#do we have electricians in the chat

[3-aem]

tonight on three doesn’t know what they’re doing: my circuit breaker tripped (???) for my microwave and not knowing what i was doing i kinda fiddled with it

pros: apparently i fiddled with it correctly bc i turned it back on

cons: according to the internet and the very angry warning label i probably should Not have done that 😭

[artificial-transmutations]

Beating Recession

Recession sucked, that much was clear to Logan even before he checked his email inbox. When he saw a few replies to his job applications from the last days, he sighed. He didn't need to open the mails to know that the news was bad, but he did so anyway.

"We regret to inform you..." - Logan didn't even read on. He had lost his job as an apprentice electrician about half a year ago. The company was going under, and Logan, the youngest and least experienced worker, was the first to go. That's how it was in this business. Since then, he had applied to every single position that came up - but apparently, the current economic situation was so bad that nobody needed another worker.

Logan had hoped that his apprenticeship would get him a job, but the fact that he was only 20 and had not much practical experience hurt him. Slowly, money was becoming a pretty big problem. Whatever savings he had (for some real estate of his own! As if that was going to happen!) had melted away over the last months. His rent was due, and he had no income.

In fact, he was one month late with his rent already, and although his landlord had been cool about it, Logan did not see how he would be able to keep his apartment. He really, really wanted to avoid moving back in with his parents who had their own problems, too.

So, what was he going to do? There wasn't much more to do than keep looking for a job, even though his chances were slim.

He opened LinkedOut and looked for openings, just as he had done multiple times before this week. The sparse list of jobs had not changed, so Logan scrolled on.

He was about to give up again when a listing caught his eye.

"Escape unemployment today! Change™ job agency will find the perfect job, for the perfect you. Apply here!"

He had heard of such agencies before, and the results were not pretty. Usually, they just took the applicants' data and sold it on. They would claim to have found a job for you, but it usually wouldn't work out, and the applicant would have paid money for this useless service. Still, Logan was curious enough to click the link. If they wanted money, he would back out immediately - it was not like he had any to spare.

To Logan's big surprise, when he clicked the link, a new page opened, with a web-based chat interface. Before he could close the tab again, there was already a message in the window. It read:

"Kevin: Hey, and welcome to the Change™ job agency. My name is Kevin. How may I help you today?"

It was a nice surprise that they didn't try to sell him anything or even ask for his data before he had entered the website. Well, no harm done. He might as well give them a try. Hesitating slightly, Logan's fingers hovered over the keyboard before he typed:

"Hi. I'm Logan and I'm looking for a new job."

The answer came quickly, but not so quickly that Logan would suspect the other person to be a chatbot. After some moments, Kevin's reply appeared on the screen:

"Great. What kind of job are you looking for? And what kind of salary are we talking?"

Logan considered the questions. This was probably the point where they would ask him for his data. He silently cursed his excessive caution. Of course, they had to ask these questions. How else should they offer him anything?

"Uhm. My last job was as an apprentice electrician, but at this point I would be pretty happy about just any job. The salary should be high enough to pay my rent."

Logan hesitated before hitting enter. He didn't want to come over as quite so desperate, but the truth was, he was.

"Okay, no problem. Do you have a preferred working sector?"

What a weird question. Why did it matter what industry he preferred?

"Uhm, not really. I guess anything is fine."

"Very well. Before I look up what's there in our database, I would need some basic information about you. Namely gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation."

"Wait. What does my sexual orientation have to do with a job? Besides, why do you need to know my ethnicity? Is this even legal?"

Logan had typed furiously and pressed enter before thinking about his reply.

"I understand your confusion. We here at the Change™ job agency strive to find not only a job, but the best job for the best you, so we need to know what we're working with. It wouldn't be very appropriate to apply a person as an actress who is really good at sports, now would it? Of course, you have to understand that your answers are confidential and will not be disclosed to any third parties, especially not your future employer."

That was fishy deluxe. Logan really didn't want to feed some unknown job agency all that highly personal information. On the other hand,... what did he have to lose?

"Well, I guess it can't hurt. Uhm. I'm a male, 20 years old, I would call myself white and I'm heterosexual."

"Wonderful. One last question: Are you comfortable with nudity and public sexual activities?"

"Wait, WHAT? I mean, uhm, sure, I guess? I mean, why should I need that?"

"This question is purely to determine if we should also have a look in the adult entertainment section of our job offerings. Alright Logan, please stand by while I enter your data into our search engine."

Logan leaned back. He felt a bit uneasy about all that. But it was not like his answers could lead them directly to his apartment, so he felt relatively safe.

A minute or so passed, and Logan started to think that he had been tricked after all, but just as he was about to close the tab, a new message appeared.

"Sorry for the delay, I had a few calls. We found two jobs that could be a fit. The first one is an office job in a big insurance company. To be honest, it's not that good of a fit and it doesn't pay very well either."

"That's fine." Logan wrote. He was incredibly on edge now. Could it really be so easy to find a new job? And he even had a choice?

"What's the other one?" he added to his previous message.

"Okay, the other job is a bit more unconventional, but we have the feeling it could be a great match. It's an actor position in the porn industry, at the famous XXX Incorporated."

"Porn? What? Are you serious? I mean, I don't have anything against porn or nudity or whatever, but I'm not sure if this is the kind of job I want."

Logan felt mixed feelings. The prospect of being some office drone sounded pretty uninteresting and a low pay wasn't all that good either. But a porn actor? Logan had to admit, the thought felt somewhat interesting, but he doubted he had what it took for that? Weren't porn stars famously hung and well-built? That was certainly not Logan. Just as he pondered those thoughts, Kevin's answer appeared:

"I understand Sir. So, should we continue with the first job opening then?"

Logan bit his lip, but the curiosity got the better of him.

"Wait. What does the second job entail? I mean, I'm not exactly... equipped for the porn business."

"Well, as I have said: It's an actor position, so you would star in some new adult entertainment productions. While I understand your modesty, our records show that you are more than adequately gifted for this kind of job."

Logan felt confused. He absentmindedly scratched his crotch before he replied:

"Uhm, sorry, I don't think you understand. I don't really think my..." Logan paused. Was he really going to write that? It was embarrassing, but at least he could be reasonably sure he would never meet this Kevin in real life. So, he continued:

"... penis is big enough for such a position."

The answer came promptly.

"Really? Better have a look to be sure ;-)"

A winking smiley? That wasn't very professional. Actually, the whole sentence wasn't. Still, Logan couldn't stop himself from glancing at his crotch. What he saw made him take a double take. His soft cock was forming a visible and ample bulge in his jeans. Logan knew that he was slightly smaller than average, so that was ridiculous. It was almost a... a porn star-sized bulge!

He stared at his package, but it wasn't growing any smaller. With trembling hands, he opened his jeans. Immediately, a well-filled pair of boxers escaped the confinement of his jeans. The dick print of his soft member was clearly visible in his underwear, and it wasn't just much bigger than Logan remembered. It was among the biggest bulges he had ever seen in his life!

His hands explored the impressive manhood through his underwear and felt every centimeter of the hardening dick. He had no idea what had caused this growth, but he wasn't complaining. Before he could interact more with it, however, he noticed another message on the screen.

"Are you still there, Sir?"

"Sorry, yes." Logan hurried to reply. What was he going to write? "I was below average just a few moments ago but now I have one of the biggest cocks in human history"?

Instead, Kevin answered.

"Good! I trust you had a chance to inspect your assets?"

"Uhm, yes."

"So, have you made up your mind, or should I look into the office position?"

Logan was torn. He wasn't sure what he had seen just a moment ago. Still, his enormous cock that was half-hard in his boxers was there, undeniably.

"Let's go with the porn star position." Logan finally typed, and his heart was racing.

"Very good! Now, as I mentioned, the position is in the adult entertainment sector. Do you know the company XXX Incorporated?"

Logan thought quickly about it before replying: "No, sorry, never heard of them."

"That is not at all surprising, since they specialize in the adult sector for homosexual men. According to your data, you identify as heterosexual. I hope that won't be a problem?"

Of course, there was a catch. Logan had heard about these gay for pay people and he hesitated yet again. They paid well, supposedly, but...

"Uhm. Would that mean I would need to be on the receiving end?" He wasn't too close-minded and could imagine kissing another man if he had to, perhaps even receiving a blow job from one. But having another person fuck him in the ass? No, that was way beyond his comfort zone.

"I believe the technical term you are looking for is 'to bottom'." Kevin replied, and added another message shortly after:

"But the company is, in fact, looking for a 'top' actor. They put it like this: 'We are looking for a well-built top for our new productions.'"

Logan was relieved. While he was a gold star gay man (why did he put 'heterosexual'? That was utter bullshit!), he was a strict top. This position sounded better and better. Still, one thing raised some new doubts.

"Hold on. I'm hung like a horse, but I wouldn't say I'm very muscular or even fit. I'm not much of a gym goer."

"Are you sure ;-)?"

Again, with the winking smiley! Kevin sounded so very professional most of the time, but then there were these messages. Logan scratched the back of his shoulder with some effort. Whenever he raised his arms so high the mountains of muscle on his upper arms danced and made it difficult to reach his back. Logan suddenly realized that something had changed - again! His shirt strained against his muscular chest, and as he lifted his shirt, he could see some cobblestone abs on an otherwise flat stomach. His calves had become thicker and strong. His jeans, which had felt slightly loose earlier, now seemed to be getting tighter.

Logan had never been very athletic. His body was lean, but not fit or muscular. That had certainly changed. When he looked at himself, he hardly recognized himself anymore. A huge dick, and a studly body.

Logan shook his head and let the shirt fall again. Whatever was going on, it was not a bad thing, was it?

"Alright, so I'm a buff top with a big cock. Is there anything else?" he smiled as he wrote that.

"Actually, there is one further requirement, but given your cooperation so far I don't believe it will be much of a problem either." Kevin replied, in his professional tone again.

"And what would that be?" Logan was intrigued.

"The company is especially looking for a, and I cite, 'huge, dominant Black top with large dick. Intellectual capabilities are not required'. Are you feeling up to that task? ;-)"

This time, Logan immediately raised his shirt to watch his body change. As soon as he read the words, his skin began darkening, first a golden bronze and then a rich black. It was a gradual change but happened very quickly. His muscles became even more defined, and his body hair thickened and grew even darker.

He didn't know what 'intellectual capabilities' meant, but as his body grew larger and thicker, he felt a strange fog entering his mind. It was a little unsettling at first, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. His usual thoughts quickly became overshadowed by his raising libido. As he grabbed his huge, Black throbbing cock, a dominant smirk crept on his mouth.

He turned his attention back to the computer and typed:

"Yeah, baby. I think I can make that happen. Just tell me who to fuck and I'll be there!"

He saw Kevin reply with a street address and a date and time, but Logan decided he would read that later. Now, his cock demanded his entire attention. He absentmindedly noticed his webcam turning on but paid it little attention. If Kevin wanted to watch him jerk his fat cock, he was very welcome to. After all, he just helped him find the job of his life!

That's certainly a way to beat recession! Also check out this blog!

[astrodice]

What career suites you best based on destiny matrix? (part 3/3)

part 1 part 2

To find out what career suits you best and what can you do to succeed, we have to look at the number under the dollar sign.

note: there are so many different career choices and the options I'm listing here are just general examples based. you're free to choose any career, and hopefully, you don't feel pressured by this post to suddenly become philosopher.

16 - The Tower

People with the tower energy are resilient to change when it comes to finances and career. They face obstacles that affect their careers and finances pretty often, but still they can overcome all the problems. These people are strong, adaptive and energetic.

The most suitable career:

lifeguard

builder

electrician

renovator

Challenges that affect career:

fear of change (the tower is a proof that you can overcome all the obstacles, rebuild yourself and your career)

self-destruction

overestimating your skills

unfortunate circumstances (something that can't be forseen like job loss)

I couldn't find famous people with this placement. If you have it, please tell me what you do for a living 🤩

17 - The Star

People with this energy usually have a dream job, and they can achieve their dream if they believe in it. They are creative, artistic and the public loves them. But it doesn't mean that their career will be necessarily related to art, it may be something more mundane, but it requires a creative approach.

The most suitable career:

artist/actor/singer

designer/architect

astrologer

astronaut

Challenges that affect career:

rejecting your dream

being shy about being talented

being passive

"star sickness"

over consumption

Famous people with this placement: Zaha Hadid (architect), Ryan Gosling

18 - The Moon

People with the moon energy are empaths who have an ability to to materialise their thoughts. The can achieve the most success when they do art or create something material.

The most suitable career:

poet/writer

doing show business

astrologer/fortune teller

psychologist

bloger

Challenges that affect career:

fear of failure

taking no action towards your dream (maladaptive daydreaming entered the chat)

storing negative energy (repressed anger, holding back tears, etc)

escapism

Famous people with this placement: Kylie Jenner, Lana Del Rey, Elvis Presley

19 - The Sun

People with the sun energy are ambitious, energetic, they know how to make people pay attention to them, know how to lead the crowd. When the energy is in the negative, these people can get fixated on one thing, which may lead to burn out.

The most suitable career:

politician

CEO

motivational speaker

global artist

top manager

Challenges that affect career:

pride

excessive demands on people around you

being critical

inaction

Famous people with this placement: Beyonce, Justin Biber, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Zayn, Kurt Cobain

20 - Judgment

First of all, this arcana is related to your family. You have to check how you parents/family affect your relationship with money and career. Maybe they have a belief that it's impossible to get rich, and therefore you adapt their belief. Moving on, 20 indicates success in the fields of politics, science and education. Also, 20 can indicate having a successful business with family.

The most suitable career:

journalist

politician

advocate

scientist

philosopher

teacher

Challenges that affect career:

being involved in family conflicts

controlling tendencies

dependence on the opinion of elders in the family

fear of change

denial of progress

lack of education

Famous people with this placement: Priscilla Chan (pediatrician and philanthropist, co-founder of Meta), Tatyana Kim (CEO of the largest online retailer platform in Russia, teacher, before staring business with her husband she was teaching English), Perrie Edwards, Aaliyah

21 - The World

People with the world energy are able to carry large-scale projects. They are influential, open-minded and they are in tune with the world around them.

The most suitable career:

diplomat

traveler

travel agent

software developer

artist/musician/actor

Challenges that affect career:

power abuse

staying in comfort zone

limiting beliefs

intolerance

technical backwardness

Famous people with this placement: Timothée Chalamet, Camala Harris

22 - The Fool

This arcana makes people spontaneous, they are guided by their passions and intuition. They are the ones who can come up with successful startup, business plan, etc. Also, they have creative/artistic potential. The downside of the fool is that office job and schedules make them stress too much, because they find it hard to concentrate.

The most suitable career:

bloger

movie director

startup(er)?

dancer/actor/musician

producer/movie director

poet

photographer

Famous people with this placement: Elon Musk, Kris Jenner, Marilyn Monroe, Donatella Versace

[changingplumbob]

Electrician came and fixed the hot water cylinder (boiler), apparently the element had busted? Anyway I couldn't wait for the water to heat so had a freezing cold shower after vacuuming. Then we discovered that actually none of the taps will run hot water now, I don't know if the electrician forgot to turn something back on or what but basically we're still waiting for hot water.

I've been really tired today, I did not have a good sleep. If you have been messaging me please know that I just did not have the mental capacity to respond properly today, I do still enjoy chatting just words were not coming.

So I've been noticing that I'm falling a bit out of sync with my Behind The Screen posts as I schedule. With juggling three saves sometimes I get a patch of smooth sailing and sometimes things fall apart which leaves me a lot of those posts. Basically the Behind The Screen posts may end up showing gameplay things from a few weeks before what has gone out that day. Hopefully I'm the only one bothered by it.

[unluckyhoneybee]

It will work (Connor dewar)

Long time friends that finally get together... Fluff.

There was a crack on the wooden floor that made you look up. Connor was looking at his foot, nose scrunched up and frozen. His eyes then slowly moved to you.

You chuckled.

"I was trying to be quiet."

You patted the seat and moved to make him space. He quickly sat down, but kept some distance.

You silently offered him your beer, which he took.

"I don't know what I'm doing" He simply scoffed before taking a sip.

"What do you mean?"

You knew well what he meant.

It was someone's party, that highschool friend that lived by the river and had a cool house with a big backyard. Obviously you knew Connor would be there. You had seen each other a couple of times this past week. He knew you'd be there too.

You had chatted at the beginning of the night. After all, you had always been friends. Feelings apart. But then the beers started getting into your head and you had to move away. You knew yourself well enough to not be trusted drunk around Connor Dewar, for what could be said and done. So did he. So you both migrated to different sides of the house. He found a spot with some brunette from the neighbor town and you with the electrician son.

But it wasn't right. It didn't feel right.

Connor heard someone say you were having some fresh air at the back when he was on the verge of screaming. He had nothing against Claudia, the brunette. But she just... Why was she getting on his nerves like this?

"I mean that..." He stopped to take a deep breath and straight his back. "Last year you were with Adam. The year before and the other, I was with Ellie. Joe, Ricky, and Marie"

You felt a knot in your throat. It was easy to see where it was going.

"I was with Marie and you were with Ricky when it happened." That fight. You remembered that fight and how it lead you to break up with your then boyfriend. Marie never knew about it, though.

"But now..."

"Now? Now what Connor?"

You needed him to be brave, to be the one taking the step this time. You needed to see him fight for it, not just follow you lead.

"Now we both are single and losing our time with a girl I've never seen and the electrician's son"

His eyes were on the beer he had now completely stolen from you. He couldn't look at you now. But you wanted him too. You needed him to look at you in the eyes and say those words again. The words he said on the lake when he was still dating Ellie.

"Tell me, Con" You muttered as you cupped his cheek. "You tell me what you want"

His eyes scanned your face for a few seconds, trying to find some sign that told him you didn't want this just as much as him. But he couldn't. Your eyes were bright and there was a smile fighting in your lips.

"Connor..."

"I'm still in love with you. I can't get rid of it" He whispered.

"Why?" You pressed only a bit more.

"Because I don't want to"

You smiled and grabbed the beer from his hand and put it away.

"And what are you gonna do about it" You whispered on his lips.

"I'm not sure"

"Should I?"

"Rpobably, yeah" He chuckled nervously but still turned his body to you.

You giggled and finally kissed his lips. It was as if both bodies finally relaxed after years of longing. There was no girlfriend somewhere in the house this time, or guy in talking stage thinking he was the one. It was just you and Connor, finally.

It had been years of loving gazes, soft touches and long hugs, fights and hidden feelings... And his hands were on your back and you were kissing so deep and slow.

"Con-" You pulled back a bit.

"What, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. His thumb caressed your cheek.

"no. Uh. Yes. Sorry" You chuckled. "It's just... I still want you. I mean, you already know. But I hadn't said it. I'm still in love with you"

Connor smiled yo big, but instead of kissing you again, he simply hugged you. He pulled you to his side and craddled you on his arms.

"It will work. I will make it work" You heard him say from your place on his chest.

[wildshona]

I was chatting to two or three guys here on Tumblr yesterday when I had to break off to chat to the electrician who was working on a lighting fault. He had been a bit of a distraction all morning to be honest. he was in his late twenties i suppose and had short blonde hair, blue eyes and what looked like a nice body. i flirted a bit and made him coffee you know the way you do. he had met Chris when he first arrived but Chris went out for a meeting and it was very obvious that Mark the electrician thought that i was Chris's daughter lol. thats the way the flirting ran. dont know how old he thought i was cos he asked me what school i went to. i told him i had left school so i suppose as far as he was concerned i was anywhere between 16 and 19 and single.

well i was just wearing a short skirt and a tight tee that showed my hard nipples and i was aware i shouldnt put a man off when he is working with electricity but he was kinda hot and my nipples responded to that. so did my knickerless cunt which was very wet.

he got the lights fixed and we flirted around for a bit, and he had another coffee and by this time he was gettin distracted by my nipsa nd it was fun,

did he have another job to go to, no. what time will ur dad be home? late. i pulled my legs up n rested my chin on my knees. there was no way he couldnt see my cunt.

he stoppped speaking and that was ok cos i was on my knees then and getting his cock out. it wasnt big, average say but it had a nice shape and it tasted nice. and he knew how to use it. he worried that i might not be very experienced so i went all girly and told him id only had one bf before lol if onlt he knew.

he was going to fuck me on the couch but i took him into the guest bedroom . i mean all those mirrors lol and i like watching mysef get fucked. he started missionary but then put me doggy and was gentle at first asking me if it was alright and he wasnt hurting me. theer are times when acting the coy inexperienced girl really doesnt work cos i wanted to scream fuck me like a slut.

anyway i moved against him and go the pace going he got the message, he even asked me where i wanted him to cum

where do u want i said. i like to cum on a girls face he said

go on then. id cum about three times so i was ready and there was a lot of the stuff. fuck i was covered. and i did let some drip into my mouth which he thought was really great,

bless he was sweet. he asked me if i ever went clubbin. yeah i said. do you want to go out some time. ok. i gave him my number. he left.

i thought about it a bit and decided that i needed my doggy dildo to get off a acouple more times.

chris and i went out for dinner cos somehow i didnt fancy cooking.

[electricvinyls]

selfship ask game.😈😈 for electricvinyl😈😈😈😈😈

🎈, 🌱, 🩹, 🍒 & 🏷️ yay

HIII I JUST WOKE UP AFTER THE LONGEST NAP KNOWN TO MAN SO I ANSWER NOW!!!! TYTYTYTT FOR THE ASK YAY HIIIIII HIHIHI

edit: i saved this as a draft and forgot to finish so I'll schedule it to post in the morning

🎈— what is your most precious memory with them?

I think us falling asleep next to eachother during our stay at VILE academy, us pushing our beds together to chat all night only to immediately pass out...<3

🌱 — how do you make up with each other after an argument?

at first we both just stuck with the silent treatment, we wouldn't even talk things out. just wait it out until we were on okay terms again. now we've eased into being able to sort of talk about things. it's harder for me to speak up about how I feel (fear of rejection), but crackle can be very well worded so I open up more...

🩹 — if you or your f/o got hurts, how would the other react?

as agents, we're not half bad at avoiding major injuries, so Crackle isn't too fussed if I get hurt. or vise versa. but when we can tell the other is struggling we don't waste a second to come to the others aid.

🍒 — what would your contact names be for each other?

He'd have me as "whizz" at first, but later on change it to "darl❤️"

him as "mr electric" and later on "Gray 😸😸<3"

🏷️ — what is you and your f/o's ship name? how did you decide on that name?

Electricvinyl!! Electric is pretty basic but accurate to Graham(Crackle), he's and electrician and later on uses his skills to work for VILE, so he has a pretty sparky personality. Vinyl for me because my self insert fights *Capoeira, and usually tries so have some form of music on him so he can fight rhythmically but also different depending on genre and song. but also I collect vinyls heehee. generally our relationship is electric and full of sparks<33

*Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice – simultaneously a fight and a dance that can be interpreted as a tradition, a sport and even an art form.

[annakie]

Let's Spend Lots of Money!

Back in June I posted about how after a huge storm rolled through, I was without power for over five days and then talked about all the insurance and stuff going on.

Well, things have progressed since then!

Would you like to read/see pictures of exterior home renovation? This is the post for you! Warning: It's really long! And the story isn't done yet!

Here's a cut for extreme length!

PART ONE: The To-Do List

When it was over, at the end of my post, I posted some To-Do's:

Call Plumber - Done, and I thought the problem would be solved for another year or more.

Get garage door serviced. Done. The guy I called was clearly trying to rip me off. He told me immediately that I needed new springs, and when I pushed back and pointed out how shiny and new my garage springs were, because they were less than five years old, and they just needed to be tightened, he tried telling me that it's not possible to tighten garage door springs, something I knew for a fact was bullshit. I pushed back on him and was about to tell him to just leave when instead he had me sign a thing saying that he couldn't promise that fixing the springs would fix the problem and if I called them out again it would be another service call fix instead of guaranteed work. In the end, I got what I wanted but paid too much and marked that company in my phone as "never call again." The work they did do was fine, but screw them.

Get Handyman to take care of the fallen tree - Check, a day or two after power came back. I tipped him extra for it, too, because he always takes care of me. My insurance lady told me what I paid was quite inexpensive for the job.

Work with Insurance - Yep! We'll get to that.

Talk to my neighbors about the fact that I’m going to get a wood fence put up to replace our chain link one. YEP. We'll get to that, too.

Get the electrician back to wire up the house for a generator. Nope. Not yet. But someday.

Buy a generator Not yet, but again, someday.

Clean out the garage, for real. Maybe when it's not 100 degrees out every day again. But yeah, on the list, for multiple reasons.

So yeah... the last six weeks or so have been a trip.

PART TWO: Getting Money

One of the things I did when I didn't have power was see that we could file a claim with FEMA for disaster assistance. I figured... why not. A day or two after I got power back, a FEMA inspector lady called and then came to the house. I pointed out all of the things. I ended up getting a little bit from FEMA. Not a ton, but honestly, I was grateful. Anything helped.

Later that week, or maybe the next, my insurance sent an adjuster. Crazily she was flown down from another part of the country, she was living in the exact town that I grew up in. Like it is not a huge town. Not "small" but also just not somewhere you'd expect to meet someone from on the reg. So we had a good time chatting about the city when she came to inspect the house.

Insurance gave me an OK amount. My roof was old so they only paid out 40% of the replacement cost. And yeah, that's about what I got from them them with the final price when it was all said and done.

PART THREE: Finding Help

My roofer initially seemed great. I was excited to work with him. When the insurance came, instead of him coming, he sent an "assistant" who didn't really seem like he knew much of what he was doing or was very helpful. But hey, you know what? right after a storm like that, they're gonna be busy.

Several times over the next couple of weeks I texted him asking how things were progressing on just getting me a quote. He sent a whole other guy over like two weeks later for the fence quote. He barely seemed interested to be there. Um, okay. He also wouldn't even give me a ballpark at the time. Whatever.

Two weeks after that I hear from the roofer that he's almost done with my quote. By then it was the weekend before July 4th.

I'd gotten the money from the insurance. I'd sent the documentation of their payout to the roofer and made it clear I had a sum of cash above that (not exactly how much) to come out of pocket, and a priority list for the work to be done. My best guess is that he figured my business wasn't worth as much time as other people's, so I kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the stack. OK. His prerogative. Fair. But I was at the limit of my waiting, considering how bad my roof was.

My across the street neighbor had told me that she had her roof redone a year or two ago who she said did a good job, and he'd come to see how her roof fared from the storm and told her to give me his number if I wanted him to look at it. So when I didn't hear from my roofer after July 4th week, I went and asked her for the number, then texted Joel, the new roofer.

Anyway, Joel came out the next day. I showed him all the work I'd been approved for. He and I negotiated a price and materials for the roof. A price was set that was right about what I thought it should be.

Still had some money leftover in the budget so I asked about a fence, specifically an 8' Cedar fence. His quote was $1k more than I was hoping it would be, but honestly, still what I thought was a good deal.

He also mentioned a price for the patio roof. I was at my hoped-for spend limit and would get back to him about the patio roof.

In the end, I pulled a little more money together and told him to go for it.

That was Tuesday and Wednesday.

Original Builder sent me my quotes on Wednesday. How nice. Too late. Also they were like 30% higher than what I settled on with Joel. He just emailed them, didn't even bother to follow up with a text.

I had a polite response planned out in my head if he'd texted or called. But he didn't. Oops, I guess I didn't see that email.

PART FOUR: The Survey Drama

Thursday, Joel and his main builder came out, tore out the chain link fence and started putting up 10' poles for the 8' fence (2' of which is buried in concrete in the ground.)

Joel also told me that he needed a copy of my land survey for the build permit, which I should have from when I bought the house.

I spent a good hour searching through every document I had from when I bought my house in 2003 looking for it. And I felt I'd pretty much kept everything. I had my bids on houses I didn't win in there. I had notes that I took back then.

I did not have a survey. Well... shit.

So, I started by looking at the city website online. The city does not keep copies of surveys.

So I tried calling my mortgage company. Except oops they went out of business in like 2010.

Getting real panicked, I threw a hail mary and went to look up my Title company. They'd been bought out in like, 2007. But there were a couple of people working under franchise names of that company still. A total longshot, but I called the person nearest me.

That very nice man said he couldn't help me BUT I should call the home office. He gave me the name and number of a lady named Kim.

So I called Kim, and she was very very sweet. And extremely doubtful she had anything on file, but she would get with the records department and look.

A half hour later she called back. THEY'D FOUND IT. Holy crap. Even she was astonished.

I thanked her profusely and asked her to thank the records department. A few minutes later, the survey was in my email. And hey, it had my signature from 2003 on it! I sent that over to Joel and we got the permit. WHEW. Work continued.

I printed out three copies of the survey and emailed it to myself at two other email addresses.

PART FIVE: Communication

I texted my neighbor on the side where the fence would be built (the other neighbor had built their fence, also an 8' cedar fence, like 20 years ago, so hey, at least I only had to pay for two full sides and two fronts.

Technically I text with their daughter, as her parents don't speak English. They knew that this was coming and were cool with it. They knew the fencer would need to do some work in their yard and that there would be no fence for a little while. I asked Joel to please help minimize the time there was no fence for their dog (a pitbull, she's very sweet) to be penned in by.

Just want to say my neighbors are saints. They were very cool with everything, though I sent them many apologies. It was especially frustrating because we took the fence separating our yards down on Friday and there was no full fence put back up all weekend. It couldn't be avoided, though. Just wish the days had gone by faster. They could only let the dog our on the leash for those days. I asked (daughter) several times what I could do to say I'm sorry and thank you and they were really just kind and chill about it anyway. I am still thinking of something I could do for them, though, once this is all over. My initial thought is a small basket of dog toys and treats for the pupper.

I also started discussing paint stain colors for the fence with Joel, and let my neighbors help me make a decision, since they'd have to look at it, too. In the end, we decided to go with the same brown color that the fence on my other side already was. I kinda wanted to go with maybe a dark grey, which would also match the neighbors house well, but that's what they wanted and having a color match was my other main choice, and probably the right one, even if it doesn't match with our houses.

Mostly I'm glad my good relationship with my neighbors is intact.

PART SIX: CONSTRUCTION BEGINS!

Okay yeah so Thursday some poles got put up. Friday the rest of them got put up. Joel is mostly coordinating everything, the main builders are Jose and his wife Maria. Neither of them speak English and my High School and College Spanish were uh, 30 years ago but I retained a decent amount. Mostly though, we communicate through whatever sentences I can piece together and a lot of Google Translate. We have had entire conversations through Google Translate. It's great.

Saturday the work on the poles were finished and Sunday no work got done... I mean... it's Sunday. It was only annoying because of my neighbors having to take care of the dog and I felt bad about it.

Over the weekend I also picked out roof shingles. I got an architectural single, which is a nicer shingle. I wanted a medium-grey color -- I never liked the light grey my old roof was, I didn't pick it out, though I know lighter is probably cooler. I picked what I thought was a nice compromise.

PART SEVEN: Roof Day One

AKA my new Skylight.

Monday I woke up stupid early for no reason. But it was fine that I did because at 6:30am the doorbell rang. The roofers were here. And they got started right away.

It... was loud. I knew it would be but I don't think I was quite prepared for how loud.

But I had little to do after welcoming them, so I mean, when it was time for me to work (my job is 100% WFH still, yay!) I just got to work, doing my best to ignore the noise and hoping they wouldn't fall in on me. The cats were terrified and hiding, curled up together under my recliner in the living room, their normal safe place. I put food, water and their litter box in there, closed the door 90% of the way, and let them be.

Anyway, here I was, working away in my office and at about 10:15 am, there was a bright light and a foot in my ceiling.

First and most importantly, he is fine! He slipped and his leg fell through. It wasn't the end of the world, and MOST important, he CRAZILY fell through right above my very tall bookcase, the tallest piece of furniture I own. Instead of falling completely through the ceiling, he "stepped" two feet down, and his foot caught on the bookcase, and he pulled it right back up. If this had happened ANYWHERE else, it might have been a LOT worse.

Joel and Jose came in and assessed the situation and Jose said no problem. For about three hours the hole remained, until Joel came back from Home Depot with some drywall, and I had a funny story to tell all my friends, co-workers and family. That angle in that pic up there is literally an angle from where I sit while I work all day. Lots of fun comments about my new skylight and terrible puns from my brother.

It currently looks like this:

You can see the scuffs on the wall from the guy who fell's shoe!

Jose came in and got the drywall on and the spackle in. There was a crack already from the window to the ceiling, from the house settling, so he just went ahead and spackled that, too.

I actually have the paint can for that paint in my garage, so I handed that over to them to paint match.

Honestly, aside from being glad the worker is OK, I do not get upset over stuff like this as long as it gets fixed, and it well, so it's fine!

There's a similar hole in my garage ceiling, too, which still needs fixing.

The roof workers worked from 6:30am until 9pm. It was 100 outside that day. They were amazing.

This was taken Mid-day when they were eating lunch.

I not only was getting new shingles, but new decking (aka the wood that the shingles rest on that is connected to the rafters. I know they didn't redo the decking in 2003 when I bought the house and they put the cheapest roof possible on it before selling it to me. Joel confirmed that there were several rotting places in the decking and I saw a few pieces myself. And under in the attic the decking they installed a Thermal layer for more insulation that wasn't there before.

I did have good insulation installed pretty early, like 2005, so at least when the power has gone out since it's stayed nicely warm/cool depending on the season.

I had some old whirly type vents coming out of the house. Several of them were either broken or uh... very squeaky. Especially when it was cold, one of them had a definite squeak that you could hear outside and it was mortifying if my neighbors could hear it. That one, or maybe another one, rattled really badly when it was windy, too. TBH I would just put in my headphones to sleep sometimes because of roof noise the last year or two during very cold or windy nights.

Well, the roofers got rid of all of those. In place, they put a ridge vent, which basically means a tiny gap along the entire top ridge of the house, covered up by a special shingle. I learned all about it when I watched a Youtube about it the next morning after looking at it and going "WTF is that little bump?" Anyway, no more loud squeaky/rattling vents for me. My house is modern now. :D

So anyway, Monday night they finished getting roofing over the entire house, but the garage still wasn't done.

This was taken early Tuesday morning, there'd been tarps over the garage that night. There was no rain forecast, so everything was cool.

PART SEVEN POINT FIVE: No Internets (Part 1)

This is part 7.5 because I had to come back and add it in later when I forgot to add it until I was almost done writing, and I don't feel like correcting all the section titles, but it is absolutely part of the story.

Monday early evening as they were hurrying to finish getting roofing over at least the house part of the roof they got some of the garage done. Around 7pm there was a blip where my internet went out, but it came back.

And then at like 8:15 as they were finishing, it went out and DIDN'T come back.

I did all the normal troubleshooting things, put in a ticket with my provider, and called tech support.

Eventually I got someone on the line who asked me to make sure everything was plugged in, what, like I'm some kind of idiot? I work in IT! I know what I'm doing! But, I humored her. And she reminded me that there's not only the box on the outside of my house, but also the one in the garage, could I please check to make sure that was plugged in?

OK Sure. Constructions been going on, I'll humor her.

So anyway, I had forgotten the the box in the garage was plugged into an outlet in the ceiling that had been put there for my garage door. It had come completely out in all the banging from the roofers.

OK no problem, right? I'll just plug it back in, and voila! Internet!

Um except the plug is right above my car, like dead center.

OK sure, just gotta move my car!!!

...except there was a dumpster in my driveway, riiiight behind my car. I couldn't move my car more than a foot if I tried.

I spent like 10 minutes trying to reach it with my stepladder (nope not even close) or maneuver it back in with a broom handle (lol noooo chance) and gave up.

I took this pic just now for illustrative purposes. The plug is now plugged back in. But yeah, I had to cancel my Monday night PF2e game from last of Internets.

In the morning, I overslept, and they rang the doorbell to let me know they were there. I saw Joel and waved to him, and one minute later I went back outside to tell him about the internet problem. He was gone. I texted him, didn't hear back. It was getting close to work time, so I called him and he'd left as soon as he saw I was home and ready for the workers to work. I didn't realize he was so far away already, but he still turned around, came back in, and figured out a way to plug the plug back in without standing on my car. I was a half hour or so late to logging into work but it all worked out. Just a little bump in the road. I felt bad that he had come come back from wherever he went, too. I swear I looked for him a MINUTE after I saw him that morning!

Part EIGHT: Fencing!

While the roofers roofed, Jose and Maria were busy with the fence. And by the end of the day Monday, they had most of the neighboring fence with the dog put up.

In the picture in part 7 above, on the left is the fence that's been there 20 years. You can see that those neighbors put the "ugly" part of the fence with the poles and boards on my side.

Honestly I've been mad about it for the 20 or so years it's been up. Not like super mad, I never talked to them about it, but I just thought it was really shitty of them to do that. I've always tried hard to be as kind and thoughtful to my neighbors as I could be and wouldn't have dreamed of doing that if I had put the fence up first.

In the alley and the other side of their house, the pretty side is the outside and the ugly side is inside. But on THAT ONE SIDE, they gave me the ugly side. Never talked to me about it, never consulted me about the fence, it just went up one day and I was left to deal with it.

I've always even since been kind about granting them access to fix their fence and am on good terms with the wife of the couple of who lives there. And when my house was broken into in 2011 the husband heard it happen and called the police and gave a statement, which I thought was very good of them, the police were able to get my house sealed back up somewhat so when I came home a few hours later the damage as minimized.

So yeah, I'm not sure why I got the ugly side of the fence from them. Also like, it seems way easier to climb that side of the fence so all they did was make their own yard less secure? I didn't want that! A big part of wanting an 8' fence was more security!

Anyway, it was important to me to not make my other neighbors look at the ugly side of the fence. Also, I just figured why not have it look the same all the way around? And again, the security issue.

But also... like two or three years ago the neighbors on that side put up sheds on their property... and backed them right up to the property line. Again, no discussion with me, they just did it, and by the time I saw it, happened it was too late to change anything.

I wasn't super happy with it because of this scenario right here.

Sunday Joel and I had a long conversation about what to do about it, and I was still committed to wanting the ugly side on the inside. But they literally couldn't hammer back there to get the fence up behind the sheds.

In the end, we went with an, admittedly weird, compromise.

Note that that side of the fence goes that far back so that both of the windows on that side of the house are inside the fence. Again, security.

So yeah, the fence swaps facing mid-way for just the part where their sheds are. I still have mixed feelings about it but honestly, it's fine. I wish it could look completely the same all the way around, but, it works OK this way. Maybe I should have made the neighbors look at the ugly side the entire way, but the security issue was important in my mind... even though tbh anyone who really wanted to could just climb up on my neighbors sheds and hop over. It's a little weird and I guess technically I gave up a few inches of unusable property there, but it's a compromise I can live with any whoever buys the house after me can live with it, too.

Honestly at this point, can't wait for them to finish the fence all-around because I feel like I can barely sleep knowing all this expensive STUFF is just laying around my wide-open yard.

It's also real dumb because my 4' chain link fence kept no one past five years old out of my yard, it wasn't even padlocked, and yet I feel less secure with no fence.

This is what the back of the fence looks like right now (Thursday morning) and has since... I think Monday or maybe Tuesday. Joel's had problems sourcing more of the right boards. The gap on the left is, of course, where the back gate will be. I do feel better having it like, two-thirds done at least. there's also no gate on the front yard yet, either, which will just be flush with the end of the fence there.

PART NINE: The Patio Begins!

The roofers were done with their parts Wednesday afternoon. And I love the roof so much, but I'm going to hold off on posting pictures of that quite yet!

The patio roof before, if I had to guess, was built in the 1980s. The roof itself was just a big piece of corrugated metal, held up by some OK-built wood beams and ironwork pillars in the front. It was fine, it was functional. You can see in this pic from last month pretty well the construction and also how it was getting holes in it.

The wood was also really starting to rot. There were a couple of places where it barely still connected because of wood rot. I'd guess within 5 years it would have been falling down. It was definitely time for a new one, and the price Joel gave me I thought was really fair for a patio roof of the same quality.

Well, I was wrong about the quality.

When Jose ran out of wood for the fence, he and Maria got started on the patio. First, they demo'd it.

Oh hey, also first look at the new roof color.

That's how my patio looked all Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. You can clearly see in that second picture some of the wood rot. Here's some more of it.

That piece on the upper left I'm pretty sure was the part right over my patio door that I had to look at basically like, all the time. It was disintegrating.

So yeah, I was so glad to see that go.

A couple of years ago, when the big tree near my house was still there, it hadn't gotten trimmed recently and there was an ice storm. The tree branches swung low and the icy branch ends were smacking against that metal roof in the wind. It was loud and spooky. I had to go sleep in the living room that night from the sound. I really didn't like that metal roof.

I'm never going to have that problem again, since no tree there (for now...) but also the construction of the new patio roof is very different.

We'll get back to that.

PART TEN: Crazy Wednesday

Wednesday morning began with me realizing that all the banging and knocked one of the lights off of my bathroom ceiling. No problem, Let Joel know, it'll get fixed.

Jose and Maria finished up the demo of the patio roof (chunks of it are still in my yard).

I honestly had no idea what they were planning to do to replace it. Joel just told me to trust him, it's going to be great. OK!

The next thing I knew they're cutting into my house. WTF? Trust me, Joel said, it's gonna be great. OK!

Tuesday the sewer had started backing up again. God damnit, it JUST HAD backed up and I had it cleaned a month and a half ago when I got power back. So I called the plumbers, they were scheduled to come out that afternoon.

Just another thing I didn't need, but whatevs. I had a very productive morning for once this week while working, at least.

In the early afternoon, they had started to demolish more of the patio than I expected. They cut through some of the eaves, and took some of the facing off of the house where I wasn't expecting.

The plumber also arrived and was doing his thing. He then told me that my entire sewer was fine, I didn't have a stoppage. He took me out in the alley, though, and showed me that there WAS a stoppage outside the property line in the alley, and told me to put in a ticket with the city.

Kinda hate that it cost me $350 to find that out, but mostly it was a bit of a relief that it wasn't actually my problem.

I went back inside, put in a ticket with the water department, and got back to work.

Then, weirdly, my internet went down again a half hour or so later.

I checked all of the connections, then got a sinking feeling. I went outside and saw more stuff cut down and in that stuff was... a wire. I looked inside that wire and yeah... that's an internet cable.

That's a terrible picture but you can see some of the facing it came out of, lol.

Literally as I was taking that picture, a guy from the water department walked up to me and told me that there was indeed a stoppage in the alley. Because some kid had unplugged the cleanout line behind my house and dropped a baseball down there. The baseball was probably stopping up the entire block.

They couldn't get it out, so they were putting in an emergency ticket to dig up the line, and pull it out. I wouldn't have sewer for a day or so.

I think the "How SCREWED AM I with all of this going on!?" look on my face (though I was very polite and not upset with him obviously) paired with the state of my yard and the work being done gave me some sympathy -- he assured me I didn't have to pay for it, and he'd let me know when things would stop.

Ooooohkay.

It also started to drizzle a little at that point, but it never actually rained and work didn't have to stop, thankfully! Instead, Jose and Maria had a lovely overcast day in the 80's to work in. I had been worried about them the last couple of days and had supplied them with a big box of water (From a water delivery service) and big cups of ice to make sure they were well hydrated.

I went back in my house, laid down on the couch, and tried putting in a ticket with my internet company. The chatbot wouldn't let me do it, so I called and sat on hold for 45 minutes just staring at the wall. This was A Lot.

I also let my boss and Eric, my friend/co-worker who lives nearby know. Eric was up at the office today, but told me he was about to come back home and would bring me a hotspot, so I'd have SOME internet.

While I was laying on the couch, the doorbell rang. It was the water guy, and with a big smile on his face he told me that his coworker was able to use some tool to get the baseball out! There'd be no sewer work needed and things were flowing freely.

Fiiiinally, a break.

Eventually got to talk to a real person on the phone with the internet company, and not long after Eric arrived with the hotspot. I showed him around the mess a bit. After over an hour "break", I got back to work.

And as of Thursday morning, I'm still on the hotspot. But this one is pretty fast, and it has a network jack, so I even got to run my Wednesday night D&D game off my PC last night. What a relief.

Internet company should be here this afternoon to fix stuff. I'm probably going to have to pay for that, though.

The other great news is that somehow i didn't even notice that the gutter contractor had been here, done his job and left!! I don't even know when he was there/did his job, and my office is the front of the house! Maybe he did it when I was laying on the couch in the living room!? It was FAST, though. Joel just called to tell me to go outside to look, and WOW. He'd said they might do black gutters. I was unconvinced but trusted him.

He was so very, very right.

Anyway, finally, here's a pic of the front of the house, with the new roof and black gutters.

Holy crap, what a difference. My house almost looks fancy now. Almost. The shingles are so gorgeous.

You can see that ridge vent pretty well there. And that's with the old white gutters obviously. The black gutters give the house a really striking and defining line that really pops.

Here's a quick comparison with the old roof and gutters:

A truly amazing difference. And yeah I need to paint the garage door. Going to actually get to that now.

PART ELEVEN: The Patio Continued.

SO! They got so much done, and although there's a lot to do, I am already so well pleased.

The reason they were cutting into it so much was because they'd determined that the best course of action was to have hte patio become a part of the roof, and it would be built on a similar slant instead of just a flat piece of metal. Instead, it would just be a full roof anyway.

The posts are huge, thick wooden posts, which Joel tells me will be covered when they're done.

The roof is literally... the thermal barrier, decking and will be the same siding as the roof I already have.

This is what it looks like as of last night...

They did accidentally also break the light cover over my porch light so that'll need to be replaced, but it's small potatoes.

I still don't have a full picture of what it's going to look like, and I'm so excited for it. It's going to look so nice. I've loved the work Joel and Jose/Maria have done so far and honestly trust them completely with whatever now. The quality is fantastic and despite the little hiccups, things are actually, honestly going well.

I'm going to post this now and report back in a couple of days when it's done! I'd planned on holding off until it was ALL done, But this is post is already long enough!

This has been one of the biggest money commits I've ever done, after buying my home and buying cars, but honestly, totally worth it.

Gonna suck if I end up selling the house to gtfo of Texas in the next couple of years, but at least it'll sell for more if it looks this good!

[wi55iams]

📕More Cruise AU. MORE. <3

Ok FINE. IF YOU INSIST i wanna talk about it so so bad actually please send more asks people ty

Hiding under cut cause its long ahdkdl

As established we have Captain Alonso and Entertainment host Lance. But ofc the entire grid have got to be here

Charles, Carlos and George are all third officers. Which means they take it in turn to stand on the bridge and drive. George is always sucking up to the higher ups cause he wants a promotion really really badly but he also is the best at his job. Carlos and Charles start constant debates about 'interpretation of the colregs' and 'your knowledge of the rules' and spend most of their time passive aggresively flirting and not doing their jobs.

KMag, Hulkenberg and Valterri are the higher ranking officers. Kmag and Nico have both been passed over for promotions and are at each others necks in a sexual and violent way. Valterri is the first officer for passage planning. Which means he sits at the computer and draws lines on charts all day and doesnt get involved with that bullshit

I want Max to be a prodigy still so he's Chief officer. He organises all the maintenace and is Fucking Done with the 50 situationships ocurring around him

Saftey and Staff captain... Im gonna make Staff Nico Rosberg because holy shit him being second in command to Fernando is hilarious. And just second in command at all really. Also means he can have a good brocedes dynamic with lewis

Saftey officrr is Mark Webber. Someone has to make sure all the injuries these chucklefucks get are recorded and organise the weekly drills. He and Fernando went through boat school together... they were close... he doesnt like Nandos new boytoy very much

Thats just the deck department im still going

Alex, Lando, Logan, Lance, and Esteban are all entertainers. Lando I imagine would be a dancer doing backflips on stage, Logan a sensual operatic singer, and the remainder hosts for the various events onboard. Lando and Carlos meet up frequently in the crew bar to get drunk after work.

Daniel is the Cruise Director who the passengers fucking love hes hilarious and makes time for anyone who talks to him and his organised entertainment is very good.

Pierre is the DJ/sound technician for the stage and he and Esteban have had. A thing.

Lewis is the Hotel Director. It doesnt sound like an important job but its one of the most important on any cruise ships because hotel = guests = money so the hotel has to be banger. Lewis rules the hotel department with a patient yet iron fist. He and Staff captain Rosberg frequently butt heads.

Zhou I struggled with but I think he'd make a nice nurse in the medical department! Good at remaining well spoken and chill in the face of passengers complaining.

Yuki is absolutely the head chef running his restaurant, he is ordering 3000 cooks around constantly and he NEEDED THAT LAMB DONE FIVE MINUTES AGO-

Oscar is the ETO, which is basically an electrician. Keeps out of the way of the bullshit but has no choice to listen to Carlos whine about Charles while he fixes the screen they broke

Checo is an engineer cause he also doesnt partake in grid drama. He waits for the bridge to call him to tell him to press the on button for the engines. Chats with Osc about how #crazy everyone else is

And finally we have Seb and Kimi... who dont work on the ship. They are retired mariners. Seb now works as an instructor at an academy part time and also a marine pilot for a nearby port. Kimi works on a tugboat at that same port. They are gay married and frequently recieve texts from their good friends Fernando and Mark about what whacky bullshit is happening now

[octarianstrength]

When they aren't in times of major conflict, the Octarian military has quite a large hand in other facets of life in the domes. As such, Yulia's assignment for the day is to help a citizen that's been having some troubles with power in their home. The report wasn't specific, but she can only assume that it's not too large of an issue as she's not exactly a trained electrician, though she does have some knowledge in the area.

Equipped with no weapons, Yulia simply carried a small toolbox with her. One stocked up well enough that it would most likely be able to cover for whatever issue she'd be dealing with.

Upon arriving at the house in question, a small metal shack on the fridges of this particular dome, Yulia knocked on the door and waited.

She wouldn't have to wait long at all, as the door swung open about two seconds later. An octotrooper with a short body and a single, very long tentacle had come to greet her. From here she could also gather that the interior of the house was rather bare and dimly lit by a few torches and a fireplace in the back. Those probably had the added benefit of keeping the place warm.

"Oh hi...! Are you here for..."

The smaller Octarian trailed off before Yulia interrupted and gestured towards herself.

"Yes. Yulia Quelaan, Kraken class infantry of the Great Octarian Military. I'm here to help you with electrical issues."

The Octarian seemed to stare in awe for a moment. It's clear the person that had come to help them was of high status thanks to her medals and unique armour, but to hear it's someone who's basically in charge of the entire military... This has to be unheard of.

"Oh...! Of course! Come in, come in, please ma'am! Can I offer you some tea? Perhaps some cookies? The trip here must have been a long one..."

Yulia almost cut them off again as she made her way inside, while she wouldn't mind staying and chatting for a bit, she's here to do her job. Nothing more.

"No need. They're better saved for someone else. Just tell me about the issue you're having. Our report was pretty vague."

"Ah... right..." The Octarian looked off to the side rather sheepishly, drawing their tentacle to their lower lip. "Well... This is kind of embarrassing, but there's a light switch by the door that's not working. We don't even end up using it all that often, but it's nice to have to worry about fires when the kids are around..."

I'M HERE TO FIX A LIGHT SWITCH!?

Yulia held back a sigh. She'd at least hoped that this would be something a little more... exciting. Regardless, she'll have to remain composed while on the job, and in front of a civilian no less.

"I'm... assuming it's this one."

Yulia flipped the switch beside her and to no one's surprise, nothing came of it. She flipped it on and off a few times just for good measure, but there was still no response.

"Yep... it's broken alright. I'll go turn off the power and figure this out from there."

Turning off the power was as simple as going back outside to the front of the house, finding its power box and flipping a switch, halting the flow of electricity to this person's home and shutting the power egg receptacle next to the box.

Upon returning to the interior of the house, Yulia was able to quickly get the panel the light switch had been connected to off the wall with a screwdriver.

"Alright... let's see what we've got here."

It didn't take long to figure out what the issue was.

"Ah... I see your problem. You see the copper wires here? Yeah, the one going to your switch has just been cut completely. Was probably a bug or something that chewed through it."

Do bugs even do that...? Probably not, but I can't take back what I said.

"Luckily this should be a pretty easy fix. Just give me a minute."

Yulia took a short length of copper wires from her toolbox and twisted one end around the frayed wire of the light switch and did the same to the other part of the wire that had been cut. Once they were secured, she took out a small, cylindrical piece of rubber that had been cut vertically down one side and fitted it over the two pieces of wire she had connected. That would majorly reduce the risk of this being a fire hazard.

"Alright! That should do it. Let me fix this up and then we'll give it a test run."

"Oh, already? You're too fast! You've only been here five minutes!"

Yulia turned the power back on, came inside and tried out the light switch. To her delight, it worked once again. Like it had never been broken in the first place.

"Thank you!" The Octotrooper cried, a wide smile quickly covering their face. "Now we'll be able to have the whole family over for my birthday! No worries about it!"

"Glad you're happy. Was there anything else you wanted me to look at while I'm here?"

"Oh yes of course!" The Octotrooper ran over to the fireplace and retrieved some photos and hurriedly brought them over to show Yulia. Each photo was of a large group of Octarians, some octolings that looked quite old, some that were definitely no older than a few years and an entire troupe of other Octarians in each one. "This is my family! Almost all of them are going to be at my birthday party next week!"

"Wait wha-"

The Octotrooper continued, pointing to another photo.

"And this one's me and all my buddies from school! They're also gonna be there! You should come too!"

"Okay but that's not what I really-"

They went on and on, despite Yulia's attempted protests. This carried on for a few minutes before figured out the best way to escape the situation.

"QUIET!"

The Octotrooper practically froze upon hearing Yulia's booming voice, staring at her with all the fear of a soldier that knows they've done something wrong.

"...Sorry about that. But if there's really no other issues here, I should be going. I do have other things to do today."

"O-Of course! I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me..."

"Don't... worry about it. Just don't let it happen again."

With that bizarre occurrence behind her, Yulia was finally able to leave the building. Another successful job done... albeit a strange one. She smiled to herself as the distance between her and the house grew, even letting out a little chuckle.

"That was so stupid..."

[highlyexplosivecontent]

Rules: post the first lines of your 10 most recently published AO3 stories. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

Tagged by the awesome @dirty-droid

1. This morning marked the beginning of Connor’s new life, and the end of his old. Just like most things in this world, things had escalated quickly since last day.

Connor had been stunned by the sudden turn of events that had led him to where he was now - dressed to the nines in the most exquisite material, a suit worthy of a soon-to-be prince, getting ready to marry the girl of his dreams.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS GOOD ENOUGH

2. Meg drummed her painted nails against the window of the carriage. Waiting. On the other side of the carriage curtains lay the hustle and bustle of central Athens. The sun was scorching hot this afternoon, the shadow of their transport barely helping with the heat accumulating inside.

It'd been years since she'd stepped foot in this town, and boy had it expanded since last time. They’d already passed two giant agoras - two! - and they weren’t even halfway through town.

AS IF NO TIME PASSED

3.The whole shit circus starts during an investigation. It's a slow and grueling one that began in May, and just keeps going and going and fucking going.

It’s the kind of case that demands a task force and so much funding that Jeffrey Fowler keeps giving them shit (Hank’s words) about their lack of progress. Which, Connor thinks, isn’t so much a reflection of Fowler’s character - he is pressured from upstairs on his part, too. But that still doesn’t make this case less of a headache.

THE ROSE HOTEL

4. Group Chat: Big DPD Energy

Benny Boy (duck emoji): Gears at 8???

Hank: Fuck can't. Have to run one by the electrician.

Benny Boy (duck emoji): Still working hard, I see. Good luck, come over if you feel like it after!!

Jeffrey Killjoy: Where did you keep this work ethic all these years?

Hank: Ha ha. I'll bring Sumo along if we don't run overtime.

Hank: And Gavin, if he behaves.

Benny Boy (duck emoji): (Pig emoji)

Jeffrey Killjoy: Just kidding, Hank. I'm glad you're doing better.

Hank: I know.

CAMP DETROIT

5. Rescuing your crew from a tiny island is harder work than one might think. In hindsight, perhaps Stede should have thought of buying a bigger boat before heading out on his adventures. As it is, he's forced to cajole his poor crew into his dinghy, counting them and realizing that at least two people are missing.

THE SONG OF CAPTAIN EDWARDS

6.Stede ran as fast as his little feet could carry him, his legs aching in a way that he wasn’t used to. Fear clogged his throat like tar smeared all over his lungs, his heart beating painfully against his chest and pulsing through his fingers as he hurried down the pavement. He could hear the taunts right behind him, could hear them come closer.

This wasn't how Nigel and the others usually mocked and bullied him- tonight, they were out for blood.

NEW GHOSTS

7. Really? This is what Ben dragged his ass out of the house for - A fucking Halloween party for kids in their twenties?

The club is smack full of drunk people bumping and grinding against each other on the dance floor. Hank’s eyes are too old and tired to see through the smoke and UV lights but he's been to this scene before. It's the gay holiday, and Halloween at a gay club is even hornier than usual.

Fuck, he hates this night already.

DRAGON ULTRA SENSATION

8. 2019

Golden year of no social distancing

Wealthy lawyer Stede Bonnet decides to leave his old life behind to become a scout leader.

Things don't go as planned…

ON MY HONOR I WILL DO MY BEST

9. Edward and Stede were both in foul moods this morning - as if this was a culmination of the past weeks.

The night prior had been fairly peaceful, especially considering the weeks leading up to it, which had been anything but.

THE TIFF ON THE REVENGE

10."What the fuck happened to you?" Gavin bellows from the other side of the bullpen, loud enough to turn every officer's head in Connor's direction. The poor android's LED blinks yellow for a breath, then resumes its regular calm blue.

"Dangers of the job," he replies coolly, shrugging out of his jacket. The glitches in his synthskin where his neck meets his jaw is very clearly visible, and he has no intention of covering it up. "Got into a fight yesterday. "

FLUTTER

Phew!!

I'm tagging the lovely @raziella for this one 👀

[linewalkers]

Omake Linewalkers

Yay, we recently reached the mark of 101 Dalmatians, eh, I mean of course, interested tumblr readers following this blog. ;)

So, to celebrate this, I made a short and silly omake for Badger and Parrot and their trip to the Haunted House. Since I was curious about the recent hype around ChatGPT, I decided to have a small (and very entertaining) writing competition with it.  The prompt:

Write a funny story with lots of dialogue about two men called Parrot and Badger having a funny encounter in a haunted house that includes an electrician in a fur coat and a red neon lamp.

Well, you can read the chatbot’s story here, and you can read my version here:

The Haunted House Incident (AO3)

The Haunted House (Chat GPT Version)

Once upon a time, there were two friends named Parrot and Badger. They were both avid thrill-seekers and decided to explore an abandoned haunted house in the middle of the woods.

As they entered the house, Parrot said, "Badger, I hope we don't run into any ghosts in here."

Badger replied, "Don't be such a chicken, Parrot. We're here to have fun, not get scared."

As they were walking through the house, they stumbled upon a room with a red neon lamp hanging from the ceiling. Parrot said, "What the heck is that doing here? This place is supposed to be haunted, not a nightclub."

Badger laughed, "Maybe it's a ghost's disco room."

Just then, an electrician wearing a fur coat walked into the room. He looked at the two of them and said, "What are you doing in here? This is a private residence."

Parrot and Badger were both shocked and confused. They asked the electrician what he was doing there.

The electrician explained, "I'm here to fix the wiring in this room. The previous owner was into some strange stuff and wanted a red neon lamp installed."

Badger said, "So, you're not a ghost then?"

The electrician replied, "No, I'm not a ghost. I'm an electrician in a fur coat."

Parrot said, "Well, that's a relief. We were starting to think this place was really haunted."

The electrician chuckled, "I can see why you might think that. But it's just an old house with some eccentric decor. You boys be careful now and watch your step."

Parrot and Badger thanked the electrician and left the haunted house, feeling embarrassed but also relieved that they didn't run into any real ghosts. From that day on, they stuck to more traditional forms of thrill-seeking, like bungee jumping and skydiving.

Well, that’s it. :) In case you are interested, you can find my reflection on Human vs. Bot here. I’ve started a more or less personal blog about writing, so I can clear my head by putting down my thoughts. :) It’s surprisingly refreshing.

[ivoryminitower]

FFXIV Write 2024 prompt 19: Taken

I have spent the morning writing a maple chair Carpenter recipe.  We have been replacing Sam's tables in the bar with sturdier ones, but now there is a need to replace chairs.  Husband offered to write it, but I felt I should since I was the one who broke a chair.

Last night was my bouncing shift.  Husband was at a table talking with Trevor, the electrician, about one of his projects: he wants to try to make what he calls a "fuel cell," like a large battery, using lightning and earth shards.  He has hoped Trevor would help him control the "voltage" with a "capacitor" so that the wires he tests with will no longer explode in his face.  It amuses me to see it happen, but he would rather make the fuel cell work.

I do not know the names of all the men who come to the bar.  I have not had reason to talk to them.  Husband tries to mingle some, but it seems he does not have much to talk about with them.  Eddie, the animal doctor, does not come to the bar often now, after some of the men got angry with him for pestering me about my ears.  I do not know much about Mitch, except that he offers to hang my beret and coat on the wall for me when I come in.

I did not know Hank's name before last night, though I had seen him in the bar before.  Last night he came in with a woman and ordered at the bar, and Sam called him by name.  I had not seen the woman before, and I do not think Sam knew her.

Hank and the woman took their bottles and joined the men around the pool tables.  They chatted for a while, but the woman broke off and came back to the bar.  I was reading at the end away from the pool tables as I sipped a Coke.  The woman settled next to me.

"Hey there.  You all alone?"

I looked up from my book.  "I work here."

"You're the waitress?"

"I am the bouncer."

She looked me up and down.  "O-kay."  Her gaze passed over the room.  "Does that mean you know the guys here?"

"Some of them, yes."

"Anyone I should get to know?"

"I thought you were with Hank…?"

"Oh, Hank's okay…he's just kinda…"  She waved her hand in the air.  "I can probably do better.  How about that one over there?"

I followed her look to the table.  "The one in the plaid shirt is Trevor."

"No, not him.  The guy he's with."

I turned to her.  "That one is mine."

She turned to meet my eyes.  She gave me a small smile.  She pushed away from the bar and walked over to the table.  She rested her hand on the chair near Husband.  "Hi!  This seat taken?"

Husband turned away from Trevor and blinked up at her. "Uh…"

I set down my glass and my book.  I walked over to the table and picked up the chair she was touching.  I held it by the back and one leg and crunched it to pieces.

Husband nodded. "Yeah, looks like that chair isn't safe."  He smiled up at the woman. "Guess you'll have to find another one."

He turned back to talk to Tevor as if nothing had happened.  The woman stared at me with large eyes before going quickly back to the pool tables, where the men were quietly watching us.

I gathered up the chair pieces and headed toward the back room.  I paused to say to Sam, "We will be replacing chairs as well as tables."  He simply nodded with a smile.

Hank and the others were laughing at the woman as I left.  Hank was saying, "You tried to hit on her husband?"  He was much more amused than offended; perhaps he did not know her well.

Perhaps I should tell Husband to only sit near flimsy chairs, in case I need to break more.

(Based on Echoes of Home, hosted on Wattpad.)

[yeniasworld]

08/04/2016, 11:57 - Messages you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption. Tap for more info.

08/04/2016, 11:57 - LsOiVnEe: <Media omitted>

08/04/2016, 12:03 - Plumer: . Thank you for the picture could you possibly send me a picture of the actual tap that you turn for the water to come on

you have sent me a picture of the shower head which I appreciate is leaking I also need a picture of the tap that turns the shower head on thank you

08/04/2016, 12:04 - LsOiVnEe: <Media omitted>

08/04/2016, 12:42 - Plumer: Thank you much appreciated

08/04/2016, 13:04 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya sorry I wanted to know what time you think they might come and fixed it

08/04/2016, 14:18 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know where do I turn off the hole water from it getting waste and the water is wasting

08/04/2016, 14:45 - Plumer: I spoken to the plumber he said anytime after 3:30

08/04/2016, 14:47 - LsOiVnEe: I start work at 6pm if he can come now and close up after he is done that would be fine

08/04/2016, 16:07 - LsOiVnEe: Hi can you please ask the plumber if we can do it tomorrow morning please

Cause am off to word

Thanks

08/04/2016, 16:07 - LsOiVnEe: Work*

08/04/2016, 16:07 - Plumer: Ok

09/04/2016, 09:33 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know what time the plumber is coming

And if I can have his number please thank you

09/04/2016, 12:53 - Plumer: Plumber

Javan 07804030342

09/04/2016, 12:53 - LsOiVnEe: Thank you

22/04/2016, 15:44 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya how are you

I wanted to know if there is any updates yet and if so when is the new plumber coming to my house and fix the shower tap.

Thank you,

Sainey

22/04/2016, 19:03 - Plumer: I'm really sorry it's turned out this way all of our work at Roundside Properties Accounts

contracted out as we do not have in house electricians plumbers excetera unfortunately for us and yourself the plumber we contracted to do the work was given the part for your shower and we are awaiting the return of the part sorry for the inconvenience

22/04/2016, 19:07 - LsOiVnEe: Oh it's alright

Do you know when you will get the part by because the water at my house is just wasting and I have to pay for it

27/04/2016, 18:40 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know if there is any updates yet

27/04/2016, 18:42 - Plumer: The part for your shower has not been returned from the original Plumber so it has been re ordered from the Internet and takes about 4 days to arrive

27/04/2016, 18:43 - LsOiVnEe: Okay thanks

29/04/2016, 18:34 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know if the plumber still coming

06/05/2016, 21:26 - Plumer: Hopefully next week the Tyler will complete the work..

07/05/2016, 13:08 - LsOiVnEe: Okay thanks

11/05/2016, 14:41 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya sorry I was busy

Just drop me a message when you free

Thanks

11/05/2016, 15:08 - Plumer: How's tomorrow for u

11/05/2016, 15:09 - LsOiVnEe: Tomorrow after 12pm will be fine

11/05/2016, 18:50 - Plumer: Ok

12/05/2016, 15:12 - Plumer: Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

12/05/2016, 15:12 - Plumer: Are you available at that time

12/05/2016, 15:13 - LsOiVnEe: Am not available tomorrow

Can he come Saturday

12/05/2016, 15:13 - Plumer: I'll ask him

12/05/2016, 15:17 - Plumer: Yes Saturday am

12/05/2016, 15:17 - LsOiVnEe: Yes

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0001.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0003.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0007.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0002.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0004.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0005.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 15:43 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160512-WA0006.jpg (file attached)

12/05/2016, 18:50 - Plumer: Thanks

14/05/2016, 11:38 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know if Hazel told that if the person coming to fix the tiles

To please fix the two boiler cupboard door

Thank you

17/05/2016, 16:20 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya I wanted to know

What is still going on with the tiles

17/05/2016, 16:44 - Plumer: Still looking for a match

17/05/2016, 16:47 - LsOiVnEe: Okay

19/05/2016, 11:37 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160519-WA0001.jpg (file attached)

On this side of the wall is square and it's 4.5m-1.7feet on both side

19/05/2016, 11:38 - Plumer: Thanks

19/05/2016, 11:40 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160519-WA0003.jpg (file attached)

On this side the length is 4.5m-1.7feet and the weight is 3m-1feet

19/05/2016, 11:40 - LsOiVnEe: And no worries

22/05/2016, 12:04 - LsOiVnEe: Hiya just wanted to say thanks you for getting someone to fix the tiles and the cupboard door yesterday.

23/05/2016, 12:11 - Plumer: Could you send me a photograph of the fixed items

23/05/2016, 12:11 - Plumer: Tiles in particular

23/05/2016, 12:39 - LsOiVnEe: Okay sure

25/05/2016, 12:06 - LsOiVnEe: IMG-20160525-WA0001.jpg (file attached)

[tradeheros]

How to Manage Home Renovation Projects with Multiple Tradies

Manage Home Renovation

Home renovation is an exciting venture, but it has its share of challenges — especially when dealing with multiple tradespeople. Successful construction project management is critical whether you’re renovating a kitchen, revamping your bathroom, or undertaking a complete house renovation. We strive to simplify the home renovation process for Australian homeowners with a direct, no-hassle approach. Learn how to manage your project effectively for a cost-efficient and timely result.

1. Start with a Clear Plan

Before you dive into any renovation work, having a clear and detailed plan is crucial. This includes understanding the scope of your renovation, such as whether you’re focusing on the essentials like plumbing or going all out with a kitchen or bathroom renovation. A house renovation planner can help articulate your vision and set realistic timelines, making communicating your expectations with your tradies in Perth easier.

2. Choose Reliable Contractors

Finding reliable contractors is often the most critical step in the home renovation process. When looking for tradies for renovations, especially in areas like Perth, where options abound, focus on tradespeople with solid reputations and verifiable references. Trade Heroes specialises in Perth tradies services and can be a valuable resource, offering reviews and ratings to help you make informed decisions.

3. Schedule Wisely

Once you’ve assembled your team of tradespeople, scheduling becomes the linchpin of your project. Effective scheduling ensures that each tradie can access the site when needed without tripping over each other. It’s about balancing efficiency and practicality — ensuring the electrician’s work is completed, for example, before the plasterer comes in.

4. Communicate Clearly and Frequently

Clear communication is non-negotiable in construction project management with multiple tradespeople. Regular check-ins, whether through meetings or group chats, can keep everyone on the same page. Be transparent about your expectations and any changes in the plan, and address concerns as they arise. Encourage your tradespeople to voice any issues early to avoid delays or misunderstandings.

5. Monitor Progress, But Trust Your Team

While it’s important to monitor the renovation’s progress, it’s equally crucial to trust your tradespeople to do their jobs effectively. Micromanaging can hinder their work and potentially strain relations. Instead, establish regular milestones for checking in on progress and be available to answer any queries they might have.

6. Budget Wisely

Budgeting efficiently doesn’t mean cutting corners — it means planning expenditures to get the best value without compromising on quality. Always set aside a contingency fund for unforeseen expenses, which are common in home renovations. This proactive approach can save you stress and prevent project delays.

7. Prepare for the Unexpected

Home renovations can often throw a curveball, no matter how well you plan. Flexibility is your best ally, whether it’s a delay in materials, a sudden need for additional electrical work, or an adjustment in timelines. Adapting to changes and maintaining a positive, solution-focused attitude will help keep your project moving despite any hurdles.

And guess what? You can hire all your tradies in one spot. Head on over to Trade Heroes. Huge shoutout to our hardworking tradies, from Chris Jackson for carpentry work, Rebecca Winterfield for garden makeovers, Reece Wardlow for painting services, Cameron Hughes for plumbing, and Ciaran Ryan for electrical work, who craft, fix, and maintain the essence of our daily lives with their skill and dedication.

In conclusion, managing tradespeople for home renovation requires diligent planning, clear communication, and patience. By following these practical steps, you’re well on translating your vision into reality with minimal stress. Australian homeowners, particularly those embarking on their first major renovation, will find that working collaboratively with their chosen tradies can transform a complex process into an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Whether it’s a kitchen that inspires culinary creativity or a bathroom that serves as a tranquil retreat, the effort you put into managing your renovation project effectively will pay dividends in comfort, aesthetics, and home value for years to come. Get in touch with Trade Heroes today for more information.

Other reads:

The Evolution of Home Plumbing: From Traditional to Modern Solutions.

Tips on safeguarding your boat during the winter season.

Winter Garden Care: Preparing Your Plants and Lawn for the Cold Season.

[bowsers-keep]

Now most of you may assume that innocent-looking means I'm not quite as innocent as a look, but I truly am.

The issue we me is frankly that I'm considered EXTREMELY annoying by most, to the extent that only one person has passed the trial without getting sick and tired of me. That person happened to be the only one who managed to have and keep a conversation with me due to the fact we shared similar enough interests.

They were locked up if I remember correctly for having been falsely accused of having placed and detonated a bomb that killed quite a few people in that opera house, they were an electrician working there, quite the pleasant fellow if I do say myself.

That night started out as most do, me asking a few questions such as what their name was, why they were on death row, so on and so forth. After we got ourselves introduced I would pull out one of the many board games at my disposal for us to play, that night I had gone with Game of Life since they seemed to be the type of fellow who enjoyed it. We had a nice time just playing and discussing random things until one of my interests was brought up, which is when the real challenge begins.

Now remember how I mentioned I'm considered annoying? I'm specifically instructed for these nights to be as annoying as possible, going on as many tangents and rambles as I please, interrupting them intentionally instead of by accident, trying to seem as confusing as possible rather than just not having the best skills to explain things. Turning up all of my "negative" qualities up to 100 to make a long story short.

I had done those things a few other times already but the fellow was polite about it and was kind about it, mentioning they occasionally do those things too, but now was when I ramp it up. The topic in question was a video game I had become highly invested in recently, it being the sequel to my all-time favorite game at the time of its release, though it would soon surpass the game that had come before it.

What made the fellow different from others is that they didn't simply listen, they engaged with whatever I was going on about. Others tried conversing with me during my rambles to no avail, but the fellow actually added to the conversation, as they too had become extremely invested in the game before being arrested, though they didn't get a chance to finish it so I was careful about story spoilers.

We had a lovely conversation that winded from video games to nostalgic things to school to science, eventually leading to the fellow telling me about their career as an electrician, and for once during these nights where they'd bring me to spend time with an inmate, someone else speaking and I was the one replying. I had even forgotten about the whole trying to be annoying thing.

By the time we need to go to sleep, we had forgotten about our board game, having only made it halfway across the map, but we had too much fun chatting to even notice. I was certainly going to ask the guards about the fellow's contact information in the morning, I want to hang out with them more often if this is considered a success.

Luckily for me and the fellow it was. They were let free and I was given their phone number.

Funny how the one person who passed the challenge is the only one who I wanted to speak with after it was over, and the only one who enjoyed a good conversation.

Death Row Inmates can have their sentence abolished if they can handle a single night in the same cell as you; the most innocent looking person they’ve ever seen.