#new year's draft cleanup

[flyingfabio]

Fabio Quartararo at home in Andorra - July 28, 2021

📸 Marie Julliard / Hans Lucas

[safety-frog]

Froggy Two here!

It has been a minute!

Froggy One and I have been hit with a condition called life… we’re both grad students and time simply slipped away. Hence, the lack of posting and just being around on social media/Tumblr in general. A few comments on one of my stories was the random sign that I realized neither of us has been around in over a year or so. It made me miss Thunderbirds and the Thunderfam like crazy, and when I brought it up to Froggy One, she had the same reaction. I even baked and decorated some Thunderbirds cookies to celebrate having the energy to do more than rewatch old episodes! I ended up colvered in food coloring and frosting so all designs were off of memory.

And so we have returned! Well, at least I have… Life is still hectic and if the past year or two is anything to go by, will result in sporadic updates. Froggy One will probably still be hibernating throughout this upcoming winter but breaks might prove beneficial to getting her active again in the fandom. To ease myself back into writing as a whole, I went through and did a mass cleanup of old Thunderbirds stories and fixed what errors/typos could find. It made me itching to write more the longer I went through my old works. Idea after idea kept popping into my head and so, here I am!

(Also, apparently there were two more playlist posts that never crawled their way out of drafts, so expect those upcoming soon to finish out the playlist series!)

Enough about us, any exciting updates from the Thunderfam we missed out on? Any new faces? Much love to all! 🐸

[soy-soi-si]

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「where are you.」

@ Threw_TheBOOK 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 @ Y/nthe1_4ubb, @ -1Braincell, & @ CAULDRON.

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「What did ace do this time for you to bring me into it?」

@ -1Braincell

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「I DIDN'T DO SHIT THIS TIME, WTF YOU MEAN ME?!」

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「X to Doubt」

@ CAULDRON

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「It was my fault」

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「No, MY SWEET BABY YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THE FALL FOR THAT EVIL CREATURE」

@ -1Braincell

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN EVIL CREATURE」

@ Threw_TheBOOK

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「And where are you deuce」

@ Threw_TheBOOK 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 @ CAULDRON.

@ CAULDRON.

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「I went to get ingredients for trey to make you a new tart, I didn't mean for the shelf to collapse I just put my drink on it trey can tell you」

@ CAULDRON 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 @ Toothpaste_YUMMY

@ Toothpaste_YUMMY

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「It really isn't his fault the others loaded the shelf to its max capacity and it just gave.」

@ MATERIAL_GURRL

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「Tldr a buncha second years decided to hog the fridges #NotCool #LeaveDeuceAlone #Cleanup」

@ Threw_TheBOOK

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「I see I'll speak to them about this, I'm sorry for my immediate jump to anger.」

@ Threw_TheBOOK 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑑 @ CAULDRON, @ Y/nthe1_4ubb, & @ -1Braincell.

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「See I knew my baby would never cause trouble like that on purpose」

@ -1Braincell

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「He literally sent four people to the hospital TODAY」

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「THEY DESERVED IT!」

@ TheBatFather

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「My seems y/n may like bad boys」

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「No, I like Himbos」

@ CAULDRON

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「Y/n????」

@ Y/nthe1_4ubb

╰┈➤𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒!✎ᝰ↓ 

「YOU ARE A FUCKING HIMBO DON'T LIE TO YOURSELF」

≻┈┈• ·✦· •┈┈≺

A random thing from my drafts on Wattpad.

[asterlizard]

2024

These last few weeks of the year have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. At least I was able to finish the year on a more positive note, probably because I accomplished some final tasks before the year ended (why is it that winter seems to be the most satisfyingly productive time of year for me?)

Despite feeling busy and preoccupied, I feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked this year. It felt like most of my time was spent getting into a perpetual cycle of chores and cleanup with no set plan, with some work on personal projects.

That being said, I looked back and was able to find some things I did accomplish:

Getting another chapter of Kaleidoscope Children finished

Started finding some events to attend so I'm not just stuck at home all the time (I got to try an earthquake simulator for the first time!)

Watching the Paralympics properly for the first time (once again, I recommend watching it just to give it more attention!)

More zines: -My Hero Babysitters -Successor: A DadMight Anthology (BNHA) -Tales of the Four Nations Volume 3 (ATLA) -On the Prowl: MSBY4 (Haikyuu!)

And now my resolutions:

Image Descriptions: I will continue to make this my top resolution until I have most (if not all) of them done. Despite not getting around to them this year, I finally decided I will use Alt Text (at least for newer posts, unfortunately it seems like I can't update older posts to add Alt Text so I'll probably just do Image IDs in those descriptions for now)

Stories: Hopefully I can churn out chapters a little more quickly this year after last year's major creative block. I've already started drafting the next couple of chapters of Kaleidoscope Children, and I'm preparing to write the beginning of my second story. I don't have an estimate for further news on the latter, but I hope I can announce something about it later in the new year.

Communication: I really really really want to push myself to make an iota of progress in this direction. I often find excuses to keep my thoughts to myself, but then it hurts me in the long run and I deprive myself the opportunity to make new friends. I want to try to make an effort to be a little more outspoken.

Productivity: I want to get back on track with the tasks I want to get done, and try and minimize postponements. I'll start by making schedules for each month, but without overloading myself. I think it worked at the start of last year before I got sidetracked big time with chores.

Occupation?: Job hunting continued to be disappointing, but I'm reassured by the fact that I'm not the only one who is having issues. Over this past year I've heard more and more people who are struggling with finding or keeping a job (people I know, people I follow, people with a rich resume, people with little to no experience) and more and more I'm getting the advice that education or constant applications will go nowhere, and that volunteering and finding connections is more promising. I've changed my strategy towards this direction, and can only hope that I'll have a little better luck. But first, I need to figure out what I actually want to do for a vocation. With all the application rejections I had to deal with for two years, I spent the past year kinda floating aimlessly, questioning to myself what it is I actually want to do. In the new year, I want to try and sit down with myself and ask myself what it is I would be interested in that feels worthwhile to me or something along those lines. That way I have a plan to focus on instead of puttering vaguely between multiple interests but not sticking to a gameplan. I think part of my ongoing stress is the pressure to find a job, but not having any idea where to start.

Relax! Despite the hurdles, I think I did a little better at this than last year. I just need to not overload myself with a lot of plans, nor stress myself with lofty expectations. Things will come with time, though they will also come easier with some added strategy besides simply waiting for it (something about catching fish better with a bait than with an empty lure...?)

And just like before, I'm going to finish this post with links to some positive news this year (different sources this time!): [link] [link] [link]

Next year will be uncertain. But no matter what happens, there will always be people who will work hard to protect what's good in the world. Even when times get tough, it won't mean people have stopped striving towards this. I will continue to draw and create things that hopefully make some sort of positive difference to the world, however little that contribution may be, for as long as I can. Whatever happens, we're in this together.

Please take care of yourself. Take a break from the news once in a while. Find activities and communities that bring you joy. Watch videos of puppies (or whatever animals give you comfort). Take time away from social media if you need to. Do whatever it takes to make the foreseeable future a little less awful.

I wish all the best for you 💕

[pan-de-queer]

20 Questions Game

Tagged by @jadedloverart! for once, i've finished work early and am free to write fic and answer tag games today hahaha thanks for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

31 lmao, feeling a lil fandom old or whatever haha

2. Total AO3 word count

157,459 ??? wild considering i mostly post one-shots hahaha

3. Fandoms you write for

for the past few years it's been supercorp but you can also find bechloe, junksen/embry, some choices (the cyoa game), and les mis sprinkled in my ao3. all wlw too

4. Top 5 fics by kudos -

ruined nights make for perfect first dates (bechloe)

'cause you know all of my secrets (supercorp)

maybe i matter (because i knew you) (bechloe)

love tastes like spring and blood (bechloe)

kept my face to the sun (you drive away my shadows) (supercorp)

most interesting thing for me abt this is that ruined nights is the shortest one out of all five of these??? love that ppl liked it so much tho

5. Do you respond to comments?

as much as possible yeah! which reminds me that i haven't replied to @jadedloverart's comment on my fic. and other comments. i should do that hahaha

6. Fic w/ Angstiest Ending -

i don't end with angst haha i'm angst with a happy ending or bust lmao BUT the closest to angst would probably be love tastes bc the issue isn't solved until the very end

7. Happiest ending? -

all of them 💕 but if i had to choose then probabbbly cause you know

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not that i'm aware of!

9. Do you write smut/what kind?

nope! never been interested in writing it mostly bc my brain sees it as "action with even more emotions" and i have a hard enough time with action as it is lol

10. Do you write crossovers?

used to! and if you count the mcu+comics!marvel crossover i only posted a tidbit of, then yes, i still do

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

again, not that i know of

12. Ever had a fic translated?

yeah! can't remember for what tho but someone very kindly asked and i said ofc!! and then they sent the link but i can't remember where lmao

13. Ever cowritten a fic?

a long long time ago haha, wouldn't be opposed to doing it again though!

14. Favorite ship?

it's been supercorp since the pandemic! but who knows where the winds of my silly lil whims might take me?

15. A wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

all of them 💕 lmao jk jk but seriously i have a LOT of wips and i put them all under ONE file so it's like wading through a garbage dump trying to see what i'll do next and that's just for supercorp, i have separate untouched wips for allll my other old fandoms too lmao (some wips i doubt i'll ever finish for sc though are the undercover fake lovers one, the coastal cleanup one even though it SHOULD be easy in theory, the hanahaki au that's lena's version instead of kara's, and the one based off of emily the song by jeremy zucker)

16. Writing strengths?

anything descriptive! i can go in depth about shit forevveeerrrr

17. Writing weaknesses?

dialogue. like i can WRITE it and i can even write it WELL but that dialogue came from the bloodbath of thousands of drafts so

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in a different language?

many thoughts! number one being that if you don't know it, get someone who's above average fluent to help you if you feel like the language is needed in the story! and if the language is fake (like using kryptonian) then make the inclusion of it make sense! other thoughts are for my thinking only 💕 (and my unfortunate friends who have to listen to me lecture)

19. First Fandom you wrote for?

MAYBE ranger's apprentice or percy jackson

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

i can't pick favorite for my babies but i'm hella proud of all my supercorp fics rn! it had been so long since i joined a new fandom that i felt suuupppeerrr awkward posting at first! but it's been a nice experience shifting fandoms ever since :)))

for the no pressure tags! @nostradamus0 @sssammich @ridiculously-over-obsessed @tiny-maus-boots and anyone else who wants to join!

[rosanna-writer]

13 for the end of the year ask game! ❤️

13. how did you change as a writer? did you learn anything new? started to plan instead of pants? share your wisdom!

ARE YOU READING MY MIND??? I was literally just thinking about what a bonkers year this has been writing-wise.

I got back into fic in February after only having written original fiction for years. Unlike original stuff, I never really needed to do a big-picture revision on either of the longfics I wrote this year, the kind with huge structural changes and heavy re-writes. And that really drove it home for me how much I hate that part of editing; it feels like such a slog in a way drafting and line edits don't.

It really clicked for me that I'm happiest when I'm doing everything I can to minimize that sort of thing, so I just embraced hardcore planning. I went from bullet-point style outlines to describing scenes in a couple of paragraph to really force myself to think things through before I drafted. And yeah, synopsis writing SUCKS, but you spot so many more higher-level issues if you write a two-page summary of a long project before jumping in, so it really is worth doing.

I also switched to writing in a markdown editor for fic, which I probably wouldn't do for original fiction, but it's sooooooooo much nicer to just write fic in a way that's formatted for web because it's only getting published on AO3 anyway. Linters (formatting cleanup tools) are a godsend.

[danceswithdarkspawn]

Howdy meowdy howdy meowdy, friendo! For Le Ask Game:

2) What is your favorite fic of yours?

7) How do you edit your fics? What do you look for in your edits?

11) What perspective do you write from most and/or least and why? (1st, 3rd limited, 3rd omniscient, deep pov, etc)

15) If you could only write one type of fic (angst, fluff, etc.) for the rest of your life what would it be?

17) Do you have any wips that you can tell us about? What are you most excited for in you wip?

21) Writers choice - pick any of these questions that you want to answer. (Take the opportunity to answer any other ask!)

Have fun! I'll be in your walls if you need me!

Hello, Watermelon Bastard (affectionate)

2: I'm very partial to Two of Swords. Don't know why.

7: What I used to do (back when I was writing on a regular schedule) was do it in chunks. I might do a little bit of cleanup when I started writing for the day, but nothing major. Once the doc was done, I'd sit down, read like, a scene at a time, fix any wonky-ness etc. until I was finished.

If a sentence needed rewriting, I did it in the 1st draft doc; if something major needed to be rewritten, the old went into a scrap doc and the new written in it's place. If there were really big (as in, we're starting over) changes that needed doing, entirely new document.

Now that I write sporadically, I do a lot of rereading and editing in the downtime between sessions, even on unfinished pieces. Once I'm done I come back to it again and again over a week or so until I feel like it's done.

11: probably a toss-up between first and third limited. As for why...when I use first person I want a closer view, but I've only ever done this with my characters, and it doesn't fit right in all situations. for third limited, it's just what I've been using the longest, and that's just kinda my default at this point.

15: I mean I'm already an angst monster, so. That.

17: God I have so many scraps of things lol. I have the Eran/Morrigan vignette series I want to do, a few missing scenes here and there, new longfic idea and works related to it. It's all just A Jumbled Mess. What am I excited for though?

GETTING THROUGH THIS CHAPTER OF BROKEN BIRD I'VE BEEN STUCK ON FOR ALMOST A SODDING YEAR.

I'll get there eventually. *ugly sobbing*

21: I'm going to pick "Are you a fast or slow writer?"

Most times I write at a glacial speed. Other times I write like a squirrel found the coke stash and can hear colors.

[twistedisciple]

New Year Cleanup

Griss' drafts should be completely clear now. For the sake of starting fresh for 2024, I'm also going to be dropping the following threads:

Anthemusa w/ @unsungblade [starter posted 5/3/23, no reply] Withering Dogwood w/ @iyusiia [last reply 9/29/23] Combat Conglomeration w/ @artificidel [last reply 9/29/23]

There are also 14 memory prompts still in his inbox that I intend to write responses to soon.

[bereft-of-frogs]

I sort of lost track of weekend lists because I no longer have any understanding of what day it is with all the holidays and long weekends, but I thought maybe I'd do a final list of the year for NYE:

-continue reorienting new laptop - jumping forward 8 years in technology is a LOT and I've had bad experiences doing the automated restore from a backup so I'm going with a full fresh start. gotta organize all my widgets

-mass cleanup of emails/drafts - I get so many junk emails, hopefully I can whittle that down a bit and delete some of the thousands of emails cluttering up my inboxes

-post writing wrap-up that I was tagged in weeks ago (I was holding out to see if I'd post anything else haha) + organize my goals for 2024

-some paper planner setup (I switched planner brands this year I don't know how to feel)

NYE!

-go grocery shopping both for just generally food for the week but also for cocktail ingredients because I've had a bottle of cheap sparkling wine in my fridge for weeks and I really need to do something with it

-stay inside, be cozy, drink fancy cocktails out of a mason jar because I don't have any other glasses still

-watch Casablanca, which became a weird tradition after the best NYE I ever had included a screening of Casablanca

-it's cheesy but I'm going to try and find a way to watch some special/NYE celebration because they're terrible but kind of fun

New Year's Day:

-idk probably clean and get ready for the week like a normal sunday (even though it is monday) because I really have to get back on the schedule after the holidays (it's always a nice break but I'm definitely now like but what about my routine!)

I hope everyone has a fun New Years weekend! <3 tell me about your plans if you are doing anything exciting

[rememberthemilk]

Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Juggling financial tasks of all denominations

Keeping up with finances is important—and sometimes urgent too. Juggling everything can seem like its own job.

This week's tip comes from alan.porter, who shows how to keep up with the day-to-day, month-to-month, and periodic things to keep your finances humming along.

I use RTM for lots of things: personal items, yearly goals, lists of books to read and movies to watch. But my biggest motivation for using RTM is for staying on top of bills. It easily handles the various schedules on which recurring bills come due. So I have a list called "bills", which my wife and I share. It contains monthly bills like credit cards, annual bills like property tax and insurance, and also some reminders to do some financial hygiene like balancing checkbooks and downloading statements. To separate the different kind of financial tasks, I created three tags (with different colors): pay.manual, pay.auto and pay.none. Pay.manual is for bills that we have to pay ourselves (not auto-drafted). It requires manual action from us to initiate it. Pay.auto is for bills that are auto-drafted from our bank, so we don't actually need to DO anything, except maybe check on it later. Pay.none is for tasks like balancing the checkbook or downloading statements, which need to be done from time to time, but that can slide a few days without penalty. With these tags, my wife and I can tell at a glance whether the time-critical stuff needs immediate attention. And when we get a rainy Sunday, we can take care of all of those other cleanup items.

Thanks for sharing this tip, alan.porter! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.

[ausetkmt]

It Could Cost $21 Billion to Clean Up California’s Oil Sites, Study Finds

For well over a century, the oil and gas industry has drilled holes across California in search of black gold and a lucrative payday. But with production falling steadily, the time has come to clean up many of the nearly quarter-million wells scattered from downtown Los Angeles to western Kern County and across the state.

The bill for that work, however, will vastly exceed all the industry’s future profits in the state, according to a first-of-its-kind study published Thursday and shared with ProPublica.

“This major issue has sneaked up on us,” said Dwayne Purvis, a Texas-based petroleum reservoir engineer who analyzed profits and cleanup costs for the report. “Policymakers haven’t recognized it. Industry hasn’t recognized it, or, if they have, they haven’t talked about it and acted on it.”

The analysis, which was commissioned by Carbon Tracker Initiative, a financial think tank that studies how the transition away from fossil fuels impacts markets and the economy, used California regulators’ draft methodology for calculating the costs associated with plugging oil and gas wells and decommissioning them along with related infrastructure. The methodology was developed with feedback from the industry.

The report broke down the costs into several categories. Plugging wells, dismantling surface infrastructure and decontaminating polluted drill sites would cost at least $13.2 billion, based on publicly available data. Adding in factors with slightly more uncertainty, like inflation rates and the price of decommissioning miles of pipeline, could bring the total cleanup bill for California’s onshore oil and gas industry to $21.5 billion.

Meanwhile, California oil and gas production will earn about $6.3 billion in future profits over the remaining course of operations, Purvis estimated.

Compounding the problem, the industry has set aside only about $106 million that state regulators can use for cleanup when a company liquidates or otherwise walks away from its responsibilities, according to state data. That amount equals less than 1% of the estimated cost.

Taxpayers will likely have to cover much of the difference to ensure wells are plugged and not left to leak brine, toxic chemicals and climate-warming methane.

“These findings detail why the state must ensure this cost is not passed along to the California taxpayer,” state Sen. Monique Limón, a Santa Barbara Democrat who has written legislation regulating oil, said in a statement. “It is important that the state collect funding to plug and abandon wells in a timely and expeditious manner.”

Representatives of the state’s oil regulatory agency, the California Geologic Energy Management Division, did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment on the report’s findings.

Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, an industry trade group, said in a statement that companies spent more than $400 million last year to plug and clean up thousands of oil and gas wells in the state. “This demonstrates their dedication to fulfilling their obligations and mitigating the environmental impact of their operations,” he said.

Fees on current oil and gas production will offset some of the liabilities, but they’re nowhere near enough to address the shortfall quantified by the new report.

“It really scares me,” Kyle Ferrar, Western program coordinator with environmental and data transparency group FracTracker Alliance, said of the report’s findings. “It’s a lot for the state, even a state as big as California.”

Industry in Decline

High oil prices have translated to huge profits for the industry in recent years, but Carbon Tracker’s report found that’s likely to be short-lived. Only two drilling rigs were operating in the state at one point this year, meaning few new wells will be coming online, and more than a third of all unplugged wells are idle.

Judson Boomhower, an environmental economist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego who has studied California’s oil industry, said there are inherent uncertainties in estimating future oil revenues. For example, one variable is how quickly the country shifts from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric. But, he said, Carbon Tracker’s estimates for environmental liabilities track with his research.

“It’s a state in the twilight of its production period, and that means big liabilities,” Boomhower said. He added that now is the time for regulators to prevent companies from offloading their wells to “thinly capitalized firms” unable to shoulder the cleanup.

As ProPublica reported last year, the major oil companies that long dominated in California and have the deep pockets necessary to pay for environmental cleanup are selling their wells and leaving the state, handing the task to smaller and less well-financed companies.

Roughly half of the wells drilled in California have changed hands through sales and bankruptcies since 2010, according to data Ferrar analyzed.

Smaller companies are often one bankruptcy away from their wells being orphaned, meaning they’re left to taxpayers as companies dissolve. The Biden administration recently committed $4.7 billion in taxpayer funds to plug orphan wells.

And the industry’s environmental liabilities in California are far bigger than Carbon Tracker’s report quantifies.

Purvis only included environmental liabilities associated with onshore oil and gas production. Billions of dollars more will be needed to plug offshore wells, remove rigs and reclaim artificial islands used for drilling off the coast of Long Beach, Ventura and Santa Barbara.

Additionally, the report did not quantify the emerging risk of “zombie wells,” which were plugged years ago to weaker standards and are likely to leak if they aren’t replugged. That’s an expensive endeavor, as the average cost to plug one well in California — to say nothing of cleaning up surface contamination — is $69,000, according to Purvis’ research. But some California wells have already begun failing, including in neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

“They’re Not Going to Have Money to Do It Later”

Time is running out to rectify the funding shortfall, for example by increasing the money companies must set aside for well plugging.

Carbon Tracker’s report — using state production data and financial futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange — estimated that as production declines, 58% of all future profits from drilling oil and gas in the state are likely to come over the next two years.

“We have our backs up against the wall in California right now,” Ferrar said. “If companies don’t put money towards it now, they’re not going to have money to do it later.”

Environmental policies could accelerate the industry’s decline. California voters will decide on a ballot initiative in 2024 that would reinstate large buffer zones between communities and oil wells, limiting drilling.

Purvis said acting quickly to plug wells would also “stimulate economic activity” and help smooth the transition for oil and gas workers who stand to lose well-paying jobs in the shift away from climate-warming fossil fuels. Spending large sums to plug old wells would create short-term employment for oil field workers.

As California faces the consequences of its failure to quickly clean up aging oil and gas infrastructure, there are likely several million more wells around the country that are either low-producing or already orphaned and will soon need to be decommissioned.

“California’s going to be a test case or the leading edge of this,” Boomhower said. “This same problem is eventually going to manifest everywhere.”

[flyingfabio]

Picture entitled Confident Fabio Quartararo at Château de Lude (French GP 2016 pre-event)

[concerningwolves]

Not only is this allowed but it's something i encourage all writers of any kind to play with! :D

The idea that all writers know what to say all the time and just splash fully-formed drafts out one word after the other is false. There are some who can do it, but i think most of us... can't. Which is why we need tricks like square bracket notes! They're not cheats or lazy writing or some other flavour of Not Allowed, but instead really really important tools that we should use as much as we need to.

Some of the most helpful tricks I've collected over the years are:

make some notes in square brackets – e.g., I had to write a scene on a sailboat, but I know nothing about sailing so i literally just had notes like [boat part] and [how to do X thing?]. If you use square brackets as punctuation anyway, use something else like [[double square brackets]] or a unique letter combination like XY at the start of the note; the point is to pick something you can search for easily later on.

(You can also style inline comments in a different font/colour. Scrivener has an inline annotation feature; if you use Word, you can make a specific Style to make notes stand out at a glance, etc.)

bullet-point your way through any tricky parts – this can be pure stream-of-consciousness vague ideas. it only needs to make sense to me later. much more helpful than just leaving big blank gaps that Future Me has to work out how to fill, but also better than dwelling on a piece of writing forever.

use comment tools – mostly do this if I have ideas for alternate events and/or phrasing, or if I want to check something for continuity purposes.

write out of order – Best advice i ever got for academic writing is to know or even write your conclusion first and your introduction last, which your main argument in between. Similar principles apply in fiction, or any kind of creative writing. If there's a part of the essay that I can visualise clearly or a part of the story that is particularly exciting or important, I might write that first, then figure out how it fits/how everything fits around it.

keep a loose scenes and/or "outtakes" folder – anything that i write out of order goes here, along with any notes for how I think I want to incorporate it into the full text. In the same vein, if I delete something but don't know for sure it will never be relevent ever again, it gets cut and pasted into an outtakes folder.

Basic rule though is that you do not have to get your writing perfect on the first try. This is where drafts come in. The way I see it is to treat each draft as a fresh start – I create/open a new document (well, new Scrivener file) and start over as if from scratch. Each draft gets a narrower focus than the last. This is my process, as an example:

first draft is the word vomit. You do whatever you need to do to get it onto the page, and it can be terrible. In fact, it probably should be terrible. You can fix everything later. it's fine.

The second draft is a half-hearted cleanup attempt. I'll re-type everything because everything is subject to change, from the characters' personalities to the pacing to the order of events. It's all primordial goop, basically. i'm just poking and prodding and making a few adjustments, but mostly trying to create a more stable version of the first draft. All shortcut tricks continue to be my best friend.

By draft three I'll let myself copy-paste between documents if I'm particularly happy with a passage, but try not to get hung up on anything specific. I'll still make liberal use of square brackets etc. as I need to, but try to address as many from the previous draft as I can. This is where I get more brutal with making decisions and trying to fix parts of the story in place.

Draft four is usually my final draft, but there's literally no rules about how many drafts you're allowed to write. It's at this point that I try to keep square brackets etc. to a minimum (unless i've diverged significantly from the plot of a previous draft and having to rewrite large chunks), and make sure to address all the notes and problems encountered in previous drafts.

This is when I move on to revisions. Revisions are the "final do-overs", for me. I start them when I'm satisfied with all the large-scale aspects: plot and chronology; characters' personalities, motivations and arcs; large-scale pacing (so the over-arcing pace, rather than the pacing in individual scenes); backstories; and worldbuilding. I'll copy the last draft's document instead of starting with a blank one. First I run through those large scale things one more time and tweak until I'm happy, not just satisfied. Then I shrink my focus to in-scene pacing, dialogue, and the quality of the writing itself.

I'll also rewrite my plot outline between each draft, too. The act of actually re-writing stuff is very helpful for making your brain think about it.

Drafting like this isn't for everyone, but realising that you can just bullshit your way through chunks of text was a massive game-changer for me. Some people will do a draft, then work on something else, then come back and do another draft, work on something else, etc. Some people's drafting process will look more like what I consider to be revisions. Do whatever works for you. Just remember that from the moment you first decide you Want to Write a Thing to the moment you hit "post" or "publish" or give your manuscript over to a publisher, you can keep making as many changes as you like in any way you like. (And if you go the querying to traditional publishing route, you'll probably get suggestions for, and have space/time to make, changes to the manuscript quite far into the process).

favourite things about first drafts:

square brackets with notes to self mid-line like [does this make sense with worldbuilding?]

ah yes, Main Character and their closest friends, Unnamed Character A and Unnamed Character B.

bullshitting your way through something that you probably definitely need to research later

also square brackets to link up scenes. [scene transition idk] my beloved

the total freedom of word vomits

"I'll fix that later"

the moment when the world and characters start to gain a life of their own

pieces falling into place as you write that you were uncertain about before you started

the accomplishment of Made A Thing

[shower-base]

Caulking Made Easy & Mess-Free!

When it comes to sealing gaps and joints, Caulking is often seen as a simple fix. Yet, anyone who has attempted it knows it can quickly turn into a sticky mess. The good news? With the right approach, caulking can be both efficient and clean.

This guide walks through modern techniques and best practices to make caulking easier, neater, and more effective than ever.

Why Caulking Matters More Than You Think

Though often overlooked, proper caulking plays a crucial role in maintaining structural integrity and energy efficiency. From sealing windows to protecting kitchens and bathrooms against moisture, good caulk helps prevent mold, mildew, and even pest infestations.

When paired with the right waterproofing products, a well-done caulking job enhances the durability of buildings and improves indoor air quality.

The Common Challenges with Caulking

Despite its importance, many DIYers and professionals alike struggle with:

Uneven lines and sloppy finishes

Inconsistent application due to old or low-quality caulking guns

Messy cleanup caused by over-application or the wrong product

Poor adhesion in humid or dusty conditions

Fortunately, new tools and materials are making it easier to avoid these issues altogether.

Step-by-Step Guide: Clean and Precise Caulking

1. Choose the Right Caulk

Different areas require different types of caulking. For bathrooms and kitchens, silicone-based caulk is ideal. For windows and siding, acrylic latex options offer paintability and UV resistance.

2. Prep the Surface

Clean the joint thoroughly. Remove old caulk, dust, and moisture. This ensures strong adhesion and a lasting seal.

3. Use High-Quality Waterproofing Products

Modern waterproofing products can be paired with caulk to boost performance, especially in moisture-prone areas. These primers and surface treatments help prevent water ingress and extend caulk life.

4. Apply Steadily

Use a smooth, continuous motion when applying. Hold the gun at a 45-degree angle and keep pressure consistent.

5. Tool the Joint

Use a caulking tool or even a damp finger to smooth the bead before it dries. This step ensures a clean, professional finish.

Real Feedback from Real Users

"I never realized how much difference surface prep and the right product could make. Using a proper waterproofing primer before caulking saved us from repeated repairs." — Jordan M., Renovation Contractor

"The mess used to be the worst part. But once I switched to high-quality caulking tools and took my time prepping, my results improved drastically." — Leah T., DIY Homeowner

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long should caulk last? A: Most caulk can last 5 to 10 years, depending on conditions and product type. Using compatible waterproofing products can extend this lifespan.

Q: Can I caulk over old caulk? A: It's best to remove old caulk first. New caulk won't adhere well to deteriorating material and can lead to leaks or peeling.

Q: What tools make caulking easier? A: Consider a dripless caulking gun, smoothing tool, and painter's tape for clean lines. These help ensure a mess-free application.

Final Thoughts

Caulking doesn’t have to be a frustrating task. With updated techniques, high-grade waterproofing products, and a bit of patience, anyone can achieve clean, durable results. Whether you're sealing up a bathroom or protecting your windows from drafts, a little effort up front goes a long way.

By following these steps and staying informed about new tools and materials, you can make caulking a straightforward and mess-free part of your maintenance routine.

[korecrimson]

One day I'm going to figure out how to have some consistency with writing, but that day is not today.

For the past month, I've been poking at Project #1 (completed novel I'm currently in the process of querying, but which I randomly decided mid-submission probably worked better as dark fantasy than romantasy). I hit a snag about two weeks ago with said poking, and the draft has been in an uncomfortable state of disassembly ever since. I have made no appreciable progress in that time.

Deciding I didn't like being idle and stuck, I decided to switch gears and work, for a little while, on Project #2 (ancient story idea that I started over twenty years ago, have tried getting off the ground several times since, but never made progress on). This time, I'm *sure* I have a winning variant, because now we're making it sci-fi! I proceed to map out about 90% of the plot over the course of a four -mile hike earlier in the week.

But wait! says my OCD brain. It's almost the end of the month, and Starting New Things is exclusively for the first of the month! You're right, brain (say I). Maybe we can do some exercises or writing prompts in the meantime to prepare!

(It should be noted that I hate writing prompts and resist them with the force of a thousand suns. This has never been a winning strategy for me.)

Cue four days of absolutely interminable writers block, culminating in a Saturday afternoon where I spend three hours staring at my laptop and not typing a single word. I read a couple of articles on writers block, but they all seem to be of the opinion that the problem is either boredom (nope, genuinely excited about these ideas) or perfectionism (I've done, and won, NaNo thirteen times. I am an expert at an ugly first draft).

I go paint my bathroom instead.

Then, cut to last night. Okay, I say to myself. My usual daily goal is 500 words, but maybe right now I just need to concentrate on doing something. I can't go into a new draft having written nothing for two and a half months, it won't end well. So for the time being, and employing the little known Doctoral Student Clause, we'll drop the goal down to 250 words. That's like two paragraphs. I should be able to write that in my sleep.

I open Project #1. I proceed to type a little over 2,000 fucking words, blowing past the broken section that's been giving me fits for two weeks. Okay, then. It's 3 am, and sometimes it's just Like That. Cool. We'll call it a happy anomaly.

Then this morning, I go back to my coffee shop, where I finish up that section, typing up a few loose ends that my edits created, and getting the draft back to the "I can send this to people if by some miracle someone decides to ask for a full manuscript" stage. General consensus among my friends is that, if I fuck the draft up again by doing more edits, the laws of the universe will pretty much make that request a foregone conclusion.

I'm sorely tempted.

However (and this is where it gets really ridiculous), I have not, in fact, written 250 words. My cleanup efforts netted me ~130 words, and a goal is a goal is a goal (that's the quote, right??). It's Sunday evening, I don't have very much to do. I don't want to mess with Project #1 any more, at least until I get a response to this round of queries, so my best bet is to do a little freewriting, maybe a paragraph or two just to exercise the ol' creative muscles.

Enter: Project #3. This one's a doozy. This is actually a novella-turned-novel-turned-series that actually did start as a freewriting project, back in the original days of "sometimes I don't have the spoons to write 500 meaningful words on whatever I'm supposed to be doing right now." This is also a project I've failed to launch three or four times, mostly because I turned my main character into an incorporeal rage storm and I never quite nailed the voice for her replacement.

I write another thousand words. It's not, ya know, great prose, but it's better than I've managed on this project in a while. Now I kind of want to see how this goes. I did some world-building, I'm kind of vibing with this character voice. Maybe this one's going somewhere?

I have one more day in March where anything sort of goes, as long as there are words. But here's OCD brain again, going hey, it's almost April. Wtf are we going to write in April?? I have about six unfinished drafts, two (I guess technically three, if you count Project #1) that I'm supposed to be editing, a brand new (old) Project #2, and the Thing I'm Making Progress On, aka Project #3.

I am so very screwed.

[accentwindowsutah]

Expert Window Replacement in Tremonton Utah: Upgrade Your Home Now

Windows play a vital role in your home’s comfort, efficiency, and curb appeal. If your current windows are outdated or underperforming, now is the perfect moment for an upgrade. Professional window replacement in Tremonton Utah enhances insulation, safety, and visual appeal.

Why Window Replacement in Tremonton Utah Matters

Replacing worn-out windows does more than improve your home’s look. It cuts down energy expenses, reduces external noise, and raises property value. If your current windows feel drafty or hard to open, investing in new ones is a smart choice.

Improve Energy Efficiency

Older windows frequently let in drafts, making it difficult to regulate indoor temperatures. High-quality Tremonton custom windows are designed with advanced insulation, helping you lower heating and cooling costs throughout the year.

Increase Home Security

Newer windows feature reinforced locks and durable materials, enhancing safety. If home security is a concern, choosing a trusted window company in Tremonton ensures you get strong, high-quality windows.

Refresh Your Home’s Exterior

Replacing old windows can dramatically improve your home’s outside appearance. With modern styles and advanced features, your house gains a new, refined look. Whether you prefer classic or contemporary designs, you’ll find the best window installation in Tremonton UT to fit your home’s aesthetic.

Choosing the Right Window Company in Tremonton

Selecting the right experts for your window replacement project is essential. Working with an experienced window company in Tremonton guarantees superior workmanship and lasting quality.

What to Look for in a Window Replacement Provider

Years of Experience: Choose a provider with extensive industry knowledge.

Quality Materials: Ensure they offer durable, energy-efficient windows.

Positive Reviews: Check customer testimonials for satisfaction insights.

Skilled Installation: Proper setup prevents future issues and maximizes durability.

The Window Installation Process in Tremonton UT

Knowing how window replacement works helps you prepare for the process. A professional team typically follows these steps:

Initial Consultation & Inspection – Experts examine your current windows and suggest the best replacements.

Customization & Ordering – If opting for Tremonton custom windows, they are tailored to fit your home precisely.

Preparation & Removal – Old windows are safely removed, and the space is prepped for installation.

Installation & Sealing – New windows are fitted securely and sealed to enhance insulation and longevity.

Final Check & Cleanup – Professionals inspect the installation and leave your home neat and tidy.

Signs It’s Time for Window Replacement

Unsure if you need new windows? Watch for these warning signs:

Drafts or Uneven Temperatures – Indicates weak insulation.

Higher Energy Costs – Older windows may be causing rising utility bills.

Difficult to Open or Close – Warped or damaged frames make operation tough.

Condensation Between Panes – Signals a broken window seal.

If you notice any of these issues, it’s likely time for window replacement in Tremonton Utah.

Contact Professionals for Your Window Replacement Needs

Want to upgrade your home with top-quality windows? Trust the experts at Accent Windows for professional window installation in Tremonton UT. We offer high-end products and expert craftsmanship to enhance your home’s performance and beauty.

Reach out today to get started on your window replacement journey!