#not hourly canaries

[hourly-canaries]

not hourly canaries..

guys I genuinely started losing my shit over these I don't even know why but I was crying real tears of joy because of these I can't even look at them for too long anymore or else I start breaking down

[gothiethefairy]

3, 4, and 22 for dunmeshi for the ask violence game :0

3) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

i don't have a screenshot but probably this one post i remember that was really reaching about kabru not being racist and was teaching laios and falin a lesson in that one extra about demihumans and kobolds?? like no, sorry but kabru was being racist and hypocritical in that comic bc that was the whole point lol and this other one about laios being asian in canon, not white. that one made me scratch my head lol

4) what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

just recently, probably that hourly canaries blog. nothing malice to the person who runs the blog but it was just reposting the same stuff over and over again in the tags so it felt like spamming to me.

22) your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

hmmm...you know, probably the brief, budding friendship izutsumi had with yaad near the end of the story lol. it's often overlooked.

[bad-traffic-smp-ideas]

Delayed Life or something. Idk I can't think of a better name

Works with Limited's combat perms, but doesn't have a set time limit. Instead, the rules work thus:

Most of the time, players can take an unlimited amount of damage without dying.

However, if players have taken a mortal amount of damage and left it unhealed when the 'buffer' period arrives, they die instantly. Taking damage within the buffer period also kills you.

Buffers last 5 minutes and arrive periodically. I was thinking that they begin hourly, but drop down to half-hourly and then quarter-hourly as the game progresses. Alternatively, start half-hourly with more than 3 starting lives (five or six, maybe?)

The following alterations would also be in play, for balancing and Drama reasons:

In order to stop people from bulk-healing just before the buffers, the health bar would break once you pass mortal damage thresholds and stop changing, even if you healed back to full.

In order to force people to risk dropping to mortal damage levels, staying 'dead' in this way would slowly generate spare lives.

You cannot tell if someone is mortally injured, nor can you tell if they have any spare lives.

Spare lives only become viable when you die, and cause you to respawn at the same colour. Alternatively, you can give a spare life to someone else...

In terms of balancing life generation, you could do it two ways:

Make it possible for a single person to farm a lot of lives with careful planning, but cap the amount a person can store and inflict 'dead' players with Weakness/Slowness/Etc.

Make life generation very slow. This would encourage more selfish use, but would also make spare lives very powerful as alliance-sealers. Or canary-resuscitators...

So... technical zombie au? /hj

[omnifitense]

Your hourly reminder to just switch to Firefox.

[headcans-oneshots-and-stuff]

Copy or Individual? (Prompt Drabble)

Warning: Itsy, bitsy Angst Word count: ~660 Prompt: “I’m (Y/N) Fucking (Y/L/N)”|”Are you proud of me?” Pairing: Batfam x reader (platonic) Requested by @krystelitabella09

“Which weapon do you want to train with Today?” Jason asked you as he stepped into the ring in his training clothes. You were standing a few feet away at the weapon board and mustered your choices. “I thought maybe I’d go with the nunchucks, I really like their flow,” you smiled, your hands already laying on your choice. “Oh, Dick tried that when he first took on the mantle, didn’t go very well, I don’t even know why we still have them,” Bruce intervened and walked over to you, taking the nunchucks out of your hands. “But-” you tried and he immediately interrupted. “No, believe me, it’s better that way.” He walked away with the weapons in hand and disappeared into the training area. “I’d try the Bo-staff,” Jason ignored your slacked shoulders and the frustration radiated by you, “There’s a reason it’s Tim’s favorite.” You wanted to protest, wanted to fucking explode after months upon months of being compared to your priors like you weren’t your own person but a new copy. But you didn’t. You just stayed silent and took the Staff.

That was the beginning of the end. After that, you noticed it more frequently, hourly even, and you tried the best you could to ignore it. But the thing that finally set you off was when you were being scolded by your team-members for a SUCCESFUL mission. They were going on about how your tactic was completely uncalled for and about how they all had told you their way of handling it which would have worked so much faster or so much better. “We explicitly told you about how Damian hand-” “STOP!” you finally snapped and shot up from your seat, balling your fists in frustration. “Fucking stop! I’m (Y/N) fucking (Y/L/N)! I’m not Dick Grayson or Jason Todd. I’m certainly not Tim Drake and in no way am I Damian Wayne! But when I became Robin I thought that was what made each of you so great! That you’re all different from each other and not just plain copies, but I guess I was wrong! You know what?” you ripped off the metal R of your suit and threw it to their feet, “I’m done. I’m just fucking done.” You heard them say something from behind you, but you ignore it, ran over to Jason’s bike (which luckily still had the key in) and drove away into the night. Bruce had seen the whole ordeal and he knew you were right. He hadn’t noticed before, but you saying it out loud made it clear. Somehow they had all tried to project themselves on you and failed to see that you were already great in your own way. The others wanted to go search for you, but Bruce quickly shot them down and made his own way to where he thought he would find you. It was a rooftop in central Gotham. The same rooftop he had first met you. 

He almost sighed from relief when he found you sitting on the edge of it. He was still ten feet away from you when he heard your voice. “Are you proud of me?” Your voice was timid and filled with sadness. “Of course I am,” he said and stopped beside you, looking down at his city, “And I’m sorry that I was so horrible at showing it. Even after five children I still don’t really know how to be a good dad or a mentor. And you deserve better. You’d be better off with Green Arrow and Black Canary in Star city.” “But I don’t want to be in Star city, I want to be here, I want to be Robin, but my own version of it,” you shook your head. “And I want you to be that,” Bruce agreed and pulled the Nunchucks out from under his cape, “And I know just how to start with you being a new Robin.”

[sherrybaby14]

Blue Spiders

A/N:  This is chapter one in a series!  I think it is going to be 3 parts, but if more is requested I do have an outline where I could take it to 10.  (Updates on Thursdays)

Pairing: AU Psychiatrist Steve Rogers x Female Reader

Words:  3700

Summary:  An interview with a charming doctor leads to more

Warnings:  This chapter, mentions of violence and murder, alcohol.  I HAVE NOT WARNED FOR EVERYTHING POSSIBLE.  PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.  

   Smoothing out your blazer and squaring your shoulders you rose your fist and knocked on the door.  

   It swung open, taking your breath away at the swiftness of the response.  Your jaw dropped for a moment, but you shook the nerves away, always the professional.  He was more gorgeous in person with blond hair and blue eyes.  The All-American man.

   “Dr. Rogers?”  You asked.  

   “So I’ve been called.”  He stepped to the side.  “Please come in.”

   Your eyes went up at the expanse of his office.  It had a balcony going around the entire space, floor to ceiling in books.  The main floor was open with a huge mahogany desk behind bright windows.  There was a sitting area with two chairs, a couch, and a coffee table.  On the wall hung a giant painting.

   “Is that a Jackson Pollock?”  You were surprised to see such a chaotic artist hung in a therapist’s office.  

   “I know it’s not the traditional calming image you would expect a doctor to hang, but I find it opens people up on the subconscious and allows my patients to see the beauty in madness.”   His voice made the hairs on your body rise, so calm and collected.  

   “Are most of your patients mad?”  You looked over your shoulder to see icy blue eyes taking in your face.  

   “We’re not here to discuss my patients Miss, that is private information.”  He wagged a finger in your face before moving toward the sitting area. “I was very clear when I agreed to the interview.”  

   “Of course, Dr. Rogers.”  You followed and sat down opposite him.  “I am sure my editor went over the basics with you, but this is for a feature we do monthly on interesting people in the area.  There is nothing to worry about, it is not investigative journalism, only a puff piece for our readers looking for human interest stories.”  

   “Yes, I am still uncertain why I was selected.”  The man adjusted his tie that was tucked into a vest.  He wore those clothes well.  “I fear I am not that interesting.”

   “You were instrumental in the capture of the Canary Killer.”  You were shocked by his modesty.  “The FBI has praised your work and referred to you as an essential asset even though you are not an agent.  That alone makes you very fascinating.”

   “The Canary Killer.”  Dr. Rogers rolled his eyes.  “I am not a fan of those nicknames.  They devalue the lives of the victims, and criminals are not my expertise.”  

   “Do you mind?”  You reached into your bag and pulled out a tape recorder.  “I did not expect to start this soon.”

   “Please.”  He crossed his legs and his lips turned into a small smirk.  “And tell me, why would your readers care about a murderer in Iowa?  I am sure they are locally based.”  

   “Yes.  We are out of Washington D.C., readership largely in Maryland and Virginia.  The surrounding areas, but a killer like this facinates anyone regardless of region.”  As his smile dropped you worried you were coming off too forward.  “And, the focus of the piece is on you, not the killings.  We want to know your background, your story.  I am sure it is more exciting than you give yourself credit for.”  

   “Your dialect is strange.”  He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.  “I can’t quite place where you are from.”  

   “I moved around a lot as a child.”  You looked away from his deep stare.  “Is linguistics one of your hobbies? Would you like to expand on that?”  

   “It is fascinating. Almost as if you have no accent at all.  Very unheard of.  Tell me, are you trying to disguise your voice?”  His teeth ran over his lip, sending a tremble down your spine.  

   “Doctor, I appreciate the question, but I don’t think I could afford your hourly rate.”  You weren’t used to your subjects asking you many questions.  “How about you?  Where were you born? What drew you to therapy?”  

   “Right.”  His smirk returned.  “I was born abroad.  My parents passed when I was twelve, I became responsible for my younger sister and believe it or not we snuck in illegally.”  

   The doctor’s comment on your accent threw you off, especially when he himself was born abroad but had no trace of one.  He continued on with his life story and you barely had to ask a question.  Everything about the man was fascinating.  

   “After my years in general surgery I discovered that most of my patients were more concerned with the mental effects and less with the recovery.  I enjoyed helping them with any resulting depression or anxiety and realized my love for the blade was second to my love of the mind.”  Dr. Rogers glanced toward the window.  “People are fascinating and I want to help in any way I can.”  

   “That is very noble of you.”  The jitters you had about his attractiveness were now dwarfed compared to the intensity of his wisdom and compassion.  “I know we are running low on time.  Is there any personal anecdote you want to include?  Wife or kids?  Dog?”  

   His smile brightened the room as he let out a laugh.

   “Unfortunately my dedication to my work has left no time for any personal life.”  He rose from his seat.  “Though since this is a human interest piece, I would say my main hobbies are music and cooking.”  

   “Wow. Even your hobbies are impressive.”  You followed his lead, grabbing your recorder and hitting stop.  “You don’t have any unproductive time.  Never lose yourself in a television show? Read a pulp novel?”  

   “I do not enjoy fiction much.”  He shrugged.  “What is the point when the real world is so interesting?”  

   “I never thought about it that way.”  You smiled.  “Thank you for your time.  As a courtesy I will send over the article before it is published, not for your approval of course, but your awareness.”  

   “I am sure it will be as dull as me talking about myself has been.”  He held a hand toward the door.  

   “That is a way to put it, especially since hearing you talk about yourself was the opposite of dull.”  You couldn’t find the right words to say, but that did not stop you from speaking.  “You see the world through a unique lens and have had very unique experiences.  Almost as if, as a species, we are lucky to have you.”  

   You felt like you should cringe or apologize, but something about the man made you speak your mind.  

   “And you must be very good at your job, because I felt comfortable saying that to you and I am not even a patient.”  You stopped at the door to his office.  

   The two of you faced each other, his hand went for the knob, but he paused.  

   “You are not my patient.”  Dr. Roger’s eyes glanced over your face, then stopped at your own.  The two of you stared at each other and you did not look away as a chill went down your spine, the intensity of the man.  

   He was about to speak again when a boom landed on the door.  You jumped and put your hand to your heart, your adrenaline flaring.  

   “I’m sorry Dr. Rogers.”  The door swung open and a familiar face walked in.  “But I need to see you right away.”  

   The new guest’s voice trailed off as he spotted you.  His face scrunched and a look of disgust came over.

   “What are you doing here?”  Blue eyes glared into your soul.  

   A smirk crossed your face as you folded your arms.  

   “Hello Agent Barnes, always a pleasure.”  You should have figured he was a patient.  “I am writing a human interest piece on Dr. Rogers.”  

   “You talked to her?”  James looked to the doctor.  “About me?”  

   “I didn’t mean to create more problems for you to discuss.”  You bit back the urge to fire a crack about his narcissism.  “Thank you again Doctor.  I will send you the piece in the next week or so.”  

   You held out your hand and watched as the blonde man shook it with hesitation.  

   That deep intense stare was gone.  Your heart deflated as you left the office, trying to hold your head high and shoulders square.  It felt like he was going to ask you out on a date for a moment, one you would have gladly expected.  

   The cringe you were fighting came forward as you left the swanky office building.  Agent Barnes interference or not it was a stupid fantasy.  This man was too good for you.

~~

   Steve considered his ability to read people top notch.  Even though he was the one speaking he spent the past hour studying the journalist and to say she was intriguing was an understatement.  

   In fact, he was interested enough he was on the verge of asking the woman to dinner.  

   Bucky’s apparent hatred toward the woman was not expected and Steve found himself mentally recapping the interview to see if he missed something.  

   Before he could assess the situation she stormed off.  Her quip about Bucky being a patient was ruder than he found acceptable.  

   “You gave an interview to Miranda Balfour?”  Bucky gripped his long dark hair as he walked into the office.  “What were you thinking?”

   “What?”  Steve shut the door.  “That was not her name.”

   “Of course she gave you a fake name.”  Bucky scoffed.  “I hope you are prepared to have your reputation trashed.  Did you think to, google whatever name she gave you?”  

   “I did and she checked out.”  Steve's intrigue for the woman was turning to anger.  “Now who are you claiming she is?”  

  ��“She is Miranda Balfour.  She runs a murder blog, always posting sensational stories.  She gave extensive coverage to the Canary Killer.”  Bucky ran his hands over his face. “Nothing better than a gossip rag.  I’m surprised you haven’t noticed her.  She’s always lurking around any local crime scene.  Trying to get pictures and interviews like she is a legitimate source.  It is disgraceful.”  

   Steve could feel his body temperature start to rise.  He thought about walking over to his desk and sweeping everything off, then taking an axe to the thing.  He imagined the wood slowly turning into the face of Miranda Balfour as she took a whack to the head, splintering as easy as a tree stump.  

   “Well if I have been duped, it is nobody’s fault but my own.”  Steve shut the door to his office.  “What brings you by so urgently Buck?”

   “The New England Butcher.”  Bucky shook his head.  “I stayed up late last night, going over every murder in the area that even remotely fit his MO.”  

   “There is one issue off the bat.”  Steve took a seat in the chair, knowing Bucky preferred to pace while he spoke.  “Lack of sleep.”

   “Six murders in three years.  Each gruesome in their own way.  The randomness of the kills, the victims.  It is like we were only able to string them together because he wanted us to.”  Bucky stopped.  “And that is what caught my attention.  What about the ones he doesn’t want us to?”

   Bucky sat down and dropped a file on the table.  Steve was annoyed at the waste of paper when an email would have sufficed, but he indulged Bucky and picked up the file.  

   The first photo was of a dismembered man found in a ditch.  Steve knew the date off the top of his head, July 2nd 2013.  Blake Corenzo.  He was a pig of a man.

   “That is a murder from 2013.  Blake Corenzo.  He was stabbed and chopped post mortem.”  James glared as Steve looked up, waiting for his punchline.  “I think he was the Butcher’s first victim.”

Steve bit back a laugh with expertise.  

“The brutality matches.  But what was missing?”  Steve was curious if the Agent was going to connect the dots.  

“Nothing.”  He sighed and pressed his hand to his forehead.  “Or something we missed.  But I have seven more bodies I believe are connected.  We know that as killers go on they get lazier, think they are unwatchable, but the Butcher, he is different.  We are not going to catch him on a technicality or sloppiness.  He is too good.”  

Steve did enjoy the flattery.  

“We have to find his first kill.  It always starts with someone they know.  Always.”  Bucky had a desperation to his voice.

“So you believe that this Blake Corenzo knew the Butcher?”  Steve watched Bucky struggle to connect the dots, not realizing he was the fish on the hook in this game he was not even aware he was playing.  “Have you told Anthony Stark?”  

“Yes.” The air deflated out of Bucky as he fell back into the couch.  “He told me mandatory session with you before I am cleared to return to work.”  

“If I check my e-mail will there be one from him?  Is that what it will say?”  Steve appreciated the protectiveness Tony had for Bucky. In a way it was as if Stark saw Barnes’ brain as a fragile asset.  One he was constantly concerned was about to break.  

“It will say I can’t go back until you clear me.”  Bucky tried to hide the humiliation.

A man in his 30s being controlled by his boss and therapist as if he were a child.  Steve recognized something in Bucky, an equality almost.  Because Tony Stark’s concern were not without merit.  James Buchanan Barnes did have a brain that could operate like no other and if anyone were to catch the Butcher Steve was certain it was the Agent in front of him.  

“You are obsessing again.”  Steve crossed his legs.  “It is not healthy.  You are getting too involved.  The Butcher hasn’t struck in three months and twice already this year.  It’s likely he will not attack for some time.  You are trying to create leads.”  

“You sound like Tony.”  Bucky scoffed and looked away.  “When I sleep,  I see their faces.”

“Whose faces?”  Steve leaned in, unsure what Bucky was going to say next.  

“The ones, the ones I didn’t save.” Tears glossed over Bucky’s eyes.  “Not the ones who have already died.  The ones who will if I don’t stop him.  Their faces are blurry but they’re pleading with me.”  

“People die every day.  You cannot carry that guilt.  It will destroy you.”  Steve reached for his rx pad.  

“I can’t help the people who die every day, but I can help these people.  If I can stop the Butcher.”  Bucky’s jaw tightened.  

“You keep saying ‘I’ when it is a team effort.  You are not a superhero.  You cannot do this alone.”  Steve wrote out a medication.  

“I have to since none of you will listen to me.  Not Tony, not you.”  Bucky rolled his eyes.  “Even Natasha told me to give it a rest.”  

“Maybe that says something.”  Steve handed Bucky the prescription.  “That will stop the dreams.  Take one before bed and get some sleep.”  

“And then what?”  Bucky looked up, lips parted.  

“And then come and see me in the morning.  Once you are rested we will have a conversation about Blake Corenzo and I will talk to Mr. Stark.”  Steve watched as relief flooded Bucky’s face.  

“Thanks.”  He looked at the prescription before shoving it in his pocket and letting out a yawn.  “And sorry, for what I said earlier about Miranda.  She won’t be able to tarnish your reputation.”  

“I am aware. The most salacious detail I gave her is already public knowledge.”  Steve rose.  “I only regret my own error in judgment.  Now get some sleep.”  

Bucky nodded as they walked to the door.  Steve kept his calm as he let the FBI Agent out.  

Then he walked back to the table and picked up the file.  He set out the photos of the four crime scenes Bucky wanted to tie to the Butcher.  

“Very clever Agent Barnes.”  All of them were done by Steve.  In a way seeing the photos was like revisiting an old friend.  

Corenzo was far from Steve’s first kill though.  He had watched the man use a racial slur and a racist imitation at a dry cleaner.  Another rude person the world did not need.  

Steve flashed back to Miranda’s comment about the human race being lucky to have him.  She was right of course, on more levels than she realized.  He was purging the world of the disgusting people who did not belong.  

After Agent Barnes’ proclamation Miranda Balfour’s name had landed on that list.

~~

Steve was a patient man.  He sometimes marked his victims for years before they met their demise.  

When he got home, to what his visitor’s refered to as architectural magic, he went straight for the kitchen.  It was on the level of any executive chef’s dream.  

He would cook tonight.  Channel his anger over the reporter, but not before adding her name to his list.

He went to the recipe drawer.  It looked more like a filing cabinet, filled with Rolodexes of index cards with carefully printed ingredients and instructions.  He had order them online since the entire world had gone digital.

On the rare occasion he had a guest they poked at his old fashioned nature.  He remembered the first time he had Bucky over for dinner.

“You live in such a modern house, and appear a very modern man, but that recipe system reminds me of my grandmother.”  Bucky laughed as he sipped his wine.

“And I bet your grandmother’s cooking was far superior to your own.”  Steve raised as eyebrow as Bucky frowned.

The memory vanished as Steve pulled out the Rolodex he wanted.  This one did not have recipes, it was for its original purpose, filled with business card collected over the years.  

He grabbed one at random.  Donna Chung.  He closed his eyes and remembered her behavior,  the way she was screaming at her child in the grocery store.  The child could have been no more than three and was crying over not being able to drop a quarter in a donation box.  

“You get nothing from that.  Here I’ll buy you a candy bar instead.”  

Steve followed her home that night.  Googled the address and the next day walked into her real estate office.  He picked up a business card and dropped her in his Rolodex.  That was almost eighteen months ago.  

She was not a candidate for a butcher murder.  Besides, the day left Steve uninspired.  But still he set her card to the side.  

He picked up an empty one and wrote the name Miranda Balfour, along with the phony one she had given him and the contact e-mail.  Then he closed up the Rolodex and put it back in its place.  

Steve poured a glass of wine and walked over to his computer.  He fired up the laptop.  

Grabbing a remote he turned on the fireplace and some music as he sat on his overly plush blue sofa.  Calm colors was what his interior designer recommended.   He was grateful for that advice.  She was someone who brought beauty to the world.  

As soon as Steve typed Miranda Balfour into the search her blog popped up first thing.  The title was “Miranda’s Macabre Museum”.  

Steve rolled his eyes as he went to the first post.  It was from two days ago.  

Murder

Victim:  Lawrence Engle

Death:  Stab wounds

Date:  April 12th, 1985

Location:  Mobile, Alabama

What followed was a summary of the facts.  Steve was expecting more of a tattle-tale type scenario.  But he did not see anything salacious.  If anything it was very matter-of-fact with little insight.  

At the end there were links to photos with appropriate warnings and links to sources.

Then there was a section titled editorial.  

“Here we go.”  Steve readied to read the sordid opinion.

The motive in this murder was money.  While the law, for the most part, disregards the motive as important to the trial my long time readers know I disagree.  Until we change as a society and value human life over finances we will be doomed to see unnecessary killings as this continue to happen.  That does not mean the killer should be pardoned for his crime because society as a whole is at fault.  On the contrary.  He is part of the problem and should be punished.  

Sentence:  Death by lethal injection.

“Interesting.”  Steve found his mind going back to his initial opinion of Miranda or whatever her name was.

He noticed a search option on her blog and typed in his name.  Several posts on Canary victims came up, but he found he was only mentioned in the source articles or the summary.  

He did the same for Agent Barnes and saw the results light up.  He scrolled the posts for the highlighted name and came across a murder from three years ago.  

Editorial:   The lead Agent on this case has shown textbook narcissism.  His attempt to relate to the killer to solve the crime failed here, because the murder was not about him, but he found a way to make it so.  The last victim’s death would have been preventable if Agent Barnes listened to anyone but himself.

“That explains Bucky’s dislike.”  Steve shut the laptop and pinched his eyes shut.

When he googled the first name, multiple stories came up that were as she said human interest pieces.  Did she lie just to get the interview?  Pose as the other woman?  

Lie.  What difference did it make?  She was a liar and had earned a spot in his Rolodex.  

This one felt personal though.  In a way Steve did not enjoy.  She made him feel...comfortable.  Or made him feel something.  The way her eyes were so inquisitive and she seemed to hang on every work with genuine interest.  When in fact he was intentionally trying to bore her.  

That would not stand.  This woman would not sit in the Rolodex for years.  Her time would be shorter.  Steve stood up from the couch and went back to the kitchen.  He picked up Donna Chung’s card and returned it with the other, instead setting the card he’d just drafted on the counter.  

He would start tomorrow.

~~

A/N:  Thank you so much for reading!  I really appreciate every like/comment/reblog!  I haven’t done a series in a long time so I am excited!  And if you didn’t figure it out this is....

Hannibal AU :). 

[96thdayofrage]

Goose Island workers tried to unionize before the COVID-19 pandemic. The company pushed back — and then laid off leaders of the effort.

Like many union drives, workers at Goose Island Beer Co. began organizing quietly, in spring 2019.

For months, a core of employees leading the effort at Chicago’s oldest brewery met covertly with colleagues — coffee shops in the morning and bars at night, with full workdays in between — offering visions of a more equitable workplace.

By early 2020, as many as 75% of Goose Island’s approximately 125 employees eligible to join a union expressed support, organizers said in interviews with the Chicago Tribune. Months of toil seemed poised to succeed.

But then, weeks before taking the union drive public, organizers ran into a pair of buzz saws. First, management learned of the plan and responded with what several organizers believe was an aggressive and occasionally intimidating effort to thwart unionization.

Weeks later came the second hurdle: the COVID-19 pandemic. With all but essential production employees furloughed or shifted to working from home, momentum waned.

Finally, on June 2, 2020, citing a downturn due to the pandemic, Goose Island laid off what union organizers estimate to be at least 20 employees. Among those sent packing were several vocal union advocates, including the three core organizers.

The Chicago Tribune spoke with seven former Goose Island employees involved in the union drive, some at its core and some who were supporters; five were laid off.

Several people active in the union drive say they don’t doubt the company was under financial strain at the time. But they also believe Goose Island used the layoffs to target leading union activists and to finish off their efforts. According to current and former employees, the idea of unionizing Goose Island has withered away.

“I don’t know if I think there were only layoffs because of the union drive,” said Grace Vasquez, a core organizer laid off during summer 2020 after nearly three years as a server, bartender, tour guide and floor manager. “But I think who got laid off was in direct response to the union drive.”

Goose Island declined to answer questions about the union drive or the layoffs. But in a statement from Goose Island president Todd Ahsmann issued Sept. 17, the company said it “always respected our employees’ right to decide for themselves about union representation.”

The statement attributed the layoffs to the pandemic, which it said “significantly impacted our business” and led the company to combine sales and marketing forces for Goose Island and its subsidiary, Virtue Cider, “to share expertise, maximize resources and focus on opportunities that will allow our business to adapt to the changing industry.” The pandemic also led to layoffs at the brewery’s two Chicago bars and shuttering the Philadelphia pub Goose Island launched in 2018, the statement said.

“The incredibly difficult decision to separate with some sales, marketing and pub employees, both salaried and hourly, was entirely based on the new operating realities facing our industry, particularly bars and restaurants,” the statement said. “We continue to be grateful for their contributions to the company during their time here.”

Like many businesses, Goose Island’s global parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, struggled during the pandemic, with revenues declining 3.7% in 2020, according to its annual report to shareholders.

But a bright spot was in the U.S., where Anheuser-Busch led the nation’s beer industry in dollar growth, according to market research firm IRI, due in large part to the company’s “above core portfolio,” which includes craft breweries such as Goose Island, the report says.

Brewing discontent

Goose Island’s response to the union drive as described by organizers is similar to the approach often taken by companies trying to fend off unionization, said Nik Theodore, a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied employer reaction to unionization.

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Employers usually oppose unionization, he said, to stave off rising costs associated with a labor contract and losing unilateral power over employees.

When confronted with a union drive, a company may respond first with the suggestion that issues can be handled in-house without a union, Theodore said. Escalating tactics often include mandatory meetings, anti-union literature and warnings that moving forward would cost jobs or benefits, he said.

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In some cases, Theodore said, laying off employees at the core of a union drive can be seen as a final step when trying to quash such efforts. In such scenarios, he said, employers will cite business needs to justify layoffs and may also lay off employees not affiliated with union drives along with union leaders.

Positive incentives are also commonly used, he added.

“It’s not all about punishment,” he said. “Some people will be promoted. Some people will get bonuses or will get raises. It’s a signal: ‘As a company, we are here to take care of you.’”

Organizing has been a continuing theme in the beer industry since San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing unionized two years ago, which one labor lawyer called “a potential watershed moment” for the beer industry. Since then, brewery workers in Minneapolis and Cleveland have also taken steps toward unionizing.

At Goose Island, the broadest support for unionization was at the brewery’s Clybourn Avenue pub, where the brand launched in 1988. Multiple former pub employees said they felt like second-class citizens compared to workers at Goose Island’s Fulton Street headquarters.

Bartenders at the Fulton Street taproom had a base pay close to three times the hourly rate as bartenders at the Clybourn pub, according to people who have worked at both locations. Adding in tips, the disparity could map out to $30 to $40 an hour for Fulton Street bartenders compared to about $15 to $20 an hour for bartenders at the Clybourn pub.

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But frustrations ran deeper than money, some former employees said. At Goose Island’s holiday party in 2018, the former employees said, Clybourn pub employees had to serve workers from the Fulton Street headquarters, which led to broad discontent.

Vasquez, who was among those serving at the party, said workers felt “embarrassed, ashamed, unlucky and unappreciated” to wait on people they thought of as peers.

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“It was always a stressed and tense space,” Vasquez said of the Clybourn pub. “The staff isn’t respected by other parts of Goose Island. There was always an ‘us against them’ tension.”

Unionization efforts began the following spring. Each department had its motivating issues, organizers said, with some upset at the sense they would be paid better doing the same work elsewhere, including at the U.S. parent company, Anheuser-Busch, which bought Goose Island from founder John Hall in 2011.

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Employees sometimes put in hours of unpaid work outside their scheduled shifts, according to a former employee and union organizer, who did not want to be named because he remains active in labor organizing at his current job and other workplaces.

One common motivating issue among workers, especially brewers, was safety, particularly repetitive injuries and chemical exposure, the former employee said. Many of the most effective safety standards at Goose Island were passed down from Anheuser-Busch; several brewers hoped to see a contract that would further cement safety as a priority, he said.

A brewery can be a physically demanding workplace, with kegs that can weigh upward of 160 pounds and minor construction projects at beer festivals and events, the former employee said.

In some cases, former employees felt, safety didn’t seem like a primary concern.

In a September 2019 example, union organizer Maddie Mathie said she was changing a keg in a refrigerated room at the Clybourn Avenue pub when she became lightheaded and felt as if she might pass out. When she told management something was amiss, she said, a manager asked if she had remembered to eat breakfast.

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Another manager checked the keg room and confirmed something was wrong, according to Mathie, which led to the discovery of a poisonous carbon dioxide leak. The situation was resolved, but Mathie said management never addressed the issue broadly with workers or provided instruction in case such an issue were to happen again. Managers joked for the rest of the day that she had been “the canary in the coal mine,” Mathie said.

“I always felt there were a lot of things handled too casually, and that further instilled this idea that no matter what happens, things will blow over,” she said.

Ahsmann acknowledged the 2019 incident in a statement Sept. 22, saying a “CO2 tank was inadvertently left open during routine tap line maintenance. This was addressed immediately in accordance with our protocols.”

[wisdomrays]

TAFAKKUR: Part 353

THE CLASH IN THE HEAVENS: THE DISCOURSE OF THE STARS: Part 2

Indeed, everyone can always travel to the heavens through his mind, vision and imagination. So too, freed from or purified of the gross heaviness of their carnal and material being, the spirits of the Prophets and saints travel there by God’s leave, and the spirits of the ordinary people do so after their death. Since those who are lightened’ and have acquired ‘subtlety’ and spiritual refinement travel there, for sure, certain inhabitants of the earth and the air who are clothed in an ‘ideal’ body or energetic envelope or immaterial form, and are light and subtle like spirits, may go to the heavens. Since there is journeying between the earth and the heavens, and important necessities for the earth are sent from the heavens; and since pure spirits travel to the heavens, for sure, imitating the pure spirits, the evil spirits too will attempt to travel to the heavenly abode. For, physically, they are light and subtle. However, they will certainly be repulsed and repelled, for by nature they are evil and unclean. Again, as the silence and tranquillity, the order and serene regularity of the heavens, and their vastness and radiance, show, their inhabitants are not like those of the earth; they are all obedient to God and do whatever He commands them.There is nothing to cause quarrels or disputes among them because they are innocent, their realm is vast, their nature is pure, and their stations are fixed. So, when devils or evil spirit beings attempt to ascend the heavens, the pure inhabitants of the heavens are mobilized to repel them from the heavens.

Without doubt, there must be a sign or reflection in the visible, material world of this important interaction and contest. For the wisdom of the sovereignty of Divine Lordship requires that the Lord should put a sign, an indication, for conscious beings, particularly for man, whose most important duty is witnessing, supervising, and acting as a herald to, His significant disposals in the realm of the Unseen. This is just as He has made rain a sign for men to explain, in physical terms, His countless miracles in spring, and also made apparent (natural) causes the pointers to the wonders of His art, so that He may call the inhabitants of the visible, material world to witness them, indeed to attract the attentive gaze of all the inhabitants of the vast heavens and the earth to that amazing exhibition. That is, He displays the vast heavens as a castle or city arrayed with towers on which sentries are posted, so that those inhabitants of the heavens and earth may reflect on the majesty of His Lordship.

Since wisdom requires the announcement of this elevated contest, there will surely be a sign for it. However, other than some stars being used as ‘missiles’ against the devils, no event among those of the atmosphere and heavens seems to be appropriate to this announcement. For it is evident how suitable for the repulsion of the devils are these stellar events, which resemble missiles and signal rockets fired from the formidable bastions of high castles. Further, unlike other events taking place in the heavens, no other function is known for such stellar events. In addition, this function has been known widely since the time of Adam, and witnessed by those who know the reality of things and events.

Like angels and other creatures, stars also have many different varieties. Some are extremely small, and some are extremely large. Everything that shines in the sky can be called a star. One sort of stars the Majestic Creator, the Gracious Maker, has created as a sort of jewels on the face of the sky or like the shining fruits of a vast tree. He has also made them the places of excursion or mounts or dwelling-places for His angels. He has made one sort of small stars missiles to drive off devils and kill them. Thus, firing these shooting stars to repulse devils may have three meanings:

The first: It is a sign that the law of contest is in force also in the most vast sphere of existence.

The second: It indicates that in the heavens there are watchful guards and obedient inhabitants, Divine forces, who do not like the earthly evil-doers to mix with and eavesdrop on them.

The third: The spying satans, who are the representatives of the foulness and wickedness on the earth, attempt to soil the clean and pure realm of the heavens inhabited by pure beings, and spy on the talk of their inhabitants in the name of evil spirits [unbelieving jinn and their human companions trying to mislead people especially through sorcery, mediumship and soothsaying]. Shooting stars are fired to prevent them and repulse them from the doors of the heavens.

The Perseid meteor shower observed in almost every year suggests that those meteors are shot for certain, important purposes. For they surprise observers by showing great diversity. The observations made as recently as 1993, demonstrate that the structure of the shower is yet poorly known.

According to information given by the International Meteor Organization about the events of the 1993 shower (Astronomy, October 1993), the first results posted for the night of 11/12 August came from Japan. Up to 20:30 (all times UT), 11 August, the meteor rates were found to be normal. A zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 40 meteors per hour (m/h) was tentatively assigned to the shower at this time.

Preliminary data from European observers indicated that the rates had gradually increased to ZHR of order 100 m/h between 20:00, 11 August and 01:00, 12 August. Observers in France reported a noticeable increase in rates after 00:30, 12 August, with the rate being about twice that of ‘normal’. The rates continued to climb between 01:00 and 03:00. A preliminary ZHR of 200 50 was ascribed to this period. The rates appeared to reach a maximum between 03:00 and 03:30. The ZHR at maximum was estimated to be of the order of 500. Observations from the Canary Islands indicated that the rates began to decline after 04:00.

Higher than normal rates were also reported from many observers in the United States and Japan. As commented by Martin Beech in Astronomy, p.11, the results clearly indicated that the shower did not behave as predicted. Speculation about a possible meteor storm proved incorrect. Another unexpected feature in 1993 was the high number of bright fireballs observed. Observers reported something like five times the normal level of Perseid fireballs on the night of 11/12 August The Perseid shower once again demonstrated how difficult it is to predict meteor shower activity.

A. Cressy Morrison (Man Does Not Stand Alone, New York, 1945, p.100) mentions, as a typical human characteristic, the reluctance to give up fixed ideas, the stubborn resistance to accepting unfamiliar truths. The early Greeks knew the earth was a sphere, but it took two thousand years to convince men that this fact is true. New ideas encounter opposition, ridicule and abuse, but truth survives and is verified. Neither scientific studies nor developments in science can offer any excuse not to accept God. What we observe in nature and what we obtain from it must encourage us to know Him more closely and see the strong bridge between science and religion, the world and the Hereafter, and between the reason and the spirit.

[authorhenrijenkins]

190118

190118

Johnny walked along the cobbled and cracked collection of concrete, across from the tower's less impressive loading bay. The dock was empty of man and machine. At the corner he crossed searching for possible wittnesses as much as checking traffic. He head swooped left and right the entire distance. He pushed his white collared sleeve back to see the expensive watch - twelve-thirty, lunch time for meager hourly employees. It was Friday and the city long held a tradition of eating out on Fridays. It was one of the reasons he had chosen that day.

At the edge of the cavernous space he stopped and slid a soft pack of Marlboro reds from behind the monogramed pocket. The nod of a memory to his less than advantagous past, Johnny had spent tireless hours and energy building the image striking up a smoke with a $300 gold lighter. He knew how important that day would be in his continuing to build upon the lifestyle he had so easily become accustomed.

He inhaled a long deep drag of nicotine and it's evil friends and licked at his upper lip. His right foot stepped light into the bay as if testing the water.

"Whatcha doin?" a voice attacked from behind.

A cloud of smoke fled like convicts in a prison break from Johnny's mouth escaping into the afternoon before a gulp of air dragged them back within. Johnny leapt away from the sound and turned startled from the interuption. His co-worker David stood, taunting a Cheshire grin, the cat enjoying its canary.

"Fuck!" An angry right fist struck David square in the chest. "What the - why - what are you doing here?"

David winced and rubbed at the stinging sensation. "That's what I asked you dude. And I asked first."

Johnny fought to right his head. "Um, nothing, just having a smoke." He displayed the cigraette as if offering it in exhibit.

"You stepped out to have a smoke five blocks from the office?"

"No, no." Johnny's hand flailed in uncertatinty. "I was on my to lunch. I stopped to light a smoke and something caught my eye."

David walked past to gain a view of the loading dock. "Oh yeah, you get her details?" His beady brown eyes scanned the area.

"What? Who - No it wasn't someone it was something," his voiced trailed off. "Probably a rat."

"Yeah, I know your rep, I've heard the stories, blonde, brunette," David prodded Johnny with a finger, "a fiesty redhead?"

"I'm telling you man there was no girl."

"Alright alright, if that's the story your're sticking to then so be it. Where were you getting lunch - I'll tag along - maybe we can find a blonde, brunette or redhead there, maybe all three eh." David slapped Johnny's shoulder with the back of his hand. He turned to walk and looked back.

Johnny stood still as if not wanting or not able to go.

"C'mon," David nodded the direction.

"Uh," Johnny dragged another long breath of smoke from his cigarette staring through David as he did. Fury burned in his eyes.

"Dude, you coming or what?" David took another step.

Johnny threw the cigarette to the ground as if it were David being tossed from the top of the fifty story building. He crushed the head of it beneath a $600 Italian leather sole, extinguishing all signs of life. He looked to David and stepped toward him. David shrugged and started listing a menu of nearby dining options. They walked together. Johnny looked at the disaster the day had become because of David.

For all his failings David had presented Johnny with another way in. The men walked away, Johnny starving for loss opportunity.

© 2019 Henri Jenkins

[hourly-canaries]

Pardon this sudden announcement but as of posting this I do not plan on posting/scheduling more posts until tomorrow morning (exactly 8am Central Standard Time) as I am currently on a family trip with limited wifi/data, time, and motivation. I also plan on not posting later in the day tomorrow because of our holidays. Hope you all understand and I promise regular posting will resume within a few days!

With much love, hourly canaries admin ❤️

[hudsonespie]

NOAA's Support for the Bourbon Rhode Search and Rescue Effort

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provided critical assistance during the international search and rescue (SAR) and recovery efforts that followed the sinking of the tug Bourbon Rhode in Hurricane Lorenzo last fall. This intra-agency NOAA effort included Hurricane Hunters from the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), scientists from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the Hurricane Research Division (HRD), and marine forecasters from the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). 

On the morning of Thursday, September 26, French authorities received a distress signal from the Bourbon Rhode, an offshore tug in the central Atlantic en route from the Canary Islands to Guyana with 14 crew members on board. The Bourbon Rhode had made a dangerously close approach to the eye of Hurricane Lorenzo in the central Atlantic Ocean, and water was entering towards the stern of the vessel. At 0200 Atlantic Standard Time (AST) on September 26, Lorenzo was a Category 2 hurricane with 95 knot winds and seas 12 feet or greater extending 240-330 nautical miles outward from its center. At 0800 AST, a TAFB sea state analysis - issued around the same time as the last automatic identification system (AIS) signal from the Bourbon Rhode - showed peak significant wave heights in Lorenzo of up to 41 feet. By 1400 AST, Lorenzo had strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 knots. The Bourbon Rhode ultimately sank on September 26 in the central Atlantic Ocean.  

File photo of M/V Bourbon Rhode (courtesy Bourbon Offshore)

Both of NOAA’s P-3 aircraft were preparing to fly dedicated research missions into the storm. As NOAA43 (nicknamed Miss Piggy) transited from Lakeland, Florida, to Barbados on September 26, the French government and the U.S. Coast Guard reached out and requested SAR assistance. Meanwhile, the nearest marine vessel to the incident site — a bulk carrier named SSI Excellent – diverted toward the last known position of the Bourbon Rhode. Later that day, NHC/TAFB was contacted by the USCG Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) Miami to begin providing spot forecasts for surface wind and wave conditions that would impact vessels aiding in the SAR efforts. The first TAFB point forecast for the rescue detailed the dangerous marine conditions that were still ongoing in the wake of Lorenzo, with gusty tropical-storm-force winds and combined seas of 20 feet near the incident site.

NOAA aircraft fleet in Barbados for Hurricane Lorenzo research missions. The NOAA P-3 aircraft provided critical SAR support for the Bourbon Rhode incident.  Credit: LCDR Sam Urato, NOAA Corps

Flight track from NOAA43 during the Bourbon Rhode SAR mission over the central Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 27. Credit: Jon Zawislak, NOAA/AOML/HRD

NOAA43 departed Barbados on September 27 with a crew of NOAA personnel.  As requested, they planned to fly over the locations of the last Bourbon Rhode distress signals and report any findings. If nothing was sighted, the crew would continue on with the planned research mission into Lorenzo. NOAA43 was the first SAR-capable asset to reach the incident site, but the crew did not find anything upon arrival.  

With growing concern about the fate of Bourbon Rhode crew members, the NOAA43 crew quickly decided to abandon the Lorenzo research mission and continue SAR support. With little information besides the last-known location of the Bourbon Rhode, they quickly adapted to the situation and developed a SAR flight plan. Crew members rearranged themselves by any available window and called out locations of suspected targets or debris while surveying in the vicinity of the last known Bourbon Rhode position. Poor visibility, extremely large waves, and turbulence from strong rainbands posed difficult challenges as NOAA43 received sporadic emergency beacon signals. With only minutes left before the plane needed to head back to Barbados due to fuel limitations, crew members spotted debris and what appeared to be a life raft. This information was relayed to SSI Excellent, which was en route to the SAR area.

Convective cell in an outer rainband of Hurricane Lorenzo, taken during a NOAA43 SAR mission on September 27, 2019. The bulker SSI Excellent is also pictured. Credit: Kelly Ryan, NOAA/AOML/HRD

Flight track from NOAA42 during the Bourbon Rhode SAR mission over the central Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 28. Credit: Jon Zawislak, NOAA/AOML/HRD

On September 28, NOAA42 (nicknamed Kermit) flew a SAR mission in coordination with SSI Excellent and other supporting marine vessels across the search area. As Hurricane Lorenzo moved farther away, improving weather and marine conditions allowed the plane to fly as low as 200 feet above the ocean surface. The NOAA42 crew (see list at the end of the post) conducted visual searches while listening for emergency beacon signals, guided by previous reports from NOAA43 as well as new information from supporting ships. 

The crewmembers located a large debris field and the remains of several sailors, and they directed ships to these locations so the victims could be recovered. The dedicated efforts of NOAA personnel significantly narrowed the search region and guided ships toward the area where a life raft was discovered later that day. Three Bourbon Rhode survivors were rescued from that life raft in the Atlantic Ocean.

Aerial photo of the life raft carrying three surviving Bourbon Rhode crew members on September 28, 2019. Credit: Marine Nationale (French Navy) via Facebook   NOAA assets played a pivotal role in early SAR efforts, which were led by the Maritime RCC Fort-de-France on the island of Martinique. As the international search efforts continued, TAFB provided six-hourly forecast updates on wind, wave, and weather conditions. From September 26 to October 5, 2019, TAFB produced 35 spot forecasts that were shared with RCC Miami and MRCC Fort-de-France in support of this unprecedented SAR operation. Over two weeks, 21 ships and four aircraft searched over 40,000 square miles of the central Atlantic Ocean for survivors.  Four bodies were recovered and seven others were declared lost at sea after SAR efforts were officially called off on October 5.

The Bourbon Rhode incident is just one example of how TAFB has evolved to provide impact-based decision support services (IDSS) to the USCG, its primary core governmental partner.  Last year, TAFB forecasters produced 56 spot forecasts for 13 marine incidents including SAR missions, distressed vessels and even a medical rescue. 

In July 2019, the USCG and U.S. Air Force coordinated a rescue operation of two critically injured people off a disabled fishing vessel in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. TAFB provided spot forecast support for the rescue operation and subsequent transport of the injured people to a Mexican naval medical clinic on Socorro Island. “This information is truly impacting operations,” said Douglas Samp, Search Mission Coordinator for RCC Alameda (USCG District 11).

Additionally, TAFB forecasters prepare and deliver live briefings to USCG District leadership when tropical cyclones threaten USCG SAR regions and U.S. ports. In 2019, TAFB delivered 42 tropical briefings combined to USCG District 7 and District 8, including 25 briefings for Hurricane Dorian. “I cannot overstate how much [NHC/TAFB] insight into the storm’s effects is vital to our planning and response efforts,” said Captain Eric Smith, Chief of the Incident Management Branch for USCG District 7.

Tragedies like the Bourbon Rhode highlight the importance of TAFB's ability to provide year-round IDSS support to core partners. In this case, the dedicated IDSS provided by TAFB forecasters, combined with the valiant efforts of NOAA AOC crew members and HRD and NESDIS researchers, played a critical role in the international rescue efforts that ultimately saved three lives.

Brad Reinhart is a meteorologist with the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. He currently serves as the TAFB focal point for core marine partners, including the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science degree in Meteorology from Florida State University. 

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Zorana Jelenak, Kelly Ryan, and Joe Sapp for sharing their personal accounts of this experience with the author. Additional thanks to Jonathan Shannon, Shirley Murillo, Jon Zawislak, Nathan Kahn, Patrick Didier, and Erica Rule for their helpful input and feedback.

This article appears courtesy of the National Hurricane Center and may be found in its original form here. 

from Storage Containers https://maritime-executive.com/article/noaa-s-support-for-the-bourbon-rhode-search-and-rescue-effort-1 via http://www.rssmix.com/

[lolcat76]

Folie A Deux, part 8

If you need a refresher, here’s part 7: http://lolcat76.tumblr.com/post/158990942790/folie-a-deux-pt-7 When last we left our intrepid heroes, Laura had just invited Bill over for dinner. A continuation for the prompt from @okaynextcrisis that will never die. 

Grace had dropped her bowl in the sink and decamped for her room long before Bill showed up. Whether she was trying to give them privacy, or just didn’t want Bill to know that she dared to eat a meal, Laura wasn’t sure, but it left the two of them sitting across from each other at her mother’s scarred kitchen table.

It should have been strange, having Bill sitting in her house, eating out of the bowls she and her sisters fought over when they were children, but it was...nice. Natural, even. He was just rough enough around the edges, even after years of classical training and kissing donor ass, to fit perfectly in her shabby old house.

If she were in the mood to overthink things, that would keep her up tonight, but she was in the mood to eat. She picked through her bowl of soup, pushing tomatoes aside to dig out the chunks of avocado.

“You still do that,” he said.

Her hand froze, her spoon halfway to her mouth. “Do what?”

“Pick out the parts you like best to eat first.”

Did she do that? “I don’t do that.”

He grinned at her, then slurped a mouthful of black beans. She looked down into her own bowl at the tomato chunks shoved to the side. Oh lord, she did do that.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to save the best for last?” he asked mildly, not bothering to meet her eyes as he took another swig of beer.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it was rude to comment on a lady’s eating habits?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin, then grinned at her. “Yep. You did. Several times.”

She snorted. “As I recall, it wasn’t my eating habits you commented on. It was my cooking.”

His spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl. “Well, I’m happy to see that your skills have improved.”

She rolled her eyes. Bill had the palette of a five-year-old, so a compliment on her improving cooking skills was hardly worth registering. “Grace couldn’t fend for herself if I burned dinner. You could. I guess you could say I had incentive to improve.”

“Funny how fast kids change everything.”

Just like that, she remembered why she’d invited him for dinner in the first place. She flushed a little bit, feeling like a heel that she’d completely forgotten about Zak and Lee going home today and leaving Bill alone in his apartment. “And what about you, Dad? Do you cut the crusts off sandwiches?”

“I’ll have you know that my grilled cheese sandwiches are perfect equilateral triangles.”

Laura laughed at the mental picture of Bill, protractor in hand, carefully slicing through toasted bread and melted cheese. “In that case, next time, you’re making dinner.”

“Next time,” he agreed. “Any time.”

She pushed the tomatoes in her bowl around with her spoon, caught off-guard at the idea of next time. Or any time. What was she doing? Playing with fire. He was comfortable in her kitchen. He was the person she called when she was frustrated with work. He was the voice of reason when it came to Grace refusing to eat bread.

He was the person she relied on. Again. And she’d fallen into it so easily that she hadn’t even realized how much she’d started to depend on his steady presence in her life and his calm voice in her ear.

She didn’t want to need him. She didn’t want to need anyone, not ever again, but here he was in her kitchen, watching her and waiting for a response.

“You done?” she asked, reaching for his empty bowl. He didn’t say a word, didn’t move from his seat, just watched her as she dropped the bowls in the sink and rinsed them before throwing them into the dishwasher. She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head as she dug through the cabinet for dish soap.

Starting the dishwasher and wiping down the countertops would only buy her so much time, and she knew when she was done setting the kitchen to rights, he’d still be in that chair watching her. Dammit, Laura, what were you thinking?

“I should go,” he said, when he finally realized that she could easily spend the rest of the night picking crumbs off the countertop rather than turning around and talking to him. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Any time,” she responded automatically.

“I think that’s my line,” he said with a chuckle.

“It’s getting late. You have company class tomorrow, and I have a beginning yoga class at 10. And I have to check Grace’s homework before she goes to bed.” And wash my hair and paint my toenails and take out the trash and scrub the grout, and anything else that will get you out of my house and out of my head.

“Right, company class. You know, you’re welcome in company class. Might be good for you.”

“I have my day job,” she reminded him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yoga.”

“Yes, yoga. Yoga pays the bills. Yoga pays for Grace’s tuition to that very expensive ballet school. Yoga pays for the food you just ate. Yoga kept us in this house when I had absolutely nothing to my name after eight years at ABT. I’m sorry if it’s not classy enough for you, Bill, but it’s kept us alive and afloat, so maybe shove it with the judgment a little bit?”

He threw up his hands and backed away from the table. “Fair enough. Thanks for dinner.”

Before she could apologize for her temper, he was gone.

If her mother were here, she’d be horrified. A lady doesn’t chase away a guest for daring to enjoy himself at her table. It was probably for the best that Grace has been in her room for the better part of an hour; Laura certainly hoped that her niece didn’t take her cues on how to deal with the opposite sex from her pathetic aunt.

She shook her head and resumed scrubbing at a scorch mark on the counter that had been burned into the formica since she was six years old. She could get rid of it, finally, if she just tried hard enough. She could erase all her mistakes if she just scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and ignored the tears dripping onto the sponge.

***

Tory was in a mood, that was easy to see. Then again, Tory was always in a mood these days. She hadn’t been the most pleasant person to deal with when Laura had one job; now that she was trying to balance the yoga studio and her rehearsal schedule at the ballet, Tory was downright surly.

“You’re late,” she said, not bothering to look up as she keyed in credit card numbers. “Class is starting.”

Laura was late, but she wasn’t going to apologize - again - for not being able to sleep the night before. Tory would just have to suck it up, or find a new job.

She wouldn’t cry too many tears if Tory did just that. For someone as bossy and demanding as she was, Laura was shocked that Tory condescended to working for hourly pay that was just above minimum wage. Tory should be running a corporation or a political campaign, not wasting her talents on a second-rate yoga studio in a third-rate city.

She smiled and handed Tory a cup of coffee and a muffin, the best bribe she could offer. Tory’s talents may be wasted, but she made sure Laura was where she needed to be when she needed to be there, and that made her worth her weight in gold.

“Blueberry,” Tory muttered with a grimace and shoved the muffin to the edge of the reception desk. Well, she was better than nothing. Laura ignored the muffin that was perched precariously above the trash can and swept into the studio with her yoga mat and her bottle of lavendar essential oils.

“Good morning, class,” she said. She laid out her yoga mat and dimmed the lights. Morning weekday classes were usually light on attendance, mostly retirees and homemakers. She seated herself at the edge of her mat and surveyed the class, smiling at the familiar faces who smiled back at her.

Familiar faces and Bill Adama, front and center on one of the studio’s borrowed mats, grinning like the proverbial cat with a mouthful of canary.

Bill fucking Adama, invading her space, yet again. He was supposed to be teaching company class; why the hell was he here?

She took in a few deep breaths and let out several long exhales. He was here, like it or not, but she had a class to teach. “Sit at the edge of your mats,” she said, “and take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouths. Let your exhales echo through your body.”

Most of the class kept their eyes closed as they practiced their breathing, but Bill stared at Laura as he let go of his exhale, reminding her of just how well she knew the sound of his breath leaving him. Damn him.

“Mountain pose,” she said, digging her toes into the edge of her mat. “We’ll start with sun salutations.”

He followed along as best as he could, and she had to bite the soft tissue of her cheeks to keep from laughing at him as she nudged his feet out of turnout. Maybe it was unfair, but she used him as an example to her class of the proper way to center their core over their standing legs. “Toes, balls and heels anchored to the floor.”

He laughed as she helped him shift his hips into parallel position. “Balls?” he asked softly.

“Shut up or get out,” she muttered.

He didn’t say another word after that, and she was more than a little gratified to watch him struggle to find the right body position through the rest of the class. This must have been what little Billy Adama was like in his first ballet classes, trying so hard to follow along, molding his sturdy frame and slightly bow-legged knees into fifth position. His brow was knit in concentration as he followed along with her instruction, forcing a body that had spent 30 years in ballet class to unlearn everything he’d ever known.

“Savasana,” she said. “Corpse pose. Close  your eyes and breathe deep, and let the energy flow through you and depart.” She edged her way across the room, spritzing a little bit of lavendar oil over each of her students. Yoga taught mindfulness, yet she moved automatically until she found herself at Bill’s mat. She touched his shoulders briefly, just as she had done with the rest of her students, but he surprised her by reaching up to tangle his fingers in hers.

“Corpse pose,” she hissed at him. His eyes opened, and he grinned at her.

“Not dead yet.”

If her Yelp reviews ever got wind of the fact that she sprayed lavendar essential oil directly in the face of one of her new students, she’d be sunk.

***

He was waiting for her when she came out of the back office, eyes a little bit red, but looking none the worse for wear.

“So that’s what you do all day.”

Laura hummed in agreement. “That’s what I do all day.”

He handed the beat-up mat to Tory. “I always knew you were a good teacher.”

Of course he did. “I never needed you to tell me I was a good teacher. And you need to work on your breathing.”

Oh good lord, did she just say that out loud?

“Tell you what, I’ll work on my breathing if you’ll work on your port des bras. Your shoulders are a little weak. Come to my class, and I’ll come to yours.”

Her shoulders were just fine, thank you, after years of downward dog. “And what’s in it for me?”

He looked at her, truly looked at her, with her rapidly fraying yoga pants and her hair tossed messily into a ponytail. “You get to make me look like an ass in front of your yoga class. And I get to make you look like a dancer in front of mine.”

“I’m not a dancer, Bill,” she reminded him.

“You’re not a liar either, Laura. Try to remember that.” He picked up his bag and hefted it over his shoulder. “Next time, bring your pointe shoes.”

Pointe shoes. Her calluses were gone, and her pedicure couldn’t survive a class en pointe. “I’m not a dancer, Bill,” she called after him.

“You’ve been a dancer since the day you were born.” He stopped to thank Tory, and damn her if she didn’t smile at him. “You owe me. Tomorrow at nine am.”

Tomorrow at nine am she should be getting ready to teach another beginning class, but if Tory’s smile was anything to go by, now was the time to ask for a favor.

Pointe shoes. Bad enough to ask Tory to cover for her, but to ask Tory to teach a class so that she could rip the skin on her feet open over and over again?

She flexed her toes, almost feeling the gel padding shielding her feet from the paste and canvas and hard wings of her shoes.

If he could suffer through her class, she could soldier through his. “Tory,” she said, “what are you doing tomorrow morning?”

***

It was just like riding a bike, if riding a bike meant ripping of the skin of her toes and watching as her feet bled through the pale peach satin of the last pair of pointe shoes she’d owned. Frankly, she’d rather crash into a tree head-first than try another pirouette at this pointe, but Bill was watching her, and she’d be damned if she went down without a fight.

Skin would heal, and toenails would grow back, but Sharon Agathon would never stop smirking at her f she didn’t do the fouette combination.

Who was she kidding? Sharon wouldn’t wipe that smug look off her face regardless, but Laura had her pride, even if she didn’t have the top layers of skin on her toes. How did she ever think this was fun?

She positioned herself for the combination and dropped into a low fourth, ready to start her turn combination. Easy physics, centrifugal force and a mathematical equation. Whip the leg around, tuck in the arms, pray for death and hope for the best. She was far too old for this.

And yet, she was still turning, still refusing to back down, when the music stopped. She dropped into a clean ending pose, despite the fact that her quads were burning and she could no longer feel her feet. God, she was going to have to soak her feet in ice just to lead the Chocolate rehearsal, but her neck was long and her hips were in perfect alignment.

“Grande allegro,” Bill called.

Really? No praise? Nopat on the back? No acknowledgement that at 35, she could still do four eight-counts of fouette turns?

He walked through the grande allegro combination and she pantomimed the steps with her arms, trying to look engaged in the class but wishing desperately she had her spray bottle of lavendar oil.

He was trying to get the best of her. Maybe she should have been kinder to his sons (how much kinder could she be?) Maybe she shouldn’t have mocked his yoga skills. Maybe she shouldn’t have invited him over for dinner in the first place.

Maybe she should throw her bag over her shoulder and sneak out of the studio. Maybe she should admit defeat while she could still walk.

Maybe she could make him eat his words. She leaned into the combination, tombe, pas de bourree, glissade, pas de chat and contretemps. Back and forth, until she was dancing almost against the mirror. She took another couple of steps out of the way and leaned against the barre, her chest heaving.

Damn him, she did miss this. Yoga was great for mindfulness, but nothing could compare to a grande allegro, to those precious few minutes when she felt like she was flying with each jump. Even as she struggled to catch her breath, she couldn’t deny that she felt...good. Strong. Alive.

Her toes cramped in her pointe shoe, and she struggled to walk it off. Alive, yes, and in pain. Whoever made the point about suffering for art wasn’t kidding. She shook her foot, trying to ignore the joints seizing up, and took her place for reverence.

“Good work, class. Rehearsals start in 20,” Bill said, bowing to the company. She lowered herself into the deepest curtsey her aching quads would allow and nodded to the teacher. When she looked up, he was watching her, waiting for her to acknowledge him. And that bastard winked at her. “Good work,” he repeated.

She was slowly peeling the tape off of her bleeding toes when he sat next to her in the hallway. Bill held up a familiar small brown bottle. “Nu-skin? Oh, hell no,” she muttered.

He tugged at her feet, dropping them into his lap before unscrewing the cap. “If you’d used it before class, you wouldn’t be bleeding all over my floors now.” He brushed the thick liquid on her oozing feet, and she braced herself for the sharp sting of antiseptic.

“Dammit, Bill! That hurts!”

“You didn’t used to be such a wimp, Roslin.” He waved his hand over her feet to help the liquid bandage dry. When she finally relaxed enough for him to guess that the initial sting had mellowed, he dug his fingers into the balls of her feet, working out her earlier cramp.

“Did you guilt me into coming to class just so you could watch me suffer?” she asked, but her words lacked bite. Hard to be mad at a man who was rubbing her aching feet.

“No, I guilted you into coming to class because I like to look at your legs in tights. The suffering was just a bonus.”

“You’re funny,” she muttered.

Bill shrugged. “I am funny. But you’ve still got the best legs I’ve ever seen.”

There it was again, the compliment. She tugged her feet out of his lap and tucked them beneath her. “Bill, what am I doing here?”

“Bleeding all over my carpet. I thought we established that?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “I mean, besides that. Taking class, leading rehearsals. What’s the point?”

A shadow crossed his face. “Don’t you like it? I thought you were enjoying it.”

That was the problem. She was enjoying it, far more than she had any right to, given her abrupt retirement years ago. She was enjoying it so much that it was making her doubt every decision she’d made eight years ago, and she had no room in her life right now for that kind of second-guessing. “I am enjoying it. But where is it going? I can take class, but I’m never going to be on stage again, so I guess I’m just wondering...what’s the point?”

The hallways were filling up again, dancers skirting past each other to make it to their rehearsal studios. Karl leaned down to whisper a quick “Good job today” in Laura’s ear before Sharon could tug him away. She watched them make their way down the hall, envying their youth and strength while she dug the heel of her hands into her aching muscles.

“You should be spending your time on them,” she said, nodding to the couple as they disappeared into the main studio. “Not wasting it on me.”

“Laura, I never considered time spent with you wasted.”

She ignored the heavy meaning in his words. She was exhausted, and she could feel a bruise starting to throb under her big toenail. She wasn’t up for yet another discussion about their relationship, past or present. “Come on, I’m old and washed up. You have a job here, to guide the next generation of dancers. You should be doing that.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You think I can’t do both?”

“I think I don’t know why you want to.”

Bill shifted until he was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Laura, his back braced against the wall. “You know, I didn’t want to retire. I thought I was still in my prime, but the roles I used to dance kept going to other people. Instead of Prince Albrecht in Giselle, I was cast as the king.” He shook his head. “You know what the king does? He stands upstage and waves his arms a lot. And I guess I couldn’t complain, because it happened to Baryshnikov. It happened to Stiefel. It happens to all of us. We get old and we’re put out to pasture.” He picked up her hand, toying with her fingers while he thought out his next words. “But I wasn’t done yet. I knew I wasn’t done. I might never be done, because this is all I’ve ever known, and I don’t want to walk away from it. So I’m not onstage anymore. That doesn’t mean I don’t still love to dance. It just means I have to do it a different way now.”

“Bill,” she said softly. “That’s your story, not mine.”

He stopped tugging at her fingers and laced them through his. “Isn’t it? You left before you were ready to quit. I just thought you might like a second chance. Even if it isn’t dancing Giselle at the Met, you can still dance. You can still have this in your life. You can still have me in your life, if you want it. It doesn’t have to be the way it was, but it can still be good.”

He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. Just enough to remind her how good it was when he was in her life. He pulled back and got to his feet. “Dreams change, Laura. I know that now. But you shouldn’t give up dreaming them.” He stole a quick glance at his watch. “I have to be in rehearsal. Dinner tonight? Bring Grace. I’ll even cut the crusts off your sandwiches.”

She nodded without thinking and watched as he strode down the hallway.

Dreams changed, she knew that better than anyone. Laura Roslin eight years ago dreamed of dancing Giselle. This Laura Roslin, soaked in sweat and worrying about making it to her studio in time to teach a 1pm restorative yoga class, dreamed of nothing so grand as applause and roses. Right now, she was dreaming about a tube of Icy Hot, a quick nap after her 1pm, and grilled cheese with Grace and Bill Adama.

Maybe her dreams were smaller now, but maybe they were still worth dreaming.

[webkinzproblems]

Two things: First, I had a main account with like 40 webkinz and then a second account with only one lil kinz pig and a canary. I used the second account to get the hourly and daily stuff and then send it to my main. Also any thing I could get and sell for more i would and then send the cash to my main. Last time I was on i has 50,000+ kinz cash cause I never bought anything.

This is actually a good idea

[hourlyjobupdates-blog]

General Labourer, Canary Wharf

General Labourer, Canary Wharf

Salary/Rate

£10 – £11/hour

Location

Canary Wharf, Greater London

Posted

19/09/2018 (16:41) Just Added

Agency

Apply Now

Description

General Labourers required for big sub-contractor in canary wharf long term work. 8 hours day pay Monday to Friday overtime will be optional.

Immediate start 

Hourly Rate £10.00 ph 

Weekend work and overtime will be payed at £15.00ph

Must hold a valid CSCS card,…

[backroombuzz]

21 Companies Giving Trump Tax Reform Bonuses To Employees

21 Companies Giving Trump Tax Reform Bonuses To Employees

What An Impact The Historic Trump Tax Reform Is Making Already

President Trump's Tax Reform Bill means 95% of Americans are going to see a tax cut.The liberal media and Democrats, of course, hate what President Trump and Republicans in Congress passing the historic Trump Tax Reform Bill. The Democrats have done nothing in Trump's 1st year in office.  While the Democrats have stood on the sidelines jeering his tax reform bill. Almost ad nauseam the Democrats cried that not one employee will see any benefit from Trump's tax reform plan. The Liberal Loons have even gone so far as to say that 80% of Americans will see their taxes rise in 10-years. Bernie Sanders went so far as to say to Jake Tapper on CNN "If they wanted to help they should have made these tax cuts permanent" WTH? Maybe if the Democrats participated they could have helped make this bill budget neutral, so the Republicans could have made these cuts permanent. Democrats Cried "We've Been Robbed" What the Democrats meant by "We've Been Robbed" was the fact that instead of seeing Americans keeping more of the money THEY EARNED. The Democrats believe that they would do a better job of spending YOUR HARD EARNED money. Related Story: Liberals Believe Your Money is Theirs When companies announced $1,000 bonuses, the liberal media tried to spin the good news into a factually correct, but dishonest assessment. "Some companies decided to give their employees an $18 a week bonus, while the company made millions." Democratic (and loser Hillary Clinton) strategist Jesse Ferguson called it an attempt to “curry favor” by “playing to the ego of the president.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed the AT&T bonus had already been negotiated as part of a new union contract and was an attempt to “pin a rose on this tax bill” — only to learn that it was an extra$1,000 bonus on top of the earlier one. MSNBC’s Joy Reid, who’ll soon pocket an extra $1,000, called it “corporate America trying to convince you that their naked greed is charity.” Related Story: Crybaby Democrats Bash Companies Giving Out Trump Tax Bonuses https://youtu.be/N3OG5zL51Bg   CBS Tried Their Best Hoping to do another one of their Trump hit pieces. CBS asked three families from three different states to send in last year’s taxes. The network then had a CPA redo them under the new rules contained in the newly signed tax law. No doubt CBS was expecting one or more of the families would be getting bad news about their future taxes. After all, according to the Democrats, between the President, the Trump Tax Bill, bill, and the ending Net Neutrality, it spelled doom and gloom for the world as we know it. Macie George a single mother with one child living in North Carolina.  Last Tax return she made $40,000. Under the new Trump Tax, she will receive an additional $1,300 in Refunds. The Edwards married, with no kids living in Rhode Island.  Last Tax return they made $150,000.  Under the new Trump Tax, they will receive an additional $650 in Refunds. The Levs, Married with three children living in central California. Last Tax return they made $300,000.  Under the new Trump Tax, they will receive an additional $$13,000 in Refunds.

MAGAnomics

Here is our updated LIST of companies reacting to the tax cuts with bonuses, more pay and expansion leading directly to new jobs: AT&T more than 200,000 of its employees, including union-represented and non-management workers, will be eligible for a $1,000 bonus. The checks will be in the mail in time for the holidays if Trump finalizes the tax bill with his signature before Christmas. AT&T (T) also said it will invest $1 billion more than expected in the U.S. in 2018, once the cuts are final. American Savings Bank, the third-largest bank in Hawaii, said it will award $1,000 bonuses to nearly all of its employees. In addition, the bank said it was increasing its starting wage to $15.25 an hour from $12.21 an hour. Aquesta Financial Holdings in Cornelius, N.C., will raise hourly pay to $15 and will be giving $1,000 bonuses to all of it workers. Associated Bank in Wisconsin boosted its minimum hourly wage to $15 and paying workers a $500 bonus. Bank of Hawaii, the state’s second-largest bank, said it will give out $1,000 cash bonuses to 2,074 employees, or 95 percent of its workforce. The bonuses affect all employees below the senior vice president level. The bank also will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour from $12 an hour. Boeing The aerospace and defense company immediately announced $300 million in investments after the bill passed, with $100 million toward corporate giving including employee gift-match programs, $100 million toward workforce development, training and education and $100 million toward enhancing Boeing’s workplaces. Canary LLC announced it will hire new employees and purchase more equipment. Comcast NBC Universal anted up $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 non-executive employees. Dayton T. Brown An engineering and testing company called Dayton T. Brown said it is giving each of its roughly 210 employees a $400 bonus. Fifth Third raises minimum wage to $15 and offering bonuses of $1,000 to 13,000 employees. First Hawaiian Bank said it will give out $1,500 cash bonuses to 2,264 employees, or all but 11 members of its senior management team. The state’s largest bank also will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour from $12.75 an hour for 613 employees. Kansas City Southern, the Missouri-based transportation holding company with railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama, said it would immediately give a one-time $1,000 bonus to non-executive employees of its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Mexico. Melaleuca Inc an Idaho health-care and home-products company  is providing its 2,000 employees $100 bonuses for every year they worked for the company. The company has 147 employees who have worked for the company for 20 years or more. New Braunfels-based Rush Enterprises of Texas is giving each of its 6,600 employees a $1,000 bonus – a total of $6.6 million. Chief Financial Officer Steven Keller said: “You’ve got a choice – we could’ve kept it and stuffed it in the company bank account or coffers, or we can share it with the people.” PNC Financial Services will give $1,000 bonus to about 47,500 workers. Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots announced he would invest millions into North Carolina to build a factory that would employ many people. Royal Hawaiian Heritage Jewelry plans to open up three more shops – in Honolulu, in Kauai and Maui in addition to its existing three shops. Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Friday it would pay a $1,000 bonus to almost 9,000 of its full-time and part-time employees after the recent passage of the GOP tax bill. U.S. Bank of America employees making up to $150,000 per year in total compensation – about 145,000 teammates – will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 by year-end. Washington Federal Seattle-based banking company Washington Federal said it would give 5?percent merit increases to all employees earning less than $100,000 annually, as well as invest in employee training and technology upgrades, and make a $5 million contribution to its main philanthropy foundation. Wells Fargo, the San Francisco bank said it would boost its minimum wage to $15 per hour, an 11% increase from its current hourly rate of $13.50, once the law was passed. The pay raise will go into effect in March 2018, the company said. Democrats Get Credit The Democratic Party really has done an amazing job of demagoguing the tax bill. Polling for it is pretty poor despite the fact that 95% of Americans are going to see a tax cut. Please share this story. If you truly want to help President Trump and get the "Do Nothing Democrats" off the bench and into the game. Then we need to change the public perception. Americans must become aware of all the good that has happened since Donal J. Trump became our nations 45th President. Read the full article

[foxbrasil744]

Windows 10 To Mac Remote Desktop

May 29, 2019 Open the System Properties and click the “Remote” tab, then make sure “Allow remote connections to this computer” is enabled. You also want to make sure you install the Microsoft Remote Desktop client on your Mac. It is available in the App Store. Remote Desktop will be installed in your Mac’s Application’s folder.

Your only option is to actually send it a right click. Windows doesn't have any ctrl/click alternative, even with direct access. From Remote Desktop Client on Mac: FAQ. Alternative hardware input methods & activation details:-Standard PC two button USB mouse.

With Remote Desktop, you can connect to a Windows 10 device from a Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac device. When you're away from your work PC but still need to check in, Remote Desktop on your Windows 10 PC can help you access the apps and files you need to get things done.

Fast, simple, secure remote computer access for individuals and teams. Now you can easily access all your business applications and data anywhere, anytime, from any device Key Features and Benefits. Broad Device Support - Remote into your Mac or Windows computer from any Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, or Chromebook device. Go to Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac and select Download. You don't need to create an account or sign into AppCenter to download the beta client. If you already have the client, you can check for updates to ensure you have the latest version. In the beta client, select Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta at the top, and then select Check for updates.

Chrome Canary Features For Developers - Google Chrome Google uses cookies to deliver its services, to personalize ads, and to analyze traffic. You can adjust your privacy controls anytime in your. Chrome canary macos.

There are many ways to remotely control a Windows computer software such as using third party software or the built-in Remote Desktop feature. However, the choices of remotely controlling another computer that is running a different operating system can be quite limited. Although Windows dominates the computer market, but you can still find a lot of people using Macs that runs on OS X.

Apple has their own remote access software called Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) which is a shareware that cost $79.99. It comes with some powerful features such as software distribution and automation to perform repetitive tasks on remote computers, but unfortunately it is meant for Mac to Mac and not cross platform.

In this article, we will be sharing a few methods on how you can remotely access Apple Mac computers from another computer running Windows for free.

1. TeamViewer

TeamViewer is one of the most popular remote access software that is commonly used to provide remote support because it is easy to use and comes with really powerful features such as file transfer, switch sides, conference call, VoIP, screen recording and etc. Other than that, TeamViewer also works on multiple operating systems where it allows you to control a Mac OS X system from a Windows computer.

You will need to download and install the “HOST” version of TeamViewer on the Mac computer that you want to remotely control. As for the Windows computer that will be controlling the Mac computer, simply download the TeamViewer full version, install and run it. Enter the ID followed by the password and you’re able to connect to the OS X machine. The ID will not change and always stay the same on the machine.

The TeamViewer Host options can be accessed by clicking on the TeamViewer icon at the menu bar and select Preferences. You can change your password, configure the voice, microphone and phone conferencing, access control and etc.

Download TeamViewer Host for Mac

2. LogMeIn Free

LogMeIn Free allows you to conveniently remotely control a Mac computer running OS X from Windows through its web interface or the Firefox plugin. First you will need to create a free account, then login from the Mac computer and click the Add Computer button to download the LogMeIn Installer. After installation, you are able to access that computer from any other computer by logging in to LogMeIn. Do take note that the file transfer feature is disabled in the free version.

Download LogMeIn Free

3. RealVNC

Remote From Windows To Mac

Although there are many versions of VNC which are mostly free, RealVNC targets the enterprise users by offering shareware version and cross platform support to Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX and AIX. Similarly to LogMeIn, the free version of RealVNC provides a very basic remote access feature without file transfer, chat, session encryption, optimized performance, printing and deployment tool. You can use other VNC viewer such as TightVNC and UltraVNC to access the RealVNC server.

Download RealVNC

12Next › View All

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8 Comments - Write a Comment=' fa=''>='fa>

Vladimir3 months ago='ago'>='name'>='fn'>

RealVNC is useless because it does not support data compression compatible with Mac VNC server. So it uses extremely slow and traffic-consuming uncompressed RGB.

Reply

Can you suggest a better VNC client or alternative strategy?

Reply

Swikriti3 years ago='ago'>='name'>='fn'>

Can I use softwares like Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver etc (which are in MAC) from Windows system if the windows system doesn’t have the same softwares?

Reply

If the OSX commuter has remote management enabled, what client does the Windows computer need to run to connect to it?

Reply

menlo6 years ago='ago'>='name'>='fn'>

Logmein Free isn’t completely free anymore. You can buy an account, and for IT people, you can buy Logmein Central, and then tie a couple of Logmein Pro pay-for machines to the account (easy). Then you are given logmein free subscriptions you can then tie into the account. If the remote access is going to give you an hourly rate or save you time (and time is money) then it is WORTH buying the annual subscription. The thing that has always been an issue for me is Logmein wants to boast about their ability to stream the remote desktop as HD, and frankly that is just bells and whistles to me. That requires WAY more bandwidth, and is pointless in most cases. The GREAT thing about logmein, even over their join.me product, is you can cut back the color quality or even make it black and white. This SIGNIFICANTLY speeds up the remote session to make sure things work right. Join.me is a $100/yr subscription, to compete with their enterprise version rescue, but again the quality of the remote session is simply limiting and time wasting for the average IT guy who needs to help the user. More to the point of Logmein Pro, you can actually perform secure file transfers, and monitor the system in a dashboard. The Dashboard for pro subscriptions ALSO gives you things like the top fifteen running processes, all scheduled tasks, the most current 15 lines of the event viewer log, etc. You can perform various levels of remote boot, and even utilize a scripting type offering called one to many. It is incredibly powerful, and COMPLETELY worth the cost of the annual subscriptions. (I do NOT work for Logmein, just an IT consultant.)

Reply

Thank you very much. Used realvnc viewer on win 7 64bit, to connect to a mac laptop on OS X Mavericks.

Reply

JC7 years ago='ago'>='name'>='fn'>

I was using the built in vnc server for osx, but with the last 10.8.5 update my connection got a lot of lag. I updated my vnc viewers to the latest but that didn’t help. I finally downloaded the vine vnc server ( turned off the osx vnc server ) and bingo problem solved. Thanks for the article, it was a great help.

Reply

thanks a lot

Reply

Leave a Reply

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Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016

You can use the Remote Desktop client for Mac to work with Windows apps, resources, and desktops from your Mac computer. Use the following information to get started - and check out the FAQ if you have questions.

Note

Curious about the new releases for the macOS client? Check out What's new for Remote Desktop on Mac?

The Mac client runs on computers running macOS 10.10 and newer.

The information in this article applies primarily to the full version of the Mac client - the version available in the Mac AppStore. Test-drive new features by downloading our preview app here: beta client release notes.

Get the Remote Desktop client

Follow these steps to get started with Remote Desktop on your Mac:

Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the Mac App Store.

Set up your PC to accept remote connections. (If you skip this step, you can't connect to your PC.)

Add a Remote Desktop connection or a remote resource. You use a connection to connect directly to a Windows PC and a remote resource to use a RemoteApp program, session-based desktop, or a virtual desktop published on-premises using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. This feature is typically available in corporate environments.

What about the Mac beta client?

Microsoft Remote Desktop Mac Download

We're testing new features on our preview channel on AppCenter. Want to check it out? Go to Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac and select Download. You don't need to create an account or sign into AppCenter to download the beta client.

If you already have the client, you can check for updates to ensure you have the latest version. In the beta client, select Microsoft Remote Desktop Beta at the top, and then select Check for updates.

Add a workspace

Subscribe to the feed your admin gave you to get the list of managed resources available to you on your macOS device.

To subscribe to a feed:

Select Add feed on the main page to connect to the service and retrieve your resources.

Enter the feed URL. This can be a URL or email address:

This URL is usually a Windows Virtual Desktop URL. Which one you use depends on which version of Windows Virtual Desktop you're using.

For Windows Virtual Desktop (classic), use https://rdweb.wvd.microsoft.com/api/feeddiscovery/webfeeddiscovery.aspx.

For Windows Virtual Desktop, use https://rdweb.wvd.microsoft.com/api/arm/feeddiscovery.

To use email, enter your email address. This tells the client to search for a URL associated with your email address if your admin configured the server that way.

Select Subscribe.

Sign in with your user account when prompted.

After you've signed in, you should see a list of available resources.

Once you've subscribed to a feed, the feed's content will update automatically on a regular basis. Resources may be added, changed, or removed based on changes made by your administrator.

Export and import connections

You can export a remote desktop connection definition and use it on a different device. Remote desktops are saved in separate RDP files.

To export an RDP file:

In the Connection Center, right-click the remote desktop.

Select Export.

Browse to the location where you want to save the remote desktop RDP file.

Select OK.

To import an RDP file:

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In the menu bar, select File > Import.

Browse to the RDP file.

Select Open.

Add a remote resource

Remote resources are RemoteApp programs, session-based desktops, and virtual desktops published using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.

The URL displays the link to the RD Web Access server that gives you access to RemoteApp and Desktop Connections.

The configured RemoteApp and Desktop Connections are listed.

To add a remote resource:

In the Connection Center select +, and then select Add Remote Resources.

Enter information for the remote resource:

Feed URL - The URL of the RD Web Access server. You can also enter your corporate email account in this field – this tells the client to search for the RD Web Access Server associated with your email address.

User name - The user name to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to.

Password - The password to use for the RD Web Access server you are connecting to.

Select Save.

The remote resources will be displayed in the Connection Center.

Connect to an RD Gateway to access internal assets

A Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) lets you connect to a remote computer on a corporate network from anywhere on the Internet. You can create and manage your gateways in the preferences of the app or while setting up a new desktop connection.

To set up a new gateway in preferences:

In the Connection Center, select Preferences > Gateways.

Select the + button at the bottom of the table Enter the following information:

Server name – The name of the computer you want to use as a gateway. This can be a Windows computer name, an Internet domain name, or an IP address. You can also add port information to the server name (for example: RDGateway:443 or 10.0.0.1:443).

User name - The user name and password to be used for the Remote Desktop gateway you are connecting to. You can also select Use connection credentials to use the same user name and password as those used for the remote desktop connection.

Manage your user accounts

When you connect to a desktop or remote resources, you can save the user accounts to select from again. You can manage your user accounts by using the Remote Desktop client.

To create a new user account:

In the Connection Center, select Settings > Accounts.

Select Add User Account.

Enter the following information:

User Name - The name of the user to save for use with a remote connection. You can enter the user name in any of the following formats: user_name, domainuser_name, or user_name@domain.com.

Password - The password for the user you specified. Every user account that you want to save to use for remote connections needs to have a password associated with it.

Friendly Name - If you are using the same user account with different passwords, set a friendly name to distinguish those user accounts.

Select Save, then select Settings.

Customize your display resolution

You can specify the display resolution for the remote desktop session.

In the Connection Center, select Preferences.

Select Resolution.

Select +.

Enter a resolution height and width, and then select OK.

To delete the resolution, select it, and then select -.

Displays have separate spaces

If you're running Mac OS X 10.9 and have disabled Displays have separate spaces in Mavericks (System Preferences > Mission Control), you need to configure this setting in the Remote Desktop client using the same option.

Drive redirection for remote resources

Drive redirection is supported for remote resources, so that you can save files created with a remote application locally to your Mac. The redirected folder is always your home directory displayed as a network drive in the remote session.

Note

In order to use this feature, the administrator needs to set the appropriate settings on the server.

Use a keyboard in a remote session

Mac keyboard layouts differ from the Windows keyboard layouts.

The Command key on the Mac keyboard equals the Windows key.

To perform actions that use the Command button on the Mac, you will need to use the control button in Windows (for example Copy = Ctrl+C).

The function keys can be activated in the session by pressing additionally the FN key (for example, FN+F1).

The Alt key to the right of the space bar on the Mac keyboard equals the Alt Gr/right Alt key in Windows.

By default, the remote session will use the same keyboard locale as the OS you're running the client on. (If your Mac is running an en-us OS, that will be used for the remote sessions as well.) If the OS keyboard locale is not used, check the keyboard setting on the remote PC and change it manually. See the Remote Desktop Client FAQ for more information about keyboards and locales.

Support for Remote Desktop gateway pluggable authentication and authorization

Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced support for a new authentication method, Remote Desktop Gateway pluggable authentication and authorization, which provides more flexibility for custom authentication routines. You can now try this authentication model with the Mac client.

Important

Custom authentication and authorization models before Windows 8.1 aren't supported, although the article above discusses them.

To learn more about this feature, check out https://aka.ms/paa-sample.

Tip

Questions and comments are always welcome. However, please do NOT post a request for troubleshooting help by using the comment feature at the end of this article. Instead, go to the Remote Desktop client forum and start a new thread. Have a feature suggestion? Tell us in the client user voice forum.