3 was heavily flawed - you could aim well and still miss aplenty, giving player skill only a limited outlet.

I could live with that, though. (I was mostly playing turn-based games and I was glad being thrown a bone, really.) FO3 presented us with the possibility to explore the DC Wasteland (or "Capital Wasteland"), and we had been promised aplenty beforehand, one of the most tantalizing locations being an aircraft carrier in the harbor, a city-fortress. So I set out.

And this is where FO3 fails. It fails as an overall story (compared to the originals), but it also failed in the little stories it tells along the way, and there would be a few who would disqualify it as a Fallout game for its failings.

The overall story starts promising, as you live out snippets of the protagonist's childhood in Vault 101. Eventually you venture forth into the Wasteland to find your missing father. Along the way you meet a lot of familiar things - Supermutants (somehow there now in spite of being a West Coast thing), the Enclave, the Brotherhood of Steel... all recycled to the game's convenience. You find your father, you obtain the G.E.C.K. MacGuffin he needed to complete his dream of bringing clean water to the Wasteland, and he dies. You ally with the Brotherhood, battle the Enclave who has taken over the project, and "save" the Wasteland. The end.

Gone is the moral grey and the decision-making of the original games. The Enclave repeat their appearance as genocidal maniacs, the Brotherhood somehow became the goodies. But in a sense you are lucky when you don't have to make choices, because all choices FO3 allows you to make are bad because they are so unconvincing.

You see, a faction of the Enclave wants to enlist you to their cause. So you get a binary choice whether to "save" the Wasteland or cleanse it with pretty the same viral weapon as in FO2. Ironically you still have to battle your way through the other faction just the same, you just do something nasty at the end. Choice dark enough? We gave you a choice!

Or another choice you can make... there's a town sitting atop an undetonated bomb (and hence named "Megaton"). You can blow it up because somebody offers you a reward for doing it.

What soured the game for me was how badly it did in terms of locations, all of them unconvincing. One settlement sits atop a broken highway bridge, with nowhere to farm (safely) and next to monsters. The aircraft carrier can only be reached by battling your way through a labyrinthine maze full of monsters - and hence is isolated from the world. And there's the hotel atop the hill...

This ironically the best of stories in the game. There's this unscathed prewar hotel where people live safely. There isn't even room for a single stalk of corn (again), but hey, they manage (I pretty much had it with world design at this point). You arrive when you meet a ghoul who wants to be let in. The xenophobes don't want to let ghouls in as they fear them. You can make either happen - help the ghouls to be allowed admission or get rid off them. Both are nasty choices as eventually the ghouls do replace/eat the original dwellers. This choice, while not great, is at least somewhat in the spirit of "Fallout". Never mind, though, that the original games tried to find ways to let ghouls live safely along humans if the protagonist was up to it.

FO3 never lets logic get in the way of telling a story, though. Set 200 years after the war, one of its evocative early locations is a supermarket where you battle raiders. You still find edible processed food - talk about shelf life! (This is not only FO3's fault, but with FO3 this becomes all too commonplace.) Or you find an old lady running a radio station in the middle of nowhere, alone, no protection. She wants a fiddle from a museum (that turns out to be full of robots), and she gives you some money if you manage. There's just no sense here. Or write a survival manual by running around the Wasteland doing crazy-ass missions (defuse mines, travel into the middle of a monster nest). Yep, you get some money and XP.

FO3 is like this everywhere. It reuses the original games' aesthetic and factions, but hollows out the lore. It reuses plot elements but makes a worse overall plot of it. You won't find anything new here. You will find things cobbled together in various combinations that are meant to keep you busy.

And its butt-ugly. It's a mass of green, beige, and similar colors, meant to invoke the ruined world it is. But it's just over the top. It wears the Fallout world like inhabiting a corpse, pretending to be the person when alive.

If you look for a lot of choices that will impact the world, you won't really find them. Alternate ways to beat the game... are less feasible. I quit FO3 long before the end due to the combination of these factors, largely because I found it's world-building unconvincing and failing to draw me in.

Regarding the world, the game has no impact or follow-up. FO2 built on FO1. But all of the FO games talked about in this article, stand alone. We will see how this a major failing in another article.

Maybe the best way to demonstrate how half-assed some of FO3 was is its original, non-DLC ending. You had to step into an irradiated zone and sacrifice yourself in spite of having multiple radiation-immune companions (one of which did that before!) and die to turn the water processor on. (You could also insert the virus at this point because you randomly hate people and want to take them with you...?)

Why, you ask? Because no post-end gameplay was planned for. So you had to die. Later on they changed this when DLC became available, but the expectation for you to sacrifice yourself remained in the eng-game slideshow. This is FO3 in a nutshell.

Fallout 4

FO4 came out 2015 and tried to do quite a few things better. And frankly, to some extent it definitely did. I mean, I invested over a hundred hours into this game, it must have something going for it, right?

It had a major graphics upgrade and an engine overhaul. Shooting gameplay was massively improved by bringing in people actually working on first person shooters usually. Scripted stuff looks more real, the Boston wasteland is much bigger. And they brought actual factions back - at least as regards the main storyline you will have to make a choice (out of 3) who you will hand over the future to.

That said, FO4 lives and dies by the "Rule of Cool." It tries to woo you early on by burning some major fireworks - an opening scene set in 2077 when the world ended, then your first encounter will end with you in power armor battling a giant Deathclaw. And the first major raider location you encounter is a big former car plant.

This is meant to hook you in. It's early adrenaline over pacing things properly. Soon you will feel the rush wear off and settle in, but they did try to draw you in first. (This is similar to how "Skyrim" starts. Seldom has a location looked as evocative as that ruin atop the snowline. Especially after...)

FO4 gameplay, however, feels like it couldn't be less about the story and more about removing every screw, metal bar, and hub cap from the Wasteland to use it in crafting things for yourself and your increasingly expanding selection of settlements, which you try to protect with the do-goodies, the ever-ineffective Minutemen. You can alter these settlements, build upgrades, and build defenses. And you must, as your settlements will be under attack, over and over again, so much so that one of the most-used mods for the game is one that turns those raids off.

The main storyline can be summarized as this: You went into cryogenic sleep centuries ago with your family, but along the way your spouse was killed and your baby son abducted. Now you want him back. Also, a mysterious organization supplants real humans with convincing androids called synths. Find out more, how you feel about it, and decide what happens. Expect a twist, case dismissed.

All of that is an improvement over FO3 by a magnitude, no doubt. The main reason I spent so much time in FO4 was not great world-building or stories, however. It was its tight stimulus-reward loop that all its quests and tasks abide by. Like a rat in a cage you will get your dopamine hits in well-timed intervals and so you feel inclined to play more. FO4's playability has more to do with game companies learning how to engage and addict our brains than anything directly to do with the world of Fallout itself. (But you won't notice.)

FO4 still bursts with stories and locations that make no sense. Settlements set up to look cool but with poor boundaries to build in and really hard to defend. Nobody in the Boston Wasteland ever manages anything, including building a new settlement, without your intervention, especially not the Minutemen. There is another "cool idea" settlement in Boston that is nigh-impossible to reach for any sane person (anybody but the overpowered player) - a baseball stadium. Yes it's defensible and cool, but its within another supermutant-infested Wasteland. (You still hear plenty of talk about people being there as if it was a walk in the park.) Raiders drink their brains away in a pre-war brewery... The list goes on.

What FO3 and FO4 have in common is that level designers had leeway to design little locations to make things interesting instead of just putting monsters and loot about. But the little stories get old quick as they revolve around the same themes, over and over.

But when it comes to themes, FO4 also does a strange turn that somehow shows the most how Bethesda at times just doesn't get Fallout. In FO1 you learn how the world before the war was a militaristic police state battling other powers for resources. In FO2 you learn that the deep state had zero concern for the citizenry and considered them suitable to experiment on and willing to kill off their descendants for their vision of a clean slate society. But now, in FO4, you kind of do your fair share of flag-waving stuff like following the "Freedom Trail" (IIRC) and other similar stuff - things that might speak in some way (or not) to the American player, but are completely at odds with the new world that rose from the ashes which really has no truck with all of this. FO1 and FO2 had a foot in the past, but this past was often dark and at fault for the present.

FO4 is a Fallout game alright, it's just often mediocre, slightly flawed, and inconsistent. A lot of it is quantity over quality, which is even more apparent when quality does show up. But it's an more-than-okay Fallout game and fun to play. We'll see in another article what it pales against, but you do have acknowledge they did try and definitely did better.

I would say it's biggest failing is that it always choses to do what could be phrased as "Wouldn't it be cool if...?" instead of trying to design a coherent world driven by clear, consistent themes deriving from a story. FO4 is a fun mish-mash, but it doesn't come together like the originals. And nothing could spell this lack of emphasis on deep story more than the original design choice to not let you pick your own lines in dialogue, just moods. (This can be remedied by mods.)

Fallout 76

FO76 is a multi-player Fallout game that had no concept of what to actually do when playing it. It's set in a varied Appalachian Wasteland, earlier than other titles, but it really was a major disgrace, from the publisher blatantly lying in its presentations about the game to its state upon release and what you could do.

FO76 originally was a Fallout without any people but the players. But there was no sensible interaction possibility for the players, either. All you could do was battling others, monsters, or do built-in quests. The quests seemed really stale soon because the people you "did them for" all turned out to be dead or absent.

The "endgame" content was detonating nuclear bombs to lure in Skyrim dragons, I mean Scorched Queens, whereas most of the time you battled Scorched, an ever-present ghoul-like threat. Eventually it got missing things added in, like a Battle Royal mode and eventually, people.

But to many people FO76 will just be remembered as a money-grab put on a junior studio within Bethesda (their Montreal branch, IIRC), to tide them over until "Starfield" and eventual successors to "Skyrim" and "Fallout" itself.

I can't say if it ever got good, but certainly upon release it failed as a story, as a game, and as a world. It seemed largely like a big scale Fallout 4 asset reuse.

The Failures?

I do think of these games as failures, to varying degrees. But frankly, you can also see them as valid games, each. There's nothing so wrong about FO3 that you can't enjoy it. FO4 is indeed rather enjoyable. FO76 was a money grab, but maybe now you can play it? I never cared for the concept, but that just meant it wasn't for me. Fair enough. Hell, the first two have received their share of Game of the Year awards.

As with so many things in life, it's about expectations. Expect nothing and you might find FO76 fun enough to entertain you. Start out with FO4 and get into it. Nothing wrong with that.

The thorn in the side of these games, besides their own issues, are really the other three major Fallout games: FO1, FO2, and FO: New Vegas. These games do not live up to the standards set by the originals, but with FO:NV there is a game that does. And compared to that game, they fail to some degree. At least in my opinion.

Let's look at "Fallout: New Vegas" next and really get into the idea of stories told in the Fallout Universe.

To be continued here.

[carpe-mamilia]

Josephine Garis Cochran (sometimes spelled Cochrane) (1839-1913) is largely unknown now, but she should be declared the patron saint of the modern busy family. For in 1886, she patented the first commercial dishwasher.

Cochran wanted a machine that would save time washing dishes, and would prevent broken crockery. She was convinced that there had to be a mechanical solution to the tedium of dishwashing. Josephine grew up in a family of engineers, but finding no one that could or would invent such a machine, she vowed, “If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I’ll do it myself.”

So she invented a contraption of gears, belts, and pulleys that could take a cage filled with over 200 dirty dishes, and would re-appear a few minutes later with the dishes as clean as if they had been hand-washed. Her machine, unlike others that had been attempted, was the first to use water pressure rather than scrubbers to clean the dishes. It also had fitted racks to hold the dishes and cutlery in place.

Once her patent application, under the name of “J.G. Cochran” was approved, the next challenge was production. “I couldn’t get men to do the things I wanted in my way until they had tried and failed in their own,” Josephine later explained. “And that was costly for me. They knew I knew nothing, academically, about mechanics, and they insisted on having their own way with my invention until they convinced themselves my way was the better, no matter how I had arrived at it.”

In 1886, with the aid of a young mechanic named George Butters, she set to work in a woodshed behind her home bringing the first prototype to life.

Once she had the patent and a machine, she had to sell the dishwashers. Although she wanted to sell directly to women, as they would appreciate how much drudgery the machine eliminated, because very few households in the 19th century could afford to pay over $100 for an appliance, her main customers were large hotels and restaurants.

She was successful at sales, but it was very difficult to challenge the mores of the 19th century, to enter these establishments on her own. When discussing selling to a large hotel, she described it as “almost the hardest thing I ever did, I think, crossing the great lobby of the Sherman House alone. You cannot imagine what it was like in those days…for a woman to cross a hotel lobby alone. I had never been anywhere without my husband or father—the lobby seemed a mile wide. I thought I should faint at every step, but I didn’t—and I got an $800 order as my reward.”

In 1893, she exhibited her dishwashers at the Columbian Exhibition World’s Fair in Chicago, and the orders came pouring in from schools, colleges, hospitals and other large institutions. Her product, the Garis-Cochran Dishwasher was a success.

With the assistance of her business partner, George Butters, they opened a factory in 1898, Cochran’s Crescent Washing Machine Company. At first the dishwashing machines were used primarily by large businesses and institutions, but decades later, Cochran’s invention eventually evolved into the appliance considered essential by millions of householders today.

Cochran died of a stroke in 1913, a very successful businesswoman. Her company was bought out in 1926 by the Hobart Corporation which produced appliances under the KitchenAid brand. In 1986, KitchenAid was acquired by Whirlpool.

Josephine Garis Cochran was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2013, on the 100 year anniversary of her death, the country of Romania (a country with which Cochran had no connection) issued a postage stamp in her honor, an indication of just how widespread her influence was.

(Text by Claire Gostling for The Dinosaur on Your Windowsill)

[kitteryofficecleaning]

Explore the top benefits of hiring professional home cleaning services in Maine, from saving time to enjoying a spotless home. Let experts handle the cleaning while you focus on what matters most. Book your service today!

[xcruelladcvil]

─◇─◇ welcome to ... the HOUSE OF DE VIL (description & roles)

It’s taken over three months, but the House of de Vil’s new headquarters is ready. Standing on the corner within the central business district of Elias, it acts as both office and boutique for the renowned fashion company. A four-storey building, its wide windows showcase mannequins wearing a mix of de Vil’s classic designs, and new pieces.

The building itself is L-shaped, and was an old commercial building with an attached courtyard behind wrought-iron gates. In its renovation and reconstruction, Cruella had the builders rip off those gates, though the surrounding fence still remains, and opened the courtyard for use by the employees of the House and for the public to use as a sort of sitting garden. There is an art installation and a water fountain in the courtyard. The building has an inspired Haussmann style facade.

( below are a list of jobs available ! )

─◇ Employment opportunities.

There are lots of openings for employment at the House, including within the boutique, the atelier (workshop), the administration, publishing (a branch of admin), and the operations team of the building. Everyone is paid very well (hon hon hon).

If you work for the House of de Vil, it is expected that it is the only place you work at, in the position you're in (eg. if you are a seamstress here, you cannot be anywhere else, but you could be a waitress).

Above all, the House is your priority.

> BOUTIQUE

Sales assistants (0/??)

Sales manager (0/2)

Delivery crew (0/??)

> ATELIER

Seamstresses/Les petites mains (0/10) - Highly skilled craftspeople who execute the House of de Vil haute couture.

Designers (0/5) - A highly coveted position, requiring a rigorous interview and onboarding process observed by Cruella herself

Interns (0/4) - Also involves a rigorous interview process, their focus will be on assisting and shadowing the seamstresses and designers (more fashion-focused)

> ADMINISTRATION

Executive assistant (0/1) - Cruella’s main assistant, not to be confused with her butler who follows her around (Alonso)

Administration Officers (0/??) - A more general admin position. Their duties can range from organising events, to filtering through job applications, to sorting mail, contracts for various sources, etc.

Interns (0/4) - Involves a less rigorous interview process, but discretion is key. Their focus will be on assisting and shadowing the Administrative side of the House (more office-focused).

Marketing team (0/??) 

Tech support (0/??) - Includes anything to do with the building's tech support to the web design team etc.

Legal team (0/3)

> PUBLISHING

This is a smaller team in charge of promoting the fashions and the brand. They handle in-house photoshoots, and may be called on to assist with runway events.

Models (3/??): Victoria Everglot, Haven Lemos, Riku Park

Photographers (0/??)

Hair and makeup artists (0/??)

Wardrobe stylists (0/??)

Set designers (0/??)

> OPERATIONS

Cleaning crew (0/??)

Security team (0/??) - A mixture of security for the building, for any events Cruella may host, and also personal bodyguards for Cruella herself, she is the brand, after all. 

( OOC NOTES )

If you would like your character to have any of these roles, please let me know! Any questions as well, please don’t hesitate to ask. These were the roles I could come up with, and I kept some of them vague on purpose in case your character would like to do something more specific or if you come up with another role that could exist in the fashion house!

And depending on the character, some of these roles may merge into jobs for Cruella's more ... illegal operations ... more on that soon 👀

Msg me for anything lovelies !! 💗

[mandtcontract]

Is exterior painting and interior painting is different for commercial and residential?

The main differences between exterior painting and interior painting for commercial and residential projects lie in the scale, scope, and specific requirements of each type of painting job. While the basic principles of painting remain the same, there are a few factors that may vary between commercial and residential projects.

1. Surface Area: Commercial buildings often have larger surface areas compared to residential homes. This means that commercial exterior painting projects may require more extensive preparation, equipment, and manpower to cover a larger area efficiently.

2. Building Materials: Commercial buildings and residential homes may be constructed with different materials. Commercial buildings often use materials such as concrete, metal, or stucco, which may require specific types of paint or coatings designed for those surfaces. Residential homes may have a wider variety of materials, including wood, siding, or brick, which may have their own specific painting considerations.

3. Regulations and Codes: Commercial buildings are subject to specific regulations and codes set by local authorities. These regulations may dictate the type of paint to be used, color restrictions, and other considerations. Residential painting projects may also have certain restrictions, but they tend to be more flexible compared to commercial projects.

4. Usage and Traffic: Commercial buildings often experience higher levels of foot traffic and wear compared to residential homes. This means that commercial interior painting projects may require more durable paints and coatings that can withstand frequent cleaning and potential damage from everyday use.

5. Aesthetics and Branding: Commercial buildings may have specific branding or design requirements that need to be considered during the painting process. This could include specific color schemes, logos, or other visual elements that reflect the company's identity or brand. Residential painting projects are typically more focused on personal preferences and individual aesthetics.

While there are some differences between commercial and residential exterior and interior painting, the core principles of surface preparation, paint application techniques, and attention to detail remain important in both cases. It is crucial to consult with professional painters who have experience in the specific type of project you have to ensure the best results.

[vespersposts]

what are your favorite types of perfumes? Also, what sample sets would you recommend for people just getting into perfume?

Hi, how nice to have a question from you! (your posts keep me a lot of company, they're kind of my daily gazette).

This post is loooong, you'be been warned!

How nice to be able to talk about fragrance. So, I start by telling you that in my opinion the main thing to figure out is what kind of perfume you like. Is there a memory, a flower an experience that has stuck with you because of a smell? In contrast, what are the smells/fumes that you hate? From there you go to figure out among the families which one is your favorite among: Citrus, Floral, Fougère, Chypre, Woody, Oriental, and Musky.

I'll give you a few examples of well-known commercial fragrances for each family so you can smell them in the perfumery or pharmacy

🍋 Citrus- zests of all kinds of citrus fruits Light blue- Dolce and Gabbana, Roger & Gallet -Cedrat Eau Fraiche, Acqua di Parma- Bergamot 💐 Floral: classical flower scents (mostly white flowers) Chloe, Nomade- Chloe, Miss Dior-Dior, Flora-Gucci 🌿 Fougère: woody, usually masculine (but in my opinion gender difference is a concept not applicable to fragrances, I use masculine or unisex perfumes almost every day). Acqua di Giò- Armani, Y- Ysl ✨ Chypre: classic, 'ladylike' , enveloping Sì- Armani, Jean Paul Gautier- Scandal, Narciso Rodriguez- Narciso 🌲 Woody: warm, woody base, usually the ones that are sold as 'cool boys' perfumes. Hero-Burberry, One Million- Paco Rabanne, bleu-Chanel, Sauvage-Dior ⛩ Oriental: spice and all things nice. The one gentleman- Dolce and Gabbana, Coromandel-Chanel. ☁ Musky : musk, leather, anything that blends with your natural scent. Idole- Lancome, Narciso Rodriguez- for him, Armani- Sì passione.

-> I suggest you ask for free samples or spray on the scent you like best and wait the whole day, so you evaluate how it changes on you and how long it lasts. I also recommend you look at this site, and if there is a note that you particularly like you can see what scents contain it and go to give it a try. A pro tip is to smell coffe grains to reset the nose between a fragrance and another (usually there are coffee beans near the shelves at stores), or just take some fresh air.

Coming to me, I use a mix of commercial perfumes but mainly niche perfumes thanks to a loved one who introduced me to them.

Actually, I am fond of musky, ambery, oriental and 'second skin' fragrances. I don't particularly like florals because on my skin they veer toward extreme sweetness and it bothers me. I usually use fragrances with few elements, I love minimalism in daytime but I am a night-time maximalist.

🎀 My favorite perfume, the one I probably use 99 times out of 100, all day long is "Mirabilis" by 'Artisan Parfumeur': musk and incense, earth and spirit. Wonderful, my Aomine Daiki of perfumes.

🎀 Another 'second skin' that I love is "Le Musc & La Peau 4.1"- Pierre Guillaume. Clean but not soapy, really well balanced.

🎀 The third perfume I use during daylight hours is Prada Amber Pour Homme. As you can see, no matter how it's categorized, it has a very fresh opening but then it has this warm, enveloping note of amber and saffron that makes me love it.

🌝 In the group of more impactful perfumes, those for the evening or a date out, I would say my favorite brand is Tom Ford.

I love "Black Orchid" because although it is a 'heavy' scent it remains elegant , and I also love "Beau de Jour" because it smells like lavender and has that vintage feel (some would tell you it smells like grandma's closet), or Noir Anthracite (vinyl, metallic, seductive ).

Belle D'Opium -YSL is another very playful fragrance, always getting compliments when i wear it.

🌒 The last strand I love are those "dissonant" fragrances, i.e., those that remind you of an experience and are not pleasant the first time you wear them, but as soon as they do drydown, you like them.

Mine are: Aura Mugler, a combination of rhubarb and green notes that makes you feel like a woodland deity, very tart and sassy, almost annoying.

Dent de Lait- Serge Lutens: metallic and milky, it is a perfume that evokes childhood, an ode to melancholy.

Equinox Bloom Penhaligon's : This tastes like a thaw, like spring. A child on the train told me I smelled like morning snow, I think that's a very good explanation.

😽Last but not least, the fragrances I love most on a man are scents that change to something disgusting on my skin, so I hope I have someone to gift them to sooner or later.

Egoiste platinum- Chanel : yes, please. this scent screams sensuality, kind dom vibes, and is perfect on anyone at any age.

Hindu Kush- Mancera: this is…mystical. unexpected, complex, warm and spiritual at the same time, hypnotic (my best friend wreaks havoc and ruin when he wears this, the scent is always a nice catchline).

Of course all the men's fragrances I wear I also love them on a potential partner���. What could be sexier than sharing the same fragrance?

Sorry for being pedantic and long-winded, I will open a tumblr page just for fragrances (joking).

Thank you for letting me talk about something I love, let me know if I was helpful and let me know when you find it which group of frangrances you like best. From your vibes i'd say warm spices with hit of floral, but only time will tell!

A super strong hug! V.

[tobuo]

don’t wanna post about this on my main social media for various reasons but…… i might have a job?

it’s only 7.5 hours a week working for a commercial cleaning company at a vets but. considering it’s been 18 months i’ve been unemployed and my anxiety around jobs is at an all time crippling high… i think this is a big step? i wasn’t really ready for it but we got told by our landlord after 10 years we have to move and our new place is nearly £350 more a month so…… at least this way i can afford to pay more rent, don’t have to deal with anyone other than my coworker and still have my days free bc it’s from 6-7:30am

gonna be sick w anxiety until i get a call from the manager later and have got the first few shifts out the way (tho the boss was like yeah just do it as a trial run and see how u get on which helps) but. money? soon? guaranteed? so i don’t have to stress so much about getting money to pay my rent n bills for my dad?

[27emailsicantsend]

Set it Up: A Rina AU

Chapter Two

"Ricky!" EJ demanded the following Monday.

Ricky bolted from his desk outside of EJ's office, nearly tripping on his chair as he stood up. Ricky had a rule for himself that he would never let EJ get to the second "Ricky", because the last time he did he had to hand wash EJ's Lamborghini for two weeks. Once inside EJ's office, Ricky stood up straight, ready to listen to EJ's next orders.

EJ was tipping back in his office chair, legs floppily propped on the desk. The office had sleek black, white, and red tones- perfect for the flashiness and commercialism of the music industry. EJ gently prodded the tip of a pen in his fingers as he talked, making sure to give as little attention to Ricky as possible.

"I need you to schedule a meeting with the songwriters at 3 P.M. today, change my lunch reservation to 1 P.M., send new emails about the corporate policy updates to Tim, Sarah, and Russell, get my dry cleaning by 4 P.M., restock my soda fridge... and for the love of everything good and holy, please fix your hair. It looks like a furry rat".

Ricky awkwardly tousled his curls before quickly exiting the office. He was just about to sit back at his desk chair and write the new demands on a sticky-note, when the girl from the restaurant came prancing in.

Ricky would be lying if he said he didn't think she was pretty, but she was also pretty irritating. She was tall and slender, with light chocolate skin, and tight black curls. Today she was wearing a short orange dress with puff sleeves, and a pair of pink converse to match. She wore a white long sleeve under the dress, presumably to keep her warm since it was March. Her face gleamed in anticipation, her small nose pink with excitement.

Ricky genuinely didn't expect to see her again, so when she reached into her small yellow cross-bag and took out a small portion of cash, he was pleasantly surprised.

"What's this for?" Ricky asked suspiciously, slowly taking the cash out of her hand.

"The dinner? I told you I would pay you back?"

"Right," Ricky agreed, recovering the rest of the memories from the other night. "You forgot the interest".

The girl sighed, obviously irked by Ricky's hideous reminder.

"I told you, there would be interest, now pay up," Ricky repeated, his hand gesturing her to give him the rest of the money.

"You didn't even say how much! As an assistant, you should know it's a scam if the company doesn't tell you upfront how much interest you're paying on a loan".

"EJ Caswell doesn't do loans," Ricky scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Gina Porter doesn't pay interest on loans she never signed for. You should be thankful you even got this from me," Gina retorted, crossing her arms.

"Ahh... Gina? I was wondering if I would get a name. Ricky Bowen, not at your service," Ricky reached his hand out to shake Gina's. She stared Ricky down, vexed and unmoving.

Ricky watched Gina for a few more seconds, the silence growing louder as each passage of time ticked. He started to grow uncomfortable with their staring contest, now wondering why she hadn't left yet. The stillness became bothersome, wielding Ricky to break it.

"Is there any other reason you're here?" Ricky gestured at the rest of the lounge, which sat outside the main recording studio. The lounge had more red and black furniture, with glass and leather being predominant features. Ricky's desk sat off to the left of the lounge (in front of EJ's office) and the recording studio acted somewhat as a backdrop to the lounge. A sound table sat below the studio window, with a couple of swivel chairs to complete it.

"Nope," Gina smirked. "But I have no doubt you'll see me again. I tend to have one of those faces".

"What does that even mean?" Ricky murmured to himself as he turned back to his work. Gina skipped out of the room, more playful than when she arrived.

When Gina arrived back to Nini's studio, she saw Nini looking irate behind her recording mic. Nini's arms were folded tight and she was tapping her foot angrily, glaring at her music producer and cowriter through the studio window. Both of the men looked more exhausted than confused and when they saw Gina, she was sure the one on the left sighed a breath of relief. Gina squeezed between the men, hesitantly pushing the sound button on the recording equipment to talk to Nini.

"Nini... what is it?" Gina tip-toed into the conversation.

"I literally hire people to do one job and that's to make me sound good. And then they admittedly refuse to do what I tell them to because it will make me sound good," Nini pouted.

Gina let go of the button, asking the producers what actually happened.

"She wanted us to rewrite her entire song from scratch. We've already made the instrumentals, lyrics, and started recording the other vocals. Rewriting would cut into production of the other songs... and if she wants to go on tour on time, we literally can't lose one more day. Especially because she did this same thing to us with the other songs we’ve already produced," the producer whispered defensively.

Gina knew she was in a Catch-22. The producer was absolutely right. They worked nonstop to produce songs Nini ended up hating and completely rewriting in the end. On the other hand, Nini had the final say since she owned the rights to her team.

Surprisingly, the songwriter leaned over and hit the sound button to talk to Nini.

"Nini, I'm really sorry, but we can't change them anymore. We have to move forward with this song," he said apologetically.

"You're fired," Nini snapped, her words sharp.

"What?!" The man exclaimed.

"What?!" Gina echoed.

"Oh and you," Nini looked at the other producer, "you're fired too".

"Nini! What are you doing? We're just trying to help! Your tour-"

"If I made it this far on my own, I can make it without you. Gina is about the only person I can trust around here, because she actually does her job when I ask," Nini reprimanded.

Gina felt her stomach twinge at the thought of helping Nini no matter what. Gina wanted to walk away right as she watched Nini snap, but she couldn't. Gina was determined to become Nini’s backup dancer and with Nini not being angry at her, she thought that maybe this would be her chance to prove herself. She knew it was selfish, but something deep down told her not to speak up.

"Gina?" Nini repeated herself. Or at least, Gina thought it sounded like Nini had already said her name, but she was too busy thinking about her (hopefully) next job.

"Yeah?" Gina shook her head to come back from her daydream. She realized she hadn't touched the sound button, but Nini kept talking anyway once she had Gina's attention.

"I'm going to fire everyone else on the team, so I need you to bring me a latte since I'll be busy. No foam. I'm watching my figure," Nini said nonchalantly. Her switch in attitude could have given Gina whiplash.

Gina couldn't believe she survived the firing massacre, but she also couldn't believe that so many of her coworkers were going to lose their jobs. Their livelihoods. Gina wanted to stand up for them so badly, but she knew the consequences of her choice would be dire.

So ten minutes later, Gina found herself at the coffee shop next door ordering a medium latte, no foam.

*******************************

It was now Monday night in New York City. The lights sprinkled the buildings outside of EJ's office window. Ricky couldn't help but look outside after every can of soda he restocked in EJ's fridge. To be walking home before dark felt like a dream. But, here he was, another Root Beer in the fridge and another glance out the window.

"Ricky," EJ stated, his feet not making a sound to let Ricky know he entered the room.

Ricky quickly turned around and looked up at his boss. He noted in his mind how ironic it must have looked for him to be on the floor as his boss stood six feet above him. A small prey to a large lion.

"Any update on that loan?" EJ inquired.

"Loan?" Ricky puzzled.

"Yes, the loan. The loan that I asked you to get for me today," EJ prompted, his fuse obviously shortening.

"I-I'm so sorry," Ricky apologized, fumbling over his legs as he stood up. He ran out to his desk and grabbed his sticky-note with his morning tasks. One thing Ricky could pride himself on was his incredible memory. And this note said nothing about a loan. In fact, Ricky was sure he would have remembered a loan being mentioned because EJ was such a cash shark. He had more money than most celebrities could even fathom.

"I am really sorry, EJ. I-I don't think you... mentioned... a loan?" Ricky stuttered, studying over the note again to see if he had astonishingly missed it somehow.

"Ricky, your job is to be my brain. And when my brain forgets, the entire system collapses. Let's stop making everything about you and remember the business for once, alright?" EJ scolded. He was now sitting in his desk chair, pursing his fingers together.

Ricky cautiously took a seat in one of the chairs opposite EJ, before apologizing profusely.

"I am, really so so sorry, EJ. I won't let it happen again. I just need to know what the loan amount is, where you're getting it from, and what for so I can send it to accounting," Ricky scrambled, trying to reconcile the mistake he didn't even remember making.

"I'd rather not tell you the amount. But it's a.... handsome sum coming from my cousin, Ashlyn. Do you have her email or do I need to get that for you to?" EJ snarked.

Ricky remained quiet, knowing good and well he has never heard of Ashlyn, nor did he have her email. When EJ realized Ricky wasn't responding, he sighed and wrote Ashlyn's email on a sticky note.

"Please, next time, I would appreciate it if you would do your job," EJ insisted as Ricky made his way out of the office.

Ricky was about to cross the threshold for the door when he remembered what bugged him about the loan before. He couldn't help but ask one more thing. None of what EJ was doing made sense.

"EJ, I know it's none of my business, really. I have no right to ask this except to keep track of finances along with accounting. But I just... wonder why you need such a large loan? You said loans are for poor people and that's why you'll never need one... but this just seems like... a shock?" Ricky was sure he crossed a line asking this, but he needed an answer.

Surprisingly, EJ easily released the information with seemingly no ulterior motive.

"Ricky, sales are down further than they've ever been. Carlos was supposed to be promising, but with his EP's, sales are incredibly down. We can't afford a tour, merchandise, and everything else we promised him if we can't get Carlos back on top..." EJ's voice faltered, potentially realizing he said too much.

"Ricky," the room seemed to get darker as EJ's voice lowered, "you can't tell anyone. The press will think we're going bankrupt. People will create a stigma against Caswell Records. I don’t really have any other options. We have no other people who want to work with me as a producer".

Ricky sarcastically wondered why that is. But then EJ promised something that Ricky wasn’t sure he would ever hear.

"Ricky, if you keep quiet and help me resolve this problem; then when we make it to the other side, I will promote you to become an assistant writer for Carlos... Don’t give me that look. I know this is all you’ve talked about since I’ve hired you. Now get out. You're making my life worse," EJ concluded.

Ricky ran out, slightly panicked. If there wasn't money that could mean people, including Ricky and Carlos, could lose their jobs. He knew that EJ put EJ before everyone else, so everyone else would be the first to go before his business, cars, and mansions. But if Ricky kept up his end of the bargain, his entire life could change. For Ricky, the entire situation felt scary and different, in the best and worst possible way.

**********************************

"I need you to find me a new music producer. I'm tired of searching," Nini demanded Gina. Nini had surprisingly searched for a new producer the following Wednesday. Not so surprisingly, she had only searched for about half an hour before giving up entirely and taking a nap. A nap seemed like gold at the end of a rainbow for Gina- too good to be true, especially now.

While Nini did whatever was best for her, Gina was trying to fulfill the jobs of at least twenty other people. Nini wasn't kidding when she wanted her entire team fired. She went on the angriest rampage Gina had seen yet, firing everyone from production to make up to a few of the backup dancers (she kept two for good measure). She even tried to fire her dentist, but in turn he fired her as a client.

Gina spent the entirety of the week bookkeeping, running numbers, writing down song lyrics whenever they popped into Nini's head, marketing, and trying her best to keep up with her typical assistant duties. At one point, Gina hired a chef for the week to get Nini's meals and at another point, Nini tried to get Gina to learn guitar. Thankfully, Nini forgot about the latter idea.

Gina used every resource in her wheelhouse to keep Nini happy, at the expense of her own dignity. Now, Nini was adding this new job of finding a music producer for her to Gina’s never-ending tasks. This task was the one that scared Gina the most, because Nini's music producer was practically her lifeline (outside of Gina). She couldn't mess it up.

Gina ended up spending the entire weekend searching for a new producer, while also trying to balance the rest of Nini’s demands. She found herself going studio to studio in New York City, trying to meet any producer she could in person. She hoped her chipper attitude and “get it done” spirit would get Nini hired. However, every place she visited was either filled, busy, or simply didn’t want Nini because of her reputation.

Jack had even asked to meet Gina in person that weekend, but due to the craziness of her schedule, Gina had to tell him not yet. He was bummed, but understood. While Gina found it kind that Jack was so accommodating with her, she couldn’t help but feel more agitated by the minute as she tried to search for someone to help. 

Finally, on Sunday night, just before Gina was about to go to bed, she heard a song come up on her “New Artists” playlist. It was Carlos. She wondered how she could have been so naïve? The answer nearly ran into her the other night at the restaurant. 

****************************************************

Ricky had spent the entire weekend trying to get ahold of Ashlyn for EJ’s loan. She was not a celebrity, but somehow had an agent and a stylist who took care of all of her plans for her. Ricky wondered what kind of business she was in that kept her so preoccupied, even for EJ.

She is going to have to get back to you later. She is busy getting fitted with Maddox for the banquet and subsequent fundraiser tonight. The rest of the week is filled with her other curriculars. Maybe May?

-Red

Ricky stared blankly at the message he received. It was halfway through March and Red made May sound like a week away. Ricky, frustrated with no helpful responses, chucked the phone down on his desk. He stood up to go to EJ’s office when he saw a familiar figure walking towards him.

It was Gina. She was now in a white turtleneck and black jeans, a long brown trench coat to match. Ricky tried not to notice how nice her hair looked, her curls waterfalling in a bun atop her head. She looked extra chipper this morning, which meant Ricky felt extra annoyed.

“You already paid me? What would you like now?” Ricky asked expressionless.

Ricky couldn’t tell if Gina purposely ignored his attitude or if she genuinely did not notice. Either way, she had something completely different from bickering in mind.

“I have a little proposition for you!” Gina beckoned in a sing-song voice. “Do you know if EJ is hiring? Nini needs a producer”.

This caught Ricky off guard. He wondered why one of the world’s top musicians would need a new producer?

“Why? What happened?” Ricky probed.

“Let’s just say.... Nini and her other producer... didn’t match each other’s harmonies if you know what I mean,” Gina hinted, giving Ricky a mischievous wink.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean,” Ricky remarked, dumbfounded.

“Anyway,” Gina ignored Ricky. “Nini needs a new producer and I know EJ has been pretty well known. I know some of his past has kind of thrown him off the map. But he’s terrible. Nini is everything terrifying and wonderful. They’d be perfect together”.

Ricky knew EJ needed the help. Especially with Red being atrocious at his job; there was no way Ricky was getting the loan on time. He figured he would only have to see Gina when Nini was recording and Carlos was at the studio most of the time, so it might be worth the momentary pain in the neck. As much as Ricky was fighting his own internal battle against the idea, he caved.

“Fine. Let me go talk to EJ, see what I can do,” Ricky said, using his hand to lightly push Gina to the side as he made his way to EJ’s office.

After about fifteen minutes of running the proposal by EJ, EJ ultimately agreed. Ricky explained that getting ahold of Ashlyn seemed impossible (to which EJ replied, “did you even try?”) and that Nini was a big star, so she could probably help EJ get the money he needed. EJ said it was worth a shot and told Ricky the stipulations for hiring her before sending him out the door to Gina. On the way out, EJ gave Ricky one last warning, “Ricky. Mum’s the word. You know the deal”.

Feeling slightly threatened, Ricky walked back out to Gina. She was sitting in his chair, snapping his rubber band ball as she spun around. Ricky snatched the ball out of her hand saying, “give me that”, followed by a bewildered expression. She stopped the chair immediately.

“What is this? Daddy Day Camp? Stop playing with my stuff,” Ricky demanded.

“You have to admit, the only reason you keep these toys on your desk is so that you can play with them too,” Gina accused.

“So?” Ricky admitted before setting the ball back down. “Anyway, EJ said he would hire her-”

“-Oh, really?! Yay!” Gina interrupted as she stood up to give Ricky a celebratory hug.

Ricky barricaded the impulse by grabbing onto her arms and holding them before they reached him. He did a small dance with Gina before she slowed down so he could talk.

Hands still holding Gina’s arms, Ricky continued his proposition, “you didn’t let me finish. EJ said he would hire her if she agreed to pay him double his normal asking cost”.

Gina’s eagerness dropped with her arms. 

“Really? Why is that?” Gina questioned, confusion laced in her voice.

“Because EJ is a big guy! He has a lot of money and he can be very hard to book,” Ricky half-fibbed. He figured with Nini at the studio it would eventually become the truth, so he gave himself this white lie.

“Well... I mean, I guess you’re right...” Gina contemplated as she thought out loud. “And Carlos?... I mean, I heard him on a playlist the other night... and Nini is so big still she could afford it... but what if she doesn’t want EJ? I told her I would get her someone... oh no...”

Ricky watched as Gina walked around the room working through the situation outloud. At first he thought she was addressing him, but it seemed as though she was just talking to herself... or an imaginary friend.

“Who are you talking to?” Ricky let his curiosity get the better of him.

“Myself. Thinking out loud is better than thinking in your head because you can hear your thoughts from an outside perspective,” Gina explained simply.

Ricky was surprised by how profound Gina’s sentiment seemed to be. He thought about it for a minute before shaking his head to redirect his attention. There were larger matters at hand.

“Ok, Gina. I need a yes or a no. I told you EJ is a tough man-”

“-And Nini is a tough woman,” Gina countered.

“I just need to know, Gi,” Ricky stopped himself quickly. He had no idea where this nickname came from and how he slipped it in the conversation on accident. He hoped she didn’t notice.

“Can you hold off on getting an answer for, like, fifteen minutes until I can get back to the office and ask Nini for sure?” Gina asked, a rushed sound to her voice.

Ricky sighed relief internally that she didn’t notice the nickname. 

“Yeah, sure. Here’s my card; you can text this number. But go- go now!” Ricky prompted, ushering Gina out the door.

Gina ran out the door quickly, the curls on her head bouncing happily. Ricky went back to EJ’s office to distract him until he heard back. About fifteen minutes later, as promised, Ricky received a text message from Gina.

She said yes!!!

P.S. Told you you would see me again

P.S.S. Only my friends call me Gi

Ricky felt his face flush with embarrassment.