#inflatable dog ramp

[dogstairsandramps]

If you're a boating lover with a pup who enjoys splashing around, you need to check out dog water ramps! These essential accessories make it super easy and safe for your furry friend to hop in and out of the water. Perfect for older dogs or those with mobility issues, these ramps feature non-slip surfaces and a gentle incline to help all breeds enjoy their time on the water.

After testing a range of options, here are my top picks:

POP Inflatable Dog Ramp - A portable solution that’s sturdy enough for big pups. Quick inflation and easy setup make it a winner.

PUP ON! Inflatable Dog Ramp - With its massive platform and bright colors, this ramp makes it easy for your dog to climb aboard safely.

Snagle Paw Inflatable Dog Ramp - A solid choice with a wide, stable design. It’s a breeze to store and perfect for those pool or beach days.

WARDIX Inflatable Dog Ramp - Lightweight and versatile, this ramp works like a charm at any water spot.

LUFFWELL XL Dog Water Ramp - Extra-large and stable, but keep an eye on durability. It’s great for bigger dogs but a bit bulkier to handle.

When choosing, think about your dog's size, ramp material, and how easy it is to set up and store. With the right ramp, your boating days will be filled with fun and safe adventures together!

[carlosguatame]

Unique words from tourism videos

{'bar', 'neon', 'different', 'kinds', 'drinking', 'bag', 'apron', 'bed', 'traffic', 'plates', 'flight', 'row', 'reading', 'lettuce', 'surfboard', 'writing', 'accessories', 'museum', 'glass', 'swimming', 'sides', 'towel', 'hat', 'pile', 'arrive', 'doorway', 'palm', 'bikes', 'case', 'waiting', 'fruit', 'awning', 'map', 'cane', 'something', 'hallway', 'flowers', 'union,', 'plate', 'passenger', 'blowing', 'high', 'cart', 'girl', 'restaurant', 'piece', 'raising', 'clothing', 'kitchen', 'bottles', 'apples', 'guide', 'wine', 'honey', 'mitt', 'hugging', 'box', 'tables', 'characters', 'include', 'pomegranates', 'store', 'belong', 'cloth', 'fruits', 'dusk', 'vegetables', 'umbrellas', 'station', 'orange', 'brochure', 'horses', 'market', 'rear', 'cheese', 'book', 'popcorn', 'farmer', 'laptop', 'acropolis', 'passing', 'drinks', 'logos', 'baseball', 'sculpture', 'garden', 'pages', 'hot', 'farmers', 'video', 'wind', 'seat', 'mirror', 'four', 'donuts', 'busy', 'room', 'paper', 'driver', 'computer', 'wooded', 'sunflower', 'suitcase', 'blue', 'apple', 'shines', 'evening', 'phones', 'set', 'movie', 'sold', 'taking', 'rise', 'books', 'basket', 'shelf', 'display', 'boats', 'wedding', 'magazine', 'little', 'broccoli', 'monocle', 'light', 'structure', 'open', 'wet', 'roman', 'yard', 'types', 'dress', 'party', 'picking', 'european', 'sheet', 'produce', 'kissing', 'onions', 'pulling', 'suit', 'subway', 'oranges', 'posing', 'radishes', 'jet', 'stand', 'umbrella', 'water', 'vehicles', 'outdoor', 'series', 'bottle', 'eggs', 'selfie', 'runway', 'filled', 'women', 'arms', 'cucumbers', 'smiling', 'sunflowers', 'boxes', 'temple', 'red', 'sun', 'beach', 'ancient', 'shopping', 'selling', 'bikini', 'lined', 'tomatoes', 'sale', 'animals', 'inflatable', 'shaking', 'reflection', 'spread', 'living', 'dancing', 'putting', 'travel', 'projector', 'glasses', 'toasting', 'eating', 'shirtless', 'shirt', 'poster', 'fish', 'another', 'cutting', 'game'}

Unique words from local resistance videos

{'plaza', 'sky', 'post', 'skull', 'marching', 'uncorrnit', 'exracchel', 'chairs', 'ledge', 'chair', 'backpack', 'house', 'beard', 'oxi', 'tricks', 'bulldozer', 'helmets', 'face', 'moment', 'concert', 'bird', 'trendy', 'written', 'time', 'barbed', 'barcelona', 'balconies', 'coaster', 'greece', 'tower', 'musical', 'racket', '202', 'nacela', 'watching', 'graffiti', 'wire', 'behind', 'may', 'entrance', 'small', 'giraffe', 'creative', 'bear', 'quote', 'catch', 'razors', 'backpacks', 'ninja', 'backs', 'jumping', 'officers', 'xi', 'ground', 'instruments', 'statue', 'wall', 'purple', 'riot', 'monkey', 'trash', 'skateboards', 'bridge', 'words', 'tax', 'racquet', 'construction', 'court', 'roller', 'protesting', 'unicorn', 'safety', 'fenced', 'exarcheia', 'painting', 'stop', 'battle', '-', 'rock', 'horse', 'vests', 'fence', 'photograph', 'word', 'commonss', 'story', 'metro', 'hydrant', 'stuck', 'officer', 'lamp', 'accordion', 'sill', 'balcon', 'workers', 'motorcycles', 'meso', 'cat', 'feet', 'signs', 'trick', 'site', 'hotel', 'fire', 'en', 'line', 'expaxi', 'police', 'skateboarder', 'wearing', 'ramp', 'since', 'fist', 'path', 'hoodie', 'laptops', 'blurry', 'tennis', 'left'}

Common words between the two types of realities

{'people', 'hill', 'woods', 'stairs', 'lot', 'dark', 'truck', 'hand', 'city', 'driving', 'bunch', 'around', 'banner', 'playing', 'yellow', 'table', 'man', 'logo', 'pictures', 'flying', 'balcony', 'parked', 'plants', 'skateboard', 'laying', 'picture', 'going', 'working', 'phone', 'park', 'outside', 'full', 'fountain', 'walking', 'cell', 'image', 'tracks', 'side', 'sitting', 'text', 'area', 'together', 'clock', 'reaching', 'woman', 'bus', 'street', 'top', 'background', 'photo', 'building', 'buildings', 'luggage', 'looking', 'sidewalk', 'close', 'window', 'bench', 'road', 'airport', 'guitar', 'rain', 'square', 'air', 'aerial', 'long', 'stage', 'hair', 'sign', 'two', 'leash', 'many', 'plane', 'talking', 'person', 'dog', 'front', 'cars', 'black', 'tree', 'says', 'surrounded', 'white', 'riding', 'day', 'screen', 'three', 'group', 'standing', 'tall', 'car', 'food', 'sunny', 'next', 'large', 'hands', 'trees', 'kite', 'men', 'night', 'middle', 'near', 'several', 'motorcycle', 'train', 'back', 'someone', 'grass', 'view', 'bike', "'", 'holding', 'crowd', 'athens', 'frisbee'}

[starseedfxofficial]

The Inflation Rate and Liquidity Pools: Underground Secrets to Master the Market Inflation rate + liquidity pools. I know what you’re thinking: how on earth do these two financial buzzwords come together to create a trading masterpiece? Imagine inflation as that annoying cousin who keeps eating at the family BBQ (draining the resources), and liquidity pools as the collective food that everyone contributes to—except in Forex, the BBQ affects your portfolio and not just your appetite. But here's where the real magic happens: understanding how inflation rate influences liquidity and tapping into hidden liquidity pools can elevate your Forex trading to ninja-like mastery. For years, mainstream traders have been viewing inflation and liquidity in silos. But the real pros—those elusive market wizards—have been using a subtle understanding of these concepts to make consistently profitable trades. Today, we’re going underground, revealing the game-changing, seldom-discussed tactics involving inflation and liquidity pools that every Forex trader should know. By the end of this read, you’ll not only have a new appreciation for liquidity pools, but you might also finally understand why inflation doesn’t just affect the price of your morning latte—it’s the secret sauce that can boost your portfolio. 1. Inflation Rates: The Silent Puppet Master Most traders only think of inflation in terms of price hikes or central bank interest rate decisions. While they’re right—in a superficial sense—they’re missing the deeper influence that inflation has on market behavior. Inflation is, in fact, the ultimate puppeteer. Think of it as a puppeteer pulling the strings of central banks, consumer behavior, and even investor sentiment. When inflation is on the rise, central banks typically hike interest rates to curb excessive spending—a move as predictable as your dog barking at the mailman. But here's the little-known secret: traders who can anticipate how these inflation rates will push liquidity out of certain markets and into others can ride these liquidity waves for maximum profit. Picture it like surfing: most traders are just bobbing around, while the pros are riding waves that only they can see coming. Remember that time when Argentina's inflation rates went sky-high? For the majority, it was a sign of doom and gloom. But a select few Forex traders saw it as an opportunity—they anticipated liquidity would flee from ARS (Argentine Peso) and into more stable currencies like the USD or EUR, creating hidden pockets of opportunity. You see, understanding the inflation-liquidity dynamic can help you predict where the big money is flowing—even before it moves. 2. Liquidity Pools: The Hidden Currency Reservoirs Liquidity pools aren’t just for DeFi bros on Reddit talking about how they’re earning 25,000% APY on their ‘DoggyCoin’ stake. In Forex, liquidity pools are essentially clusters of liquidity (often set up by major players like banks or institutional traders) where trades can be executed more efficiently. These pools are often hidden in the nooks and crannies of the market—places where the majority of retail traders never look. Hidden Pool Tactics: Most traders assume that if liquidity isn't visible on their trading terminal, it doesn’t exist. But the truth is, institutional players are always funneling their orders into these hidden pools. They do it to avoid 'slippage'—that price jump you get when you hit the 'buy' button and the market laughs in your face by moving in the wrong direction. But here’s the kicker: you can also access these pools, indirectly, by following key institutional behaviors. The PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) is an often overlooked tool that can provide incredible insights into potential liquidity movements. When the PMI signals that production is either ramping up or declining significantly, big banks start repositioning their assets to maintain optimal liquidity, leaving clues in liquidity pools. Tracking this data—instead of the typical news headlines—can give you an insider view on where liquidity is likely to surge or dry up. 3. Inflation Meets Liquidity Pools: Synergy or Chaos? The real magic lies in combining these two elements: the inflation rate and liquidity pools. When you understand how inflation moves the economic levers and predict where liquidity will flow, you unlock the holy grail of Forex trading. Consider this: when inflation rises, liquidity often leaves emerging markets in search of safer assets. Now, savvy traders can—instead of panicking—use the patterns of this movement to predict liquidity crunches and subsequent surges in those safe-haven currencies. It’s like knowing when the tide will go out and when it will flood back in. By syncing your trades to the flow of liquidity in reaction to inflation announcements, you’re essentially tapping into the market's hidden timing mechanism. The Liquidity Diver Strategy: This strategy involves monitoring inflation data from multiple economies—think U.S., Eurozone, and emerging markets—and then diving into liquidity pools based on the comparative strength of inflation metrics. For instance, if inflation spikes in a high-risk economy, liquidity flees—often towards U.S. or Eurozone markets. You position your trades to capture these movements by aligning with major central bank actions and anticipated liquidity shifts. It’s contrarian, yes, but it works. 4. Practical Steps to Ride the Inflation-Liquidity Wave Let’s break it down into bite-sized steps (because no one likes a vague plan, right?): - Monitor Inflation Metrics Globally: Keep an eye on inflation reports not just for major currencies, but also emerging markets. Think of inflation as your new gossip source—you need to know who’s struggling, who’s thriving, and where liquidity might move. - Track PMI Releases for Liquidity Insights: Utilize PMI data to predict which economies are ramping up production and where liquidity might be reallocated. This could be the key difference between blindly trading the news and having a sharp, strategic edge. - Anticipate Safe-Haven Flows: When inflation is rampant, traders often pull their funds into the USD or JPY. Get ahead by positioning yourself based on inflation trends before everyone else follows the herd. - Use Volume Heat Maps: These maps can show you where liquidity is accumulating, giving you a heads-up on potential breakout or reversal points. Remember, liquidity loves company—finding where it’s gathering can tell you a lot about the market’s next move. 5. The Real Opportunity: Timing, Not Trends Most traders fixate on trends—they try to spot the direction the market is moving in and jump on. But the real underground traders—the ones pulling in substantial returns—focus on timing their entry based on liquidity and inflation interaction. By timing your moves to when liquidity pools are about to shift (thanks to inflationary signals), you’re no longer guessing the market's trend. You’re riding the wave of liquidity—and you’re doing it ahead of everyone else. Wrap Up: From Inflation Anxiety to Liquidity Wisdom Inflation isn’t your enemy—it’s your early warning system. Liquidity pools aren’t just for institutional players—they’re a resource you can tap into with the right knowledge. By understanding the interplay between inflation and liquidity, you’re setting yourself up not just to avoid pitfalls, but to leapfrog them. The next time you hear about rising inflation or see the PMI data flash across your screen, don’t just shrug. Smirk—because you know these are more than just economic indicators. They’re secret signals that tell you exactly where to position yourself in the market. Trading should be informed, strategic, and—yes—a little bit fun. If you’re tired of reacting to the market like it’s a bad sitcom plot twist, start acting like the insider you are. And hey, if you want to take this further and grab some exclusive market updates or join a community of equally savvy traders, check out StarseedFX. Who knows? Maybe next time, you’ll be the one surfing those liquidity waves like a pro. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated Read the full article

[yardsale90066]

Yard Sale - 9/16 & 9/17

Items are for sale online anytime this week before the yard sale.

8,000 BTU DUAL Inverter Smart Wi-Fi Enabled Window Air Conditioner - $150

LQ Portable 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner - Price $175

Coat Rack - Price: $20

Dog Ramp - Price: $20

Away Daily Crossbody - Price: $45 (retailed for $75)

LED Light Up Dog Harness - Price: $15

Pawaboo Pet Carrier Backpack - Price: $10

Cuisinart enamel cast iron chef pot - 4qt - Price: $45

Sealychill Gel Memory Foam Wedge Pillow - Price: $45

Indoor Ceiling Fans (3x) - $20

Husky 21 degree Framing nail gun - $70

Wagner Control Stainer 350 HVLP Handheld Sprayer - $40

Craftsman Evolv 2” Pneumatic Brad Nailer - Model# 6G28/F50 Nail Gun c-x Clean - $50

Hitachi G12SR4 Corded 6.2A 4-1/2" Angle Grinder with Hard Case - $50

Rotozip saw - $30

3 different Husky Tool Bags with shoulder strap - $25

16' metal ladder - $80

6ft metal ladder - $40

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

8,000 BTU DUAL Inverter Smart Wi-Fi Enabled Window Air Conditioner

Price $150 (retails $400)

1 year old, only used this summer

Remote controlled, connects WI-FI

LW8022IVSM

Coat Rack

Price: $20

Ikea Mirror

Price: $20

Dog Ramp

Price: $20

A couple of years old

Used for 2 small chihuahaus

Husky 21 degree Framing nail gun

Price: $70

In working condition | a little rust but it works

In original case

Wagner Control Stainer 350 HVLP Handheld Sprayer

Price: $40

Used once to spray water sealant on a fence | cleaned post-use

In working condition

Craftsman Evolv 2” Pneumatic Brad Nailer - Model# 6G28/F50 Nail Gun c-x Clean

Price: $50

Working condition

Hitachi G12SR4 Corded 6.2A 4-1/2" Angle Grinder with Hard Case

Price: $50

Used | Working condition

Rotozip saw

Price: $30

Used | In working condition | a little rust

No case

Husky Tool Bag with shoulder strap #1

Price: $25

Condition: Gently used | Not used but sitting in a shed

Husky Bag #2

Price: $25

Condition: Gently used | Not used but sitting in a shed

Husky Electrical Bag #3

Price: $15

Condition: Gently used | Not used but sitting in a shed

HDX Gallon Sprayer

Price: $10

Condition: New with some paint on the side (oops)

Weber Smokey Joe 14 In. Dia. Black Charcoal Grill

Price: $30

Condition: Never opened the box, but was sitting in a shed and the box got wet

Tree/Branch Trimmer

Price: $20

Condition: Used and been sitting outside | Missing the saw part

Cannondale Quick 8 Bike

Price: $300

Size: M ?

Used and needs some love | Back brakes seem a little loose

It was given to me but I never rode it (I’m a Schwinn Cruiser girl ;-). It’s just been sitting.

Bike Pump

Price: $20

Has all the different tips to inflate different types of tubes

Was sitting outside. A little dirty looking.

Away Daily Crossbody

Price: $45 (retailed for $75)

Condition: Gently used once

Note: It didn’t end up being the size I wanted and it was too late to return it

It’s no longer on the website

For dimensions: https://packhacker.com/travel-gear/away/the-daily-crossbody/

LED Light Up Dog Harness

Reflective Adjustable Vest with Rechargeable, No-Choke Pet Harness Easy Control Handle for Small Medium Large X-Large Size Dogs (Purple,S)

Price: $15

Too big for my 7lb chihuahua. Too late to send back.

It’s very cool and lights up pretty bright.

Pawaboo Pet Carrier Backpack

Adjustable Pet Front Cat Dog Carrier Backpack Travel Bag, Legs Out, Easy-Fit for Traveling Hiking Camping for Small Medium Dogs Cats Puppies, Small, Black

Price: $18

Condition: Used once. My dog was too small (Chihuahau 6lbs). Waited too long to send back to Amazon

Cuisinart enamel cast iron chef pot - 4qt

Price: $45

New w/the tag on | $59.99

Sealychill Gel Memory Foam Wedge Pillow

Slightly used

Price: $45

Indoor Ceiling Fans (3x) - Price $30ea

BBQ - Fair condition - Includes 1 propane tank - Price: $50

LQ Portable 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner - Price $175

[thesecrettimes]

The 3 Best Money Moves to Make This August

It may seem as though the season just started, but we’re almost past the dog days of summer. Luckily, we know of a couple strategies to make today’s surging interest rates work to your advantage. Here’s what you need to know going into August: 1. Take advantage of the last month of interest-free student loans Ready or not, monthly student loan bills are coming back. The first bills aren’t due until October, but interest starts accruing again on Sept. 1, making this the last month you can pay your debt without interest. Even if you haven’t looked at your account since the COVID-19 payment pause began over three years ago, it’s not too late to chip away at your principal balance. While you’re at it, make sure you’re up-to-date on the Biden’s administration’s latest changes to the student loan system. For one, while monthly bills will resume again in October, borrowers have a 12-month period where missed payments will not be reported. This “on-ramp” period is not a free-for-fall, though: loans will accrue interest. If you’re worried about affording your payment, the Education Department also recently launched the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, a new income-driven repayment plan that could significantly lower your monthly bill depending on how much you earn. Find out how to apply by visiting the program’s website. 2. Brace yourself for auto insurance inflation If it seems like your car insurance is getting more expensive, it’s not just your imagination. Car insurance prices have risen faster than overall inflation on goods and services, jumping 17% in the past year, according to the latest consumer price index report. More than half of policyholders said they’ve experienced an increase in a recent Experian survey. The worst part? Experts expect insurance premiums to continue rising in the coming months. Even so, most drivers seem to be staying with their carriers for now: Only 41% told Experian they’d looked for better rates. Experian acknowledged that comparison shopping doesn’t always lead to savings — but it can’t hurt to browse other insurance carriers to make sure you’re getting the best price. In fact, the credit bureau says most drivers could have benefitted from at least looking around. 3. Grow your personal savings Are inflation and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes killing your emergency fund? Americans may have squirreled away more money than ever in 2020 and early 2021, but in the past year, the personal savings rate has been hovering around the lowest levels since the Great Recession. High interest rates are a burden when it comes to credit cards and other debts, but they’re a boon for saving. High-yield savings accounts are offering annual percentage yields (APYs) above 4% (for comparison, the national average for savings accounts is 0.42% APY). Even if you deposit as little as $200 into a high-yield savings account, you can earn $8 in interest annually just by letting that cash sit in the account. The more you deposit, the more you’ll earn — but according to a Santander Bank report, most middle-income Americans aren’t seizing the opportunity to put their money into these accounts while interest rates are elevated. Do yourself a favor and check out different accounts to find the best rate, and move as much cash as you can into high-yield savings. It’s free money! Rates on short-term certificates of deposit (CDs) are also much higher than usual. These federally-insured savings products hold a fixed amount of money for periods ranging from three months to five years, and as they mature, you earn guaranteed interest on your deposit. Right now, shorter-term CDs are offering the best rates, with some as high as 5.9% APY. By splitting money into multiple CDs with different maturity dates, you can take advantage of current short-term interest rates while reaping the benefits of longer-term CDs. You can learn more about how to maximize your savings with CDs here. More from Money: How Refinancing Student Loans Saves Money Dollar Scholar Asks: Is Apple Pay Safe? New Cars Just Saw the Biggest Price Drop in a Decade: Report Read the full article

[germanshepherddoginfo]

Best Dog Ramp for a Pool | Ultimate Buying Guide

Dog Ramp for a Pool is a crucial concern for any pet parent. While there are numerous DIY guides available on the internet, the ramps can be hazardous if not correctly assembled. List of Best Dog Ramps for a Pool How to Choose the Best Dog Ramp for a Pool?Extra Wide Dog Boat Ramp Pool Ladder Toriexon Inflatable Water Ramp for Dogs SOLSTICE Inflatable Dog Float Floating Ramp Portable Inflatable Pup Plank Pets Water RampDogs FAQs on Dog Ramp for a Pool Why do you need a dog ramp for a pool? What size dog ramp do I need? What type of dog ramp is best? How do I install a dog ramp for a pool? How much does a dog ramp for a pool cost? How do I care for a dog ramp for a pool? Final Thoughts Commercially accessible dog ramps are built to last and are available in a number of sizes and forms that can fit various breeds and pools. Here are a few advantages of using a business-grade dog ramp for your pool: - Safety: Professional dog ramps are made to be sturdy and easy to use for dogs, even when they are wet or slick. They are also constructed of durable substances that can withstand the elements. - Durability: Professional dog ramps are built to last, so you can be confident that they will provide years of safe and dependable service to your dog. - Commercial dog ramps are available in a number of sizes and forms to fit different dogs and pools. There are ramps specifically intended for tiny dogs, huge dogs, and even pools with steps. - Ease of usage: Professional dog ramps are often simple to install and disassemble, allowing you to take them down and store them when not in use.

List of Best Dog Ramps for a Pool

Best Overall: Extra Wide Dog Boat Ramp Pool Ladder Best Inflatable: Toriexon Inflatable Water Ramp for Dogs Good Quality: SOLSTICE Inflatable Dog Float Floating Ramp For High Depth Pools: Portable Inflatable Pup Plank Pets Water RampDogs

How to Choose the Best Dog Ramp for a Pool?

Here are some things to think about while purchasing a dog ramp for a pool: - Your dog's size: The ramp should be wide and long enough for your dog to walk comfortably on, with enough room for their head and tail. - Pool height: The ramp should be high enough for your dog to easily reach the water, but not so high that they feel dangerous. - Pool type: If you have a concrete pool, you will need a ramp built of a strong material that can handle the weight of your dog as well as the elements. If you have an inflatable pool, you'll need a lighter-weight ramp that won't puncture it. - Weight capacity: The ramp should be able to accommodate your dog's weight plus a few extra pounds. - Material: The ramp should be built of a non-slip, easy-to-clean material. - Portability: If you intend to move the ramp, choose one that is lightweight and easy to transport. Dog ramps can cost anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. Set a budget before you begin shopping to avoid overspending. Here are some other aspects to think about: - Stability: When your dog walks on the ramp, it should be stable and not wobble. - Non-slip surface: To save your dog from slipping and falling, the ramp's surface should be non-slip. - Simple to clean: To prevent the growth of bacteria and mildew, the ramp should be simple to clean. - Durability: The ramp should be strong enough to resist the wear and tear caused by your dog's use. - Warranty: Some dog ramps come with a warranty, which you should think about before purchasing. After you've evaluated all of these variables, it's time to start looking for the finest dog ramp for your pool. Extra Wide Dog Boat Ramp Pool Ladder This extra-wide dog boat ramp pool staircase is a safe and convenient way for your canine companion to enter and exit the water. The extra width (24") adds security and stability, while the non-slip stairs keep your dog from slipping. The sturdy construction can withstand up to 150 lbs of weight, and the floating shape makes it simple to set in a swimming pool, dock, or boat. The ramp can also be folded for easy storage and transport. Features - Extra wide design (24") for added stability and safety - Non-slip upgraded steps for extra traction and prevent your dog from slipping - Durable construction made from high-quality materials that can support up to 150 lbs - Floating design makes it easy to place in your pool, dock, or boat - Foldable for easy storage and transportation Pros- Extra wide design provides added stability and safety for your dog - Non-slip steps prevent your dog from slipping - Durable construction can support up to 150 lbs - The floating design makes it easy to place in your pool, dock, or boat - Foldable for easy storage and transportation - Some reviewers found that the ramp was not as wide as they expected - The ramp can be a bit difficult to fold up and down - The ramp is not as buoyant as some other models, so it may need to be weighted down in windy conditions This extra-wide dog boat ramp pool ladder is a great option for pet owners who want to give their furry friends a safe and easy way to get in and out of the water. The wide design and non-slip steps provide added stability and safety, while the durable construction can support even the largest dogs. The floating design makes it easy to place in your pool, dock, or boat, and the foldable design makes it easy to store and transport. Toriexon Inflatable Water Ramp for Dogs Toriexon inflatable water ramps for dogs provide an easy and secure means for your canine companion to enter and exit the water. The robust, puncture-resistant surface prevents your dog from slipping or getting wounded, and the wide design (35.4" x 23.6") allows your dog to stroll comfortably. The ramp is also portable and lightweight, making it simple to transport to a pool, lake, or beach. Features: - A durable, puncture-resistant surface ensures safe and easy access to water for dogs - The wide design (35.4" x 23.6") provides plenty of space for dogs to walk comfortably - Lightweight and portable, making it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach - Comes with a carrying bag for easy storage Pros- Durable construction can withstand wear and tear from dogs - Puncture-resistant surface keeps dogs safe from injury - Wide design provides plenty of space for dogs to walk comfortably - Lightweight and portable, making it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach - Comes with a carrying bag for easy storage - May not be suitable for large dogs - Can be difficult to inflate and deflate - May not be as stable as some other types of dog ramps This inflatable water ramp for dogs is a great option for pet owners who want to give their furry friends a safe and easy way to get in and out of the water. The durable construction, puncture-resistant surface, and wide design make it a safe and comfortable option for dogs of all sizes. The lightweight and portable design also makes it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach. Also Read: German Shepherd Health Essentials: From Vaccinations to Preventive Care If you are looking for a safe, easy, and portable way for your dog to get in and out of the water, then this inflatable water ramp is a great option to consider. SOLSTICE Inflatable Dog Float Floating Ramp This inflatable dog ramp is a safe and easy way for your furry friend to get in and out of the water. The durable, puncture-resistant construction ensures your dog won't slip or get hurt, and the wide design (35.4" x 23.6") provides plenty of room for your dog to walk comfortably. The ramp is also lightweight and portable, making it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach. Features: - Durable, puncture-resistant construction ensures safe and easy access to water for dogs - Wide design (35.4" x 23.6") provides plenty of space for dogs to walk comfortably - Lightweight and portable, making it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach - Comes with a carrying bag for easy storage Pros- Claw-friendly surface prevents damage from dog nails - Built-in D-rings for securing the ramp to docks or other structures - Upgraded steps with non-slip grip for added safety - Holds up to 200 pounds - May not be suitable for small dogs - Can be difficult to inflate and deflate Portable Inflatable Pup Plank Pets Water RampDogs This portable inflatable dog ramp is a safe and easy way for your furry friend to get in and out of the water. The ramp is made of durable PVC material and is designed to float on water. It has a wide surface area (35.4" x 23.6") and non-slip steps, making it easy for dogs of all sizes to walk on. The ramp also comes with a pet life jacket and floating water toys, so your dog can stay safe and have fun in the water. Features: - Portable and lightweight design makes it easy to carry and store - Durable PVC material floats on water - Wide surface area and non-slip steps for safe and easy walking Pros- Comes with a pet life jacket and floating water toys - Holds up to 200 pounds - May not be as stable as some other types of dog ramps This portable inflatable dog ramp is a great option for pet owners who want to give their furry friends a safe and easy way to get in and out of the water. The durable construction, wide surface area, and non-slip steps make it a safe and comfortable option for dogs of all sizes. The portable design also makes it easy to take to the pool, lake, or beach. If you are looking for a safe, easy, and portable way for your dog to get in and out of the water, then this portable inflatable dog ramp is a great option to consider. FAQs on Dog Ramp for a Pool Why do you need a dog ramp for a pool?There are a few reasons why you might need a dog ramp for a pool. First, it can help to prevent your dog from jumping into the pool, which can be dangerous if they are not used to swimming. Second, it can provide a safe and easy way for your dog to get in and out of the water, especially if they are old, young, or have any health problems. Third, it can help to prevent your dog from getting injured if they slip and fall into the pool.What size dog ramp do I need?The size of dog ramp you need will depend on the size of your dog. You will need to measure your dog from the tip of their nose to the base of their tail to find the right size ramp. You will also need to consider the height of your pool when choosing a ramp.What type of dog ramp is best?There are a few different types of dog ramps available, including inflatable ramps, plastic ramps, and wooden ramps. Inflatable ramps are lightweight and portable, but they can be difficult to keep inflated. Plastic ramps are durable and stable, but they can be heavy and difficult to move. Wooden ramps are also durable and stable, but they can be more expensive than plastic ramps.How do I install a dog ramp for a pool?The installation instructions for a dog ramp will vary depending on the type of ramp you choose. However, most dog ramps can be installed by following these general steps: Choose a location for the ramp that is close to the pool but not in the way of swimmers. Level the ground where the ramp will be placed. If the ramp is inflatable, inflate it according to the instructions. If the ramp is plastic or wooden, secure it to the ground with stakes or weights. Make sure the ramp is stable before allowing your dog to use it.How much does a dog ramp for a pool cost?The cost of a dog ramp for a pool will vary depending on the size, type, and brand of ramp you choose. Inflatable ramps are typically the most affordable option, while wooden ramps can be more expensive. You can expect to pay anywhere from $20 to $300 for a dog ramp for a pool.How do I care for a dog ramp for a pool?To care for a dog ramp for a pool, you should: Rinse it off after each use to remove any dirt or debris. Wipe it down with a mild soap and water solution if it becomes dirty. Store it in a dry place when not in use. If the ramp is inflatable, store it deflated to prevent it from getting damaged. By following these simple care instructions, you can help to keep your dog ramp in good condition for years to come. Final Thoughts Overall, the benefits of using a commercial dog ramp for your pool outweigh the drawbacks. Commercial dog ramps are safer, more durable, and more versatile than DIY ramps. They are also typically easier to assemble and use. If you are looking for a safe and reliable way for your dog to enter and exit your pool, a commercial dog ramp is the best option. No matter which dog ramp you choose, make sure that it is the right size for your dog and your pool. You should also test the ramp before you use it to make sure that it is stable and secure. Read the full article

[callsign-marlie]

good boy. (18+)

pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x gn!clinican (Callsign: Doc) rating: M warnings: 18+ content minors DNI!!!, SUB!HANGMAN!!!, boy's got his head in the gutter 25/8, praise kink hELL YEAH, innuendos galore, handjob mention, pegging/PinA depending on how you visualize Doc :3, thigh grinding, choking kink?, did i mention innuendos EVERYWHERE? summary: a stress test is not a good time for Hangman to imagine getting a handy from his doctor... a/n: HOOBOY THIS IS UNEDITTED. It came out like water and I wrote it in an hour and fifteen minutes LMFAO please enjoy and i'm sorry for the self indulgence. might have to do this from Doc's POV too if people are interested ;)

“Very good, Lieutenant.”

Hangman was doing his best to breathe in and out of the silicone mask covering his mouth and nose. The air collecting tube was connected to a piece swinging just above his head, creaking eerily at each foot strike. The electrodes measuring his heart rate and pulse tugged against his taut skin. The wires they were attached to were tickling each rib while he speed walked up the inclining treadmill. He was hyper aware of how much hardware he was connected to thanks to the quietness in the lab. 

Doc didn’t allow music to play during stress tests. All focus needed to be on them. A shame, really. 

Cardiopulmonary testing was commonplace among naval pilots to make sure their bodies were in the best possible shape to handle the strains of supersonic speeds. Anything less than above average and you’ll be doing PT every morning for the foreseeable future until you are exceptional. These tests didn’t happen often, maybe once every three years, but on a select detachment like this one, all pilots must be subject to one to ensure they would be able to handle the impending trauma for high-G flight.

“How are you doing?”

Doc’s eyes were trained on their computer screen, but he could hear the smirk in their voice as the treadmill ramped higher. “Just peachy, Doc. I could do this all day.”

Doc tore their vision from the squiggling lines to wrap a blood pressure cuff around his upper arm. This part? The worst. The constriction of that stupid wrap bothered him more than his face being covered.

“You know I’m perfect, you really gotta do that?”

“It’s just a part of protocol, Lieutenant Seresin. If I don’t track your blood pressures and you’re hypertensive under exertion here, you could blow a coronary in the sky and die before your plane incinerates you. Period, the end. Do you think I'd want that on my conscience?”, they teased. The cool metal of their stethoscope stung against his inner elbow as the cuff inflated tightly.

The treadmill ticked up again. The pace was getting awkward. He wanted to jog, but it was still too slow to keep pace. “At least I’d go out in a blaze of glory.”

Doc was silent as they released the pressure of their cuff. “Good boy, you’re doing great.” They ticked in the new number to their computer.

If he wasn’t as sturdy as he was, Hangman would have face planted. G-Good boy? Was that a fluke? Did they think they were talking to their dog? Or a kid, maybe? Doc sees all kinds of patients being such a well renowned physician to North Base and its inhabitants. He felt a flush grow across his cheeks and a warmth in his chest. Doc’s grin of satisfaction was enough to extend the fire to the pit of his stomach. “Ah, there’s the heart rate increase. Keep going.”

Jake couldn’t help his breathing getting heavier. He was doing well? As he damn well should! He was the best of the best and he was only going to prove it. The treadmill ramped further, the aviator finally taking off in a comfortable jog. 

“You look great up there,” Doc encouraged, eyes running over the cut muscles of his torso. “Give me more.”

Give me more. All Jake could imagine was Doc’s hands wrapped around his neck, his breathing tight, their core straddled against his thigh as they ground down onto him, hot and hard. He could hear his own moans, loud and raunchy. Spittle would be running down the side of his lips begging to be kissed. He would be a good boy and let them work their magic, wishing they'd move slightly north to slide over his cock. He would be doing his best to look them in the eyes while they-

“You alright, Lieutenant? Your ventilation rate just increased exponentially. Get it under control. Can you do three more minutes for me?”

“A-anything for you,” he sputtered, doing his best to reign his brain in. The sweat that was pooling along his upper lip was becoming a nuisance. He felt like he was only breathing in heat. Three minutes. Just had to hold out for three more minutes…

No, he needed to push further.

The burning in his stomach was causing more of a problem than he anticipated. Jake never experienced a runner’s high before, but this had to be damn near close. He always thought runners were masochists putting their body through such turmoil all to chase the pavement. The way he was feeling, it had to be similar.

“Don’t stop. Push yourself.”

Push yourself. Jake’s imagination went wild at the thought of Doc’s fist twisting around his cock, their fingertips dusting over the tip before pulling away. Push yourself. He imagined himself squirming and writhing against the bed, the loss of friction agonizing when they teasingly pull away. They always came back though, fingers twisting around the head of his dick until he was purple and so hard. He was always so close… it just wasn’t enough.

“Open your eyes Lieutenant. That’s it, good job. Can you keep going?”

His legs were automatic at this point. He didn’t feel anything else. Just the pulse in his head and his constricted breathing were the only things keeping him grounded. Jake was near a sprint up the hill, running up a ladder. “I can go! I can go!”

“Give me one more minute, you’re doing so well for me!”

Did this idiot even know what they were saying?! Jake’s head was a lost cause. He could feel himself bent over and oh so full, his asshole pulling and stretching at every thrust behind them. You’re doing so well for me. He imagined himself trying to hold back his whimpers at each pound into his little hole, but their skillful fingers would knot in his hair and pull. He’d be yanked up harshly against their chest. Doc’s fingers would be flicking, pinching and pulling at his nipples as he came apart in pieces–

Jake bailed. Holy shit. His body was a complete limp noodle minus the al dente one hanging between his legs.

“Great job, well done! Excellent work!”

His chest was heaving and his mouth was completely dry. The hardness in his shorts was extremely uncomfortable as he doubled over, watching the track slow and the machine lowering itself back flat. He was trying the best he could to conceal the tent in his shorts as Doc moved behind him, their hips so close to his. He could feel their heat. He could feel just how close they were as they reached on their tip tops to undo the velcro strap of his mask with nimble fingers. He wondered what they would have felt like spreading him wide…

“All done, Lieutenant. That was one of the most emphatic passes I’ve seen yet! I’ll have the results to Admiral Simpson by tomorrow. Head to the showers, you deserve it.”

He was spun to face them, his head dizzy, as their nitrile-covered fingers worked to dig under the electrodes. They snapped them off with 10 delicious rips from his skin, the hair on his chest pulling at the sensation. He needed to grab the side rails in order to stop the moans from escaping his throat.

Doc tossed the aviator a towel to dry off and reached into the top cabinet next to their work station to grab a water bottle for him. The hem of their shirt rode up just enough to tease a view of small of their back and a full view of their ample ass in those tight as fuck scrubs.

Hangman, his face creased in concentration, trudged off the treadmill with knocking knees to reach for his t-shirt on the chair by the lab door. The standard issued naval PT shirt was on at light speed, sweat leaking through the heather gray, as he turned to wave goodbye to Doc. “Th-thanks for your time. And, uh, thanks for the water. Uh, I-I'll see you again.” A hand moved to brush the sweat off his face… and maybe extinguish part of the embarrassed burn in his cheeks while he exited the lab. No way they didn't know. No way.

“I look forward to it,” Doc cooed, their eyes drinking in his body.

He needed to get the fuck out before he creamed his shorts right there.

Their gaze lingered steadily on the soft curve of his ass for a moment too long before they sent him wink, turning back to their paperwork. “The heart never lies, Lieutenant. The heart never lies. I can see it all.”

—-

“Yo Bagman, how’d the stress test go?” Phoenix was all smiles as Jake exited the lab, peering up from her too-old lobby copy of People magazine. “Doc didn’t torture you too badly, did they? I heard they had a mean streak.”

Jake sneered at the woman. “It’s Hangman. And they said it was an emphatic pass, thank you very much. I’d like to see you weaklings try to beat my time. You won’t come close.”

Rooster, who sat beside her to wait for his own turn, looked up from his phone with a quirked brow. “Ya know, I’d be a little offended if I didn’t know you suck at running. Don’t tattle, Hangman. It’s not a good look on you when your credibility is already shakier than an earthquake.”

Bob, who was sandwiched between the two, squirmed unsteadily in his seat while attempting eye contact with Hangman. “You know, what Phoenix said is true, though. I heard they had nearly sent Coyote through the roof when he went in for his hip therapy after that basics accident he had. He said they kept saying “how well” he was doing as they started to bend him like a pretzel. He said the relief he felt when their fingers dug into just the right spot was something that…”

Jake wasn’t listening anymore. He didn’t even acknowledge them as he hustled through the door, slamming it shut behind them. Fuck those idiots.

He needed a cold shower.

---

tagging: @fangirlofallthings22

[thesunmeltedthegrayaway]

All It Took Was A Twisted Ankle: Robby Keene x Reader Imagine

This is a request! If you would like to make a request take a look at (this post) for all of the characters I am currently writing for.

My Multi-fandom Masterlist

The request is for @gpiggy98​

​Robby Keene, he was a boy that just rubbed you the wrong way. You two were fire and ice, oil and water. You fought like cats and dogs and did everything in your power to piss the other one off. But at the same time, there was something that was so enthralling about him. It felt so strange how you could fight with him one minute and then find yourself swooning over his teasing smirk the next. So, you think that you would try to lessen the fights you had with him. But due to your conflicting emotions it somehow made you bicker with him even more.

People found your dynamic hilarious and sometimes painful to watch. Not because they found your bickering annoying, but because it was so obvious to everyone else around you that you two clearly had feelings for one another. But things are never as simple as they may seem to someone else. Certain people (aka you two) don’t exactly deal with emotions like that very well. You both complicated your emotions more than you should have. And at this point you thought it would take decades for you two to finally admit how you felt about one another 

But, the universe works in funny ways... who would’ve thought that all took for you two to finally get together was a twisted ankle?

~~~

Skateboarding, it was one of the things you did that cleared your mind easily. There was just something about it that just relaxed you. You could rant or yell all you wanted to, but nothing made you more calm than skateboarding. You never knew why but you weren’t going to complain. It was a moment in your day that just cleared you head. You didn’t have to worry about school, or troubles that plagued your mind, or... Rob-

“You follow me where ever I go Y/N?” You heard an all too familiar voice ask nearby.

You were on the edge of one of the steep ramps about ready to dismount off of it when you heard his voice. Your head whipped toward the sound of his voice. There he stood looking over at you with his usual jeering and teasing expression toward you.

“I was here first Keene, it looks like you’re the one following me.” You huff out in annoyance. 

He laughed at my already annoyed stated. “Whoa calm down Y/N, are you really getting angry already? I really have an affect on you I guess.”

You scoffed at his inflated ego (even though he technically was right about the affect he has over you.) 

“Yeah you do have an affect on me, but it’s not a good one!”

“Sure it isn’t a good one Y/N, sure it isn’t.” His voice was filled with humor, the smirk he sent my way made my breath stutter for a split second.

"Ugh, you are such a-” You began to rant breathlessly.

Your brain seemed to have forgotten that you were resting on the edge of the ramp. Your foot that rested on the front of the skateboard put a bit too much pressure onto it. You were suddenly sent down the ramp unexpectedly making you lose your balance. You felt my ankle tense and twist painfully as you landed onto the concrete.

“Oh fuck, are you okay Y/N?” You heard Robby asked from above the ramp. You weren’t use to hearing him talk to me in such a concerned way.

“What do you think?” You spat out, glaring up at him while gripping my ankle. You saw Robby carefully lower himself down to the bottom of the ramp. 

“Here let me help you out.” 

Your skin felt as though a bolt of electricity traveled through it when he touched me. You brushed his hands off not knowing how to react.

“Hey I’m trying to help Y/N, relax.” 

You couldn’t even look him in the eyes as he helped me up. Any words or reactions I had before just melted away. I focused my sights on my ankle that was now bruising and began to swell slightly.

“Just sit here for a second, it’ll be a bad idea to walk on it right now.”

“Okay.” Is all you could mutter.

You saw Robby’s shadow lean forward, you could tell he was looking at me.

“You sure had a lot to say before, I figured you would be ripping my head off by now.” Robby said, a laugh followed his sentence.

“I guess you’re getting lucky today.” You reply still not looking over at him.

“You’re wrong about that, I like how fiery you get because of me.” He admitted bluntly, taking you aback.

“Shut up.” You say with a nervous laugh. You locked eyes for a split second before your shot back down to your ankle. You began to feel your face heat up due to the situation that you were in.

“What? Are you getting flustered because of me?” He asked teasingly.

“No.” You say with a scoff.

“Then look me in the eyes then and say it. Say that you are not getting flustered because of me”

You slowly turned your head to look at him. As much as you wanted to utter the words he wanted you to speak you couldn’t. The more you looked into his eyes the more the tension and anger you felt just seemed to melt away. All you could do was sit there and bite back a nervous smile.

“I can’t.” You speak up after a bit.

“Why not?” He asked, his tone cocky and all knowing.

“Because I’d be lying.” You admit bashfully.

He let out a laugh making you fight the urge to roll your eyes.

“You’re still annoying though.” You added jokingly, it didn’t damper his mood at all.

“But that’s one of things you like about me right?” He asked cooly.

“I guess so.” 

“I knew it.” He said confidently.

A idea suddenly sprang into your head, you knew exactly what would bring him back down to Earth.

“Hey Robby?”

“Yeah?” He asked turning his head back to you. As soon as his head faced yours you pulled him in for a shocking kiss. He didn’t know how to react at first, he felt frozen and stiff. Much like how you felt earlier. He eventually got over his shock and finally began to react to the kiss. You both pull back slightly breathless, Robby’s face was stunned, his eyes slightly widened in shock.

You gave him a teasing smirk at his reaction before uttering. 

“I guess I know how to shut you up too.”

[queer-adhd]

So anyway part of the rest of the reason why this anon is fuckin dumbass is that I just had to rehouse the rubber wheel of Rouke's manual wheelchair.

The dog managed to introduce so much torque that he deformed the rubber enough to flip the whole thing off.

In case you don't know, these are solid rubber tires. They aren't inflatable. Which is great, because we don't get punctures!

It is less great in that they are very strong, and not stretchy, and want very badly to stay the size they're happiest at. Which is smaller than the wheel they're on. So they stay on there, because they don't want to be stretched off!

Tragically this also means that I had to spend twenty straight minutes of physical exertion, use two levers and bruise the knuckles of both hands and nearly collapse from exhaustion just to get the tire to sit back on the wheel housing. They're usually put on by a specialised machine, not by a human.

And the thing is that I have to be able to have enough reserves in me that I can cope with situations like this, because they happen... Often.

For example: today I had to pick rouke up from where it was stranded, push the power chair home in neutral, get it up the ramp, nearly faint fixing the manual chair, and then walk the dog. I have just finished my work for the day, which started at 7:30 am, and it is almost midnight.

I need to be able to fix these things, because often there is literally no other option.

So no, I'm not going to spend every single piece of energy that I don't have budgeted elsewhere, just to make some clowns on the online think I'm doing enough to satisfy them, because there is always going to be a situation in which I have to dig deeper. Budgeting for that and leaving some margin for the unexpected is essential.

[xtruss]

Afghanistan’s ‘Misinformation Surge’

An avalanche of misinformation has followed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Some of it is sloppiness: people sharing information and not knowing it’s wrong. But intentional efforts appear to be at play, seeking to shape the images of the Taliban, the resistance, U.S. officials, and the Pakistani military. The identities and motivations of those sharing this misinformation are often not clear, but they could be part of organized propaganda campaigns.

Misinformation about Afghanistan has been posted in many languages, including Urdu, Hindi, English, and Korean. The Poynter Institute, the Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse have compiled many examples, including a Twitter thread from AFP fact-checker Uzair Rizvi.

U.S. actions in Afghanistan have so far been a frequent target of misinformation. Some social media posts include photoshopped images of Afghan evacuees bearing heavy weaponry, suggesting Washington has helped terrorists leave Afghanistan; these were posted by Russian media outlets. Others falsely accuse U.S. President Joe Biden of gifting $80 billion in arms to the Taliban and abandoning U.S. military dogs.

Additionally, much of the misinformation spreading in Afghanistan relates to Taliban brutalities and is easily debunked. An image of the Taliban purportedly auctioning off women actually depicts a protest against the Islamic State in London in 2016, and a photo of a man leading women in chains is digitally edited from an image taken in Iraq in 2003, for example. Other posts mention a nonexistent Al Jazeera investigation on women abducted by the Taliban and their nonexistent plans to execute Christian missionaries.

The battles between the Taliban and resistance fighters in Panjshir—the only province not seized by the group last month—have become a bonanza for fake news. The lack of credible on-the-ground reporting in the province has led to an information shortage that could be easily exploited. Photos of supposed Taliban fighters in Panjshir actually depicted French soldiers. Several Indian TV channels broadcast video purporting to show Pakistani aircraft attacking Panjshir. (In reality, the video was depicting American jets flying in Wales.)

What explains this surge in misinformation? The sudden attention rush of a major news story, the power of social media, and information shortages all play a role. Moreover, actors with axes to grind use misinformation as ammunition. Fake news about Biden’s policies in Afghanistan has been propagated by his rivals, from the U.S. Republican Party to Russian state media. Nationalist Indian outlets seek to paint Pakistan as an aggressor.

The information vacuum is critical. In recent years, Afghan and U.S. officials stopped providing information about military casualties and the amount of territory under Taliban control. As the security situation worsened in the last few years, media coverage outside of Kabul became more difficult. It’s now hard to know what’s happening in far-flung areas. In Panjshir, for example, the lack of on-the-ground reporting results in competing narratives, fueling rumors and propaganda wars.

The spread of misinformation in Afghanistan has troubling implications. For one, fake stories about the Taliban could change the group’s image among those outside of Afghanistan. While its brutality is apparent from its actions in Kabul, where citizen journalists recently filmed the Taliban beating female protesters, it’s harder to see this elsewhere. Without independent reporting, accounts of beatings, arrests, and intimidation outside the capital can’t be confirmed—giving the group space to project itself as softer and more moderate.

Furthermore, with so much fake news, true accounts run the risk of being dismissed as false. Social media posts have already suggested the images of U.S. aircraft taking off with Afghans clinging on that began circulating on Aug. 16 are fake. And with foreign bureaus evacuating their Afghan employees and local journalists facing Taliban threats, information shortages are only likely to worsen.

Unfortunately, the spread of misinformation all works to the Taliban’s advantage. It could prompt the militants to ramp up repressive activities in areas with little media presence, knowing that many of them will go unreported or unconfirmed.

Misinformation About the End of the War in Afghanistan, Debunked

These claims were among the recurring themes of misinformation that we fact-checked as the two-decade war came to a chaotic close.

— By: Samantha Putterman

— September 7, 2021 | Poynter.Org

President Joe Biden speaks about the end of the war in Afghanistan from the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As President Joe Biden stuck to a deadline for pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, he was criticized for leaving some Americans and thousands of Afghan allies behind and for not responding fast enough to the Taliban’s takeover.

Biden was also lashed over several things he didn’t do or that just didn’t happen.

Influential GOP senators and Fox News promoted false and misleading claims about the scale of U.S. weaponry now in the Taliban’s hands, the abandonment of military K-9s, and Biden’s treatment of the families of 13 U.S. soldiers who died in the Aug. 26 Kabul airport attack, which killed more than 200 people.

These claims were among the recurring themes of misinformation that we fact-checked as the two-decade war came to a chaotic close.

Claim: The Biden administration gifted the Taliban with an $80 billion “arsenal.”

Claims about the U.S. giving Taliban weapons surfaced following reports about Taliban fighters seizing some U.S. attack planes, Black Hawk helicopters and other vehicles and equipment. But trending posts about the Taliban’s new “arsenal” relied on outdated spending and purported to cite precise accounting where there is none yet.

Early on, widely shared Facebook posts inaccurately stated that the Biden administration gifted the Taliban with “$80+ billion” in military weapons.

That estimate is False. The U.S. spent about $88.6 billion on security in Afghanistan over the course of two decades, but just a fraction of it went toward military hardware. Defense expert John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, told us that aircraft and other military equipment remaining are likely worth less than $10 billion.

Another misleading post about weapons in the Taliban’s hands listed 19 categories of military equipment, including 358,530 assault rifles, 22,174 Humvees and 33 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

This is also exaggerated. There has been no accounting of how much military equipment was left in Afghanistan. The figures cited are inflated and outdated, with most of the equipment being provided over many years to the Afghan forces.

The “358,530 assault rifles” figure, for example, appears to be from a 2017 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that counted the number of rifles, including AK-47s and sniper rifles, provided from 2004 to 2016.

And none of the figures show how many items remained in Afghanistan and were usable when the Taliban took control in mid-August.

Overall, most of the weaponry and equipment were provided over many years to the Afghan forces that opposed the Taliban, while some remained in control of the U.S. military.

Claim: Biden didn’t attend the ceremony for the 13 U.S. service members killed in Kabul.

We rated this Pants on Fire.

The baseless allegation was made by various conservatives — notably Republican political adviser Blair Brandt, and Buzz Patterson, a GOP candidate for Congress in California. They said in now-deleted tweets that Biden skipped the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base for the remains of the 13 U.S. military service members who died in the Aug. 26 attack.

But the plane carrying the remains of the service members hadn’t yet arrived at the base when the tweets were posted. The ceremony took place the next day, on Aug. 29. Biden attended. He and first lady Jill Biden met with the families of the service members at Dover’s Center for Families of the Fallen.

Claim: The U.S. military left its working dogs in Afghanistan.

A viral photo of dog crates in front of a battered and empty U.S. helicopter sparked outrage among fans of dogs and the military. Prominent Republicans like Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that they were military dogs abandoned at the Kabul airport during the U.S. evacuation.

But that isn’t right. The federal government said the dogs pictured do not work for the military and that its working dogs were evacuated from the country in mid-August.

“The U.S. military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby tweeted on Aug. 31. “Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under our care.”

Some of the animals in the images likely belonged to independent defense contractors and could be characterized as “contract working dogs.”

Some animal welfare groups like American Humane dismissed any distinction between the dogs’ contract or military status and called on Congress to start classifying contract dogs the same way it does military dogs.

Multiple groups involved in evacuating the dogs cited a series of setbacks, including chartered flights falling through, unrest at the airport and stringent U.S. safety regulations. Advocates said the dogs are safe, but what happens to them now is uncertain.

Claim: Video shows the Taliban executed someone by hanging them from a helicopter.

Conservative bloggers, pundits and politicians like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shared a short, blurry video of a helicopter flying with a person dangling from a rope.

“This horrifying image encapsulates Joe Biden’s Afghanistan catastrophe: The Taliban hanging a man from an American Blackhawk helicopter,” Cruz tweeted.

That explanation is False. Various other images and videos reviewed by PolitiFact show that the person dangling from the chopper was alive, moving and waving his arms. The person was suspended by a harness that wrapped under his arms, not a noose around the neck.

Several news outlets and fact-checkers reached the same conclusion, determining that the video did not depict an execution, and that the person had been tasked with trying to fix a flag on a public building.

Aśvaka News Agency, an Afghan news outlet, later confirmed to PolitiFact that the person was controlled and was hanging from the helicopter to fix the flag at the governor’s building in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city.

Cruz later acknowledged that his tweet “may be inaccurate” and deleted it. But others, like Fox News host Sean Hannity, continued to give the false story air after it was widely debunked.

NOT REAL NEWS: A Look at What Didn’t Happen this Week

— By The Associated Press | August 20, 2021

— Tom Kertscher, Gabrielle Settles and Bill McCarthy contributed reporting.

This February 2003 photo provided by photographer Murat Düzyol shows three women walking behind a man in Erbil, Iraq. A version of this original image was manipulated to digitally add chains on the women's ankles, with a caption erroneously claiming it was made in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. (Murat Düzyol via AP)

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

Photo from Iraq altered to create fake image of chained Afghan women

CLAIM: A photo shows three Afghan women chained to one another, walking behind a man who holds the end of the chain.

THE FACTS: The photo is fake. It was based on an old photo, and the chains were digitally added. Photographer Murat Düzyol told The Associated Press he took the original photo in Erbil, Iraq, in February 2003. Tweets sharing the altered photo were among several misleading social media posts that began to emerge after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on Sunday. Twitter users posted the manipulated photo and suggested that it showed women in Afghanistan walking behind a man. In the edited photo, chains were digitally added onto the ankles of the women, with the man holding the chain. There was no chain in the original photo. Also, it was taken in Iraq, not Afghanistan. “#AfghanWomen. God protect women and children because an institution like the United Nations has become impotent,” said a Twitter user who tweeted the altered photo. Over the years, the photo has been misrepresented and posted multiple times. One blog falsely stated the photo was taken in Afghanistan and said it showed an example of women walking about five paces behind their husbands. Düzyol, who lives in Istanbul, told AP he took the photo in 2003. Around that time, he often visited Iraq and took photos. The day the photo was taken, there was a ceremony commemorating Iraqi civilians who were killed in the city of Erbil, he said. “As people were returning to their homes after the ceremony, such a composition randomly appeared on the street. It’s a completely instant snapshot and completely natural,” Düzyol explained in an email. “The women obviously knew each other, but I’m not sure they knew the man.” Many fear the Taliban will reimpose a strict interpretation of Islamic law that was practiced when they ran Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At the time, women were barred from attending school and having jobs outside the home. They had to wear burqas and be accompanied by a male relative when they were in public. After taking over, the Taliban said they promise to honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law, but many Afghans are skeptical. — Associated Press writer Arijeta Lajka in New York contributed this report.

Afghan citizens pack inside a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, as they are transported from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. On Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming another photo showed a plane full of Afghan refugees being evacuated from the country this week, with not a single woman or child among them. In fact, that photo, which appeared online as early as 2018, shows Afghan refugees being sent back to their country from Turkey, according to a story at the time from Turkey’s state-run news agency, the Anadolu Agency. Photos captured this week show that hundreds of Afghan men, women and children have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. (Capt. Chris Herbert/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Photo of Afghan men on plane is from 2018

CLAIM: A photo shows a plane full of Afghan refugees being evacuated from the country this week, with not a single woman or child among them.

THE FACTS: In fact, this photo appeared online as early as 2018. It shows Afghan refugees being sent back to their country from Turkey, according to a story at the time from Turkey’s state-run news agency, the Anadolu Agency. The photo looks down the aisle of an airplane filled with men, some of them waving at the camera. Social media users are sharing it as new this week with claims it shows only men, with no women and children, being evacuated from Kabul after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. “And not a single woman or child among them!” one Facebook user wrote alongside the picture. “As if the invasion of our southern border weren’t enough of a challenge. Now the biden Administration is flying in hardened, fighting-aged men from Afghanistan.” Another Facebook user wrote, “Another wave of ‘refugees’ is already heading to Europe, this time from Afghanistan.” But a reverse-image search reveals the picture does not show recent evacuation efforts from Afghanistan. The photo showed some 324 Afghan refugees who had entered Turkish territory illegally and were detained and sent back to Afghanistan in April 2018, according to an article on the Spanish-language version of the Anadolu Agency’s website. Photos captured this week show that hundreds of Afghan men, women and children have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. — Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report.

FILE - The Afghan flag flies atop the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. On Friday, Aug. 20, 2021, The Associated Press reported on a photo circulating online that was digitally altered to make it appear that the Taliban flag was flying on the tower of the palace in Kabul on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Photo digitally altered to show Taliban flag on Afghan presidential palace

CLAIM: A photo shows the Taliban flag flying on the tower of the Afghanistan presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday night.

THE FACTS: The photo is fake — an old photo was digitally altered to make it appear that the Taliban flag was flying above the palace. On Sunday, Taliban forces seized the presidential palace. The Associated Press took photos and video Tuesday showing that the Afghan flag was still flying from the building. The photo that was manipulated was first shared in 2020 and originally showed the palace adorned with Afghan flags. In the manipulated version, the Taliban flag replaces the Afghan flag. It looks clearly altered -- the flag appears too rectilinear and the script too flat to be on a moving flag. The edited photo was shared across social media and by some media outlets, with captions saying it showed the fall of Afghanistan. The Taliban took over Afghanistan two weeks before the U.S. was supposed to fully withdraw its troops from the country. President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country. AP photos showed the Taliban inside the presidential palace on Sunday.

Video claiming to show Taliban fighters on trampoline is more than a year old

CLAIM: A video shows Taliban fighters jumping on a trampoline this week as they celebrate their return to power in Afghanistan.

THE FACTS: This video is not current and has circulated online for more than a year. In the days since the Taliban seized power across Afghanistan, capturing all major cities in less than a week, social media users have shared videos of the insurgents allegedly celebrating their victory in gyms, amusement parks and presidential suites. One such video, which social media users claim shows Taliban fighters rejoicing on a trampoline, has circulated since at least March 2020. The video of four men jumping on an expansive trampoline and one standing to the side was shared with captions like “Taliban’s terrorists right now” and “Taliban fighters celebrating their takeover of Kabul by Jumping on a Trampoline.” But it appeared on Facebook as early as March 31, 2020. It was also shared on YouTube on Aug. 28, 2020, with the caption, “Taliban first time trampoline.” It wasn’t clear who captured the original video or who was featured in it. — Ali Swenson

Video showing shaking house is from Alaska, not Haiti

CLAIM: Video from a camera inside a home shows the house shaking from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday.

THE FACTS: The video being shared online shows an earthquake that struck nearly three years ago in Alaska, not Haiti. As images and videos emerged from Haiti following Saturday’s earthquake, social media users began misrepresenting the Alaska video from 2018 to suggest it showed the earthquake rumbling through a home in Haiti. More than 2,000 people have been reported dead in Haiti following the earthquake that struck the southwestern part of the Island. In 2010, an earthquake of similar magnitude left more than 300,000 dead in the country. Posts online Saturday shared the video showing the Alaska earthquake, with wording that suggested it showed the power of the earthquake in Haiti. The posts sharing the video said to pray for Haiti. The original video was shared to Twitter by James Easton on Nov. 30, 2018, when Alaska was hit with a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. At the time, The Associated Press reported that the earthquake left thousands without power and buckled roadways in some places. Easton told the AP via email that the video showed his home in Alaska. Easton tweeted the video, saying that he was “just a little bit shaken” by the earthquake. The video showed the house violently shaking and the camera footage soon being cut off by the quake. “It’s amusing to see the video pop up every so often, but the focus should really be on the actual damage in Haiti,” he said. — Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed this report.

[dogstairsandramps]

Got a water-loving dog? Keeping them safe while they splash around is a must! Check out the best dog pool ramps and stairs to help your pup enjoy the water without the risk of injury. From inflatable options that cater to larger breeds to sturdy, collapsible ramps for smaller dogs, we've rounded up the top picks. Each ramp is designed to not only offer easy access but also ensure your furry friend feels secure. Whether you’re poolside or hanging out by the lake, these ramps make summer fun for pets and owners alike! Dive in to find the perfect fit for your pooch and make those water adventures worry-free!

[darkestdawnhq]

RITA SKEETER is a 25 year old HALFBLOOD, a former RAVENCLAW, and an OCCUPATION UTP who is a CIVILIAN and uses SHE/HER pronouns. They are categorized as CODE TWO. They are currently CLOSED.

Sharp fashion but sharper words | Taking advantage of the changing times around you | Rainy days | Hasn’t properly slept in two days and is running on coffee | White roses in a crystal vase | Always knows things you shouldn’t | Perfectionist and organizational skills to the max | Notebooks full of stories 

HISTORY.

Rita Skeeter was born to a pureblood mother and a half-blood father. Growing up, her parents always tried to act above their station. Her father tried to pass off as a pureblood from Greece, but the real purebloods knew much better. Her parents passed down the blood purity to their only child, telling her that it was her job to actually rise above her station. From a young age, Rita knew what her parents expected her to do.

Being sorted into Ravenclaw was the best thing that happened to Rita. For once, she was looked at like an actual person with a brain and not just a little girl. The other students wanted to hear her ideas and she had enough charisma to make friends easily. While at Hogwarts, she took to writing stories in her notebook, but she quickly found out that the truth was stranger (and more interesting) than fiction. Who was seeing who, who hated who and the rumblings of the Death Eaters. 

She made connections with those in Slytherin most of all. They seemed the most likely to join the rumored group. And just like her father told her, she worked to rise above her station. Not for marriage, but to actually work. She knew how to talk the talk, the comments talking down about her father and his lesser family. When she was with a Slytherin she made sly comments about the other half-bloods or mudbloods walking by. 

After graduating, she was almost immediately offered a job at the Daily Prophet. As the war continued and ramped up, the Daily Prophet was soon under new management. While Rita does believe in blood purity, she wasn’t sure how much she liked writing propaganda. However, as time went by and not only was she protected but encouraged and so she stumbled down the dark hole.

The worst day of her life was before her promotion. Rita was naive about her own family. How the Death Eaters would see her traitor mother, her dirty father. And while she looked down on her parents, she never thought they’d be murdered because of it. Instead mourning and seeing how awful the Death Eaters are, it seemed to radicalize her even more. She ate up every word that was told to her about how her parents had to be killed. They were a threat to the perfect society. 

Rita is still young and yet she feels on top of the world. She’s respected and liked and is just outside of the inner circle. She just wants one more thing. A pureblood, well-established spouse.

CONNECTIONS.

EVAN ROSIER: Informant. He lets things slip so easily and Rita has a way of getting stories out of him as if it’s magic. Rita knows how to play him like a fiddle, and sometimes it requires her buying him drinks to loosen his lips. However, he’s on the inside of the new regime and though he is young, he’s seen enough for her to know everything that is going on. Anything he can’t tell her that she wants to know, of course she would have other means of finding out what she wants. 

NARCISSA BLACK: Old Friend. Rita met Narcissa Black in the school library when they were both attending Hogwarts. They may not have been in the same house or grade, but they were both regulars in the library and often were alone instead of with groups. The two like-minded girls slowly formed a friendship between them during those hours studying for the next big exam. After graduation they remained in touch, and though they are slightly distant now that Narcissa is more consumed in the social scene of the pureblood elite, they still manage to find time to get together for tea and to chat. 

BARTY CROUCH JR: Nuisance. No one quite annoys Rita like Barty Crouch Jr. She sees how he is so smug and how his ego is inflated every time he walks in a room. Especially now that he is certainly on the winning side, she sees how he things he is the top dog. It’s amusing to her, but it strays into annoyance whenever he opens his mouth as if he is god’s gift to man. She’s contemplating finding out some dirt on him, if only to make him shut up for once. 

FRANK LONGBOTTOM: interested In, Working On. Rita knows about what The Order did to practically ruin Frank’s life. Even though he’s still quite the broken man, Rita wants to try to work her magic on him. Not necessarily in a romantic way (although, Rita wouldn’t be complaining as he is now a Death Eater and pureblood), but to work out the horrors The Order did to “protect him”. She’s wanting to work him into actually being an active part of the right side.

Currently portrayed by MELISA DÖNGEL

[wasgreeneyedmnster]

Seahawk Inflatable Boat Set - 2020

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[harryandmolly]

i could write it better than you ever felt it - one

A/N: I’m dedicating this fic to the author of the first fics I fell in love with as a curious middle schooler on Quizilla, soxlongxjimmy. Thanks for the memories.

Warnings: Language, miscreants being miscreants

Word count: 3.2k

Val rolls over, blindly scrabbles for the cherry red Sidekick blaring “Miss Murder��� under her tufted black PB Teen comforter.

“Raf Calling”

Val stifles a knowing smile, though she’s alone in her bedroom. She answers, lifts the phone to her ear.

“How much do you love me?” he asks, a self-deprecating chuckle in his voice.

Val giggles back. “Enough.”

+

Rafael and Valentina Moreno were born at 6:43 and 7:04 (respectively) on the morning of April 22, 1985. From then on, it was chaos.

Two was quite enough children for ambitious professors Miguel and Fernanda Moreno. They were scholars, children of knowledge, who wanted a small, quiet family. They envisioned docile walks on the beach, Saturday trips to museums, maybe the occasional University of Miami football game.

They got Raf and Val instead. The twins were at each other’s throats nearly from the time they were born – Miguel tells a story every holiday season of placing both babies in the same crib to bond when they were a few months old. The new parents turned around for a minute and looked back to see Val rolling on top of Raf trying to smush his face into the cushions.

From then on, separate cribs.

But the twins, despite their ongoing hostilities, couldn’t be separated. It was as though their energies thrived on one another. One summer when they were 12, Raf left for sleepaway soccer camp. A few days in, Val woke her mother up in the middle of the night in tears begging them to bring her brother home. He came back at the end of the summer and two days later she threw an ice cream cone in his face.

Miguel and Fernanda were faced with a new reality – noise. Their kids were loud before they even picked up their respective instruments. The Morenos thought music lessons would be a good outlet for their wild children, so they had them classically trained from a young age. Once again, their good intentions wrought chaos. Valentina was a menace on the drums – though a very talented, well trained menace. And Rafael was a gifted guitar player.

It wasn’t until they were 14 and started sharing practice space in the Morenos’ garage that they could be in the same room without ripping each other’s heads off.

And then, against all odds, they joined forces. The Moreno twins finally discovered they were stronger together than apart. That’s not to say they didn’t still fight like cats and dogs, but they loved each other just as viciously as they bickered. Miguel and Fernanda could live with that. They had to.

Streets of Gold was a stupid pet project, it wasn’t supposed to be anything. Until it was.

Val was original music buff of the family. She used to sit in her closet with the door shut and the lights off listening to her dad’s record collection. It made her feel cool, listening to old vinyl. But she didn’t really get it until she got around to hearing The Ramones’ “Rocket to Russia” for the first time. Everything changed then for the Morenos.

Raf was hesitant at first – could he really let himself like something Val discovered, something Val thought was cool? But he couldn’t hold out long. Because it was cool. It was really cool.

Valentina became the Encyclopedia Brown of pop-punk. You could name a song and she could tell you what band, what album, what year it dropped, whether or not it was a single, and what label released it. She was a goddamn savant. Raf started using her like she was a walking party trick with his friends, some of whom also started to think pop-punk was cool.

Streets of Gold started, as many shitty garage bands do, as a blink-182 cover band. They played birthday parties, then house parties, then veteran halls, then underground Miami clubs. They were signed by Stuck in the Suburbs Records in 2002 and struck out on their first supporting tour. They’ve barely been home since.

Everything changed once again for the Moreno family when Val took a step back. She loved the band, loved the music, even loved touring, but there was a piece of her that was more like her parents than she ever realized or wanted to admit. She craved learning and missed academia after she finished her GED. She secretly applied to the University of Miami and sought out her replacement for the band, gearing up for a fight.

Raf lost it, at first. They had the worst knock-down, drag-out sibling fight of their entire lives. It ended in tears with Raf holding Val against his chest as they sobbed. They started training her replacement Naveen the next day.

Among Val’s fondest memories of drumming in Streets of Gold are the two years she spent with the band on Warped Tour. Warped was every scene kid’s wet dream, every garage band’s Woodstock. It was the be all, end all of pop-punk music. Warped is a fickle mistress – it makes and it breaks, it gives and it takes and it’s not for the faint of heart.

They call it rock band summer camp, and it is. It’s day after day of heat and sweat and drugs and sex and music, so much fucking music. But the showers are scarce and sleeping in a van with five guys, driving through the night to reach the next stop, it wears on you.

But it’s all about the kids. They come in droves, self-professed outcasts in girls’ skinny jeans, hair Manic Panic-ed and razored past the point of recognition, the uniform of kids without a cause. They gather like the Island of Misfit Toys for a chance at community, to throw themselves into a world they recognize, a world they’ve created for themselves. It reflects them, it accepts them, it inspires them, and Warped Tour is where it truly comes alive.

The kids wait for hours in the heat, withstand insane conditions to see their favorite bands. They go hard, they leave it all out on the fields, in the amphitheaters, screaming their lungs out as thanks for giving them somewhere to belong. It’s a chorus of angst and otherness and, somehow, hope. It’s Valentina’s favorite song. And she misses it.

Raf dropped the hint two weeks ago that there might be a chance at return for Val. Things are different now – Streets of Gold is starting and finishing the 2007 Vans Warped Tour on the main Lucky Stage, a far cry from their humble beginnings playing to a handful or a dozen curious onlookers from Hot Topic Kevin Says. They have a bus now with a shower and actual air conditioning and, holy shit, they have actual bunks.

And their merch guy Jamie, Raf told her casually, has to step away from the tour due to a family financial situation. Can’t be avoided. They’re checking their network for replacements, but, if they can’t find someone in time, could he beg her to come along? One last summer on the Warped Tour before she leaves for the UK in the fall?

Val played it cool – “I’m exhausted,” she reminded him, “After everything this year…” (And she doesn’t need to elaborate, because he knows all too well) “And I just graduated…”

But the truth is, Val found herself wondering about it. She hasn’t been on tour in three full years. She’s gotten her fixes visiting their shows, bobbing her head from side stage singing the words she still writes for the band with her brother, but it’s not the same. It’ll never be the same.

After only a few days, Val wasn’t just wondering – she was hoping. She had it wrapped around her heart now, this idea of returning to something that always brought her hope and comfort when she needed it. And like she told Raf, after the year she’s had…

She got the call four days before the first stop in Pomona. Raf needed her. She’d better start packing.

She couldn’t wait for the summer at the Warped Tour, she remembers the first time that she saw him there.

+

“Oh, thank fucking Christ!”

Shawn rolls his eyes and throws the lurching white van into park. It scuttles to a stop.

“Shut the fuck up, dude,” Shawn mumbles, wrenching his rusty door open and stepping out onto the grass to survey the area.

Francis’s head pops up over the roof of the van wearing a disapproving glare.

“All in favor of banning Shawn from driving for the rest of the tour, say aye!” Francis crows.

A chorus of ayes fall out of the sliding doors of the 15-passenger van as they open and pour smelly 20-somethings out. Shawn sighs and plants his hands on his hips.

“I got us here an hour before we were supposed to be, I deserve credit for that,” he whines, sliding his Ray Bans up into his dark curls.

Francis looks unimpressed. “You nearly killed us all at least four times. You don’t get shit.”

“Maybe this was his strategy,” Bobby offers with an eyebrow lifted conspiratorially, “Maybe he pretends to be a shitty driver so he can get out of driving the van between stops.”

Shawn smirks. “I’ve been a shitty driver since I was 15. That’s a long con.”

“Alright, assholes, time to start unloading,” calls a voice from near the trunk. Shawn groans and licks his lips, flicking at the black enameled ring he got pierced there a couple months ago.

He ambles back to where the truck has pulled up beside their rickety van. Andrew climbs out and runs a hand through his hair. “Shawn, man, you’re fucking impossible to follow. You were doing 85 on the freeway, you know that?”

Shawn opens his mouth to defend himself when the rest of his band starts choking on laughter. He holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fuckers. Drive yourselves.”

Shawn turns and looks around at the Pomona Fairgrounds. He’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life. There are stages going up left and right, tents and skate ramps and those inflatable floating human-shaped things that flop around and wave at car dealerships. It’s mania, and he’s so fucking excited about it.

Warped Tour has always been the dream. It’s always been a reality just out of reach. Always a spectator, never the spectated.

He’s been nomadic for the past few years since he first picked up a guitar and started playing old The Starting Line and Jimmy Eat World covers. He’s been in at least eight different bands, all of which showed promise at the start and ended in various states of the decay of teenage boredom. No one wanted to go the distance with him, not until he met Francis, Bobby and Seth through friends of friends of friends. Then suddenly, Warped Tour wasn’t just within reaching distance, it was fucking happening.

Shawn’s a sentimental sap so he’s standing on the hill overlooking the manifestation of his dreams. Seth, the band’s fan-anointed “quiet one,” claps a hand on his shoulder.

“We fuckin’ made it, man,” he reminds Shawn breathlessly. Shawn chokes on an emotional inhale and nods.

They’ve gotten good at load-in now. Everyone has their assigned tasks and Andrew’s a seasoned enough tour manager to be able to wrangle them into efficiency. Or, near efficiency. They’re a little distracted today, overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.

They’re quieter, too. They’ve felt big in their britches for awhile, having been invited out on tour supporting bands like Valencia, My American Heart and All Time Low. But this is a new ballgame. They’re very much little fish in a giant fucking pond, a very intimidating pond.

They stare at the buses of pop-punk legends as they wade past with amps and instruments and risers in hand, feeling like it’s the first day of kindergarten and the eighth graders are all settled in and looking cooler than anyone ever has ever. Shawn actually, embarrassingly enough, nods in reverence at Streets of Gold’s bus. He’s glad none of his band and crew notice and razz him for it.

Being new and not a huge crowd draw, they’re one of the first bands of the day on their designated Smartpunk stage. Shawn doesn’t so much mind playing Smartpunk. It’s a small stage but plenty of amazing bands have gotten started there. He’s just happy to be on the tour. And if they impress and end up drawing in some attention and wind up spending a couple of tour dates on Hurley.com or even, dare he dream it, the Hurley stage, he’ll be a happy kid.

But at 19, with his best friends at his side and their sophomore album release date coming up in only a month, Shawn feels like he’s at the edge of the world looking at the start of something he can’t quite make out yet, but it feels so fucking good.

+

Val is already sweating her balls off, no surprise there.

She’s had some merch girl experience, naturally, having been with the band since its infancy, a time where everyone wears a lot of hats. But now that Streets is a bona fide Warped Tour Band, a destination, a band people make the trip to see, it’s a new ballgame.

She unloads box after box of shirts, hats, hoodies, wristbands, CDs, booty shorts, whatever else they can hawk at an upcharge. Raf and Naveen eagerly help her and she suspects they’re trying to play nice because they know she didn’t have to come on tour and help them. Val doesn’t want to get used to it – in about a week, they’ll be a lot less eager to haul boxes around and will make themselves scarce.

As she’s setting up the tent above the table, she looks around with a smile.

Returning to Warped feels a little like coming home. It’s a dry, hot, smelly home with sun-scorched grass underfoot and an overabundance of men in women’s jeans but there’s just something about it—

“BABYYYYYY!” cries a voice that belongs to a woman who soon careens straight into Val’s side.

“Oh my fucking god!” Val squeals, throwing her arms around the violet haired cling on. She bounces back and forth as they laugh and babble incoherently.

Finally, she pulls away and Val holds her by the shoulders to look at her.

“Why, Bea Easton, look at you!” Val giggles.

Bea, all four-foot-eleven inches of her, strikes a pose complete with duck face and popped hips in her low-slung Bullhead skinnies. She breaks into a laugh, shaking her head.

“Miss me, Moreno?”

“So much that I’m back on tour with these hooligans again,” Val sighs, angling her head at her bus where her tourmates are arguing over the Xbox.

Bea chuckles. “Thank god. It was getting dull in the scene without you.”

Val shoots her a suspiciously amused glance. Bea makes an exasperated noise, throwing her hands up.

“Well the scene is never fucking dull, that’s kind of the point, but I missed you, kid! You’re not so easily replaced, you know.”

Val scrunches her face and pulls Bea into a proper hug, tucking her face into her freshly-dyed hair and rubbing her back. “Ditto, dude. College was cool but… I couldn’t really resist one last shot at all this.”

Bea stands back and loops her arm around Val’s waist as they observe. After a moment, Bea pinches Val’s side gently.

“Hey, how are you?”

Val’s body tightens instinctively. She knows Bea feels it. Bea only asked a question everyone’s been asking her for months. And Val’s still shit at pretending it doesn’t bug the fuck out of her.

“I’m fine. Really. I went to the doctor recently and he did some tests and confirmed that I’m human and not a big walking china doll.”

Bea’s bleached eyebrows lift as she smirks. “Point taken. Have you started checking out the talent, then?”

Val scoffs. “You and your locker room talk.”

“This is what equality looks like, bitch. But seriously, tell me that’s not half the reason you’re here. A little palette cleanser.”

Val runs her tongue across her lower lip. Bea knows her oh so well.

She elbows Bea gently. “Stop that, I already have a reputation,” she hisses teasingly.

“Mmm, that’s right,” Bea replies, playing along, “The biggest slut in the scene is back on Warped Tour. Better start lining up for a taste.”

Val laughs heartily, shaking her head. “I swear to god, Bea, you—”

She stops dead in her sentence, words have failed her. Her brain fritzes out. She stares straight ahead, exhales in a loud puff. Bea notices and turns to look at what, or who, Val has spotted.

He’s tall. That’s probably the first thing anybody ever notices about him. He’s really fucking tall. He’s also not as scrawny as the rest of the twiggy white boys that populate the scene these days. He’s built – broad in the shoulders and the thighs. He’s wearing the uniform black skinnies, though, so he’s probably a band member rather than a volunteer. And he’s got the presence, somehow, of a frontman. Maybe it’s because Val’s pretty well versed in scene guys, but she can just tell he’s a lead singer.

His dark curls are tucked under a backwards Blue Jays hat and his eyes are unreadable under black Wayfarers. His facial structure is sinfully architected, marred only by the black lip ring that’s pierced through his full lower lip.

His hands are tucked in the pockets of his impossibly tight jeans as he cruises easily on a skateboard through hordes of bands and crew prepping for the day. He seems unbothered by the hard work going on around him, content to observe and take it all in. It gives him an ethereal sort of glow, that he’s untouched by reality.

Val swallows like a fucking cartoon character and watches his mighty leg strike the ground, black leather high top Chucks kicking up a cloud of fairground dust as he propels himself past the tent without a glance. She feels like a ninth grader who’s caught her first glance at the senior quarterback. She sniffs. It’s been a while since she’s felt like that at all.

Bea elbows her again. “Holy damn.”

“Say it again, sister,” Val chuckles, watching the back pockets of his jeans stretch over his very fine ass as he launches himself down the sidewalk, weaving and bobbing through the crowd.

“HOLY DAMN!” Bea crows, throwing an arm around Val’s shoulders and shaking her. Val sniggers and peels her eyes away, nibbling on her pillowy lower lip.

“I’ll do some recon, find out who he is,” Bea offers, smirking. Val isn’t about to turn that down. Bea’s the most well-connected merch girl on the tour, being as seasoned as she is, having toured with New Found Glory since ’97. She nods her thanks and waves goodbye as Bea rushes off to check on the status of her own merch tent.

Val turns back to her table, fumbling through price tags and pushpins. Her mind is elsewhere. Specifically, it’s somewhere in the back pocket of that skateboarding guy. She can smell trouble on him from here.

She doesn’t mind. She could use a little trouble.

Boys, raise your glasses/Girls, shake those, go, go, go/We're the party, you're the people/Let's make this night a classic

Taglist: I literally don’t know who my taglist is anymore so lmk if you want to be added but for now here @smallerinfinities @the-claire-bitch-project @stillinskislydia @achinglyshawn @infiniteshawn​ @alone-in-madness​ @alone-in-madness @singanddreamanyway @accioalena

[whatsnewcartoons]

What’s New In 2018: The Cartoons

Separated by network. All premiere dates are estimated until confirmed. Timings are in EST. 

NICKELODEON:

- The Adventures of Kid Danger (January 2018): Based on the live-action Henry Danger, while the live-action hit focuses on Henry balancing the challenges of being a teenager with his adventures as a crime fighter, this new full-length animated series centers on his exploits as Kid Danger, as he embarks on brave new missions with Captain Man to battle monsters, aliens and more. The Adventures of Kid Danger and Captain Man is produced by Powerhouse Animation, which also produced the short-form series.

In the new animated series, brand-new areas of the superheroes’ headquarters will be seen by fans for the very first time, including the Man Cave tube system, which propels the crime fighters into adventure; and the Man Cave garage, filled with crime-fighting vehicles and gadgets used on missions. Along with appearances of fan-favorite characters from the live-action show, new friends and foes will also be introduced.

The 10-episode series was created and executive produced by veteran producer Dan Schneider (Henry Danger, Game Shakers, iCarly) and features the original Henry Danger live-action cast reprising their roles. The series is set to premiere in January 2018.

- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fall 2018): Nickelodeon will be rebooting its current CG “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series as a 2D animated series with the title “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, as announced at their upfront in March. 

“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” will follow Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo on all-new adventures as they seek to unlock the mystical secrets of New York City. From the tallest skyscraper to the dankest sewer drain, the Turtles will encounter absurd new mutants and battle bizarre creatures all while enjoying their favorite slice of pizza. Tapping into mystic, ninja powers they never knew existed, the four brothers must learn to work together and navigate the perils of the modern age and hidden realms in order to fulfill their destiny to become a team of heroes.

The new 2D series is co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (character designer for the critically acclaimed Adult Swim series “Samurai Jack”) and Ant Ward (supervising producer, current “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) at Nickelodeon in Burbank, California.  Nickelodeon has ordered 26 episodes of the 2D reboot to air starting in fall 2018.

- Pinky Malinky (Early 2018): Co-created and co-executive produced by Chris Garbutt and Rikke Asbjoern (The Amazing World Of Gumball) and executive produced by Scott Kreamer (Kung Fu Panda: Legends Of Awesomeness), upcoming Nicktoon Pinky Malinky follows the everyday life of Pinky, an infectiously positive hotdog living in a human world who, along with his two best friends, navigates school and life with a unique perspective. Their humorous experiences also will be shared across social media and Nickelodeon’s digital platforms. It will be produced at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank.

Using the tropes of a mockumentary and reality show format, Pinky and his friends will talk directly to the camera and the audience to share their absurd and silly take on real life. At times, all children feel like they don’t fit in, and Pinky’s undeniably unique point of view as a literal wiener amongst humans will allow kids to laugh at his familiar struggles and enjoy his unusual perspective on the challenges of being a school-age kid. By always reaching for the stars, Pinky pushes himself further than anyone could imagine and proves that being a “wiener” is only one letter away from being a “winner.”  

Pinky Malinky previously was done as a short for Cartoon Network. It is set to premiere in early 2018 with 20 episodes.

- Glitch Techs (2018):  Glitch Techs (working title) has been picked-up for 20-episodes set to debut in 2018. Glitch Techs is an CGI-animated adventure-comedy following two newly recruited kids as they battle video game monsters that come to life in the real world.  The brand-new series comes from Eric Robles (Fanboy & Chum Chum) and Dan Milano (Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape), both hailing from Nickelodeon’s Artist Collective, an internal artist-led development program. The series will be produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif.

DISNEY CHANNEL / DISNEY XD:

- 101 Dalmatians Street (Autumn 2018): 101 Dalmatian Street is an original animated series based on the 1956 novel by Dodie Smith and the 1961 Walt Disney film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It is a fresh take on the two classics and will follow 101 dogs living by themselves without a human owner. It takes place in 21st century London and features the eldest canine siblings Dylan, Dolly and their parents with the other 97 pups playing a supporting role.

The 48 x 11 minute series along with two x 22 minute specials are based on a pitch from Finland based Gigglebug Entertainment’s Anttu Harlin and Joonas Utti. It is being developed by Disney’s original animation team in London along with UK based Passion Animation Studios. The series will premiere worldwide in 2018 and is set to premiere on Disney Channel USA in fall 2018.

- Big City Greens (2018): The brand-new animated comedy is set to air on Disney XD in 2018. Previously titled Country Club, the show centers around a boy named Cricket Green who has moved with his family from the country to the big city. Cricket’s enthusiasm and curiosity inevitability results in him getting into wacky, fish-out-of-water adventures. 

Emmy Award-winning director Rob Renzetti (Gravity Falls) serves as executive producer alongside brothers Shane and Chris Houghton.

Writers on Nicktoons’ Harvey Beaks, the Houghton brothers are perhaps best known in comics circles for their all-ages supernatural Western Reed Gunther, published by Image Comics. Shane Houghton has written stories for Peanuts, The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horrorand Casper’s Scare School, while Chris Houghton has contributed to The Simpsons, Adventure Time and Kung Fu Panda comics, as well as Disney’s Gravity Falls.

Big City Greens is scheduled to premiere in 2018 on Disney XD.

- Big Hero 6: The Series (early 2018): Recently premiering an hour-long movie in November 2017, the series picks up immediately following the events of the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award-winning feature film and continues the adventures and friendship of Hiro, the fourteen-year-old orphaned tech genius and Baymax, his very special plus-sized inflatable healthcare companion. As the new kid at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Hiro faces daunting academic challenges at the prestigious “nerd school” and the social trials of being the “little man on campus.” Luckily, Hiro has his brains, his ingenuity and his best friend bot to help him find his way. But it’s off campus where things get dangerous. Along with neat freak Wasabi, bubbly mad scientist Honey Lemon, fanboy Fred and no nonsense Go Go, the friends form an unlikely, but awesome super hero team – Big Hero 6. Together they face madness and mayhem as a colorful array of science-enhanced villains threaten San Fransokyo.

Originally inspired by the Marvel comic of the same name created by Man of Action, the Big Hero 6 series will see the return of Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass; Jamie Chung as no-nonsense, speed genius Go Go; Scott Adsit as huggable robot Baymax; Alan Tudyk as tech guru Alistair Krei; Ryan Potter as tech genius Hiro; Genesis Rodriguez as quirky scientist Honey Lemon; David Shaughnessy as the butler Heathcliff; and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee as Fred’s dad.

Emmy Award winners Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley and Nick Filippi (the team behind the global hit Disney Channel series Kim Possible) serve as executive producers. Filippi also serves as supervising director. The series will premiere on Disney XD in early 2018, and has been renewed for a second season.

CARTOON NETWORK:

- Unikitty! (January 1st, 2018): The new series will follow the adventures of Unikitty as she rules her kingdom. Her daily responsibilities include making sure everybody is happy, promoting creativity and vanquishing any negativity. That all sounds sugary sweet, but Unikitty also has a bit of an edge when anyone gets in her way.

Joining Unikitty at the castle are her brother and best friend Puppycorn, her trusty bodyguard Hawkodile and the resident scientist Dr. Fox.   "Unikitty!" will feature the voices of Tara Strong ("Teen Titans Go!," "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic"), Grey Griffin ("Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!," "The Loud House") Kate Micucci ("Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!," "Steven Universe"), Roger Craig Smith ("Regular Show"), Eric Bauza ("The Adventures of Puss in Boots") and H. Michael Croner ("Review"). 

"The Lego Batman Movie" and "The Lego Movie's" Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Roy Lee, Jill Wilfert and "Teen Titan Go!'s" Sam Register will serve as executive producers, with "Teen Titan Go!'s" Aaron Horvath as supervising producer. Edward Skudder ("Dick Figures") and Lynn Wang ("Star vs. the Forces of Evil") will serve as producers.

The series has been confirmed to premiere in a special event on January 1st, 2018 at 6.00AM on Cartoon Network USA, and will premiere new episodes on Fridays after the event.

- Craig of the Creek (2018): Previously announced at Cartoon Network’s 2017-2018 upfront, Craig of the Creek is an adventure series created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin, formerly from Steven Universe. At the Creek, the rules of the outside world don’t apply in this kid utopia of untamed wilderness where Craig and his two best friends have ventured and tribes of children reign over tree forts and dirt bike ramps. 

The series stars Phillip Solomon as Craig, Georgina Colovia as Kelsey and H. Michael Croner as JP. The pilot of the show has been released on the Cartoon Network website and application on December 1, 2017 and will premiere on Cartoon Network USA in 2018.

- Summer Camp Island (2018): Based on the original short created by Julia Pott (Adventure Time), the Summer Camp Island series will continue unfolding the mysteries that Oscar and his best friend Hedgehog encounter at a magical summer camp. It’s pilot short won the Best Animated Short award at the Provincetown Film Festival in 2017.

Oscar and his best friend Hedgehog have just been dropped off at their first summer camp. Away from their parents, the two friends must summon all their courage to navigate the mysteries and wonders of this camp where the counselors are witches, horses become unicorns and monsters live under the bed. Not all camps offer the opportunity to swim with a talking shark in the pool, crawl under the bed into a different universe or make friends with the moon, but on Summer Camp Island, anything can happen.

The series has been screened and won many awards at various film festivals in 2016 and 2017. The pilot episode has been released onto Cartoon Network’s website and application on December 2, 2017, and will premiere on Cartoon Network USA in 2018.

- Apple & Onion (2018):  The series centers on two lovable buddies who are new and naive to the ways of the "big city of sophisticated food" as they go on adventures and make friends. The comedy was created by George Gendi (The Amazing World of Gumball), who also voices the character Apple in the show.

The short was selected to be screened alongside another Cartoon Network pilot, Welcome To My Life, at the Annecy Festival in 2015, before eventually being released online in May 2016. The short was picked up for a full series in March 2017, announced at Cartoon Network’s 2017-2018 upfront and will premiere on Cartoon Network USA in 2018.

So that’s the stuff to expect in 2018! Are you excited for what’s to come? Or are you disappointed that you didn’t find some stuff interesting?

With that said, the year for cartoons in 2017 is quickly coming to an end (Christmas isn’t a hot time for premieres). So, to celebrate the end of this wonderful year, I’ve created a poll on the best of cartoons and its networks in 2017! It’s a short one, hope you can fill it in! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tLY-yYXietlgbKq5tLj2N0ibP-AZSPV0vLJPRnCahF0

[your-dietician]

Summer dreams dry up on the Russian River, a paradise whipsawed by drought, flood and fire

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/latest/summer-dreams-dry-up-on-the-russian-river-a-paradise-whipsawed-by-drought-flood-and-fire/

Summer dreams dry up on the Russian River, a paradise whipsawed by drought, flood and fire

The Russian River, just north of drought-stricken Lake Mendocino in Ukiah, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

If there was any respite to be found, it was here on the Russian River.

A river otter popped up next to Larry Laba’s inflatable canoe, then dived down with a plop. A yellow swallowtail butterfly, big as a hand, fluttered past.

Yet everywhere were signs of the West’s ever-intensifying drought, with the Russian River taking the early hit.

Laba, the owner of Russian River Adventures, who had paddled this river hundreds of times over 20 years, made note of unfamiliar things that made him uneasy.

Larry Laba, owner of Russian River Adventures, paddles down the Russian River in Healdsburg, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The river was at a historic low. A hot wind blew through the canyon, when summer breezes here are usually gentle and cool. The leaves of the cottonwood trees made a brittle, crackling sound. The same trees, way up high, had cracked branches from a devastating flood in 2019.

Just below the water’s surface, Laba noted colonies of an algae he’d never seen. Then there was his worry over algae he couldn’t yet see. In 2015, during a terrible drought, his dog Indy — whom he described as a dumb, happy-go-lucky retriever no one could resist — died of a seizure on the river. The next week, a 2-year old golden retriever died on one of the trips run by Laba’s company. This time officials pinpointed the cause as a fast-acting neurotoxin from blue-green algae. The algae occurs naturally, but when temperatures rise and water is warm and stagnant, it blooms and releases poisons.

The Russian River area holds a panoply of California treasures: majestic redwoods, ocean mists, summer sun, famed wineries, breweries and a casual, come-as-you-are culture that mixes high-brow with hippie and a bit of barn party.

Receding water levels forced a closure of the north boat ramp at Lake Mendocino in Ukiah, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

It also sits at the center of climate-related disasters. After the drought, which ended in 2017, came fires that burned across eight Northern California counties, killing 23 people. In late February 2019, at the tail end of the wet season, rain pelted down without halt. Some of the area’s mountains saw 400% more than the average amount of rain for the month. The river flooded, cresting at 45-feet, the highest in more than two decades. The river valley towns of Guerneville and Monte Rio became islands, with automobile parts and pieces of buildings floating past. Restaurants that sat on cliffs 30 feet above the river were under water.

Story continues

In August 2020, walls of fire surrounded those same towns as more than 12,000 residents evacuated through smoke and ash. Vineyards burned and beloved cabins turned to tinder. Up and down the West Coast, fires raged, sparked by a combination of extreme heat and a lightning siege. For weeks, this valley — which usually has air so fresh that you can taste the ocean — registered some of the worst air quality in the world.

Laba said he avoids thinking about what all of it — drought, fires, floods, lightning sieges, heat waves — means.

Merganser ducks on the Russian River in Healdsburg, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

“Look, I can’t go there,” said the 69-year old. “I’m not a worrier. I can’t lay awake at night thinking about climate change. I look around and if there is something I can do —even if I know it won’t make that much of a difference — I do it.”

He spotted tall stalks of scarlet wisteria on the banks, flashing their bright flowers. He beached the canoe.

“They’re huge water-suckers. They’re invasive,” he said, trying to pull up a plant that showed no signs of budging. But Laba pulled and strained until it came up by the roots and couldn’t produce pods to scatter seeds.

Michele Wimborough, left, owner of Hazel restaurant in Occidental, Calif., chats with guests Rahna Schiff, right, and Keith Holamon. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

That evening, farther down river, in the small community of Occidental, off Bohemian Highway, Michele Wimborough stepped outside of a cozy restaurant that was as much a dream as a business.

She and her chef-husband Jim, former Bay Area residents, had searched for years for just the right small town where they wanted to live and raise their son. They opened Hazel, named after Jim’s grandmother, in 2015.

This night was one of their first with in-house dining since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the restaurant was packed. Earlier, Wimborough had wondered if she’d miss when it was just her family inside, alone, making to-go meals. But she had found herself laughing and happy to be in a crowd.

Now, after the dinner rush, she stood outside, tipped up her face and breathed in a cool mist that was slowly enveloping the town.

Part of the reason was that it gets hot running around a restaurant, but the other was that such moisture was becoming rare.

A canoe floats past an exposed gravel bar, right, on the Russian River in Healdsburg, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

She had been caught off guard by notices pleading with residents to cut water use by 20% to 40% and the news of an emergency water regulation that cut river water rights for up to 2,300 wineries and farms. The restrictions were aimed at keeping the Lake Mendocino reservoir from going dry before summer’s end. Similar cuts are expected soon in California’s other watersheds.

While she was preoccupied with COVID-19, the drought had sneaked up on her.

“I feel like so much has happened that I can’t keep track of it all,” she said.

Just in her tight circle of friends, five families had moved away, people who had planned to stay forever, driven out by fear of disaster.

Wimborough said that by nature she is anxious. But that had changed over the last five years. Now, she steadfastly clings to a stubborn optimism.

Joseph Lustenberger, 15, jumps off a railroad bridge footing into the Russian River in Healdsburg, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

“I definitely believe in climate change. But I concentrate on ‘We’re going to keep going and it’s going to be OK’ — until it’s not,” she said.

“I love it here and this is a beautiful moment and I’m grateful we were safe for one more day.”

The Russian River begins in the mountains north of Ukiah in Mendocino County and cuts a winding path to the Pacific Ocean. The Pomo Indians once trapped salmon in its pools, before water was diverted. The river gets its modern name from Russian Ivan Kuskov of the Russian-American Company, who explored it in the early 19th century and founded Ft. Ross. It was the Russians who first planted grapes in the wine region.

Outside of Sebastopol, not far from the sea but worlds away from bustle, or even cell service, Eric Susswell, owner of Radio-Coteau, makes wines that he said are meant to capture place and a particular moment in time.

Land once underwater is exposed by receding water levels on Lake Sonoma in Geyserville, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

His water comes from domestic wells, not river allocations or a municipality, but the drought gripping this land of red barns, grapevines, goats and sunflowers will still be in this year’s vintage — if they can get the grapes to harvest. Last year Radio Cocteau barely got the crop in before smoke damage. Many other wineries lost their grapes.

Radio-Coteau’s vineyard is one of the few Demeter-certified estates in the U.S., meaning it meets a set standard for a bio-diverse organic farm. That includes methods such as mulching, no-till farming and monitoring moisture to improve soil — something akin to the farming version of holistic healthcare.

Sussman, who studied organic viticulture at Cornell and trained in France, said he considers his farm a living organism in its entirety, plants that become resilient with a good root system.

The water level has been steadily receding at Lake Sonoma in Geyserville, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

“There is an intelligence in their ability to adapt,” he said. “It gives me some sense of hope.”

Some vines on his property date to 1945. Sussman said they sustain his faith that seasons will pass and the vineyards will continue.

“I’m not blasé about climate change,” he said. “But I’m not watching all of this from high above. I’m down on the ground right in the thick of it, day by day making decisions about sustainability.”

Nine miles south of Healdsburg, another group of pleasure seekers had paddled down the river.

Beachgoers enjoy the cool water at Monte Rio Beach on the Russian River in Monte Rio, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Mathew Knobel, 19, who works for Laba, was waiting to greet them at the end of their trip with hoots and hollers.

He tried to be supportive when they were visibly stunned by how low the river was, how there were spots where they had to get out of their boats and walk.

“People get really emotional when they see it for themselves,” Knobel said. “It’s almost shock and awe.”

It’s not a reaction he shares.

“To be very honest, in my lifetime, I haven’t been able to experience anything different,” he said. “I’m 19. By the time I was old enough to have a consciousness about climate change, it was here.

“It’s not that I’m not concerned,” he added.

“But to me, drought, fires and floods are what’s normal.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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