#like ??? just conference call?! or send a zoom invite | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

purpleorchid85 · 4 years ago

Text

Buddie Fic Rec List (Part 1)

5 Times Eddie & Buck Knew They Were Dating & 1 Time Everyone Else Figured It Out

by Onlymystory

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24012025

A Diaz By Any Other Name (Should Be A Buckley)

by CaseyStar

Summary: Evan's lack of confidence in where he fit with the firefam and over how easily Bosko was brought in to take his place, rears it's ugly head when he hears about how Eddie escaped the warehouse when the police arrived.

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/21783802

And They Were Roomates

By cherishingstydia

Summary: Buck needs a place to live and Eddie has a guest room.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828072

And...They Were Zoommates

By emquin

Summary: Buck and Eddie work for the same company but have never met until working from home during the covid-19 pandemic has them using zoom video conferences.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23420866

Asked, Offered, Given, (He's) Taken by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

Summary: People like to flirt with Buck on calls. It kind of makes Buck uncomfortable. And that makes Eddie frustrated.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762892

Be My (Secret Santa) baby

By smartbuckley

Summary: It's this year's secret santa, and as Buck is about to open his sixth gift, he remembers the previous gifts and his feelings about them.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809878

Bi Me A Drink

by Wolves_of_Innistrad

Summary: Hen takes the firefam out to a gay bar as a means of getting Eddie and Buck together. Fic contains lots of flirty Bi!Buck, Jealous and handsy Eddie and some extra twists.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21414100

Breathe You In

By Pline

Summary: Eddie can’t stop staring. This selfie is going to be the death of him. Buck is shirtless, and giving the camera an intense look that leaves Eddie panting. Or Buck sends a picture that tips their relationship into something new.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25070953

Bruises and Bitemarks

By Tarialdrion

Summary: When Chimney invited Buck to see his first live MMA fight, Buck had no idea that the night would end with him on his knees and the most gorgeous man he's ever seen happily devouring his mouth. Life is full of surprises.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24800731

Buck's Not-At-All-Secret Admirer

by R_E_R6

Summary: Buck has a 'secret admirer'. Everyone knows it's Eddie, even Buck.

Eddie has a plan though.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22650847

Calendar Shoot 2.0

by Araloth

Summary: It’s that time of year again, time for submissions to the annual LAFD sexy firefighter calendar. Buck is eager to try again, only this year he plans on actually taking Eddie up on all his free photography advice…

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21229880

Check Yes or No

by rebeccaofsbfarm

Summary: Eddie finds a note in Christopher's backpack and realizes that his son has a girlfriend. When he tells Buck, he has a reaction Eddie didn't anticipate.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24783445

Cruiser Bruiser

by FandomLife54

Summary: A close call on the side of the freeway has Eddie reevaluating his relationship with Buck, particularly how strained it's become due to Eddie's anger since the lawsuit. Some domestic love and more than a few heart to hearts have Eddie confessing things he should have a long time ago.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126379

Darling It's Better (Down Where It's Wetter)

By onlymystory

Summary: "Who the hell is that?" asks Buck. Like he doesn't know exactly who that is. Like a week ago he wasn't enjoying one of the best fucks of his life with Eddie Diaz. Or the reason for Buck's surprise at the new recruit isn't quite for the reasons everyone thinks.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23197093?view_full_work=true#main

Dirty Little Secret

By smartbuckley

Summary: Buck and Eddie have been sneaking around together hooking up but it has never been just about sex for Buck and he keeps asking Eddie for it to be more. But Eddie doesn’t want anyone to know, even though he does love Buck (he’s scared) and can’t bring himself to talk about it. Buck gets upset about being Eddie’s dirty secret and cuts off their hookups, it hurts too much to be that close. He won’t let Eddie touch him even platonically. Eddie realizes he needs to do something about it.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498331#main

Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Game

By FancyfulOfLife

Summary: One day one too many firehouse 118 betting pools are going to bite them in the booty. Today just might be that day.

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129198

Don’t Need To Question The Reasons. I’m Yours.

By technicallyi’mawriter

Summary: The one where Buck is his flirty self and Eddie reminds him that he is his and his alone.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24207109#main

Dosed, Again

By ApplepieandCinnamon

Summary: In retrospect, eating cookies that clearly inebriated strangers gave you as a thanks had not been a good idea. Well, you’re always smarter in hindsight. Sleep deprived Eddie Diaz is a danger to society and ends up drugging both himself and his best friend.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742834

Eddie 'I Get What I Want' Diaz

By EdithBlake

Summary: Buck encounters an ex of his on a call. It puts things into perspective for Eddie.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22488685

Eddie Hates The New Guy

By EdithBlake

Summary: Rick is Hen's replacement while she is undergoing investigation. Eddie hates him. He especially hates how Rick looks at Buck like he is a piece of meat.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21438241

Eddie's Not-So-Secret Feelings

R_E_R6

Summary: 5 times Eddie says sweet things about Buck in Spanish so Buck doesn't find out he's in love with him +1 time Eddie realises Buck speaks Spanish and knew all along. With special guest stars: Eddie's entire family.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729094

Eddie Swiped Right On Buck

StaceyBlake

Summary: It's been over a year since Eddie has had sex. He is a bit desperate and downloads Tinder. When Buck's picture shows up on his screen and he swipes right, things take a sexy turn for these best friends.

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818059

Even The Bartender Knows

StaceyBlake

Summary: The Bartender at The Manhole gets a lot of guys coming into his bar who are questioning their sexuality. Helping them through it is kinda part of his job. But when a pretty Blond comes in and starts going on and on about how in love he is with his best friend, only for a man fitting said description of that best friend, walks in a few nights later going on and on about how in love he is with his best friend, well he's never seen that before.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21497890#main

Feels Like Home

Mansikka

Summary: After a fire devastates Eddie's home, the logical thing for him and Christopher to do is stay with Buck. Though Buck's apartment isn't ideal; would it be such a crazy idea for the three of them to find a place to live in permanently together?

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24840859

Friends To Make and Walls To Climb

By mansikka

Summary: Eddie and Christopher just moved to Los Angeles, and they have lots of things to be happy about. Eddie loves his work on the 118, Christopher can get to know his mom again, and maybe Eddie and Shannon will relearn how to be friends. Christopher is also thriving in school, coming home every day with new tales about his new favorite teacher. Eddie needs to meet the incredible Mr. Buckley for himself, to see what all the fuss is about.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27957527

Grand Guestures

By red_to_black

Summary: Buck didn't think too much of taking the Diaz boys out after a rough shift - until Hen and Chimney point out to him that he used to do the same with Abby. And really, if he was going to have a sexual crisis at the age of twenty seven, did it really have to be about Eddie?

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22208095

Helping Hands

By Shaniamr

Summary: Everyone wants Buck to heal from the past year, and they think getting laid will help him. Buck doesn't want to revert back to Buck 1.0, but he also doesn't want his friends to worry about him. So Buck enlists the help of his best friend Eddie in fooling his friends.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22132669

It Started With A Bang And A Hostage Situation

By JayJay_884

Summary: Buck goes to the store one late night to buy food because of Maddie's pregnancy cravings. Whilst at the store, Buck accidentally gets caught in the middle of a robbery and gets knocked out. After waking up in the backroom, Buck finds himself as a hostage with a handsome and caring stranger.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30733649

I Hit the Accelerator (But the Car was in Reverse) by exasiswings & letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

Summary: When Buck is forced to confront the truth about his breakup with Abby, having casual sex with his hot new coworker seems like the best rebound idea. Unfortunately, that hot new coworker turns into his best friend. But best friends can keep having sex with each other, right? There's no way this could possibly go wrong.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21614971

I Might Have To Tell You

By Ingu

Summary: Christopher gives Buck a list of how to cheer Eddie up while he's gone, and Buck accepts without reading the terms and conditions first.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24803128

Is This How You Get A Cat?

By Whis

Summary: Buck didn't know he just needed to climb a tree, rescue the kitten, fall down, get a concussion and a huge nail through his hand to get a kitten, no that he was looking for one, although, if he had known Eddie was included in the package he would have done it earlier.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21614971

Keep It On

By R_E_R6

Summary: When Eddie walks in on Buck, bent over in nothing but a hoodie, their plans for the night immediately change. Buck's outfit though? Well, Eddie requests that it stays the same...for reasons.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26679433

Kissing Booth Fiasco

By Lilacsheen

Summary: Buck plans on tending a kissing booth on a Halloween bash... but the kicker? He's blindfolded the entire time.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26987998

Kiss With A Fist

By florenceandthemachine

Summary: A meet-cute au where Eddie takes Chris to the gym once a week and they box a little together before Eddie spars; usually Chris sits by the ring and reads but one day Eddie finds him laying on a bench, lifting an empty bar while this really cute blond guy spots him and gives him encouragement...

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25415776

Lift Me Up

By CaptainSif

Summary: Buck gets stuck in his apartment building's broken elevator with his good-looking neighbor from the sixth floor.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28452156

I, Hildy

By red_to_black

Summary: The many ways in which Hildy interfered with Eddie and Buck's life, until they got the picture.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29511051

Lightly Stabbed

By Every_Version_Of_Me

Summary: Buck gets stabbed and takes the time to call Eddie to tell him he can't make it to dinner.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21743812

Love Language

By red_to_black

Summary: Eddie's love language is acts of service, and Buck doesn't totally get it.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23403196?view_adult=true

#Buddie Buddie fic rec list BuckandEddie Buck&Eddie BuckEddie BuckleyDiaz 9-1-1 Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley Edmundo ‘Eddie’ Diaz Buck Eddiegay hot fi

100 notes · View notes

afictionaladventure16 · 5 years ago

Text

Remember Me (Bucky Barnes x Natasha Romanoff x Daughter!Reader)

Chapter 11

Remember Me Masterlist

Previously on Remember Me...

Warnings: Oh boy. Y’all aren’t ready... Thank you to @rae-is-typing for editing this for me! LOVE YOU!

Word Count: 3,070

Bucky traipsed into the common area. Steve and Natasha stand next to each other, they had been speaking in hushed voices full of concern. Natasha was soft-spoken, and her arms crossed; it was a tell-tale sign that she was closing herself off.

“What’s going on?” Bucky frowned, concern growing as he stepped further into the room.

Natasha sighed. “One of my student’s homes just got broken into.”

“What?” Bucky questioned.

“Fortunately, nothing was taken,” Steve added.

“Which is the weird part about all of this.” Natasha shook her head. “It just doesn’t add up,” she let out a frustrated sigh. “What kind of person breaks into someone’s home and doesn’t take anything?”

“I have a bad feeling about all of this.” Bucky cut in.

“And you should,” The three of them whipped around. Fury emerged from the shadows, stalking towards the small group. “I need you all in the conference room right now.”

“And where the hell have you been?” Steve demands.

“From what I recall, you don’t like that sort of language,” Fury responds, holding the super-soldiers aggravated stare. Steve rolled his eyes. “Conference room. Now,” Fury barked before walking back out into the hallway.

“He disappears for god knows how long and comes back like nothing ever happened,” Steve commented.

“That’s Fury for you,” Natasha snipes as she made her way into the hallway, Bucky and Steve following a few steps behind her.

“What’s this all about, Fury?” Natasha demands as she sits down on one of the chairs. Sam had been sitting there when she walked in, along with Bruce who gave her a small smile. Bruce had finally gone back to his normal self. Although he had finally figured out how to control the big guy, being big and green all the time was taking a toll on him.

“I want to know why you disappeared,” Steve stated, standing next to Fury, arms crossed and face hard. There was no way in hell he was going to let Fury’s disappearance go so quickly. Steve always had a hard time trusting him. There was always a reason for each of Fury’s actions.

Bucky let out a soft sigh, knowing very well that he couldn’t tell Steve to back off; it’s how he has always been. He sat next to Natasha, placing his arm around her shoulders. He doesn’t miss the small smile gracing her lips.

“That’s none of your business, Rogers,” Fury replied. “Now sit down.”

Steve narrows his eyes in response, marching over to the chair next to Sam. There was black and white footage on the screen in the room. It had a time and date in the corner.

“This is surveillance footage of a break-in last night.”

“That’s the home of one of my students,” Natasha says. Her eyes widen at the surveillance footage. Her heart rate spikes. She never thought that her students would be in harm’s way because of her status. Now she was beginning to rethink everything.

“I believe this is the work of Hydra.” Fury states.

“What?” Natasha asked in disbelief. “I knew something was off about the whole thing.”

“Thankfully the family wasn’t home when it happened, but what caught my eye was that they entered with what looks like a full bag, and left with an empty one,” Fury zoomed in on the footage, showing the masked men entering the house with a full bag and then leaving with an empty bag. It all seemed as if they were amateurs, but Fury knew these men weren’t amateurs. They knew exactly what they were doing and it was up to Fury to find out.

“Meaning that they planted something rather than took something,” Bucky says.

“Exactly.” Fury put up some files onto the screen, “this is Zemo’s new asset. To him, she’s the new and improved Winter Soldier.”

He clears his throat. “He calls her Widows Bite.”

“Widows Bite?” Natasha repeats, befuddlement lacing her voice.

“That’s all the information I have on her so far. Sharon is currently trying to hack into the system, but for now, I need all of you to break into Hydra’s base.”

“I’m assuming we’re breaking in for some intel?” Sam asked.

Fury nods. “Wheels up 36 hours.”

“36 hours? Why so long?”

“It’ll give me and Sharon enough time to get more information on Zemo’s new asset. Can’t go into battle with someone without knowing what they’re capable of.”

Natasha chuckles, shaking her head. “We do it all the time.”

“I feel different about this one… call it a hunch.” Fury offers before walking out of the conference room and leaving the heroes confused by what transpired.

“A hunch,” Natasha scoffed.

Steve examined the screen that still showed the files, crossing his arms he pondered over the files.

“This is all just feels off to me,” He mumbled softly to himself.

“You and I both,” Natasha commented.

Steve shook his head; he couldn’t shake the feeling off himself. There was something that he was missing. It didn’t add up. Why is Zemo targeting kids? He let out a heavy sigh, leaving the conference room without another word. Sam noticed that Steve wasn’t in his right mind, sp he gave the couple beside him a soft smile and followed the super-soldier out of the room.

Wanda and Bruce followed not too long after, leaving Bucky and Natasha by themselves in the conference room. Bucky had his eyes trained on the photo of the young assassin.

Widow’s Bite.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the origin of the name was and why Zemo chose to name her that. His mind trailed back to the mission they had a while back, the words Zemo said to him when he first laid eyes on the young assassin.

“Look Familiar?”

He still didn’t understand why Zemo said that. His mind came to a couple of conclusions. One being that maybe that he had trained the young assassin before or that maybe, and he hated this conclusion, Widow’s Bite is his daughter. He was unable to understand them whether they proved to be true or not.

A hand caresses his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. Natasha smiles at him gently. She squeezed his shoulder as he let out a heavy sigh, leaning into her touch.

“Are you okay? You seemed like you were deep in thought for a minute,” she whispered, concern trailing in her voice.

“I was thinking,” he replied, turning to face her.

“Where’d you go for your walk?”

“Down to the park,” he cleared his throat. “I saw JJ there by herself.”

“What was she doing out all alone?” Natasha asked.

“She got into an argument with her dad. I spoke to her and then walked her home.”

Natasha placed a small kiss on Bucky’s lips, “that was nice of you.”

“Well, if she were my daughter I would have wanted someone to do the same” the couple remained quiet after Bucky’s comment. It’s been a couple of days since they mentioned their daughter, and it was beginning to get harder and harder for them to think about her, knowing very well that she was their only chance at happiness, their only chance for normality.

“Roger invited us over tomorrow for dinner, sort of as a thank you for everything we’ve done for them,” Bucky said, breaking the silence.

Natasha gave him a small nod. “We should probably head to bed then, it’s been a long day and I have a feeling we’re going to be having a few more long days ahead of us.” Bucky let out a chuckle before intertwining his hand with Natasha’s, leading her out of the conference room.

The next day dragged on. Natasha had canceled class sessions for the rest of the week due to the fact that Fury was sending her on a mission. So, she spent her day training with Steve.

By the time six o’clock rolled around, she was exhausted and all she wanted to do was put on comfy clothes and relax in bed with Bucky and some movies. Bucky strolled into the room, a towel wrapped around his torso. Letting out a heavy sigh, Natasha got up from her position on the bed.

“I know you’d rather stay home,” Bucky started. “But-”

“I know this is important and honestly, I’d rather get out of the house than stay home moping around.”

Bucky sighed. He wrapped his arms around Natasha before placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Do you want to mope around because of what I mentioned yesterday?” Natasha let go of Bucky, giving him a confused look. “When I brought up Y/N.”

Natasha knew he hadn’t exactly brought her up, but it was implied.

“Not really,” She said as she leaned back into the embrace. “It did get me thinking about her.” she stayed silent for a moment. “And about how much I miss her.” Bucky held onto her tighter. As she trembled in his embrace, Bucky ran soft circles on her back with his hand. “And I had this crazy idea last night, that maybe Widow’s Bite is her.”

“What?” Bucky asked, recoiling.

“Just think about it, Bucky!” Natasha exclaimed as she let go of the embrace. “It’ll explain why Zemo asked you if she looked familiar!”

Bucky shook his head, walking over to his drawer he began to put on his clothes. “No,” he said sternly.

“Widow’s Bite is what Zemo calls her! I’m the Black Widow! He’s trying to make her the new and improved Winter Soldier! It can’t be a fucking coincidence that Zemo combined us two into this random teenager that he picked off the streets!” Bucky looked over at Natasha. Her eyes glistened with tears, of course, he had thought about it. It was one of the many conclusions in his head. Yet, he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about it because he knew that meant that his daughter had suffered.

In Bucky’s mind, he dreamed his daughter had survived from Hydra’s capture, maybe even found by a family and lived a somewhat normal life. It was the only thing that kept him sane when thinking about his daughter.

“Bucky, if it’s her… I need to know and tomorrow we might have to face her again and I’m going to do everything-”

“Natasha, stop.”

“-in my power to find out the truth!” she continued.

“Stop!” Bucky snapped. “Just stop!”

Natasha’s breath sped up as she focused on Bucky and the way his jaw clenched with his fists tightened.

“You said we would do anything to find her.” Natasha accused. Bucky closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. This wasn’t the way he wanted to find her, though. “You said we wouldn’t stop searching for her, Bucky!”

“I know,” he whispered. “I thought of it,” he paused. “It was one of the only things that made sense, but I had this idea that maybe she was out there living a normal life and that we’d find her and we’d be this happy family again. Knowing that she might be under Zemo’s control,” Bucky felt tears begin to appear in his eyes as he sits down on the bed. “I can imagine the torture he put her through.”

Natasha made her way over to Bucky, sitting down next to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder. “We can save her,” she whispered. “Like I saved you.” Bucky remained quiet, knowing that Natasha was right, he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “I should get ready, we have to be Jones’ in twenty minutes.”

“I thought you were ready!”

“Does this look ready to you?” She gestured towards her sweats and a make-up stained shirt.

Bucky let out a groan, “Hurry up, woman!”

“Don’t tell me to hurry up, I know how to make your murder look like an accident!” Bucky let out a soft chuckle as Natasha got off the bed. She leaned over towards Bucky, placing a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he placed another kiss on her lips. “Now please, would you go get ready?”

The smell of the food Roger was making wafted through the small apartment, almost making your mouth water. Bucky and Natasha were going to be there in a few minutes, and you were still confused as to why this dinner was happening in the first place.

“What is the purpose of this anyway?” You as, hopping on the counter. Roger gave you a small glare at the sight of you sitting on the counter.

“This is a way to get closer to Natasha and Bucky.” Annoyance seeps into his voice, but you pay him no mind.

“Our mission was to destroy them and find a new recruit, not get closer to them.” You counter, looking at him expectantly.

Roger remained quiet as he stirred the pasta. His plan wasn’t what Zemo had in mind. No, his plan was to try to get you to remember who you were, that meant to get close to Natasha and Bucky, bring up their past and hopefully spark a memory within you. He hopes that his plan will work. “Mind helping me with the garlic bread?”

Sighing to yourself, you jumped off the counter. You placed the garlic bread that was set on the counter on a baking sheet.

“They just need to be reheated,”

You gave Roger a nod. He moved out of the way so you could place the baking sheet into the oven. “They should be here any minute so why don’t you go ahead and set the table, hon.”

You noticed how Roger quickly dismissed what you said, you made a mental note to bring the subject back up later, but for now, you had to focus on getting into character. You set the table like how Roger had done many times before. Roger always liked to set the table before dinner, even if you guys were eating take-out. You never questioned it. Yet, you always found it odd.

A knock on the door made you snap to attention. Roger gave you a small smile before letting out a deep breath. “Ready?” he asked as he wiped his hands on his apron. You gave him a nod, and he walked over to the door. Roger cleared his throat before opening the door, greeting the couple with a smile. “Hey! Just on time, dinner is about done!” He welcomed them inside the apartment.

“Hey, JJ!” Natasha exclaimed as she gave you a small hug when she saw you.

“Hey, Nat,” you smiled as you returned the hug.

“Hey, Kid!” Bucky gave you a hug as well.

“JJ, why don’t you show Bucky and Nat to the table while I bring the food over?” You nod, leading Bucky and Nat over to the small dining area.

“This all looks amazing,” Natasha commented as Roger brought the food to the table. “Thank you so much for inviting us over, Roger.”

“No, no, thank you for helping my little JJ. You guys have helped us out so much, you have no idea how much you both mean to us.” Roger beams while serving himself.

“So, how is school for you, JJ? I’m sure it’s been a big adjustment since the move,” Bucky asked

“Um, it’s good,” you mumbled as you twirled your pasta with the fork.

“Just good?” Natasha piped in.

You shrugged. Roger let out a soft chuckle.

“Sorry, school isn’t one of JJ’s favorite subjects. Never has been. She used to fight with her mother about schoolwork,” Roger forced a somber smile on his face as the couple glanced over at him. “After the fire, school seemed to be worse for her.”

“The fire?” Natasha questioned.

“Yes, the fire,” Roger glanced over at You. “The one we lost JJ’s mother in…”

Natasha didn’t quite understand. She was sure that JJ’s mother died of cancer. She had heard Roger mention it a couple of times before. Natasha focused on the plate in front of her, her eyebrows furrowed together, a small frown growing on her face.

You noticed the confusion written on Natasha’s face, she gave you a small glance and quickly changed her expression.

“I hear class was canceled tomorrow,” you say, changing the subject.

“Oh, yeah,” Natasha rolled her eyes. “Avenger things.”

“Don’t worry, kid, we’ll get back to our training sessions next week and you can continue to kick my butt,” Bucky commented. You smile in response. Natasha initiated a conversation with Roger about his work, Bucky, on the other hand, began to distract himself with the interior of the apartment.

It was empty and grey, almost as if no one lived there. The only sign of life was the people that spoke inside the walls. Bucky couldn’t help but notice the absence of photos on the wall, photos that he would’ve thought to be hung with pride, yet the wall was just an empty canvas. He gave the family a benefit of the doubt, they had just moved in not too long ago. Yet, there were no signs of boxes, no signs that they were still in the process of moving.

The night continued on with conversations of some of the missions the couple had been on. You let out a small yawn. “That’s our cue,” Bucky said with a small smile. “We should head home, we have an early start tomorrow.”

“Let me walk you both to the door,” Roger said as he stood up from his chair.

“Bye, JJ” Natasha said as she gave you a small embrace.

“See you next week, kid,” Bucky said as ruffled your hair.

Roger walked the couple over to the door, opening it for them. “Thank you again for everything,” he said, glancing over at you as you began to pick up the plates. “It means a lot.”

Natasha formed a smile on her face, although, she was starting to grow suspicious of Roger. “It’s no problem, Roger.”

Bucky and Natasha walked down the hall, Roger waited until they were on the elevator to close the door.

“It’s Zemo,” you say as soon as Roger closed the door. You walked over to him, handing him the phone.

Roger gave you a small glance before taking the phone from your hand. “Yeah?”

“It’s time for the pet to play.”

Permanent Taglist (CLOSED): @otomefan @dejaazaro @culturebay @kpopishilarious @fireproof-heaven @iloveyouthreethousand-o6 @weappreciatepower @whereyoustand @white-wolf-buckaroo @spider-woman22 @coffee-habit @supernaturallover2002 @barnes-parker @therealmrshale @myinternetissoslow @celyndavies @xzowiex @ximaginx @wooshytooshy @ellaorelizabeth @rororo06 @chloe-geoghegan1 @hdthdthdt @sophie-barnes26 @thamuddagirl @scarletmeii @ssebstann @fangirl31415 @thepeggyann @lauren-novak @reerrrrskillz @cassmoreiraxo @snarky--starky @unapologeticallymimi @glitterquadricorn @lady-of-lies @just4muggles @mellorine-paprika @agirlruinedbybands @yougottalovefandoms @avngrsinitiative @lizlil

Remember Me Taglist (CLOSED): @fabinaforever11 @eclipwzee @whitelotus13 @yourwonderbelle @blackbannerx @hollandsaetre @hailqueenconquer @mellxander1993 @iwamaye2 @cookies186 @tywys @princessizzy36 @boney-and-skinny @fmb158581 @vapingisntmything @widowbitessting @marvelsswansong @stat89posts @abswritesfandoms @feminist-fan-girl @royale-trash-slytherin @jupiterspoet @blancastans @brckenmemories @lovefairytailforever @witch-of-letters @rdjparker @sebastiansmadden @benhardyseyes @sakourim @fools-fallforyou @s-p-a-c-e-g-a-l @thatsuperherosidekick @bethany-z @all-fandomthings @shikshinkwon @majorlyextra @werenotloverss @mottergirl99 @delicatefirespyplaid @sweetcarolinestudies @lazyoswald

Natasha Romanoff Taglist: @the-lady-cersei-lannister @hollandsaetre @infinity-saga @marvelsexlol @fortunatelynerdylight @thesuitelifeofafangirl @sleepylunarwolf @alicat-life @noobmaster63 @Ballerboobitch @kayleigh2703 @xiumin-girl99 @adriennechavez @becauseilovebooks @supermoonchildbroski @beepbeepmarie

Bucky Barnes Taglist: @multifandomwriter121 @charismas-world @marrgaux @biss-stuff @fortunatelynerdylight @acalmandquietplace @sleepylunarwolf @alicat-life @captaiinameriicasass @Noobmaster63 @pleasantlysecretdream @xiumin-girl99 @thejourneyneverendsx @thewintersoldier1124 @scarletmeii @imjusthereforsupernatural @latsyrc85x @dyckvindyck @dumblani @vapingisntmything @viarogers @supermoonchildbroski @beepbeepmarie @notice-me-tc @cooflix @hollandsaetre @infinity-saga @marvelsexlol

427 notes · View notes

notebooknebula · 4 years ago

Video

youtube

Update on Jay’s Latest Real Estate Deal

https://www.jayconner.com/update-on-jays-latest-real-estate-deal/

Jay is right in the middle of his recent deal at 109 Broad Street in Beaufort, North Carolina.

In this video, he will tell you how he found this deal, how it is funded, and all the numbers that made this deal possible.

First lesson: How to find this type of deal? You need to have a Bird Dog.

What is a Bird Dog?

A Bird Dog is someone that you have who rides around town looking for sale by owner sign or signs of distressed property. They then take a picture of the sign, the property, and take notes of the address and other important details.

Through that, you can now find out the information about the property such as the name of the owner then start reaching out to them.

In this particular story, Jay’s bird dog sent him a picture of this property with a phone number on the for sale sign. Then, Jay forwards the details of the property to his “acquisitionist”.

An acquisitionist is in charge of talking, negotiating, and getting information on the properties initially before Jay gets involved in looking at the numbers.

Through Jay’s acquisitionist, they learned that the selling price of the owner for this property is $299,999. In addition, the owner specifically said that she will not take any offer that is less than the said amount.

Next step, get your realtor to calculate the after repaired value of the house. Now, Jay’s realtor prepared the Comparable Analysis of this property and the after repaired value that came out is $350,000. The difference between the seller’s asking price and the ARV is only $50,000.

What comes next? When they make the calculations of the rehab to make this house a beautiful property the number is $20,000.

Now, what in the world is Jay going to do to make this deal possible?

Watch the full video and discover all the lessons that you need to learn on how to make over $100K profit on a deal just like this.

What can Jay Conner and The Private Money can do for you?

First of all, Jay has got a new book entitled “Where to Get the Money Now?” You can get the book at www.JayConner.com/Book and learn the step by step process on how to get all the private money that you ever need for your deals.

Secondly, Jay has got a monthly membership called The Private Money Academy. He is there, live twice a month for at least one hour of zoom coaching for all the Private Academy members. You are invited to join for a free two-week trial at www.JayConner.com/Trial

Lastly, sign up for free at his upcoming live event. If you want to know what is happening in this live event then check out this link. www.JayConner.com/LearnRealEstate

Real Estate Cashflow Conference:

https://www.jayconner.com/learnreales…

Free Webinar:

http://bit.ly/jaymoneypodcast

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $64,000 per deal.

#RealEstate

#PrivateMoney

#FlipYourHouse

What is Real Estate Investing? Live Cashflow Conference

https://youtu.be/QyeBbDOF4wo Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZfl...

https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateI...

RSS Feed

http://realestateinvestingdeals.mypod...

Google Play

https://play.google.com/music/listen#...

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/r...

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

I'm right in the middle of this deal at 109 broad street that just started a week and a half ago. And in just a moment, I'm going to tell you how I found it, how it's being funded, all the numbers, how I structured it and how you too can make over $100,000 in profit on a deal just like this.

Well, hello there I'm Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority. And welcome back to another episode of Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner. I'm Jay Conner your host of the show. And as I said, the Private Money Authority, if you're new to the show, a very special welcome. We talk here on the show, all things real estate. We talk about how to find deals, how to fund deals, how to get them rehabbed. If rehabbing is involved, how to get them so quickly and how to automate the entire process to where you really can make realistically a six figure income or more, and working less than 10 hours per week. I started in this business back in 2003, investing in single family houses. And since that time we've rehabbed over 400 of them done a lot more deals than that. But as far as rehabs go, we've done over 400.

Well on today's show. I want to share with you this deal, that I'm in the middle of right now, and I tell you I haven't even closed on it. And there are so many lessons to learn from this one deal. So again, it's located at 109 broad street, right over here in Beaufort, North Carolina. And so, first of all, let me just go through the steps as to what happened first and the kind of profits that are taking place on this deal and the lessons that you can learn from this, that you can apply into your real estate investing business as well. So about a week and a half ago, I got a text right here on my cell phone. I got a picture of a for sale by owner, also known as a FSBO sign in front of a house over here in Beaufort.

Well, the text came in from what I call one of my bird dogs. So what in the world is a bird dog in the real estate investing world? What a bird dog is someone that you have as they ride around about town. When they see a for sale by owner sign or signs of a distressed property. Alright, it may look vacant, may have newspapers on the front porch may have grown up, you know, grass, et cetera, either FSBO signs or distress properties. And you have your friend or hired bird dog. You have them take a picture of the FSBO sign and the address of the property. Now, if there's no FSBO sign and it's a distressed property, just have them take a picture of the house and text you the physical address, you can then skip, trace that information and find out who the owner is.

And then start reaching out to them either by direct mail, outbound phone calling, et cetera, on this particular story. I want to tell you exactly what happens. So one of my bird dogs took a picture of this FSBO sign. It's going to have the phone number of the cell phone number of the owner that was selling it. And they also sent me a picture of the house. So I received the text, looked at it and I forwarded the text on to my acquisitionist right? And so acquisitionist what's an acquisitionists. This is Kim in our world, mine and Carol Joy's world. And Kim's been with us since 2004. She's in charge of talking and negotiating and getting information on properties. Initially, before I get involved in looking at the numbers. So Kim got that text from me, and she called up the cell number.

Got the owner on the phone, and got the initial information on the property. So first lesson learned is I would not have gotten this late at all. I would not have this house from the contract, which I now do. I would not have it under contract unless I had my bird dogs in place, because I'm not riding around myself, looking for FSBO signs or distress properties. I have other people. So first lesson gotta have a bird dog, or I would've missed out on this deal. Now, Kim calls up the owner, gets the information on the property. This house was built in 1910. So this is in the historical district. It's only one block from the water fantastic location. So she gets all the information on the property, sends it to me. I look at it and yes, I want our realtor to calculate the after repaired value of the house.

Now let's just see if there's any kind of spread, between what the seller is asking and what the actual repaired value is. Bear in mind at this point in time in the timeline, we do not know what the repair estimate is yet. So we know what the seller's toes, but of course, we're not going to know what it is until we actually go look. But first we want to see if there's some kind of spread between after repaired value, also known as ARV and the seller was asking price. The sellers asking price is $299,900. And make note, the seller said, do not call me back and offer anything less because I'm not going to take one penny less than $299,900. So we have our realtor go ahead and calculate the after repaired value. This is based on sold comps that are near the property.

So, our realtors figures it up in less than 24 hours, we get a complete CMA also known as like comparable market analysis, emailed to us from our realtor that knows this area, like the back of his hand and the after repaired value comes back in at $350,000. Sounds like a pretty good spread so far, but what are the repairs? Well, there's been 299,900 and 350 is only $50,000, right? So there's any kind of repairs whatsoever. Then I know those numbers aren't going to work. So anyway, we want to go take a look at the house. We'd go to $50,000, spread, less repairs. So I have Kim our acquisition get back in touch with the seller. We found out that the seller and her brother are the heirs of this property, the house is vacant. Nobody's living in it. It's free and clear.

There's no mortgages there's no liens attached to it that we know of. Of course, we'll have a title search done by our attorney before we closed. Always get a title search done before you close. And so we want to go take a look well, in just that short two day period between getting the lead from a bird dog, sending it to Kim the acquisitionist getting the seller on the phone, getting the information, getting our realtor to give us the ARV in that two day period of time Kim calls up the seller and we find out that the seller has already listed the property with their real estate agent. No problem. It's listed with a realtor. That's fine. I'm planning on buying it with private money anyway. So, when heirs are involved, it's going to be very, very difficult to negotiate any kind of buying a property on terms with creative financing, with seller financing or what have you.

So I don't want to use private money, paying all cash. And I'll make my offer with all cash and no contingencies. So we set the appointment and my realtor and my contractor go out to the house to take a look and estimate repairs. I'm out of town, I was visiting family. So I'm not even here. Another lesson learned you don't have to be looking at houses yourself, but you must have trustworthy boots on the ground. They can be your eyes for you. So my realtor and my contractor to go and take a look. I get a complete budget sheet sent to me. Repairs are coming in at about $20,000 in repairs to make this home look absolutely beautiful. And it's all cosmetic.It's only got 891 heated square feet, It's a little cottage there in 1910.

Why is it so valuable at $350,000? Number one, location, one block from the water. Number two, these historical houses are hotter than pancakes. So location the attraction of this 1910 cottage, all the stars are lining up. So let's run the numbers. So remember, in order to calculate your maximum allowable offer also known as MAO, your maximum allowable offer. When the after repaired value is above $300,000. In this case, 350. We're going to multiply times 80%. Now I will tell you, I believe the 350,000 is very conservative because my real estate agent, our realtor is very conservative. I believe in this hot market. When I fixed it up, I will be able to sell this house for 375. I really do. Let's run the calculations both ways. If we use the ultra conservative figure of $350,000 and above 300,000, we're going to multiply times 80%, that equals $280,000.

So let's run that again, just to make sure $350,000 times .80, we're leading up to figuring our maximum allowable offer is $280,000. Now repairs are how much $20,000. I'm not going to subtract $20,000 from the $280,000 figure. That gives me a MAO, a maximum allowable offer of 260,000, a thousand dollars. Now, do I ever offer MAO? of two or you know of what it comes up to? Excuse me. And the answer is no. I always throw in at least a $10,000 buffer below the maximum allowable offer to account for who we call Murphy, right? Murphy is the unexpected evil one that might show up with unexpected repairs, Murphy lives in every house, right? So I'm going to subtract an additional $10,000 from the $260,000. So now my offer to the seller is $250,000. Now, do you remember what I said a moment ago?

When my acquisition is Kim talked with the, the sister, she said, don't call me back unless you're and try to offer one penny less than $299,900. Well, we're not calling her back, right? I can't call her back. Now. Maybe I could, but there's no need to call her back because she now has the property listed with a realtor. So all communication now is going through my realtor to their realtor, bear in mind. And remember whenever I'm making offers through my real estate agent to another real estate agent, that's got the listing. Well guess who is paying my real estate agent to represent me. If I get the offer accepted, not me. The seller is paying all the realtors for when are acquiring and purchasing a property. So I communicate back to my real estate agent and his name is Chris. Make the call offer for $250,000.

And here's how I want you to know, make the offer. Lots of lessons here. First of all, tell them it's going to be all cash with no loan contingencies , all cash, no loan contingencies. That's very important. This is called the and this is a writer down right here. The cleaner your offer, the more offers get accepted. In other words, don't put conditions. Don't put contingencies on your offer. If you wanted to get accepted, right? Now, when I say no lung contingencies, can I still buy the house with private money? Absolutely. Yes. When I say I'm making the offer with no loan contingencies, all that means is I'm not making the offer conditional upon me having to go get approved for a loan. Right? So, I told my real estate agent made the offer all cash $250,000, no loan contingencies, even though I'm gonna use private money to pay for it.

And I'll close within two weeks. I also instructed my real estate agent to make the offer and tell them this is a maximum offer, one time only offer. This is a maximum one time only offer. In other words, here's my all cash offer, take it or leave it, you ain't getting this offer from me anymore. That's called fear of loss, right? So remember the seller had told my acquisitionist, they wouldn't take one penny less than $299,900. And here I'm coming with an offer all clean at 250. Guess what? The same day the offer was made, they accepted the offer $250,000 just as we presented the offer big lesson right here folks, huge lesson. And that is, and you wanna write this down, seller of a property does not know what they will accept from you went from your, with your offer until you make the offer.

That's huge. The sale. I don't care what and I'm not saying the seller lied. When the seller, at that point in time said, we won't take one penny less than what we're asking, but there's a big difference. There's a whole different paradigm going on here between the seller saying, I won't take less than X and you actually making the offer. So what's the lesson learned on that piece of this deal. If there's a property you're interested in, make the offer and let the math make the decision, make the offer, regardless of what the seller said they would take or wouldn't take. And let me tell you this as just another side important lesson, if you're a real estate agent says they won't accept that they didn't accept that two weeks ago or whatever. I'm not even making the offer. You tell your real estate agent and by law.

They're required. If you make an offer, if you give them an offer, they're required by law to make the offer. You tell them to make the offer. So I'm scheduled the close on this property. We're under contract, I'm scheduled to close he's on it next week and let's review the lessons learned lots of lessons here. Number one, if I didn't have a bird dog in place to take pictures of FSBO signs and send in to me and us, I wouldn't have gotten this deal. Number two lesson, if I didn't have private money lined up, ready to fund this deal to where I could close in two weeks. I wouldn't have got this deal. Number three, I didn't listen to what the seller said and said, don't make me an offer. Listen 299,900. We offered 250,000, 50,000 less than they said they'd take.

And they took it. Next lesson. I had my contractor had a relationship with my contractor to where the contractor could get out there within 24 hours and estimate repairs. So the contractor relationship was very important. Number the next lesson, my real estate agent, my relationship with my realtor. If I didn't have a relationship with Chris that can get out there right away and also look at the property. And also in less than 24 hours, get me the after repaired value as to what that property would be worth after it's all fixed up, I would have missed out. Another important relationship is the relationship with my real estate attorney. You say, I can't make an offer that I'll close within two weeks, unless I've got a relationship with a real estate attorney that can actually get it done in today's hot market. If just somebody off the street called up my real estate attorneys and say, I've got a property that I want to buy.

They are booked out at least four weeks before they can do any closings. But since I've got the relationship and you should as well, you got the relationship with the real estate attorney. They can get the title search done quickly, never buy a house without a title search, never buy a house without title insurance, and we can get it done. Also another relationship, a home inspection company, when you're doing a rehab like this and this kind of money, you never buy a house without a home inspection and make sure that you, you know, you don't have a big old Murphy showing up that you didn't expect. So you want to have the relationship in place with your home inspection company as well. So there you have it. Now, I'm going to tell you in an upcoming episode, very shortly after this, when I'm actually going to be on location with my videographer taking me through the house and you actually seeing what we are doing in this house.

So there you have it folks, 109 broad street, and a lot of lessons learned that you can put to use as a real estate investor. So let me ask you a question. What can Jay Conner and private money do for you? Well, there's a few things that private money and Jay Conner can do for you. And here's how you can get plugged in. First of all, I've got my new book, which is called where to get the money now, and you can go get the book at www.JayConner.com/Book and get that downloaded and, or get it shipped to you. And you can learn step by step on how to get all the private money you'd ever need for your deals. So you don't miss out.

Number two way how to get plugged into private money. And Jay Conner, is I've got a monthly membership called the Private Money Academy and I'm on there live twice a month for at least one hour of Zoom coaching for all the Private Money Academy members. And you can come join the party at, for free for a two week trial at www.JayConner.com/Trial and come check us out. And I'm telling you, it's just amazing the interaction that we have with all the Academy members. And then thirdly, come on over and get involved and sign up for free in my upcoming live event. If you want to learn what goes on at the live event, you can check it all www.JayConner.com/LearnRealEstate.

Again, that's www.JayConner.com/LearnRealEstate. And I see Cynthia has commented in here, Cynthia, thank you so much for saying hello. Yes. Being new to real estate, investing in Charlotte, North Carolina, looking on mastering subject two deals. As a matter of fact, Charlotte, I mean Cynthia and my upcoming live event, I teach the subject to strategy so you can get to the upcoming live event for free again, www.JayConner.com/LearnRealEstate. Well, I'm so glad you joined us here for another episode of real estate investing with Jay Conner, I'm Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority wishing you all the best and here's to taking your business to the next level. We'll see you on the inside on the next show.

#Jay Conner #Private Money Lender #Real Estate Business #Real Estate #Real Estate Investing #Real Estate Investor #Real Estate Profit #The Money Private Authority

18 notes · View notes

datingintampafails · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 33: Robert*

Robert* reminds me of Peter*, in which, there’s confusion about names, the vibes are never quite right, and the date is pretty short. Though in this case, although we did talk for a longer time than Peter* and I did, the date itself was even shorter, a whopping 45 minutes.

Initially, Robert* likes me first on Hinge. His profile is not necessarily a slam dunk for me. He looks decent looking, though not my usual type, and has a chain bakery listed as to where he works. I like to think I am not a snob when it comes to careers, I’m pretty open-minded, but I do want to be with someone who has ambition and can have intelligent conversations with me since I am pretty well educated. Basically, someone around my level of thinking.

I decided to give the guy a chance and respond to his like by mentioning that I really like cookies at the place he works. He mentions that we could have a first date there and I responded by asking if he has dates with girls at his work often. He tells me he has only been working there a few weeks, so no. We legitimately talk about the different kinds of cookies for a while, then he moves on to ask me about what else I like. I mention my dog, then share that I space out and have trouble thinking on the spot and ask him about himself to see if it will also remind me of other things I like. He talks about seeing friends and playing video games, adds he “Doesn’t get out much.” Without missing a beat, he asks me what I’m looking for on dating apps. The dreaded question. I ask him to tell me first. My reasoning being, I feel like many men will cater their answers to what you want, instead of telling the truth. He writes me a long answer then gives me a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) that is maybe ⅔ the length of the original message, so not that short, that says “going with the flow, down for a consistent [friends with benefits] or relationship, whatever happens, just not a one-night stand.” He announces it is then my turn to respond. I tell him I feel more or less the same, as his original longer message, but that I am not as much interested in the friends with benefits thing. Specifically, I say that with FWB, there needs to be an opportunity, or “nahhh.” I say that expectations only bring hardship and lightheartedly say I like to ask super important questions early in relationships, i.e. like my survey/application from way back when, and add “like cookie choices.” He asks me to clarify my opportunity or nahhh and says he is an open book and I can ask him anything. I explain my feelings more, saying that I don’t see the point of sticking around if someone is dead set on not wanting a relationship with me, as well as it is usually temporary and almost like a holding pattern. I ask my most important question, which is if someone wants children or not.

I get a slight argument back from him, regarding the FWB thing, saying that it can turn into more. I argue back, saying that it is still something that needs to be wanted, or at least both parties from the start can think “maybe someday.” He says this and that about the FWB, before answering my question. He says, more or less, he is open to it but it isn’t a necessity for him, however, he definitely doesn’t want kids right now. He asks me how I feel about it and I express I do not want them but would be open to adoption. He says that’s fine with him and quickly says, “Any other questions.” I am not meaning for this to be an interview. I say I do have a question, but that it is more of an open-ended/ statement that can be responded to. All I say for my “question” is the phrase “trump.” I also let him know I am going to sleep soon so we can continue our conversation in the morning. He does not like my question, that is that he says it is too vague and isn’t helpful for political discussions. I tell him that is my point, and that I am looking for him to express his feelings and that I can either oppose, agree, or somewhere in between. He says likely there would be all three. I go to sleep so I do not respond.

He greets me in the morning with a good morning. I greet him back, though I remind him I am still waiting on his opinions. It is a Saturday, so I also let him know I am about to present for a Zoom conference. He says he’s at a rowing camp and on a break from that, then asks me about my conference. He again requests that I be more specific than just “Saying one word.” I tell him about the conference, but regarding the political question, I send an eye-rolling emoji again saying that that is the point of the open forum, that I am looking for a blanket statement of his feelings regarding Trump.

He again asks about my presentation, and how it went, then goes on to give a pretty neutral debate, saying there’s good and bad, though it seems he veers more towards being a Trump fan, which is not my preference. Robert* offers to me that I can ask any questions about his stance. I am thinking, I do not need an invitation, I have a question and I will ask it.

Robert* inquires what I am doing the rest of the night. I say I’m staying in as I am going to Disney World the next day. I ask him what he is going to do the rest of the night, as that is the societally polite thing to do. I am asked AGAIN if I have any questions to ask him. He also says that he “wanted to do something with someone tonight. Chill night in maybe? Not necessarily sexual. Just relaxing, drinking some wine maybe.” My response is “haha sorry i don’t think i’ll be ‘someone’ today,” both calling him out on obviously being thirsty, as well and reiterating I am not planning on going out tonight. He admits defeat, saying that he didn’t think I would be either, but it was “worth a shot to ask.” However, he does say he does want to get together sometime.

Immediately before I can even respond to that, though, he asks me where in Disney I am going tomorrow. I tell him that Monday I could look at my schedule and put together a time and day we could meet up. I also express that I do not want to meet him at either of our places, mostly because of the stunt he had just pulled. I tell him my Disney World plans as well. He says that it is fine to talk about going out on Monday and says that “that would’ve been the plan” to not hang out at either of our places, despite what he had just said earlier about having a chill night in. I call him out on this, reminding him that he had just said something different, his response being, “yes, sorry if that made you uncomfortable. Im horny as all hell but my intentions are good and i can keep it in my pants. I promise.” How romantic. I send a laughing emoji and say that we’ve all been there before. He says he didn’t want to cross the “TMI threshold,” wherein I say that it is difficult to TMI me, but that doesn't mean I won’t be judgemental. His next comment is awkward, as he invites me to judge, but says that he’s “done [his] fair share of crazy/dumb/slutty shit. As [he is] sure [I] have too.” Weird to accuse someone you are trying to woo of being a crazy dumb slut, but okay. I bring up that I had an abusive relationship but that even in that, I wasn’t completely devoid of wrongdoing. He asks if I am comfortable talking about that and is sympathetic. I tell him more about that and he asks for some of the red flags my ex but off that I ignored. For the billionth time, Robert* offers that if I have any more important questions that I can go ahead and ask. I briefly acknowledge he asked again, by saying “lol if they come up organically I’ll ask” before continuing to talk about my abusive ex. One of the things I mentioned was that my ex was very critical about my body habitus, that is, that I was too skinny. Robert* takes it upon himself to say, “ as far as your body, it seems like you have a great fucking body…. As long as you’re not unhealthy idgaf im attracted to you sooooo” then sends two heart-eyed emojis and a shrugging guy emoji. The line he draws is that his “hands are rated E for everyone,” the context being, if someone hit him he would hit back. I explained my body issues some more and that I have stomach issues, and have always been a small person. He misunderstands and thinks I’m talking about having abs or having a fatty stomach. With the context I felt I had given, I sent a bunch of question marks before adding that my stomach issues were internal. He apologizes a lot for misunderstanding and says he is glad I’m in a better situation.

In his mind, it’s now a great time to bring up that we should text or snap. I tell him that Snapchat is “for hoes” if you only talk on Snapchat. Referencing to myself Darren* mostly. He sends me his number and then I text him. The next day, I am off having a day with my friend at an amusement park. He texts me often throughout the day and I respond when I have a chance. My best friend is asking me “who is this one?” and by the time she asks this, I’m honestly getting a little annoyed. She’s still asking about John* and where he is at. “I don’t know what’s going on with him. We’re mad at him right now. He is doing that shit again. I have to play the game, you know?” I describe Robert* as being kind of needy. At one point, Robert* is texting and asking desperately when I’m free and when we can go out. I tell him “I’m still out I’m not focused on that right now” The overeagerness is kind of a turn-off. And as mentioned earlier, we had already agreed to plan things out on Monday, and it was Sunday. He responds “Ok nvm. We don’t have to talk about that. Sorry.” Maybe I was harsh but had to put this guy in his place. I get a barrage of questions about Disney World. I mention I’m wearing my hat like a frat boy. He responds jokingly, “disgusting, how dare you.” I continue the charade by saying “yep I haze the shit out of people.” Next, however, his response is too cringey, “Mmmm haze me frat mandy” and adds “I can go more cringe.” I reply, “no thanks.” I ignore him for the rest of the day and then when I get home I finally tell him 1) I’m home and 2) what days I’m available. He gets irritated as the two nights I am available, are the only nights he is working. I have some friends coming into town the next weekend as well, so I tell him I’m not really available since I want to hang out with them. We go back and forth on what to do then with our conflicting schedules. Finally, we agree upon doing something after my work, but before his work on one of the days, giving us a tight segment of time but that should be enough for more or less a meet and greet. Because he is the one that will have somewhere to go, I tell him that he’s in charge of the planning and logistics because I wanted to make sure he had enough time to get to work.

We chat superficially in the meantime, mostly about video games and a little about past relationships. And of course… more inviting me to ask questions again. He puts me on the spot regarding the date and is trying to make me plan. I put the responsibility back on him. Finally, he suggests a place he had been wanting to try, that is more or less like a juice bar that also does protein shakes, kind of a health shop. Not really my kind of place, but I’m making him do all the planning so I won’t argue. We both independently go on a search for menus/information. He makes a comment regarding finding the menu but no prices. He randomly comments while we are chatting about the place “have i ever said that youre really fucking cute,” to which I just respond “not like in those exact words.” He adds “but yea you are. I humbly brag, “thanks! I know this about myself.” Typical male response is, presumably joking, “ok you’re too cocky” “youre ugly” “gotta bring you down a peg.” To this I just say, “it’s called confidence/not being insecure.” He switches things around saying “i know confidence is sexy.”

I don’t respond to this and get a good morning text the next day and he makes small talk about how we slept and such. It is the day that I have a date with Timmy*, but of course Robert* doesn’t know this. He at one point texts me saying that his morning got really shitty. I ask him what’s wrong and all he says is “I’ll tell you about it later.” I wonder why people do this, like why bring it up if you aren’t gonna talk about it now? It all seems like a sort of test. I do not play these games. All I say in response is “ok.” He adds “if I don’t text you about it remind me.” I don’t respond. He texts me again asking how my work is going an hour-ish later. I say it’s hectic and he asks if I’m on lunch. I send him a message about not getting full lunch breaks. I don’t hear from him for almost five hours, and given his text earlier about his bad day, I figured something could be wrong given how clingy via text he usually is. I finally text him and ask if he is ok. He says he took a nap and asked again about work, making a point that it was better than his day. Enough of the baiting, I finally say snarkily, “yeah you still have to tell me [what happened.” He is hyping it up now, saying “fair warning - its sad” I don’t respond because I figure he would still go on and tell me what happens and it didn’t warrant a response, but then he adds “if you still want to know” a few minutes later. I honestly don’t care too much, “if you want to tell me.” He finally does tell me what happened, and essentially he saw a dog be hit by a car and had tried to help it with someone else who saw the hit but the dog, unfortunately, didn’t make it. I commend him on trying to help and he says that he did the right thing and that’s why his day sucked. I don’t really know how to respond to that, plus at this point, I am getting ready for my date.

I lie to him when he asks me about my night, saying that I am chilling. More small talk to my disgust, and I verify our plans for the next day. He makes a comment about not being able to see the prices anywhere. This seems to be a worry of his for whatever reason, so I tell him that we can do something else and that I am flexible. He is of no help, as all he says about this is “idk what else we’d do.” My response is “ok” and I say I’m going to bed. In the morning it is finally the day of our date and I let him know that unfortunately I forgot to bring a change of clothes with me to work, so I’ll be wearing my work outfit tonight. He makes a comment about how he’s never seen a cute girl not look good in scrubs, and I let him know that today is the day that changes.

During the day, he states he is thinking of driving by to check the prices of the drinks and that he’s also got a back up. I tell him he should do whatever he wants. I look the places up and they are about 25 minutes away from my work. I head on that way once my work is done and I arrive first. I wait in my car until he texts me to ask which car is mine. I get out of my car and grab my things, now realizing I parked next to a puddle of water and got my shoes a little wet. I laugh it off and say oh well. I see who I presume to be him getting out of a car on the other side of the parking lot. He’s wearing a light pink hoodie, a little different but hey, real men wear pink, right?

I approach him and say hello and give him a hug. We get our masks on and walk into the store. Immediately we are greeted by who I can only assume is the owner of the shop. He is bright and happy and gives us his spiel about the type of beverages they have there. Robert* is being very quiet and is very short with the worker, saying he doesn’t know what he wants and I should go first. I try to describe what I’m going for, and the worker says the exact thing on the menu I want is unavailable due to a delayed shipment, but suggests something else to me and I accept with recommendation. I am done ordering apparently too quickly, as my date is still undecided. The owner ends up just asking him if he likes snickers, the candy bar, and he gives a not-very-believable “Yeah” so the owner suggests to him a shake that is based on those flavor patterns. Robert* is asked if we’re paying together and I look to him, he lets out an apathetic, “sure” and it takes all of my energy not to scoff. The owner tells us that they’re giving discounts out if you advertise the location by sharing a photo on social media and I agree to do so, because why not.

Then it gets a little uncomfortable. The owner is trying to be extra personable and make it a personalized experience, so upon receiving Robert*’s card, he starts referring to him using his name that is on his card. The only thing is, the name I know him by is not the name on the card, nor any fort of that name, like a typical nickname. Under my face mask, I smile and almost laugh to myself like, you dumb bitch who are you even out with rihgt now. Additional peer pressure from the owner also leads to us giving him our emails and signing up for their loyalty program, which also knocks off some cents off our drink. When I give him mine, obviously everything is the same, but when he gives his email, his email does have the name that I knew him by in the address, so I figure okay maybe Robert* is a middle name or something. Because we were under one order, there was also some sort of combo discount included as well since he got a shake and, I, a tea.

As we walk away from the counter and take a seat on a couch maybe 10 feet away, Robert* abruptly asks “what do you think the damage is?” Immediately pulling out his phone and checking the receipt of our drinks. “Uh I don’t know…. Sixteen dollars,” I guess. I am honestly put off by his obsession on price. I understand money issues, but it is not appropriate for first date behavior. I am pretty close, as it is somewhere in the mid $15 range. He scoffs at the prices.

Now that we are sitting together, I am noticing really how disheveled and not put together he looks. He has overgrown stubble, too short to be a beard, but definitely not stubble from just the day. His skin all over his face and body is dry and flaky, especially on his ears. Again, I expect a little more from a man who has had days to prepare for this date. I have been sipping my drink for a while, and it is honestly delicious, one of the best beverages I’ve ever had. He asks if I would like to try his drink. “No thank you, I don’t think it would go well with my fruity drink,” I half lie. The major reason why is that I am weird about sharing drinks/food and that so far I am almost repulsed by him and don’t want to share anything with him.

Despite my lack of optimism already, I try my best to be upbeat and give him a chance. I am trying to start a conversation and ask him questions and get to know him more, but he is a brick wall. He’s just staring at me and not saying anything, occasionally taking sips from his shake. Many of his responses are very sarcastic and rude. He actually brings up the ears; he had a very bad sunburn and that’s why they looked like that. Doesn’t explain the rest of his look though, but at least he was aware of that. It is pretty warm in the shop. I already opted to leave my jacket in the car, but at one point he decided to take off his sweatshirt. Underneath was a red shirt with almost like a confetti cake type pattern, of little microscopic dots of different colors throughout. I compliment the shirt, and mention I have one of a similar type of fabric pattern. I am nodded at. I again continue to try and force conversation, but I am still getting nothing.

Randomly he says, “come here” and puts his arm around me, pulling me close. I am extremely confused, as I was getting very negative vibes from him all over. I make my confusion known by commenting about how that was out of nowhere. His only response is, “oh you know.” “No, I do not know. I have no idea what is going on right now.” He only just chuckles and is like “you’re a cute girl.” I furrow my brow in confusion and figure we should get some air and suggest we take a walk. I ran to my car and put the drink in my car as well as my bag, being light, only having my phone and car keys for the walk. We take off and just walk through a nearby neighborhood. We have maybe 10-15 more minutes until he has to get going so he can get to work in time.

Conversation is still moderately forced, but a little better. At one point, we come up to a tree where the branches overhang drastically over the sidewalk. Whereas before I had been walking on the street side, Robert* has swung around and walked into the street, whereas I choose just to duck under the branches, which is easier with me being shorter, although I would not say he is very tall either. I made a comment about not caring and that he could have just “pushed me into the street/out of the way” and continued on, jokingly, about how you have to put a woman in their place. He says “okay noted I see what you like now,” trying to turn it into something sexual, it seems. I pause a moment, becoming much more serious when I say, “you know I’m kidding. I’ve told you about my abusive relationship so obviously I am not a fan of battering women.” In this moment, he pulls me into an embrace and tries to kiss me. I lean away and ask him, “why is talking about abusing women the time to try and kiss me?” He makes an excuse saying that he just really wanted to kiss me. I lie again, making another excuse about why I don’t want to kiss him, “I’m more old fashioned I guess, I’d like to get to know someone a little better and make sure that we are compatible and know each other well before I do anything.” Again, not entirely untrue. For the five hundredth or so time, Robert* says that I can ask him any questions.

I check my watch and declare, accurately, “We should probably head back towards our cars, you need to head out soon.” We walk back to the parking lot, having idle chitter chatter. When we get to my car, it’s perfect timing, as an alarm he had set to make sure he left on time goes off. I start to say our goodbyes and he tells me again that he wants to kiss me. I make a noise that makes my discomfort known, and he says, “well what about a kiss on the cheek?” I say verbatim, “I’ll allow it.” He makes a sarcastic comment, mocking me about “allowing it.” I retorted back saying, “well yeah.” He sticks to his word and only does a cheek kiss, and I’m cringing and can’t wait to wash my face when I get home. Being polite, I ask for him to let me know when he gets to work.

Using my Apple Carplay, I ask my car to text him when I notice he is driving behind me. Though, as all I’m getting is audio, I don’t know exactly what I am texting until I get home later.

(the first two texts of mine are my car texting and not manually)

Immediately, he asks me my feelings about him.

I then offered Venmo him money for my drink, as obviously money was a huge concern for him. He accepts and sends me his Venmo. I sent him the money and let him know so.

And that is that. He doesn’t text me after that.

#dating #relationships #stpete #florida #tampa #tampabay #hinge #bumble #tinder #datingapps #baddates

5 notes · View notes

prime-meet · 3 years ago

Text

PrimeMeet REVIEWS 2021 — ⚠️ Alert Or Scam?⚠️

PrimeMeet is A Dynamic and Incredible web conferencing software that offers Real-Time Communication with Video & Audio Communication, File Sharing, Screen Sharing, Podcasts, Whiteboard and Live P2P & Group Chat Messaging.

(SPECIAL PROMO DEAL) Click Here To Buy PrimeMeet For The Lowest Price Available Online!

Imagine being able to tap into 300m+ daily visitors! Yes!, it’s a free traffic stream…its achievable…and yet…… just 2% of companies are currently doing live webinars & videos. THE PROBLEM IS Businesses are failing to tap into this never-ending free traffic stream. Most businessmen are finding conducting webinars challenging these days by business owners. Challenges with IT Help desk, lack of solid support resources from service vendor, old and outdated features of the software’s, expensive monthly subscriptions, lack of training are just some of today’s pain points.

For you, it might be one, some, or all of these. Outdated webinar hosting solutions and lack of vendor support just cost you more time and money instead of saving them. Webinars are expensive too….and hard to convert. Most platforms like Zoom charge you over 5K per year for conducting webinars. And if such webinars don’t bring the desired sales and profits, it’s a sheer waste of resources and money. It is time to move over from Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Skype or any other software you are using. Whichever it is, your struggle is genuine, and to overcome it, they have done all the hard work for you… a genuine solution that will make you capitalize on this free traffic stream. Introducing PrimeMeet.Now with PrimeMeet, you can host unlimited video conferences, meetings, live video chats, live classes, online trainings, podcasts, webinars and more along with real time file sharing. All of this…at No monthly Fee…just pay once and use forever. Wanna know how?

(LOWEST PRICE ONLINE) Click Here to Buy PrimeMeet From The Official Website

Step 1: Create Your Webinar, Video Meeting Or Live Conference

Step 2: Show your presentation / Teach your audience

Step 3: Sell your High-ticket Course/ software

Make profits with those webinars you just held when your affiliate link and live stream gets distributed all over social media and thousands of potential customers. Imagine if You can share a link to Your Client and within a Second, You are Live on Video Call. No Software to Install, No Downloads. PrimeMeet works in the Browser in any Device. It is Best Recommended Software for Your Entire Business. Get it Right Now.

PRIMEMEET FEATURES

Multiple Meeting Types: You can choose to conduct any type of meeting. They have multiple options like Video Conference, Webinars, Live Classes, Audio Conference, Podcasts etc to choose from. They support creating and setting up meetings in one click.

Intuitive Whiteboard: PrimeMeet offers you intuitive whiteboard to write and edit all the texts you want to in a beautifully designed presentation interface.

Audio, Video and Screen Sharing Options: It becomes easy for you to conduct any kind of meeting with a client or a team member with multiple choices. You can conduct both audio and video meetings along with the option to share your screen online during the meeting. This can help make the meetings more effective. If you want to share a file on screen, just choose that option and browse a file from any device.

Live Chat / Real Time Messaging: Unlimited list imports can be done inside the tool. It is integrated with features that automatically add subscribers as and when they sign in.

Contacts & Segments for Invitation: The very cool feature of PrimeMeet is that it also helps you to segment your contacts. You can add your own new segments, name them, add description and keep adding as many as you want.

Scheduled & Instant Meetings /Webinar: PrimeMeet allows you to conduct instant meetings with a simple click. Not only this, but it is also easier to schedule meetings in the easy-to-use dashboard. There are multiple options you can operate during the meeting and change the layout of the background as you wish. It also allows you to set up time of the meeting, estimated duration, description for participants etc.

Reports & Analytics: You can send your emails and track them with all reports and statistics features available inside the software to help you analyze the clicks and opens and maximize your conversions. If you want to share a file on screen, just choose that option and browse a file from any device.

Multiple Authentication Option: PrimeMeet has two-factor authentication making it easier for organizations to protect their users and prevent security breaches.

Roles & Permissions Management (ACL) System: Effortlessly assign roles to different team members of your organization with Role-based access control (RBAC) in PrimeMeet.

Multi-lingual & Locale Management: Participants can join meetings and live conferences, using instant language switching, from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. Speakers, attendees and even interpreters can be in the room or half a world across as the solution accommodates on-site and/or off-site interpreters. PrimeMeet has live language translation.

Auto & Manual Screen Locking: Screen can be locked both manually and automatically. One can set up any option they seem best for their needs.

UI and Push Notifications: With the push notification feature, the software alerts with important reminders and helps in improving conversions and meeting important deadlines.

(AMAZING DISCOUNT) Get PrimeMeet For The Lowest Price Here

WHAT PRIMEMEET CAN DO FOR YOU

Completely transform the way you host conferences and webinars and delight your audience

Conduct meetings, conferences, webinars at your fingertips without any monthly fee

Set up things in minutes. Everything is Done-For-You. Just add affiliate links.

PrimeMeet is Easily stream pre-recorded videos without any hassles

Complete protection and privacy ensured with Free end-to-end SSL Encryption

Run unlimited webinars, podcasts with live interaction tools – all automated in few steps.

Easy online file sharing and screen sharing makes meetings more effective.

Conduct flawless whiteboard presentations with beautiful in-built PowerPoint templates with team members and live screen sharing.

Connect With Friends, Clients, Business Partners over high-quality Video calls.

Easily collect leads, promote high quality offers with your affiliate links and increase conversions.

(ACT NOW & SAVE) Click Here to Order PrimeMeet From Its Official Website

PRIMEMEET WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE

Its time you need to leave those outdated webinar hosting tools and grab PrimeMeet with cutting edge powerful technology that automates most of the processes and gets you better results than most of the old, outdated, and systems that are charging exorbitant money every month.

Network how you want – allows your attendees to make connections in multiple ways

Host multiple interactive meetings – Host highly engaging webinars and meetings that grab your audience’s attention.

Offer a Spectacular Virtual Environment – best-in-class virtual environment to draw in participants.

Get real time analytics – Understand your audience with real-time data on attendee activity such as logins, chats, webinar views and downloads.

Global Reach – Reach your audience in all corners of the world

Reduced Costs – Eliminate the cost of travel, food, accommodation, and transportation

Improve Audience Engagement – With various live tools and features in-built in the platform, PrimeMeet is easy to create a delightful experience and captivate your audience easily

#PrimeMeet #PrimeMeetReview #PrimeMeetPrice #PrimeMeetOTO #PrimeMeetFE #PrimeMeetAdvantages #PrimeMeetBuy #PrimeMeetDiscount #PrimeMeetBonuses

1 note · View note

sleepymarmot · 4 years ago

Link

The Zoom Gaze by Autumm Caines

It is critical to understand the Zoom gaze now, before it becomes so familiar that it seems immutable — just the way things are. [...]

Zoom, like most video-conferencing systems, defaults to presenting you with an image of yourself staring back at yourself (assuming you grant it access to your device’s camera). This immediately confronts you with your own visibility: That is, you are forced to see yourself being seen. In a sense, the screen becomes a mirror, invoking earlier encounters with mirrors that (according to Lacanian theory) lay the foundation for you to subjectively recognize yourself as an object for others. In a Zoom call, however, this effect is magnified, because other people are not theoretical but right there, seeing the objectified you as well. This reflected self persists, accompanying us through our interactions unless we deliberately dismiss it. You watch yourself as you speak, as you move … oops, that piece of hair is out of place. You are self-aware and self-correcting in real time. “Does my face look funny when I say “core competency”?

This foregrounded sense of our visibility can make us acutely conscious of matters of self-presentation, opening a gap between how we wish to be perceived and how we know ourselves to actually be. It can posit the idea of an “authentic” or “real” self that is showing a strategic or artificial self to others. This is one aspect of the Zoom gaze: By defaulting to and normalizing a kind of self-surveillance, the platform routinizes this kind of alienation.

But the objectification of the self doesn’t stop with the live image of you the camera captures. Being on camera turns the space you inhabit into a personal stage and everything that appears in it (including who you share space with) into props. The background you choose or the environment you are in inevitably communicates something about your identity; on Zoom these will likely be interpreted as deliberate choices. Even if you turn your camera off, your little square might become a profile picture — another choice.

At every turn, Zoom presumes that we wish to be persistent objects of perception and invites the idea that everything about our appearance can be customized and personally controlled. Its defaults create the impression that we are free to choose how we appear. We can even choose virtual backgrounds that widely expand what we might want to signal about our identity. But this technology is far from perfect. At times, virtual backgrounds in Zoom were erasing Black skin altogether. It is hard to be in control of how you’re perceived when the software renders your head invisible. But even when the tech works as expected, it can’t correct for how others see you. It can only expose you to endless interpretation. [...]

Zoom already allows hosts to control whose faces get blown up to full-size or show up in the top left corner of everyone’s grid. In May 2020 the company removed the “unmute all” setting for hosts due to privacy concerns but now has brought it back as a nuanced “unmute with consent,” which allows a host to unmute an individual participant’s microphone at any time in any of the host’s meetings once given permission. But this framing of consent is problematic to say the least. Can you refuse if the host is your boss? What if they not only have authority over you but abusive intent? An upcoming feature promises to allow hosts to unilaterally establish an “immersive scene” for all participants — essentially, a shared cartoon environment. There seems to be no mention of consent or any ability to opt out, but its example use cases include classrooms and courtrooms, spaces where power dynamics are especially in play. All of this undercuts the control of the camera, microphone, and background you might otherwise believe you have.

The Zoom gaze institutionalizes such dynamics in ways that may be newly obscure or impactful. Think about the positioning around a conference table with the management always at the head: This power dynamic could be re-enacted and reinforced in an immersive scene, aided by a host selectively muting individual microphones and spotlighting cameras to enforce adherence to the agenda. Such features may obscure who is focused on the meeting and who can conceal their drifting attention. Reports accessible to hosts after meetings include “attention tracking,” which measures whether attendees clicked away from main Zoom window for more than 30 seconds. (Hope you didn’t need to reference that email with last quarters’ numbers!) Add layers of artificial intelligence that could track eye movements and speaking times to create engagement scores, and it becomes clear how disciplinary the Zoom gaze can become.

Also, there is no way to know who is having a side chat in another program (with someone in the meeting, or even someone inside or outside the organization) or who could be recording the meeting with additional software or an external camera. Unlike with face-to-face encounters, there can be meetings within meetings within meetings. So much is unknown and so much personal control taken away, it is easy for meetings to feel uneasy and anxious. The Zoom gaze instantiates an intensified paranoia about how conversations are administered, who is paying attention, and who will control the documentation of discussions that can no longer be off the record. [...]

This plays out not only in who has permission to do what but in how the software normalizes particular postures of looking. Because we are typically looking at eyes on the screen instead of the camera, eye contact can be askew, which may send an unintentional message that we are inattentive, bored, and not engaging. Apple now offers a feature that autocorrects this physical reality of your gaze with augmented reality, imposing a norm of (simulated) eye contact. In a twisted bit of doublespeak, the language describing this setting in the interface claims it will “establish natural eye contact while on FaceTime,” even though this eye contact is not natural at all. [...]

The various permutations of settings across different video platforms are virtually innumerable. When you enter a meeting will your camera and microphone automatically be on without notice? What if you mostly just want to listen and are in your PJs? Will you be able to text-chat during the meeting? Will it be recorded? It’s impossible to know in advance, and there are no established cultural norms that push meeting hosts to communicate such nuances beforehand. Instead, the Zoom gaze currently institutionalizes uncertainty as the norm.

#zoom #technology #society #observation #lava klanka is watching you #it's the beholding's world and we're just living in it now

2 notes · View notes

hugoslimdigital · 4 years ago

Text

Webinarjam Platform Guide and Insider Details

WebinarJam does integrations natively in addition to through Zapier. We use the native combination with our email marketing software, Drip. Compared to Zoom, there are far more functions with WebinarJam trial combinations. Both software application tools cost about the exact same to utilize. My Zoom plan costs $40 each month for as much as 100 webinar participants, and another $15 on top of that to utilize Zoom.

42 per month) and it's limitless participants. I got grandfathered in for less than that a couple of years ago, so it's less expensive for us to use Webinarjam trial. WebinarJam is the better offer here due to the fact that Zoom is capped at 100 participants. I believe Zoom is somewhat overpriced for what you'll get.

Zoom is actually developed for meetings, while WebinarJam is for marketing. WebinarJam has features like pre-configuring video injections (which can be video reviews, for example) and webinar offers (which send attendees to any landing page of yours) that will make offering online simpler. Zoom Webinar and WebinarJam are both terrific software application tools, but if I had to pick just one, I would choose WebinarJam because it inspects most (7 out of 8) boxes for what we require at Jeffalytics.

So if you're considering using webinars greatly for marketing purposes, then give WebinarJam a shot. Now that they've fixed their technology hiccups, it's a better piece of software. Zoom will be more matched to your requirements if you need something for conferences. I utilize it to tape-record practically every internal and external meeting.

Webinarjam Demo

I'm a marketer, a chef-in-training and a San Francisco resident. Also, I began this blog site, Growth Marketing Pro and constructed it into a 6-figure passive income company in 18 months. A sincere WebinarJam review from Growth Marketer, Hailey Friedman. Are you thinking about a webinar software tool and trying to decide which one is best?As a growth online marketer at a startup, I was in your shoes about 3 year ago.

I'm going to share my experience with you so that you don't have to make the very same mistakes I did. I even put together this ideal webinar script for you so that it's extremely simple to begin when you're all set and it's free. If you're prepared to start, sign up for a WebinarJam $1 14-day trial.

They've been around for a while and have a well-established brand name it appeared like a no brainer. The GoToWebinar software application looks like it hasn't been updated given that 1997. It's cumbersome and not enjoyable to utilize. And it's more costly than the alternatives at a high $2,400 a year. And it provides less bells and whistles than its enterprise webinar software application peers: WebinarJam, Zoom, GetResponse, Demio, ClickMeeting, and so on.

The starter package uses "100 Individuals" however allows you to invite 500+ people. So the first time I ran a webinar using GoToWebinar, I lacked webinar participant seats in the very first few minutes! 100 individuals joined us. However there were another 95 individuals who couldn't get in. I started getting lots of e-mails asking why they couldn't access the webinar.

What Are The Details Of The Webinarjam Free Trial?

So I called customer assistance. They informed me I might just have 100 individuals inside the webinar. Why on earth then, would they let me welcome 500 participants? Didn't they think that was a shitty experience for our consumers who registered and didn't get in?I asked if they could make an exception for my first webinar and let these people in, like right now.

I informed them I 'd pay on the area to get updated to the "Pro" account so that I might let the remainder of the participants into the room. They couldn't do it. Client service was completely unhelpful. That very first experience with GoToWebinar was such a catastrophe (Read my complete GoToWebinar review here).

I've reviewed every webinar software application and WebinarJam is my preferred. Every. Single. One. And if you don't think I have actually done my research study, read any of my other articles. Yup, that's me, the webinar queen!I have actually used WebinarJam for years and think it is most likely the easiest, most budget-friendly and greatest webinar tool, especially for business owners who wish to use webinars to engage and offer to clients.

It's priced lower than any other software application and offers more functions at $39/month. Attempt it for 14 days for $1.They have training videos at every step along the method to show you exactly what to do. There are also live representatives available 24/7 to help. You can use appear buttons, offers & countdowns to motivate webinar attendees to do something about it.

Read more of the Webinarjam details below

https://hugoslim.com/webinarjam-60-day-trial-pricing/https://sites.google.com/view/hugoslim/webinarjam-trialhttps://derekpierce.aweb.page/p/fe794e96-5078-4449-a466-b4549c2fbf40https://hugoslim.mystrikingly.com/blog/webinarjamhttps://hugo69786.wixsite.com/hugoslim/post/webinarjam-free-trial-only-1-for-full-access

1 note · View note

microsoftenterpriselibrary4 · 4 years ago

Text

Microsoft Teams covers 75M daily active customers, as Zoom readjusts its very own user numbers

Personalized histories for Teams video calls are now generally available, as is a capability for meeting coordinators to immediately "finish conference" by clicking a switch in the control bar, Microsoft announced last week. By the end of April, Microsoft is guaranteeing that Groups will certainly support up to 9 noticeable participants at once on video clip phone calls. A photo shared by Microsoft suggests Groups will certainly have a 3 x 3 grid for viewing 9 participants all at once. Digital meeting devices make it possible for individuals to interact socially, function, as well as team up in powerful as well as new means. The University of Denver uses 2 video clip partnership sources to its community.

Do you have concerns regarding Zoom or do you want to experience Zoom Meetings as well as Zoom Room yourself? Contact our video professionals totally free advice and a presentation. A boosting variety of organizations utilize Zoom as their interaction and partnership solution. Microsoft clients utilizing Skype for Organisation are compelled to reconsider this selection as Microsoft introduced to terminate Skype for Organisation in favour of Teams in 2020.

Guests have the ability to see what they appear like as well as can turn off their microphone and also transform their cam on or off prior to telephoning. Google's user-friendly control can scroll through video streams of speaking individuals, as well as advise you that you are mute if you talk without switching on your microphone. Beneficial attributes consist of presenting the 10 most active participants along with the ability to send out text messages by means of the interface. Zoom Fulfilling offers you information concerning the connection of all participants in the call.

Nevertheless, the business has responded quickly by adding waiting space functionality so participants can be screened plus added verification and also security actions. Microsoft Teams is an all-in-one workstream partnership service which incorporates with Office365. With numerous organizations already using O365, Groups becomes an appealing option as it enables durable interior cooperation, back-ups, and documents share. On the various other hand, Zoom is an attractive choice for external partnerships.

For instance, during a current tiny group telephone call, among my individuals linked from a mobile device using 4G. When his link was secure, I saw a collection of white bars suggesting the toughness of his connection in the reduced left edge of his video. Zoom Satisfying has an one-of-a-kind participant reporting function that checks all participants that reported throughout the conference. Google recently revealed that it will certainly enable free access to numerous video conferencing and communication tools for schools and also companies till September 30, 2020, which relates to all G Suite consumers worldwide. Microsoft lately facilitated the screening of Groups and also their different functions during the pandemic.

It is fascinating to note the convenience with which the workers have used the system and browsed via it on their own," states B. Ghosh, CIO, enterprise as well as corp functions, Mahindra Team, which has been making use of Microsoft Teams because the lockdown started in March. Ms. Jenelle says there's a performative element to videoconferencing, which includes in her very own exhaustion. She really feels as though she always needs to be "on" while joining a virtual meetings, given that she understands other people are watching her.

While there is some function overlap between the solutions, every one has its own specialized. This file will certainly aid assist you to the best device for your needs. Teams aids organisations to interact more effectively through team chat, on the internet meetings, calling, and also web conferencing.

The VP doesn't mention Zoom by name, but this seems an initiative by Microsoft to promote Teams as a safer, much more protected alternative to Zoom. The Redmond firm says it logged 200 million meeting participants in someday this month. Teams is consisted of with Microsoft 365 memberships for companies, and firms need to upgrade to greater versions of those strategies to unlock advanced functions of the program, such as video telephone calls.

It's likewise protection against Zoom-crashing harassers, as well as it's good that the firm is moving in this direction. Zoom claimed it's now concentrating a lot more on its safety as well as re-evaluating the balance in between protection as well as simplicity of usage. While Skype's Meet Now supplies a grid sight, Zoom lets you see approximately 49 people simultaneously, in sets of huge 5x5 grids (attempting to figure it out? Right here's just how to see everyone on Zoom).

The business states you can call your local Microsoft companion or sales agent as well as secure free access to Office 365 E1 prepare for a duration of 6 months. For institutions and establishments, the Workplace 365 will stay complimentary to all.

We provide reducing edge, tailored IT options as well as IT support and maintenance to ensure your organisation IT set-up is as efficient, reliable, and fast as possible. Connect with us to learn more regarding our solutions or to arrange a consultation with among our knowledgeable IT experts. Group video, screen sharing, and also telephone calls are still limited to teams of 20 or fewer. So go on, begin planning that shock workplace party with the new, larger team conversation. Whether in the space or across a sea, Groups as well as the Microsoft Surface area Hub interact to improve conferences for neighborhood and remote attendees.

Is Microsoft Team free?

The free version of Microsoft Teams only allows you to have up to 300 members (users) per organization. Paid plans, meanwhile, up that up to a potentially unlimited amount of members, with an enterprise license.

A guide to requirements as well as functions of the leading three video clip conferencing apps. To date, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and also Cisco Webex have outweighed Google Meet and its predecessor brands, amongst businesses and companies. Introduced in 2017 as Hangouts Meet, it included a videoconferencing extension of the Google Hangouts conversation and also voice communications device. It has actually preserved a solid following among pupils and also for customers.

They can simply develop a web link and send it to loved ones as an invitation to join the video clip telephone call. The participants open the web link in Microsoft Side or Google Chrome, and also they are "in" the call. In this Vlog we take a look at Zoom vs Microsoft Teams to identify the most effective alternative for video conferencing. K2 Technologies is aMicrosoft Workplace 365 Partnerwith almost twenty years of experience assisting businesses make use of modern technology to its fullest potential.

Microsoft assumes individuals who prepare trips with friends or organize book clubs and also social gatherings will be interested in Teams. Alexa ranking https://mnetworks.dk/om-os-2/social-ansvarlighed-csr/ 21 (As of 22 April 2020 [update] Zoom Video Clip Communications, Inc. (Zoom) is an American communications modern technology company headquartered in San Jose, The Golden State. It provides videotelephony and also online chat solutions via a cloud-based peer-to-peer software application system as well as is utilized for teleconferencing, telecommuting, correspondence course, and social relationships. If your video clip gets on during a conference with several participants, it instantly presents to all individuals, including on your own. If you hide on your own, your own video clip screen disappears from your display, leaving even more room to see other participants.

Among the best features of this is that it sustains as much as 250 participants in a telephone call, that makes it useful for big conferences. You can additionally live-stream conferences to up to 100,000 people, helpful for bigger ventures attempting to reach huge groups. The base prepare for Zoom consists of a host limitation of 100 individual, endless 1 to 1 conferences and team conferences yet a 40-minute limit on conferences with 3 or even more individuals in them. Shutterstock is another popular graphics web site giving free backgrounds to personalize Zoom and also Skype telephone calls.

It's additionally worth noting that cloud storage space is limited, so be careful how many conferences you document while utilizing the mobile app. The business has made several moves to counter these problems and also assure users about the value of protection and also privacy. This includes basic points like removing the conference ID from the title bar of the phone call so if customers share screenshots on-line the meeting isn't revealed to future misuse. If your system manager has a Pro, Business, or Venture account, you can authorize up and download Zoom onto your computer system using your work email.

Furthermore, it has to be stated that Groups takes rather a great deal of time to set up, so bear that in mind. Microsoft Teams allows you share Workplace documents and service them immediately from the work area. Slack doesn't included the option of modifying papers from the work area, so you need to download documents as well as open them in certain applications to edit them. The most important thing to recognize is that Slack's dimension restriction for submitting is 1GB, while Microsoft Teams is covered at 15GB. We really did not bother to inspect these numbers and upload gigantic files-- we were extra interested in exactly how you can collaborate in these apps.

How do you see everyone on Zoom?

Now, a report by Bleeping Computer claims that half a million Zoom accounts have been hacked and the data from these accounts have been sold on the dark web. These Zoom account credentials reportedly included email address, meeting URLs, passwords, and HostKeys.

Google has claimed it will certainly offer Hangouts components as separate customer services, such as Chat, Messages and also Duo. " Due to the fact that video conferences have never ever been more vital, we've been fast-tracking one of the most requested features for Meet, and also are currently making them offered to all," composed G Suite VP and also GM Javier Soltero in a blog. Google Meet now has a tiled gallery view with a format that currently supports 16 participants, up from just four. They can likewise now pick better video clip by switching to the 30 frameworks per-second video mode choice.

Just like in a routine Teams meetings, you can now include your system audio when offering in an online occasion. Presently, this attribute is only available for producers and presenters signing up with from the Teams desktop computer application for Windows.

No Wire Necessary-- Security & Safety And Security In A Wireless World.

allows individuals to satisfy in person from a desktop, laptop, mobile device or video clip conferencing endpoint. It utilizes the trusted Cisco infrastructure and incorporates with Webex Teams as well as with various other famous suppliers such as Microsoft. Meanwhile, in Italy, service applications like Google's Hangouts Meet and also Classroom were one of the most downloaded and install of any classification of apps this week. Do you know when this feature for Microsoft Teams Room Equipments to join Webex and Zoom conferences will be released? Older Cisco rooms will certainly have the ability to join Microsoft Teams Meetings by means of Cisco's forthcoming CVI service.

To try it out in your next meeting, press Ctrl+ to zoom in as well as Ctrl- to zoom out. Create a welcome web link to invite people to join your org on Teams free by means of the app of your selection. When they click on the web link they'll be sent out to a webpage to demand to join your org-- so you know specifically that's utilizing the web link to join.

Microsoft is additionally coming out with versions of Teams for personal and also family usage. Microsoft has seen a 775 percent rise in cloud solutions across areas that have implemented social distancing because of COVID-19.

Is Zoom owned by Google?

Microsoft originally acquired Skype for $8.5 billion back in 2011. It was the same year that Zoom and Snapchat were founded, and Apple launched its iPhone 4S.

IT specialists can likewise access Microsoft Teams also if their firm is not certified for Groups. They can call their Microsoft companion or sales representatives for free access to the Workplace 365 E1 plan for 6 months.

So, we decided to submit an 800MB video clip documents in Microsoft Teams to give it a shot. To our surprise, the documents not just opened promptly yet likewise played within Microsoft Teams-- very impressive. It's even more budget-friendly than Slack or Microsoft Teams while providing advanced attributes such as endless message history and also sound and also video clip calls. To cut the story short, the least expensive Workplace 365 Strategy that has Teams in it is called Service Basics. It costs $5 per user per month and you need to buy a yearly strategy to get going.

Within this contrast, I want to look closer at both what these tools supply, however how the tools and also their organization result in an inevitably various platform emphasis. As an example, Microsoft Teams appears to master Office 365 based cooperation, meanwhile, Webex Teams is an incredible virtual conference system with digital whiteboarding, in addition to a concentrate on equipment. But it is essential to acknowledge what solutions as well as Office applications your service get to based upon the strategy selected. As an example, even the Free offering of Microsoft Teams provides access to shadow variations of preferred Workplace Apps, however none other services or downloadable versions of the software application. With more individuals, even more files, more conferences, more cooperation, a lot more video clip meetings, more whatever; larger companies merely need the tools to deal with and also facilitate this higher degree of cooperation and emphasis.

What is the difference between zoom and teams?

Through the Microsoft Teams Zoom Meetings tab, you will be able to start, schedule, join meetings, or share your screen. Meetings created in Teams will automatically appear on your Zoom account. This article covers installing, configuring and using the Zoom integration for Microsoft Teams.

It's a little on the expensive side but they just recently expanded their product to currently supply display sharing and also video conferencing. Google Hangouts is our pick for best video conferencing software application for small teams. The web video clip variation is called Google Hangouts as well as is what our group makes use of at We Rock Your Internet. When it comes to on the internet conference solutions, we contrast the ideal video conferencing software application and also review why some of the most identifiable companies might not be your finest option.

This is in fact cheaper than Slack's most affordable strategy (Conventional), which costs $6.67 per individual per month when billed every year. It makes the price much extra eye-catching when you take into consideration the truth that $5 invested on Microsoft Teams additionally provides you access to Workplace 365. Nonetheless, if you intend to get the most out of Microsoft Teams and also Slack, you'll need to obtain a paid strategy. In Microsoft Tools, that suggests that you require to have an account that is either Business Premium or Essentials.

As preferred and as useful Zoom has been for many organisations, the safety and personal privacy elements are still not there. Microsoft Teams transcends in the feeling that due to it's association with Office 365, there are added methods to increase your standard protection. Password freshens, credibility symbols and 2 element verification process-- Zoom just can not compete with these extra levels of safety.

According to Microsoft, people in Norway and also the Netherlands turn on video clip as well as use it the most, with about 60% of conferences in the country including video clip. Right here in the United States, the number is about 38%, and in the UK, it has to do with 47%. Microsoft Teams currently has attributes that assist make video talking easier, and extra get on the means. That currently includes history blur, which helps conceal your background during a telephone call.

You can manage whether to hide or reveal yourself in your own video clip display screen for each conference. As an existing Skype for Organisation client, the full shift to Groups may take a little time. Thankfully, the overlapping capabilities of both apps imply you do not need to do it at one time-- there are a couple of different conjunction as well as upgrade settings to consider when selecting your personal course to migration. Although Groups takes much of its DNA from Skype for Business, both are really various solutions. When you placed them side-by-side-- Microsoft Teams vs Skype for Service-- you'll see that Teams provides a lot more, bringing together files, talks, and also applications in one area for a much more full, integrated cooperation remedy.

Why is teams better than Skype?

According to a recent Forrester study, shared workspaces like Teams can save users timeâ€”from one to eight hours per user per week, depending on their role. The wins from making the Skype for Business upgrade to Teams are clear: faster, more efficient working and collaboration.

Though Microsoft Teams as well as Skype for Organisation does differ, there is some considerable overlap. Both Skype for Company as well as Microsoft Teams include team chats, straight messaging, and voice calling. Though Microsoft Teams initially really did not have the calling capability that Skype did, it still had both voice chat and video clip calling functionality.

After that you ought to leave the conference, if you're not using Skype to meet with a person. Then it won't utilize a lot information and also you don't need to bother with the video/audio quality while you're not in a conference. Webex has unrestricted free meetings for up to 3 individuals and offers the premium includes complimentary for 2 week.

Still, it's improving all the time, and is certainly something to try if you are taking a look at an alternative to Zoom. Jitsiis a extremely cool and safe open resource app that's recently launched to the marketplace.

As several churches relied on Zoom for live-streaming, Sunday morning ended up being prime-time show for a vital group of Zoom individuals. The largest customer of teleconferencing is India Inc, which began its fiscal and also established targets with a flurry of web conferences. " We have done greater than 350,000 conferences, greater than 60 events with hundreds of individuals in each.

For large range company meetings with coworkers or calls with numerous good friends, Zoom for desktop is the only sensible choice. Free Zoom supplies video conferencing for approximately 100 individuals, supplied the conference competes no more than 40 mins, at which point guests are ejected from the meeting. If you don't mind the headache of dialling back in, though, the host can merely begin another telephone

1 note · View note

jessileighmym-blog1 · 5 years ago

Text

Week 1: Personal Blog Entry

Jessica Medeiros

BSCOM/330

7/7/20

Dana Kaufman

My Definition of Computer Mediated Communication:

I believe computer mediated communication refers to interpersonal communication and relationship building solely on computers. It refers to virtual connection through the form of a screen such as a computer, phone, tablet and/or smart device.

According to CommunicationTheory.org (2020), “CMC or Computer Mediated Communication can simply be put as a transaction between two or more network computer like chartroom, emails, SNS (Social Networking Sites), text messages etc.”

(At least) Three ways daily communication is mediated through technology, by way of cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers to access messages and social networks:

Emailing a coworker a memo or important piece of information

Texting a friend or family member “hello” and “have a great day”

Hosting a Zoom conference call (business and/or pleasure)

Checking Facebook for new updates and what is going on with ‘friends’

Watching a documentary or other televison show on Netflix

Blogging (as you can see here)

doing research about a subject by way of Google or Yahoo

Checking Yahoo News for updates in what is going on in the world

Phone call with an old friend

Making a reservation at a restaurant

My opinion on whether or not these forms of communication enhance a sense of community and why:

I believe these forms of communication enhance the reach of a physical community. With today’s ever-expanding use of the internet, people can connect virtually like never before. One can have a conversation with someone who is in the hospital across the country; someone else can lead a business from anywhere in the world and have virtual Confrence meetings with their employees. People are able to talk to and communicate with anyone, anywhere, in real time. This is a new sense of community-a world wide virtual community-that we can all have the opportunity to make our mark in. Social networking make social distancing easy and doable, as we are social beings and we do need to communicate with one another.

How privacy is challenged by computer mediated communication and researched examples of how to counteract this:

Privacy is challenged constantly by computer mediated communication. People are imputing their information everywhere online and giving access into their daily lives to companies and individuals alike. For example, social media poses challenges in the conservation of privacy. Social network sites invite the user to generate more data, to increase the value of the site and said Users pulled in to give their personal data for their profile to be more complete and the benefits of the services. By providing their data and attention to the site, they are ‘paying’ to use the site. In addition, users may not even be aware of what information they are tempted to provide, as in the aforementioned case of the “like”-button on other sites.

One way of limiting the temptation of users to share is requiring default privacy settings to be strict. Even then, this limits access for other users (“friends of friends”), but it does not limit access for the service provider. Also, such restrictions limit the value and usability of the social network sites themselves and may reduce positive effects of such services. (Bellman, Johnson, & Lohse 2001).

Positive examples of how computer mediated communication may be leveraged in the future:

A few positive examples of how CMC may be leveraged in the future include innovation of technology and connection world-wide. Virtual medical exams and doctors’ visits could exist with the help and use of highly advances and technical robotics. Drones can deliver time sensitive materials like food and water to places that couldn’t be reached in the past.

Augmented reality may be helpful and a positive use of CMC in the future. Perhaps we will have glasses or a smart phone that will allow us to tap into a virtual world with information uploaded when we look at it.

Marketers may have ads tailored to a person’s specific likes and can show up based upon one’s location and unique taste. People may be able to pull up reviews of a shop or restaurant without having to walk in and see all the information through these glasses.

Language may no longer be a barrier with futuristic glasses or EarPods that can translate a language real time during a conversation without the need for a live translator.

In the distant future we may have access to others by way of Brain-Computer Interfaces. This technology could communicate with another by sending thoughts through a network directly into another’s brain-a technology-assisted telepathy (Science Daily, 2010).

My thoughts on how computer mediated communication has affected my face-to-face communication:

Computer mediated communication (CMC) affects my face-to-face interaction in many ways. I don’t feel the need to story tell or explain a lot of my adventures, as I post photos and explanations online. I also don’t see my family or friends in person as much because we can just call and talk over the phone or through text. I feel I am becoming less witty and social, honestly. I do feel like in the interim, I am becoming more efficient with me time, schoolwork, work and outreach. I just don’t feel like I am going as deep as I would be if I was in an office or driving to see friends and family. I do make it a purpose to get out of the virtual world and into real life every day, just not nearly as much as I did as a younger version of myself. Somewhere along the line efficiency has become more important that quality leisure time with those I love, and I need to correct it before it’s too late. I read a research study that showed CMC is enhancing people's private self-awareness and diminishing their public self-awareness. (Here is the link to reach more on this study of "The impact of computer-mediated communication on self-awareness": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0747563288900155)

References

Bellman, S., E.J. Johnson, & G.L. Lohse, 2001, “On site: to opt-in or opt-out?: it depends on the question”, Communications of the ACM, 44(2): 25–27.

CommunicationTheory.Org. (2020). Computer Mediated Communication. https://www.communicationtheory.org/computer-mediated-communication/

Jonathan Strickland "What is the future of communication?" 12 April 2010.HowStuffWorks.com. <https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/future-of-communication.htm> 7 July 2020

Quick, Darren. "Brain-to-brain communication over the Internet." Gizmag. Oct. 6, 2009. (March 29, 2010) http://www.gizmag.com/brain-to-brain-communication/13055/

Science Daily. "Brain-Computer Interface Allows Person-to-person Communication Through Power Of Thought." Oct. 6, 2009. (March 29, 2010) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006102637.htm

1 note · View note

fonzirelli-posts-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Working from Home, Tips from a Sweatpants Pro

Right now, everybody is experiencing an unprecedented change in the way we live our lives. Many of you now, for one reason or another, are working from home for the first time, or at least now every day.

When I first started working from home years ago, I have to admit it was a little rough. I was sitting at my desk upstairs in one of the bedrooms, and it was too easy for me to get sidetracked. I love to watch a good television show and I would find myself every once in awhile clicking it on in the middle of the day and getting sidetracked. So one of the first things I realized is that you have to be very selective on where you are going to work. Are you going to be working from your Home Office you already have or are you going to set one up? Are you going to be working at the kitchen table, dining, or coffee table? All of these environments serve up different ways to work with different temptations. Which temptations are you most susceptible to? Do you need lots of isolated space? Lots of natural light? Somewhere away from the sounds of news and Netflix? Is staring at the kitchen going to make you run for that next cup of coffee or something to nosh on? Establishing where you feel you can be most productive and distraction-free is step one.

You have to treat working from home like you do when you're at the office. That job where you got up in the morning and showered, got dressed, and got in your car and drove somewhere.

Everybody jokes about working from home in your sweatpants and a T-shirt (and I am not going to lie, I’m doing it right now!). And while this is okay once in a while, what you wear really does change your mentality. You need to prepare yourself for your day.

Don't start with the “it doesn't really matter because no one is going to see me” attitude because if you're not used to working from home, it changes your attitude and subsequently your performance. The ritual of all that you did going to your office psyches you up, and is still, if not even more, important to maintain. If you normally go to work at 8:00 o'clock, then do not change your pattern at home. It’s easy to get a false sense as of “I can do this from 9 to 10, then that from 2-4.” Now, with more time, you will start to understand your own rhythms better and can make more insightful decisions about how and when you can use your time, but in the beginning, stick to what has worked for you.

This biggest danger of working from home is being sidetracked. There are so many things that we face when we are working from home, I call them “shiny objects”: Watching YouTube videos, surfing Facebook, Instagram, that group chat, etc. Remember, these apps are designed to distract you, to suck away your attention. So turn them off! My Achilles heel is my email. So I developed this little process that I'm going to encourage you to think about it: I set the clock on my phone for about 30-45 minutes, depending on the project that I'm working on. I start it and then shut my email off. Blasphemy, I know! But it needs to be done. Trust me, if anybody really needs something so urgent they can’t wait an hour, they are going to call or text you. The goal is to minimize distractions, both virtual and physical (important papers, that new book, or to-do list on your desk).

Given the current environment, what’s unique about working from home now is that everyone is doing it. Your wife, your husband, your kids, your sister, mother, grandma, and third uncles could all be there at home with you. So now you’ll need to work hard to set up some clear boundaries, set some guidelines so you can focus on the job that you have to do now.

Another unique challenge and opportunity in this climate is in regard to activities like networking, which are best done in person. I’m a big networker, and go to at least a couple of networking events every week–but you can't do that now in this current environment. So we are all moving virtually. The tool for video conferencing is Zoom. No doubt you’ve heard of it, and I too am going to recommend it. So maybe there's that person you met at a conference two or three weeks or a month ago and you thought they would be a good person to network with, but you just didn't have the time because you're really busy. But now you have the time, and probably they do, too. So I encourage you then, through zoom, to send an invite like: a “hey Bob, hey Mary, we met a few weeks back at a conference. Hey, I'd love to really network with you. Do you have some time for a short chat via zoom so we get to know each other a little bit better? And given this current environment, is there anything I can do to help you?” Just because it’s virtual, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the time to build a relationship.

In conclusion, this is a great time to pause and connect. While it’s understandable and easy to get discouraged or sad, try and stay positive. I’ll say it again, stay positive. As soon as you feel down, remember that this too will change. Like in the movie Jerry McGuire, Dicky Fox said, “I wake up every morning and clap my hands because this is going to be a great day.”

That's what I want you to do every morning when you get up. Clap your hands and think “this is going to be a great day!”

Listen to the Tips to Working From Home Business Growth Café podcast HERE or on any major podcast platform - iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean

#marketing #businessadvice #working from home

1 note · View note

anjodalua · 5 years ago

Text

How To Pass Time Easily While Lockdown Occurs

Specialists’ tips on surviving – even taking part in – life underneath lockdown

lacking the pub? Invite friends to on-line cocktails. That’s just one tip from our panel of professionals on the way to make the maximum of enforced downtime

henry porter, novelist and conceitedness honest editor one of the nastier elements of the pandemic is that it turns your buddies and all which you do to show them affection – hug and kiss; proportion meals and drinks – right into a lethal threat. And but, on this appalling second, we need our buddies more than ever, and it is probably real that our immune structures do, too. Isolation is terrible for a species addicted to social intercourse. My solution has been to start a cocktail hour on a video conferencing web site, sending one or two friends each day an invitation to drinks in the front of their pc (or cellphone) at a time when we might typically meet in a pub or at every different’s houses. It’s unexpected what a difference it can make to an afternoon of isolation, and in your spirits in fashionable, to look your pals’ faces in the evening and listen them communicate and laugh. Henry porter playing cocktail hour with glass of wine, a pc and some pals. Henry porter enjoying cocktail hour with a few friends. Image: liz elliot the scale of covid-19 and what it’s doing to us is very stressful, but an hour with specific buddies each evening certainly helps lessen anxiety, and of route you could make much more attempt than i do – get dressed up, mild candles, offer nibbles (crisps make an excessive amount of noise). Anything pleasure is launched when you see your pals inside the flesh is likewise found in those video cocktails, and the lovely component is that for a small price the host receives unlimited conference calls (i pay £one hundred ten yearly for bluejeans) and guests pay not anything. Honestly, this will be expanded to speaking to neighbours you could not recognise very well, or humans you accept as true with are actually stricken by enforced isolation and loneliness. It can also be an amazing way of meeting people. Each participant may invite a person nobody else is aware of. It’s truely terrific for brand spanking new moms, e book clubs, soccer supporters – all and sundry who's lacking out on regular touch. Despite the remoteness of the interplay and the occasional annoyances of the generation, i find that humans honestly talk inside the video cocktail hour. Maybe that has some thing to do with the anomaly of the interplay – you are neither by myself nor certainly in organisation. You're half-manner between the two and possibly that makes you extra candid. Sites i have used include zoom, bluejeans and whypay? And my daughter has simply brought me to the houseparty app. Grow herbs alice vincent on her south london balcony. Alice vincent on her south london balcony. Advertisement

alice vincent, city gardening columnist and writer i in reality suppose gardening is what will hold us sane via this. It connects us with the outside and the gentle delight of looking matters develop brings a unique positivity. If you’ve no garden, there are masses of methods to grow indoors. You’ll want a sunny windowsill, inner or out. I always advocate beginners to develop herbs. They’re smooth and delicious – and whilst grocery store components are low they turn out to be more and more worthwhile. The plastic trays that tomatoes and mushrooms come in will do – just make some holes within the bottom for drainage. Fill with, ideally, peat-unfastened multipurpose compost (most nurseries supply and will be thankful for the custom). Parsley and basil rub alongside thankfully subsequent to each other, but mint’s a piece of a thug and better in its personal pot. You could also chuck in some salad leaf seeds: pea shoots, rocket and nasturtiums germinate speedy and are tasty at any point of their growing cycle. Sow in keeping with packet instructions: you’ll need a fragment of what’s in the packet. Preserve the soil moist – an vintage spray bottle is perfect for this – earlier than and after shoots seem. If youharvest no extra than a 3rd of the plant at a time, all should get better.

Exercising

justin jacobs, manager, equinox fitness golf equipment we're creatures of habit in what we consume, whilst we paintings, what tv indicates we watch. Right now, all the ones habits had been shoved out of the window. There’s quite a few confusion, but that is an possibility to create new conduct. So what to try? What’s your new routine? It is able to be fluid and might change, but what do you want to attempt? There’s lots of first-rate on line content available. Equinox’s moreover platform gives an expansion of workouts, however seek the web to discover a trainer or trainer you want and accept as true with. John berardi, a nutritionist i paintings with, is often requested, “what’s the fine vegetable to devour?” his solution is that it’s the vegetable you like and could eat regularly. Workout is the equal. There may be a run on domestic health club device proper now, but dumbbells, ropes and other useful merchandise are nevertheless available online. Choose what’s proper to your area. I’ve just ordered a few opposition kettlebells due to the fact they’re some thing i in reality experience. There’s copious anecdotal and scientific proof displaying how vital fitness is for mental health: so for the duration of this very stressful time, it’s even more crucial. It also boosts the immune device. However workout isn’t just about fitness – it’s frequently a social activity, too. I’m the use of facetime more than ever earlier than due to the fact i’m no longer having normal social touch. Exercise session with a chum on facetime or have a web dance party along with your family. Remaining night i watched a band i like known as sofi tukker dj live on instagram. That become a brand new enjoy. Find some thing like that and dance for 1/2 an hour and your aerobic may be executed. Pickling jack monroe with pie in kitchen. Jack monroe in her kitchen. Image: shutterstock commercial

jack monroe, meals creator and activist in times of meals scarcity and uncertainty, we have to make do with what we've got. I haven’t been so much panic-buying – not having a vehicle limits that – however i've been guiltily hoovering up scraps from the decreased cupboard past due inside the day, to save them being discarded. This week’s haul protected 3 packing containers of chestnut mushrooms, a withered bunch of wild garlic and a pile of french purple garlic, a little battered round the edges. I'm able to dry the mushrooms, peel and pickle the garlic cloves, and knock the wild garlic with a few nuts right into a sauce aillade. This will maintain for a month beyond the sell-by way of date that consigned it to the bargain bin in the first place. Retaining meals isn't going get us too far in an endemic, admittedly, however pickling what we've now's an investment in destiny dinners. I am also pickling a sluggish cooker’s really worth of dried white beans in oil and vinegar, to apply till tinned ones come returned into inventory. Candy-sour cannellini beans makes a huge jar

examine extra

400g dried cannellini beans

½ a small onion

100g frozen peppers

80ml vinegar – purple, white or cider

1 tbsp white sugar

100ml oil (any)

drain and rinse your beans, then pop them in a pan of cold water. Convey to the boil, then lessen to a simmer. Simmer for 15 mins then drain very well then return to the pan. Add the onions and peppers, along with the vinegar, sugar and oil. Thoroughly clean and sterilise a big jar and its lid. Bring the pan to the boil very carefully. Do not take your eyes off it for a second as you are handling hot oil, which poses a fire danger if unattended. As soon as bubbles start to form, do away with it from the heat straight away. Permit to cool for a minute, stirring well, then pour into the sterilised jar, filling it as complete as viable. Flip the jar upside down and permit to chill completely before placing in the refrigerator. Withstand sampling them for at the least seven days, as the flavour will increase in this time. In a easy and sterile jar, these can hold for a few months unopened. Once opened, use inside a week. Jack monroe’s modern-day e-book is tin can cook (bluebird, £6. Ninety nine)

adorning

couple attempting out paint shades

trying out paint colorings. Image: alamy

commercial

laura de barra, ‘she’-i-y expert and author if you need to apply this time it to zhuzh up your property, start with paint. Take into account the distance and consider what mood you want works best. In case you need your kitchen to provide you a touch lift every morning, go for light, bright tones. Keep away from mistakes: that colour that appears terrifi on the tin (or on instagram), can look much less attractive on walls with much less herbal mild or in a different-sized room, so swatching is key. Check a couple of swatches on each wall. Paint dries to a different shade, so don’t be freaked out. Stroll away and are available lower back while it’s fully dry before thinking about how it seems. If you’ll want two coats, do coats while you swatch. Take note of how the colour is affected by mild on the times you operate the room most. With regards to portray a wall, use a broom to “reduce in” first. This indicates portray the corners and edges before something else – it gives a better finish. Rollers are perfect for huge regions and less difficult at the hands. Make sure you have an appropriate curler for the floor – test along with your paint supplier. I favour water-primarily based paint – it doesn’t trap moisture, it’s kinder to the surroundings and the smooth-up is simpler. Also, even as contemporary satin and sheen paint finishes are extremely good, don't forget a matt paint in an older home: it received’t soar light from any dents and imperfections. C’est bon! Laura de barra is creator of gaff goddess

john-paul flintoff, creator and crafter ten years ago, to be kinder to the planet, i took up mending garments. I knee-patched jeans, darned jumpers and, before you can say “treadle-powered singer sewing system”, i had sold one and started out making matters from scratch. I shirted and trousered myself, and with knitting needles i socked and jumpered. I discovered crochet so i ought to make y-fronts the use of nettle fibre. (we’ll all be carrying nettle whilst the cotton stops, so plant it now. And relax: the fibre doesn’t sting.)

did human beings chuckle? Nicely, it became intended to be funny. But now not simplest humorous. Like all activity that involves making use of your thoughts to the bodily universe, sewing is meditative. It puts you in the here and now. Gradually i set apart the angst that had were given me started out and began sewing for delight. Hoping others might observe, i permit my maintenance show themselves off, using thread of contrasting colours to facet holes in a jumper, and to stitch the slogan “sparkling air system” at the back. I published a e-book about all this, first of all as a restrained collection of hand-bound books i sewed collectively, with bits of cereal box and old shirts for the cover. (higher than it sounds.) this, too, was meditative work. In case you need to have a pass, attempt darning something. (observe youtube.) reduce some thing up and use it to patch some thing else. Study specific stitches (for exclusive results), and test by way of combining materials. Using embroidery, write your call in your shirt or provide it a luxury logo logo: it will make you smile, and might provide pleasure to others. John-paul flintoff’s e book is stitch your very own (profile books, available on kindle, £6. 40)

fun with kids younger women with facemasks and cucumber on eyes permit the children play splendor salons - and attempt no longer to get too concerned. Image: rachel warne

after 3 youngsters and eight years of “screen-unfastened own family sundays”, i've masses of ideas for wonderful youngsters at domestic. First, get secure with mess. Children having amusing do no longer preserve matters neat. Manipulate the chaos with a “tidy-up half-hour” for all people earlier than they visit bed. Additionally supply the children some manage – they’re always more inclined to throw themselves into things in the event that they feel it become as a minimum partly their idea. Let them lead: help them collect cloth for junk modelling, a style display or residence construction, however resist getting too concerned. Their imaginations are better than yours. On day one among any lengthy stretch with the youngsters, we make a “boredom buster”. Take a big jar and lots of squares of paper. On each, one, write an interest absolutely everyone can do – play a board sport, make a milkshake. Whenever every body says “i’m bored”, you pick out an pastime from the jar. The only rule is you all must do it earlier than you select every other. To add an element of trepidation, slip a few chores into the jar: easy your room, empty the dishwasher. That manner, the jar won’t be empty with the aid of the cease of day two, and the residence might not appearance as if a bomb has hit it. Anything out of the ordinary is constantly more fun. If it’s mealtime, why no longer have a picnic at the carpet rather than sitting at the table? In the event that they need to run a cafe and serve the family lunch, or installation a library, let them have a pass. Just don’t count on perfection – they’re nonetheless apprentices.

#food #health

1 note · View note

katdvs · 6 years ago

Photo

Author Note: I’ve been sitting on this fic for about a month and a half. I had the idea for it from a post I saw on tumblr and just had to write this. I just had no idea at all what to title it. Enjoy!

The alarm went off with the Star Wars theme filling the bedroom, Farkle Minkus stretched hos long, strong body before reaching over to pick up his phone and sliding the control to off. He took a deep breath in, more of a yawn as he looked at the time. He knew he needed to get up, be ready or the morning conference call with his London associates, yet instead of throwing back the blankets and getting up he burrowed himself more under the blankets and started checking his social media accounts.

He started to play the stories on his Instagram, first he had his friend Zay who was currently touring the country as part of the latest Dancing with The Stars tour. Lots of buzz was building that he could be pulled up as the next pro in the fall season.

His ex-girlfriend Smackle had a story next, she was at a conference in Barcelona, discussing her latest findings about social interaction. He couldn’t help but feel as light swell of pride at the clip of her speech that played.

Rolling onto his side just before the next one started he saw a video of a hotel, the red brick building only a few stories high, with a caption reading “They say this hotel is haunted!”, before quickly moving to a picture of some mountains captioned with “our view”. He glanced to see that it was Riley, he best friend, she had mentioned going on a vacation the last time they spoke, that seemed forever ago now though.

Another story came up, a similar shot of a red brick hotel. The next part played, and another view of mountains came up, strikingly similar to what he had just seen on Riley’s story. He looked, expecting to see Tristan, her boyfriend listed as the name, even though he couldn’t recall following him.

His fingers lost the grip he had on the phone as he fell to the carpeted floor after bouncing off the bed. He scrolled back as another story had started, his mouth hanging open as he saw the name, Lucas.

He flipped back to Riley’s story, yes, the hotels were the same. The views were the same.

Was this possible? Were his two friends, the former lovers on vacation at the same time, in the same place?

He ran his hand through his sandy hair, it couldn’t be possible, could it?

After all this time or them to end up in the same place like this?

Part of him wanted to call Maya or Zay, ask if either of them knew. One of them had to, right? Or at the very least Maya would know where Riley was, and Zay would of course know where Lucas was. Wouldn’t they?

No, none of them were as close as they had once been. Sure, back in high school they could all believe they would stay connected, stay close, but the reality of adulthood left Zay traveling the country, Maya never seemed to leave Brooklyn, Farkle himself was lucky if he was in the city for an entire week. Riley lived in Chicago now, the medical program she’d gotten into had led her to a Pediatric residency there. Lucas himself had also gone into medicine, not veterinary, but also Pediatrics, but his residency had him up in Boston for the time being.

Farkle’s phone buzzed with a notification that he had to get ready for his call. He sighed tossing the phone on his bed to get ready for the day. Besides, what was he going to do, get lost in watching Instagram all day to see if Riley and Lucas ran into each other? Was he going to text Zay and Maya, suck them in as well? It wasn’t like Lucas and Riley were going to run into each other, wherever they were vacationing, they were probably off on totally different paths.

Maya threw her purse down on her couch, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. She could feel the burn of her tears as she stormed towards the kitchen. Again, and again, she kept setting herself up for this heartbreak, she wasn’t sure if she could continue on like this, if she had the strength to go on down this path.

She didn’t care that it was three in the afternoon, she needed a drink as she pulled out the bottle of Vodka from the freezer. She tossed some ice in a glass, pouring the icy vodka over it before she topped it off with some soda water.

The satisfying first sip forced her to stop and breathe.

She wasn’t ready for this.

She had been doing just fine as a graphic artist for a women’s magazine, she would never admit that she spent hours upon hours going over the bubble gum pink layouts for articles and content she would never read for the print edition or the web edition.

Tonight, in just a few hours her own art would be on display for all the world to see. Sure, she’d been in shows since Middle school, but this was just her. She wasn’t surrounded by other artists. This was all on her.

Tonight, she was going to find out if she could make it as an actual artist.

She’d been so nervous about this all, so scared about it all, so typically Maya about it that she hadn’t the courage to send out the invitations. She hadn’t even told her best friend, if anything she hadn’t been speaking with Riley much lately, the distance, the difference in their lifestyles had prevented it all for now.

Maybe it was for the best, at least for now, Riley would’ve dropped everything in Chicago to come, and it would’ve just added to the pressure.

Maya took another sip before sitting down on her couch, she dug her phone out of her purse. She had emails from work, but they could wait. They knew she’d be out of the office until Monday, it was the only way she’d be able to make it through tonight.

She opened Instagram, just scrolling through her feed. Pictures of people’s kids, really how were the kids she grew up with, already having kids? Here she was in the middle of the afternoon drinking.

It was only now that she realized Riley must be on vacation as she saw the stunning pictures of mountains, of a beautiful river, Riley and Tristian in rafting gear.

Maya couldn’t help it as she rolled her eyes, she had met Tristian last fall when they had come to down for Cory and Topanga’s anniversary party. He seemed nice, and he probably made sense on paper for Riley, but if Maya was honest he wasn’t Lucas and part of her, kind of thought Riley and Lucas would end up together.

She continued scrolling, wondering why so many of her friends had to post their take-out coffee, they all got the same brand, the pictures were all the same. What was this ridiculous status symbol?

She stopped when she got to another picture of a river, very similar to one Riley had posted. Instead she saw it was from Lucas. With a caption about mountain biking before a picture of him and his latest girlfriend.

Maya couldn’t help but snort at the picture of this woman draping herself over Lucas, it was the pose almost every woman he’d dated since Riley had pulled. A desperate grip on him, like they caught some sort of prize and had no intention of letting him go.

She double tapped the image, ready to move on when she noticed in the background of the selfie a white-water raft, the same colors as the one she’d seen in Riley’s picture.

Taking another sip of her drink she wondered, was it possible, had these two idiots ended up on vacation at the same time, in the same place?

Riley hadn’t called her freaking out, so perhaps it was just a coincidence.

What were the chances these two fools would end up near each other on vacation?

His day had been long, the adrenalin rush fading as he climbed onto the tour bus. One more show and he would be back in New York City. He craved the energy of the city, so drastically different then what he found in LA or on the road, and even more so from the town he’d grown up in back in Texas.

He flopped on the couch, pulling his phone out. He spent a few minutes liking tweets from people who had been at the show, retweeting some pictures before checking Instagram. He was tagged in dozens of pictures and videos. He liked them all before he looked at his feed.

Maya, his favorite snarky blonde posting pictures of her latest paintings.

Farkle posting a picture of the New York skyline mentioning that he was happy to be home again.

Zay could almost taste the pizza from his favorite parlor, he could almost smell the sweet home like scent of Topanga’s, which was always his second stop when he would return from a tour.

It didn’t help that their Instagram post was making him drool, the picture a display of his favorite cupcakes. He could almost taste the raspberry buttercream at this moment.

He had to snap himself out of the sugary trance as he scrolled down some more.

More food, surprisingly a picture from Lucas of some barbeque he was having on vacation, but it wasn’t Chubbie’s, no his friend wasn’t back in Texas, instead was somewhere else.

He scrolled to the next picture, a selfie of Lucas holding up something that said the name of the restaurant, but something else caught Zay’s eye. He zoomed in on the picture, noticing the brunette standing in line waiting to order.

He shook his head, no way.

It couldn’t be.

He moved down the feed, a picture of Riley also on vacation, with a Sunset and mountains.

He looked around the bus, the other dancers all engrossed in their own phones, except for Shelby, a petite red head who was lost in a book.

He pulled up Riley’s story, video clips from rafting earlier in the day, the sunset, and then a little video of a barbeque place, that looked similar to the one Lucas had posted about.

He quickly went to Lucas’s story, all that was coming up for now was the sun setting behind some mountains, the sky more purple than orange, a caption saying goodnight.

Zay clicked back to his home screen, his thumb ready to pull up his contacts, but he stopped himself.

He was being ridiculous.

Besides what could he say to Maya and Farkle, “Hey, Riley and Lucas appear to be on Vacation in the same place, should we tell them?” No, it would just lead to the three of them hoping for something that was never going to happen.

They weren’t in high school anymore, life took them all, yes all of them in very different places. Even when Zay was in the city these days he never saw Maya or Farkle. He could message with them, but they never had time to catch up over a drink, let alone actually hang out.

Riley and Lucas reuniting, clearing the air, whatever needed to happen wouldn’t magically solve the distance that had grown between everyone else.

He pulled out his ear buds, slipped them in and pulled up Hulu, getting lost in a sitcom from the 90s, as he let his mind drift off as two men did some goofy dance on his phone screen, looking very proud of themselves as the studio audience cheered.

Any thoughts of Riley and Lucas drifted out of his mind for the time being.

The alarm startled Riley as she sat up straight in the bed, her heart racing as she looked around the dark hotel room. Tristan was next to her, lazily reaching for his phone to turn the alarm of. She counted to ten, trying to calm down.

Hadn’t they just gone to bed?

Why on earth was his alarm set for so early in the morning? They were on vacation for crying out loud!

Tristan rose from the bed, stretching before he turned on the light.

Riley recoiled, glaring towards him, “Tristan, it’s so early. What are you doing?”

He dropped the towel he had grabbed to take into the shower, “Getting ready babe, we’ve got an exciting last day of our vacation.”

“Next vacation I plan.” She yawned, already thinking about lazy mornings at a beach house down the shore.

Tristan came over to her, kissing her forehead, “Come on babe, this will be fun. I know it’s early, but if you really need to sleep, you can sleep on my shoulder on the way up.”

Sighing Riley threw the sheets back and got out of bed, “Fine, but I have first shower, only way I’ll wake up.”

“Deal.” Tristan pushed her towards the bathroom, waiting until she closed the door for him to pull up Instagram.

He searched the name, and there it was, pictures of the young blonde doctor and the blonde draped over them. They were here.

Tristan was positive that he and Riley had been at that same restaurant the night before.

Of all the places they could pick to vacation, it had to be here, at the same time?

He swiped out of the app, his stomach in a knot, as he said a silent prayer to let this last day go off without a hitch. If it could then the past would be behind them.

Lucas breathed in the morning air, it was clean and crisp, but also had the coating of the coal smoke for the steam engine. The depot was buzzing with activity as he looked around for his girlfriend Shelby, but every so often something would cause him to turn and lose focus.

It had been happening the entire vacation so far. He’d hear a laugh, or just have a sensation that would cause him to turn away. Yet whenever he would look it was nothing he could find that could’ve brought his attention.

Only one person had ever caused this sort of reaction, and it wasn’t Shelby.

“Here you go, Venti Dark Roast, two sugars and cream.” She was perky as she handed him the Starbucks cup as she took a sip of her own.

“Thanks.” He looked around, a chill sweeping through his body in the early summer morning. “You know, I get the mountain biking, the rafting, but you really always wanted to ride this train?”

“My Grandparents met on this train, my Grandpa was a Brakeman, and my Grandma worked in Concessions one summer. They fell head over heels in love, and I always wanted to ride it. See the views they saw every day that summer.”

Shelby was almost never a romantic like this, part of Lucas couldn’t believe it. “That’s beautiful, why hadn’t you mentioned it before?”

“You’re a guy, guys like trains, right?”

A sad smile crossed Lucas’ lips. Trains, yeah, he had a special connection to them, to his first love. “I mean I was wild about Thomas as a kid.”

“I think every guy our generation was.” She chuckled as they boarded the train to the first class car.

Lucas took it all in for a moment, the craftmanship of the wood, the elegance that surrounded them as Shelby led them to their seats. Before Lucas knew it was happening, Shelby was draping herself over him for another picture.

Why did every girlfriend he had, except for Riley do this?

He flashed his smile, knowing he’d be expected to post it on his own Instagram account.

Home.

That’s was the feeling that rippled through his body as Zay walked into the bakery. He could already taste the sweet coffee he was about to order.

Topanga’s was very much the same as it had been when he first remembered walking into it back in middle school. Sure, he was older now, and the groups of friends were different. It was still a gathering place for the neighborhood.

He wondered how many poor guys had smoothies poured over their heads by girls they didn’t want to be on dates with in the first place?

How many couples had fallen in love, how many had broken up here?

Once he had everything he wanted he settled in the back corner, pulling his tablet out of his bag as he began to read through emails before he was finally fed up with thinking about work, promotional opportunities, or whatever else people thought would boost his career.

He clicked on Instagram, scrolling through the pictures.

Maya posted a shot of one of her paintings with SOLD as the caption. He smiled with pride and quickly typed a reply.

Farkle posted a fancy meal with a caption about craving a slice of real New York Pizza.

Zay typed that he would have one for him since he was in the city.

He sat up straighter when he saw a picture from Riley that was simply captioned “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” it was of a baggage train car in a museum.

Zay made the mistake of taking a sip of coffee as he scrolled to the next picture. A candid shot, black and white of Riley looking at the baggage car.

No caption from Lucas who had posted the picture.

The tablet was covered in the coffee that flew from Zay’s mouth.

People all around looked at him as though he was nuts.

Except one person, “You okay there?” Farkle handed him a napkin from the stack in his hands as he made his way across the room.

“Farkle!” Zay momentarily forgot what had caused him to blurt his coffee out all over himself and his electronics.

“When did you get back to town?” Farkle sat in the seat across from his old friend.

“Last night.” Zay finished cleaning up the best he could, checking to make sure the tablet worked, bringing the screen to life and seeing the picture again, “Oh boy.”

“What is it?” Farkle tried to get a look, “Is that, no, it can’t be.”

“Look” Zay scrolled up to the picture Riley had posted of the same baggage car. “I mean I saw their vacation pictures, I suspected they were on similar vacations, but the same place, same time?”

Farkle sat back in his seat, “I saw them as well.” He took a sip of his triple berry smoothie, “If it was anyone else, I would say no way, but its Riley and Lucas.”

Before either of them could say anything else the click of heels coming towards them forced them to look up at the blonde before them, dark denim jeans, black kitten heels, and a tight vintage Van Halen shirt under her blazer. “What are you losers doing here?”

“Nice to see you too Maya.” Farkle was on his feet first, hugging her.

Zay was close behind, “I needed a taste of home. What brings you here?”

“Meeting my Mom and Dad for dinner.” Maya studied her two old friends, “I feel like I only see you guys via social media these days. How did I not know you were in the city?”

“Because we never have time to make plans with each other when we’re in town.” Farkle sighed, “I wasn’t sure you even knew how to get out of Brooklyn anymore.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, and when do you get off a tour bus, or you get out of meetings? Exactly, we’re all adulting and it sucks. We post these moments on our social media to brag because we’re too afraid to share it in person, to make those connections again.”

“Honey Nugget, that is way too deep, you okay?”

She looked at Zay, he always had a way of getting her that others didn’t, “I haven’t heard from Riley in a while and I’m, worried, curious, I feel like something is going on.”

“You’ve been stalking Instagram as well huh?” Farkle smirked, all of them had done it, of course they had, and yet none of them had reached out to the others.

Were they still friends?

“Of course, I have.” She sat at the arm of Farkle’s chair, “I mean if she saw Lucas, she would tell me, wouldn’t she?”

“I don’t know if she saw him, but he saw her.” Zay handed her the tablet.

Maya studied the picture, an honest moment, she wondered what Lucas thought when he saw her, did they speak, or is this the only proof they were even near each other?

Farkle looked at his friends, they didn’t have to speak but he knew they had questions, “We could call him, you know.”

“He won’t tell us anything, especially if that blonde is around.” Maya snarked before looking at the boys confused as they exchanged a look, “Oh hush.” She told them once it hit her what they were thinking.

“Mom, I’m telling you.” Auggie Matthews followed his mother across the bakery, “Lucas posted a picture of Riley on his Instagram page, they’re on vacation at the same time in the same place.”

His mother slowly spun around, an eyebrow raised, “Auggie, that sounds ridiculous. I’m sure you’re confusing Tristan’s post, also why are you still following Lucas?”

“Because Riley and Lucas are going to end up together.” He rolled his eyes, wondering why his mother didn’t get that, “Besides, Tristan is going into plastic surgery and not to do good in the world. Just look at this picture and tell me that isn’t Riley.”

Topanga sighed, taking the phone from her son, sucking in her teeth as she studied the image. It was her daughter, she couldn’t deny it. “This has to be some sort of glitch.”

“It’s not.” Farkle’s voice cut through the air, causing the duo to look towards the corner the three friends occupied, “They’ve been posting similar pictures for days, it was only a matter of time before one of them saw the other.”

Topanga pushed the phone back to her son as she took a few steps towards the trio, “What on earth are all three of you doing here?”

“We just ran into each other.” Zay shrugged, it was the truth after all, “But Farkle is right, they’ve been posting pictures from the same places.”

“Mom, they’re going to get back together.” Auggie insisted.

Topanga sighed as she looked around at the young adults in front of her, “I know you’re all hoping for them to reunite, but guys, they tried to make this work, and it didn’t. They’re at very different places in their lives, they live in different parts of the country. You all have such a beautiful friendship, and you all come together for a reason. That reason isn’t to be busybodies in your friends’ romantic lives.”

“Come on, you gotta admit their has to be a reason they’re in the same place at the same time.” Maya looked at a woman she considered a mentor.

Topanga looked at the three, she could see three very accomplished adults, with so much more for them to do and experience, “How did you all end up here, today, right now. Sometimes it just happens.”

“Mom, really?” Auggie rolled his eyes, “Whatever, Riley and Lucas will be married in like a year, trust me.”

Topanga looked at her son, “Don’t you have class?”

Auggie sighed, “Fine, but trust me on this.”

“Yeah trust the kid!” Zay smiled but it quickly faded when he caught the slightly icy glare from Topanga. “Or not.”

Farkle cleared his throat, “Just because they see each other, maybe even speak to each other doesn’t mean that they’ll have that same spark.” Even though the words came from him, he didn’t believe it. If that energy wasn’t there then Lucas wouldn’t have taken the picture.

All day long during the train ride Riley had felt this buzz of energy in the air. She and Tristan had been in one of the first-class cars, an open-air car with a glass roof so you could see everything around you.

It had been amazing the views breathtaking, they had even seen some big horn sheep.

But the air, something was charging it.

She hadn’t felt this way in years, not since…not since Lucas.

When they got off the train, Tristan immediately raced off to the gift shop. Riley instead found her way to the museum. Artifacts, pictures, bits and pieces of the past surrounded her.

The energy was thicker, as she stood in front of a baggage car that had been used in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, she could feel the air around her.

She was afraid to turn around, finally she did, sure that she had just caught a glimpse of Lucas.

It couldn’t be, could it?

She was terrified of how her heart was beating at the idea, the way she was flooded with a need to see him, she started to follow, but before she could exit the museum she was face to face with Tristan, who looked pale and flushed at the same time. “What’s wrong?”

“I just ran into Shelby, my ex-fiancée in the gift shop.” His hand ran through his short hair, “I, didn’t expect to see her, here of all places.”

Riley was stunned, she just hugged him. “Its okay.” She told him, knowing that if she had come face to face with Lucas, she would’ve felt her world shift and rock.

It was her.

Riley had been in the museum. Lucas stared at the picture for a moment, before he heard Shelby call his name. He snapped his head to look towards her, just as his thumb swiped the screen to post.

“What’s wrong?” He could feel her shaking as he wrapped his arms around her.

She burrowed her head in the crook of his neck, “Tristan is here. I saw him in the Gift Shop. I just never thought he would come here, not when I did.”

Was it possible that his ex, and hers were both here on vacation?

“Let’s go back to the room, you take a hot bath, I’ll go get us something to eat. We’ll have dinner in our room, watch a movie on cable, a nice quiet evening.”

“That sounds perfect.” Her voice skipping as she tried to catch her breath.

“Then let’s go, the hotel is less then half a block away.” He led her through the depot, down Main Avenue. The street was filled with pedestrians, forcing them to take their time.

Once they were back at the hotel Shelby immediately escaped to the bathroom, Lucas could hear the tub filling with water, so he left her behind to go get them dinner.

He didn’t go far, finding a place with a menu that would satisfy Shelby. He sat at the bar, ordered a local beer and placed an order to go.

A chill swept through his body as he looked around, his eyes settling on her as she looked at him, her mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes glossy, darting over him.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Riley reached for her beer, bringing it to her lips as she tried to think of what to say. How was this possible? “So, that was you in the museum earlier.”

“Yeah, it was.” He took a sip from his own beer, realizing now that it was possibly the same one she was drinking, “What are you doing here?”

“Tristan, my boyfriend planned this vacation. What about you?”

No. It couldn’t be possible, could it? He bit his bottom lip, gulping before he answered, “My girlfriend, Shelby, she planned this vacation.”

“Plastic Surgeon?” Riley’s eyebrow had hooked up.

“Yeah, same for yours?” He watched as she nodded, he started to chuckle, “You know this is pretty much only the sort off thing that could happen to us, right?”

She sighed, her body hanging loosely as she looked to him, “I could totally hear Maya or Farkle or Zay laughing about this. I mean gosh, I haven’t spoken to them in a long time.”

Lucas opened his mouth to protest that idea, only to realize he hadn’t really talked to them either, “I guess, we grow up, we grow apart, no matter how connected we arm.”

Riley smiled that soft smile of hers, that always got him, always melted him. “I remember one time, overhearing my Dad and Uncle Shawn talking, and Uncle Shawn was like, ‘Cory how long have I been gone for?’ My Dad thought it was this short amount of time, maybe a few months, it had been years.”

Looking down at her hands they seemed foreign to her, until Lucas took one in his. It felt so right, so pure, but also both realized how wrong it was as they released the hold at the same time.

“We should um get everyone together for the Holidays or something.” Riley told him just before the bartender came with two separate to-go orders.

“Yeah, that would be good, a little reunion, New Years Eve, the roof of your old building, or something.”

“Yeah, something.” She told him as she signed her bill, grabbing her order and dashing out.

“Riley never called to tell you she saw him?” Farkle watched as Maya moved around her apartment, a glass of wine in each hand before she handed him one.

“Never.” She sat next to her old friend, “And she has barely posted anything on social media. The only thing I’ve seen recently was something about her going to see a Knicks game, but she wasn’t in the city.”

Farkle took a sip of the wine, “I haven’t spoken to Lucas, I left a message, but he never got back to me.”

“Maybe they’re both busy, I mean they’ve got a few months left of their residency, right? Is that what they are?” Maya reached for a pretzel from the bowl on her coffee table before hitting the volume button on the TV as the room filled with the theme song from Dancing with The Stars.

“Yeah, in a few months, I think they get to decide where they’ll practice. I always thought they would both come back to New York.” His eyes watched the group number that started, “There’s Zay!”

Maya watched her friend on the screen, dancing with the other pros before being joined by his partner a former star of the show Red Planet Diaries, surely Riley would be calling soon to freak out about this, right?

When the show went to commercial Maya hit the mute button and then glanced at her phone, “Huh, looks like Lucas posted. He hasn’t posted anything since that picture of Riley, right?”

“I haven’t seen anything.” He pulled his own phone out, opening Instagram. A picture of Pappy Joe’s ranch came up, the sun setting behind the house. “Oh boy.” Escaped his lips as he read the caption.

Maya quickly pulled the app up, looking at the picture as well and then the caption. She said yes! I can’t wait to start our future together here in Texas. “Lucas is going to marry that blonde?”

“I was sure he and Riley would be back together.”

Maya downed the rest of her wine before she went and retrieved the bottle from the kitchen bringing it back and refill her glass and then Farkle’s. “This isn’t how things are supposed to be. He’s supposed to marry Riley. They’re supposed to have twins, a boy and a girl. Lucas is supposed to steal the shoes of his daughters first boyfriend. He’s not supposed to marry some plastic surgeon and live in Texas.”

Farkle was silent as Maya ranted, thoughts processing in his mind as he picked up the remote control, unmuting the tv as the show returned. Neither spoke, they watched couple after couple, waiting for Zay and his partner.

After a while Maya muted the TV, “If Riley and Lucas aren’t meant to be, then who is meant to be?”

“I don’t know.” Farkle sighed, “You and I were married in middle school, we’re not meant to me.”

Maya rolled her eyes, swatting at him, but he grabbed her hand, his fingers slipping between hers as she collapsed on top of him.

A confidence swept through Farkle he only felt in the board room these days as he pulled Maya closer, kissing her, surprised when she kissed him back.

Zay adjusted his shoulder bag as he unlocked his studio apartment. When he was in LA he kept everything as simple as possible. Trying to save as much as he could, he never knew when it would all slip away.

He dropped his bag on the futon, the same futon that had lived in his and Lucas’ dorm room freshmen year of college. He moved to the small kitchen, pulling out one of the prepared meals he subscribed to. He was tired, the live show had worn him out. Tomorrow they would start a new set of rehearsals, and he had a few ideas of how to move forward he knew none of it would matter if he didn’t get some sleep soon.

He turned his TV on, the west coast airing of the show just now began. He saw a few messages from Maya and Farkle congratulating him.

He ate as he watched the group number, scrolling through his social media while the show played on. He tried to be as active as he could, but he was exhausted when he finally pulled up Instagram, playing the stories without thinking too much of it.

Most of them were Vote for us, type things from his co-stars, and then a video came up that was different.

Zooming in on a ring, on the delicate looking hand with a caption I Said Yes! He quickly looked to see who it was, then replayed the story when he realized it was Riley.

His heart sank, the hope he’d had that she and Lucas had reconnected flittered away. She was going to marry that guy she was dating, that Tristan guy.

He put his phone down, he suspected that in a few days he’d get a save the date. He would go to New York for the party, he would drink a gin and tonic and stand in the back with Farkle and Maya, pretending to be happy for her, knowing she was making a mistake.

Zay shook his head, how could those two be so damn stupid?

They had to have seen each other, and they had to have felt something when they did.

They were Riley and Lucas for crying out loud.

“I’m not going to this.” Maya shook her head as she put on her earrings, knowing that she would be going. “I mean really, we have to go and meet Lucas’ latest little chickadee and pretend like we’re happy he’s marrying her and not Riley.”

Farkle adjusted his tie, watching Maya a smirk on his lips, “If they hadn’t been on vacation together at the same time, would you still be this upset?”

Maya turned to him, her blue eyes icy, “Yes, okay I would be upset, maybe not this upset, but this isn’t the way things were meant to be.”

Farkle sighed, “I don’t know what to tell you. If I thought we could get them back together, I would say let’s go for it. But it looks like they’ve made up their minds.”

Pulling out her phone she was about to snap a playful picture of her and Farkle when she saw a notification from Riley’s Instagram account. “What’s this?”

A picture of Riley in a Knicks t-shirt, sitting in the window of her childhood bedroom, “True Love is going to a Knicks game with me.” The caption read.

Maya’s hand covered her mouth when she saw a ring on Riley’s left hand, “They’re both morons.”

Farkle took the phone, “Wait, is she here in New York?”

“She didn’t call me.” Maya felt her jaw clenching as she fluffed her hair, “Whatever, we have to go to Lucas’ engagement party.”

“You don’t think its weird that she’s in New York same time that Lucas is?” He had a nagging feeling in his gut, something wasn’t adding up for him, he was just missing a key piece of information.

“Of course, they are! But God forbid she fall in his lap on the subway and they reunite.” Maya sighed, “Let’s just go and find out how awful this doctor is, and then move on.”

Farkle smirked, “God you’re so damn feisty, I love that about you.”

Maya looked at him, “Yeah what else do you love about me?”

“A lot of things. I’ll tell you later if you can be nice to Lucas’ fiancé.”

Maya grunted, “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, but knew she would be nice, at the very least it would be what Riley would want.

Zay made it onto the subway just before the doors closed. He grabbed the pole, watching the commuters around him. He was still buzzing on the high of having made it to the finals with his partner. So, they came in second, but it meant he could do it. His first season and he made it that far, he still couldn’t believe it.

He could hear the buzz of people around him planning their Thanksgiving Day menus, discussing the family reunions they would have.

Part of him felt guilty heading to Riley’s engagement party. She was his friend though, and if she found a man who would make her happy, a man that would treat her the way she deserved, wonderful. But this man wasn’t Lucas, so how could he be all of those things?

As the subway came to his stop, he couldn’t help but wonder what Lucas would think if he knew where Zay was going.

Reaching the street, he could feel the cold bite of the fall night, the promise of winter just weeks away as he made his way to The Plaza. He pulled his phone out checking to see where in the hotel the party was located as he stumbled into someone.

“Zay!” The voice sent a chill down his spine as he looked up at the tall blonde.

“Lucas.” Zay barely got the words out as he looked at his oldest friend, stunned.

“You look like you weren’t expecting to see me.” Lucas slapped his old friend on the back, watching as Zay stumbled forward.

“No, I just didn’t think I would literally run into you.” He fibbed, what the hell was going on? Was Lucas really here, in the Plaza, the same night Riley was having her engagement party? Dear God, what kind of joke was fate playing on everyone?

“Seriously Zay, are you okay?” Lucas questioned as they made their way through the lobby.

“I’m peachy keen, jelly bean.” Had he just said that?

Farkle took a moment to look around The Palm Court, he didn’t spend much time here. But the room was gorgeous, it was his mother’s favorite place to have Tea with friends when working on different charity projects.

It did seem odd to him that this party was happening in New York, why not Boston or Austin?

He already planned to apologize profusely to Lucas’ future wife for whatever Maya said, he was sure she would drop a line or two about she’d never match up to Riley.

Maya squeezed his upper arm, “If this girl is a total bitch I’m going to tell him, you know that right. I’m going to be like Lucas, head out of your ass, go win Riley back.”

Farkle shook his head, “I can’t take you anywhere.”

“You can take me to bed when this is over.” She teased.

“Promise?”

“Yes.” Maya smiled to him before looking over towards the bar, “Wait, did he have the audacity to invite Cory and Topanga?”

Farkle grabbed Maya before she could race off to her childhood best friends’ parents. “Hold up. Stop. Look around, this is not the place for a scene. If Cory and Topanga can be happy for Lucas and his bride to be, so can we.”

Maya’s mouth hung open as she looked across the room, “Riley is here.”

Farkle snapped around to look, he couldn’t believe it. Riley wore a pale purple dress, her hair up in a twist, little decorative flowers in her hair. She was beaming as she lifted her left hand to run a stray twist of hair behind her ear, the ring on her finger catching the light.

“She’s engaged?” Maya didn’t understand how she didn’t know.

“Wait, we were coming to Lucas’ party, right?” Farkle suddenly wondered if he had gotten the dates wrong, had his secretary added things incorrectly to his calendar.

“Yeah, aren’t we?” Maya let the words float out as she looked around, seeing Zay and Lucas walking in. “Why is Lucas walking in with Zay and not his blonde?”

“Why is Riley with her parents and not Tristan?”

The two looked to each other for a moment before looking back at the scene playing out in front of them.

Zay felt a bit panicked when Lucas started walking towards The Palm Court as well. He couldn’t really be going to Riley’s engagement party, could he? Where was his girlfriend?

As they entered the beautiful room, Zay saw his old friend light up, “There’s my girl.”

Zay’s eyes followed Lucas’ gaze as it fell upon Riley, his jaw dropping as he watched his two old friends move across the room to greet each other with a kiss.

Had he really just seen that?

A waiter walked by with a tray of champagne and Zay quickly snatched one, taking a long sip before he made his way over to Farkle and Maya, “What is happening?”

“I don’t know.” Farkle watched as Maya took the drink from Zay, drinking what was left.

“I told Mom it was going to happen.” Auggie chuckled from behind the trio, “She didn’t believe me, but look.”

“Auggie, what is happening?” Farkle studied the young man.

Auggie looked at the people he had once looked up to, “Wait, you guys do know that Riley and Lucas are engaged to each other, right?”

“What?” The three of them blurted out all at once.

“Maya!” Riley called out from not far away before rushing over, “Please, please be my maid of Honor.”

Maya felt Riley’s arms around her and she stared at Farkle and Zay. “I am so confused.”

Riley pulled away, “Why are you confused?”

Maya backed up, her hands in the air as she made motions with her fingers, “You were with that like creepy plastic surgeon guy. I saw the vacation pictures, and you,” she looked to Lucas who had joined the group, “And you were with that Barbie doll. But then you posted that picture of Riley and then nothing until weeks later you post that you’re engaged, and you post nothing.”

“No, Riley posted she was engaged.” Zay defended.

Before they could start fighting Lucas got in the middle of them, “You guys, we both posted we were engaged.” He looked to Riley with a smirk, “You were right, we should’ve told them instead of thinking they would put the pieces together.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t like we put both our names on the invitations for this party.” She shrugged, “It does explain why Maya never called, or any of them.”

Farkle and Zay both instinctively knew to hold onto Maya, each wrapping their arms around her middle before she lunged for her friends. “You assholes got back together and didn’t tell us? Why not?”

“We didn’t want to get your hopes up, we needed to get to know each other again.” Lucas explained as he felt Riley fit against his side.

“We needed to fall in love again, and we did.” Riley looked to Maya, “And don’t think I haven’t noticed that Farkle is cropped out of a lot of your pictures, the Sunday Brunch shots and all that.”

Farkle blushed and Maya found herself still.

“I knew it!” Zay looked at them, “I had a feeling that was going to happen.”

“I know all of us are not as close as we once were.” Riley looked to each of them, “But we’re always going to be friends, and no matter where life takes us, be it New York, or Texas, or all over the world, we always come back together.”

“I’m still mad at you.” Maya sighed, “But wait, what happened to The Plastic Surgeon and Barbie?”

Lucas chuckled, “Tristan and Shelby, um, well they eloped to Las Vegas, what the day we left Durango, right?”

“Yeah, turns out they were college sweethearts, and that vacation was something they had always planned to do together.” Riley shook her head, “And yeah, but everything worked out. Oh, and they were both plastic surgeons.”

“Yeah, they’re going to be working in Vegas.” Lucas held Riley close to him, “And Riley and I will be practicing down in Texas once we’re married.”

“Why did you decide on Texas, why not here in New York?”

“We thought about it for a long time, and we have the chance to open up our own practice, we’ll be in charge of our own hours, and we’ll be able to spend time at the ranch of course and when ready we’ll be able to start our own family.” Riley explained.

“So, we’ll be married this summer in Texas, go on a little honeymoon,” Lucas mouthed it would be Paris with a smirk, “And start our lives together.”

Before either could continue Cory came over, grabbing them, needing them to take a few pictures and see some family members.

“They’re our best friends, and you guys, we didn’t know they were engaged to each other.” Farkle sighed.

Zay flagged a waitress down and got another glass of champagne, watching as Maya and Farkle each got one as well. “We’re forever connected, life has taken us all on different paths, but when its important, we come together, we might just get a moment here and there from each other, we might at times only know what’s up because of social media, but that gives us a chance to share our lives and stay connected.”

“And gets you two the finals on Dancing with The Stars.” Maya teased.

“Or allows you to share your art with people who might never have seen it.” Farkle reminded her.

“We might need to stop and not always freak out right away.” Maya shrugged, as she looked around, “They do look happy.”

“They sure do.” Zay agreed, “So, when can I expect you two to get married?”

Neither answered him, they just took a sip of their champagne, deciding to not comment on their relationship status, maybe one of these days they would throwback a picture of the day they eloped in October.

#Filtered Hearts #Rucas #Riley Matthews #Lucas Friar #Rucas Fanfic #Girl Meets World Fanfic #Maya Hart #Farkle Minkus #zay babineaux #Markle

31 notes · View notes