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crystalelemental · 3 years ago

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Alright, last Masters thing for the update. We didn’t get the second half of the month, meaning we don’t know about the common grids. But, we can take a pretty good guess. Sinnoh VA introduced three Sinnoh pairs. Johto VA covered three Johto pairs. So it’s pretty safe to guess that Hoenn VA will cover three Hoenn pairs.

There are a few options: Norman, Liza, Tate, Drake, Lucy, and Noland. That is...a lot of options. I don’t think I’ll be right if I guess all three (though that won’t stop me), but I’ll say one with 100% confidence.

Norman will get a grid and EX. They’ve been handing out EX to the story pairs, and with SS Brock, it seems to be standard that if they get a grid, they get the EX with it. Norman is the only one I’m completely confident on, and truth be told, it’s kinda overdue. That man has been so dead in the water for so long. It’ll be nice to see what they can pull off with a full grid. Really, we just need massive recoil damage reduction, or outright Recoil Removal. His Trainer Move also really needs some help, but I can’t tell what would be ideal. Norman’s a tough one.

I am willing to bet Liza will not be here. Because Liza being here would make me happy. I feel like she’s just...really set already, and MPR alone would really salvage her kinda like with Roxanne. Which means there’s basically no chance of Crit Squad. Seriously, she’d out-perform Falkner as a buff bot with that, there’s just no way. What I can hope for is Pep Rally on trainer move for gauge control, and maybe built-in Vigilance to match Cheryl. Endurance may also be helpful, since she doesn’t take hits too well. Healing is of course appreciated but there’s no way. She’ll get Roxanned for sure.

Tate is possible, but they can’t split up the twins, so either it’s the both of them or neither of them. Tate’s pretty easy to solve for. Just give him some method of buffing crit, and Haymaker. Solved. Aggravation is guaranteed, and I kinda expect a Trip Up 4 or so to pretend at playing like Grant. My horror scenario for the poor boy is they hit him with the old Cakewalk. That’d frankly be devastating. At least SS May could help him in that scenario, but just imagine how depressing that would be.

Drake feels really likely. I expect a support, and Drake, to me at least, feels like the less threatening pick. Because honestly guys? I don’t expect much. BP Morty also buffs defenses, at the same time even! But I just can’t see them giving Drake the potential of capping crit, and if he does support offense it will likely be regular attack. The only thing he’s going to get for sure is Hostile Environment, which will be nice, but I’m really not confident on much else. If anything...I almost feel like he’ll get some healing effects. Healthy Healing, possible recovery on trainer move. The real money, though, is Vigilance. Drake actually has solid bulk, and the potential to make Vigilance really work for him. Being able to shut down status would be tremendous. In fact, now I can think of something else I’d like for him: let his trainer move buff accuracy. We are really hurting for better accuracy buffers, and this would not only facilitate the goofy Double Salamence comp with BP Zinnia well, it would improve matchups against Cresselia and Latias’ evasion gimmicks.

Lucy...look, Hostile Environment Poison Fang or riot. We have flat-out Toxic on a BP pair, there is no reason she can’t guaranteed Toxic with it. I’d expect some level of Pokey Trap as well, and probably some modifiers on her sync as well, considering she gets some natural move damage modifiers for poison and trap as well. Lucy feels probable. I’d kinda like to see Lucy get in, even. I’m a big fan of Toxic/Trap stall comps in this game as it is, and it’d be fun to see what they can provide for her. She really doesn’t need much.

Then there’s Noland. Oh Noland. You know, with Bugsy getting a pretty strong grid performance, maybe there’s hope for him. Pretty good attack stat on mega evolution, Impervious as an ability for some reason. Sure the moves are bad, but...oh, he’s only got X Atk, and a trainer move that heals and provides +2 speed to himself. Yeah. Yeah, look, Bugsy’s got a better damage threshold. Poison on Twineedle augments damage pretty well, and it’s already better damage, to say nothing of the fact that Bugsy got Crit Strike 2 as a default passive, and had a pretty easily identified series of needed tiles for success. Noland is tougher. He can’t realistically keep up on damage, not as a common. The best I can think of is that they allow him to be more self-sufficient. Some means of buffing crit, maybe Fury Cutter Eagle Eye, and Berserker on X Atk? That way, he’s at least not as support reliant as Bugsy to eventually make his way to full damage. The problem is, even if he’s self-sufficient, he’s still likely too slow to not want the support anyway, and even with all that, he won’t get the EX, so he’ll be as shafted as Bugsy. It doesn’t look great for him.

At a guess: Norman is required for story unit purposes and EX, Drake will get in because Hoenn Champion Stadium happened, and Noland will get in to round things out. Tate and Liza will happen together later on, and Lucy is being held off for the same reason as Janine: she technically performs her function just fine already.

#pokemon masters speculation

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mmjjbbaannkkss · 5 years ago

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2019 August 12-18 Resistance and Growth

"Get to a point where thoughts are like thieves coming in an empty house...there's nothing to take" - Sam Harris

UPDATE

Phone died Thursday. Will be back Mon or Thu. AC too arid, had to open windows. Off days I’m going to carb cycle the dumb keto, between carbs and aminos one day, and bacon the next, making sure the carbs+aminos are the day before going back as a zero-fat cleanse day, maybe a wheatgrass smoothie, prolly not. Ice pack on my eyes, excellent idea.

About to post this, @225lbs, that’s at least 10lbs down in 1 week, cardio has been uphill 5min, flat 5min, but go easy on yourself, 1min/1min, I was made for hiking 1hr at a time, know your ability. Also that’s from 10 days of (30min cardio, long sessions, +30min cardio again) and I’m taking a week off right now. Eating natural antihistamines and resetting. Resuming Thursday, but’ll post Sunday something rando.

NOTES/TIPS

Supermarket parking lot, a black guy the size of a Chicago bear, he’s having a conversation with his wife and cart-bound toddler, and every few words he says ‘hey a white guy’ like 3-4 times, like I’m in the wild --- it still snows, the sun also sets --- some recover easily from high volume, to work quick between melts, or hike before snow -- lineages differ, if forced to do low rep PRs every day, the stress and the hypertrophy would tear at my tendons;

Not a decathlon, maintenance, it depends on how you do conditioning >> if you’re in a cut, carbs have to be maintenance and very regular, like feeding a dog, same times every day, if you’re in a bulk the training sessions have to be scheduled too >> Dave Palumbo video just said as much in saying carbs and insulin >> glucose control > need water that dry/shred people, low af BMI ppl, just might not have at the moment or can’t carb up the day of the show.

Get bitchy after a workout, the human body is designed to digest carbs from plants, grains, some water-dissolvable fibers, etc, so that we can eat small doses and metabolize efficiently, and that’s a modern truth, even if you’re binging white sugar, and when blood-sugar drops the body goes into hypoglycemia (hypo = low, hyper = high), even if you’re big, even if you’re exercising, a lifestyle pattern, meal patterns, exercise patterns, or you get bitchy, and that’s a good thing. Pain is informative. Emotion is natural. The evolutionary response; and then apathy/lethargy takes exercise out of the equation. My rice cooker has an egg basket, steam makes peeling easy, I hate rice and eggs, but the rice is low fat during scheduled carb intakes, and one eggwhite makes a healthy appetizer, and egg yolk has essential nutrients.

The body doesn’t want to be 0%BMI, and when you’re training, it doesn’t want to reduce BMI. So there’s trapped on an island ketosis, which will bring on literal insanity, or delicate CICO adjustment, and being full (satiated) but digesting the fiber before a workout to not be literally bloated, and digesting the fat before a workout so that you don’t figuratively need an oil change. A lot of instagram posts say eat fruit before a workout, but that might be their between full meals snack, and usually don’t have heavy fruits like mangoes or bananas, but more light fruits like oranges and strawberries, before a workout. And the level of acidity before a workout is also personal.

Hypertrophy is growth of muscle, hypoplasia is new muscle at the cellular level. Quitting a steady exercise lifestyle, will see dramatic muscle loss, this could be why DOMS doesn’t occur with experience, and taking vacation will hurt the first day back at the gym, because the nervous system resets and the connections have to be rebuilt for task/work, so things like cardio, yoga, taiji, etc active recovery should actually be an active lifestyle, and then empty calories add-up when less muscle and less active.

I’m going to eat more antihistamines my eyes and nose are itchy, UPDATE honey-infused vinaigrette, tomatoes, and spinach help, ancestors didn’t eat as many eggs as me, and would like more grits.

TRAINING REPORT / STATS

#xvi7 Slow Push /lb

Treadmill warmup 5^|5_ 30min >> Shldr Press 3+x 6 /10305070 >> DB front Raise 4x 6 /2*10,10,10,10 >> DB Lat Raise 4x 6 / 5,10,1010 >> BB Flat Bench incl1 4x 6 /100100w100w100 >> Incl (low) DB Bench 3x 8 /35,45,55 >> Pec Deck 3x 8 /100,115,130145,160- >> Dips 3x 8 /888-8- >> Pullover 4x 8 /35355050 >> Triceps 3*10 /25,35,50,65- >> Twist 3*10/null, lat stretch >> Planks? Called it: 3x 15ct >> Treadmill 30 min 5_/5^

Carrots? Sitw:stand-db-horiz-row; ok that's the indoor winter wicking one, not the humidity August one; wanting to ice my head/face, Inferi & Flub, maybe Job For A Cowboy, would be an epic show. So funning hungry, headed shower, home == before dips, didn’t do any pull/back warmups, tweaked back jumping around like an idiot or just exhausting myself, and the knot wouldn’t pop until mid standing-pullovers, with back to rig, nerves tangled-up with the lat-spread toward/into ribs, can’t CICO sunday, maybe to skip a meal Saturday night in lieu of socialising, idk, update, slow reps kinda proud of pec decks and incline bench, am hoping 12x150lbs molasses is more impressive than 200x2 kipped - have to stop doing front raises at wall, it’s waves the center of balance too forward makes jenky back bullshit, maybe emptyhanded arm raises (read: taiji that I always put off) will train the bicep-lats trail. Carrots nuked (way less than the potato time) with vanilla yogurt was meh, pre workout snack.

#8 FST Pull /

Treadmill warmup 30min 5^/5_ >> Wide Lat Pulldown 7x7/60,7575,9090,105 >> Palms-In Pulldown 7x7/100100,12012121212 >> DB 1-Arm Row 7x7/LR15?202530355065 >> Straight Pulldown 7x7/20253035505050 >> Row 7x7/6075757590,105,120 >> DB Shrug 7x7/2*60606060606060 >> Delt Deck Fly 7x7/10152025:252530- >> Supine Straight Curl 7x7/203040404040404040 >> Preacher Curl 7x7/20304050658095 >> Preacher Hammer 7x7/30303030304040- >> Treadmill cooldown null

Meh, prolly the worst session ever.

#xvi9 Slow Legs

Treadmill 30min 5_/5^ >> Side Bends 3x 8/254545 >> Plate Squat 3x 6 000 >> Hack Squat 3x 6/202020 >> Deadlift+Curl 3x 8 / 203040 >> Horizon Press 3x 8/30507090,1113 >> LR Leg Ext 3x 8/10305070 >> LR Leg Curl 3x 8/7090110130 >> LR Heel Raise 3x 8. 30507090 >> Tri-bar Crunch 3x 1050607085- >> Chair Shoulder ropes 4*25/60/252525-25- >> Incl treadmill 5_/5^

Tried leg day for DOMS, hamstrings only stiff, hiking everyday cutting, every meal not snack, session break for noise situation, breaks b/w stations supersets b/c set splits are rare; side bends same, crowded plate squats, hack squats glutes up quads activate, deadlifts on target, curls better but harder on core, on display charged hamstrings -- omg leg extensions and curls having progress super psyched about, weeks after quad to knee sprain...to be curt, an ego setback, eyes dry from staring or tired, schadenfreude for dude’s throwing shit, not just dropping, idk sees old shit me lift everyday a beleaguered scandinavian volume trainer, low bp and slow, as got to be in a way -- in my defense, coffee salt cardio, blue veins and pale looks zombie to southerners, and’ve only been gymming, what 4 years, tho wish it was 14 years, 180 2000, almost 240 2015, 225 Aug 2019 cardio and oxygen efficiency optimal -- besides the point, burnt abs = stamina abs, so did slow cable downs for size then fast reps - after cardio eyes fried.

#10 FST Push /lbs

Treadmill 30min 5_/5^

DB Flat Bench 7*7/60606060,100100100

Rehang plates, in a commercial, commercial ends, phone bricks. Good exercise set too.

#exercise #burnout #freedom #vacation #training #schedule #routine

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behardonyourself · 6 years ago

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So Let Me Get This Straight...

The greatest thing about social media is the ability to interact with people anytime, no matter where in the world they are. Of course, me being extremely open and candid about everything I’m doing, some of the things I’ve gone through, and my training and nutrition makes anything fair game for discussion, and I’m completely cool with that.

I think a search through my posts here and throughout my social media feeds will bring most people to the conclusion that I’m 100% not the guy screaming about being Vegan and attacking other people who aren’t Vegan. I know that exists and I know there are a lot of people like that on both sides of pretty much any argument. Actually, I don’t even fucking refer to myself as Vegan! I just happen to sustain entirely on a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet with limited processed foods. I do my best to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible.

A little background... I came down this path initially because I have battled digestive issues for most of my adult life. Years as a hardcore, musclehead weightlifter that bought into the bullshit and believed we need absolutely ridiculous amounts of protein to recover didn’t help that. Then when I was away from the bodybuilder and powerlifting lifestyle, my diet of chicken wings, burgers, and bullshit food didn’t make me feel or look any better.

Of course, even a moderate shift to real food and reducing all of the cholesterol and saturated fat would’ve made me feel better, and I had done that numerous times throughout the past two and half decades. But I still felt like I was just plodding along, always hungry, yet always full, with food often feeling like it was still in my esophagus.

When I decided to get radical, I needed something new. I was giving all of my vices up at once: Energy drinks, fried food, booze, etc. I had just read Rich Roll’s “Finding Ultra” and found a lot of parallels in his story and mindset and my own, so I thought “Fuck it, why not give it a shot?”

The results were almost instant. I felt absolutely amazing from the start. I expected for reality to set in and feel like shit after a few days without meat, but that never happened. So I kept learning more and more about how to combine my foods to make sure I was getting the micro and macronutrients I needed for optimum health, performance and recovery.

Yeah, shit definitely happened...

Excess weight fell off, what felt like overnight (over 50lbs in the first 12 weeks).

I was able to train and harder than I had in years.

While expecting to ache after my workouts (I’m 43, shit gets hard when you’re old) my recovery was supersonic.

My high blood pressure? Gone. High cholesterol? See ya. Doc pulled me off all bp and cholesterol meds that I had been on since my heart attack scare.

Those digestion issues? Completely non-existent. Reflux? Completely disappeared.

My rest is now better than it has ever been.

No medication. No supplementation. And I feel like a brand new man.

Leading us to why I have this blog and why I engage on Social Media. I say and do some crazy shit - and almost nothing gets anything but a positive response... Except what I eat...

So you couldn’t run 1/4 mile in October and now you’re training for a 140.6 mile Ironman in November? Bad ass!

You workout 4+ hours per day? Fucking awesome.

You’ve lost over 60lbs and are shredded? Same weight as when you were 18? Smaller pant-size than you wore after boot camp? Amazing.

You live off of plants? HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT IS SO DANGEROUS. WHERE IN THE FUCK DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN? YOU CAN’T RECOVER EATING LIKE THAT! YOU’RE GOING TO BECOME BRITTLE AND WITHER AWAY! HUMANS ARE CARNIVORES AND AREN’T DESIGNED TO LIVE OFF OF PLANTS! YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE MAN! YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME A STINKY HIPPY AND VOTE FOR BERNIE SANDERS!!!

Complete insanity. Not sure how I didn’t expect it, but I didn’t. I underestimated people’s emotional and mental stances on food, but I have to admit that it rivals politics and religion.

My schedule is absolutely packed. I love documenting my journey here and on other platforms. I love my career and it requires a HUGE commitment of my time - which is fine because it finances all of the dreams (and we do business and personal goals every month - I’d suggest incorporating this into your life and be hard on yourself). And not to mention Lisa, Peyton, and Ava whom all require their own attention. So I don’t have time to argue and be all hostile to everyone sending me anti-vegan studies and websites. Most are doing it in fun (and it makes me laugh) but there are a few people (and some that I don’t know whatsoever) that have taken it as their responsibility to educate the fuck out of me about my sins of not eating meat and animal products. Some have convinced themselves that they have doctorates in performance nutrition.

Regardless if I was living off of veggies or whatever, there will always be skeptics and haters. I’ve been fairly blessed with overwhelming support, but remember that it could be someone that you share a home with that may be the one telling you that you’re crazy, it won’t work, you’re wasting your time, unnecessary temptation, etc. (If that’s you that lives with that person, tell the one doing it that I said “Fuck you...”)

And again, I’m okay with it. I’m not going to run around recruiting people to my Plant Church and I’m probably not a great advocate. I’m not protesting anyone’s right to choose whatever they want to eat and where they get what they want to eat. I’m just doing my thing and feeling amazing (I’d be lying if I said I’m not wondering where all of the concern was when I was pounding 1/2 pounders from Whataburgers and Wendy’s multiple times per day walking around looking like a disgusting fat slob).

Of course the argument can be made that I feel this way because I lost all of the unnecessary weight, and there is absolutely some truth to that. But I have zero doubt that my nutrition is taking me to goals that I would’ve otherwise thought impossible.

#plantpowered #plantbased #vegan #vegantriathlete #ironmanvegan #xl #fattofit #ironman #ironmantraining #feltcycles #healthyliving #healthylifestyle #myplantpoweredrecipes

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ganymedesclock · 7 years ago

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Regarding Black Paladin Lance - I've seen a ton of really good theories foreshadowing it happening in some form, and it's something I definitely want to see! In the event that Shiro has to temporarily step down or w/e (Project Kuron??), I think having Lance as BP for a while would make since - Shiro confided in Lance about "not feeling like himself" so there's definitely room for bonding to the point where Shiro would nominate Lance to take his place... (1/2)

(2/2)...And while Keith was not a bad BP by any means (I still hold that it was a good experience for him to have, character growth-wise), I don't really want him to go back to that when he seemed to be actively miserable in that position (that could be combined with the stress of missing Shiro though). That being said, I'm still 100% for Shiro as BP lol (he fits the bill so well! He fistfought Zarkon for the black lion's trust!) Clockie, if BP Lance was to happen how would you want it to go?

Honestly, about what you said?

I think that Lance is ultimately meant for Blue. Blue is the place he fits, and again, it’s very thematically significant from where Lance started and what was shown to make him unhappy, that his unfulfilling position in the fighter class (“You’re only here because you’re the second-best, and we couldn’t get our first choice”) Blue is the one who chose him first- literally first out of the paladins, but out of a crowd of two geniuses, a hero, and the best pilot in his class... Blue only had eyes for Lance.

As far as Black, though. I think Lance is gonna dance with Black for a while and learn something important about himself. And I think it could well happen as part of Shiro consciously being able to outmaneuver Haggar.

Honestly in my wildest dreams it goes both ways- and we’ll get a formation with Keith in Red, Hunk in Yellow, Pidge in Green... but Lance in Black and Shiro in Blue. And this being the temporary culmination in, effectively, Kuron as a bonding arc between Lance and Shiro.

Because both Lance and Shiro are holding the solution, power-wise, to one of the other’s biggest problems.

The Black Paladin is defined as a person of great force of personality and sense of self. Their ideals, their will, who they are as a person is the indestructible lever by which they will shift the world.

Lance struggles with, effectively, conviction in his sense of self. It makes sense given his rather amorphous emotional nature, but like... you can see how troubled he is by someone suggesting that they don’t think of him a way that he wants to think of himself. That’s the root of what bothered him in s2e10- Pidge never once necessarily doubted Lance’s competence, but Lance suggested a trait he had, Pidge questioned it, and Lance had this minor crisis of self-doubt, “Do I actually have that trait if someone else didn’t notice it?”

Lance tries to use his prodigious social connections to build himself because he kind of craves that vindication of having other people tell him what his qualities are. When he tries to choose and define himself, he wants people to agree with him. Conversely, after Shiro- someone whose opinion he respects- calls him a sharpshooter, Lance is positively preening over, “yes, absolutely, this is exactly a trait I have. It’s my thing.” and he repeats it again in s3e1.

Which, being fair- Lance’s social connections overwhelmingly do take pretty good care of him. But it would definitely strengthen Lance as a person to have confidence in himself whether or not he’s able to define it and feel validated by outside sources- that whoever or whatever he is, that’s an okay thing to be.

I think that’s why Black didn’t respond to Lance, but Red did. Because with Black, Lance, effectively, lacks conviction. He wanted Black to validate him, to do- well, exactly what Shiro did in s2e10. Give him the answer so he can feel good about it.

But Black is someone of rigid ideals who demands someone of the same. Black turned to Keith, instead, because Keith knew what he had to do even if he didn’t want to do it. Keith was certain- of his feelings, but also of what he felt was his duty.

Lance was not certain. Lance wanted Black to bring the certainty to the table.

But if there’s one thing Lance is always about, it’s connections. It’s taking care of people. And the Red Lion doesn’t value certainty that much- certainty comes easily to him, and he’s got no hesitation giving that clarity. What he really cares about is who’s gonna run headfirst to Keith’s defense- who’s gonna fight tooth and nail to serve and protect his team, and it’s the person who already took initiative, multiple times, to be there for a friend he can tell is having a bad time.

But even then, that doesn’t address the problem. That’s still a lesson Lance needs to learn, is conviction of self.

On Shiro’s end of things... Shiro from the start has had a personal demon bogging him down and complicating his recovery. We see this obviously illustrated a couple of times, but a big one is in episode s2e5.

Shiro fails to nurture himself. He’ll keep tapping from his own well to try and provide for others but if it runs dry, he’ll just take that silently to himself. He’d be the first person to tell any of the other paladins they can talk to him if anything’s troubling them- he actively tries to check up on Keith in s2e8- but Shiro always puts himself last.

And it’s not even the willful neglect, but that Shiro, simply refuses to look at his own vulnerability, and his own pain, with the compassionate eye he turns on his team. S2e10 and his interactions with Slav there and the following episode are actually really worrying if you consider that what Shiro’s doing is basically just internalizing his own self-talk.

Especially his line about “so fluff a pillow or count your follicles or whatever”, because it betrays exactly how Shiro views his trauma and the emotional needs he has in healing.

Because when Shiro hits his limits- when he’s upset or scared or shaken up by something, the bedside manner he takes with himself is “well, sorry everyone, I guess we need to stop all of the important stuff we’re doing and go get the big dumb baby a big dumb security blanket, because he can’t keep his shit together for five minutes.”

In Shiro’s book, all of his hurt and anxiety- which are completely understandable natural things to feel experiencing what he had- are just failures in discipline, failures in control. It’s just him whining about nothing.

Blue Lion is thematically the heart of the team- she is the lover, and she is the nurturer. And if there’s one thing to say about Blue’s virtues, and Lance, it’s that Blue is also about self-love. Blue is not, as Shiro is, a vessel that pours and pours and pours without refilling itself.

In the beginning-of-episode scramble sequence in s1e2, nobody is more diametrically opposed than Lance and Shiro. Shiro, who’s already wearing his armor, who is awake and exercising, not sleeping when everybody else is at least in bed (and Shiro of course, never once implies he’s having bad dreams or trouble sleeping), who’s the first responder because of course, Princess, what do you need?

And Lance, who saunters in, completely late, with no idea what’s going on... but having lavishly taken care of himself. He’s feeling great, he’s incredibly comfortable, he’s literally sparkling.

And Blue deliberately holds out on Allura as long as Allura tries to keep their relationship distant and businesslike. What Blue asks of Allura isn’t to prove herself, or flatter Blue’s vanity with sweet words... it’s for Allura to open up emotionally. To say “I’m scared, I’m trapped, I don’t know what to do. I need help.”

As of s5e6, that’s the exact thread that Shiro opens to Lance with. Finally, finally, after suffering in silence all this time, after being vaguely dismissive about a “weird headache”, after gruffly sort of shrugging it off that he was apparently calling out to Lance and doesn’t remember it, Shiro breaks and says “I can’t go on like this. Something’s wrong.”

So I think it’d be really interesting if the ultimate destination this ends up is Shiro and Lance kind of taking a walk in each others’ shoes. A sort of educational exchange of virtues, that will benefit both of them. And that happening by not just Lance in Black... but Shiro taking Blue for a spin. (Which would also be a fun meta joke, because, y’know. In every other continuity Sven is associated with the Blue Lion, not the Black one)

So this is my poison of choice for Black Paladin Lance: Lance and Shiro switch Lions, have a lovely bonding experience, and then go home where they belong being better happier people because they understand themselves better.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Lance #Shiro #readmore #Anonymous

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bestillmybeefyheart · 7 years ago

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So if yo missed my post yesterday, haven’t followed me before or don’t remmeber... I wanted to recap my life for you since March 2016. I do so because I literally, and I mean that literally, was, I dont eve know the word... Blessed (life not faith wise) with such amazing results and news after a long hard struggle. So here’s a summary.

Up until March 2016, I was 178lbs of muscle, training to be a boxer, could go many rounds in the ring and take a beating and I trained every day, be it hiking, biking, the gym, walking, you name it.

I had just begun a very long slow taper of Benzodiazepines, whichI was kicking ass at so far at this point. This journey was goign to take me 2 years at that point and is another story.

On March 24th (I believe) of 2016, I had a seemingly minor bicycle accident while riding to my doctors office, then the gym. I tried to hop up onto a curb, but due to heat exhaustion, dehydration and having just ridden 10 miles approx, I was not up to the task. I hit the curb at an angle, faster then I realized, and my front wheel made it, the back did not. Result, broken leg at the ankle.

I had surgery that required 2 plates and 10 screws, and due to the nature of the break, my surgeon who is quite skilled, had to work extra hard to put me back together the best he could.

I then spent months healing on the sofa, lost ALL of that muscle I had worked so hard for, gained weight, but was actually lighter then I had been and my spirit and heart were broken. But I did not let that pull me down. I did everyting I was told by the doctor. Everything. My progress was sped up by my previous amazing physical fitness levels right up to the incident, even though I had waited since due to inactivity.

Once I got permission to start PT, I had to learn to walk again. This was very scary. Not only did I have no idea how far I could go before the damage I caused became a roadblock, but it was painful beyond belief. It also tore my mental status into shreads. BUt, I kept going, as my Dr and PT person told me, no matter how hard.

Months later, and 2 months before I should have been to this point, I was walking again. The Orthopedist and my Dr were both thrilled and complimented me on m progress. Knowing how bad my break was, its location, and how most people deal with this stuff, they gave me encourage ment and a reminder that I could do this.

I kept working hard, furthering my progress. Eventually getting permission to bicycle again. Thanks to my eBike’s help, I used it to do even more rehabilitation and it also sped up my recovery. Plus it made me feel great again, free, happy, and that sense of accomplishment was just making me glow. But deeper inside I was still scared to death, in a good amount of pain, and worried. Doctor then had me do more PT at home, from 1-3x a day to 4-8x a day. And I did, every single day.

Well, this change in frequency improved my ROM (Range of Motion) dramatically, so much so that I could walk down stairs normally again for the first time in over a year. But, it also caused me to hit the first and biggest hurdle yet, one I could never get over... I had reached my newly set bone’s limit during dorsal and plantar movement. That’s forward and backward movement like pushing on the gas in your car (plantar) and bending your ankle back (dorsal).

My bone in my leg was now hitting my Talus bone (this is the bone your leg moves forward and backward on to make your foot move those directions) when I bent it far enough, just short of my good ankle’s natural limit. This wasn’t a muscle stretch problem it was a hard limit, for life. I was devastated and spiraled into a depression, but i kept biking, walking best I could and worked through best I could.

While this was happening, this working out and PT etc, I was in pain, all the time. It started to go from a hospital 3-4 (0-10 scale), to a 5-7, then 6-8, and soon it was 8 daily. It got so bad I passed out multiple times from the pain, got even more depressed not even realizing why, and eventually told my PCP Dr, who told me to tell my Orthopedist. I did, and we decided to try taking out the plate, and while he was in there, he was going to see what the impinging point was and why. We hoped for a magic solution, maybe it was a small piece of bone that had come off or something in the hardware we hoped.

Those screws I mentioned? They were also through the whole bone and poking into my leg muscle inside. I thought maybe that is causing internalized pain as well as pain I could feel? Hoped maybe it might help if they weren’t there. And so the doctor did the surgery, 3 weeks ago, removed the plate and screws and found nothing but what he should.

Mom told me he told her with a disappointed look on his face right after surgery that he found nothing magic, but it was otherwise a success. And we geared up for 2 months+ of healing and rehabilitation.

Within 3 days, I was on my feet, no crutches, no boot.

Within a week, I was walking better then I had since the surgery in 2016.

And the most important parts... removing the plate and screws had STOPPED the agonizing pain. I went from a 6-8 the day of, to a 5 maybe right after, days later, I was 1-2 max.

During this whole time, and this is the 2nd important part, my blood pressure was sky high the whole time. We had no clue why and blamed it on my Benzo taper. But, those screws I mentioned that were inside my leg meat, THEY were the cause of not just the pain but my high blood pressure. I didn’t know this until I was checked at my last Orthopedist appt, and then reconfirmed yesterday when my 190/107 BP went to 120/90.

I know this is a long story, but it’s been part of my life, the pain, the healing, the agony, the mental anguish, all of it, they’ve been here since the first surgery. And now, minus the talus impingement, I felt better then I had in ways I can’t explain. I told the dr at one point that if the surgery to remove the plate didnt work, I wanted him to cut off the foot and part of the leg, it was that bad.

Today, I sit here typing to you, normal blood pressure, almost no pain, light discomfort after a long day of moving the ankle, and a different man.

The moral here, beyond reminding you that I have been through hell and I came back flipping off the devil, is...

Don’t give up.

Don’t stop trying.

Always do what your doctor says.

And always educate yourself. Me learning how the leg and ankle works, examining x-rays, all of that helped me to help the doctors make me better.

I am the same guy I was before, just out of shape and cannot run or jog again for the rest of my life, nor can I hike without poles and good boots. But, I overcame one hell of an obstacle.

So if you struggle with something, don’t take it laying down, learn about your problems, what goes on in your body or life that might cause them, and talk to your doctors, therapists or whomever. And never ever give up.

I’m going to be 50 this December. I have the heart of a 25 year old athelete. I am proof that age has nothing to do with it. It’s all about what you can put into it.

Thanks for reading if you got this far. I hope someone finds this inspirational, as I want to shout it from the rooftops. I am -that- much happier. Unmeasurablely so.

#broken leg #trigger #possibly gross #journey #my story

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cnstrength · 7 years ago

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nSuns 5/3/1

Happy New Year y’all. Thought it’d be nice to kick off 2018 with a review of the routine I’ve been doing the past few months.

First, some background. nSuns is a pretty popular redditor who built his reputation through his unique spin on the 5/3/1 workout. He even has a subreddit dedicated to his workout routines (r/nSuns), that I frequently browse to share my experiences and also learn from others who are on the very same routine. nSuns 5/3/1 is the toughest program I have ever encountered to date, so the insight I gained from the subreddit was invaluable. The routine was a natural step to take from my prior experience with the basic 5/3/1, and after seeing nSuns’ own claim that his lifts went from a total of 900 to 1200 in a few months, I was easily convinced this was the right path to take.

The program begins with some calibration, as does any new routine. However, this program demands an insane (and dare I say sickening) amount of volume, and will not mesh nicely with ego lifting whatsoever. I had to begin at a low weight (85% of my true 1RM) as my 1RM to begin the routine. I chose to go with the 5 day variation as I aimed to hit the gym 5 times a week (difficult af goal). This variation was pretty appealing, as it allows one to hit bench twice a week, and also includes an OHP focused day. There is a 6 day deadlift or squat variation, but after running this routine for a few months, I don’t want to go near that ever in my life lol (you’d be running either deadlift or squat twice a week which is insane given the volume of this program).

The workouts take a looooong time. Dont go with this program if you’re looking for a quick <1.5 hr workout, because my average workout times have been 2 hours. The Squat/Deadlift days take the longest - spanning about 2 hours, while OHP day is the quickest and can be done within 1.5. The basic premise of this workout is to pair 8 sets of a big lift (T1) with a consequent 7 sets of a complementing compound exercise (T2), which is then followed by accessories. Each of the set follow a different rep scheme, but generally speaking for the big lifts, it revolves around a pyramid of 5/3/1 reps. For the compounds, the scheme is strongly influenced by Sheiko programming (3/5/7/4/6/8 rep progression). The increase in your training max / 1RM numbers each week is determined by your performance in the prior week. There is a concrete way to calculate this increase, as opposed to the more improvised and inconsistent ones I’ve been used to in the past. Here, is a link to the routine to illustrate all that I’m talking about.

DAY ONE : BENCH / OHP (LIGHT DAY)

So the week starts with a “light” bench day. Your max weight for the day is set low - about 80% of your true 1RM. However, don’t be fooled about this day being easy whatsoever. Progression was fine for the first few weeks, but as I started at higher weights the 8 sets slowly became immensely difficult to finish.This day doesn’t employ the 5/3/1 rep format - instead it opts for a higher rep scheme. I call the 4 rep sets in the middle of the scheme the “Death Triad”. I honestly am still trying to figure out how to get past 200 lbs 3x4. Standalone those sets would be a breeze, but doing them after 2 sets of 8/6 are killer. Recently, I started doing just every other set bc it was nigh impossible for me to hit all 8 sets successfully. Given my lax adjustment to T1, I would hit my T2 harder. The light OHP sets not only help as an accessory to my bench, but as an accessory to the heavy OHP day coming later in the week. This, alongside all other T2′s utilizes the 3/5/7/4/6/8 rep progression as mentioned before. Alongside the absurd volume of this routine, this unique rep scheme was another refresher. I had a hard time memorizing the scheme, until I realized it was simply odd and even numbers. It’s a challenging scheme, but completely doable. the 7-4 rep transition is kind of like a break, and the 6/8 rep sets are where the challenges really lie, so keep your energy up for those! Really need to work on this day and these high rep ranges.

ACCESSORIES: Flyes (Cable/DB Variations), Chest Dips, Weighted Pushups to further hit the pecs. Rows (any variation will do) to strengthen the scapula which is underappreciated during the bench.

DAY TWO: SQUAT / SUMO DEAD

Ok, on to one of the killer days. 8 sets of heavy squats? Nothing I’ve ever done. Wait, lets add 7 sets of sumo deadlifts right after. This day is great not only for powerlifters but for sadists. You’ll be wondering why you ever chose this program every time after this workout. No joke. I usually have to spend at least an hour in the squat rack, due to the CNS recovery I need to fit this immense scheme - I’d usually rest about 5-10 mins between the super heavy beginning sets, and up to 5 min during the down pyramid sets. I stopped getting sore after leg day for the past few months, but after starting this program, it came back and hit me hard. If you manage to get this day done, you’ll feel very very accomplished with yourself.

ACCESSORIES: Usually just alternate b/w Glute Ham Raises & Leg Curls to target the glutes and hams.

DAY THREE: OHP / INCLINE BENCH

One of the easier days. It’s a breather in the middle of the week, especially for me as I excel in both of these lifts. I’d say at the moment this is probably my most improved lift after starting nSuns. The amount of OHP volume in this routine really helps, alongside with the incline bench. The rep scheme is very doable, but does lead to some difficulty during the incline bench sets where I needed a spotter even for the lower weights used (your anterior delts will be fried).

ACCESSORIES: Lat Raises, Front Raises, One Handed DB Shoulder Press, Arnold Press for the delts, Face Pulls as well to target the rear delt/traps. They are a great rowing exercise that helps with your bench too. Might throw in some bicep curls too from time to time.

DAY FOUR: DEADLIFT / FRONT SQUAT

The rep scheme for deadlifts is based primarily on triples, which is appropriate given the exercise’s taxing nature. I excel in this rep range so I do find this day rather enjoyable. I actually yolo’d my 1+ set weight quite a bit throughout the past few weeks since I felt like I could lift much heavier - therefore I only followed the rest of the prescribed weights/sets. I’ve been progressing nicely (hit 425 easily a week ago) so I can’t say this straying off is hampering me that much. Meanwhile for front squats, I’ve always had difficulty with my grip. My fingers always felt like they would rip off, so I avoided this exercise often. However, I knew it was an essential accessory to deadlifts and so much more like your back squat, core, and posture which made it an exercise I inevitably had to begin doing. Got some advice from a weightlifting friend who specializes in the front squat and started using a three fingered grip which has proven most comfortable. Additionally, I needed to learn not to put all the weight on my fingers (which is what led to the finger ripping sensation) and instead on the collarbone. I’ve also been told that tricep mobility is important as well and loosening them up did indeed help.

ACCESSORIES: Lat Pulldown & Trap Raises which hit the much neglected lower traps. These help improve my lockout. Not necessarily an area which I sought to improve on, but I focused on back accessories since this routine itself doesn’t cater well to addressing the back muscles.

DAY FIVE: BENCH / CLOSE GRIP BENCH (INTENSE DAY)

The second bench day of the week. Benching twice a week definitely helps bench gains ALOT and is probably one of the most suggested tips for increasing numbers in this domain. For me, the lower rep range for this day was more doable than the light day, ironically. The close grip bench press will be light starting out, so I suggest taking extremely short breaks, and pushing yourself to failure here. Otherwise, you won’t feel much.

ACCESSORIES: Tricep Pushdowns, Rows again.

BENCH

WHAT I LEARNED:

Correctly breathing and bracing for the lift. Take a deep breath in, unrack, and lift. I used to take new breaths throughout this process but realized I lost a lot of tightness so opting for keeping my breath in has helped wonders. Importance of leg drive. Not that I didn’t know that it was important before, but I realized a deeper extent of its necessity for performing this lift. Also, recently realized how detrimental it is to miss out on back work. Rows are so critical for the bench press and it is easy to neglect within this routine. Over the past few BP days, I’ve definitely felt a lack of back stability which had stagnated my bench greatly. Thus, I will be putting much more focus on my back, doing more rows on push days, and even doing full back days (as a bonus day of sorts)

OHP

WHAT I LEARNED:

Same breathing technique learned for bench.

SQUAT

WHAT I LEARNED:

Keep your breath locked in during the whole unrack -> walkout -> first rep. Helped resolve a lack of tightness, as described above.

DEADLIFT

WHAT I LEARNED:

A few weeks into nSuns, I got a callous injury from doing sumos. That led me to realize my grip with deadlifts have been wrong - I didn’t suffer from callouses before since I usually use straps when going heavy, but during sumos I went raw. This killed deadlift progression for a good month or so, sadly. However, I did manage to learn something and be aware of my mistake, which is always a good thing. I needed to put the weight of the bar more onto my fingers instead of my palm. Sounds unstable, but it does work and prevents any ugly callouses.

Conclusions

I’m not quite finished with this routine yet as I haven’t hit my 1K club goal, but I can definitely see it being accomplished very soon. I’d say I will run with it for another month and a half or so. I’ll be frank in that the sheer volume of nSuns has killed my motivation somedays but on the contrary, smashing PR’s is commonplace in this routine and can be a big booster for this rigorous training. As with any other training routine that ever exists, I have come to learn a lot, of which I am extremely grateful. Progression might not have been what I liked, but the nature of the program has given me a chance to demonstrate a larger focus on form rather than numbers. Why? The volume of this program inevitably leads to deterioration of form, thus forcing one to focus and maintain strict form to complete sets, which is a requirement to up the 1RM numbers. In every single lift I have adjusted my form and technique which will help deter injury and ultimately support my lifting career in the long run.

nSuns has allowed me to finish 2017 strong. It has been a great year for gains overall with me growing the most I ever had in the entire span of my lifting career. Not only have my lifts, strength and physicality improved tremendously, I am grateful to have learned so much about powerlifting training. I very much am looking forward to 2018 and can’t wait to smash new goals, learn more, and make it an even better year. Once I hit the 1k club using nSuns, I will switch over to what I call “The Triple C’s”, which are Calisthenics, Core, and Conditioning and make those areas a large focus for 2018. Also want to learn more mobility and band work techniques. So, stay tuned, extremely excited about this and will share more details on it later. See yall in the new year.

#powerlifting #gains #lifts #gym #fitness #routinereview #531 #nSuns

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cinnvgc · 7 years ago

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VGC17 - Trick Room + Anti-Meta

Here’s a redo of my first analysis/RMT, which Tumblr ate earlier after I spent two hours on it. Out of sheer spite, I put way more effort into making this post look nice. So, this team may look a little odd at first glance, and it has some glaring weaknesses, but it definitely packs a punch. Damage calcs were done by @alexandraprime! Thank you for handling that for me!

Porygon2 @ Eviolite Ability: Download Level: 50 EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD Sassy Nature IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe - Ice Beam - Toxic - Recover - Trick Room So, first up, we have Porygon2, the first Pokemon I put onto the team. This is my personal favorite wall because of how effective it is at it and because of how cute it is. Just look at the gif! It’s so cute?? Anyway! Initially, I wanted to bluff a Trick Room team to make my opponent take unnecessary precautions after seeing the team preview, but I later decided against it and decided to just run an actual TR team, as that was much simpler than bluffing it. Porygon2 plays the role of the Trick Room setter and wall for this team, with Toxic as its primary source of damage and Ice Beam to scare off dangerous ‘mons like Garchomp. Recover helps it stick around for as long as possible to sustain Trick Room for the team.

Araquanid @ Waterium Z Ability: Water Bubble Level: 50 EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def Brave Nature IVs: 0 Spe - Liquidation - Lunge - Wide Guard - Protect Next up is a Pokemon I initially disliked due to my arachnophobia, but have now come to appreciate due to its raw offensive power. Thanks to Water Bubble, Liquidation jumps up from an 85 BP move to an impressive 170 BP, making it quite a threat. With Waterium Z, Araquanid’s Liquidation becomes an absolute nuke in the form of a 320 BP Hydro Vortex, allowing it to break through walls with ease. Lunge is on the set for dealing with anything weak to Bug or immune to Water, as well as for crippling physical attackers with the guaranteed Attack drop. Wide Guard provides the team with some protection from moves like Earthquake and Rock Slide, and is essential for helping the team deal with powerful threats like Torkoal. Protect is there in case Araquanid is targeted by both opposing Pokemon, allowing it to stay safe and provide an opening for its partner.

Braviary @ Choice Band Ability: Defiant Level: 50 EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD IVs: 0 Spe Brave Nature - Brave Bird - Return - Rock Slide - Superpower Braviary is a bit of an oddball, as it isn’t exactly common in any format. However, this gives it a bit of a surprise factor as my counter to the current Intimidate-heavy meta. Defiant allows it to punish Intimidators, giving it +2 Attack for every Intimidate, countering the stat drop and leaving it with +1 Attack. Post-Intimidate, Braviary can OHKO every common Intimidator with ease. +1 252+ Atk Choice Band Braviary Brave Bird vs. 244 HP / 188 Def Arcanine: 235-277 (119.8 - 141.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO +1 252+ Atk Choice Band Braviary Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 295-348 (172.5 - 203.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Can also OHKO with Rock Slide) +1 252+ Atk Choice Band Braviary Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Salamence: 292-345 (170.7 - 201.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Can also OHKO with Return and Rock Slide) As you can see, this one is a little ridiculous in terms of damage output. However, due to Brave Bird’s recoil, Braviary’s time on the field will be short-lived, and since it only performs optimally against Intimidators, it will usually only be used in situations where it provides necessary coverage or can punish Intimidators. The entire set is composed of Braviary’s highest damaging moves from its very limited movepool, making the best of what it has to optimize its damage output.

Torkoal @ Firium Z Ability: Drought Level: 50 EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA Quiet Nature IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe - Eruption - Heat Wave - Solar Beam - Protect Torkoal is certainly an offensive threat, boasting high BP STABs with weather to boost their power even further. That, coupled with its solid bulk and blazing Speed under Trick Room’s effects, make it a solid threat that should not be taken lightly. Eruption is the main STAB of choice, with Heat Wave as a backup for when Torkoal’s HP has dropped low enough for Eruption to become inferior in terms of damage. Solar Beam is my coverage move of choice for dealing heavy damage to bulky Water types like Milotic and Slowbro, with Protect filling the final slot to make for some good potential game changing predictions. With Firium Z, a full health Eruption (150 BP) can become a devastating one-time 200 BP Inferno Overdrive, allowing it to punch some serious holes in bulkier teams. Since the team is running two Z-Move users, only one will be run at a time and whichever fits the situation best will be picked.

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest Ability: Grassy Surge Level: 50 EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 SpD Brave Nature IVs: 0 Spe - Wood Hammer - Superpower - Rock Slide - Horn Leech Tapu Bulu is by no means an oddball, but the overall set and spread I’m running can certainly be classified as ‘odd’. With this much Special Defense investment, it can survive many situations it has no business surviving. In fact, this spread allows it to check specially offensive Salamence with ease, as it can shrug off its Flamethrowers and strike back with a super effective Rock Slide. 252 SpA Salamence Flamethrower vs. 108 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 56-66 (35.2 - 41.5%) -- 76.9% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery 44+ Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 108 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 140-168 (88 - 105.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO 0 SpA Arcanine Flamethrower vs. 108 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 62-74 (38.9 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery 252+ SpA Charcoal Torkoal Heat Wave vs. 108 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu in Sun: 108-128 (67.9 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery 252+ SpA Pelipper Hurricane vs. 108 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 102-120 (64.1 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery 252 SpA Ninetales-Alola Blizzard vs. 108 HP / 148 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 84-102 (52.8 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage and Grassy Terrain recovery It can survive a lot of things it wouldn’t otherwise be able to, as you can see from the calculations, and it most of these settings, it would just KO the attacker on the next turn, assuming it already had a chance to get off some damage due to it outspeeding with Trick Room. Wood Hammer is the main STAB move on this set, with Horn Leech as a secondary STAB to provide added recovery on top of Grassy Terrain. Superpower provides decent coverage and is a nice option for dealing massive amounts of damage to Porygon2 and Snorlax. Rock Slide allows Tapu Bulu to disrupt the opponent’s team with occasional flinches and heavy damage, thanks to its massive Attack stat. Porygon2 and Torkoal both appreciate Grassy Terrain’s recovery, as it allows them to sustain themselves for longer than they would otherwise be able to.

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Intimidate Level: 50 EVs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD Calm Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Flamethrower - Snarl - Will-O-Wisp - Morning Sun The best boy, Arcanine, provides the team with nice damage control by crippling both physical and special threats alike with Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp, and Snarl. Morning Sun and its Sitrus Berry provide it with enough recovery to let it do its job more effectively, especially when paired up with Torkoal. Flamethrower is the STAB move of choice, dealing decent damage when boosted by Torkoal’s Drought. Overall, a very good boy, 10/10 would high-five.

#pokemon #pokemon sun and moon #porygon2 #araquanid #braviary #torkoal #tapu bulu #arcanine #pokemon vgc #my teams

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mysticallymanic · 4 years ago

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Written by Richard Saxon

Estimated reading time — 10 minutes

“Alright, let’s get this started. Incision time, 9:45,” a manly voice said loudly, jolting me awake.

I felt groggy, and my eyes were kept shut by tape covering my eyelids. I tried to call out for help, but quickly realised I couldn’t form any words, nor move a single muscle.

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Was I paralyzed, had I been in an accident? My mind was too shattered, unable to recall even the simplest information.

“Prepare the device, part 108, we don’t have much time to get it in place,” another voice said.

A sharp pain shot through the back of my head, immediately followed by warm liquid trickling down my neck. I wanted so desperately to cry out in pain, but I could do nothing but listen to what happened as something dug deeper into my skull.

“Apply pressure right there, will you. Don’t you see the bleed?” the first voice said.

“It’s not working.” the second responded after a moment.

“Fine, then cauterize it, the skin flap is already made.”

The smell of burned flesh filled the air, making me feel sick. Luckily I could feel my stomach had already been completely emptied. I knew I hadn’t eaten in quite some time.

Then it dawned on me.

Surgery, I was in surgery! But, I hadn’t fallen asleep, and I couldn’t move.

The surgeon continued to burn my bleeding flesh, and as the pain intensified, I struggled to think back. All I had was a vague memory of a disease, some sort of cancer growing inside my abdomen. If that was the case, what where they doing inside my head?

“How’s he holding up?” One of them asked.

“His BP and heart rate are a bit high, but he’s under for sure. Don’t worry,” another responded.

While could hear and feel everything they did, I had no means of communication.

“Perforator drill.”

They started the drill up, shaking my body as they put it against my skull. The vibrations didn’t hurt, but the cracking sound produced as they dug through is one I’ll never forget.

“Shit, did you go too deep?”

“No, he’s fine.”

Once the bone was cut through, the pain slowly disappeared. With the brain having no pain receptors itself, I could do nothing but listen to the sickly squishes as they rummaged around inside my head.

“Is the device charged yet?” the surgeon asked.

“Charged and ready, doctor.”

I felt a vague sense of pressure as something was pushed deep inside my head.

Desperate, and terrified, I tried to think about the moments before surgery. I’d gone in for a tumor on my pancreas, and while I’m no anatomy genius, that shouldn’t be anywhere near my head.

“Put the electrodes around the device entry, set it to 650 milliamps.”

A high pitched tone was produced as they powered up the device, followed by a violent jolt, and then…

…darkness.

When I finally regained consciousness, I was lying in a hospital bed. A smiling woman stood in front of me. I recognized her as one of the prep nurses, thought I hadn’t caught her name yet.

“Everything went great, Mr. Jones, we got it all!” she said, ecstatic.

“Wha-what?” I responded.

“It’s alright, the drugs might make you a bit woozy, but you’ll be good in another hour or so.”

A doctor I hadn’t seen before entered the room, holding a chart and a syringe containing a crimson, but transparent liquid.

“Good afternoon Mr. Jones, my name is Ethan, I’m just here to check up on you and finish the treatment.”

I peaked down at my abdomen, it stung, and was covered in a large bandage.

“Does it hurt?” he asked.

“Y-yeah, quite a bit actually.”

“We’ll up the dosage of your pain medication in a moment. But first, let me give you the final part of your treatment. Now, this stuff burns a bit,” he said, waving around the syringe.

“But, even with most of the tumor gone, we’ve still got to kill off the stragglers, don’t want them to fester.”

As he prepared to inject me with the contents of the syringe, my mind started to clear. The memory of my surgery returned with a blast, and I violently retracted in bed, ripping the IV-line out with me.

“You drilled into my head!” I shouted.

“What are you talking about?” Ethan said, visibly confused.

“I woke up during surgery, I heard everything the surgeons said, they put something inside my head.”

Ethan nodded his head in understanding. “Mr. Jones, it’s fairly normal to experience vivid dreams while under, some even feel like they’re floating around in the room watching the surgery, some just have weird dreams. It’s perfectly understandable to mix up fantasy and waking life.”

“No, it wasn’t a dream, I even felt it,” I argued as I reached for the back of my head.

There was no wound, hair still intact and no sign of any sutures.

“As I said, perfectly normal.”

I calmed down a bit due to his explanation, and let him reset the IV and finish the injection. It burned as the liquid entered my veins, searing up my arm and neck. I felt lightheaded.

“All done!” Ethan said, smiling, “You should rest now, you’ll be here for observation for a few days. You’ll be allowed visitors by tomorrow.”

It had seemed all too real, yet my supposedly incurable cancer had been eradicated, only weeks after categorically being told I would die within six months.

Even the setup before surgery had been suspicious. Starting from a nothing more than a phone call from a Mr. Burke, representing a newly founded Artifex Pharmaceuticals. They were working on a new treatment for terminal cancer patients, he had said.

He told me I’d fit the criteria for the treatment, free of charge, seeing as it wasn’t FDA approved yet. We set up a quick meet and he explained the procedure, which would combine surgery and their new chemotherapeutic drug.

At the time, my choices were either to die slowly, and painfully from cancer, or to die quickly on the operating table. Naturally, being in the last stages of life, I took the gamble, and that’s how I ended up miraculously cured, against all odds.

The next week came and went. I was discharged with a bottle of pain medication to keep me going while I healed. Yet, I just couldn’t shake that horrific nightmare from the day of the surgery.

Out of curiosity, I looked through the papers I had been given by the company, surprised to find that nowhere in the fifty page long document did they ever mention the name ‘Artifex Pharmaceuticals,’ nor the name of any employee.

I tried to call the number they’d given me, but it continuously returned a busy signal. Confused, and haunted by the nightmare, I could do nothing but rest, and hope they’d call me back in for a checkup.

I needed answers…

Time went on, and after a month in recovery (which I spent mostly catching up on my favorite TV shows), I was ready to return to work.

First order of business was a meeting with my boss, Daniel Harrison. He had always been good to me, and allowed me all the time off I needed while going through with the treatment. While it wasn’t an amazingly well paid job, I was happy to be there.

“Benjamin, great to have you back!” he basically shouted as I entered the office, embracing me in a rough hug.

We then returned to more professional means of greeting each other, and shook hands as went on to talk about my future in the company. I sat myself down in front of the desk, when I started hearing a bizarre sound, feedback-like static. Though, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out it’s origin.

It was just vague, barely audible at first. I tried to ignore it, but Harrison immediately noticed something was off.

“Are you alright? You look a bit pale,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Do you hear that?” I responded as the sound kept increasing in volume.

“Hear what?”

“Uh, never mind, my head just hurts a bit,” I said, playing off my increasing anxiety.

He gave an odd look while pondering what to say next, then sighed.

“Look, Benjamin, I know it’s not easy to recover from such an ordeal. It’s a burden, both mentally and physically. In fact, I once went through a similar situation, many years ago, and it left a scar on my self esteem, like I wasn’t strong enough to survive without help.”

“I’m sorry, I never knew,” I said, the sound reaching unbearable levels.

“That’s alright, I never really talk about it; was almost fifteen years ago anyway.”

He paused for a moment, his wide smile turning to a confused look.

“It was odd though, thinking back. I was supposed to a terminal case, told me I’d be a goner within a year. Then, out of the blue, some guy showed up at my doorstep, proposing a miracle cure.”

His story hit too close to home for comfort.

“I can’t even remember their name, everything following the surgery feels somewhat vague, distant. What was the company called again?” he asked himself.

My boss chuckled, “Heh, it’s all gone, I think something beginning with ‘A,’ hmm ‘art-‘ something.”

“Artifex Pharmaceuticals?”

“Yes, that’s the one!” He yelled, barely audible over the static sound filling my head. “How’d you know?”

“That’s the same one that fixed me up, they said they were new.”

“That’s odd,” he simply responded.

I excused myself from the office, claiming the headache was worse than I thought, and Harrison said I should take as much time off as needed. No, he ordered me to take time off.

No sooner had I left the office, before the sound stopped. I let out a sigh of relief, and hurried back home to once more go over the documents.

After a fruitless search, I tried the internet, more phone calls and looked through my email filled with thousands of junk messages.

Nothing…

If they had truly cured Harrison fifteen years in the past, their drug had to be well past the experimental stage, and I demanded answers. The sound breaking my eardrums from within my own head, my awakening during surgery, and the fact that no one I knew had ever heard about Artifex Pharmaceuticals outside my treatment, it was all too much to handle.

I decided that in the morning, I’d return to the hospital and find one of the doctors working on my case, but my head was shattered. I needed to rest.

That night, I spent lying awake, unable to find any comfort in the fact that I was cancer free. Around midnight, my phone rang; One of my old coworkers, whom I hadn’t spoken to since my treatment.

“Benjamin?” he said in a somber tone.

“Alex, I didn’t really expect to hear from you, why are you calling this late, is everything alright?”

“It’s Harrison, he- he’s dead.”

“Dead, when, how?”

Apparently Harrison had suffered a brain hemorrhage from an undiagnosed aneurysm, not long after I left the day before. Just like that, he was gone.

Morning rolled around, and without a lick of sleep, I headed for the hospital.

I asked the receptionist to speak to any representative of Artifex Pharmaceuticals. She claimed she’d never heard of such a company. When I then asked for one the doctors, I realized I couldn’t exactly remember their full names. So, I asked if anyone in the surgical department was named Ethan. After doing a quick search on the computer, she simply shook her head.

Defeated, I left without answers. I continued the fruitless internet search for a couple of weeks, but work quickly occupied most of my time. It was a dreadful place in the wake of Harrison’s death. New management took over, and I had to start moving on with life.

After half a year, I started to settle down. Free from disease, but with an additional few pounds gained from the recovery. In a futile attempt at combating the weight gain, I returned to the gym, spending most of my time running aimlessly on the treadmill.

I was just reaching my first mile, a huge achievement for someone like myself, when the god-awful feedback sound returned, almost knocking me clear off the treadmill.

I glanced to my side, noticing a man in his mid forties who’d just started running next to me. Unlike myself, he was in an ungodly well kept shape, wearing an oversized tank top. It revealed a massive surgical scar on the side of his chest, nicely decorated with a tattoo of a tree, reading ‘Arborvitae,’ beneath it.

He noticed my pained expression and stare.

“You alright, mate?” he asked as he walked towards me. The sound intensifying as he got closer, making me clutch my ears in agony.

As suddenly as it had begun, the sound stopped. The man in front of me fell over to the ground, briefly seizing before lying there, lifeless.

He’d suffered a brain hemorrhage. At least that was as much information as I could get from the gym staff, but I knew it was more than that. The man had died just like Harrison, that horrific sound proceeding his sudden demise.

Following the gym event, I visited three separate doctors, begging them to have a look at my head, CT, MRI, whatever they could offer, I’d take it. I even told them about my cancer treatment, but no record of my hospitalization even existed.

The first doctor recommended a shrink, the second was clueless, and only the third agreed to give me a scan to check for anything abnormal.

“Well, Mr. Jones. Luckily we settled for the CT, because the MRI would have torn your brain to shreds. You really should have told me you had some kind of implant. Outside of that, the starburst basically made your scan unreadable.”

“Excuse me?” I said, confused, but not entirely surprised that something in there didn’t belong.

“I’m sorry, a starburst is what happens when we put metal in a CT-scanner, but that’s far better than putting you inside a giant magnet, you’d-“

“No, I mean, what implant?” I interrupted.

The doctor showed me a section of the CT, a large flare looking artefact covered most of the picture, but in its center was a diamond shaped metal object.

“I have to ask, have you had any brain surgery at all? I can’t for the life of me figure out what this thing is, but it’s clearly not a physiological formation.” the doctor said, pointing to the thing inside my head.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Well, have you been in any accidents, maybe a car crash or other type. Sometimes debris stuck inside you can travel through your blood vessels, regardless of where the original injury was.”

“I had pancreatic cancer, stage three, they did surgery and gave some experimental treatment, but…”

“What exactly did they give you?” he asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

“It was just an injection, I think, and it was only once following the surgery.”

“Look, Mr. Jones, I’m not an oncologist, but as far as I know, there aren’t any single injections on the market that can cure cancer. What you’d need would be months of chemo spanning over several sessions. Whatever they gave you, it wasn’t for the cancer.”

He looked over my head, and to my surprise, he actually found a scar that I myself hadn’t noticed, though only a minuscule one.

“Well, you have a scar for sure, but it’s well hidden. Never seen anything so small from brain surgery.”

I tried to explain my experience during surgery to the best of my limited memory, but he couldn’t help. He told me he’d look into some different pharmacological trials to see if anything fit my explanation, but he didn’t seem very hopeful. He couldn’t even remove the damn thing, claiming it sat too close to my brainstem, or something.

So, here I am, living life as good as I can, still waiting for answers. Every now and then the sound will return, and when it does, I just stop dead in my tracks, and run the other way. I can’t let anyone else die simply by getting too close.

Whatever they did to me, I’m not alone. There are others out there with the same implants, and I fear we’ll just have to wait to see what their purpose is.

If anyone ever gets contacted by Artifex Pharmaceuticals, don’t agree to any of their miracle cures.

They’re not trying to help us.

WRITTEN BY: Richard Saxon

#31 days of halloween #creepy pasta

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kristablogs · 4 years ago

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Fossil fuel companies don’t have to clean up their methane emissions anymore

The EPA finalized the rule change this week after foreshadowing it for several months. (Environmental Protection Agency/)

Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a nonprofit climate change news service. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy. This story was published in partnership with Nexus Media.

This year, levels of methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas, hit an all-time high, driven in large part by pollution leaking from gas pipelines and drilling sites. Plugging these leaks is cheap, has enormous upsides for the climate, and is widely supported by major players in the industry, which is why it’s striking that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA_ has decided to weaken an Obama-era regulation requiring oil and gas companies to deal with this problem.

The agency announced its revised policy Friday, which will allow firms to avoid finding and plugging methane leaks. EPA chief Andrew Wheeler said the rule change will help smaller oil and gas companies that have been battered by the recent economic downturn, but the rollback drew a harsh rebuke from critics, including some in the industry.

“Killing regulations for the largest source of industrial methane may be the starkest manifestation of the Trump administration’s anti-climate agenda yet,” says David J. Hayes, executive director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law. “But by refusing to lift a regulatory finger to address the climate crisis, the administration is making all of us losers, too.”

Unlike carbon dioxide, which persists in the atmosphere for centuries, methane only lasts around a decade—but in the near term it traps more than 80 times as much heat. Scientists say that methane is to blame for around 25 percent of recent warming, and now, levels in the atmosphere are rising.

“Here we are. It’s 2020, and it’s not only not dropping. It’s not level. In fact, it’s one of the fastest growth rates we’ve seen in the last 20 years,” says Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at Duke University.

Methane levels have trended upward since 1983, when record-keeping began. (NOAA/)

Methane comes from several different sources. Microbes in wetlands and landfills belch the planet-roasting gas. Cows and sheep burp it up, too. But oil and gas are the biggest contributor in the US. In North America, fossil fuel production accounts for 80 percent of the recent growth in methane pollution.

Natural gas is mostly methane and is found underground alongside oil. That’s why the compound is prone to leaking from oil and gas drilling operations and from gas pipelines and storage sites, allowing it to amass in the atmosphere. The EPA has tended to downsize the scale of the problem: Studies consistently show that the agency is underestimating how much methane is leaking from these sites.

Drillers can curb methane pollution by burning natural gas that seeps out, which turns it into carbon dioxide. They can also install recovery equipment that will allow them to collect leaking natural gas and sell it. While such equipment tends to pay for itself, smaller companies generally prefer to invest their limited capital in new drilling sites, which yield a greater return on investment, Shindell says. The EPA rollback will largely benefit these firms, which have small profit margins, and thus, little incentive to invest in recovery equipment.

Larger companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, are actually taking steps to limit methane leaks, in part, to improve their public image. For this reason, some have expressed disappointment at the EPA’s new rules.

“The negative impacts of leaks and fugitive emissions have been widely acknowledged for years, so it’s frustrating and disappointing to see the administration go in a different direction,” says Gretchen Watkins, Shell’s US president.

Worsening methane pollution could imperil the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement. Because methane levels had essentially stayed flat from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the architects of the agreement had assumed that concentrations would continue to stay flat and then drop off as countries curbed their fossil fuel use. Rising methane levels make the already Herculean task of limiting warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius even more challenging, spurring calls to curb pollution from oil and gas operations.

“You see the benefits in the first decade or two that you make cuts. You see fewer people dying from heat waves. You see less powerful storms and all of the stuff that comes from climate change,” Shindell says. “As long as we’re still using fossil fuels, we should at least not be leaking out lots and lots of methane.”

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scootoaster · 4 years ago

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Fossil fuel companies don’t have to clean up their methane emissions anymore

The EPA finalized the rule change this week after foreshadowing it for several months. (Environmental Protection Agency/)

Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a nonprofit climate change news service. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy. This story was published in partnership with Nexus Media.

Methane levels have trended upward since 1983, when record-keeping began. (NOAA/)

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crystalelemental · 8 years ago

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It’s been a while, but I think I’ve finally decided roughly where Gen 7 is going to fall for me in terms of the general Pokemon Game Rankings. There’s still a chance for Ultra Sun/Moon or hypothetical remakes to chance this, but I’m gonna put it below Gen 5 and 4, but above Gen 2, leading to:

Gen 5 Gen 4 Gen 7 Gen 2 Gen 3 Gen 1 Gen 6

Explanations for Gen 7′s ranking below.

I’ll start positive. Gen 7′s introduction of the Ultra Beasts is probably my favorite thing the series has ever done. These weird alien horrors are fantastic, and I love them so very much. Especially Nihilego, obviously, but they are all fantastic and I wish them the best.

The story and characters are also quite strong. Story especially. The emphasis on Lillie’s family was divine, and allowed for some great development for Lillie, Gladion, and to some extent Lusamine through the unraveling of her backstory. I’m still a little salty about Mohn actually being alive and rendering a lot of this almost trivial, but oh well.

I’m a big fan of the island setup. I think the different regions within the islands are cool, and the concept of their respective guardians and the different challenges in the games makes it fairly distinct from other entries.

Alolan Variants, while also going to be listed as a negative aspect later, are a cool idea. I kinda like the concept of offering variants based on region, and the fandom has been offering those kinds of variations for ages now, so it’s cool to see a few show up in-game.

Changes to general Pokemon in the form of updates to moves or increases in base stats were also divine. The changes this time were actually significant, with some Pokemon gaining like a cumulative total of 40 base points. Compared to last gen’s pathetic attempt at altering stat totals by offering a mere 10 points, this actually felt significant, and it’s nice to know they’re trying some things to improve the status of certain Pokemon. Also let’s not forget that EXP Share with the Gen 5 experience gain mechanics are a brilliant solution to the Gen 6 problem of over-leveling.

Lastly, some of the mechanics changes were solid. Most notably, no more HMs. It’s all done through calling different Pokemon to serve as the HMs. This is quite possibly the best mechanical change in the entire series, rivaled only by the changes to moves like Wrap and Rage from Gen 1 to Gen 2.

As for the negative aspects, let’s start with the most personal gripe: the Pokemon. While there are some excellent stand-outs, I feel comfortable saying that this generation had the most disappointing batch for me thus far. In some cases, it’s the stat allocations. Pokemon like Tsareena and Lurantis should’ve been incredible, and the allocations of their stats pretty much damns them to removal from standard use. For others, it’s a movepool that’s lacking needed tools, that better be fixed when move tutors arrive. For some, like my dead Pikipek, it’s an evolution line that is neither required nor welcome. I would’ve preferred to just keep a basic woodpecker. I love woodpeckers. But now the only woodpecker in the game, which is cute and has a great ability, evolves into some angry toucan thing whose speed tier is way too low to make any sort of use of Skill Link. Even Pokemon that turned out well, like Tapu Lele, have been incredibly disappointing to me, just based on stat allocation and movepool. Lele’s description talks about out-lasting opponents with status and the energy in its shell, yet it has no means of natural recovery and only the most basic of status options. It’s a super strong offensive unit, but that’s not what was advertised, and frankly, not what I wanted.

Speaking of not what I wanted, Alolan Variants. I feel like these were a neat idea, but kind of damning. The Alolan Variant is either way better than the default version, and thus gives the player no reason to ever use the default version, or isn’t any better or even worse and thus served no purpose. It’s the curse of competitive, I suppose; one of the two was definitely going to be worse than the other. But it’s frustrating to know how few Alolan Variants actually...did anything for the Pokemon? Not like megas did. Speaking of...

The biggest negative of all: Z-moves. I don’t like them. They’re interesting, and I’ll pull this criticism back the instant we get back to having real game-changers like mega evolution. A universal buff changes nothing for anyone. Your bullshit mentality of “We wanted something to help all Pokemon!” fell flat on its ass because all you did was give Garchomp and Lando-T more tools to use. Nothing changes. Nothing is beneficial from this. Just go back to making megas before you make a Gen 4 remake we’re all going to regret.

Also what do you mean Super Training only works with level 100s? The solution to over-leveling was brilliant, but now you make it a massive pain in the ass to grind up to 100, then lock the IV improvements behind that progression wall? Pokemon, when are you going to get rid of this arbitrary shit? Just let people obtain items for dramatically fewer BP, re-introduce Super Training to make EVs easier, and remove the level requirement for IVs since it’s hard enough to just get bottlecaps. Just make it easier to construct competitive teams in general. There’s a reason so many people cheat in Pokemon, and it’s because we don’t have time for this shit.

Related: why are so many of the new Pokemon so hard to get? So many exist only as like 1% or 5% encounter rates, while the common stuff is all from previous generations. It makes it really hard to build a team of all new stuff when your Pokedex is small, and half the new things are absurdly rare, you know.

On a less competitive, more game-oriented note, I’d like to offer linearity as the first complaint. You have all these islands that have massive, interconnected routes...and come up with the most asinine reasons we can’t just explore. “Sorry, my Stoutland is sniffing for treasure and is REALLY INSISTENT that it finish before anyone crosses.” Fuck off. Let me go that way. Honestly, we have a solution. Pokemon Origins offered it; just let the trial captains get stronger depending on how many of them you’ve beaten. If you do Water first, it’s the lowest level; if you do Water last, it’s the highest. There was such great potential here for a more open experience and they wasted all of it by constantly railroading you along a specific path. I might be more willing to go with it if the world were more of a straight line like in Unova, where there aren’t many opportunities to deviate from “go forward,” but the way islands are designed, it becomes super transparent how hard they’re forcing you to stay in line.

Another is trials, and how they impact the captains. While an interesting concept, I feel that gym leaders are more effective as characters. Trial captains are largely irrelevant for their trials, and you never get a sense for how they are in battle or what their tactics are. You can battle them, but odds are you didn’t, because the conditions to battle them are so obscure. I only ever battled Lana, and it was post-League. Her team was all level 30. That’s unacceptable. If I get to battle them, at least have it be a situation where they’re a challenge. I don’t dislike the concept of the trials, and think they’re definitely neat. But I also feel like substantial battles with the captains should happen at some point as well. Worse, because it’s only one real Pokemon in the form of the Totem, it’s hard to really...appreciate them when you have any form of type advantage. Plenty of them are easily removed in one turn with a strong enough super-effective attack. While the set-up for trials can be interesting, they’re only interesting if you get to see them.

Which brings me to the last one...the League. Trials are interesting. They’re a way to introduce a puzzle of some kind before a major battle against a single, super-strong Totem Pokemon. I don’t dislike the idea. I feel that Gym Leaders are more engaging characters most of the time, but it’s a fun variation for a region that’s meant to be distinct. But then you learn about the League. And the League opens up. And suddenly you realize...oh god. There were seven trials, with Mina being an eighth who just doesn’t do her job. The same number of trials as there would be gyms. And oh god, the grand trial was basically just this anyway. And suddenly the cool variation crumbles apart as you realize nothing was all that distinct after all, they just gave up trying to hide it at the very end and just made a Pokemon League. I honestly think that, if it had just stayed as the Grand Trial, I would’ve been happier. But this breaks that illusion so hard. I don’t like.

Oh, and they should’ve let me fight Mother Beast. Cowards.

#pokemon #pokemon sun and moon

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shaledirectory · 6 years ago

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Facts & Rumors 304 September 15, 2018

Expo/Industry events for the next few months

Midstream PA 2018 September 25, 2018 Penn Stater Conference Center State College, PA http://midstreampa.com/ WV Energy Expo 2018 October 3, 2018 Hazel and J.W. Ruby Community Center Morgantown, West Virginia http://wvenergyexpo.com/ Utica Summit October 10, 2018 Walsh University North Canton, OH http://www.uticasummit.com/ Shale Insight October 23-25, 2018 David Lawrence Conference Center Pittsburgh, PA http://shaleinsight.com/

For other events visit

http://www.shaledirectories.com/site/oil-and-gas-expo-information.html

Latest facts and a rumor from the Marcellus, Utica, Permian, Eagle Ford, Bakken and Niobrara Shale Plays

Williams Seeks Final Approval for Atlantic Sunrise. Williams Companies, Inc. recently reported the completion of construction of its major Atlantic Sunrise project. The production and pipeline operator has requested for the final approval of the project by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Importantly, the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline, worth $3 billion, is an expansion of the company's Transco pipeline, which is the largest-volume natural gas transmission system in the United States. Atlantic Sunrise will have a transportation capacity of around 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas per day (Bcf/d). It will transport Marcellus shale gas from Pennsylvania to the rest of the country. The project design includes 200 miles of new greenfield pipe, two compressor facilities in Pennsylvania along with other compressor station modifications in five states. Notably, Atlantic Sunrise had received a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the FERC in February 2017 amid opposition from green campaigners, as the opponents of the pipeline could not gather satisfactory facts. The court ruled that the implementation of the measures proposed by FERC and the company will reduce environmental hazards to significant levels and greenlighted it to proceed with the construction. The company expects the pipeline to add value to its existing energy infrastructure, which will provide it with a steady flow of revenues in the future. This will also help citizens by providing them access to an affordable and clean energy source, as well as contribute to the economic growth of the country. Nexus Seeks FERC Approval. The Nexus natural gas pipeline is seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin service on Sept. 28, Kallanish Energy reports It wants to begin moving 967 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and will eventually move 1.5 billion cubic feet per day across northern Ohio. Nexus Gas Transmission made its request on Monday. It wants FERC approval by Sept. 26 so that service could begin on Sept. 28. The $2.6 billion natural gas pipeline will move Utica and Marcellus natural gas across northern Ohio to the Midwest, the Gulf Coast and Ontario. The 256-mile pipeline across northern Ohio to Michigan and Ontario will transport natural gas from Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. It is being developed by Michigan-based DTE Energy and Enbridge. The company had reported in late July that the project was 80% complete. E&P Companies on Spending Spree. Oil and gas producers are nearing a worldwide spending spree not seen since 2013, pointing to a potential windfall for oilfield services (OFS) companies, Morgan Stanley forecasts. The bank believes global growth in capital spending on new oil and gas production — that will last for several years -- is just over the horizon, CNBC reported. Morgan Stanley believes 2020 will be a year of synchronized growth in capital expenditures, and oilfield service firms will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. This comes after oil giants and independent producers slashed spending in 2015 and 2016 during a historic downturn in crude prices, CNBC reported. The recovery has been relatively isolated to U.S. shale plays and a few international markets, but Morgan Stanley sees the rebound extending to many more parts of the world, Kallanish Energy understands. "Importantly, 2020 looks to be the first year the industry will experience material, synchronized capex growth since before the downturn," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote, in a research note. After rising just 5% from the trough in 2016, capital spending is poised to increase by roughly 15% through 2020, Morgan Stanley states. In 2022, expenditures on finding and developing new oil and gas assets will raise by roughly 30% from this year, to roughly $583 billion, the bank forecasts. Morgan Stanley analysts believe Wall Street is underestimating the growth potential in three key areas, CNBC reported. The market currently sees European oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell and Total holding capital spending roughly flat at roughly $80 billion in 2021. But Morgan Stanley believes these energy giants will actually increase spending to about $100 billion, or 25% above consensus. The bank also thinks its peers underappreciate spending in the U.S. The independent producers in the country’s various shale plays have pledged to return more cash to shareholders. However, Morgan Stanley thinks capital spending will still jump by more than 15% in 2020, once producers in Texas and New Mexico's Permian Basin overcome bottlenecks currently constraining output. "We do not think U.S.-focused service stocks are discounting the substantial activity increase and margin expansion this is likely to lead to," the bank's analysts said. Morgan Stanley believes growing Chinese demand for liquefied natural gas will mean supply and demand will balance between 2020 and 2021. Currently, the broader market sees oversupply lasting through 2023-2024, according to the bank. Permian Problems Good for the Eagle Ford. The Permian Basin, rich in oil, but plagued by labor, housing and pipeline shortages, may be losing some of its luster as energy companies look to other shale plays where costs are lower, markets are closer and hassles are fewer. That description seems to fit the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, where both investment and drilling activity is picking up. As the Permian has boomed over past years, the Eagle Ford has climbed slowly from the oil bust. But signs point to the pace picking up as the Eagle Ford emerges as an alternative to oil and gas producers looking to get away from Permian crowds. Production from the oilfield has rebounded from a low of 1.1 million barrels of oil a day in August 2017 to a projected 1.5 million barrels a day in October — second only to the Permian, according to the Energy Department. The number of operating drilling rigs in the Eagle Ford has more than doubled to 78 from the 2016 low of 33, according to the Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The value of mergers and acquisitions in the Eagle Ford Eagle has already hit $15 billion this year, second to the Permian’s $45 billion, but well ahead of the $9 billion in SCOOP and STACK fields of Oklahoma and the $5 billion in the Bakken oil field of North Dakota, according to Canadian financial services company Scotiabank. . Subash Chandra, a managing director at Guggenheim Partners, a New York investment firm, said the Eagle Ford’s key advantage is that it is far closer to Gulf Coast refiners and export hubs, particularly the Port of Corpus Christi, than the Permian in West Texas. “The Eagle Ford is unique, with proximity to markets,” Chandra said presented at the DUG Eagle Ford conference in San Antonio Thursday. “The Permian is the surface of Mars.” The Permian remains the hottest shale play in the world, producing some 3.5 million barrels of oil a day and accounting for nearly one-third of U.S. crude output. But that success has outstripped many of the resources in West Texas, particularly pipelines. While several companies are racing to complete pipeline projects, the capacity shortage is expected to last into next year. As a result, producers are discounting their oil in Midland because they can't easily ship it to Gulf Coast markets. In August and September, crude in Midland was selling for $20 a barrel less than along the Gulf Coast, according to the Energy Department. Oil and gas companies, meanwhile, are beginning to redirect spending outside of the Permian, the Energy Department said in a report released Wednesday. So are services companies. Paul Shearer, director of sales for Superior Silica Sand of Fort Worth, said the relative calm in the Eagle Ford was among the reasons the company developed a 4-million-ton-a-year frac sand mine south of San Antonio to focus on the Eagle Ford. TX Shale Replacing Iranian Oil. Falling Iranian oil exports from U.S. sanctions open the door for U.S. oil and gas producers to fill a void in Asia for a niche oil market. Texas shale is beginning to produce more ultra-light condensate oil and there's growing demand in Asia, said Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research at Morningstar, in a new report this week. Iran has served as a major source for condensate in Asia. About half of all U.S. condensate production comes from Texas, especially South Texas' Eagle Ford shale and West Texas' booming Permian Basin. "Regardless of how much Iranian condensate remains available for export, the current tight conditions represent an opportunity for U.S. producers to gain valuable market share," Fielden argued. BP Betting on TX. Nearly a decade after Deepwater Horizon, BP is ready to grow again, betting much of its comeback on Texas after completing the biggest energy deal in the world this year. Its pending acquisition of the U.S. shale assets of the Australian mining company BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion puts BP in the Permian Basin in West Texas and the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, and expands its presence in the Haynesville shale in East Texas, positioning itself to compete for the spot as the biggest producer in the United States. If the acquisition pays off, it would likely mean additional growth in Houston, where BP’s U.S. subsidiary is headquartered and the company employs about 4,500 people. TX Shale Oil to Make Big Gains. A new report shows that West Texas’ Permian Basin will continue to post the biggest oil production gains of any U.S. shale field in October. The report by the Department of Energy predicts the Permian will add 31,000 barrels of production in October, bringing overall production close to 3.5 million barrels a day. The Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas is expected to add 16,000 barrels a day of oil production, bringing its production — the second highest in the country — closer to 1.5 million barrels a day. The production gains in the Permian come despite tightening pipeline capacity, which is said to have fallen below production. Low E&P Debt. More Drilling? A new review by the Department of Energy shows that debt levels in the energy industry are at their lowest levels since the third quarter of 2014. The financial review of the global oil and gas industry for the second quarter of 2018 ending June 30 found that companies had reduced their debt for seven consecutive quarters, leading to the lowest long-term debt-to-equity ratio since the third quarter of 2014, which was right before oil prices began to plummet. Debt was reduced by more than $20 billion in the second quarter, while the long-term debt-to-equity ratio was 41 percent, according to data from the Energy Department. The Energy Department report reviewed 107 oil and gas companies of which 76 were U.S.-based, 13 in Canada, nine in Europe and another nine in other areas. More than half had production of less than 100,000 barrels of petroleum liquids a day. Among the companies included are Apache Corp., Devon Energy, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell. FERC Approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline Construction. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has lifted a stop work order on the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, Kallanish Energy reports. That action came Monday in a two-page letter to Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC and Dominion Energy Transmission. FERC said it had received updated filings from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and from the National Park Service. On Aug. 10, FERC had halted construction on the $6.5 billion pipeline after a federal appeals court had vacated two permits for the project. Construction has started in West Virginia and North Carolina, but has not yet started in Virginia. That action came from the Richmond, Virginia-based Fourth U.S. Circuit of Appeals. The court ruled two permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline were invalid: a permit from the National Park Service to run the pipeline under the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia between Augusta and Nelson counties, and a second permit allowing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow the “incidental taking” or killing of five endangered species when no other options exist along the pipeline route. Construction was able to continue in areas not impacted by the permitting questions. The 600-mile pipeline is designed to move natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales through West Virginia and Virginia to the Carolinas. It would move 1.5 billion cubic feet per day. It is being developed by Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas. Work is under way in West Virginia and North Carolina, but an erosion permit is still needed in Virginia before construction can begin. The appeals court has scheduled a Sept. 28 hearing on the Virginia erosion issue. The project is expected to be completed in late 2019. New Senior Exec at Blue Mountain Resources. Blue Ridge Mountain Resources has a new high-ranking executive, Kallanish Energy reports. Michael Hodges became senior vice president of finance, effective on Sept. 19. He will become executive vice president and chief financial officer after the merger of Blue Ridge Mountain Resources and Eclipse Resources is completed. That is expected to be in the fourth quarter 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. Hodges will replace Matthew DeNezza, Eclipse’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. DeNezza will remain with Eclipse and aid Hodges in the transition until the close of the merger. Hodges previously worked at PayRock Energy II, an EnCap portfolio company. It was focused on the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. He has also worked for Ward Energy Partners, Rex Energy, Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree from Oklahoma City University. He is a certified public accountant. “Michael brings with him significant industry experience and an excellent track record of leading finance functions in the upstream energy sector while possessing executive-level experience at both public and private energy companies,” said John Reinhart, president and CEO of Blue Ridge, in a statement. Reinhart will lead the merged companies. Blue Ridge, with offices in Irving, Texas, is active in the Marcellus and Utica shales in the Appalachian Basin. Eclipse Resources is based in State College, Pennsylvania, and is active in the Appalachian Basin. Shale economy big plus for Ohio: Drew $64 billion in investment in seven years, led to 100,000 paychecks. Energy growth triggers company expansions, community improvements “When it comes to energy, no region, not even the Gulf, can compete with Ohio,” said Dana Saucier Jr., senior managing director of energy and chemicals at JobsOhio. Joe Barone [email protected] 610.764.1232 Vera Anderson [email protected] 570.337.7149

https://www.shaledirectories.com/blog/facts-rumors-304-september-15-2018/

#shaledirectoriesnewsletter #shalenewsletter #businessinformation #newsletter

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themakingofkai · 7 years ago

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L&D

I wanted to record my take on the arrival of TBD Kaleem Rokadia somewhere and I figured I hadn’t told you guys yet anyways so feel free to ignore these journal like entries - my feelings won’t be hurt. Also I only get small chunks of time to myself so this will likely sound inconsistent and be written in installments.

Tuesday - I’m at lunch with another expectant mom and I get up to put on my jacket and I feel a gush. Did my water just break?! Shoot - I’m strep B positive so if my water broke, I have to go to the hospital even if I’m not in labor. Bummer, I was hoping to labor at home as long as possible since we did get the apt so close. Call my OB and they say to come into the doctors office to assess what’s happening - luckily their office is two blocks away as well. OB says it was my mucous plug which can include water like ish and that this is a sign of labor to come but no timeline. During my vitals my blood pressure is high but my adrenaline is also pumping bc this may be go time. I’m 1cm dilated and they send me home. I’m quite pleased that there is still a chance to labor at home.

Tuesday evening - I start to feel period like cramps. Likely literally at the period level of pain which it’s been 9 months so it’s hard to decipher how bad the cramps are. We walk to an open house at our pediatrician office which I had signed up for 1.5 months ago. The crampsget a little worse during the Q&A session and I imagine myself going into labor amongst a bunch of other pregnant couples and one of the pediatricians - I’m feeling like I’m in good hands.

Tuesday overnight - Ummmm...those aren’t cramps, those are contractions - funny, I didn’t expect contractions to feel the same as cramps but it is early labor so that makes sense. We start to keep track and the timings are all over the place. I can definitely tell when a contraction peaks but I can’t really tell when it ends bc it just kinda fades away. But the timings aren’t really keeping a pattern. The rule of thumb was 4-1-1 which is contractions every 4 min, each lasting 1 minute and that going on for 1 hour. This ish was like 30 sec or 14 or 45 and sometimes 2 minutes apart but sometimes 15 minutes apart. We decide to watch the newer Law & Order SVU episodes I had been waiting on to pass the time. Nothing like a child abduction to get you in the birthing mood. Around 3am we give up on keeping track and the contractions haven’t gotten so bad that I can’t sleep. I go to sleep thinking that tomorrow is going to be the day - AAKKKKK! - should I look at my vagina one last time tonight before it goes through all the crazy?!? Naw, too sleepy.

Wednesday - we have a scheduled OB appt in the afternoon so I start cleaning everywhere and make sure our bags have any last minute items. Wow - today is going to be the day isn’t it? It’s kinda weird the like know. I hadn’t known when it would be for so long and now the end felt so near and I was ready to be pregnant for another week easily. 39 weeks exactly today. Contractions are still inconsistent but in effect.

They take my vitals again at the OB and my blood pressure is high again - calm down Uzma. You getting too excited about this. I have a couple of contractions while in the waiting room and I can tell the other women are paying attention to us- anjum writing down times, my cringing and my lame attempts at breathing. The OB sees us and they do another physical exam and I’m only about 1.5cm dilated. Really? Dangit - those contractions felt more like proper early labor instead of cramps now so I thought things had progressed. I’m told I’m having prodromal labor.

Wait what - is that like false labor that could go on for days and I could not be in labor until like next week. But they want to take my blood pressure again because the heightened BP is concerning. It’s high again so our midwife advises that we go to the hospital to do some BP monitoring to ensure it isn’t something like preeclampsia. She gives us the heads up that is a chance they will admit us so take our bags and get something to eat before going as well.

Wednesday early evening - I go to Mr Falafel but can barely eat my food. The crampy false labor pains are kicking in a bit more. Two police officers in line before us are intrigued that we felt the need to stop at Mr Falafel on my way to the hospital. Probably bc I can’t stand and take a seat while anjum orders takeout. I can’t wait for the food - anjum walks me home and then goes back to pick it up. I cuddle up to endure my last few contractions at home in the comfort of my bed. Anjum gets home and tries to feed me but also tries to gather a load of dishes to get done. We head to the hospital and it isn’t too busy on the L&D floor. Triage is quick and I’m hooked up to get BP monitored immediately. Now the other things they hook up to me shows us the baby’s heart rate and for the first time, we can see when a confection is happening/coming. Woah - that’s weird. So anjum can give me a heads up when one is on it’s way and when it’s gotten over the hump of it’s peak. Ravi Patel is the doctor (resident) that sees me and he examines me. I’m only 2cm dilated. Hmm. The nurse has to draw blood but she recommends I get an IV put in in case I’m admitted. I didn’t realize I had an opinion until later but her IV installation skills were dope! And she made sure the location was somewhere it wouldn’t bother me for future possible baby holding.

Wednesday night - so the contractions keep getting stronger but I’m not dilating so they say they want to insert something called Cervidil and it could go in for up to 12 hours to help me dilate. I’m mildly worried bc they recco I don’t get an epidural before this and I was already in some pain. Also the first 2 hours of insertion I can’t get up so I’d have to use a bedpan. Did I mention this was my first time staying at a hospital in my life? And now I was adding my first bedpan experience to it as well. Good times - ugh. Overnight were the fun contractions - the ones where I cursed at the world and sometimes anjum would try to help me breathe and relax or he would just be apologizing that I had to experience this. When I was able to get up and walk, I would have contractions standing up and just lean on anjum like Weekend at Bernie’s style, all limp and lifeless. Anjums size came in handy because I would literally have him lift my body out of bed to the toilet - I was tempted to punch him at times but I held back.

Thursday morning - they took out the cervidil but I hadn’t dilated too much so potocin was going to be needed. I had clear instructions from two girlfriends to get an epidural before starting potocin bc the contractions get even more intense then. So I made the request and took on a few more intense contractions while waiting for the anesthesiologist. EPIDURAL FOR THE WIN! Such a game changer.

Thursday noon - I’m not dilating fast enough and the baby’s heart rate shoots up and plummets to unhealthy places with each contraction, my heart rate was also shooting up. They think it could be the potocin so they stop administering it hoping I’ll naturally contract and dilate.

Thursday afternoon - I can hear the midwife and doctor sitting next to me, watching the monitors and discussing options. My midwife was way against epidural and interventions during any of my doc appts so hearing her be on board for alt options feels serious. I’m half asleep but hoping I’ve dilated enough to get this party started. They check me, I’m at 7cm, and that’s not enough. At this rate it would be another hour per cm and then the stress of actually delivering could be dangerous for the baby. They talk with anjum and I about a csection and in that moment I feel emotionless. I know the birth plan goes out the window and there is a 50% chance of csection with preeclampsia but that wasn’t supposed to be us. I finally open my mouth to ask that I want to make sure anjum can be with me and the emotions roll in. I’ve never had surgery; I wasn’t ready for that; why us; what could I have done to prevent this? I had primrose oil at home and that was supposed to help with effacement - I should have used that. Anjum was calm and comforted me as I nervously agreed that continuing may be risky.

C-section the process was a lot faster than I expected and anjum was by my side. I felt movements and pressure but no pain. They wouldn’t let anjum watch bc of the risk he may pass out so he was behind a curtain with me. The anesthesiologist who was a total desi aunty was the first to call that the baby was a boy just as they were about to show us so we could find out. Thanks for that, aunty. We were told earlier that our baby would go to the NICU after birth but the pediatrician attending the csection examined him and determined he didn’t need to. What an amazing relief. I was so groggy and at times couldn’t keep my eyes open after he was born but this I could comprehend - my baby won’t be going to the NICU. Anjum got to spend time at the warmer as they examined, he ceremonially cut the cord, and watched him get cleaned up. They brought him over to me for skin to skin time after he was examined and cleaned up. I had the choice to have anjum stay with me or go with the baby and I sent him with the baby. Then I was left alone while they cleaned me up but I was still behind a curtain. I was left with my thoughts and occasionally falling asleep bc of how sleepy I felt. I remember having all sorts of vivid thoughts in that time but I can’t remember them now. I reunited with anjum and baby in the PACU recovery room. I was so out of it that I had anjum stay by the baby’s side anytime they took him to get checked up or anything. Anjum ran back over to me from the warmer where baby was being checked out by another pediatrician to ask if it was okay to give the baby a bottle. His blood sugar was a low and she recommended it. ACK! I wanted to breastfeed and the first thing he would eat was gonna be a bottle. I was in no condition to disagree with a pediatrician so I said okay. In hindsight I could have tried to have the baby latch on to me. I didn’t realize I already had colostrum until another hour or two later when one of the nurses encouraged and showed me how to have the baby latch on. So another one of those not according to plan situations but after the first bottle, his been breastfed since so perhaps that wasn’t the worst decision.

And here we are a week later and we still don’t have a name for our little untitled baby boy. We are hoping to fall asleep and wake up to some inspiration on our short list. Wish us luck!

And you now know we decided on Kai Kaleem Rokadia. Born 2:32pm on Thursday, Dec 14th. 7lbs and 19.75 in length.

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garynsmith · 7 years ago

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A Compelling Formula for Success: Assist2Sell

A Unique Advantage to the Real Estate Landscape

When it comes to companies offering a discount model, there is plenty of competition. Brokers and agents have long understood that sellers want to pay lower commission rates. But they also want full service, notes Ryan Elliott, vice president of Assist2Sell, and that’s his company’s premier distinction. Founded in Reno, Nev., in 1987 by a pair of independent REALTORS® who saw a shift in the industry, Assist2Sell was created to marry the two concepts—low commission and full service—in an advantageous way…as a full-service discount business model that exceeds consumer expectations while offering unlimited opportunity to a growing cadre of agents and franchise owners. “To be successful in today’s real estate world, it helps to have a unique advantage,” says Elliott. “There has never been a better time for a business model like Assist2Sell.” In this exclusive interview, Elliott shares the company’s unique vision, and the strategies that help their franchisees become front-line competitors.

Barbara Pronin: Tell us a little more about the founding strategy of the company, and how the concept took off. Ryan Elliott: Actually, the original motivation the founders Mary LaMeres-Pomin and Lyle Martin had was based on their frustration in spending 80 percent of their time looking for their next deal. They were successful agents with a strong base of repeat and referral customers, but struggled with adding new business. Theirs was a small, traditional office—just the two of them and a support person. When they did get a chance to pitch a new seller for a listing, they would sometimes lose the listing based on their small office size. Sellers perceived that an office with a lot of agents meant those agents would all be trying to sell their homes. We all know that’s not true, and that the MLS levels the playing field, but convincing sellers was a challenge. When they decided to try to attract more business by lowering their fees, and took the bold step to advertise this, all of a sudden, the sellers didn’t care about the number of agents in their office. The concept was pretty simple, and it hasn’t changed: If you charge home sellers a very competitive fee, provide the same services your competition offers, and deliver results, you can increase volume more than enough to make up for the lower fees. That’s what Mary and Lyle started with and it’s what has helped us grow into a familiar brand with hundreds of offices all over North America.

BP: What’s your own career path been like, Ryan? What brought you to the company’s leadership team? RE: My dad was a general contractor in Reno, mainly building homes on speculation, and he thought I could help on the sales side. So, I got my real estate license and went to work for a traditional brokerage in Reno. I was aware of Assist2Sell but, like other agents, I didn’t see them as a threat. But after losing a couple of listings to them, the final straw was when a relative listed with them. Then I decided to pay attention. I pretended I wanted to interview for an agent position with the intent of figuring out why they were getting so many listings. While I waited to meet with Lyle and Mary, what stood out to me was that all the agents were busy and the phones were ringing—a noticeable difference from my office. In the interview, I learned the secret was no mystery. Do everything I was already doing, but charge less. I looked at their systems and procedures and the unique Assist2Sell strategy; they would provide the leads and I would provide the service—a distinct difference from my traditional office, where the job of finding business was on my shoulders. I was so blown away by the concept, and the whole environment of success, that I joined them on the spot. My sales volume skyrocketed, and within a couple of years I became office manager. When Lyle and Mary decided to start franchising, I was promoted into franchise sales and I sold my first franchise in Springfield, Mo., in 1996, and we continue to grow the franchise to this day.

BP: What sets the company apart? RE: Our distinctive business model. The most obvious difference is in the commission structure. That’s a huge distinction that can save homeowners thousands of dollars. But the value doesn’t stop there. Every one of our full-service offices is staffed by experienced, licensed real estate professionals who take care of everything home sellers need from a real estate company.

BP: How do you provide full service at a lower commission rate? RE: We operate as a team at every level of the company, and especially at the franchise level. An office doesn’t need a lot of agents, because, as every small business owner knows, a well-run business can do more with less—in this case, a limited number of professional agents who are trained to work as a team and who have all the tools they need to do their best work, all provided by the franchise.

BP: What do you mean by ‘all the tools?’ RE: A lot of franchisees don’t want to mess with technology, so we do it for them. When you buy a franchise, you buy turnkey technology—a complete, seamless back-end ecosystem providing all the business management and marketing systems you need, from website to social media management.

BP: What kinds of brokers are attracted to the Assist2Sell business model? RE: Many who join us are top-producing agents who have built successful teams under the flag of a well-known brand. Their next step is wanting to own their own business. They understand that in their present spot, most of the recognition goes to the company they work for—and they realize that they will now be competing with their old company, as well as with other well-established brokerages in their market. But they also understand that working as a team brings the ability to handle significant volume. They just need a way to attract that volume—and once they examine the Assist2Sell model, they quickly figure out the answer.

BP: Aren’t agents reluctant to lower their fees? RE: Whether it’s at the kitchen table or through the fees paid for leads generated by their own company or one of the many lead-generation companies, most agents are currently discounting their commissions—it’s just that consumers don’t enjoy the benefit of the discount and agents don’t realize any long-term benefit. We don’t keep our low fees a secret. We’ve built our brand by attracting home sellers with our powerful lead-generation system (our advertised low fees), and by delivering a level of service that exceeds the industry standard.

BP: Can agents really make a decent living selling homes for a lower fee? RE: We didn’t start this business to make less money. With the increase of volume and efficient processes and systems, our agents typically earn much more than traditional agents.

BP: What is your approach to coaching and training? RE: We want our franchisees to know, “you are in business for your-self, but not by yourself.” All franchisees begin with five days of intensive training at our Assist2Sell Academy in Reno—then get as much continuing coaching as they need. One of the best things is that all our franchise owners help each other by sharing their experiences. If some-one comes up with a new idea, we’ll work with them to fine-tune and test it. If it works, every office shares the opportunity. We’re not a bunch of suits here at our headquarters in Reno. Pretty much all our leadership team came from the residential real estate arena. Our VP of Franchise Support, Barry Wardell, was a top-producing RE/MAX agent.

BP: How do you see your business model competing in the industry going forward? RE: We believe we’ve always been ahead of the competition in this space. We’ve watched a lot of the dotcom players come and go over the years. Many try to copy our model, but can’t seem to make it work. They think the secret is just to lower the fees. But that’s only part of the recipe. Consumers today are more knowledgeable than ever about buying and selling real estate. They do the research, they know what their homes are worth, and they don’t want to pay any more in commissions than they need to. So, a business model like ours, which offers a low fee and proven marketing expertise is more attractive to them than ever. With the recovery of the real estate markets nationally, competition for listings is intense. As consumers become more aware of the high demand for homes, it’s only natural for them to question why they have to pay high fees when the market is so hot. I don’t think anyone really thinks commissions will be going up in the future. Agents that want to remain relevant in the new environment of lower fees need to figure out how they can turn this trend into a profitable advantage. We have the answers.

BP: Why buy your franchise? Can’t I just lower my fees and copy what you do? RE: That thought occurs to everyone who thinks about trying this concept. The answer is of course you can try—but why? We make it so much more appealing to join our team. As the saying goes, “Why reinvent the wheel?” We’ve had new franchisees join us and later confess that they did try it on their own, and they spent a ton of money trying to figure everything out. Fortunately, before they ran out of all their money, they recognized that there’s more to the recipe than just lowering the fee. We also try to point out to prospective franchise owners that even if they do succeed on their own, do they really want to be competing with us when we do sell a franchise in their area?

BP: What do you see as your greatest challenge? RE: Getting our message out to a broader audience. We are among the most unique and compelling real estate franchises in the space today. We have the flexibility to adapt quickly to market changes, and we are well-equipped to provide entrepreneurs and consumers with top-of-the-line service and support at a very affordable cost. We’ve launched a new, national website that’s attracting a lot of attention, and we’re exploring new and different marketing venues in the effort to reach more people and help them understand and appreciate our unique value proposition.

BP: What is your greatest strength? RE: We’ve had 30 years of experience building a franchise program that works without the need for high overhead or a large sales staff. It’s surprisingly affordable, and we teach our franchisees all they need to know to start and build a strong business.

For more information, please visit www.assist2sell.com.

For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.

The post A Compelling Formula for Success: Assist2Sell appeared first on RISMedia.

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cinnvgc · 7 years ago

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OU - BuluTran

Ever since I got back into competitive play with the release of Sun and Moon, I’ve always heard about the BuluTran core and how strong it was. I’ve never actually tried it for myself, but I’ve seen it in action and it certainly is something. Here’s my attempt at a BuluTran team!

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf Ability: Beast Boost EVs: 180 SpA / 80 SpD / 248 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Power Gem - Sludge Wave - Hidden Power [Ice] - Thunderbolt Initially, I was going to build this team around supporting Nihilego and setting up for a late-game sweep with it, but about halfway through building the team, I realized that I could also run a BuluTran core while still supporting Nihilego. Nihilego here is the team’s late-game cleaner and revenge killer, quickly gaining momentum for a sweep with Beast Boost increasing its Special Attack with every KO. This, combined with its Choice Scarf, makes it an absolute terror to face once it’s gotten its momentum going. Power Gem and Sludge Wave are the dual STABs of choice, hitting hard when HP Ice and Thunderbolt aren’t needed. Hidden Power [Ice] helps deal with Garchomp and Landorus-Therian quite nicely while also scaring off other Ground types that would normally pose a threat to Nihilego. Thunderbolt is the answer to bulky Water types like Slowbro and just Water types in general, since thanks to its Scarf, Nihilego can outspeed and OHKO any Greninja variant.

Heatran @ Leftovers Ability: Flash Fire EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Magma Storm - Earth Power - Toxic - Substitute Substitute Heatran can become quite the annoyance with Grassy Terrain support from Tapu Bulu, and even more so if it’s a trapper variant like this one. Heatran is one of those ‘mons I’ve always wanted to try, but never got around to trying. Tapu Bulu makes an excellent partner for Heatran, providing Grassy Terrain to soften its weakness to Earthquake and provide more recovery, while also being able to take on Water and Ground types that threaten it. Its signature move, Magma Storm, is essentially a 100 BP Fire Spin, which allows it to do its job of trapping opposing Pokemon. Toxic can be stacked on top of Magma Storm for additional damage, while Substitute and Leftovers help it stay alive to keep the opponent trapped. Earth Power serves as its only coverage move against opposing Heatrans and Alolan Marowak.

Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb Ability: Grassy Surge EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Horn Leech - Stone Edge - Substitute - Swords Dance Sub-Swords Dance Tapu Bulu makes the most of Grassy Terrain and its access to Horn Leech by using them to help it stay alive while it continues to use Substitute. Heatran helps Tapu Bulu even further by providing a safe switch-in to all of its weaknesses while also helping it deal with ‘mons it can’t hit very easily. Horn Leech is the STAB move of choice, helping Tapu Bulu stay in the game with the recovery it provides. This makes it a better option than Wood Hammer, since the latter’s recoil plus the damage from Life Orb and Substitute would be too much for Tapu Bulu to handle. I chose Stone Edge over Superpower since the stat drops might get to be too much over time, and I already have enough coverage against Steel types on the team. This allows Tapu Bulu to handle Fire and Flying types more easily, provided it already has a Substitute up to take a hit. Substitute allows Tapu Bulu to set up safely against ‘mons that rely on status moves like Toxic for damage while also protecting it from Will-o-Wisp. Swords Dance helps Tapu Bulu’s damage output immensely, turning it into an effective wallbreaker if needed.

Magnezone @ Assault Vest Ability: Magnet Pull EVs: 136 HP / 192 SpA / 180 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Thunderbolt - Flash Cannon - Hidden Power [Fire] - Volt Switch Magnezone, like with my last team with it, serves as a counter for Celesteela, Skarmory, and Scizor. It covers both Nihilego and Tapu Bulu’s Steel weaknesses by trapping threats with Magnet Pull and dealing with them using Thunderbolt or Hidden Power [Fire]. Volt Switch also provides a safe switch-in for Nihilego, which it greatly benefits from, provided that Magnezone is slower than the opposing Pokemon. There’s not too much to say about Magnezone without repeating myself from my last team with it.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe Impish Nature - Earthquake - Hidden Power [Ice] - U-turn - Stealth Rock Landorus is the primary lead for the team, laying down Stealth Rock to help Nihilego and Tapu Bulu OHKO some Pokemon they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Earthquake is the STAB move of choice, dealing heavy damage to anything that doesn’t resist it. Hidden Power [Ice] deals with opposing Landorus hoping to get their rocks up quite nicely while also dealing a nice chunk of damage to Garchomp. U-Turn can provide safe switch-ins for other members of the team, and Stealth Rock is fairly self-explanatory.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers Ability: Storm Drain EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Sassy Nature - Scald - Earthquake - Toxic - Recover Gastrodon is the team’s answer to Magearna, a fairly common ‘mon in OU. Its special bulk allows it to take a few hits from it, and Earthquake does more to Calm Mind variants than Earth Power would. Magearna aside, Scald is its primary STAB, allowing it to cripple physical attackers, while Toxic is its main damage dealer. Recover provides it with more survivability, allowing it to stall out opposing Pokemon with Toxic.

#pokemon #pokemon sun and moon #smogon ou #nihilego #heatran #tapu bulu #magnezone #landorus #gastrodon #my teams

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